DKM 16

It seemed that since Soseo wasn’t by his side, Moyong Hwa had completely cast aside the small amount of courtesy he had been showing. Moyong Hwa paused as he was about to pass us.

“Wait. You’re the ones who were with Brother Soseo yesterday, right?”

Moyong Hwa spoke arrogantly, crossing his arms.

“I remember you because you both have unnecessarily chubby cheeks and look stupid.”

“……Thank you for remembering us.”

Hey, a person can have some cheek fat. We’re children in our growing years. Besides, I believe these cheeks are our charm point. Without them, the ‘hamster look’ wouldn’t be complete. I felt better again thinking about how I’d let my future girlfriend touch these cheeks to heal whenever she felt depressed. Myoryeong did challenge me by asking if I actually think I’ll have a girlfriend in the future, but they say it’s better to dream big.

“By the way, why aren’t you with Brother today?”

“……Young Master Soseo told us we could help the other servants while he was studying.”

“Is that so? Then Brother Soseo is in his room right now.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

After pondering for a moment, Moyong Hwa commanded Grandpa Jang.

“You may leave now.”

“……What is this all of a sudden, Young Master?”

“I think I should take these two to see Brother.”

“But…….”

“Just go.”

Grandpa Jang had no choice but to leave us behind and depart. Moyong Hwa led us toward Soseo’s room. It seemed he wanted to disrupt Soseo’s studies. I didn’t want to be part of such childish antics, but as subordinates, we had no power to refuse. As we were being dragged to Soseo’s room without a peep, Moyong Hwa asked:

“How did you two end up working under Brother?”

“Pardon?”

“It’s strange. Brother used to prefer being alone, even if it was a bit inconvenient, yet here he is keeping two servants to attend to him.”

“That is…….”

I started to summarize what had happened with Soseo, but then I shut my mouth. It’s best to talk about others as little as possible. No matter how good the things you say about someone are, the other person can distort them however they wish if they set their mind to it. Especially if that person harbors ill will. As the silence stretched, Moyong Hwa pressed further.

“Why aren’t you speaking?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know the reason myself.”

“You really don’t?”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

Moyong Hwa smiled and launched another verbal jab.

“You don’t just look stupid; you actually are stupid.”

I gave a bashful smile.

“Yes, I am a bit stupid.”

“…….”

The corners of Moyong Hwa’s mouth momentarily dropped. He muttered,

“I guess you really are Brother’s servants; even your smiling faces are similar.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s unpleasantly similar.”

Moyong Hwa brushed past us and flung the door open. As the door opened, Soseo’s hand, which had been writing on paper, stopped.

“I’m here, Brother. I ran into your servants on the way and brought them along, is that alright?”

“…….”

Soseo scanned us and gave a beaming smile.

“Of course it’s alright. But what brings you here? Did you come because you wanted to have a cup of tea with me?”

“Ah, I’d like to, but the tea here doesn’t quite suit my taste.”

“Oh dear, having a sensitive palate can be tiring. I understand. So, what is it?”

“I wanted to go see Aunt together.”

Soseo’s eyebrows twitched.

“……Mother?”

“Yes. You’re worried too, aren’t you, Brother? You haven’t properly heard any news about how she’s been since she collapsed yesterday.”

“…….”

“I thought it would be better to go as a group rather than alone, so I came to find you.”

“……Thank you so much for being considerate.”

Soseo put down his brush and stood up.

“I was actually planning to go see her myself. Let’s go.”

“Shall we take Soyu along too?”

“Soyu went out with Father.”

Soseo then asked us.

“What about you two? Do you want to come?”

“Of course you must take them. Attending to Brother is their job, after all.”

Ignoring Moyong Hwa’s sarcasm, Soseo said,

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. You must have been very surprised by yesterday’s events.”

“…….”

We exchanged glances and answered simultaneously.

“We’ll go too.”

To be honest, I was scared at first, but now I only felt bad for the Madam. We followed the two of them.

“Get out!”

“Madam! You must eat something!”

“I said get out!”

Soseo quickly swatted away a bowl that flew toward my head. I almost met my end. I looked at Soseo as a way of saying thank you. Soseo stared at the completely trashed room with a very serious expression. The servants surrounded the Madam, trying to calm her down, but she wouldn’t settle.

“I don’t want to see a single person from the Paeng Clan, get out this instant!”

“Madam, the Young Masters have arrived! The Young Masters came because they were worried about you— Ack!”

A flower vase fell to the floor and shattered. The servants scrambled in confusion, and Soseo’s expression hardened further. Moyong Hwa smirked at the sight, then quickly changed his expression as if nothing had happened. He then spoke, pretending to be distressed.

“Oh my, Aunt is already sensitive, and it seems she’s reacting this way because there are only unfamiliar faces around her.”

“……Is that so?”

“I understand the desire to personally attend to the Mistress of the house now that she has returned after so long, but…… it seems the servants here are slightly lacking in consideration.”

Moyong Hwa asked the servants,

“Where are the servants we brought? If there are familiar people by her side, Aunt will be able to regain her composure.”

“That is, well…….”

The servants hesitated before confessing honestly.

“We sent them back to their quarters a while ago. As soon as we told her they were here, she flew into a rage…….”

“……What?”

Moyong Hwa’s face, which had been Read on Read BL Novelsfull of smugness, turned bright [unauthorized copy]red from the [visit our site]embarrassment. Meanwhile, the Madam began to cry.

“I’m begging you, everyone get out! Everyone get out…….”

“What should we do, Young Master? Should we call the physician again…….”

Soseo commanded,

“Everyone, leave.”

“But Madam hasn’t eaten a single meal yet. And because you came so suddenly, we haven’t finished cleaning…….”

“Mother said she wants to be alone.”

Soseo spoke coldly.

“Leave now.”

“Yes……!”

The servants left the room in a panic. Once the room became quiet, the Madam’s sobbing gradually subsided. Soseo placed a finger over his lips, signaling us to be quiet, and waited until the Madam calmed down. After some time had passed, the Madam slowly peeled back the blanket she had been covering herself with. As soon as her eyes met Soseo’s, she was startled and burrowed back under the blanket. However, Soseo spoke regardless.

“Mother, please do not worry.”

“….”

“You can do whatever you wish here. This is your home as well. We will leave now, so please rest comfortably.”

Soseo wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

I nodded. Just as we were about to leave the stolen contentroom, a thin [visit our site]voice drifted out from between the blankets.

“……Wait a moment.”

Soseo’s steps stopped. The Madam asked, peeking only her eyes out from the blanket.

“Those children, are they siblings by any chance?”

Those children? Siblings? Is she talking about us? We pointed at each other, wondering if that was the case. The Madam nodded.

“Yes, you two.”

“Yes, we are siblings.”

“…….”

The Madam stared at us blankly. The quick-witted Soseo let go of my shoulder.

“Mother, do you perhaps wish to speak with these two? Then shall I leave only them behind and go?”

The Madam gave a slight nod. Moyong Hwa, who had stepped back to observe the situation, was appalled.

“Aunt. Are you serious?”

The Madam flinched. Moyong Hwa spoke cuttingly.

“To think you refuse to speak even with us, yet you wish to speak with servants you’ve never seen in your life, this is truly—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Soseo roughly grabbed Moyong Hwa’s shoulder and pulled him out.

“Come here.”

We approached the bed. As we drew closer, the Madam completely pulled back the blanket and revealed herself. Seeing her visit our siteup close, she unauthorized copylooked even more frail. Her limbs were so thin that I wondered how she had ever held a sword, and her skin Read on Read BL Novelswas piteously pale. The Madam stared at us for a long time before speaking.

“Which one of you is older?”

I raised my hand.

“Me, I am one year older.”

“…….”

For some reason, the Madam looked at me with slightly fearful eyes, then asked Myoryeong,

“Does your older brother treat you well?”

She’s asking the exact same question as the Clan Leader. How strange. Myoryeong nodded without hesitation.

“Yes, he treats me well.”

“……That’s a relief.”

The Madam muttered.

“It really is a relief. Ah, right.”

The Madam tried to lift herself up.

“I should give you something. Would you like some cookies?”

“Ah, it’s alright. We’re fine without them.”

“No, you must eat something. You’re here because of me.”

“Then, Madam, if you just tell us where the cookies are, I’ll go get them.”

“Would you?”

The Madam pointed to a bundle sitting on the table. When I brought the bundle to her, she untied it with trembling fingers. A white box was revealed. The moment I saw that box, I was momentarily flustered.

“Eat plenty.”

“……Thank you for the food.”

I had no choice. The cookies the Madam gave us were exactly the same as the ones Soseo had given me back when I worked at the inn before coming here. Soseo had clearly told me then that they were cookies specially ordered for me? But not only the packaging of the box, but even the smell and taste were identical.

“This is…….”

Myoryeong also seemed to remember the taste from back then and looked bewildered while holding a cookie. At that moment, the Madam asked with expectant eyes.

“How is it? Does it suit your taste?”

“……Yes, it’s very delicious.”

“There are plenty, so eat as much as you want. You can eat them all.”

……It must be a coincidence, right? I tried to ignore the uneasy feeling and ate another cookie. The Madam observed our reactions and asked,

“Were you two also at that place yesterday?”

“Yes.”

“…….”

The Madam’s expression darkened.

“I’m sorry. You must have been very surprised then.”

Um, why are you apologizing to us? It’s making us uncomfortable. We shook our heads vigorously.

“No, there’s no need to apologize to us.”

“That’s right, please don’t apologize.”

“……Still.”

So she was originally such a gentle person. I don’t know what circumstances led her to do such things, but……. Suddenly, Soseo’s face came to mind. I gathered my courage and spoke.

“Um, Madam. Young Master Soseo was very worried about you.”

At the mention of Soseo’s name, the Madam’s shoulders trembled.

“The Clan Leader and Young Master Soyu were also very worried.”

“…….”

The Madam clenched her fists. I could feel that she was becoming anxious again. What if she starts throwing things and getting excited like before? We don’t know how to handle such a situation either. I decided that if a dangerous moment came, I would just grab Myoryeong and run. It was at that moment.

“Would those three forgive me?”

“Pardon?”

It was an unexpected question. The Madam’s voice began to tremble more violently.

“Yesterday, I truly wasn’t in my right mind. I really didn’t want to do that, but I simply couldn’t suppress it……. That’s why I did what I did.”

Myoryeong hesitated before speaking.

“Madam, those three surely…….”

I grabbed Myoryeong’s hand. Myoryeong stopped talking and looked at me. Holding Myoryeong’s hand, I spoke.

“I think you’ll have to ask them directly.”

“But……!”

“I know you’re anxious. And I know there was a reason why you acted that way yesterday. But my answer remains the same.”

I repeated,

“Please ask that question to the three of them directly, not us.”

The Madam bit her lip and lowered her head. Before long, transparent tears rolled down her cheeks. We stayed by her side until she stopped crying.