Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 43
>Chapter Title: History is Made at Night (1)
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They say most of the world's pleasures happen at night.
This quiet and sacred night.
'Sleep... won't come!'
I was lying there wide awake.
The reason was simple.
Just by turning my head slightly to the side, I could see the unreal beauty's face.
'No. It's not because of her face!'
It was well past bedtime, but I shook my head vigorously.
'Jin Ha-yeon might be a subordinate. The moment I fall asleep, she could stab my heart with an expressionless face!'
Yes. It was anxiety.
I was already suffering from the side effects of demonic arts, and now with the threat of assassination added on, insomnia had inevitably set in.
'That's why my heart is pounding like this. Yeah.'
As I brainwashed myself like that and tossed and turned.
Inevitably.
I sneaked a glance and turned my head to look at Jin Ha-yeon's peacefully sleeping face across from me.
'Wow... How can a person look like that?'
Normally, her psychopathic attitude made my affection for her drop day by day, but just watching her lying still felt like admiring a doll.
A doll crafted with meticulous care by a master artisan.
And as I lost myself gazing at that doll under the moonlight.
Flash.
Suddenly, the doll opened her eyes.
"Eek!?"
It felt like a child caught doing something bad, and I let out a weird scream without thinking.
But regardless of my reaction, Jin Ha-yeon spoke in her usual calm tone.
"You're having trouble sleeping? Young Master."
"Ahem. I'm, I'm usually sensitive about my sleeping arrangements. Since it's different from usual, sleep isn't coming easily."
Even I thought it was a brilliant ad-lib, but Jin Ha-yeon slightly furrowed her delicate brows and said.
"If that's the case, I remember you slept well during the last expedition, didn't you?"
This is why sharp kids are exhausting.
Was it because fatigue suddenly washed over me? Or was it her unique tone that was polite but devoid of any emotion?
My heart, which had been racing wildly since bedtime, rapidly calmed down.
"Ahem. Sleep is coming on suddenly. Rest well, Miss Jin."
"I'm already quite comfortable."
"I, I see."
Drained of energy, I fell into a deep sleep just like that.
* * *
"Yawwwn."
Because my heart had pounded so much last night and I went to bed too late, fatigue hit me the moment I opened my eyes.
As I stretched my stiff body and looked to the side, the blanket Jin Ha-yeon had used was already neatly folded.
"I've brought breakfast. Young Master."
Perhaps sensing me stirring, the door opened and she entered the room carrying a tray with food.
'This makes us seem like some married couple.'
I quickly shook my head at the horrifying thought that flashed through my mind.
Yes, it's a trap.
The moment I fall for that face, a terrifying future of suffocating days awaits.
Munch munch.
After stuffing the breakfast she prepared into my mouth to shake off the fatigue for a bit.
Just as I finished my so-so meal, she spoke up.
"You're about an hour and a half later than usual for your morning routine, so I'll clear the tray and start your morning studies right away. Young Master."
"......"
As expected, she had a talent for making my breath catch.
After morning studies and lunch, following the usual routine, guests began arriving one by one as always.
But compared to normal, something felt lacking.
"Oppa!"
Seon-a, who always came, was right by my side as usual, rubbing her chubby cheeks against me with a goofy grin, but no one else showed up.
My eldest senior brother and Hang-geon didn't come, nor did my sixth senior brother, who was tormented by auditory and visual hallucinations.
I knew my third senior brother, plagued by paranoia, had left on a mission.
Instead, Guyangmun, who had returned to the main headquarters after completing his mission, was filling the gap all by himself.
"Hahaha! It feels kinda quiet today, Young Master!"
In other words, he was chattering endlessly on his own.
As I played with cute Seon-a's hair, twisting it this way and that, and let Guyangmun's nonsense flow in one ear and out the other for a while.
'Still peaceful so far.'
The thought that neither Jin Ha-yeon nor the two guard warriors showed any suspicious moves made a yawn slip out unconsciously.
"Yawn. Ah, sorry, Brother Guyang."
Yawning while someone was talking was rude, so I quickly apologized, but Guyangmun laughed heartily as if it didn't matter.
"Hahaha. It's fine, Young Master! You look really tired, though."
"I stayed up late last night, so I'm a bit fatigued."
"Well, with what happened recently, it's no wonder you couldn't sleep."
"No, it's not exactly because of that."
Since there were people around who might be connected to the assassination attempt, I tried to brush it off vaguely.
But Guyangmun didn't let it go and glanced at Jin Ha-yeon before saying.
"I heard about it. You spoke to the Heavenly Demon on Ha-yeon's behalf and asked for leniency. As a fellow Demonic Path Academy alumnus! I'm just thanking you in her place. Hahaha!"
He seemed to have interpreted my advice in some weird way.
I told him to show moderate goodwill, but he unnecessarily tacked on "alumnus" and said things he didn't need to.
"We're just alumni, so why are you thanking me on my behalf?"
As the one-sided love quarrel was about to start up again on one side, the kitten rolling around next to me perked up its eyes.
It was my one source of entertainment, after all.
But I didn't expect that entertainment to turn into a bomb.
"Ahem. Still, if we're alumni, isn't that the least you can do?"
"It's unnecessary meddling. She doesn't need you butting in; she's reflecting on her own. That's why since yesterday, she's been sharing a room with the Young Master at bedtime too, continuing her guard duty."
"!?"
No sooner had Jin Ha-yeon's words ended than Guyangmun's eyes widened to the point of tearing, and he gaped, looking back and forth between me and Jin Ha-yeon.
The little one by my side also looked back and forth between me and Jin Ha-yeon, but her reaction was subtly different.
"Hng. I wanna play with Oppa at night too..."
The kid pouted her lips slightly, mumbling enviously.
Unlike the innocent kid.
"Th-that, wh-what? What are you saying?"
Guyangmun, who had glitched out for a moment, was on the verge of a meltdown.
And unlike the kid, Guyangmun's not-so-innocent imagination took it a step further.
"C-come to think of it, you said earlier you were ti-red... N-no way!?"
As Guyangmun's words continued, Jin Ha-yeon's gaze toward him turned to one of looking at a bug.
But Guyangmun, already off the rails, didn't notice her stare.
"Master! How could you do that to me!?"
"Ahem. Get a grip, Brother Guyang. And why would I be your master?"
"You said you'd be my master back then! Don't tell me all that advice you gave was lies!?"
If I left him like this, Guyangmun's romance venture seemed doomed.
No, it already felt like it had crossed the rainbow bridge, but I figured I should at least let them stay "alumni."
"Get a grip. It was just for guar!ding! purposes that we shared a room. Nothing happened."
"R-really?"
"Yes."
I met Guyangmun's suspicious eyes with my utterly shameless gaze.
Perhaps because of my utterly confident look, Guyangmun's constantly wavering eyes gradually steadied.
And once he dropped his suspicions, Guyangmun seemed to ponder something before suddenly speaking in a resolute tone.
"Young Master."
"Speak."
"Please take me on as your guard warrior."
"What kind of nonse— I mean, nonsense is that? Aren't you with the White Ghost Unit, Brother Guyang?"
"If you just give the word, I'll submit my resignation right away. If I share a room with you as your guard, then Ha-yeon won't need to sleep with you anymore, right?"
His suspicion was gone, replaced by madness in his eyes.
As expected, this guy was a madman befitting the cult.
'I thought the side effect was mania, but now it looks like obsession?'
But right now, his diagnosis wasn't the important thing.
"Is it that easy to transfer units in the cult? Get your head straight and focus on your own duties."
Sharing a room with this crazy stalker-type guy? No thank you.
Was it because I rejected him outright?
Grab.
This madman ended up kneeling and clinging to my pant leg.
"P-please, I beg you, Young Master! Use me however you want—just appoint me as your guard warrior!"
Seeing his desperate look, a thought naturally arose.
'Pathetic, Yangmun.'
No matter how love makes self-respect irrelevant, this was too pathetic.
* * *
Guyangmun, who had shown the depths of human depravity, finally noticed Jin Ha-yeon's bug-staring gaze and bolted out of Wind Rock Hall.
Time passed, rest time ended, and afterward, Il-mok spent his time sparring with Jin Ha-yeon as usual or training with his master.
More time passed, and as Jin Ha-yeon prepared to perform Pushing Palaces and Passing Meridians on Il-mok.
"My training today was a bit intense; I'm feeling a little peckish."
Il-mok muttered while rubbing his stomach.
"I'll go fetch some night snacks from the Snack Pavilion."
As Jin Ha-yeon prepared to leave Wind Rock Hall, Gwan Muyol, who had been standing guard in one corner, interjected.
"Miss Jin, continue with the Pushing Palaces and Passing Meridians. I'll handle the Snack Pavilion."
"It's fine. Officer Gwan."
When Jin Ha-yeon refused, Gwan Muyol replied in a serious tone.
"I'm fine with it. Even if I step out, Jang Hoe will be here, and you have plenty to do, Miss Jin?"
In the end, Jin Ha-yeon had no choice but to nod to Gwan Muyol's firm insistence that wasn't quite insistence.
"Then, I'll leave it to you."
No sooner had Jin Ha-yeon spoken than Gwan Muyol left Wind Rock Hall, and Jin Ha-yeon turned her emotionless face to begin massaging Il-mok's body.
Feeling the chill transmitted through Jin Ha-yeon's hands, Il-mok thought.
'What? Does that guy like Miss Jin too?'
Until now, neither Gwan Muyol nor Jang Hoe had ever stepped in to help her during the various tasks she performed for him.
Perhaps because of Guyangmun's antics today, Il-mok found their sudden show of goodwill toward Jin Ha-yeon strangely off-putting.
'Hmm. If things go well, I might get some fun entertainment.'
The first image that popped into Il-mok's head was Gwan Muyol and Guyangmun fighting over Jin Ha-yeon in a messy love triangle.
And Jin Ha-yeon would surely watch those two with a bug-staring gaze.
* * *
Meanwhile.
Gwan Muyol, who had become the victim of Il-mok's bizarre imagination, quickly made his way to the Snack Pavilion.
"What shall I prepare for you?"
"Some simple snacks to go with Dragon Well Tea, please."
To the woman on duty at the Snack Pavilion, Gwan Muyol answered in his curt tone.
The woman drew hot water from the weakly burning hearth she had kept going during her shift, brewed the tea, and plated a few pre-prepared night snacks.
Gwan Muyol then placed the cup, where the tea leaves were just starting to steep, and the snacks on a tray and stood up.
"Won't you eat here?"
"I'm just running an errand."
The woman bowed her head without further questions at Gwan Muyol's reply.
"Take care."
Nodding, Gwan Muyol left the Snack Pavilion.
But instead of heading straight to Wind Rock Hall, he slipped into a dark side path midway.
With anxious eyes, Gwan Muyol scanned his surroundings, let out a sigh of relief, and pulled a small leather pouch from his bosom.
Rustle.
Untying the string on the leather pouch revealed a mushroom with vibrant patterns that looked like a poisonous toadstool inside.
Gwan Muyol then pinched off the tip of the mushroom with his thumb and index finger, infused it with internal energy to grind it into powder, and stirred it into the Dragon Well Tea.