🚨 Warning: This chapter includes depictions of harassment, which some readers may find disturbing. Please remain mindful of this as you read. If you feel uncomfortable, do not hesitate to stop reading. 🚨
As she stepped outside, a light drizzle began to fall. If Eokbun hadn’t mentioned that the weather looked gloomy and given her an umbrella, she would have ended up walking back in the rain, completely unprepared.
She needed to escape this suffocating place before the rain grew heavier. But for some reason, the path ahead seemed endlessly distant, and her legs felt heavy and powerless, leaving her unable to move.
As she stood in the courtyard, staring blankly at the sky, a passing servant stopped and asked.
“My lady, would you like me to carry your belongings for you?”
The servant’s question jolted her back to reality. Noticing the curious gaze directed at the silk-wrapped bundle, her face flushed with embarrassment.
“Who do you think you are? It’s none of your business.”
Dismissing his kindness as coldly as a gust of wind, she opened her umbrella and swept past the servant, swiftly crossing the courtyard without meeting his gaze.
She had no choice. If it were to be revealed that what was inside was the payment she had received in advance from Yoon Jucheol to serve as a prostitute, she felt she would rather die than endure the shame.
Just as Nokhee was about to leave the palace grounds, she noticed something unusual. Several soldiers guarding the walls of the Lord’s palace had gathered together, whispering among themselves before suddenly rushing toward the rear courtyard.
A sense of déjà vu washed over her. She had witnessed something like this before.
For reasons unknown, the members of the Yoon family, frustrated with Kijoon, had confined him to the inner palace, forcing him to perform menial tasks like cleaning shoes, feeding the dogs, and carrying the palanquin — chores typically reserved for those of lower status.
Although he was a servant, it infuriated her to see him humiliated and forced to carry out errands meant for those beneath him.
So, on several occasions, she made up excuses to remove Kijoon from that situation. However, someone must have tattled, as the Grand Sharman and Yoon Jucheol rushed in and slapped her several times on the cheek.
The Grand Sharman absolutely detested seeing Nokhee and Kijoon together, yet she didn’t go so far as to prevent them from meeting like Seonghyeon or their mother. Instead, Nokhee had to hide her face for quite some time.
In any case, it was not common for those guarding the Lord’s palace to gather like that and rush off without the master's permission.
Nokhee, driven by a nagging suspicion, followed them into the rear courtyard. As always, her ominous premonitions proved to be correct.
In the rear courtyard of the Lord’s palace, there was a dog being raised, but today, it was not visible, likely because it had been brought inside due to the rain.
Instead, she saw a large man kneeling in the pouring rain in front of the empty doghouse. His face was eerily familiar.
It was Kijoon.
The soldiers had rushed over, wondering what was going on, and began pointing fingers at Kijoon, who sat motionless in the middle of them. Someone in the group threw a dog bone that they had somehow scavenged somewhere.
Thud―!
Since he didn't dodge, it naturally struck one side of Kijoon's forehead and fell to the ground. A fine trickle of blood surfaced on his otherwise flawless skin, causing the group to erupt in laughter, exclaiming, “Wow, haha!”
It must hurt. Seeing Kijoon sit there expressionless and unresponsive, Nokhee felt a deep, dark anger boiling within her.
Yoon Jucheol was still in the main house. Although it would have been wisest to ignore the scene unfolding before her, Nokhee found herself unable to just stand by and watch.
“What are you all doing?"
As she stepped out from behind the pillar where she had been hiding and observing, the gathered soldiers froze in shock.
“N-Nok, Lady Nokhee!”
“W-What brings you here?”
“I was looking for someone to help me carry my belongings to my quarters, but when I found the front courtyard empty, I ended up here.”
Nokhee held her head high and draped the precious golden robe fit for a noble around herself. At that moment, the faces of the foolish men around her turned pale.
“I-is that so? I will serve you, my lady. Please give me what you have there.”
One of them quickly stepped forward to take the load she was carrying, but Nokhee took a step back and sharply retorted with a haughty glare.
“These are the special gifts my father bestowed upon me. Why should I trust you fools who abandon your duties to laze around in the rear courtyard?”
“M-my lady! I-it’s not like that!”
"I'd rather have the guard dog do it instead. What are you doing? Why aren't you carrying my belongings to my quarters?”
As she turned her body toward Kijoon and shot him a sidelong glance, the disorganised bunch became flustered and was too busy looking at one another.
If she had set the scene like this, he should have immediately gotten up to pretend to help carry her things. Instead, Kijoon showed no signs of getting up, whether due to cluelessness or simply not understanding the situation.
‘Anyway, he's a handful.’
Nokhee sighed deeply and then, with intent, pressed him further.
“Your lady’s arm is about to fall off, you servant.”
“Ah, but my lady. This one has committed a crime and is currently being punished by the Lord.”
At that moment, another soldier tried to dissuade her. Nokhee turned her head toward him and asked with indifference.
“Then did my father command you to leave your posts like this?”
“That…”
“Should I just go ahead and ask for some other soldiers to help carry my things since the front of the palace is empty?”
“M-my lady! I-I have committed a grave sin!”
"Why don't you just scram?"
Only then did they hurriedly run off, tails between their legs. While the Yoon family had tacitly tolerated their behaviour, the Lord's capriciousness was so unpredictable that even a small mistake could result in severe punishment.
Despite her efforts to chase away the soldiers, Kijoon remained motionless, blood streaming from his wounded forehead. Seeing him in this state was deeply troubling.
“...You idiot, why are you just sitting here in the rain? Get up already.”
Nokhee tilted the umbrella she was holding forward, indifferent to the fact that she was getting soaked herself. He was already drenched like a mouse that had fallen into the water, making it pointless to hold the umbrella over him now, but she simply felt compelled to do it.
However, the servant didn’t move an inch, let alone meet her gaze.
"Do your lady's words sound ridiculous to you now? What aren’t you getting up? Hurry up.”
“...Did you not hear?”
“What?”
“I am being punished for my mistakes.”
As she raised her voice in frustration, he slowly lifted his head to respond. The scratches on his handsome face became more pronounced, causing a wave of heat to surge up her throat.
In all the time Nokhee had observed Kijoon, he had never once acted carelessly, regardless of how trivial the task was. Not only did he silently carry out every task without complaint, but even in moments when he could have taken a brief rest, he diligently attended to the whims of his immature lady, serving her needs as her scribe.
What kind of mistake could he possibly have made? And if he did make a mistake, how serious could it be to leave him in such a pitiful state?
“...You could have handled it more skillfully.”
In the end, she despised herself for being unable to offer any meaningful assistance and for only managing to say a few words.
“Since you’re not going to follow me anyway, just pretend to do so for a moment. Go under a tree to avoid the rain, or at least beg under the eaves and promise you won’t do it again.”
“...”
“Or just say Lady Nokhee called for you, at least put up a fight. You should at least avoid those fools' attacks, so why are you just sitting there and getting hit like an idiot?!”
If Kijoon had at least leveraged his status as a favoured servant to buy some time, even if Yoon Jucheol later rushed back to slap him, the repercussions wouldn’t have been immediate.
Then, even if he couldn’t avoid the humiliation of guarding the doghouse, he could have at least escaped being drenched like a drowned rat in the rain.
‘Why are you acting like such a mindless idiot? Why?’
Nokhee, overwhelmed by her emotions, unconsciously reached out to gently touch Kijoon’s bleeding forehead. The wound appeared deeper than it seemed, and despite the rain continuously washing it away, new streams of blood kept emerging.
“Oh no, what should I do?”
The fingers hovering around the scar trembled slightly.
Should she rush back to her quarters and demand that Eokbun provide some salve? Or should she return to Yoon Jucheol, comply with his demands to act as a prostitute, and beg him to call for a physician?
As she wiped away the blood with her fingers, Nokhee found herself torn, her eyes trembling with conflict.
Smack—!
The hand that had been gently tending to his forehead was suddenly seized. Shoving it away as if to discard it, Kijoon muttered coldly.
“It’s nothing.”
The rejected wrist felt numb. Or perhaps that numbness was just in the corner of her heart.
Struggling to compose her expression, Nokhee stubbornly replied.
“With a wound this deep, how can you say it’s nothing?”
“Why do you keep worrying about me, my lady?”
Taken aback by the unexpected question, she found herself momentarily speechless. She hadn’t anticipated that he would probe her like this, given that he usually remained indifferent even when she acted recklessly.
What should she say? That she liked him? That she felt sorry for him in his harsh circumstances, just like her own? That it frustrated her to see him being looked down upon by a bunch of nobodies?
Nokhee's lips quivered repeatedly for a long while before she finally managed to force out an excuse.
"…Watching the way you’re acting makes me feel utterly suffocated with frustration."
“Is that so?”
However, his reply came back in a voice so calm it was almost hollow. He was the one who had asked, yet he acted as if he couldn't have cared less.
Despite knowing it was wrong, Nokhee couldn’t hold back any longer and blurted out.
"Just run away already."
Unlike her, who was shackled and weighed down by her burdens, Kijoon seemed to have no flaws or issues that the Yoon family could use against him to keep him here. It was incomprehensible why he was just sitting there.
"They say you're a mythical creature. If there’s an oath, a pact, or whatever, why not just burn the documents and run away?"
“Is that… an order?”
“...What?”
“I asked if you were giving me a command, just like when you ordered me to serve you diligently.”
“An order…? This is…”
She had steeled herself to lay her heart bare, yet the response was completely nonsensical.
Nokhee fell silent, staring blankly at Kijoon’s pale face. Then, Kijoon tilted his head slightly to the side, looking puzzled.
“Are you aware that your father sent me to Yeongsan River to kill a few people?”
She had no way of knowing. Although he had been sent to the front lines, she had only been able to make vague guesses. However, hearing it confirmed straight from the horse’s mouth [1] made Nokhee bite the inside of her cheek in disbelief.
As she remained silent, Kijoon continued to speak, as if he hadn’t expected a specific answer to his question.
“I almost completed everything as instructed... but, absurdly, I ended up letting one slip away.”
“...”
“Like a rat, he snuck up from behind and tried to stab me with a dagger. Such a thing, I could have simply grabbed it and broken it with my hand…”
This was the first time Kijoon had opened up about himself. As she held her breath and listened intently, she noticed him turn his gaze away from hers, mumbling to himself as if he were lost in thought.
“I recalled my lady’s command, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
Nokhee took a deep breath.
“Perhaps sensing a weakness, he deliberately slashed his hand to buy time before fleeing.”
“...Kijoon.”
“That’s why your father has taken away even the last bit of refuge I had left and is making me guard the rear courtyard like a dog.”
It meant it was her fault. She wasn’t so dull that she couldn’t understand that. Her mind went blank. As Nokhee stared at Kijoon, her eyes lost their focus and began to tremble.
“...I-I just...”
‘I just wanted you to be unharmed. So, that’s why I said what I did…’
Nokhee hurriedly tried to come up with an excuse, but her tongue kept getting tangled, preventing her from speaking. In the meantime, Kijoon pressed on with his insistence as if driving a wedge.
“So please don’t issue me any unnecessary commands, and don’t act as if you care.”
“...”
“You don’t need to step forward like this.”
What could she say to someone who was being punished because of her? No matter how brazenly he acted, like a reckless fool, he couldn’t honestly claim to be indifferent to the way he was being treated.
Nokhee desperately struggled to hide her twisted expression, and after a long pause, she finally replied in a voice barely above a whisper.
“...Okay.”
It was a relief that the sound of the rain drowned out her trembling voice.
She wanted to act haughtily and glare at him as she used to, even snicker at him, but she couldn't quite pull it off.
“From now on... I won’t do that anymore.”
Translator's Corner:
[1] "From the horse's mouth" means hearing information directly from the person concerned or another authoritative source.
⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡ ⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆
If you notice any errors or broken links, please let me know and I will get that fixed~ Additionally, if you would like to support me, I have a Ko-fi ~ Thank you! 💖