"Ahem, Young Lady. May I come in?"
From outside the guest room on the fourth floor of the inn, Jo Jeonhu called. Inside, Dokgo Seol gave a startled shout.
"J-just a moment!"
There was the faint sound of hurried shuffling, as if something was being tidied in a rush. Jo Jeonhu tilted his head, and Pung Un, who had followed him, spoke.
"Maybe she's changing clothes."
From inside came the sound of a deep sigh, repeated several times. Then a slightly irritable voice drifted out.
"Uncle, what is it? Sorry, but can't you just say it from outside?"
Two lines formed on Jo Jeonhu's brow, and his nostrils flared as if sniffing something out. He looked as though he found something strange, but answered evenly,
"It's nothing important. I just wanted to ask when you'd like to have dinner."
"I'm not hungry, so don't mind me and go ahead without me."
Dokgo Seol's response was quick, almost thoughtless. Jo Jeonhu's eyes sharpened, but again, his tone stayed calm.
"Alright."
As he stepped back from the door, Pung Un followed, speaking up.
"How about bamboo leaf liquor with dinner? I heard you like it. I like that drink too."
Jo Jeonhu said nothing, simply walking down the corridor. He stomped down the stairs, but stopped midway, grabbed Pung Un's shoulder, and whispered,
"The Young Lady is in danger!"
"Huh? What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden?"
Pung Un thought it was a joke—but Jo Jeonhu's face was so grim that even Pung Un became serious.
Jo Jeonhu spoke again in a tense whisper,
"The Young Lady is being threatened by someone. Hm… most likely an assassin. To subdue someone of her level without a commotion, they'd have to be highly skilled. We have to handle this carefully."
"An assassin?"
Pung Un was baffled by the sudden claim but kept his expression neutral.
An assassin?
Inside Dokgo Seol's room, he could sense no presence but hers. But Jo Jeonhu seemed to find that even more suspicious—perhaps imagining an assassin with exceptional concealment skills.
Jo Jeonhu swallowed hard and spoke in a low voice,
"There are two reasons."
For some reason, the way he was talking reminded Pung Un of Brother Cheon Ryuyeong—or perhaps he just wanted to be like him. Either way, his tone didn't inspire much credibility, but curiosity won out.
"And what are they?"
"First, the Young Lady isn't the type to hold a conversation with someone standing outside."
Pung Un made a doubtful face.
"That's possible. And can we even call what you just did a conversation? You asked if she'd eat, she said no—that's all."
Jo Jeonhu's eyes briefly flickered with disappointment at the lukewarm response, but he clenched his fist and continued.
"Fine. Then here's the second reason—the real strange part: the Young Lady never skips a meal. As a child, her nickname was 'Insect Eater.'"
"…"
"So here's what we'll do—bring our men. Send half outside the window in case the assassin flees. Seal off every exit and strike all at once."
Pung Un shook his head and held up three fingers.
"There are three possible reasons it's nothing serious."
"Three? Really?"
Jo Jeonhu's face was a mix of surprise and confusion.
"First, maybe she's just not hungry. We've been sitting in the carriage for two days—she might have no appetite. Second, she's probably exhausted from travel and wants to sleep early. Third, she might have already changed into her nightclothes, so she didn't let us in—and doesn't want to bother changing back."
Jo Jeonhu's eyes widened. He didn't even try to hide his admiration.
"Hmm. You might be right."
"See?"
"You… you're actually pretty smart."
Jo Jeonhu's praise was so serious that Pung Un felt awkward. This kind of deduction wasn't anything special, was it?
"Huh? Well, compared to Brother Cheon Ryuyeong, I'm nothing."
"Hahaha, Young Master Cheon is a monster, not a man, so he doesn't count. Anyway, I like smart people."
Throwing a thick arm around Pung Un's shoulder, Jo Jeonhu said,
"Come on. Let's go drink some bamboo leaf liquor."
A man simple in thought, yet earnest and without grudges.
Just then, Pung Un's eye twitched, and he suddenly turned his head sharply.
Up the stairs they had just descended—
"Hmm… Sister Seol really is acting strange."
Pung Un spoke in a serious tone, and Jo Jeonhu's expression became grave again.
"What do you mean? Did you think of another reason?"
Pung Un shook his head. Jo Jeonhu seemed almost obsessed with "reasons."
"Sister Seol just… jumped out the window."
"What? Really?"
Jo Jeonhu bolted up the stairs in an instant. He was about to charge forward but stopped, turning to give Pung Un a suspicious look.
"How do you know that?"
Pung Un's face twisted.
"Well… I, uh…"
Jo Jeonhu stared at him strangely before dashing to Dokgo Seol's room.
"Young Lady!"
No answer.
"Young Lady! It's me, Jo Jeonhu!"
Still no response. In the end, Jo Jeonhu flung the door open.
Whoosh—
Wind from the open window whirled through the dark, empty room.
Jo Jeonhu turned to Pung Un, who had followed him.
"Don't try to brush this off. I asked how you knew."
Pung Un rolled his eyes, then replied,
"Truth is… I have unusually good hearing. I heard Sister Seol open the window. Then I heard the sound of her landing on the ground."
Even as he said it, Pung Un thought it was a flimsy excuse. But Jo Jeonhu simply nodded.
"You've got good ears."
"…Yes."
With a grim face, Jo Jeonhu walked over to the window.
Looking out into the dim evening, he spoke.
"The Young Lady left quietly for a reason. And that reason is probably…"
Trailing off, he turned to meet Pung Un's gaze. The two nodded at the same time and spoke in unison,
"She went to Young Master Cheon."
"She went to Brother Cheon Ryuyeong."
Perfect agreement.
Jo Jeonhu clicked his tongue and looked outside again.
"It seems she just couldn't relax. Well, we can't let anything happen to Young Master Cheon."
Folding his arms, Jo Jeonhu asked Pung Un,
"So what do we do? Follow her? Or pretend we didn't see? Honestly, someone's slacking and now the Young Lady's doing the hard work."
His offhand tone made Pung Un want to cry. He'd been looking forward to his first proper meal in two days with a cup of fine bamboo leaf liquor. But Jo Jeonhu was right—he was, after all, officially Brother Cheon Ryuyeong's bodyguard.
"I suppose I should go, shouldn't I?"
As if he had been waiting for it, Jo Jeonhu burst into laughter.
"Hahaha. Kid, I don't think there's really a need for that… but fine, go on. Oh, and make sure you bring Young Master Cheon and his family back here safely tomorrow."
In other words, don't just check if Cheon Ryuyeong is safe—stay with him until midday tomorrow.
"Can't I just have one cup of bamboo leaf liquor before I go?"
Whoosh—
Jo Jeonhu's fist flew at him like lightning.
Just as he was about to give him a knock on the head, Pung Un shrugged and took a step back. As a result, Jo Jeonhu's hand swiped harmlessly through empty air.
"Alright, alright, I'm going. I'm leaving now."
Grumbling, Pung Un left the room.
Alone, Jo Jeonhu's eyes wavered slightly.
"He dodged?"
He tilted his head and glanced at the floor where Pung Un had just been standing.
Just one step back.
"So he dodged that?"
Looking at the door Pung Un had exited through, Jo Jeonhu shook his head.
Of all times, he had to step back right when I tried to hit him.
"Lucky kid."
Crack.
Something broke.
Cheon Ryuyeong's mind went blank, and the scene before him collapsed into a miserable ruin.
"Kugh."
He spat out a choked groan of pain, staring ahead with a dazed gaze.
A blurry world.
He shook his head, but his vision remained hazy.
Splash—!
Cold water poured over his collapsed body.
"Haa… haa…"
He had been in so much pain that he couldn't even breathe, but now his lungs barely found relief.
"Cheon Ryuyeong. Get up."
The cold voice of a middle-aged man pierced his ears.
Cheon Ryuyeong clenched his teeth and struggled to rise.
On the porch, he saw his mother and younger sister unconscious. They had fainted after watching him get beaten mercilessly.
"Leave my family… please."
At his plea, the dozen men in black surrounding him chuckled darkly. They wore swords at their sides, but in their hands were clubs.
Those clubs—stained with blood and bits of flesh—had been used to beat him more times than he could count.
Crackle—
Two bonfires blazed fiercely in the yard, casting their light over the scene.
Sitting on the edge of the porch, a middle-aged man looked down at Cheon Ryuyeong with a grim expression and asked,
"If I spare your family, what will you give me in return?"
The same question.
The first time he heard it, his mother had shouted in rage,
"Ryuyeong! If you are my son, you must never do anything for such a shameless brute! If you bow to that beast, I will bite my tongue and kill myself."
That man was Jin Dam-hwi, Master of Jinshan Escort Bureau.
Cheon Ryuyeong despised him—despised the way he, a wretched man in his eyes, looked at him with contempt.
That's why he tormented and trampled him. But no matter how much he did, Cheon Ryuyeong endured like stubborn weeds. He could have simply expelled him and never seen him again, but doing so felt like admitting defeat to this lowborn wretch—so he held back.
But after the incident with the Green Forest's Aso Stronghold, Jin Dam-hwi exploded and drove him out.
Yet not even a day passed before he realized—
If he ended things with Cheon Ryuyeong here, he would live the rest of his life with a gnawing sense of defeat.
Why should a man of wealth and power live with an inferiority complex toward someone so low?
So he gathered his eleven closest escort warriors and went to find Cheon Ryuyeong again.
This time, he resolved to utterly crush him and break his spirit.
But the man wasn't even home yet.
One day passed. Then two. Then three. Finally, one of the escorts, bored out of his mind, committed rape—and to cover it up, they massacred the villagers.
The only reason his mother and younger sister were still alive was so they could be used to hurt him even more once he arrived.
Cheon Ryuyeong looked up at the sky.
A pitch-dark sky.
Pfft—
A dry laugh escaped him.
He had thought he might finally live with his head held a little higher.
But fate… as always, it dogged him relentlessly, tormenting him.
Seeing that laugh, Jin Dam-hwi's brows drew together in a sharp inverted V.
"You're laughing? You think you haven't been beaten enough? Do I look like someone to be taken lightly?"
"…"
"Fine. So it's a contest to see who wins? I never liked that defiant glare of yours from the first time I saw it. Today, I'll crush your spirit for good—or I'll change my surname."
Cheon Ryuyeong lowered his head and looked at him.
This man hadn't always been this reckless. But here, cut off from the outside world, he was king.
With no need to fear the eyes of society, he had become a tyrant, indulging in his vile desires.
Power without justification, justice, or chivalry was nothing more than barbaric violence. Jin Dam-hwi was drunk on his own cruelty, intoxicated by the role of a savage despot.
In becoming a beast, he had easily broken the boundary of brutality, descending further into inhumanity, relishing the pleasure of driving his prey into a corner.
If the man had become a beast, then Cheon Ryuyeong would have to play along—to feed the beast's cruelty while searching for a way out. He would no longer leave the reins of his life in the hands of something as fickle as fate.
"Let me ask you—what is it you truly want from me?"
Jin Dam-hwi gave him a look of disbelief.
"At a time when you should be groveling, you're provoking me with that tone? Do you really need to watch your mother and sister die in front of you to come to your senses?"
Cheon Ryuyeong smirked. The sight made Jin Dam-hwi's eye twitch.
"Have you gone mad from all the beating?"
"Mad? You don't even know who the real madman is. Then again, if a man knew he was mad, he wouldn't be mad, would he?"
"…!"
"Master of the Bureau—no, not Master. You."
"Cheon Ryuyeong!"
"Jin Dam-hwi. No matter what I say, you're planning to kill me in the end. And my family too. Aren't you?"
The blunt truth struck Jin Dam-hwi speechless for a moment.
Cheon Ryuyeong scratched the back of his head.
"Then kill me, you bastard. Do you know I've found you unpleasant since the first time I saw you?"
Jin Dam-hwi's cheeks trembled with rage.
"You dare—lowborn trash dares!"
"What a load of crap."
"Fine, I'll kill you. I'll kill you and your whole family."
"Pft. Hahaha. Hahahahaha!"
Cheon Ryuyeong burst into wild laughter.