Even My Life Is Yours Chapter 69

“Your stance is a mess from the start.”

She hadn’t expected Gamyoung’s advice that someone teaching her would be faster to come back like this. No matter that she had taken first place in the sword tournament, the fact that she had been utterly defeated in the second event, the spear arts, without putting up a fight remained unchanged. So that day too, as usual, she had stayed behind in the training ground to practice alone. It was when she thrust the spear and then turned her body back. She had no idea when he had been standing there, but from the far end, Jeonghwan was watching her intently.

“Wh-what brings you here, sir.”

“The commander told me to stop by the training ground, and lo and behold, here you are right on time.”

“Ah, th… no, why would the commander…”

“This isn’t the first time. The commander occasionally comes to the training ground to observe others practicing and then leaves. Of course, you’ve always been here every time.”

“Ah, I see.”

It was news to her. She had seen Gamyoung heading back to his duties a few times while practicing, but it seemed he visited the training ground more often than she knew. Well, if he just watched quietly and left, she wouldn’t notice. Hongyo nodded her head upon learning this new fact and greeted him.

“You must be busy with state affairs, so I’ll go elsewhere so as not to disturb you. Then, if you’ll excuse me…”

“Where do you think you’re going? After showing that disgrace?”

“Pardon?”

But instead of answering, Jeonghwan fetched a practice spear from the training ground. Then he said to the flustered Hongyo,

“From now on, at this time, I’ll teach you personally, so keep that in mind.”

“You, sir?”

“Yes. I’ll do it until it pleases me, so the sooner you improve, the better for both you and me.”

It was when the flustered Hongyo was about to say something. As if no more questions were allowed, in the blink of an eye, Jeonghwan lunged forward toward Hongyo. At the suddenly close distance, as Hongyo recoiled back, the attack came right away. As she blocked it with both hands, in the moment she faltered, he swung the spear overhead and attacked her head directly. It was an attack with no time to dodge, but Hongyo instinctively bent at the waist to avoid it, however, this time, she had no chance to evade the kick flying toward her face from the side, not the spear. But even after time passed, no impact was felt.

As Hongyo looked up, Jeonghwan, who had lowered the foot that had flown right up to her face, said,

“What did you learn from that just now?”

At those words, Hongyo recalled the advice Gamyoung had given her a few days ago.

‘If it were me, I would have kicked at the center when it was exposed.’

Now she finally understood exactly what he had meant. Hongyo looked at Jeonghwan and replied,

“I was focusing too much on the weapon.”

At that, Jeonghwan nodded.

“Yes. No matter that it’s spear arts, if you only pay attention to that, you won’t see the opponent’s next move. You were using the spear like a sword.”

With that, Jeonghwan, who had drawn close, grabbed Hongyo’s hand holding the spear and moved it to the very bottom part. Because of that, with the center of gravity shifting downward, it felt much heavier than when gripping the middle.

“Feel it.”

As Hongyo, barely holding the spear, looked at him with eyes asking what now, Jeonghwan said,

“Now, try swinging it.”

It was exhausting just to hold this heavy thing, and now to swing it too? But the opponent was the vice commander. Hongyo tried her best to swing the spear overhead, but the weight made her stagger instead. Seeing that, Jeonghwan furrowed his brows.

“The difference between a spear and a sword is that you can cover a wider range with it, but looking at you now, forget defending, you’d be attacked from all sides.”

“Does that happen overnight?”

“What right do you have to complain already when you haven’t even gotten good yet?”

Hongyo shut her mouth. It was true, so she had nothing to say.

“I’m sorry.”

“Knowing is enough. Before you grip a spear, you need to start by carrying water jars. It just so happens I need someone to carry water, perfect. From now on, you’ll be the one carrying the water for the training ground. That’ll be the end of today’s lesson.”

What is this…. The flustered Hongyo looked at Jeonghwan, but he had already turned his back and was striding out of the training ground. Hongyo shouted after him.

“Thank you!”

But Jeonghwan, who had vanished in an instant, was already gone. After chasing his retreating figure for a moment, Hongyo gripped the bottom of the spear again and lifted it overhead.

“It’s ridiculously heavy.”

Hongyo massaged her trembling arms. She wasn’t sure if carrying water jars would really help, but for now, she had no choice but to follow orders. At that moment, a servant boy who helped with Hwayung-gyeong affairs approached.

“Are you Yeo Hongyo Gamhwi*?”

“Yeah. And?”

“A personal letter has arrived for you, Gamhwi.”

With that, the boy delivered the letter, bowed, and left. A personal letter to me? The only one who knows I’m at Hwayung-gyeong is Gamyoung. With a puzzled face, Hongyo unfolded the letter and saw that from the first line, it concisely stated only the matter at hand, causing her face to harden.

‘Come to Cheongmudang on the new moon.’

It was from Mohyun.

 

˖°⛩️⋆˙️

 

After that, for over half a month, every day Hongyo was carrying water that fate had thrust upon her. The supervisors in charge of Hwayung-gyeong’s miscellaneous tasks joked that thanks to Gamhwi, they had one less thing to do, but for Hongyo, who had to shoulder the heavy load, it was sheer hell.

The wooden water jars, hung from a long pole, weren’t just one but a full two. Moreover, once filled to the brim with water, they were so heavy that at first, her steps staggered with every one. And it wasn’t just once; after classes ended, she had to ensure the training ground never ran out of water, so she carried from the well to the training ground several times a day. Because of that, at some point, her peers started calling her the water boy, but it was actually better than being called top graduate. But that was that, and the water jars remained as heavy no matter how many times she carried them.

“Argh.”

It was surprising that in the dead of winter, she could sweat this much. Already on her third trip with the water jars today, as soon as Hongyo arrived, her peers suddenly started splashing water on their faces as if to show off, making her fume.

“Hey, hey! Use it sparingly!”

“Ugh. It’s so cool it’s cold, freezing!”

But the more that happened, the more they wanted to tease. Even Choi Hyangbang, who had zero interest in training, suddenly showed up at the training ground and was vigorously washing his face in this winter, so it seemed the rumors had spread far and wide. Of course, they didn’t know that carrying these water jars was also training, so it must have been known only that Hongyo had irked Jeonghwan and was being punished.

“Hey, water boy. The water’s already run out. What are you waiting for, hurry up and fetch more?”

“Argh, you bastards!”

As Hongyo plainly saw the water still left in the jars and finally couldn’t hold back, she doused Choi Hyangbang and the other guys right then and there, causing the group, who got drenched in winter, to let out agonized screams. As Hongyo watched that spectacle with satisfaction, she failed to notice Jeonghwan approaching because of it and was about to pour the remaining water once more.

“Yeo Gamhwi. If you still have the head for pranks, it seems your training is insufficient.”

As Jeonghwan appeared, all the men there stiffened rigidly and bowed their waists in greeting to him.

“Oh dear, training’s over, so we’ll be on our way.”

The quick-witted Choi Hyangbang tried to smile affably and slip away quickly, but to Jeonghwan, who had already grasped the situation, it was no use.

“I didn’t know you all had such strong camaraderie, helping Yeo Gamhwi with her training.”

His refreshing smile was somehow more frightening. As Choi Hyangbang slowly tried to back away, Jeonghwan patted his shoulder and said,

“Choi Hyangbang, Yoo Deoksu, Lee Geumseong, Yoon Kyungjun, you lot will help Yeo Gamhwi carry water starting today.”

As their faces quickly turned to grimaces with no reply, Jeonghwan commanded with a stern face.

“If you understand, shoulder those water jars right now.”

At those words, Choi Hyangbang, who hesitantly and reluctantly shouldered the water jar, glanced at Hongyo with the most pitiful expression he could muster. But Hongyo was just watching that with delight. Seeing her utterly smug face, Choi Hyangbang flushed red and blue before shouldering the jar and departing. After enjoying that sight to the end with glee, Hongyo noticed Jeonghwan quietly watching her and straightened her expression. However, contrary to what she thought he would say, Jeonghwan handed her a spear without a word.

“Let’s see how much you’ve improved.”

With that, he took a step back and crossed his arms. At that familiar demeanor, Hongyo raised the spear and gripped the bottom. She had been repeating the same motion for days now, but it was certain that carrying the water jars was helping, as now she could lift the spear without difficulty.

After catching her breath for a moment, Hongyo swung the spear overhead. At the same time, crossing her arms to the sides and rotating the spear in all directions, Hongyo looked at Jeonghwan with a face of disbelief that she had actually done it.

“Did you see that just now?”

“Yes. I saw. Looks like you’ve put in some effort.”

With that, he moved the step he had taken back and approached beside Hongyo.

“Do you understand now why I had you carry water jars?”

At those words, Hongyo nodded vigorously with a joyful face.

“Yes! It really makes a difference once you build up the strength!”

The results of training every day while faithfully fetching water for over half a month were there. Still unable to believe she had swung that heavy thing, as she looked at the delighted Hongyo, Jeonghwan subtly lifted the corner of his mouth. In that moment of her pause at his expression, Jeonghwan fetched a nearby practice spear and, without warning, swung it straight at Hongyo’s head. At the same time, as Hongyo reflexively gripped the spear with both hands to block her head, a vibration ran through both her hands. In that interval, as Jeonghwan withdrew his spear, without giving her a chance to counterattack, he pointed the spear tip directly at Hongyo’s throat.

“If this were a battlefield, you’d be done here.”

The blunt wooden tip touched under Hongyo’s chin. Following that, her head was slowly lifted up. As Hongyo was forced to lower her gaze, Jeonghwan withdrew the spear. Seeing Hongyo tense with rising anger, Jeonghwan spun the spear in one hand as if to say go ahead.

“From now on, watch and learn everything I do.”

*T/N: Gamhwi appears to be a fictional military rank, specifically within the Hwayung-gyeong, an elite guard or training unit. It’s used as an honorific title for the protagonist, Yeo Hongyo, after she becomes a top graduate and joins as a junior officer.