Don't Hide It—Show Me
Gayul raised her brows as if it were the most natural thing in the world and smiled.
"Why so flustered? From the looks of it, there isn't even a separate cottage for guests, so it seems we shall have to share this room."
"No—"
"Sharing a narrow bedroll with you would surely be the greatest of diversions."
"That's not what I—"
"Ah, or do you mean to give me the room next door? Listening to each other's breathing and the sound of water, admiring through the shadows cast on the paper door the lines our bodies draw—that would be a rather refined—"
"AAAAAAAH!! Enough already!!!"
Hoeyeon's face had gone scarlet as she shouted. Gayul burst into laughter.
What Gayul had said to the old man Suhyeong had been a threat.
Upon entering the town, she had swept the area with her magic and known at once that he was hiding something in his house.
But people with secrets at home were common enough. Places without a little smuggling or illicit brewing were rarer than those with them.
So she had frightened him with a few well-chosen words. Mention a letter of introduction, call yourself a guest of consequence, and people would obligingly imagine the worst and treat you with care.
What he was hiding, however, turned out to be far greater than Gayul had expected.
"Hah… hah…… hhuk, hah."
Ten minutes after fleeing, he staggered across his own threshold and collapsed. A servant, finding him gasping as though he were about to die, rushed over in alarm.
"My lord! Are you all right!?"
"Whee… hweeeii…."
The old man, who could manage nothing but the sound of air leaking from his throat, finally forced out a single word.
"Sa… Sa……."
Sasa was the name of the houseguest staying under his roof.
"Good heavens, Master—what on earth has happened?"
Sasa's voice rang out from behind the servant.
A tall, slender man with a pale face, dressed in ornate robes, stood there as if he had always been waiting in that very spot.
"So…me…"
"Haha. Take your time, Master. There is nothing so urgent as all that."
Sasa crouched before the fallen old man.
He offered no helping hand as he asked,
"So then—what is the matter?"
"Found… out…."
"Mm. I see, I see. Found out."
"Some…one… is…"
"Someone has found out, have they? And who might that be?"
But that was as far as the old man could go. Having sprinted in a manner wholly unsuited to his age, he lost consciousness and fainted dead away.
"My lord!! Someone bring water!!!"
"Haha. Well now."
Sasa drew a needle from his sleeve—a thick, long one of the sort physicians used to lance abscesses deep in the body.
"This will sting a little."
And he drove it straight into the center of the old man's sole.
"……!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ghk! Ghk!!!!!!!!!!! Kheuk, eulgk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The old man, wracked by torture-level agony, could not even scream properly and frothed at the mouth.
Sasa asked him with perfect calm, as the man flopped about like a fish hauled onto a boat deck,
"So then—who is it?"
"Ghk, kheuk, ek!!!!!"
"Haha…."
Thrust.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!"
"My lord!!!!!!"
"Ah, much better. Your throat seems to have opened up nicely. So then—who is it?"
"Ah… ugh…… the dojo! The dojo!!"
"A dojo, you say?"
"The swordsmanship dojo!! There—a stranger, a blue-haired woman!! Th-that's enough!"
"Hmm… I see."
Withdrawing the hand that had been reaching for a third needle back into his sleeve, Sasa walked outside without so much as a glance at the old man.
"A pity. I was rather looking forward to going under the toenails next."
He murmured to himself and looked up at the sky.
Night would fall in three hours. Just enough time to prepare.
"Ah—and should I send word to the General?"
That would make the timing rather less ideal. A matter worth pondering.
"Uuuugh……."
Alone in her room, Hoeyeon groaned and fretted.
So where exactly was she supposed to tell her to sleep?
The same room was out of the question, of course.
But the annex wasn't particularly large to begin with.
There were only two bedrooms—the one Hoeyeon was using now and the one beside it—and opening the door between them joined the spaces into what was essentially one large room split in two.
Every breath, every rustle of someone turning over, would carry straight through.
She could hardly tell her to curl up in the kitchen or the storeroom, and sending her to the disciples' quarters was dangerous in more ways than one.
Just imagining Gayul filling the disciples' heads with strange ideas made her whole body shudder.
"My authority as their master is shaky enough as it is……."
"What troubles you so?"
"Wah!? You scared me!"
"M-my apologies. I assumed you would have noticed my approach…."
Gayul was right.
No matter how deep in thought she had been, failing to sense someone coming near meant she had already registered that person as someone safe to approach.
Of course, she had absolutely no intention of admitting that.
"So then—where am I to sleep?"
"…Haa."
Hoeyeon gave up.
"Use the room next door."
"Heh. Very well."
"Try anything funny and I really won't let it slide."
"Have no fear. Taking someone by force is quite far from my tastes."
A sidelong glance at her face suggested she wasn't lying.
Still, just in case, Hoeyeon would sleep with her sword by her pillow tonight.
"There are blankets and such inside—help yourself. I'm stepping out for a bit."
"Where are you going? May I come along?"
Hoeyeon hesitated for a moment.
"No. Don't. I'm just dropping off some supplies for the disciples, and if you come it'll drag on forever."
"I see. Why go yourself? You could simply send one of the disciples on the errand."
"They're probably collapsed from exhaustion by now. And I don't like making people who've worked hard all day run errands."
"You care for your disciples."
Hoeyeon blinked. Gayul's voice had gone surprisingly soft and warm.
"Isn't that obvious?"
"It is not obvious at all. You know as well as I how common cruel masters are in this world."
That was true enough.
"You cherish your disciples and this entire dojo a great deal. Is this land yours?"
"It's my master's gift."
"I see."
Gayul understood without needing the word inheritance.
"You had a fine master."
"Yeah. I'm just doing what she used to do."
"Well. I have no doubt you make an excellent master yourself."
"……."
"What is it?"
"The way you talk, it's like you already know me."
"A person's nature is surprisingly easy to read, once you know what to look for."
"Do you even know my name?"
"……Cheon…."
"You've been hearing 'Master Cheon' all day. If you don't know that, we've got bigger problems."
"W-well, you don't know my name either!"
"Of course I don't!"
People who knew the imperial name could probably be counted on one hand, couldn't they?
"It is Gayul."
She said it at once.
"In writing, the character for 'beauty' and the character for 'melody.' As for my surname…."
"Even I know the imperial surname."
"Forgive me. In the countryside, one does occasionally meet people who truly do not."
Then Gayul stared at her expectantly, and Hoeyeon realized it was her turn.
"Hoeyeon."
"Hoeyeon, is it. And the characters?"
"'Ash' for hoe, and 'soft' for yeon."
"Oh-ho."
Gayul's gaze lingered on Hoeyeon's eyes and hair.
"I know not who chose it, but it is a fine name. A reward is in order."
"One: you're not emperor anymore. Two: my grandfather passed away a long time ago."
"Your grandfather. How regrettable. Truly regrettable."
Gayul smiled faintly, then said it once more.
"Hoeyeon."
As if rolling a piece of candy across her tongue.
As if confirming the texture of the sound as it rested in her mouth, tasting the image the characters conjured.
Strangely, Hoeyeon felt embarrassed all of a sudden.
As though some part of herself she hadn't even known was being turned over inside that woman's mouth.
"Right then—you must call my name as well."
The sudden request threw Hoeyeon off balance.
"…Why."
"Why, you ask. Because I wish to hear my name from your lips, of course."
Hoeyeon frowned.
"Do you have to put it like that?"
"I am not putting it any particular way. That is simply my honest desire."
"You—"
Hoeyeon started to retort, then stopped at the look on Gayul's face.
Those blue eyes were sparkling with genuine anticipation.
"Uh…."
Hoeyeon scratched her cheek.
Calling someone by name.
It was nothing special—and yet being asked to do it made her shy.
Especially with the woman right in front of her, eyes shining, waiting for the two syllables of her name to leave Hoeyeon's lips.
"…Gayul."
"……How lovely."
"It's just your name."
"And yet you are the one who spoke it, Hoeyeon."
"Eut."
The moment her own name left Gayul's mouth, Hoeyeon's body gave a little jolt.
Gayul saw it and smiled.
"You understand now, do you not? Hoeyeon."
"Th-that's enough."
"Call my name once more."
"…Gayul."
"In a full sentence, if you please."
"Fine. Ga… Gayul."
Gayul's face flushed pink as she broke into a bashful smile.
"Thank you."
That smile felt different from every expression Gayul had worn until now.
Hoeyeon thought:
More than all the seductive words and gestures she had offered so far, this bright, unguarded smile at simply being called by name might be the real her.
Hoeyeon turned her head away. She didn't know why, but her face was burning.
"Ahem…."
And, resenting her own racing heart, she cleared her throat for no good reason.