Chapter 59
Namgung Ryu-cheong had run off, so training naturally came to an end. As I headed back to my quarters, Seo Ha-ryeong chased after me.
"Let me see your room!"
"There's nothing much to see. It's just a guest room the Namgung Clan provided anyway. All guest rooms are pretty much the same."
"Still!"
"You came by this morning too..."
That's when I noticed her wrist.
"Fine. Let's go."
"I actually wanted to peek into your room this morning, but you were sleeping. And that boy kept glaring at me the whole time, so I waited a bit and left."
You shouldn't just barge into someone's room while the owner is asleep...
By the time I finished saying it, we'd almost reached my quarters.
Crossing the middle gate, I froze in surprise.
"Yahul?"
He was posed exactly as he'd been when seeing me off. He'd waited like this yesterday—and apparently today too.
Yahul spotted Seo Ha-ryeong beside me and frowned slightly.
I glanced over on instinct, only to find her half-hiding behind my back. But since she was taller and bulkier than me, it was pointless.
"Uh... you two already saw each other this morning, right?"
Yahul's mouth twitched open as if to speak, then snapped shut. He turned and strode inside first.
I patted the back of Seo Ha-ryeong's hand, which was clutching my arm, and took the lead.
"Let's head in."
Once inside, Seo Ha-ryeong looked around and commented,
"It's so dim and gloomy."
"Because of my eyes."
Thick navy curtains covered every window in my room, dimming the incoming light.
"Perfect for sleeping in. Ah! So that's why you sleep so late? Lazybones!"
"...It's because the fatigue hasn't worn off yet."
"What's fatigue?"
"Tiredness from the trip?"
I removed my eyepatch, and she snatched it up curiously, inspecting it.
"Does this make it better?"
"Yeah."
"Lemme try it on!"
"...Your wrist first."
"What? I'm fine!"
I ignored her and yanked her hand closer. The bruise Yahul had left on her wrist was still vivid.
If a maid spots it while attending me...
She'd definitely pry into what happened.
Blissfully unaware of my scheming, Seo Ha-ryeong said,
"Oh, right—I had a question. How'd you know that maid told the young lady of the house?"
I asked Yahul to fetch supplies for a hot compress, then turned to her.
"You were with me yesterday."
"Yeah."
"And you came to see me at dawn."
"Right."
"Then we went straight to training."
"Yep!"
Seo Ha-ryeong stared at me, clearly urging me on. That apparently wasn't enough explanation.
"You were up late with me yesterday, showed up at the crack of dawn, then dove right into training. When would you have had time to visit the young lady? Plus, you said you didn't do it. So I figured one of the other people there must've snitched."
Her mouth fell open, eyes sparkling as she gazed at me.
"You're so smart."
"Pfft, it's nothing."
She mumbled at my words,
"But... why didn't Young Master Namgung believe me?"
"Who knows..."
There wasn't really anything reassuring I could say.
Seo Ha-ryeong's shoulders slumped. She paused, then continued,
"Is it... because I'm not good enough for him?"
Namgung Ryu-cheong, you jerk! Why say something like that to a kid?!
Even if he'd acted like nothing happened yesterday, no one was fool enough to forget that kind of hurt so easily. The once-bubbling girl looked ready to burrow into the ground.
I desperately wished Yahul would hurry back to shatter this awkward gloom.
"He must hate me 'cause I'm not skilled enough."
"Next time, beat him and shove that arrogance down his throat."
Her eyes reddened, lips pouting as she said,
"How? You saw it."
"Yeah. I saw."
Hesitating a moment on whether to say it, I pressed on.
"I saw Young Master Namgung's weakness too."
"Weakness? What're you talking about?"
She blinked at me. Thankfully, the imminent tears had vanished.
"Hmm... how do I explain?"
I scratched my cheek and continued,
"When Young Master Namgung uses a certain stance, there's a gap in his defense. Target that, and you might win once..."
Seo Ha-ryeong cut me off with a yell,
"What?! Something like that exists?!"
"Well, not certain, but..."
"Tell me! Tell me!"
"I will. But first, let's compress that wrist."
Right on cue, Yahul entered with a basin and towels.
Seo Ha-ryeong thrust her wrist out.
"Hurry, hurry! And you have to tell me!"
I laid a steaming towel over her wrist and peered right into it—truly scrutinized it.
Her wrist, battered day after day, had seriously knotted meridians. Just like I'd seen in Manshin-ui's pill-refining chamber, I kneaded the clumps while subtly channeling a thread of qi.
Suddenly, she jabbed a finger at my eyes.
"Ri-yeon, you...!"
"What?"
She blinked rapidly.
"Huh? No? But it was definitely gold!"
"What're you saying?"
"Your pupils—they were gold just now!"
"Gold?"
What on earth? Baffled, I glanced toward the vanity mirror—and instantly recalled Manshin-ui.
Right before blacking out, his eyes had flickered gold.
Wasn't my imagination after all?
Seo Ha-ryeong turned to Yahul.
"You saw it too! Right? It was gold!"
I shot Yahul a shaky glance. Our eyes met, and he spat curtly at her,
"Nonsense."
"No! It was real!"
She protested indignantly, but Yahul turned away like he couldn't care less.
After that day, training between Seo Ha-ryeong and Namgung Ryu-cheong halted, and I didn't see him for a while.
A few days later, I finally learned what happened: for that incident, he'd been locked in the ancestral hall as punishment, forbidden to leave until he'd hand-copied an entire book on etiquette.
Unlike the stormy whirlwind before, peaceful days stretched on.
In the meantime, I helped with Seo Ha-ryeong's training and focused on mastering control over my qi.
And that golden glint in my eyes she'd spotted? No illusion.
Whenever I used the ability—precisely manipulating surrounding qi to my will—my pupils shifted to gold.
Lucky Yahul caught on quick and played it off.
Seo Ha-ryeong seemed to have completely forgotten the incident, throwing herself into practice.
As I trained, a headache began to brew, so I stepped out for some air—a stroll by the lake.
Qi control demanded both focus and stamina.
Light spilling from a nearby two-story pavilion glittered across the lake's surface. A beautiful sight, but it made me wince and shift my gaze to the shadowed lotus patch.
Yahul tilted his head.
"Head hurt?"
"Nah, too bright."
Aside from my maid, Yahul was with me too. Staying cooped up felt stifling, so I'd brought him along.
The biggest reason? If I went out alone, he'd just sit there waiting, doing nothing.
But I got it.
Stuck in a clan where he can't let on that he practices demonic arts—gotta be cautious about every little move.
Anxiety makes you want to lean on someone.
This hour, no one's around here anyway...
As if on cue, someone appeared.
Namgung Ryu-cheong.
Out of confinement already?
He approached the lakeside, spotted me, and halted.
I schooled my surprise at the sight of his face.
He's lost weight.
The punishment must've been rough. His sun-kissed skin, once healthily tanned, had paled without a glimpse of daylight.
Pity welled up unbidden. Punishment or not, locking a kid away for days on end with nothing but books...
I extended an olive branch toward Namgung Ryu-cheong.
"Hey. Long time no see."
"..."
But instead of a greeting, he fixed me with a glare that could kill.
Scratching my cheek, I tried again.
"Out for a walk?"
"..."
Still no answer.
Hmm. Guess I'm really hated now.
And it felt strange. In my previous life, Namgung Ryu-cheong had always been kind to me.
Yet I'd been ice-cold to him. Knowing the future, I foresaw a torrent of humiliations the moment we got tangled up.
So I kept my distance—ignored him repeatedly, spat harsh words meant to wound.
But he'd endured it all, stubbornly trying to connect anyway.
In the novel, he'd dismissed Baek Ri-yeon as a burdensome duty, the master's daughter he had no choice but to shoulder. His totally opposite attitude had made me doubt if he was even the real deal, more than once.
No helping it. Reconciliation could wait for another chance.
"Well, I'll get going then. Enjoy your walk."
I turned to leave, having given up quickly—
"Wait."
Namgung Ryu-cheong called me back.