Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Fragments of the Past
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After Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon dismissed the servants.
The Inner Courtyard Steward's Department, responsible for all matters concerning those "inferiors," was thrown into chaos.
Debates over accountability, decisions on new assignments, and rulings on punishments for the dismissed servants.
Fierce arguments raged on.
In the end, the head steward, whom the Eldest Young Master had personally pointed out, stepped forward.
Once he dissolved the deadlock meeting, the conference room finally fell silent.
"Hoo...."
Long conference table.
Even though everyone had left their seats, the middle-aged head steward in the head seat clutched his head, full of white hair.
"I knew something like this would happen eventually...."
There was no one to manage the inferiors at the Eldest Young Master's residence, Won-gak Pavilion.
Moreover, under the famously mild-tempered Eldest Young Master.
How could he, the steward of the grand Luoyang Sword Clan, not foresee that the servants would eventually cross the line?
"At least it's fortunate that the Eldest Young Master didn't report them for insubordination or betrayal...."
If he had, it wouldn't have ended as just an internal steward issue—the entire Sword Clan would have been up in arms.
"......Ugh."
Habitually, he reached into a drawer and chewed on dried herbs said to soothe a sour stomach.
In this vast Central Plains, the Luoyang Sword Clan's main estate saw dozens of self-important blowhards come and go every day.
Managing the inferiors in such a place was always a gut-wrenching task, but lately, it had gone too far.
And it all stemmed from the Luoyang Sword Clan's "successor issue."
Even after chewing more than the recommended dose of herbs, the pain didn't subside.
"......In the end, the time when we could just watch and stay safe has passed."
The head steward's complexion grew far more composed, his eyes gleaming sharply.
Having steadied his mind, the head steward summoned one maid and whispered in her ear.
He turned his gaze from the maid as she bowed deeply and withdrew, then sank back into deep thought.
* * *
A short while later, the head steward welcomed a single maid into his office with a warm smile.
"Steward Head, Heavenly Maiden Jeong-a pays her respects."
"You've come."
The woman called Jeong-a was merely a maid, yet her beauty was extraordinary.
The moment she stepped into the room, it felt as if the space brightened for an instant.
Her long hair, black as ebony, was neatly tied back, and her flawless white skin seemed to shimmer with luster.
Her abundant lashes accentuated her large, clear eyes; her nose was pert and adorable; her lips, lightly touched with rouge, were plump.
Yet those full lips wore a serene smile rather than anything seductive.
"And above all, what drew the eye was her irises."
So pale they bordered on gold beyond mere brown—those eyes of hers.
Paired with her beauty, they evoked an exotic, mystical allure.
Yet their depth commanded respect, ensuring no one dared view her lightly.
"Have you been well?"
"How could someone in my position hope for that? Still, I'm managing to keep healthy."
"Anyone you ask would say health is the greatest blessing. Seeing you well, my lord, lightens my heart."
The way the woman called Jeong-a bowed deeply to the head steward was the perfect etiquette of an inferior.
But even such propriety couldn't conceal her innate elegance.
Her maid's attire did nothing to dim her allure.
A proud smile formed on the head steward's lips as he regarded her.
Jeong-a was a child he had personally taken in from the streets long ago.
And now, to him without children of his own, she was as precious as blood kin.
"......Jeong-a."
"Yes, my lord."
Jeong-a found it odd that the head steward, a high-ranking figure in the Luoyang Sword Clan, hesitated to get to the point after summoning her.
If even he couldn't broach it easily, it was no trifling matter.
She sat quietly, eyes lowered, waiting patiently for him to speak.
"......Hoo."
The head steward let out a deep sigh at the sight.
Was the decision he was about to make truly right?
No matter how much he pondered, he couldn't know the outcome right away.
"......How old are you this year?"
"Twenty-one, my lord."
Indeed, a woman in the bloom of youth.
"I've cherished you dearly, yet kept you only in the reception hall without finding you a master. Do you know why?"
"This girl is too dull to grasp your deep intentions, my lord."
In truth, she knew well the depths of the head steward's heart.
But trained to close her eyes, ears, and mouth to the clan's internal affairs, she evaded the answer.
The head steward read her thoughts and was pleased.
"I've regarded you as my own daughter, so I've been cautious—doubly, triply so—in choosing your master."
"This girl is always grateful for your profound kindness."
Jeong-a bowed deeply, her gratitude sincere.
But instead of accepting it, the head steward drew her close to sit.
Rather than speak, he took up a brush and began writing his intent.
He had already strictly ordered no one to approach his office.
Yet with his seasoned years as a steward, even a whisper in the Luoyang Sword Clan—overflowing with masters—was no true secret talk.
'The Second Young Master suits ruling a sect, but his clarity of principle and shrewd calculations make him ruthlessly cold.'
The steward paused his brush and scanned the surroundings once more.
'The Third Young Master excels in martial arts and has many followers, but his brutal temper and greed make him dangerous. The Fourth Young Master is the most decent, but too young with few adherents—far from ready for Acting Family Head.'
Jeong-a was startled by the words he scrawled in one fluid stroke.
He had served the Luoyang Sword Clan for decades with unwavering loyalty.
For such sensitive evaluations of the young masters to leak now would surely earn punishment.
Undeterred by her shock, the head steward kept writing.
'The young ladies of the main house are all kind-hearted. But their maids fall under the Inner Courtyard Chief's purview—he handpicks them meticulously from those he raised himself. I couldn't presume to recommend even if I wished.'
The areas around a prestigious clan's daughters were managed with utmost purity, like bleaching cloth.
The head steward moistened his parched lips with cooled tea.
'Naturally, the Eldest Young Master wasn't even considered. He's in seclusion now.'
His brush, which had flowed steadily thus far, halted there.
After a pause, the head steward bit his lip, and the brush resumed.
'Do you know why the Eldest Young Master is called the Swordless One?'
Jeong-a cautiously took up another brush.
'First, because he doesn't wield a sword and lacks talent in martial arts....'
Second, because he showed no demeanor fit for the next Family Head.
He had been in seclusion for nearly a decade now.
There were other rumors, but none she deemed credible.
As she set down her brush, the head steward took his up again.
'As rebuttal to that, I'll now tell you the hidden truth.'
His hand trembled slightly, his writing quickening.
'It was over a dozen years ago.'
Clearly, this was a tale more forbidden than any before.
Jeong-a followed his brush tip with rapt attention.
'Most in the main house believe the Eldest Young Master has no martial talent and has never touched a sword—but that's not true.'
"......!"
Jeong-a's mouth parted slightly in surprise.
'I was there the day he first lifted a sword.'
He continued the hidden story of that day.
'I still can't forget it. The sight of him gripping the sword for the first time, assuming the starting stance.'
He wet his dry lips with the cold tea.
Jeong-a waited anxiously for his brush to move again.
'That form—it was already at the realm of a sword master. His aura left me breathless.'
"......!"
Sword master—the term for one who had forged their own path with the blade.
Not some trifling label bandied by enthusiasts about internal energy levels.
It described transcending intent and form with the sword, building one's own world.
To call a child gripping a sword for the first time a sword master?
'I was ordered by the Family Head then—now the Retired Family Head—to keep silent. And for reasons unknown, the Eldest Young Master himself never touched a sword again after.'
"......?!"
It was beyond Jeong-a's imagination.
'And second.'
A counter to the claim he lacked heir-like poise.
'Before his seclusion, the Family Head's closest aides feared no one more than the Eldest Young Master.'
Thunder seemed to crash in Jeong-a's mind.
'He rarely acted in his own name back then, so few remember now.'
His brush moved without pause.
'Even in the imperial palace, some still recall his name.'
What feats could a mere child have achieved to reach the palace's ears?
Composing herself, Jeong-a took up her brush amid the turmoil.
'Why tell me this?'
In the clan's current state, such tales mustn't leak.
The head steward sighed deeply.
'The Second and Third Young Masters have now demanded you outright. Competition has ignited between them.'
"......Ah."
Jeong-a had long been the top flower among reception hall maids, drawing every guest's gaze.
Once, a direct heir of a noble house even proposed to her—a laughable yet grave incident at the time.
But now, with the two frontrunners for Acting Family Head vying for her? That was another level.
Snapping from her daze, Jeong-a bit her lip and raised her brush.
'Do you wish me to go to the Eldest Young Master?'
Whatever the past Eldest Young Master was like, would the current one—who was rumored so mild—protect her under his roof?
From two power-hungry brothers?
Instead of answering, the head steward detailed today's events at Won-gak Pavilion.
'Has the Eldest Young Master's temperament changed?'
The head steward nodded at her question, then shook his head.
'I'm not sure "changed" fits. If anything, this suits his true nature more.'
'Then......?'
'Perhaps. Perhaps he's resolved something in his heart.'
A judgment worthy of the Luoyang Sword Clan—Central Plains' foremost—head steward.
'And if he's the Eldest Young Master I remember....'
His eyes flashed.
'......The clan's successor dynamics will shift dramatically.'
The head steward gazed at Jeong-a, biting his lip.
Her face bloomed with mature beauty, yet in his eyes, it remained the face of the endearing girl she once was.
'The choice is yours. But.'
Halting his brush, the head steward looked at her.
Jeong-a raised her head to meet his gaze.
Her flawless, gentle eyes—beyond reproach to any onlooker.
Deep within those golden irises, reminiscent of her gaze, lay a secret known only to the head steward and herself.
'With [those eyes] of yours, you'll judge faster than anyone if he's truly resolved his heart anew.'
The brush was laid upon the inkstone.
Silence filled the office.
He gathered all the papers from their written exchange, feeding them one by one, meticulously, into the brazier.
* * *
A short while later, a maid left the head steward's office and hurried somewhere.
Toward her new residence.