Women of Another World Are Weak to Praise
Women of another world are weak to praise.
"A spirit medicine?"
Mother turned my words over, plainly doubtful.
"Yes! Nothing makes you stronger than a spirit medicine, right? Master told me to build up a full sixty years of internal energy before I come of age, and we ought to reward Tomusa too. She's the one who deserves the most credit for dealing with those assassins!"
Mother looked as if my argument had set her at odds with herself. I leaned in and whispered at her ear.
"When you give a reward, it has to be a grand one. That's how you win people's trust~."
She laughed as though she hardly knew what to do with me.
"Honestly. Where did a child learn to talk like that? Very well. I shall have spirit medicines purchased for Hayeong and for you. But only one a year."
"Yes! Mom, you're the best!!"
I planted kiss after kiss on her cheek.
"Then is that the end of your business?"
"No. I've still got more to say!"
I slipped down out of her arms and stood before the two of them, Mother and Father both.
"I was safe because of you. Thank you. Truly."
I bent at the waist and offered my parents a formal bow of gratitude. When I finished and stole a glance at their faces, Father looked ready to cry, and Mother seemed more than a little thrown. The sight made me strangely shy. I scratched at my head.
"Then I'll get going. Love you, Mom, Dad!!"
I fled the room as if I were making an escape.
Tomusa, though, was wearing a distinctly sour look.
"Why the face? If you take a spirit medicine, you'll only get stronger."
"It isn't the medicine that startled me. I've simply never seen the Clan Lord wear an expression like that...."
"Mom? Hmm.... Maybe my praise pleased her a little too much."
"She did look that way after hearing your thanks, young master. But it was the first time I had ever seen the Clan Lord so, and I hardly know what to say...."
"Aw, don't fuss over it. She was just moved, that's all."
"Was she? I always thought the Clan Lord was a stern person...."
Chattering like that, we made our way back to the medicine hall.
"Young master, about that spirit medicine. You shouldn't ask the Clan Lord for such a thing without so much as a word to me."
"Why? Isn't it good news for you?"
"I only did what I was meant to do.... I can't accept a reward like that merely for being faithful to my duty."
"It's fine, it's fine~. If it really bothers you, just tell yourself you're getting stronger for my sake."
Tomusa seemed to sink into thought for a moment.
"Yes. If that's what it is, then I can accept it with an easy heart."
"You have to get strong later, Tomusa. For me."
"Yes. I will spare no effort."
She smoothed a hand over my head.
"But, young master, taking a spirit medicine is no excuse to neglect your training."
"O-of course not! Spirit medicine or not, I still have to keep sharpening my senses."
The more I looked at her, the more dutiful she seemed. Tch. I really thought she'd loosen up a little. Honestly, circulating my qi every single day was pretty grueling.
"Have you ever taken a spirit medicine, Tomusa?"
"No. Unfortunately, no heaven-sent fortune has ever come my way."
"And you're that strong without one?"
Even at a glance she ranked among the very strongest of our family's guards, and she had reached that realm on effort alone...!
"Yes. I simply worked without rest."
She scratched her cheek, as if embarrassed.
"No, that's amazing!! To climb that high on nothing but effort, without a single stroke of fortune!!"
At last she grew so shy she couldn't even meet my eyes.
"Heh~. So you are weak to praise."
"Weak? I am not weak."
She bristled, which I hadn't expected. Oh, teasing her is going to be worth it.
"Liar. You can't even look me in the eye right now."
"Hmph. I can."
Tomusa widened her eyes and fixed them on me.
"Ooh. Tomusa, you're so cool."
The moment I praised her, though, she broke into a fit of coughing, as if something had gone down the wrong way. In the end she turned her head and looked away. She had never been like this before, so the sight was new to me. Hehe... this is about to get fun.
"Then I will sleep now, so please rest comfortably as well, young master."
She was even pretending to go to sleep. Knowing her, she wouldn't actually drop off. That was a ploy to shake me off. No question.
"Then let's sleep together."
I pushed my way into the narrow circle of her arms and lay down on the bed.
"Y-young master...? If you say something like that so suddenly...."
"Why? We sleep together all the time."
"Please don't say it so loudly!"
The fact that we shared a bed seemed to put her in a bind. She moved to clap a hand over my mouth.
"Whyyy?"
I put on my most innocent face, the better to tease her a little more.
"People will misunderstand."
So that was what worried her. Even if the truth got out, it hardly mattered to me. Should the story ever reach Mother, I had more than enough excuses ready.
"Misunderstand what? We're only sleeping together."
"All right. Let's take a nap, then. In return, please be quiet."
"Hee~. Okay!"
I burrowed deeper into her arms on purpose. For some reason, Tomusa tried to edge toward the outside of the bed.
"Keep that up and you'll roll right off."
"I'm fine. I won't fall from this."
"Heh, all right! Then let me use your arm as a pillow."
Granting that request as well seemed, to her, like a sure way to actually fall. She came in close in one swift shift. I ended up caught in the hollow of her embrace, but I didn't mind.
"Whoa! Tomusa, your heart is beating so fast!!"
I said it and looked up at her. Her face had gone as red as her own eyes.
I had thought her bold. She was surprisingly shy.
"You don't have to be embarrassed, Tomusa."
"I am not embarrassed. It's the medicine."
"You took that quite a while ago, didn't you?"
"...."
To think a day would come when my words left Tomusa unable to move.
"It's because I'm pressed up against you, young master, and I've grown warm."
This time she was using me as the excuse.
"Yeah? Then I'll wrap you in cold energy."
I drew internal energy up from my dantian and turned it to chill, letting the cold circulate naturally through my whole body.
"Better now?"
Ah! I had been so focused on drawing out the cold that I never noticed Tomusa fall asleep. Still, she might only be pretending, so I held a hand beneath her nose.
Hmm... judging by her breathing, she did seem to be asleep....
Hard to say.
I would just have to be satisfied with having seen another side of her.
"Today was a pretty rewarding day too...."
And I drifted off.
"Dear, do you truly mean to give I-hyeon a spirit medicine?"
Yu Dan-a's husband put the question to her.
"We have no shortage of such things—hwan-dan elixirs, ginseng, and the like. I always intended to give them to him."
"You mean once he has grown beyond what he is now, don't you? At present it may be too soon."
"Hwi-gyeom has discovered I-hyeon's existence, which we kept hidden from her, so the days ahead will be busy. We cannot wait until the boy is fully grown. I have already set the condition of one a year, so I do not believe it will pose a problem. And when I-hyeon absorbs the spirit medicine, I myself will aid him. You need not worry."
At that, her husband accepted it, and in the end he nodded. Their talk had just ended when a voice came from beyond the door.
"May I come in?"
One of the household attendants was addressing Yu Dan-a.
"You may."
The door slid open.
"Physician. What brings you here?"
"There is a matter I must report, concerning the young master."
"Slept well...!"
"Did you sleep well too, Tomusa?"
I woke to find her watching me with a soft, easy smile.
"Yes. Thanks to you, young master, I slept comfortably as well."
"Then why is it so dark outside?"
"We only took a nap. The day isn't over yet."
"What! Then you should have woken me. Ugh, now I won't be able to sleep tonight either."
When I grumbled, Tomusa smiled, just a little.
"Then, until you fall asleep, would you like to do something fun with me?"
"Something fun?"
"Close your eyes tight, and take my hand."
"Okay!"
Just as she said, I shut my eyes and followed her. Had she prepared something while I was asleep? I couldn't hide how my heart raced.
"You may open your eyes now."
I opened them slowly, full of expectation, and could only be disappointed.
"This is a wooden sword."
"Do you remember asking, before, to be allowed to play with a wooden sword?"
"I remember...."
"So starting today, I mean to teach you the sword."
Her shoulders had gone tense. She spoke as if she were hoping for something. A wooden sword was fine, but it wasn't what I had wanted.... Still, I couldn't disappoint her. She must have thought it a fine idea.
"Whoa! Thanks, Tomusa. I knew it—there's nobody but you!!"
When I praised her, a faint smile touched her face.
"Then I will begin by teaching you how to hold the sword."
And so, through the night, Tomusa's lecture on swordsmanship began.
Taking up a sword and swinging it for the first time was harder than I had expected. The stamina I had recovered with that nap drained away in a steady rush, until by night I was ready to drop into sleep as if I had fainted. I had learned Tomusa's weakness, and I had learned a sword art. The day had been perfect.
But I had no idea that Mother would summon us the next day....