She Did Visit Regularly After All
Thinking back, she did visit the sickbed regularly after all.
Danmok Seong hadn't been particularly cold only to her, but she hadn't been warm either, so Danmok Bi had been somewhat distant with her cousin too. Because of that, things between the cousins had never been cordial.
But in the end, she tried to protect Bi...
Danmok Seong must have known she couldn't handle them alone.
"But... who's that?"
At that moment, Danmok Seong glanced sideways.
Ryeon flinched and turned around. Hwaryun, who had been stroking the pure white cat Baekryeon, blinked in surprise.
Ryeon thought for a moment that it was indeed worth asking about. Danmok Seong hadn't considered Hwaryun to be Ryeon's servant. And understandably so—the boy's jet-black hair with a reddish sheen, his sharp features even at such a young age, his clear facial contours, and the bored look in his eyes despite his disinterest in their conversation, with that spark of intelligence in his gaze, all made him look like the young master of some prestigious family.
"Uh, Ryeon-ryun is..."
"He's our young master's servant."
While Ryeon hesitated on the introduction, Hwaryun quickly answered.
Ryeon nearly burst out laughing. From his tone alone, he didn't sound like a servant at all, but no one in the room found it strange.
Ryeon introduced him properly once more.
"This is Hwaryun. Woo Hwaryun."
"I'm Danmok Bi!"
Danmok Bi, who had been itching to join his sisters' conversation from the side, suddenly shot his hand up and shouted, drawing laughter from everyone in the room.
In the meantime, Ryeon subtly activated her Divine Eye.
She couldn't unfold her fan right now, but she could easily read basic information from the air.
Ryeon swallowed dryly.
How could traits like bamboo, a symbol of integrity, coexist with being two-faced?
And what's this about a saber?
With talent and five elements at 'Mid-Upper,' she wasn't a prodigy, but with effort, she could live her whole life as a respectable martial artist. And even more so with a proper weapon.
I never heard in my previous life that Danmok Seong took up the saber...
Should she mention it? This was a sensitive topic.
The Danmok Clan had saber arts, but swords were their mainstay. Telling her outright to try a saber instead of a sword here? Anyone would think it was a jab at her as the next family head candidate.
Especially Danmok Hyeon-yo.
Seeing Ryeon deep in thought, Danmok Seong frowned, assuming she was being shy.
"But Ryeon, you dueled with the Geum Clan, right?"
Her voice was stiff, almost displeased, making Ryeon roll her eyes.
"It just kinda happened... You could've beaten him easily too."
"Good thing the Geum lord isn't that impressive."
Danmok Seong crossed her arms after hearing her out and continued.
"How'd the duel go?"
"That Geum Clan kid used a saber like this..."
As Ryeon spoke up to there, a sudden idea sparked in her eyes.
If she hyped up the saber arts nicely, maybe Danmok Seong's interest would shift that way.
"It was so cool! Amazing. It moved so nimbly like slash slash? Slash slash! Whoosh whoosh!"
Ryeon snapped a nearby twig and twisted her hand this way and that, recreating Geum Jongha's movements from the duel.
"Hmmm."
"Like whoosh swinging it, super fast! I thought, wow, never learned saber but he's incredible!"
Danmok Seong listened attentively and delivered a cool, mature-for-her-age verdict.
"You've been sick a long time, but you can still beat that level. To become a true martial artist, though, you need constant training."
"Ah..."
Ryeon was flustered. How could she have zero interest in the Geum Clan's saber arts?
"Who're you learning from now?"
"Huh? Me, I..."
Ryeon swallowed again.
The family kids all learned sword from their parents, but Ryeon hadn't had that chance. Her father was gone, and her mother hadn't properly learned martial arts.
So it was natural to assume she'd learned from one of the instructors teaching sword arts in the clan.
"Grandpa taught me."
"...The Supreme Family Head?"
"Yeah."
Danmok Seong's eyes widened, then she slowly steadied her breath.
She seemed to mull things over while looking at Ryeon. Since her cousin had been ill, even Grandpa the Supreme Family Head had no choice but to pay attention. She herself had been away in Henan Province, so it couldn't be helped.
"I wanna learn from Grandpa too!"
Danmok Bi, who had been listening quietly beside them, thrust both hands up and shouted.
"Y-Yeah, right. Once our Bi memorizes the Thousand Character Classic."
"I did!"
"Really? When?"
Ryeon asked with wide eyes.
Apparently, while she'd been neglecting her siblings' literacy lessons lately, Danmok Bi had memorized it all.
"Uh... yesterday."
Danmok Bi slowly lowered his hands, avoiding Ryeon's gaze.
Ryeon narrowed her eyes and smiled cheekily.
"Really? You memorized it all yesterday? No lying, or no more Yongsu candy."
"Al... almost all."
"What does 'almost' mean?"
"Out of a thousand... five hundred..."
As Ryeon laughed at that, Hwaryun added,
"Still, I think it's at least seven hundred."
"You'll have it all soon. Right?"
Danmok Seong, who had been silently watching them for a bit, abruptly turned her head away without a word, but Danmok Ryeon grabbed her sleeve.
"Seong-ah, if I don't get something later, can I ask you?"
"Why me? Just ask the Supreme Family Head."
Her voice was sharp and cold—enough to make most nine-year-olds let go crying.
"The Supreme Family Head is just helping me out because I'm so slow at learning..."
"D... do whatever. Can't be helped. But don't make noise or bother me when I'm studying!"
"Got it, got it."
Ryeon smiled with crinkled eyes.
Danmok Seong turned away, claiming she had urgent business, and left first. The back of the girl's neck was bright red as she hurried off.
* * *
"Was that clan's saber arts really that good?"
After finishing her flute practice, Ryeon looked up while neatly cleaning and storing the Hyangrinjeok.
Hwaryun was gently petting Baekryeon with an indifferent expression, but Ryeon caught the sulky vibe.
A face saying, Wasn't it not that great?
"You mean when I talked about the Geum Clan to Seong-ah?"
"Yes."
Ryeon sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
"I just thought saber might suit Seong-ah better than sword."
"...Is that so?"
"So I tried praising it to spark some interest in saber arts. Didn't work as planned, though..."
Ryeon's voice trailed off awkwardly.
"Hmm, saber?"
Hwaryun raised one eyebrow and rolled his eyes thoughtfully.
"...So you suddenly praised someone else's clan saber arts for that?"
"It was the closest saber arts I'd seen."
"Didn't seem effective at all."
Ryeon pressed the flute to her forehead with a wistful look.
"You think so too?"
Hwaryun nodded.
"Why would she care about the guy who lost to you, Nui?"
Ryeon pondered.
"How to get Seong-ah's interest..."
Then she trailed off and looked at Hwaryun.
"...Why are you staring like that?"
"Sigh. I can't even get your interest, how am I supposed to catch a cousin's I've just met?"
She sighed deeply, set down the flute, and Hwaryun gave her a look like he couldn't laugh or cry.
"No... Nui... you have a mark on your forehead."
"Is that important right now?"
"Even with a perfect round ring mark right in the center?"
Ryeon touched her forehead, then sighed again.
Hwaryun snickered behind her, but his eyes went wide when Ryeon suddenly approached.
"W-Why?"
"Can't suffer alone."
"Suffer? You did it to yourself, Nui!"
"I had to do mine, but I'll do yours. Don't worry."
"Argh, really!"
Ryeon grabbed the fleeing Hwaryun and left a round mark on his forehead before letting go.
As Ryeon laughed loudly, Hwaryun slumped his shoulders in defeat, touched his forehead futilely, then suddenly declared,
"Not learning."
"What?"
"I'm not learning martial arts!"
Hwaryun shouted and spun around.
Ryeon blinked in surprise, then grinned widely and rushed in front of him.
"You're gonna learn martial arts?"
What else could his sulky "not learning" mean? It meant he'd decided to learn.
"What are you even hearing? I just said I'm not."
"Wow! Ryeon-ryun! When do you start? Bi's starting soon too, so together then? Yeah, that'd be fun!"
Ryeon drummed and clanged excitedly on her own, and Hwaryun laughed helplessly.