The Sisters
The general perception of the First Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon, had long remained fixed and unchanging both within and beyond Luoyang.
Mugeomza. The Swordless One.
The First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family who never took up a blade.
In a world where the ability to sense and wield qi rested entirely on innate talent, that pejorative was never merely a jab at his lack of gift.
The eldest son who never showed his face even after the family head collapsed.
The First Young Master of the foremost family under heaven, who simply shut himself away, turned his eyes from the world, and whiled away his days like a hermit at play.
For the past several years, his name had scarcely risen in conversation among the people.
Even when rumors spread that he had ended his seclusion, the world regarded him with nothing more than lukewarm interest.
But the moment he stepped beyond the Luoyang Sword Family and took that single stride, the mornings of Luoyang began to seethe with talk of him.
The great avenue before the Central Government Offices of Luoyang.
Along the thoroughfare that led right up to the offices, teahouses stood in a long row.
Those large and small teahouses were something of a local specialty of the administrative district, packed each morning with officials who stopped for a cup of tea to wake themselves before reporting for duty.
"Have you heard yesterday's talk, my friend? The rumors about Mount Beimang."
"Of course. Because of that…"
At the younger official's words, the spectacled man across from him set down his teacup and leaned over the table.
"…This very dawn, the senior elder of our house met with the senior elders of several other houses with whom he has long been close."
The younger official lowered his own voice as well.
"…The atmosphere in our house was much the same. The family head sat up the entire night with his retainers."
Their whispering was almost pointless; the same talk filled the air all around them.
"Did you hear that the high-ranking officials of the Central Offices never even managed to leave work yesterday?"
"I heard it had to do with Those Ones of Mount Beimang…"
"They say he met every last one of the retired elders of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families."
"How in the world did that First Young Master, after ten years of seclusion, manage to pull off something like that…!"
"And there are rumors he used martial arts as well."
"Then does that mean the First Young Master has been concealing his martial prowess all this time?"
"Hah. Where does the rumor end and the truth begin…"
An official with a snow-white beard glanced left and right, then dropped his voice.
"…They say the Second Young Master of the Sword Family left Luoyang last night and headed for the imperial capital."
"That means…?!"
The white-bearded official nodded.
"Whatever the truth of the rumors, for the Second Young Master—who has always shunned public activity—to go out in person…"
"It means the First Young Master's movements have become a threat to him."
"Hah. The man who never left his gate and was mocked as the Swordless One…"
It was not only here.
Throughout the whole of Luoyang—wherever people gathered who understood the weight that the name Mount Beimang carried—the First Young Master's name was never absent.
And among the lower classes, the rumor that the First Young Master himself had stood at the forefront of last night's firefighting in the Valley of Sin was the talk of the streets.
Thus Yeon So-hyeon's name began to rise and fall across the whole of Luoyang, regardless of class or origin.
Luoyang Sword Family, Business Support Department.
Meeting room of the First Support Division.
The Third Young Mistress, Yeon Da-eun, raised her voice.
"How can such an absurd proposal—that the Valley of Sin projects must be completely reexamined—be discussed this seriously?!"
A staff member of the First Support Division shrugged.
"Complaints regarding the problems have been filed, so of course a review is only proper."
"Or is the Third Young Mistress suggesting we simply bury these complaints and move on?"
At their snide remarks, the Third Young Mistress slammed her fist down on the conference table.
"Then at least show me those complaint documents right now!"
The ones who had been sneering suddenly looked elsewhere.
"Hmm. Even so, they are confidential documents containing the identities of the complainants…"
"We are members of this First Support Division as well!"
The Third Young Mistress pointed at the Fourth Young Mistress, who sat beside her with narrowed eyes, surveying the room, and shouted.
"…"
Yet the staff of the First Support Division merely looked at the two of them with expressions that said, So what?
"I hate to put it this way, but…"
The staff member who had been dealing with her all along clicked his tongue as if he had no choice.
"The Young Mistresses are not actually members of this division to begin with, are you? You were only temporarily assigned here to gain experience…"
At the blatant dismissal, the Third Young Mistress exploded.
"Temporarily?! Yes, that's right! Thank you for reminding me! Before we are temporary staff of this First Support Division, we are the secretaries of the Director of the Business Support Department!"
Everyone flinched at her words.
Setting their status aside, the twins' competence was well known, and everyone present understood perfectly well that this was precisely why they had become the Director's secretaries.
"The Director of the Business Support Department—to whom your own superior, the Head of the First Support Division, reports!"
Just then the meeting-room door opened and the Head of the First Support Division, who had been away, poked his face in.
"Young Mistresses. Might we speak privately for a moment?"
The moment they moved to a luxurious reception room and the door closed, the Division Head spoke.
"That will be enough. The decision has already been made."
"…Division Head!"
When the Third Young Mistress flared up, the Division Head's eyebrow twitched.
"Watch your tongue, Third Young Mistress. You are merely a secretary to the Director of the Business Support Department, and the only reason I show you any respect is because you are a young mistress of the main house."
"…!"
At the cold pressure of his presence, the Third Young Mistress faltered. The Fourth Young Mistress, who had remained silent until then, stepped forward.
"May we take the Division Head's words to mean that the First Support Division intends to side with the Second Young Master and enter the succession struggle?"
"The Second Young Master?"
The Head of the First Support Division gave a crooked smile.
"I have no idea what you mean… I am simply performing my duties as usual."
The Third Young Mistress stepped forward again.
"The Director will never permit this sort of thing!"
The Division Head shrugged.
"But she is currently away on business in Haedong."
"Do you think you will be able to withstand her wrath when she returns?!"
At that, the Head of the First Support Division fell silent for a moment.
Within the Luoyang Sword Family there existed individuals who could never become elders.
The great pillars of the family who wielded authority, influence, and prestige far too immense: the Director of Geomga Jeonjang, the top executives of enterprises such as Sword Family Construction, the heads of major organizations both inside and outside Luoyang—including the intelligence departments—and the Director of the Business Support Department.
To prevent power from concentrating too heavily in such people, family law forbade them from concurrently serving as elders.
"…Her wrath. Of course it is something to fear. However."
The Division Head gave a bitter smile.
"Why do the two Young Mistresses believe she will be angry over work that has all been carried out according to proper procedure?"
It was the Third Young Mistress who found herself at a loss for words.
"Th-that is…"
She had enough circumstantial evidence to burst, yet not a single clear proof that the First Support Division had colluded with the Second Young Master.
"She…"
She thought of the Director of the Business Support Department, who normally spoke only well of the First Young Master, but saying something so flimsy to a man of the Division Head's rank would only invite mockery.
"Division Head."
The Fourth Young Mistress stepped forward once more.
"Please be certain to leave a record that we strongly expressed our concerns."
"Yes, yes. I shall have it entered officially."
The Division Head raised a hand and pointed toward the door.
An empty corridor.
"That damn bastard!"
The Third Young Mistress lashed out with a palm strike; a clear imprint of her hand remained on the wall.
"…Anyone can tell that was you, Unnie."
"E-eugh!"
Flustered by the Fourth Young Mistress's remark, the Third Young Mistress struck the wall several more times, smudging the handprint beyond recognition.
"There! That should do it!"
Watching her older twin stand with hands on her hips, snorting through her nose, the Fourth Young Mistress sighed and dragged her away from the scene.
The rear garden of the Business Support Department.
After confirming that no one was nearby, the Fourth Young Mistress spoke.
"The First Support Division clearly intends to stand with the Second Young Master and enter the succession struggle."
The Third Young Mistress answered with a sigh.
"…The Business Support Department of the main house—which, more than any other, ought to maintain political neutrality—has gotten itself involved in the most sensitive of all matters: the succession conflict."
Like every other department, the First Division of the Support Department was filled with people of the fiercest competitive spirit and the strongest ambition.
That they had begun this dangerous game of fire while the Director of the Business Support Department was away was hardly surprising.
"Should we go see the Deputy Director again?"
"No."
At the Fourth Young Mistress Yeon Da-hye's words, the Third Young Mistress Yeon Da-eun shook her head.
Remembering the result of their dawn visit, the answer was obvious.
"It'll be the same as last time. That old toad of a grandfather is completely useless in this kind of situation."
The Deputy Director possessed excellent ability to act in the Director's stead, yet his method was closer to laissez-faire built on endless competition between departments and individuals.
He had already prepared double and triple layers of protection against any responsibility that might fall on him, and was simply watching the situation unfold.
"…Ugh. When I first heard that Big Brother had ended his seclusion, I never imagined something like this would actually happen to our Business Support Department."
The word "Big Brother" felt strange on her own tongue.
They had neither seen nor heard anything of their eldest brother since early childhood.
"We never expected him to move so quickly and so forcefully."
"After the visit to Mount Beimang he directed the firefighting, revealed the martial arts he had kept hidden all this time, and crushed the dark underworld organizations…"
"In the end he forced the Second Young Master to move."
Neither of them had ever imagined that the First Young Master—who had only just emerged from seclusion—and the Second Young Master would come into open conflict.
"…We can't just sit and watch."
"Agreed."
They felt neither particular affection nor particular resentment toward their eldest brother.
He was little more than a stranger; in some ways they were even less than that.
Toward the mad Second Young Master they felt something beyond resentment—outright contempt—yet that was not why they were acting now. They were not taking the First Young Master's side for his own sake.
"If things continue like this, we won't be able to face the Director, who trusted us and left on her trip."
"…True."
They thought of the Director of the Business Support Department—someone who was to them as much a mother or grandmother as anything else.
She was the one who had raised and cared for them after they lost their mother so young.
They wanted, by any means, to prevent the Business Support Department she would return to from becoming a chaotic mess of internal strife.
"…"
"…"
After a brief silence, both of them realized how astonishingly little they actually knew about the First Young Master.
"…We know more than enough about the Second Young Master to make us sick of him, but we know far too little about Big Brother as he is now."
The Third Young Mistress asked the Fourth Young Mistress Yeon Da-hye, who served as the Director's information secretary.
"Who right now knows the most about Big Brother?"
The Fourth Young Mistress answered at once.
"The Chief Administrator of the Inner Court."
At the mere mention of that man whose presence carried a weight that was not merely heavy but downright terrifying, the Third Young Mistress's entire body went rigid.
"N-n-not someone that dangerous. Someone who would actually be willing to give us information favorably…!"
At her words the Fourth Young Mistress hummed thoughtfully and stroked her chin.
"Come to think of it, there is someone who fits your conditions and who also met Big Brother most recently."
"Who?!"
The Fourth Young Mistress answered.
"Second Sister."
At the mention of Heavenly Robe Without Seams—the Second Young Mistress, Yeon Seo-rin—the Third Young Mistress clapped her hands.
"Let's go see her right away!"