Since Soseo wasn’t nearby, he seemed to have completely shedded his polite appearance. Moyong Hwa stopped as he was passing by us.
“Wait. They were with Soseo Hyung-nim yesterday, right?”
Moyong Hwa crossed his arms and spoke arrogantly.
“I remember them because both of them have uselessly chubby cheeks and look so foolish.”
“…… Thank you for remembering us.”
Hey, it’s normal to have some cheek fat. We’re growing children. And I personally think this cheek fat is our attractive point. If I didn’t have chubby cheeks, my hamster image would be lost. When I thought about my future girlfriend healing herself after touching my cheeks whenever she feels depressed, I felt good again. Even though Myoryeong tackled me whenever I talked about having a girlfriend in the future, the bigger the dream, the better.
“But why aren’t you with Hyung-nim today?”
“….Young Master Seseo told us that we could help other servants with their work while he was studying.”
“Really? So Soseo Hyung-nim is in his room right now.”
“Yes.”
“Well.”
Moyong Hwa, who was feeling worried, told Grandfather Jang.
“You should go now.”
“……What is it all of the sudden, Young Master?”
“I’m going to take these two back to Hyung-nim.”
“But…”
“Go.”
Grandfather Jang had no choice but to leave us behind. Moyong Hwa led us to Soseo’s room, with us in front of him. He seemed to want to disturb Soseo’s studying time. I don’t want to partake in this kind of childish behavior, but we, as servants, have no power to refuse. We were going to Soseo’s room in silence, when Moyong Hwa asked.
“How did you end up working for Hyung-nim?”
“Yes?”
“It’s strange. My Hyung-nim liked to go around alone even if it was a little inconvenient, but suddenly he started to bring two servants with him.”
“That’s…”
I was trying to sum up what happened with Soseo, when I closed my mouth. The less you talk about other people, the better. No matter how good you talk about that person, the other person can distort it as much as they want. Especially if the other person has malicious intent towards them. As the silence grew longer, Moyong Hwa questioned.
“Why aren’t you speaking?”
“I’m sorry. I also don’t know why.”
“You really don’t know?”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
Moyong Hwa laughed and made another spiteful remark.
“You don’t just look stupid, you actually are.”
I smiled awkwardly.
“Yes, I’m a little stupid.”
“…….”
The corners of Moyong Hwa’s mouth went down momentarily. Moyong Hwa murmured.
“Anyone can see he’s Hyung-nim’s servant with that smile.”
“What?”
“It’s so unpleasantly similar.”
Moyong Hwa went ahead of us and opened the door to Soseo’s room. When he opened the door, Soseo’s hand stopped writing on the paper.
“I’m here, Hyung-nim. I met your servants on my way, too, and brought them along, is that okay?”
“…….”
Soseo looked over at us and smiled.
“Of course it’s okay. But why are you here? Did you come to have a cup of tea with me?”
“Oh, I’d like to, but the tea here is not to my taste.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Yt, la wera yf alglcu ab tjnf j rfcrlalnf jqqfalaf. P ecvfgrajcv. Ktfc ktja lr la?”
“P kjcafv er ab ub rff ws jeca abufatfg.”
Vbrfb’r fsfygbkr kluuifv.
“… Zbatfg?”
“Tfr, Lsecu-clw lr kbgglfv jybea tfg abb, gluta? Qf tjnfc’a tfjgv jcsatlcu jybea ktja tjqqfcfv joafg rtf mbiijqrfv ilxf atja sfrafgvjs.”
“…….”
“I thought it would be better for us to go together, so I came here.”
“…… Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness.”
Soseo put down his brush and got up from his seat.
“I was going to see her anyway. Let’s go.”
“Should we take Soyu too?”
“Soyu went out with Father.”
Soseo asked us as well.
“What about you two?”
“Of course you should take them too. It’s their job to accompany Hyung-nim.”
Soseo paid no mind about Moyong Hwa’s sarcastic remark.
“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. You must have been very surprised by what happened yesterday.”
“…….”
We exchanged glances and answered at the same time.
“We’ll go too.”
Honestly, I was scared at first, but now all I could think was that the Madam was not a good person. We followed them.
* * *
“Get out!”
“Madam! You have to eat something!”
“I said get out!”
Soseo’s hand quickly hit the bowl that was flying towards me. I almost lost my head. I looked at Soseo in gratitude. Soseo stared at the completely messy room with a very serious expression. The servants surrounded Madame and tried to calm her down, but she couldn’t.
“I don’t want to see a single person from the Peng Family, you all get out of here!”
“Madam, the Young Masters are here! The Young Masters are worried about you… Ack!”
The vase fell to the floor and shattered. The servants were running about in confusion, and Soseo’s expression hardened even more. Moyong Hwa smiled slightly at the sight, then changed his expression as if he wasn’t. Then he immediately pretended to feel sorry and said,
“Oh, I think my aunt’s sensitivity has worsened since she’s only surrounded by unfamiliar faces.”
“…… Is that so?”
“The lady of the house is back after being gone for a long time, so I understand your desire to serve her in person, but… As expected, the servants here seem to be a little inconsiderate.”
Moyong Hwa asked the servants.
“Where are the servants we brought? If familiar people are around, my aunt will be at ease.”
“It’s, it’s, it’s…”
The servants hesitated and revealed the truth.
“They were sent back to their accommodation. As soon as I told them to come in, the Madam got very angry.”
“…… What?”
Moyong Hwa’s face turned red as he got embarrassed after showing off, and the Madam began to cry.
“I’m begging you, get out! I said get out!”
“What shall we do, Young Master? Should we call the doctor again…”
Soseo ordered.
“Get out of here.”
“But the Madam hasn’t had a meal yet. The Young Master’s came all of a sudden, so we haven’t even finished cleaning the floor…”
“My Mother wants to be alone.”
Soseo spoke coldly.
“Get out.”
“Yes…!”
The servants left the room in confusion. As the room quietened, the Madam’s cries gradually subsided. Soseo put his finger to her lips as if to tell us to be quiet, and then waited for Madam to calm down. After a while, the Madam quietly lifted the blanket that was covering her. As soon as Soseo’s and her eyes met, the Madam was startled and snuggled back into the blanket. But Soseo said regardless.
“Please don’t worry, Mother.”
“….”
“You can do as you please here. This is your home, too. We’ll also go out and rest.”
Soseo put his arm around my shoulder.
“Let’s get out.”
I nodded. The moment we were about to leave the room, a faint voice came out through the covers.
“…… Wait a minute.”
Soseo’s steps stopped. The Madam asked, with only her eyes visible.
“Those children, are they siblings?”
Those children? Siblings? Is she talking about us? We pointed at each other in confusion. The Madam nodded.
“Yes, you guys.”
“Yes, we are siblings.”
“…….”
The Madam stared at us. The quick-witted Soseo let go of my shoulder.
“Mother, would you like to talk to them? Then shall we leave them here?”
The Madam nodded slightly. Then, Moyong Hwa, who was watching the situation from the back, was amazed.
“Aunt. Are being serious?”
The Madam flinched. Moyong Hwa spoke sharply.
“You don’t want to talk to us, but you want to speak with some random servants you’ve never seen before. This is really…”
Before he finished speaking, Soseo roughly grabbed Moyong Hwa’s shoulder and left.
“Come here.”
We approached the bed. As we got closer, the Madam completely removed the blanket and revealed herself. She looked more sickly when seen up close. Her limbs were so thin that it was hard to tell how she held the sword yesterday, and her skin was pathetically pale. Madame looked at us for a while and then opened her mouth.
“Who’s older?”
I raised my hand.
“Me, I’m a year older.”
“…….”
After a while, the Madam, who looked at me with slightly fearful eyes, asked Myoryeong.
“Does Oppa treat you well?”
She asked the same question as the Family Head. Amazing. Myoryeong nodded without hesitation.
“Yes he’s good to me.”
“……. That’s a relief.”
The Madam murmured.
“That’s really a relief. Oh, yes.”
She tried to pull herself up.
“I’ll give you something. Do you want some snacks?”
“Oh, it’s okay. We don’t have to eat.”
“No, you have to eat something. You’re here because of me.”
“Then, Madam, if you tell me where the snacks are, I’ll bring them here.”
“Will you?”
Madam pointed to a bundle on the table. When I brought it to her, she loosened it with her trembling fingers. Then a white box was revealed. As soon as I saw the box, I was taken aback.
“Eat a lot.”
“……… Thank you for the food.”
I had no choice but to. The snacks Madam gave us were the same as the ones Soseo gave me when I was working in the guest house before coming here. Soseo clearly said that it was a snack he ordered specifically for me at the time. However, not only the packaged box but also the smell and taste were the same.
“This is…”
Myoryeong, too, seemed embarrassed as she held the snack as if she remembered the taste. Then the Madam asked with expectant eyes.
“What do you think? Do you like it?”
“… Yes, it’s very delicious.”
“There’s a lot, so eat as much as you want. You can eat all of this.”
It’s a coincidence, isn’t it? I ate another snack while ignoring the feeling of awkwardness. The Madam looked at us.
“Were you guys there yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
Her expression darkened.
“I’m sorry, you must have been very surprised then.”
Why are you apologizing to us? We shook our heads hard.
“No, you don’t have to apologize to us.”
“That’s right, please don’t apologize.”
“……But still.”
So she’s normally this kind of person. I don’t know what made her behave like that, but…. Suddenly, Soseo’s face came to mind. I mustered up the courage and said.
“But, Madam. Young Master Soseo was very worried.”
The Madam’s shoulders shook at the mention of his name.
“The Family Head and Young Master Soyu were also very worried.”
“…….”
She clenched her fist. I think she’s feeling anxious again. What if she starts throwing things and gets agitated like before? We don’t know how to deal with such a situation. I decided that if a dangerous moment like that came, I would take Myoryeong and run away.
“Will they forgive me?”
“What?”
It was an unexpected question. The Madam’s voice began to tremble even more.
“Yesterday I was really out of my mind. I really didn’t want to behave like that either, but I just couldn’t control myself… That’s why I did it.”
Myoryeong hesitated and opened her mouth.
“Madam, the three of them must be…”
I held Myoryeong’s hand. Myoryeong stopped talking and looked at me. I said, holding Myoryeong’s hand.
“I think you should ask them that yourself.”
“But…”
“I know you’re anxious. I know you had a reason for your behavior yesterday. But my reply is the same.”
I said it again.
“Please ask that question directly to the three of them, not to us.”
Madam bit her lips and lowered her head. Soon after, a transparent tear fell down her cheeks. We stayed by her side until Madam stopped crying.
Hmm… Could she be controlled by the nephew?