After Manager Go left, Father’s face looked very bright as he examined the medicinal ingredients one by one.
In contrast, my heart felt heavy.
‘He even gave me the Heaven’s Fate Soul-Melting Pill.’
It would be useless even if I took it anyway.
I couldn’t tell whether I should be happy or not.
‘Is he testing me?’
On top of that, Father still didn’t say anything. I had expected him to urge me to take it immediately, but unexpectedly he didn’t.
Still, seeing how happy he looked made me feel a little better too.
‘He’s that pleased?’
He tried not to show it, but whenever he faced me, his expression was always full of worry. He frowned deeply every time he saw me, so in the past I used to think Father hated me.
On top of that, the entire household was full of talk that I had ruined Father’s reputation and held him back. That he had no choice but to bring me here, but didn’t like me, so he just left the child behind and never returned home.
At first, I was simply grateful that he had taken me in.
But as time passed, I gradually began to resent him for bringing me here and rarely showing his face…
At that moment, a commotion broke my thoughts.
“Give that to me.”
“No! I’m sorting it right now. Why are you doing this? I said no!”
It was Dang-geum.
Dang-geum was almost snatching something from a maid who was organizing items. The maid looked flustered and glanced at my father’s reaction.
Dang-geum barked at her.
“What? Why? Seriously, what is this? Can’t I even look? It’s fine, right, young miss?”
I glanced at Father. He was focused on sorting the medicinal ingredients and had no idea what was happening here. He seemed to be in a good mood, and I didn’t want to cause trouble, so I casually nodded.
“Do as you like.”
There were many people around. Nothing serious would happen here.
Dang-geum scoffed as if to say “see?” and looked over the item she had forcibly taken.
The one who had most often whispered to me that Father hated me was Dang-geum. She was, in a way, the biggest cause of my relationship with Father turning sour.
Dang-geum also had bad habits with her hands.
Back then, I had no valuables, so it didn’t matter.
But as I grew up, Father began giving me various gifts. As the son of the Baekri clan, his gifts were naturally valuable. Some were even rare treasures that were hard to obtain.
But Dang-geum would say they weren’t good items—that Father must despise me to send such things.
And behind my back, she stole them.
But as the saying goes, a long tail gets caught eventually. She was caught by Father after showing off the stolen jewelry.
Right there, Dang-geum claimed they were gifts I had given her.
Then she came to me, crying and begging for her life.
“Please, don’t kill me!”
“S-surely… your father wouldn’t kill me just for stealing a single ornament. You said they weren’t even that valuable.”
“Is that even what matters right now?”
“I, I mean… since they’re not valuable, I thought he wouldn’t be too angry…”
“This is a martial family! I heard punishments here are much more brutal!”
“……”
Now I know it was nonsense.
But at the time, I believed Dang-geum, who had lived in the Baekri clan longer than I had.
“Please save me, young miss. Please. I was wrong.”
“…What do I have to do?”
Dang-geum’s eyes sparkled, and she immediately poured out her scheme as if she had never cried. Then I told Father, who had come to investigate the truth.
“It’s true I gave those to Dang-geum as gifts, Father.”
“I heard your maid has sold several of your belongings. Are you saying you gave them all to her?”
“Ah…”
More than a few?
That was the first time I heard that.
I looked at Dang-geum in confusion, and she glared at me, signaling me to say it properly.
“…Yes. I did give them to her.”
“…I see.”
That disappointed expression is still vivid in my memory.
“If you don’t like a gift, then in the future you should simply… no, forget it. If it was given to you, then it is yours.”
It was one of the reasons my relationship with Father grew even more distant.
After that, Dang-geum spread rumors that I had thrown away Father’s gifts because I didn’t like them.
Thinking about it again made my anger rise.
‘No, no—it’s not like that. It hasn’t happened yet.’
I couldn’t chase out a future thief for crimes she hadn’t committed yet.
But I also wouldn’t let her steal anything anymore.
“Wait a moment. Let me see that jade plaque. Wow, this jade looks really good.”
The jade plaque had a milky-white luster with perfect uniformity—clearly top-grade yang-ji jade. After taking it, Dang-geum examined it for a while and suddenly turned to me. Her eyes were full of greed.
“Young miss, please give me this jade plaque.”
“……”
I was speechless.
Even the maid organizing the items looked at Dang-geum as if she were insane. But Dang-geum stared back at me shamelessly, as if she had done nothing wrong.
“There’s so much here. You can give me one, right? I even got beaten because of you!”
It seemed the Grandmother’s decree meant nothing to her.
‘Well… she already thinks even the beating is my fault. I suppose that’s natural.’
In my past life, I had been lonely in the Baekri clan.
I had trusted Dang-geum foolishly and distanced myself from Father.
‘A perfect easy target.’
I sighed helplessly.
“Wait a moment.”
Dang-geum smiled brightly and wiped the jade plaque with her sleeve.
Even though I told her to wait, she already acted as if it belonged to her.
The other servants also looked eager, thinking they might get something too since I seemed easy to give in.
I ignored their obvious intentions and waited.
A moment later, from one side of the courtyard, Father—who had been examining medicinal chests and ledgers—approached with a very pleased expression.
“Yeon-ah, Yeon-ah! The medicinal herbs Father sent are indeed much better. I’ll use these to prepare your medicine. That’s alright, isn’t it?”
“Of course. You can use them without asking me.”
“You are the one who received them.”
“There’s no such thing between Father and me. But Father—”
Father looked at me, wondering what was wrong.
I looked at Dang-geum.
“Dang-geum says she wants that jade plaque. May I give it to her?”
“What?”
For a moment, Father asked back as if he couldn’t understand.
Dang-geum, who had been showing off the jade plaque to the other maids, flinched and turned around.
“She says she got beaten because of me and wants it. But this was a gift from Grandfather, so I thought I shouldn’t decide on my own.”
“What do you mean, she got beaten because of you?”
Father looked at Dang-geum as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
Dang-geum’s face turned deathly pale. The servants who had been flattering her quickly stepped away, as if they didn’t want to be involved.
“Y-young miss! W-what are you talking about? I never said that!”
I looked at her, feigning confusion.
“Hm? You did. You said I should give you one since there are so many. That you got beaten because of me… and that your wounds hurt so much this morning you had to rest…”
“YOUNG MISS!”
Dang-geum screamed.
At that moment, Father’s expression turned icy.
He stepped in front of me, completely blocking Dang-geum from view. His voice dropped like frost.
“Lower your voice. Yeon is still young, but she is the one you serve. How dare you raise your voice like that?”
“F-Fourth Young Master, that is not—”
“And to complain about the Madam’s punishment, and now to shamelessly covet your master’s belongings… this is the first time I’ve seen such insolence. Are you truly her maid? From where I stand, it looks like you are the master.”
At Father’s cold rebuke, Dang-geum immediately lowered her head.
The servants who had been watching indifferently quickly straightened up, fearing they might be implicated.
Seeing this only made Father even more furious.
“This is beyond forgiveness. You will kneel there until sunset and reflect on your behavior. And you—watch her to ensure she completes her punishment properly!”
With a furious command, Father lifted me with a single arm and turned away sharply.
Over Father’s shoulder, the courtyard behind us was swallowed in a chilling silence.
