A Contest of Jealousy
We had reached the dining hall ahead of my parents.
We had already taken our seats and were waiting for them when a servant came over and addressed me.
"Young Master, the Clan Lord says her stomach is unsettled, so she will be taking rice gruel in place of the meal."
"Right. Understood."
She was eating perfectly well just this morning, and now it's suddenly gruel?
Something about this stinks.
"Sorry. My parents aren't feeling well, so it looks like they won't be joining the meal. Let's just eat among ourselves."
"Well, if they're unwell, it can't be helped. I suppose the two of us will simply have no choice but to dine alone."
The moment those words left Ha-ryeon's mouth, Tomusa drew out the chair beside me and sat down.
"I'll be dining with you as well. Is that all right?"
She said it while looking straight at Ha-ryeon.
"Well. Sharing a meal is hardly worth making a fuss over."
Ha-ryeon agreed, though not without a sour twist to her mouth.
Tomusa, eating with us? What is she after?
I was still turning it over when the servants brought the food out.
"Well then, eat up."
"You too. Eat well."
And so the meal began.
For a mercy, dinner seemed to be proceeding without a hitch—right up until Tomusa turned to me and said this.
"Young Master, say 'ah.'"
"Tomusa, what do you think you're doing?"
"What seems to be the problem? Haven't we done this plenty of times when we eat together? I would consider it perfectly ordinary."
She tipped her head, the very picture of innocence.
"Doing this in front of a guest is rude."
Far from backing down, she fixed me with a blazing look and demanded I open my mouth.
In the end I gave in, parted my lips, and let her feed me.
From then on, all through the meal, Tomusa kept calling for her "ah."
"Young Master, say 'ah.' It's the meat dish you like."
Nom, nom, nom.
Every time, I had no choice but to take the bite.
I only understood why she was doing it once I caught Ha-ryeon's reaction.
Each time I accepted food from Tomusa, Ha-ryeon sat there trembling, her face tight with indignation.
"Ahem... You're all grown up now. Being fed like that is a little much, don't you think?"
"Ah, sorry. It's a habit I picked up when I was little."
"S-since you were little, you say?!"
Ha-ryeon had reacted far too sharply.
Flustered, I scratched at my cheek.
Feeding a child didn't strike me as such a terrible thing. Or was it that...
"Do you want to do it too?"
"Wh-what?! N-no, I don't...!!"
She said that, but her reaction told me I'd hit the mark.
Hoping to ease whatever was eating at her, I picked up a bite and leaned in.
"Wh-what is it..."
And I popped the food neatly into her mouth.
Ha-ryeon's eyes flew wide, as if they might burst, and she chewed away in little munches. She looked for all the world like a puppy being fed from someone's hand.
"Satisfied now?"
Ha-ryeon nodded, slowly.
Gulp.
"No—that wasn't the point in the first place!!"
What? Was it not enough?
I scooped up another bite and fed it to her again.
One moment she was talking herself into a frenzy, and the next she was meekly accepting the food. The way she went docile the instant something entered her mouth was, I had to admit, a little cute.
Only after I had repeated the trick several times did Ha-ryeon finally settle.
"Satisfied now?"
"...Yeah."
She nodded, her face flushed red.
The thought that I had gotten the better of her sent a strange little thrill of triumph through me. In high spirits, I returned to my seat and went back to my meal.
"Young Master, open your mouth."
This time, it seemed, Tomusa was the displeased one. Nothing for it—today I would have to indulge her sulking.
"All right. Ah~"
Tomusa placed the food in my mouth.
At this rate, dinner was going to run long.
· · ·
Just as I had expected, the meal stretched on longer than usual.
None of this would have happened if Mother and Father had been there, I was fairly sure—but that did nothing for the unease still nagging at me. Having heard they were unwell, I headed for the Clan Lord's residence.
"I heard you weren't feeling well. Are you a little better?"
I had half wondered, but sure enough, both of them looked perfectly at ease.
"The gruel and the medicine have settled it. I am well."
You were fine to begin with.
"So. Did you see to our guest properly?"
"Yes. I looked after her just fine on my own."
"Then all is well."
My business here was finished, so I made to step outside. But Mother, her face quietly alight with expectation, asked me a question.
"So. How was that child, seeing her after so long?"
"I was just glad to see her again. Nothing special. So please don't go getting any strange ideas."
"What ideas? We expected nothing at all. You are the one who ought not to work yourself into a flutter on your own."
"Enough. I've confirmed the two of you are fine, so I'll be going."
I shut the door harder than I needed to and left my parents behind.
Anyone can see Mother is harboring exactly those strange hopes, and still she denies it.
If a marriage has to happen in the end, Ha-ryeon wouldn't be a bad match.
"...Master..."
Her family is excellent, and more than that, she seems to like me sincerely.
"Young Master..."
But if someone asked whether I could love only Ha-ryeon...
"Young Master!!"
I startled at Tomusa's voice, and my shoulders jumped.
"Are you all right?"
"Ah, sorry. I was just thinking for a moment. Anyway, where's Ha-ryeon?"
"The young lady is swinging her sword in the training yard."
So she's still training at this hour.
"Is she? Then just tell her not to be late tomorrow morning. I'm going in ahead."
Two beds stood in my room. One was mine, and the other was Tomusa's.
On the day I turned ten, Mother had set the second bed there. I lay down on mine and drew the curtain that ringed it, and with that a space that was mine alone was complete.
As if the mess over the clan headship weren't already more than enough, Ha-ryeon had to show up on top of it. The worries were no small thing. If I had simply never said those words to Mother, I wouldn't be tangled up in any of this.
"Young Master, are you all right?"
Tomusa's voice came from beyond the curtain.
"Yeah. My head's just a bit of a mess."
"...I see. Even so, please remember that I am always on your side."
There was comfort in the words, and it eased me, if only a little.
"You'll always stay by my side, won't you, Turtle?"
"That code word. It's been a while. Yes. I will always remain at your side and protect you, Young Master."
I drew back the curtain I had hung.
"Want to sleep together? For the first time in a while."
At that, Tomusa went still, as if her thoughts had locked up.
"Ah. Yes. Let us sleep together. Like the old days."
I shifted over onto the bed where she lay. Right beside her, I could feel her warmth, and that warmth unwound the tension in my body.
"Lying like this brings back a lot of old memories. Only I've grown, and you're exactly the same as you were back then."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Still pretty. Still beautiful."
"Wh-what...!!"
Tomusa bolted upright, startled.
"And you're still just as weak to compliments."
"I am not weak to compliments!"
I caught her by the wrist and drew my face in close.
"Wh-what is this?! Y-you're too close!!"
She flushed scarlet and flustered, and I smiled brightly at her.
"And you still get shy in exactly the same way."
"Nnngh...! Do not tease me, Young Master!"
"Haha, all right, all right. I'll stop."
With that I pulled the blanket over myself and lay down.
"I see. You suggested sharing a bed with this in mind from the very start."
Tomusa said it with her lips pushed out in a pout.
"In that case, I shall do what I want as well."
She pressed in tight against my side and laid a hand on my chest.
Pat, pat.
And then she began to pat my chest, soft and steady.
"Tomusa, I'm not a baby anymore."
"In my eyes, you still are. No arguments. Accept it."
She was being rather high-handed about it. Even so, after so long, the feeling wasn't a bad one.
"Good night, then, Tomusa."
"Sleep well."
And so the two of us fell asleep.
"May I come in?"
"Clan Lord? Please, enter."
Yu Dan-a stepped into the room where Namgung Ha-ryeon waited.
"Have you looked over my mother's proposal?"
"I have. Our Zhejiang Yu Family has resolved to accept it."
"Then the date will fall about a year from now."
A hushed exchange passed between the two of them.
"There is one thing I would ask of you."
"What is it?"
"I mean to send I-hyeon somewhere for a time. When I do, could you go with him?"
"If it is a place I-hyeon is going, where under heaven could I not follow?"
Ha-ryeon looked at Dan-a with a steady gaze.
"Then go to the Blue Spear Sect in Fujian."
At those words, Ha-ryeon went rigid.
"...Does I-hyeon know what sort of place that is?"
"He does not. But before long he will be shouting that he is walking there on his own two feet."
"How does one go to a place one doesn't even know?"
Ha-ryeon asked, her eyes full of doubt.
"Because that child has a bond with the master of that place."
"I-hyeon does? With that person?!"
"Your surprise is understandable. His person is unlikely to come under any threat, but would you keep watch over I-hyeon?"
"...I understand. I will stay right at his side."