The Declaration - 1
"Hayeon-unni... I trusted youuuu!"
Jegal Hyang clutched her head, writhing in anguish.
The plan to make Im Hayeon the Shadowless Divine Thief. For the past several months the three of them had moved as one body, and the plan had succeeded — Im Hayeon had surpassed every expectation to become the Mangju of Haomun.
With everything finally over, Jegal Hyang had allowed herself a quiet hope.
— I'll help you.
They had promised each other, after all.
She had spent all this time boosting Hayeon-unni along, so now it ought to be her turn. With Hayeon-unni's help, she could get that much closer to Young Master Kang.
And yet.
"Who vanishes the very moment the problem is solved, I ask youuu?!"
She had trusted her. She had trusted Hayeon-unni! Jegal Hyang drummed her fingers against the desk, spitting out little bursts of fury at the injustice of it all.
— Fine. Once this business is over, I won't say a word even if you monopolize Young Master Kang for a while, Lady Jegal.
"Young Master Kang is out and about all day while I'm stuck at home doing nothing but work — what part of that is a monopolyyy?!"
A monopoly it was, technically. She was doing all the work Im Hayeon used to handle, dumped on her all at once.
"Ugh. I should have read that contract properly."
There had been a reason the elders of her clan always said to read a contract two and three times over, and to seek their counsel the moment she didn't understand something. Resting her chin on the desk, Jegal Hyang thought of the departed Im Hayeon.
'I understand Hayeon-unni's circumstances, truly. But I can't help feeling hurt.'
Jegal Hyang bore no deep grudge over what had passed these last few months.
Hayeon-unni had never tried to hog Young Master Kang's attention for herself, after all. She had been more than considerate — whenever Jegal Hyang hinted at something beside Young Master Kang, Hayeon-unni would give him an earful until he took notice, and she never once left her out of anything. Every now and then she even went out of her way to leave the two of them alone together.
Even so, a disappointment was a disappointment. Jegal Hyang let out a small sigh.
"I want to spend time with Young Master Kang too, just like Hayeon-unni doooes."
There was far too much work. Some days Young Master Kang didn't come home at all. At this rate she was going to end up married to the job.
Jegal Hyang closed her eyes and pictured herself clumsily making the offer to a busy Kang Yunho.
— Young Master Kang. Would you like to go out together today?
— Hm? Ah... I suppose. Sure, why not.
An answer delivered with an expression that was neither refusal nor consent, his eyes saying, I'm busy — can't you tell? If Young Master Kang ever reacted to her like that...
"No! M-my heart would crumble to dust, it wooould!"
Just imagining it squeezed the air from her chest. Pressing both hands to her heart, Jegal Hyang writhed in mental anguish.
"It feels like I only just recovered from the last time..."
There had been friction, yes, but the atmosphere had been lovely — everyone bound tight around a single purpose.
That the purpose happened to be thievery was a small problem.
The three of them working side by side in the office, and whenever an odd quiet settled over the room, she would find Hayeon-unni's gaze drifting toward Young Master Kang — or catch her own gaze, before she knew it, fixed on him as well.
When Young Master Kang lifted his head at the strange atmosphere, their eyes would meet, and each time they would trade a little suppressed smile. The flustered scramble back to work, faces flushed — to Jegal Hyang, it had all felt so new, so thrilling.
Now she sat alone in that office — imprisoned in a mountain of paperwork.
"It is a chance to have him to myself, just like Hayeon-unni saiid..."
Only Kang Yunho and Jegal Hyang lived in the residence now. No more meddlers remained.
Surely a tremendous opportunity for love to advance. And yet one great problem stood in the way.
"I haven't changed one biiit."
She herself hadn't changed in the slightest. So how was she supposed to get any closer to Young Master Kang?
Jegal Hyang sighed at the frustration of it, then took up her brush once more.
Morning. Noon. Evening.
Even with the day's work finished, she never once caught sight of Kang Yunho's face.
"Lady Jegal! Did you sleep well?"
The next day, Kang Yunho — home at last around midnight the night before — asked her with a face full of vigor.
"Yeees."
In the end, she hadn't managed so much as a single meal with Young Master Kang yesterday either. Jegal Hyang answered in a deflated voice.
"Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
"N-no, Young Master Kang. Here are the documents."
The last thing I need is for him to start thinking of me as a bother. Jegal Hyang shook her head quickly and handed Kang Yunho the papers she had finished the day before.
"Hm..."
But Kang Yunho kept his mouth firmly shut and did not take the documents.
"Young Master Kaaang?"
What could be the matter? Was something wrong? As Jegal Hyang looked up at him in bewilderment, an unexpected answer left his lips.
"Lady Jegal. Come out with me today."
And he said it wearing a smile of sheer irresistible force — one that Jegal Hyang could never possibly have refused.
"Lady Jegal. We've arrived."
"Daseogak? Has something happened at Daseogak?"
The moment Lady Jegal stepped down from the carriage, she looked at me with a bewildered expression, wondering whether some problem had arisen that the owner of Daseogak was needed to solve.
The real reason was something else entirely.
'I haven't been looking after Lady Jegal nearly enough.'
It wasn't as though I lacked the eyes to see why Lady Jegal had been feeling so deflated. Buried as I was under a bombshell of backlog like a schoolboy's neglected vacation homework, Lady Jegal was still the one person I had to make time for.
'I must not take Lady Jegal's kindness for granted.'
Lady Jegal was not one of my employees.
She was my arranged match, and I helped her only because we happened to be living under one roof. Her goodwill was not something to be taken for granted.
Knowing her personality, her grievances would pile up layer by layer, and she would never breathe a word of them to anyone — just suffer in silence until it all festered and she collapsed.
So how was I to rekindle the spirits of a deflated Lady Jegal?
'By putting on a little event, just for her.'
I had a plan ready and waiting.
"Ah! The manager's here! Hello!"
As we entered Daseogak, Ha Soso greeted us warmly. The other employees, who had been farther off, crept closer at my sudden appearance to offer their greetings as well.
"Soso, tell everyone not to mind me and get back to work."
"Yes! Teehee! Back to work we go!"
Ha Soso always threw herself into her work with such energy — I liked that about her. I led Lady Jegal up to the second floor of Daseogak.
"Young Master Kang, why have we come to Daseogaa?"
"To spend the day with you, Lady Jegal."
"At Daseogak?"
"Step inside the counter, if you would."
Smiling, I swung open the counter's side door like the doorman of some grand hotel and gestured with an open palm toward a chair tucked away in the corner.
I had something prepared, after all. Please, have a seat.
"Eh?! You don't mean— the flirting thing?!"
But Lady Jegal did not step inside the counter; she only looked back and forth between me and the counter with startled eyes.
"Hm?"
What was strange about that?
Then Lady Jegal's face abruptly began to drain white.
"I-I've heard of thaaat. That bright, cheerful young men and women get to flirt and chatter together while they work. A corner of youth. That heartwarming sight that leaves you smiling just from watching it! Is, is that what you mean?"
"Ah. Well..."
Was she seriously picturing those too-pretty part-time couples at a café, trading subtle little displays of affection across the counter?
I'd witnessed it once or twice myself. Good for them, honestly. Though every time couples like that applied for work, I told them to keep to the kitchen where nobody had to look at them.
I'm jealous, that's all. It used to be nice and quiet in here. Fine, I'll take the counter myself. This place is going on my blacklist. No, wait — if they run out of tasks, they'll just go stage some dazzling scene of youth, won't they.
I won't stand for it. Your sentence: the S'mores Crunch Coffee Set — the one that takes five times the labor.
"I'm sorry! I'll go back and w-work extra hard, I promise! I know drawing in between counts as work too, so I won't fool around in my room anymore! Tomorrow I'll work morning, noon, and night! J-just please, spare me the counter...!"
At the mere thought of having to take orders at the counter, Lady Jegal's trauma switch seemed to flip, and her eyes darted about with nowhere to land.
"Ahaha. You won't be taking any orders or making anything. Just sit beside me."
I don't want to work either.
"Yeees?"
"Come and sit. Soso, do it just as I told you."
"Yes, Manager!"
To coax the bewildered Lady Jegal over, I arranged a seat for her in the deepest corner of the counter and sat down right beside it.
"But why are we sitting here...?"
Lady Jegal asked as she awkwardly settled into the innermost corner seat.
"Shh. Quiet now. Just listen."
"Yeees?"
How was I to lift Lady Jegal's spirits?
A simple I'm sorry or thank you — words alone would bring her little comfort.
'What she needs is to feel a sense of reward of her own.'
Like a spy on an eavesdropping mission, I ducked my head and beamed gently at Lady Jegal.
It was nearly time for the little event prepared just for her to begin.
"At last! This month's illustration for Author Hopil's work is up!"
"I've been waiting for this!"
"Eh?"
Startled, Lady Jegal turned her head toward the voices.
Today was the day Lady Jegal's newest painting would be hung in one corner of Daseogak.
"Look at that painting. It's overwhelming."
"You can feel Dang Jeong's resolve! The will of a man who cannot reach his beloved without stepping over his own corpse!"
"What?! This month the Two Flowers of Blue and Red are captured in a single piece!"
"You can feel their jealousy of one another and their love for Dang Jeong. One would think the artist painted them from life."
It was the perfect day to witness the crowd's reactions erupting all at once.
"And this?! Is this the Shadowless Divine Thief walking upon water! Good heavens! What a painting, brimming with life!"
"Heheheh."
The corners of Lady Jegal's mouth were curling upward.
When is a creator happiest? When people shower their work with praise, of course.
No matter how much they may have suffered for it, once the good reactions start pouring in, no creator alive can resist soaking up every last one.
And in a world without comment sections or the internet, there are precious few ways to actually see and hear those reactions.
'Lady Jegal avoids crowded places. Which makes the inside of the counter the perfect spot.'
Just as one reads every comment without replying to each in turn, having her hide inside the counter and listen was the very best method there was.
"Who on earth is the master painter behind such work? Never in my days have I seen one with such skill."
"Wherever did Author Hopil find such a painter! It is truly astonishing!"
"Hehehehe. Oh, it's really not that great..."
"It is exactly that great."
"Y-Young Master Kang?!"
Had she momentarily forgotten I was sitting right beside her?
Lady Jegal, utterly failing to manage her expression, grinned goofily — then, at the sound of my voice, turned to look at me with a face gone scarlet.
"People wait all month for nothing but your paintings, Lady Jegal. On days like today, when your work goes up, the crowd starts stirring from morning."
This was an occasion to honor her hard work. I regarded Lady Jegal with the utmost seriousness.
"Well, they are illustrations for Author Hopil's work, after all."
Lady Jegal let her shoulders slump, every trace of confidence gone.
"People wait for it because Author Hopil's writing is good, yes — but if it weren't for your paintings, Lady Jegal, the crowds would never gather like that."
"R-really?"
"Listen for yourself. Isn't it nothing but praise out there?"
I pointed toward the hanging scroll where the crowd had thronged.
Lady Jegal poked her head out and stared, dazed, at the scene.
Praise flowed without end. Now — this was the moment, while she was too overwhelmed to know what to do with herself.
"Y-Y-Young Master Kang?!"
I sank to one knee and looked up at the flustered Lady Jegal.
Our eyes met. In her flushed eyes, my face filled her every view.
"Lady Jegal."
I called to her, barely above a whisper.
"......"
Lady Jegal's eyes trembled.
"Thank you. Always. However many times I say it, it never seems like enough."
"Ah?! Yes! Yesyesyes!"
Her head bobbed up and down furiously, like a motor seized by an overcurrent.
"Now, up you get."
It was time to move on to the next course.
"C-couldn't we stay just a little longer?"
Lady Jegal gazed longingly toward the scroll.
I understood she was delighted by the reactions, but riding every up and down of the crowd's mood and staying fixated on it wouldn't do either.
Was there no way to get Lady Jegal back on her feet?
There was.
"Here."
"Eh?!"
Lady Jegal stared at my outstretched hand in astonishment.
"Lunch today is my treat."
My hand, or the crowd's reactions. Which will you choose?
"Heheh. Yeees."
Lady Jegal seized my hand tight, without a moment's hesitation.
"Waaah. Manager Kang. I'm telling Hayeon-unni you two were canoodling at Daseogak."
Go easy on me, Soso.
A place set one step apart from all the clamor of Wuhan.
If money is where every problem begins, then this mansion stood in the stillest eye of the storm — perched at the very heart of the typhoon called money.
The master of the mansion — the Mangeum Lord, Jang Noya — spoke as he watered the orchids in their pots.
"Kang Yunho. How has that boy been faring of late?"
"The troubles that once swirled about Young Master Kang appear to be settling down now, my lord."
The Chief Steward of Mangeum Hall, head bowed, began a brief report on Kang Yunho's recent doings.
"And how do things progress with my granddaughter?"
"When I asked the guard posted at Daseogak, I was told that just today the two of them walked out hand in hand to share a meal."
"Hohh."
Kang Yunho had held hands with his granddaughter.
No one alive could fail to grasp what it means when a man and a woman hold hands. The Mangeum Lord stroked his beard with a faint chuckle.
The orchid in its pot glowed with fresh vitality. It was ready to be transplanted into the garden.
The Mangeum Lord nodded in satisfaction.
"Then the hour has come at last, Kang Yunho, for me to have words with that boy."