Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel Chapter 148

Chapter 148

 

I had been waiting for this moment ever since Baek Seol-yeong invited us to the banquet.

For a moment when we could talk alone.

At the very least, I had to bring it up before we parted ways.

I kept an eye on Baek Seol-yeong while eating, drinking, and chatting with the others. As luck would have it, Baek Seol-yeong had gotten up because she had some business to attend to, and now that she was outside, this was the perfect opportunity to meet her naturally.

“Ugh, I’m getting drunk! I need to go drain some water.”

After an appropriate amount of time had passed, I casually got up from my seat. Then, pretending to be drunk, I staggered toward the door and naturally stepped outside.

No one paid any attention to me. Perhaps only Liyeon’s gaze brushed past me once.

‘He’s not going to follow me out, is he?’

I stepped outside, tense despite myself.

Fortunately, there was no sign of anyone following me, and in the distance I could see Baek Seol-yeong talking with one of the sect members. Apparently, I’d come out at just the right time, because their conversation ended not long afterward.

Watching the sect member head back, I deliberately made no attempt to hide my presence and walked toward Baek Seol-yeong. Perhaps hearing my footsteps, she turned her gaze toward me.

Baek Seol-yeong smiled faintly.

“Did you come out to sober up?”

I smiled back and replied,

“There aren’t any beauties around, so I can’t really taste the alcohol.”

“There were a few ladies in there, though?”

“Come now, those cold beauties won’t even look at me. You’re the only exception, Miss Baek. What do you say? The moonlight is lovely tonight. Shall we take a walk together?”

“Sure.”

I walked away from the building with Baek Seol-yeong, chatting quietly with her. At the same time, I heightened my sense of presence and surveyed our surroundings. Fortunately, no one was following us.

There was exactly one person, though. Someone was on top of a tree.

“Miss Baek.”

“Yes?”

“Is the person on top of that tree one of your sect’s people or not?”

Baek Seol-yeong’s complexion changed for a moment, but she soon understood and replied,

“You noticed. Don’t worry. He’s a bodyguard who always follows me around and protects me.”

“I see. My apologies. I had something I wanted to discuss with you privately, so I couldn’t help but check our surroundings. If that made you uncomfortable, I apologize.”

“It’s all right. What was it you wanted to say…?”

It seemed Baek Seol-yeong had already noticed that I had something to say when I suggested taking a walk. She was surprisingly perceptive.

I thought for a moment before slowly speaking.

“Didn’t you say before that if there was anything I wanted, I should tell you? At the time, I asked for your time. Do you know why I did that?”

“Why did you?”

“Because there was already something I wanted. I wanted to tell you when we were alone.”

“What is it? Please, feel free to tell me.”

“Could you arrange for me to meet your sect’s Sect Master?”

Baek Seol-yeong’s body stiffened slightly.

I continued speaking.

“Since Miss Baek has been honest with me, I’ll be honest with you as well. Our meeting in Zhenhai back then was by no means a coincidence. Of course, at the time, I had no idea about your true identity.”

“……”

“My objective was to meet the Sect Master. But I thought it wouldn’t be right for an outsider to simply ask to meet the Sect Master, so I tried to enter your sect.”

“I see.”

“Haha, but who would have thought it would take an entire year? In the end, I failed… but I kept looking for another opportunity somehow. So please stop calling me a great hero as well. I didn’t help you solely out of goodwill, after all.”

“No.”

Surprisingly, Baek Seol-yeong remained unfazed even after hearing my honest confession.

“I understand your intentions, Great Hero. However… regardless of your purpose, we received your help, and you are our benefactor. You are more than worthy of the title.”

“……”

“Still, if it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll stop using that title. How about ‘Brother’ instead?”

“Sounds good.”

Baek Seol-yeong smiled gently and continued.

“You are right, Brother. The Sect Master doesn’t easily show himself to anyone who isn’t a member of the sect, and he rarely even leaves the main headquarters. As an outsider, it must have been difficult for you to meet him.”

“I see.”

“But it would be different for a Brother who has helped the Main Sect and rendered great service. And if I personally ask him, there is a good chance he would agree to meet you.”

“Then…!”

Just as I was about to answer brightly….

“However… to be honest, I can’t give you a definite answer.”

I stopped short.

“What do you mean?”

“Lately, the Sect Master… my father has been even more reluctant to come outside. He is advanced in age, of course, but it also seems as though he’s afraid of something…”

“……”

“He keeps saying strange things, like how showing himself could bring harm to the sect, and how he must always be careful… It’s frustrating even for me.”

‘That showing himself could cause harm?’

Why?

What was the Sect Master afraid of?

Was it because of some wrongdoing he had committed in the past? Or because he had many enemies seeking his life? If neither of those was the case, then what if what he feared was the situation in the Central Plains, which was hostile toward the Demonic Cult…

“Then.”

I spoke again.

“If it’s really that difficult, I won’t press you to let me meet the Sect Master. But could you convey just one thing to him?”

“Yes?”

“‘The light is eternal, and the truth is one.’”

“…Pardon?”

Toward Baek Seol-yeong, who tilted her head in confusion, I whispered with more caution than ever before.

“Just tell him those words. And I’d like you to tell me the Sect Master’s response. Whether he says something like, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’ or gives some incomprehensible answer… anything is fine. I’ll be waiting at the place where we first met.”

Baek Seol-yeong looked at me with an ambiguous expression. But soon, she nodded and said,

“I understand.”

After that, I exchanged a few more words with Baek Seol-yeong before returning to the building.

The conversation that followed was nothing more than ordinary small talk, things like where she had learned her cooking skills and where she planned to go next, so there was no longer any need to be cautious.

That was why I wasn’t surprised when I saw a white hem disappearing behind the building.

I was merely curious.

‘Young Master Li?’

What was he doing over there?

 

***

 

Liyeon hurriedly hid behind the building.

He didn’t even know why he had hidden himself. All he could think was that he mustn’t be discovered if her gaze happened to turn toward him.

His heart, which was always calm and settled, was beating anxiously.

Liyeon pressed down firmly on his chest and thought.

‘Why am I like this?’

He had started becoming bothered by it quite some time ago.

Back when Flower-Glutton was fighting the Pleasure Chamber Chief alone. He had said that she was more than enough on her own and rushed ahead, telling her to help the other sect members, but he couldn’t help feeling strangely anxious.

Fortunately, Flower-Glutton managed to defeat the Chief safely.

But his breathing had been more labored than usual.

She pointed that out, but Flower-Glutton pretended he was fine and hid how difficult the fight had been. Instead, he even blamed her for getting slightly cut because she had been worrying about him.

‘Whose fault was that?’

Liyeon found it absurd, but the way he tried to hide his pain looked strangely familiar, which only made him worry more.

After that, Flower-Glutton became even more ridiculous.

If his body wasn’t in good condition, he should have been getting plenty of rest, yet he personally stepped forward to help clean up after the Sacred Flame Sect’s battle. Then, at the banquet, he laughed and chatted while pouring alcohol down his throat.

Wouldn’t drinking that much be bad when he was injured?

Despite Liyeon’s concern, Flower-Glutton simply enjoyed the banquet with a bright, carefree expression.

“Ahh! The alcohol tastes incredible when a beauty pours it for me!”

As if that weren’t enough, he stuck himself right beside Baek Seol-yeong and happily drank every cup she poured for him.

Liyeon was utterly dumbfounded.

‘Does that man not have a preference for women?’

In the first place, was it even possible for a woman to like another woman? Yet, as though his claim that ‘if she’s beautiful, I like her’ was completely genuine, he spared no praise for the alcohol Baek Seol-yeong poured.

He had said that all that mattered was a pretty face.

Was he really like that?

Liyeon felt strange and kept tapping the wine cup in front of him. Even though he wasn’t going to drink the alcohol.

Fortunately, that feeling didn’t last long. Baek Seol-yeong soon left her seat.

Only then did Liyeon lower the hand that had been tapping the cup. His unpleasantly pounding heart settled down as well, and as he watched Flower-Glutton begin pouring himself another drink, concern returned to him once more.

Come to think of it, how was his body right now?

Were the wounds on his back healing properly? Wouldn’t it be better to apply more medicine and change the bandages?

As he was thinking about one thing after another, Flower-Glutton happened to get up from his seat. He did so while saying something ridiculous about going to ‘drain some water.’

At the same time, Liyeon made up his mind.

‘…Let’s go treat him.’

He had probably moved too violently while fighting.

There hadn’t been enough time for his wounds to heal properly. Perhaps they had even opened up again. So rather than continue feeling anxious like this, Liyeon thought it would be better to check them himself and treat them.

Only after some time had passed since Flower-Glutton left did Liyeon get up from his seat. He intended to tell him to apply more medicine to his wounds.

He immediately stepped outside. Then, while looking around for Flower-Glutton, he suddenly stopped.

There, in the distance, was the person he had been searching for.

More precisely… with someone else.

Flower-Glutton was walking toward the opposite side of the building with Baek Seol-yeong, talking with her.

What exactly were they talking about?

A faint smile had appeared on her face. A relaxed smile unlike the one she usually wore.

Why did his heart sink at that smile?

‘Why…’

It was an expression he hadn’t seen in a long time. Since the verbal confrontation that day, she hadn’t shown such an expression in front of him.