A Change of Heart
When Byeokunja and Geukseon entered the grand, raucous banquet at Jegal Clan Manor, the martial artists who spotted them all hurried to greet the two of them with proper deference.
Byeokunja was the Sword Venerable.
Even setting that title aside, he was a generation senior to most of the current sect chiefs, clan heads, and masters in Murim.
That alone was reason enough to treat him with respect.
And Geukseon, too, was the junior martial aunt of the current Jongnam Sect leader.
So even if only Geukseon had come, most of them would still have had to act more or less the same.
Byeokunja and Geukseon strode confidently toward the spot where the Jegal Clan head and Jegal Seyeong were standing.
Seeing them approach, the Jegal Clan head could not hide his surprise.
The clan master of a middling sect nearby, who had been offering his congratulations to Jegal Seyeong, quickly bowed his head and slipped away.
“No. Senior? Geukseon? What brings you back here?”
“We had business to attend to,” Geukseon said, then pulled a small box from her sleeve and handed it to Jegal Seyeong. “Here, girl. Take this.”
It was a paper box. When Jegal Seyeong opened it, she found a splendid jade hair ornament inside and looked up at Geukseon in startled delight.
“Now, something like that ought to be worn by a lovely girl like you. Keep it.”
At that, Jegal Seyeong wore a deeply honored expression and bowed in thanks.
The one who looked puzzled, rather, was the Jegal Clan head.
Geukseon? Giving gifts? And to the direct descendants of a clan that had nothing to do with her?
“What inspired this change of heart?” he asked.
“Nothing much, Clan Head,” Geukseon replied. “If we’ve come as guests, should we not act with proper courtesy?”
“Ha! Not a word of that is wrong, Geukseon! Let me welcome you to our manor once again.”
Though the Jegal Clan head thought it strange in his heart, he was not foolish enough to reveal suspicion at a fine occasion like this.
Then he saw Byeokunja and Geukseon step away at once, turn their heads this way and that, and head straight toward Baek Harin.
So that was it. They still haven’t given up. Good grief.
Harin, Moyong Jua, Paeng Jeon-ho, and Dang Yeong-young all stood frozen as Byeokunja and Geukseon approached them.
Dang Yeong-young especially wanted to flee this place at once, but she could not bring herself to move.
It felt as though she were a frog staring down a snake. A fear she had never known before.
Without meaning to, she ended up clutching the hem of Harin’s robe.
Harin noticed the unexpected gesture and smiled faintly at her.
And in that instant, Dang Yeong-young felt as though she had been struck by a lethal poison.
It was a brand of confusion she had never experienced before.
“Elder Byeokunja, Senior Geukseon. It’s good to see you again.”
When I said that, Byeokunja looked a little embarrassed.
Geukseon, however, was another matter entirely. Her eyes burned as though they were about to shoot out lasers, yet she still smiled while speaking.
“I have come for what I left behind.”
“Ah. I see. In that case, you could have sent someone for it.”
“I misspoke. It was not something I left behind. It was someone I left behind.”
That made it clear enough.
Ah. So she still hasn’t given up. Well, of course she wouldn’t back down that easily.
I collected my thoughts for a moment.
They’d said that because it had been a long time since the Dang Clan came all the way to Jegal Clan Manor, they planned to stay for quite a while.
At minimum, they’d be here for about a month, right?
Which meant that if I stayed here, I’d be holed up in Waseonchae the entire time.
Not to mention I might keep running into them by accident on my way in and out.
So yeah. Leaving Jegal Clan Manor was the right move.
I didn’t particularly want to stay long enough to turn this place into a disaster zone.
Maybe that was my ego talking, but no one would think otherwise.
Dang Ho-jun’s reaction had proven that much already.
“Senior, are you saying you’d like to take this humble girl with you?”
“Why ask something so obvious? Did I not say it plainly already? If that were not so, why would I have come back all this way?”
“Then I will do so.”
As soon as I said that, Geukseon’s eyes widened.
What? Did she hear that right?
Even Byeokunja, who had been looking away as though it were none of his concern, turned in surprise to stare at me, and Moyong Jua and Paeng Jeon-ho both looked equally shocked.
“However, as I said, I will not become a disciple. I do not wish to receive a blessing that is so far beyond me.”
“What nonsense is this, saying a disciple is beyond you! Hah!? There are plenty of worthless fools in my own sect who strut about claiming to be formal disciples!”
Geukseon stopped herself after saying that, perhaps realizing her voice had grown a little too loud.
She didn’t seem like the sort to care much about such things, but what she had just said was effectively insulting her own sect, Jongnam. Best not to be careless with her words. Even Geukseon had to mind that much.
At any rate, after she spoke, Byeokunja glanced sidelong at her, gauging her mood.
How strange. Why would someone as lofty as the Sword Venerable be checking a junior’s expression like that?
Wasn’t it usually the other way around?
Geukseon looked at Harin for a moment and considered it.
They could go together. But taking her as a disciple would be difficult.
She was stubborn, yes, but Geukseon felt that much was enough.
That stubbornness could be softened with patience and care.
Or perhaps, if they simply traveled together long enough, Harin’s heart might change of its own accord.
With that thought, Geukseon’s expression became quite gentle, as though the irritation from earlier had belonged to someone else entirely.
“Very well. Girl, then you mean you are willing to travel with us?”
“Yes, Senior.”
“Good. Good. Then that is settled. Now, where would you like to go? Is there somewhere you want to see?”
“Pardon? Don’t Elder Byeokunja and Senior Geukseon have to return at once?”
“And why should we?”
Geukseon said this with complete confidence. “Wherever our feet take us becomes our destination! Isn’t that right, martial uncle?”
“Well, that’s true enough, isn’t it? Since when have you and I ever remained cooped up in one place? Heh heh heh.”
Byeokunja chuckled, looking as though he were in high spirits.
Are they really that happy? Murim folk sure do have an absurd appetite for promising talent.
“Then may I go wherever I wish?”
“Of course. Say the word. Is there any place you cannot go? What could possibly be difficult about it?”
“I understand. Then… since Jegal young lady’s banquet is not yet over, let us leave after it ends.”
“Good. That’s the right thought. Then, martial uncle! Let us step away for a while. We cannot interrupt these young people from getting along.”
Geukseon looked pleased as she left with Byeokunja.
Only then did Dang Yeong-young, who had still been clutching my sleeve, reluctantly let go with a disappointed look.
Moyong Jua stared at me in open surprise. “What? Baek young lady! You’re leaving here!?”
“You know why, Moyong young lady.”
“B-But even so… that’s a little… ugh, I mean…”
She trailed off, clearly reluctant to say more.
Then she suddenly looked at Dang Yeong-young and blurted out, “Young-ah. Why does Jegal young lady love a brat like your older brother so much?”
“How should I know? Why she likes a jerk like that is beyond me.”
Mm. Calling her own brother a jerk? Yep, definitely siblings. She really went and proved it.
Still, I had a similar thought.
Even knowing that Jegal Seyeong liked him, he still kept showing such interest in me.
If he had at least looked at Jegal Seyeong and turned her down firmly, that would have been one thing.
Thinking about it that way, Dang Ho-jun was not exactly a guy I liked.
To the point that Jegal Seyeong almost seemed wasted on him.
But this world did not work like that. For a woman in a clan like this, romance was a luxury.
She’d most likely be used as a tool for an arranged marriage.
Jegal Clan probably wanted to connect with the Dang Clan through Jegal Seyeong and Dang Ho-jun.
From the Jegal Clan’s perspective, that would be a good thing. Since Jegal Seyeong already had feelings for Dang Ho-jun, things had turned convenient for them.
But Dang Ho-jun probably didn’t feel the same. Well, that wasn’t my problem.
Moyong Jua still looked disappointed. Then Dang Yeong-young glanced at me and spoke carefully.
“Baek young lady.”
“Yes. Speak, Dang young lady.”
“You don’t have anywhere to go?”
Look at this girl, talking to me like I’m some wandering drifter with nowhere to call home.
Ha. What a sharp one. Damn it.
To be honest, she wasn’t wrong. I had been thinking of leaving Jegal Clan Manor to avoid the chaos, but I hadn’t actually decided where to go. I still hadn’t settled on what I should do either.
“I have too many places to choose from, so I’m deciding.”
I said that because I didn’t want her to see through me.
Mm. That was pretty flimsy. And I didn’t even have a plan. Had I been too impulsive?
“If you don’t have anywhere to go, then help me get back to my main house.”
Moyong Jua tilted her head at that and asked from the side, “Huh? Young-ah. What are you talking about? Why would you go back to your main house?”
“Because this got boring, so I should go home. Are you planning to stay here forever?”
Then Moyong Jua smiled, as if she had figured everything out. “I see. So you said you’re not interested in Young Master Namgung anymore, right? And you just want to stay with Baek young lady longer, Young-ah? Is that it?”
“Hey! Stop saying useless stuff!”
Dang Yeong-young’s face turned red as she shrieked.
Wow. She really is the sort of girl who doesn’t fit today’s trends at all. A blunt, hopeless tsundere type, huh?
“Sichuan is too far away, so I think that’d be a little difficult. I don’t have any business going there either.”
“But I gave you Jitong Mountain!”
“Young-ah. Isn’t asking her to take you all the way back to the Dang Clan through Jitong Mountain a little shameless?”
“Agh! Stop butting in!”
After screaming that, Dang Yeong-young bit her lip hard.
She really was easy to read. How could someone be so transparent?
Her inner thoughts were basically made of glass. But even so, wasn’t she a little too immature?
“Then I’ll head back to Waseonchae. Please enjoy the banquet, all three of you.”
“Huh? No, Baek young lady. We said we’d go to Waseonchae together, didn’t we? Young-ah, hurry along. We’re going back to our lodging. Jeon-ho, let’s go.”
At that, Dang Yeong-young shot Moyong Jua a glare.
But Moyong Jua ignored it with the ease of long practice.
And just like that, Moyong Jua, Paeng Jeon-ho, and I turned away and headed for Waseonchae.
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