Chapter 48
At the Manor Lord’s shout, the young lady began to run.
I was flustered. What about the Manor Lord? What was going to happen to him?
But there was no time to look back. The moment we started running, as though he had anticipated exactly that, the masked man carrying the soft whip threw a throwing dagger.
Whoosh!
The throwing dagger flew rapidly toward me. At the same time, the young lady swung her hand and threw something.
Clang!
It was a golden dart.
The golden dart flew straight into the throwing dagger. However, perhaps because it lacked enough force, it did not knock the dagger down and merely changed its direction.
When the gleaming dagger became embedded at my feet, a chill ran through me. Only then did I come to my senses and pick up speed. If I stopped here, it would not only be me who would be in danger.
“Huff, gasp…”
I ran like mad.
Fortunately, no more throwing daggers came flying. Perhaps it was because the Manor Lord, who had followed after us, was interfering with the masked man who had thrown them.
But I could not tell whether I should consider that fortunate or unfortunate, so I merely bit my lip.
We went deeper and deeper into the mountain.
The commotion behind us grew increasingly distant. In fact, I could barely feel anything anymore. All I could sense was the brush scraping against my body, my heart pounding like crazy, and the back of the young lady running ahead of me.
How long had we been running like that?
Fwoooosh
Before I knew it, everything around us had fallen silent.
I panted heavily and looked around. In the mountains covered by a deep, silent darkness, there was no sign of people, animals, or anything else at all.
Only the two of us remained.
Only the two of us.
‘In the end, even the Manor Lord….’
Would things have been different if I had possessed strength?
If I had not settled for reality, and instead become Namgung Jeong’s disciple and learned martial arts, would something have changed?
Of course, I did not think that learning for just a few days would have allowed me to fight those masked men. But perhaps I could at least have helped. Perhaps I could have created enough room for the Manor Lord to escape as well.
No, not only the Manor Lord.
The Chief Steward, Brother Im, Uncle Hwang, and even Aso…
“Seo Dan!”
At the sudden voice, I raised my head.
The young lady’s beautiful face was right in front of me. At some point, her veil had disappeared.
“Pull yourself together! We cannot stop here.”
“Young lady, you…”
“Regret it later. Right now, we need to look only ahead.”
“……”
“If we keep running like this, we will eventually be caught. If an assassin has appeared all the way out here, the routes down the mountain may already be blocked. We should hide for now and see how the situation…”
But the young lady could not finish speaking. Because I heard a presence behind me.
I turned around with the young lady. There had been a faint hope that it might be the Manor Lord.
But hope was merely hope.
What stood there was…
“…Again.”
A masked man dressed in black. He was holding a sword dripping with blood.
Tap!
The instant I realized that, I stepped in front of the young lady.
I did not want to think about whose blood that was. I did not want to think about whether we could escape from here either.
The only thought in my mind was that I had to protect the young lady.
This time, I would. No matter what…
I did not take my eyes off the masked man slowly approaching us. Turning my body, I stretched one hand behind me and prepared myself.
Just as I was about to push the young lady aside and charge forward…
Clang!
Sparks flew through the darkness.
Someone was already standing between the masked man and us.
Only after recognizing that familiar figure did I cry out.
“Manor Lord…!”
It was the Manor Lord.
The Manor Lord whom I had thought I would never see again was there.
Of course, the Manor Lord was not in particularly good condition. His entire body was in tatters, as though he had fought a desperate battle. His hair, which had been neatly tied up, was disheveled, and his long robe was torn in several places. Blood was even seeping through the torn collar of his clothing.
There was no way to call him unharmed, yet the Manor Lord did not retreat. He simply stood there silently, protecting us.
A brief silence fell.
The first to move was the Manor Lord.
Clang! Clang!
Dozens of exchanges passed in the blink of an eye.
Perhaps because it was dark, or perhaps because they were moving too quickly, I could not clearly see how the fight was progressing.
But I could feel it. Right now, the Manor Lord was in danger.
He was different from how he had looked before we fled. Unlike then, his breathing was ragged, and especially, perhaps because his right arm was injured, the posture in which he held his sword was twisted.
The masked man seemed to sense it as well, repeatedly attacking toward his right arm. And just as the masked man finally slashed the Manor Lord’s right shoulder…
“Ah…!”
At the same time, the Manor Lord stabbed the masked man through the heart.
He had chosen to attack in exchange for giving up his shoulder.
“Guh…”
The masked man, impaled by the sword, vomited a mouthful of blood.
When the Manor Lord pulled his sword free, the man’s body collapsed to the ground.
The masked man writhed on the ground for a moment before soon breathing his last.
The Manor Lord quietly looked down at the corpse before turning around.
Just as I was about to support the staggering Manor Lord…
Thud.
The Manor Lord dropped his sword.
At that moment, I saw it.
The dagger embedded in the Manor Lord’s abdomen. The blood soaking the corner of his mouth.
“Ah, ah…”
I reached out.
The Manor Lord’s body collapsed to the ground.
“Father!”
The young lady’s scream rang out.
***
The life of Xiao Cheong-ja, the Manor Lord of the Xiao Estate, had been peaceful.
Born as the eldest son of the Xiao family, he had been designated as the heir from an early age and received training to become one.
There had been no siblings to compete with him.
That was because Xiao Cheong-ja’s parents, the previous Manor Lord and his wife, had a poor relationship.
The previous Manor Lord and his wife had married through an arranged match between their families, but their personalities had never suited each other from the beginning, and they often quarreled.
The previous Manor Lord had a rigid side to him, while the Manor Lady had a fiery temper.
Whenever they met, they fought, and there was not a trace of respect or affection between the husband and wife.
To make matters worse, the previous Manor Lord had a first love whom he could never forget even after getting married.
The Manor Lady knew about this and came to despise her husband even more.
That was why Xiao Cheong-ja never expected it. That he would suddenly have a younger sister.
It had been an accident.
The previous Manor Lord, who had gotten thoroughly drunk while entertaining guests he had not seen in a long time, mistook his own wife for his first love and spent the night with her.
In the end, the Manor Lady became pregnant, and an unwanted child was born.
Naturally, the child’s birth was not celebrated.
The Manor Lady, who had suffered from depression since her pregnancy, never sought out the child again after giving birth, while the previous Manor Lord also felt uncomfortable about the child and turned away from her.
But Xiao Cheong-ja was curious about the child.
He was curious about the younger sister he had gained for the first time, and he wondered what she looked like.
They said babies were only about as big as one’s forearm. He wanted to see whether that was really true.
Eventually, Xiao Cheong-ja secretly entered the wet nurse’s room.
And there, he found her.
“Eueu…”
A child with plump, chubby flesh. A tiny being who waved her hands and feet, her eyes sparkling.
Xiao Cheong-ja approached the child as though spellbound.
Then he held out a finger toward the child, who was waving her hands. The child looked at Xiao Cheong-ja in confusion and raised her hand.
Her tiny hand wrapped around his finger.
At the same time, Xiao Cheong-ja felt a strange premonition.
He would never forget for the rest of his life the sight of her smiling brightly as though he were the only person in the world, nor the warmth he felt around his finger.
“Yeong-yeong.”
That was how Xiao Cheong-ja named the child.
Using the character Yeong, meaning to shine, for the child whose eyes sparkled like stars.
“From today on, your name is Xiao Yeong-yeong, Yeong-ah.”
Xiao Cheong-ja raised Xiao Yeong-yeong himself.
Although there was a twelve-year age difference between Xiao Cheong-ja and Xiao Yeong-yeong, that was because the previous Manor Lord and his wife had taken absolutely no care of Xiao Yeong-yeong.
But Xiao Cheong-ja cared for Xiao Yeong-yeong without complaint.
In fact, he was happy to do so. He found Xiao Yeong-yeong adorable as she followed only him around, her eyes sparkling brighter the more affection he gave her.
Xiao Yeong-yeong grew up healthy under Xiao Cheong-ja’s care.
Her baby fat disappeared, and her arms and legs grew long.
The childishness faded from her, and a mature air began to linger around her face.
Before long, Xiao Yeong-yeong had become breathtakingly beautiful.
That was around the time the problem arose.
“Get married.”
One day, the previous Manor Lord informed her. At the time, Xiao Yeong-yeong’s hobby was boating.
That day as well, she had taken a maidservant with her and was enjoying a boat ride.
That was when an old man happened to discover Xiao Yeong-yeong.
The old man was Lord Jong, a prominent figure in Qingzhou, Shandong Province.
He was a renowned wealthy man in Qingzhou and had once held an official position in Beijing, giving him connections to the imperial family.
He was also at the age of Isun (sixty).
Lord Jong fell in love at first sight when he saw the beautiful Xiao Yeong-yeong and immediately sent a marriage proposal to the Xiao Estate.
Xiao Yeong-yeong was only seventeen.
The previous Manor Lord was delighted. He had wanted to establish connections with the imperial family anyway, so he thought this was a stroke of luck.
Only Xiao Yeong-yeong was horrified and begged desperately.
“Father, I cannot do it. I am not ready yet. Please, anything but marriage…!”
“You ungrateful child. Where do you think the money for the food, clothing, and lodging you have enjoyed until now came from? If you have any gratitude, then quietly obey your father!”
“Father, Father!”
But no matter how much Xiao Yeong-yeong begged, the previous Manor Lord remained firm.
In the end, Xiao Yeong-yeong ran to Xiao Cheong-ja.
“Older Brother, please stop Father. Father listens to you, doesn’t he? Please beg him to call off the marriage, please?”
“Yeong-ah…”
Xiao Cheong-ja also felt sorry for Xiao Yeong-yeong. But at the same time, he was troubled.
Xiao Cheong-ja had never once gone against his father’s wishes in his entire life.
He had always been a good son to his parents, and now he did not have the courage to rebel against them. But Xiao Cheong-ja did not acknowledge that he was a coward.
Instead, he thought it was because Xiao Yeong-yeong was being immature, and tried to persuade her.
“Yeong-ah, do not think of it too negatively. Although Lord Jong is old, he is a truly outstanding man. His character is excellent, and he is a good person. He will surely treat you well, too.”
“……”
“Furthermore, the Jong family holds greater influence than our Xiao Estate. If you become the mistress of that household, you will enjoy tremendous wealth and power. More than you do now…”
“Older Brother.”
Xiao Cheong-ja flinched. At some point, Xiao Yeong-yeong had been staring straight at him.
It was a dark look in her eyes that he had never seen before.
Xiao Yeong-yeong quietly said,
“…I have never wanted wealth or power. All I wanted was just, just…”
But Xiao Yeong-yeong could not finish her sentence. She merely lowered her head and let tears fall.
In the end, Xiao Yeong-yeong silently left Xiao Cheong-ja’s quarters.
Although Xiao Cheong-ja felt uneasy, he did not take the matter seriously.
He simply thought that, with time, Xiao Yeong-yeong would change her mind.
But he was mistaken.
After that, Xiao Yeong-yeong never showed herself again.
The next day…
And the day after that…
Xiao Yeong-yeong disappeared just like that.
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