Did I Save You for Nothing?
Did I save you for nothing?
The man who single-handedly wiped out every Demon Cultist in this place.
Right after that, he hurled the Demon Cultist's corpse he was holding and started walking straight toward where Jang Seonhwa stood.
“Are you alright?”
Her voice carried an overwhelming wave of relief for Jang Seonhwa in that single moment.
She realized how close she had come to falling into the abyss just moments ago, and at the same time,
the emotions she had been desperately suppressing for so long began to overflow without filter, too intense to contain any longer.
And then…
“Hic… hic… hic… Waaaaah!”
She collapsed to the floor in overwhelming sorrow and burst into tears.
Watching her like that,
the man—whose name she still didn’t know—
quietly stood by her side and remained silent for a while, guarding that place.
Like a towering ancient tree,
he offered her a brief moment of peace, something to lean on, even as she stood on the brink of collapse after enduring everything alone for so long.
*
“Haa…”
“Why are you sighing, Master?”
Yang Soyu let out a heavy sigh, as if carrying some deep worry.
Hyangbi automatically asked with concern and unease in her voice.
Yang Soyu answered with a wry smile.
“It’s nothing serious. Just some annoying stuff lately.”
“Annoying stuff…? What kind of mischief did you pull with the Murim Alliance this time? Were you told to go on a mission during the rest period again like last time…?”
“It’s similar, I guess. I can’t really explain the details…”
Yang Soyu trailed off, his expression tired, and stopped talking.
Seeing his demeanor, Hyangbi felt a surge of doubt about what was happening to her master, but she didn’t press further.
Unfortunately, most of the worries her master faced were things she couldn’t help with.
Strange pranks in the Murim Alliance, or annoying disputes from noble families—
all of them were situations where stepping in would only make things worse.
Feeling the same helplessness she always did, Hyangbi recalled that right now she should focus on training rather than worrying about these matters.
The only thing she could do was become a strong warrior as quickly as possible and ease her master’s burden, even a little.
That was the only way she could help him.
Meanwhile,
separate from Hyangbi’s thoughts,
Yang Soyu’s mind was occupied by a woman who had been causing him no end of trouble lately.
‘Jang Seonhwa… Why does she keep bothering me so much? Damn it… Did I save her for nothing back then?’
Ever since that incident, Jang Seonhwa had been summoning him like a servant, ordering him around with various annoying tasks.
She was using her influence in the Murim Alliance to prevent him from going on missions, as if to prove she wasn’t just some daughter of the prestigious Jang family.
Because of this, the frequency of difficult missions had decreased, making his physical life much easier than before,
but that was never what he wanted.
Even while being discriminated against as an Unorthodox Faction member, Yang Soyu needed to accumulate merits and face the Heavenly Demon directly.
From his perspective, Jang Seonhwa’s actions were extremely obstructive, a major annoyance that stood in the way of his goals.
‘I’m supposed to work hard and rack up achievements, not clean up her room. What the hell does she see in me that makes her order me around like this?’
Yang Soyu couldn’t help but develop a grudge against Jang Seonhwa.
But if he openly defied her, his already bad position would only worsen, so he couldn’t show it.
All he could do was grind his teeth inwardly and go along with her.
Thus, in this situation where his already difficult Murim life had become even more troublesome,
Yang Soyu complained about his misfortune and walked alongside Hyangbi.
Again cursing the bastard Sangje who had gotten him into this mess.
*
Jang Seonhwa was the first person to see Yang Soyu express emotions after he arrived on the front lines.
Though it was only a short time, after that day’s experience, she felt a refreshing lightness in her heart and could fight more comfortably than before.
Unlike the time she had cried alone, suppressing her emotions,
that day she had poured out her feelings without filter and cried loudly.
It became a turning point that allowed Jang Seonhwa to release the resentment she had been holding inside.
However,
separate from the relief of less daily burden,
after that day, a subtle emotion she had never felt before settled in her heart.
‘Yang Soyu…’
The man who had saved her that day and quietly stood by as she poured out her emotions.
Jang Seonhwa developed an unignorable interest in him for some reason.
Thanks to her connections, she quickly learned more about him.
An Unorthodox Faction warrior who was watched with suspicion and discrimination even within the Murim Alliance,
and
someone who, despite being sent on all sorts of dangerous missions because of that, never failed and always completed them perfectly.
The more she learned, the stronger her interest became.
At the same time, she felt a pang of sadness that he was an Unorthodox Faction member who suffered discrimination.
Somehow, she wanted to help Yang Soyu, the person she had received a favor from, even a little.
As part of that, she used her influence to make sure he got some rest from the dangerous missions he was always sent on, ordering him to do odd jobs around her instead.
Honestly, she wanted to give him real rest time, but in this wartime situation where manpower was scarce, she couldn’t do it that way.
Although she did have some feelings for him,
she had been trained to hide even small emotions and never showed them.
Just like always, she acted with her usual arrogance, proving she was superior in any situation.
This remained true even when she was offering him a “favor.”
“It’s finished, Lady Seonhwa.”
“Good work. Go rest now.”
After washing her feet, Yang Soyu slowly stood up.
Seeing him like that,
Seonhwa forced down the slight upward curve of her lips, maintaining her usual haughty expression.
Honestly, even at this moment, she didn’t understand why she was so concerned about this man.
Of course, since he was the first person to show emotions in front of her after entering the Murim Alliance, he was definitely special, and she still felt grateful.
There was a reason to repay the favor,
but at some point, she had started moving him for her own sake, not out of gratitude.
Seeing the man who helped her in front of her, when she looked at him, she felt a warm feeling in her heart for some reason.
She became captivated by an indescribable joy she had never felt before.
And,
Jang Seonhwa’s inexplicable emotions and actions continued even after she participated in the Heavenly Demon extermination she had never wanted to attend.
She knew how terrifying it was, and as a member of the Four Heavenly Flowers, she wanted to avoid direct combat with the Heavenly Demon as much as possible.
But there was no option to skip the operation, and she had no choice but to participate despite the psychological burden.
And while she showed no outward sign,
she suffered in the torment of her heart burning black inside.
Naturally, she had no choice but to lean on the man who was with her.
Yang Soyu.
As a result, in this situation without any excuse to give her rest, Jang Seonhwa had become someone who simply used Yang Soyu as a servant.
Although she knew her actions were quite rude to him,
in this life-or-death dangerous situation, she wanted to cling to him like this.
The fact that he was there for her, that he helped her when she had to face the Heavenly Demon, the target of her fear,
became a great comfort to her, who was mentally cornered.
His meal, the way he massaged her tense shoulders.
Every single one of those things felt so happy that, while thinking she would have to apologize after this was over, she had become too dependent on him.
And,
her dishonest actions took a completely different turn from what she had expected.
After that, when she saw the Heavenly Demon’s end and felt an uncontrollable joy she couldn’t suppress, she impulsively hugged the man’s body.
And immediately after,
the result of the man who had been using her slapping her cheek in anger.
It planted something even more intense in Jang Seonhwa’s chest.
After that day, the man’s handprint never left her cheek.
Through that mark like a wedge, Jang Seonhwa could feel the strange emotion she had been experiencing more concretely and clearly.
Regarding this, she reached one conclusion.
That the man had done something to her.
She didn’t know what martial art he had used,
but because of that, she had become captivated by a strong desire to meet him again at this moment, to feel his existence once more.
‘I will definitely find you, Yang Da-hyup… I don’t know what you did to me. Because of you, my heart won’t calm down even now. I will definitely… make you pay for making me like this.’