Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Each One's Choice
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I blankly stared at Hwa-ryeon's retreating figure as she quickly slipped through the wide-open door.
Who would have thought that Hwa-ryeon would be the one to kiss me first?
Was it because she felt a sense of crisis from what happened with Zhuge Seo-hee last night?
If so, did that mean I had to thank that woman for advancing things with her?
Even amid the heat surging through my body and the chaotic mess in my head, the sensation of Hwa-ryeon's lips pressing against mine remained vivid.
As I lingered on the softness that still seemed to cling to the tip of my lips, the hesitant voice of the maid reached my ears.
"Have you... finished preparing?"
What was with this woman, constantly interrupting since earlier?
My eyes, tinged with slight irritation, caught sight of her anxious face, filled with worry as she fidgeted.
Of course.
It seemed the Zhuge family head was quite upset.
She was hurrying before things got worse?
"Yes, sure. Let's go."
Only then did the maid's face brighten a little as she led the way.
And so, we hurried toward the family head's residence.
Thanks to that, the grand family head's hall soon came into view.
But at that moment, the maid walking ahead suddenly stopped and turned to me hesitantly.
"A moment, if you would?"
What?
Weren't we in a rush?
Though puzzled by her inconsistent behavior, I nodded.
"Yes. What is it?"
"It's just... I have something I'd like to ask about what happened last night."
That again.
The maids were gossiping excitedly, and it seemed everyone in the family knew.
Grumbling inwardly, I shrugged and replied.
"I'm sorry to disappoint, but nothing happened last night. I swear on the heavens, I'm innocent."
The maid immediately nodded in agreement.
"Yes. The young lady already told me that."
"...She told you?"
I looked at the maid anew.
She still retained traces of her former beauty from her youth, dressed in clothes that stood out more than those of the regular maids.
Who was she?
She didn't seem like an ordinary servant.
"I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Cho Ok-seon, the one who oversees the maids of the Zhuge family. Please call me Madam Cho."
"Yes, Madam Cho. But the young lady told you..."
"I'm also her wet nurse, so she shares everything with me without reservation."
"Ah...."
I immediately understood Madam Cho's words.
In a great family like this, the wet nurse of a direct descendant often formed deeper bonds than the busy biological mother.
And that was true for me as well.
My relationship with my mother wasn't distant, but whenever I wanted to vent, the first person I sought was my wet nurse.
My wet nurse, who always smiled and listened whenever I came to her.
Naturally, her final moments flashed before my eyes.
The sight of her killed by those damn Dark Heaven Division bastards, unable to even close her eyes.
I had personally avenged her, but that didn't bring the dead back.
The person who had warmly stroked my head in my childhood was no longer in this world.
"......"
"Young master? What's wrong all of a sudden?"
"...No, it's nothing."
Shaking off the sad memory, I shook my head and continued the conversation.
"So? The young lady told you, so you know what happened?"
"No, it's not just that."
"What do you mean?"
After a moment's hesitation at my question, a heavy voice followed.
"...It was I who dressed the young lady last night and sent her to your room."
"......"
Madam Cho, unable to properly meet my tightly pressed lips, soon asked cautiously.
"If it's not rude, may I ask... why you did nothing?"
Why? Didn't she already guess earlier?
Gazing at Madam Cho for a moment, I shrugged and answered lightly.
"As you saw earlier, I already have someone. Besides, I don't have a hobby of touching women who are trembling in fear."
I recalled Zhuge Seo-hee's state at the time.
Her words were quite skilled in seduction, but her body's reactions were honest.
Her shaking hands, her pale face filled with dread of what was to come.
If I had gone through with it after seeing that, what would make me different from that lecherous bastard, the Jade-Faced Incubus?
Hearing my answer, Madam Cho looked at me with a strange gaze for a moment before bowing politely.
"...Thank you."
There was no need to ask what she was thanking me for.
And Madam Cho's gratitude didn't end with words.
"While you're staying with the Zhuge family, if you need any help, call for me anytime. I'll do my utmost to assist."
"Yes, if such a need arises, I will."
As the wet nurse of a direct blood relative, her status in the family wouldn't be low.
Considering what we had planned ahead, Madam Cho's help might prove to be a greater asset than expected.
With that thought, as I replied, Madam Cho gave a small smile and resumed leading me to the family head's office.
"Family Head, I've brought him."
-Let him enter.
A voice devoid of any emotion.
It was so eerily calm that it felt unsettling.
You know how it is.
Some people become all the more composed and serene when truly angry.
And then there was that other presence inside.
Hm, so it was going to be a three-way meeting?
"...Will you be alright?"
I nodded at Madam Cho's cautious whisper.
"Yes, I'll be fine, so don't worry."
After reassuring her with a slight smile, I opened the office door and stepped inside.
There sat the Zhuge family head in the central seat, with Zhuge Seo-hee right beside him.
I first greeted the family head.
"Did you rest well last night?"
"Come in, young hero. Regrettably, I did not."
His usual refined face bore a regretful smile, as if that was all he felt.
But if that were truly the case, he wouldn't have summoned me this early in the morning.
And he'd even called Zhuge Seo-hee along...
It seemed the family head hadn't given up on trying to pair me with her yet.
And the reason was probably to obtain my martial arts.
The elder council leader was the same—why did they all think alike?
Grumbling inwardly, I closed the office door and took a seat.
Alright, let's hear it then.
What exactly was he going to say?
And what was he hiding within those words?
*
"...Sigh."
After parting with Ja-seong and leaving the family head's residence, Madam Cho let out a small sigh.
Ja-seong himself said he was fine, but his opponent was the Zhuge family head, called the Divine Machine Zhuge.
With hundreds of serpents surely coiled within him, was he really alright...?
Having developed considerable goodwill toward Ja-seong because of Seo-hee, Madam Cho worried he might not escape the family head's clutches unscathed.
As she walked with heavy steps, lost in thought, a familiar figure approached from the opposite direction.
"Madam Cho."
"Oh, Great Madam...! I'm sorry. I was lost in thought and..."
Only after hearing the Great Madam call her did Madam Cho realize her presence and hastily apologize.
Fortunately, the Great Madam didn't mind and shook her head.
"It's fine. But has that guest from the guest quarters already gone to the family head's residence?"
"Yes, I just saw him enter the office on my way out."
"...Hmm."
The Great Madam let out a small hum at Madam Cho's reply.
Madam Cho tilted her head at her mother-in-law's odd reaction.
"Is something wrong?"
"The family head is meeting with him alongside Seo-hee?"
Madam Cho's face stiffened slightly as she answered the follow-up question.
"Yes. It seems he hasn't given up yet."
He had even offered up her beloved Zhuge Seo-hee as a card, so he wouldn't yield easily.
'It must be that he covets the guest's martial arts that much.'
Indeed, the wind-like movements she'd seen at the banquet were extraordinary even to her, no expert in martial arts.
The many retainers gathered at the Zhuge family.
Those who had come for various reasons and opportunities were undoubtedly renowned masters of the martial world.
Yet none of those masters had shown movements like Ja-seong's.
'That's why he offered Seo-hee.'
Beauty hailed as Hubei's top.
The bloodline of the venerable Zhuge family.
The wealth amassed by dominating trade routes.
Zhuge Seo-hee was undoubtedly the family head's best card.
The problem was that it hadn't worked.
'And even with the Bewitching Incense prepared.'
When Seo-hee first returned draped in that large robe, she'd been truly shocked by her words.
For a man to reject Seo-hee, even after she'd taken the Bewitching Incense?
It was something that had never happened in all the years past.
Though the reality was slightly different, Madam Cho, unaware of the antidote, could only think that way.
"That guest seems a bit different."
"Yes. He certainly stands out from ordinary warriors."
And the Great Madam felt the same.
But she went further, seemingly revising her opinion of Ja-seong as well.
"What do you think about that guest truly becoming Seo-hee's husband?"
"...Pardon?"
Madam Cho blinked in wide-eyed surprise.
More than anyone, it had been the Great Madam who actively tried to prevent Ja-seong from being matched with Seo-hee.
For her to change her mind in just one day?
"Why... have you changed your mind?"
"Even if nothing happened this time, there's no guarantee it will be the same next time."
"......."
Madam Cho fell silent at the Great Madam's subdued words.
A warrior was one who wielded power and force.
Especially those deemed masters often became arrogant drunkards on their own strength, acting violently without restraint.
Such men easily unleashed that brutality even on their wives or concubines.
Of course, the family head wouldn't have cared about such savagery if he could gain a master's power.
In the end, it had led to a collateral branch girl, offered up like a sacrifice, hanging herself.
The Great Madam couldn't forget that corpse's face.
Bruised and swollen everywhere, it looked as though it still writhed in pain even in death.
"I cannot tolerate my children ending up like that. At least that guest has proven himself not to be such a man. With him, I could feel a little more at ease."
"Great Madam...."
Seeing not the matriarch of the mighty Zhuge family, but a mother concerned for her daughter's safety and happiness, Madam Cho could say nothing.