Ghostly Stratagems, Divine Marvels - 5
Demons exist in this world, and he's standing right there holding a scholar's fan.
This demon.
I thought I could survive even the horrors of the late Han era, as long as this demon didn't rip my daily life to shreds.
Even scraping by on tiny handfuls of rice, I figured I could still live like a person.
How could heaven bear to birth meand this demon!!!
"Aren't you bearing your father's sins alongside him?"
How can he so elegantly nail the core issue and shove me right to the edge of the abyss?
How did he figure it out? Just how much does this man know?
I was the idiot here. The other guy is Zhuge Liang.
Should I ask? Teacher, can you fly through the heavens? Can you truly command all things under heaven?
"I have a question."
"Speak freely."
Of course, I wasn't actually going to ask if he could fly.
It was just that the lingering resistance in my heart had cracked a little, letting a new doubt rear its head.
"Why did you decide to take me as your adopted daughter?"
"Have I not already said? Because it is the proper thing to do."
"It is right to recognize and employ the lowly. You must recalled my words that the worthy should be valued highly. But Teacher, I'm not all that worthy, and my father is even less so."
Zhuge Liang.
You can't convince me. No matter how eloquently you argue, I will not be persuaded.
We're not having a conversation. We're just each saying what we want. At least, that's how it feels to me. No matter what you say, I can't understand you.
"Do you truly believe that?"
"Yes. That's why I don't get it at all."
Zhuge Liang lifted me up and sat me in a chair. How can a person toss someone around like luggage so easily?
"Your father lamented your talents bitterly as well. He praises you endlessly, his mouth worn thin from it. If you humble yourself in the ways of the world, fewer will envy you, but some will take you lightly. If you're not yet worthy, isn't it right to strive diligently?"
This roundabout way of talking is starting to piss me off. He never just says it straight—always twisting words, circling forever.
I get it, you're smart. So why is a smart guy doing something this stupid?
"There has to be a real reason, right? Even if I have talent like you say, adopting me as your daughter is a whole different thing. In a way, it's like taking responsibility for someone's life, isn't it? Super troublesome, yeah? How could you decide so fast? That 'proper way' you love so much—this doesn't feel rational or proper at all."
I raised my voice.
Fired off questions like a machine gun. My jaw hurts.
You have to answer.
You can't, can you? Even you think it doesn't make sense.
"Haa..."
Zhuge Liang sighed, set down his fan, and picked me up again.
Looking me in the eye, he spoke slowly.
"My heart told me to."
"What does that even..."
"I decided to do so, and so I did."
Words stuck in my throat.
"Teacher?"
"Was... was I wrong to do this?"
Eh...?
"It was what had to be done..."
"No... Teacher? Teac—"
Why are you crying...?
"Was I wrong... to take you as my daughter?"
......?
Why?
What's the reason?
Don't cry. It's annoying.
Why are you doing this?
Out of nowhere? Show me the great man from the legends. You think this'll work? Explain yourself.
Who do you think you are?
You? Suddenly? Why? For what? Why?
Why...? Why can't you even meet my eyes? Why bite your lip like that? You're bleeding? You idiot. What is this? What the hell is going on? Answer me. Answer me!!!!
A scheme so ghostly no criminal could dream it up. Called shinsan gwi mo, sin gi myo san.
You can make that face too? Why? Why?
Cowardly. Even elementary kids don't pull this. Coward. Trash. Who are you to cry? Who should be crying right now? You're Zhuge Liang. Explain it so I get it. Poke holes in my words and refute me satisfyingly. Cite evidence with your godlike insight. Spew historical allusions with your vast knowledge. If not that, twist the conversation topic.
Why attack the messenger?
A charisma that moves hearts, beyond mere reason. Called .
His thick hands draw me in. Holding me so I can't resist, he desperately tries to make me understand.
Thump. Thump.
I know. I know. I already know, even without words.
I hear the pounding of his heart from within his embrace. Zhuge Liang simply presented irrefutable proof of his charm, plain and simple.
An enormous sincerity swallows me whole, leaving no escape.
It's like getting high on drugs again—that hazy feeling. My heart pounds. It spreads. Echoes.
I have no idea how to refute the solid evidence he's laid out.
It's too massive to ignore easily. With just circumstantial evidence, I wouldn't confess, so that brilliant mind dug up hard proof.
"I..."
"Is that your answer? It is..."
No.
He notices my reaction. Senses my agitation. He's trying to make me submit. Sharpening in on my weakness, boring a huge pit.
With that eerily ghostly expression.
"Even if not as much as your father, I love you. Is that your answer?"
"......"
I can't beat this man. I've lost. I've been utterly, completely defeated.
My head knows it. There's no escaping the one who's set his sights on me.
This can't end like this. Even if I've lost, it's not over till I'm dead. As long as I live, I'll thrash and struggle.
I can't accept it. I won't concede to this outcome. The world isn't that easy. You surely have some ulterior motive left.
The chosen-one complex rooted in my heart emits an aura screaming I can't coexist with you people of the late Han. You can never understand me. You're just faded lines in history books from a glorious civilization two thousand years ahead!!!!!!!
"I love you, my daughter."
"......"
No counterargument comes to my tiny brain against the swelling heartbeat.
I've lost. A miserable loser's end.
I couldn't refute this thing called love, which science can't explain. It was a love I'd never known even in that glorious civilization.
"I want to be alone. My body's exhausted—I can't move. My body... my body won't... move."
Thoroughly beaten by Zhuge Liang, I couldn't even lift myself. I feel like I'm dying.
Against his ghostly intellect, my desperate fists from this lowly village girl couldn't even graze his robes.
I'm trembling because I'm scared of you. So scared I can't stand it.
"Mister."
As Zhuge Liang smirked at me like I was a joke, a shooting star plummeted with a thud.
"What do you think of what I did, my lady?"
"How could I presume to gauge my lord's actions?"
"You've brewed the tea splendidly. Is the child alright?"
"I've put her to bed in the side chamber. Her spirit is worn, so time will be the medicine. But was it right for you to do that, my lord?"
My lord, after sipping his tea, rolled up his sleeves.
"Isn't drastic medicine bitter?"
"Drastic medicine?"
"Someone malnourished must eat to regain vitality, but if their stomach has shrunk, sudden nourishment overwhelms the body. She stubbornly lied to me at every turn, so I had to discipline her."
My lord smiled bitterly.
"Your face looks dark."
"Does it? If even you say so, I must be quite tired."
"Yet your complexion seems improved."
"That's thanks to my lady's exceptional tea-brewing skills."
My lord was lying. He hadn't touched the tea again after the first sip.
"But the cup overflows untouched—perhaps it doesn't suit your taste? Is there something you haven't told me?"
"I can't win against my lady."
My lord took another sip before speaking.
"Seeing that child stirred old memories. I grew up eavesdropping on lessons and such, and she was doing the same, so she caught my particular interest."
"You, who always shunned worldly affairs—now showing enough interest to petition the court?"
"I don't know. But an overwhelming feeling told me this was the right thing to do. The first time I met her, perhaps from the wine, my chest tightened and I felt drawn in. Today was the same."
As my lord turned his head, I clutched his robe.
"How can you speak such words after setting me aside! Don't abandon me!"
"Pfft!"
My lord spat out his tea dramatically.
"No! That's not what I meant! How can my lady say such wildly misinterpreted words!"
"I jest. I merely worried about her father's deeds, but since you never mentioned them, I teased a little."
"Think about it—even a moment's reflection ends that. Master Xu Shu called his home near Soyang a great mansion, yet he gives away relief supplies without greed for wealth. No ambition for fame or fortune either, so the premise doesn't hold."
"...Then why harbor such suspicions?"
"To deceive the enemy, deceive allies too. Even further, I must deceive myself. I knew I couldn't easily dispel the child's wariness, so I used drastic measures. Does that answer you, my lady?"
My lord is meticulous. He's speaking assuming I've overheard our private talk—truly my lord.
"If you had to choose between Chen Soyoung and me, who would it be?"
"My lady, still jesting?"
"The two of us fall in water. Who do you save first?"
"My lady?"
"The two of us captured by bandits. Who first?"
"My lady? I'd save my lady first."
"Wrong. I can swim, and bandits won't harm me easily—you must save Chen Soyoung first."
"Are you angry at me?"
"I jest."
A twinge of jealousy toward Chen Soyoung, who has captivated my unparalleled lord's heart—is that inevitable for a woman?
"If that's your thinking, my lord, then it must be right. Lady Soyoung is truly a child worth raising!"
"If my lady approves, I'll say no more—but perhaps moderate a bit?"
Even with a bit of jealousy, it's unavoidable. Soyoung is pretty, kind, cute, and smart!
She's my daughter from now on.
If Chen Soyoung were just ten years older, I'd surely harbor different thoughts myself.