The Former Head Maid
Following Jeong-Hoon’s orders, Han Su-Ho had been investigating Yong-Ha when he received a summons from Woo Do-Il, the Vassal in charge of Myeongil. He made his way to the man’s suite.
Ever since Jeong-Hoon had taken over the chairman’s private rooms, the top floor of Lumen had become a private level reserved exclusively for members of the family.
“So why did you call me, Senior?”
“The analysis of the Organization’s magic you handed me last time is finished. That’s why I called you.”
“…Shouldn’t something like that be reported directly to the Gaju?”
During the kidnapping incident Han Su-Ho had analyzed the magic and turned the data over to Woo Do-Il. The goal had been a more systematic breakdown of the Organization’s techniques, since Woo Do-Il oversaw the family’s magic and martial arts.
“I wanted everyone here in case I misjudged something.”
“Everyone? You mean I’m not the only one you called?”
Knock knock.
“Pardon the intrusion. I was told the matter was urgent, so I hurried.”
“Butler Woo summoning me? This must be something special.”
“I’m here too!”
Before Han Su-Ho’s question could finish, Jeong I-Yeong, Ko Yu-Yeon, and Dong Sa-Seong filed into Woo Do-Il’s suite. He had gathered only those among the Twelve Vassals who specialized in magic.
“Now that we’re all here, before we get to the main point I’d like you to look at this.”
Without so much as a greeting, Woo Do-Il threw the analysis onto the massive television screen. His expression was rigidly set. The other Vassals studying the results wore equally serious faces.
Woo Do-Il managed the family’s magic and martial arts, yet it was more a matter of overall supervision than monopoly. Over thousands of years each Vassal line had refined its own independent theories, establishing and passing down unique systems of magic and martial technique. As a result the arts carried distinct signatures from Vassal to Vassal. Butler Ju’s Paseong and Fernandez’s Jan-sal were products of exactly that individuality. Even the most basic analysis could therefore reveal which Vassal lineage a technique had leaked from.
“This is… impossible. He is definitely dead.”
“Yes. The Chief Butler himself delivered the judgment.”
Han Su-Ho was the first to recognize the pattern and recoiled in shock. Woo Do-Il shook his head.
“Don’t tell me… Elder Kang Hyeon-Jung’s magic?”
Jeong I-Yeong was the second to identify it. She murmured the name quietly, and shock rippled through the room.
“Head Maid, are you still calling that traitor ‘Elder’?”
“…My apologies, Butler Ko. I was momentarily unsettled.”
Though Jeong I-Yeong outranked him, Ko Yu-Yeon was older, so they both used formal speech while shaking their heads in unison.
Kang Hyeon-Jung. Once the childhood friend of Butler Ju. After rising to the Elder Council he had used that position to gather the family’s traitors. He was the ringleader of the betrayers and the man responsible for the death of Ju Geon-Woo, who had been expected to become the next Chief Butler. The reappearance of that man’s magical signature set the room murmuring.
“So I didn’t misread it after all.”
With no one contradicting the identification and every reaction the same, Woo Do-Il nodded and scowled.
“H-hey, let’s look on the bright side? This means if we track Kang Hyeon-Jung’s old network we can grab the Organization by the tail, right?”
Dong Sa-Seong tried to salvage the mood, but the others only shook their heads.
“Butler Dong, we still can’t know whether this is truly Kang Hyeon-Jung’s remnant or whether a traitor still inside the family simply leaked his techniques.”
Ko Yu-Yeon voiced the reason for their pessimism, and everyone—including Woo Do-Il—nodded. Dong Sa-Seong was the oldest mage present, yet he commanded no leadership whatsoever.
“Butler Woo, before you report this to the Gaju, might you give me a little time?”
“…Certainly. Is something the matter, Head Maid?”
“There is someone whose counsel I can seek regarding the traitor Kang Hyeon-Jung.”
At the mention of requesting cooperation, the others looked puzzled for a moment, then realized who she meant and nodded. Realization, however, did nothing to ease the unease flickering in every gaze.
With the family traitor Kang Hyeon-Jung’s name suddenly surfacing, Head Maid Jeong I-Yeong took a brief leave. It was only a single day, yet for one of the Twelve Vassals even that was notable. The place she arrived at was a cozy mountain-top villa, almost completely secluded from human traffic.
“It’s been a long time, Head Maid.”
“My, you’re the Head Maid now.”
“I didn’t come today as Head Maid. I came as your junior. And to me, you will always be the Head Maid.”
The woman in her late forties smiled as she spoke. I-Yeong’s clothing was not her usual maid uniform: a black women’s suit with a skirt, her hair—normally pinned up—left loose and ordinary. She looked simply like a woman in her mid-twenties.
“Our Gaju must have his hands full. A Head Maid this unsure of herself…”
Knowing the words came from respect, the older woman added a soft “hoho” of laughter and shook her head at I-Yeong.
“A member of the Twelve Vassals wouldn’t come all this way just to see my face. Has something happened in the family?”
Though retired, she remained the former Head Maid and one of the Twelve Vassals; she immediately sensed trouble. I-Yeong closed her eyes briefly, steeled herself, and spoke.
“I know this will pain you, Head Maid, but I felt I had to tell you.”
“When I think of what my father did, is there anything more painful than that?”
“…Traces of Elder Kang Hyeon-Jung—your father—have reappeared.”
It hurt to say, yet I-Yeong had no choice. Since the Organization was using what the traitor who once led the family’s betrayers had left behind, his own daughter, the former Head Maid, had to be informed.
There was only one reason a woman who should still have been in her prime had stepped down from the Twelve Vassals and withdrawn to this mountain where no one ever came: shame over her father, the family’s traitor.
“…My, that is serious. I thought we had scrubbed away every last trace of that traitor, yet something still remains.”
She spoke as though discussing someone else’s affairs, hand resting lightly against her cheek. I-Yeong watched her carefully. She never studied even Gaju Jeong-Hoon’s face this closely, yet before the former Head Maid who had guided her she could not help it.
“What exactly appeared?”
“Kang Hyeon-Jung’s magical signature.”
“Head Maid, just call him the traitor. He was never much of a father anyway.”
Noticing the careful use of the old title, the former Head Maid corrected her. I-Yeong shook her head. She was not honoring Kang Hyeon-Jung; she was honoring her predecessor.
“In that case I suppose I’m the prime suspect. I know both that traitor’s magic and his martial arts.”
“It isn’t like that. Even for a traitor, the family still preserves the techniques.”
I-Yeong shook her head again; she had not come merely to announce the reappearance of the man’s traces. Although records remained within the family, the person who understood that magic best was the former Head Maid herself—the perfect source of advice.
“So it isn’t simply that the traitor’s remnants turned up. Have people hostile to the family appeared?”
Because of the shame of being a traitor’s daughter she had resigned and secluded herself, remaining ignorant of recent events. I-Yeong hesitated a moment, then nodded.
“That is serious, Head Maid. Forgive me, but could you arrange for me to meet the Gaju at once?”
“…You have committed no crime, Head Maid. There is no problem at all.”
Speaking as though there was nothing to apologize for, I-Yeong looked at her with quiet worry. The former Head Maid had stepped down from the Twelve Vassals as a traitor’s daughter, yet during the purge of family betrayers she had eliminated more of them than anyone else. I-Yeong had come only seeking counsel, yet she felt as though she had just awakened a sleeping predator.
In the leisure of his own suite, Jeong-Hoon was happily hammering the controller of a game console nearly ten years old, the machine hooked up to the television.
“Is the game to your liking?”
“Yeah. The game’s fine, but more than that I just wanted the console itself.”
It was not only the machine he was currently playing; every game system in existence was connected to the enormous wall-sized television. For a family head the setup was modest, yet it was still a luxury. Butler Ju watched with a fond smile. Jeong-Hoon was slowly building ways to release stress.
“Thankfully that foolish grandson of mine turned out useful for something.”
“This has nothing to do with that mosquito who keeps buzzing around my ears when I’m trying to sleep.”
The remark about his grandson Yong-Ha had been pure admiration, not praise, yet Jeong-Hoon’s reply was sharp. Butler Ju quietly shook his head.
“Your metaphors are getting harsher.”
“You’re imagining things. Anyway, it has nothing to do with him.”
Deep down Jeong-Hoon still carried an instinctive hostility toward Yong-Ha. He grumbled while continuing to mash the buttons.
“I just never had the chance to do this sort of thing before. It wasn’t because of him.”
“Is that so?”
The family existed solely for the Gaju. Butler Ju had always emphasized that, and he privately wondered whether Jeong-Hoon’s new ability to enjoy such things was, in the end, thanks to Yong-Ha’s provocation.
“Even if I wanted to do something, I was too exhausted. Now that this life has become routine and my stamina’s caught up, I finally have energy left for distractions. Before, a single training session left me wrecked and ready only for sleep.”
On top of training there had been etiquette lessons and a hundred other miscellaneous skills to absorb; there simply had been no time to enjoy anything. Now that he had grown accustomed and could handle it all, he could finally savor this kind of leisure.
“…Hahaha. I overstepped.”
“Well, I’m grateful you were worried.”
Knowing exactly why the butler had encouraged a little luxury, Jeong-Hoon answered with quiet thanks and kept playing.
Knock knock.
“Pardon the intrusion, Gaju.”
Just as he was about to focus on the game again, the knock came. Jeong-Hoon hit the pause button and set the controller down.
“Huh? Head Maid, aren’t you on leave to— Who are you?!”
The voice that had requested entry was clearly I-Yeong’s, yet the person who stepped inside was a woman in a suit. Jeong-Hoon raised his voice in surprise.
“It is I. Head Maid Jeong I-Yeong.”
“Ah… oh. Right. You look so different from usual I didn’t recognize you for a second.”
In Jeong-Hoon’s mind I-Yeong was fixed in her maid uniform; that was why he had failed to place her at first. He recovered quickly enough.
“But you’re on leave today. Why are you here?”
“Because it is my leave I am wearing a suit rather than the uniform. I came to introduce someone.”
“Introduce? Then why didn’t you bring them in with you?”
At the word “introduce” he peered past her, but no one else was visible. Jeong-Hoon shrugged.
“More precisely, it is not an introduction. The other party is requesting an audience with the Gaju.”
“Ah, so I need to go to them?”
He started to rise, but I-Yeong shook her head.
“She is waiting just outside the door.”
“Then tell her to come in. Is there some problem?”
“The person who wishes to see you is my predecessor as Head Maid. Her name is Kang Hwa-Rim.”
“Head Maid! You—!!!”
Before the full explanation could leave I-Yeong’s lips, Butler Ju shouted at the mere sound of the name. She was the daughter of the friend he himself had executed—the traitor. Unable to bear the shame of being a traitor’s child, she had resigned and withdrawn into seclusion. To Butler Ju she was like a niece, and now I-Yeong had brought her here.
“I’ll hear who she is from her own mouth. Tell her to come in.”
Lightly ignoring the butler’s outcry, Jeong-Hoon flicked his fingers. Whatever the circumstances, it was better to listen and judge for himself.
“It is an honor to meet you, Gaju. I am Kang Hwa-Rim, daughter of the traitor Kang Hyeon-Jung and predecessor of the current Head Maid, Jeong I-Yeong.”
Sensing the summoning finger-flick, the former Head Maid opened the suite door and entered. That she could perceive the signal meant she too was an S-class or higher Awakened.