Chapter 5
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: There's a Fiancée?
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Looking back, there had been a tremendous amount of change.
Not just in my physical condition, either.
I'd shown remarkable adaptability, but as the third young master of the clan, there was no end to the things I had to learn.
There were countless minor details to pick up, and it took quite a bit of time to get used to this life that was so utterly different from my previous one.
It was fun, though.
It felt similar to when I'd first learned martial arts.
Like receiving compensation for the youth I'd lost before and after joining the military in my past life.
The memories were still vivid—of rolling around in the marketplace, scraping together meals in back alleys during those early years—and compared to the scorn I'd endured back then, the gossip from the others was downright amusing.
"Young master, something about you seems different."
A-so, seeing me after a full month, chose his words with uncharacteristic care.
"Your complexion is better, you've bulked up, grown taller? Your face was handsome to begin with, of course."
It was bound to be different from the days when I'd holed up in my chambers, constantly meditating in a seated position.
A-so, a step ahead of me, placed a hand on his own head, comparing our height difference.
"Above all, you seem more at ease now."
He said it as we crossed the inner courtyard, utterly ignoring the gossip swirling around us.
"Is it because you've started training in martial arts again?"
"It's thanks to you."
Circulating qi had its effects, sure, but as A-so said, I'd found my peace.
The very day I'd reincarnated into Seo Mun-ha's body, I'd been so restless I could barely sleep. I couldn't shake the nagging fear that it might all be a fleeting dream.
It made even my fearless days charging through battlefields feel pale in comparison.
The complete disappearance of that anxiety in the corner of my mind was greater progress than any advancement in my martial arts.
"Thanks to me?"
The number one contributor was undoubtedly A-so.
"Who else taught me all this and that?"
Every day, his antics jolted me back to reality.
Thanks to his sincerity and devotion, the distance between master and servant had shrunk more than in most such relationships, and we even traded jokes now and then, transcending our stations.
"...Y-you're not still having headaches, are you? Should I fetch the old physician?"
Just like now.
"Out of all the versions of me you knew, this is probably the healthiest."
"That's a relief! I was worried you'd picked up some weird hobby."
"Weird hobby?"
A-so clutched both my arms, making a huge fuss.
"Like the way Uncle Ak-myeong looks at Sister Sa-wol—like you were about to style my hair or something."
With that, I lightly smacked the back of his head.
"The things I hate most in this world are sodomites and eunuchs."
"Ah, what a relief! Hehe!"
Even so, who knew what had him so delighted—he bounded up the steps to the inner courtyard with the lightest steps imaginable.
The Seo Mun Clan's main compound sprawled across the mountaintop ridge, its sections arranged in tiered layers, with the library pavilion situated at the highest point alongside the patriarch's residence.
Mutters and murmurs.
As we neared the martial arts library.
'It'd been unusually quiet.'
Most of the household staff had gathered in one spot.
I hadn't realized before.
There were this many people within the clan's walls.
"What day is it today?"
"No idea? Want me to check?"
I was still marveling at the unexpectedly large crowd when A-so spotted something and started hopping in excitement.
"B-Baek Ri Clan!"
"Baek Ri Clan?"
Of course I'd heard of them.
Along with the clan's situation, he'd briefed me on the overall state of the murim world.
The Baek Ri Clan was one of the rising powers gunning for a spot among the Six Great Clans alongside our own.
They were a murim faction that had rapidly expanded its influence in recent years, setting aside their history and traditions.
Jinju Yi Clan of Hebei. Dam-mok Clan of Gangseo. Baek Ri Clan of Jiangsu. Seo Mun Clan of Shandong.
Some mentioned the Dan-ri and Dug-go clans as well, but people usually referred to these four families when talking about the second-tier powers across the regions.
'But weren't we on friendly terms with the Baek Ri Clan from the start?'
So why all the commotion? Was there some celebratory event?
"Isn't it Lady Baek Ri-seol who's come?"
And sure enough.
The bustle wasn't about some affair—it was about a person.
"Your fiancée, young master!"
I had a fiancée?
Stunned by the news I'd never heard before, I caught A-so glancing nervously at me.
"What's wrong?"
"W-well, you hated the lady, didn't you?"
The conversation veered off-track, just like when I'd first awakened in the clan.
"...Let's talk for a moment."
I pulled A-so aside.
"Well, you see..."
"Spit it out. Short, thick, straight to the point."
"I figured you already knew, so I didn't mention it. You hated her guts anyway."
A-so rattled off everything he knew about my unknown fiancée.
To sum it up:
Baek Ri-seol. Seventeen years old.
The youngest daughter born late to the Baek Ri Clan head.
For the past year, she'd been the talk of the town as Jiangsu's Number One Beauty. At a young age, she'd entered the Nine Dragons and Seven Phoenixes rankings, standing out among the rising stars of her generation in martial prowess. A-so praised my fiancée's talents and beauty without pause.
"It's famous gossip that the second young master of the Hebei Pang Clan sends matchmakers to the Baek Ri Clan every year."
"I see."
"The lady turns them down every time, of course. Honestly, it's a waste for you, young master..."
A-so flinched and quickly bowed his head, changing his tune.
"No, our young master is the real catch."
"Too late."
"Ehehe, anyway, our Seo Mun-ha is racking up win after win over that Pang nobody without lifting a finger. And that's not all—who knows how many admirers the lady has."
"Why do you look happier about it than I do?"
"A master's victory is a servant's pride, right? Though it'll probably end soon."
"You'll have plenty more to boast about. Beyond this, even."
The romantic games of boys and girls not even in their twenties didn't really click for me.
"Anyway, why did you hate her?"
"It's a political marriage. I don't know much about that stuff yet, but I remember what you said about it."
A-so mimicked my past self with exaggerated flair.
"'No maternal family, no talent, just a lone body sold off to another clan.' You were so drunk."
It all started to fit together.
The old me must have resented my position as a consort groom.
"That's why I thought all the trouble you caused was to break off the engagement."
"Doesn't seem like it..."
From what I could guess, all those misdeeds and delinquent antics were just a child's tantrum.
"You didn't want the engagement broken?"
"Who knows. Not with that Pang guy, anyway—the clan elders wouldn't take kindly to it."
It was the only value I currently held.
With the prickling sensation at the back of my neck even now, I couldn't afford to toss it away lightly.
'Must be someone Father sent.'
A covert presence keeping watch on me.
With my current qi sense, I could barely detect their existence.
"Then... what do we do?"
A-so pondered deeply before jumping to his feet.
"About what?"
"Lady Baek Ri-seol. She must've come to demand the engagement be broken off!"
"You think so?"
"You don't believe me? It's gotta be!"
"Calm down and sit."
"Ah! Sorry!"
"If her behavior so far is any judge, it would've been annulled ages ago. No one would've sat idly by watching my antics, either."
Assuming the betrothal was part of clan politics.
There were endless ways to stop it—breaking limbs, for instance.
"Let's go."
"Huh? We need a plan or..."
"Even if you're right, neither marriage nor annulment happens overnight."
A-so advised me as if it were his own affair: best to avoid her, worst case preserve the clan and personal pride.
It didn't quite resonate.
"Gasp!"
The moment we reached the library, A-so's jaw dropped.
"Third brother!"
Seo Mun Young-ryeong stood guard at the entrance. Beside her, a woman in a grayish-white embroidered uniform was lost in thought.
"I've been waiting!"
A chuckle escaped at the sight of Young-ryeong flailing her arms wildly.
'No wonder she gave me access so easily.'
I'd thought she was only into martial arts, but my little sister was plenty sly when she wanted to be.
"If I didn't do this, you'd run off again, right?"
Young-ryeong stuck out her tongue.
"Sounds like you've got history."
"You and Sister Seol would know best, wouldn't you?"
"What's the occasion? I should warn you, sparring is..."
"Sparring sounds great, but Sister has prior plans today. You two chat. I'll get the outsider out of here."
Grabbing A-so by the scruff, Young-ryeong dragged the intruder away.
"That's your worst-case plan, young master!"
We still had a second option, the fading wail proclaimed as he was hauled off.
"Worst case?"
The woman presumed to be Baek Ri-seol's lips twitched.
"Nonsense. I've been delving into military tactics lately."
"Sounds like a fine little brother."
"More like my mischievous youngest brother."
I averted my eyes, pretending nonchalance.
'Should've made a plan.'
It hadn't been like this the one time I'd bumped into Young-ryeong before.
"Long time no see, Seo Mun young master."
Her formality suggested we weren't close—small mercy.
"Yes, long time no see."
I moved to a spot with her.
"Have you been well?"
"...Getting by."
Jiangsu's Number One Beauty was no exaggeration.
Last we'd met was about two years ago, she'd said.
In that span, the fiancée had changed beyond recognition—even the real Seo Mun-ha would've been shocked.
If anything, the rumors undersold it; no descriptor did her beauty justice.
'Mid-Realm?'
More startling than her appearance was the subtle aura she exuded.
I'd wondered before how impressive a rising star could be, but the moment I saw Baek Ri-seol, I had to revise that hasty judgment.
At least the Three Realms, surpassing moonlit clarity.
An absolute peak martial artist typically meant someone who'd reached the Three Realms stage, and she might have even surpassed the low realm below it to attain mid-realm.
"To what do I owe the visit from the Baek Ri Clan lady?"
For our age, it far outstripped my past life's achievements.
"Without any prior notice, even."
Of course, I kept a straight face, managing my expression as I gauged her intentions.
"Passing through to Hebei, so I stopped by. To pay respects to the patriarch as well."
Her curt tone and voice carried an eerie chill.
"Then, have you finished your business?"
"No."
She stared straight through me.
As expected.
Her words veered more negative than positive, exceeding my expectations by far.
"You remember the promise?"
I just blinked at her.
Whatever it was, no way I remembered.
If even A-so hadn't mentioned it, it had to be some secret pact known only to the two of them.
"Which one?"
"..."
"I only woke up recently from a head injury. My memory's fuzzy."
She bit her lip and turned away.
Huh? Just leaving like that?
A wounded expression lingered as an afterimage.
'No way she...'
My body moved before my head. I reached out and grabbed her wrist.
Whoosh—
I tried to seize it.
Without even looking, Baek Ri-seol casually shook off the seizing hand technique. No hostility or killing intent, yet her flawless reaction forced me to instinctively channel all my inner energy.
Grab.
She finally turned back to me, her wrist in my grasp.
"You have to tell me clearly what it is for me to know."
Ripples stirred in Baek Ri-seol's eyes. Her wide, startled rabbit eyes finally showed a human spark of life.
'Didn't want to use this.'
The Northern Guard Divine Cavalry Art from my past life. She wouldn't recognize the Ming imperial technique, but if questioned, it'd be a hassle.
"Baek Ri lady?"
"Let... go."
The moment she forced the words out, I released her hand.
"S-sorry."
Seizing grip and claw techniques.
She rubbed her reddened wrist where I'd gripped it tightly.
"Do it again."
Then she glared at me fiercely. The prior icy chill turned to heat, her resentful eyes seeming to spark with flames.
"Make your... move."
Trailing off, she suddenly closed in. As if remembering something.
"Seo Mun young master, you've learned martial arts?"
"Something like that."
"..."
"Went through quite the ordeal this time. Realized I couldn't go on like before."
"But you don't remember the promise..."
"I remember now."