Chapter 11
I had a strange dream.
In the dream, I had become a fearsome monster.
I had come down to the village in search of a bride, kidnapped a fair-skinned and lovely bride, and then, right in front of her as she cried and said she didn’t want to, I shook my hips and performed a courtship dance…
“Gasp!”
I opened my eyes wide. The familiar smell of medicine brushed the tip of my nose.
‘Right, I passed out.’
Although I hadn’t been performing a courtship dance, I had gotten my head cracked while showing off my ultimate secret technique, ‘Spicy Tanghulu’… Why did I feel as though I’d somehow become even more shameless than that monster?
As I sweated profusely, a familiar head suddenly popped into view. It was the Chief Steward.
“Are you all right?”
I stared blankly at the Chief Steward before asking,
“Am I… getting kicked out?”
The Chief Steward looked dumbfounded.
“What are you talking about?”
From the Chief Steward’s perspective, he probably thought, ‘Has this kid finally lost his mind?’ But I was being completely serious.
Some attention-seeking idiot had been allowed to pester her all this time, and now she had shaken her hips and teased her right in front of her. Who wouldn’t be horrified?
‘Even if the young lady had foamed at the mouth and demanded that they kick me out right this instant, I wouldn’t have had anything to say…’
I obediently lowered my eyes and reflected on my past mistakes, when I’d been planning to show her ‘Pikki Pikki’ if ‘Spicy Tanghulu’ didn’t work either. Then I heard a small sigh from directly in front of me.
“My, my. I don’t know whether to say you’re a good-natured person or simply excessively optimistic…”
“Pardon?”
“Child, do you know that you were hovering between life and death for an entire day? And that your head was split open badly enough that it had to be stitched with a needle?”
Oh, I had my head stitched?
‘No wonder my head feels duller than usual.’
I raised my hand and touched my head, and sure enough, I could feel the bandages wrapped around it.
Suddenly, I remembered the maidservant who had been carried away after getting hit in the head in the same way.
“I told you, that was a really close call. If treatment had been delayed even a little, we might have had to prepare your funeral…”
I hurriedly bowed to the Chief Steward.
“Goodness, if you hadn’t treated me so quickly, I might not have been safe either. Thank you. I don’t know how I could ever repay this kindness…”
“No. Don’t thank me, but…”
The Chief Steward stopped mid-sentence and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe. Stay in the guest quarters and recuperate for the time being. You don’t need to worry about work.”
“Is that really okay?”
“Of course. And since you won’t be able to go home while you’re receiving treatment, I’ll send someone to look after your mother. This was our responsibility, so after properly explaining the situation, I’ll apologize…”
“No.”
I hurriedly added,
“I’m truly grateful, but could you please not tell Mother the truth and just make up some excuse? She’s already not in good health, and I don’t want to trouble her mind as well.”
The Chief Steward looked at me as though he had a lot to say, but soon nodded without another word.
“…Very well.”
Only then did I feel relieved and comfortably lay back down on the bed.
The pillow was soft, and the blanket was warm. Since I could now rest legitimately, I figured this wasn’t such a bad thing after all and was just about to enjoy myself when the Chief Steward, who had remained strangely hesitant to leave until then, finally spoke.
“I’m saying this only now… but I’m truly sorry about what happened.”
“It’s all right. I have things I did wrong as well.”
“No. Everyone knows how hard you’ve worked until now, so what did you do wrong? If, perhaps, it becomes too difficult to endure, tell me.”
“Pardon?”
“There is plenty of work at the manor besides serving the young lady. Especially someone like you, who is diligent and always gives his best, would be welcomed anywhere. If you dislike working at the Xiao Family Estate, I can write you a letter of recommendation for somewhere else, so don’t feel too pressured…”
In other words, he was basically saying, ‘If things get too difficult, I’ll help you change jobs.’
I looked at the Chief Steward anew. Just a few days ago, he had been happier than anyone when I came back battered and bruised, saying, ‘Thanks to you, the young lady has become more lively’…
It was unexpected, but I already knew what I had to say.
“I’m really fine. But… This time, it was just an accident. Usually, the young lady isn’t that bad. I only just started getting used to the work, and if it’s all right with you, I’d like to keep working.”
As expected, the Chief Steward’s face brightened.
“Yes, then that’s a relief! I can do nothing but thank you every time. How should I ever repay this kindness… Ah! I’ll give you some compensation in addition to your salary. If the Manor Lord hears about all your hard work, he will surely understand…”
“No, that’s all right.”
“Then… What?”
“I don’t need any compensation. I already received plenty not long ago.”
The Chief Steward looked bewildered. I smiled lightly and said,
“I mean the medicinal ingredients you gave me.”
Back when Mother had collapsed.
At that time, it had truly felt as though the world had gone dark before my eyes. I hurriedly wrote out a prescription, but every single ingredient was difficult to obtain, so I had no idea what to do.
When I eventually broke down and even cried in front of the young lady, the Chief Steward secretly called me over one day.
“I heard your mother is ill?”
“Pardon?”
I froze instantly.
Apparently, the incident where I’d cried had reached the Chief Steward’s ears as well. Was I going to get scolded? Would he ask why I’d done that there? All sorts of thoughts became tangled together when…
“Bring me the prescription.”
“T-The prescription?”
“Yes. We brought in a large amount of medicinal ingredients from Beijing this time. There should be plenty left over even after preparing the young lady’s medicine, so I’ll give you some. There are many rare ingredients as well, so it should be enough.”
When I just stood there blankly, the Chief Steward apparently misunderstood me and laughed heartily.
“I’ll give them to you for free, so don’t worry.”
…After receiving such a great deal of help, how could I possibly ask for more?
I spoke sincerely.
“The medicinal ingredients you gave me back then were a tremendous help. My mother was able to safely get through that critical period because of them. After receiving such a great kindness, how could I possibly ask for anything more? You don’t need to apologize anymore, either. It was already more than I deserved.”
The Chief Steward seemed slightly dazed by my answer.
“You really are…”
The Chief Steward smiled faintly.
“A good person.”
“Hahaha, enough with the compliments.”
“I mean it sincerely. If it were you, truly…”
“Pardon?”
The rest was too quiet for me to hear, so I had no choice but to ask again. However, the Chief Steward didn’t answer and merely shook his head.
The Chief Steward asked me a few more questions about how I was doing before finally getting up. I barely managed to raise my upper body to see him off. Yet the Chief Steward himself hesitated at the door.
Suddenly, he turned around and said to me,
“Rest easy and get plenty of sleep. This won’t happen again.”
With that, he disappeared like the wind.
I couldn’t even guess what he meant by that and merely blinked.
All I could do was stare at the door through which the Chief Steward had left and think,
‘What, did the young lady finally run out of things to throw at me?’
***
Just as the Chief Steward had said, I rested well.
I ate three proper meals a day, slept well, and they even assigned a maidservant, Aso, to help me, so I wondered if this was heaven.
‘Mother should’ve been here.’
It was so absurd to be treated like a bigger patient than an actual patient just because I’d hurt my head a little.
Still, I felt relieved because, just as the Chief Steward had promised, someone had been sent to take care of Mother. They even provided her with restorative medicine, so I couldn’t have been more grateful.
‘I need to recover quickly and repay them!’
Fortunately, I recovered rather quickly. Even Physician Jeong, the young lady’s personal physician, couldn’t help but marvel every time he came to see me. He even subtly asked whether I was secretly taking something on the side without his knowledge.
I was surprised by my recovery speed as well, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. I was simply happy that it meant I’d be able to return to work quickly.
A week later, I had the bandages removed from my head. By then, I could move around more easily, so I prepared to return to work. Of course, the Chief Steward tried to stop me, saying, ‘You can rest longer if you want,’ but I felt awkward lazing around here any longer.
“Phew…”
The Sonaungwon I returned to after so long was more nerve-racking than I’d expected.
Maybe because I’d had my head cracked open here the last time. The moment I saw the door, my hands and feet trembled and cold sweat poured down my back, making me feel as though my PTSD was about to flare up.
But I gritted my teeth and endured it. Wasn’t I the one who had said I would continue working here?
‘My body hasn’t fully recovered yet. If the young lady throws something at me, will I be able to dodge it? Honestly, I don’t think I can… But if the young lady has any conscience, won’t she throw things gently today? If she’s a person… No, wait. The young lady isn’t a person, is she?’
After wavering for quite some time, I finally steeled myself.
Right, if she says no today, I’ll stop being stubborn and just back off.
Having made that decision, I opened my mouth.
“Young lady, I’ve brought your medicine!”
“Come in.”
“Yes, I’ll be leaving…”
“……”
“…Pardon?”
W-What did she say?
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