Episode 6
“It seems… you really care for him.”
“Hey, why did you say that?”
There was a problem.
Choyun held her forehead internally. She could not show her discomfort openly because the children might misunderstand. After calming herself down, she stopped Sayoung from covering Sahyun’s mouth and spoke.
“You think so.”
“Yes, you care for him. You even… debone his meat.”
“Don’t listen to him, Master. He’s just full and talking nonsense. Hey, close your mouth!”
“You even… cook meals for him directly.”
That was Choyun! Choyun, who left eleven-year-old kids to cook for themselves! When she saw the kids, who were about her size, handling pots and cooking since four in the morning, she was really shocked. She quickly put the kids back to sleep and started preparing meals herself. It happened to coincide with Cheonoh’s arrival, which seemed to have caused a misunderstanding.
Anyway, Sahyun, who didn’t know Choyun’s situation, couldn’t hide his disappointed look and pouted with his head down. The quick-witted Sayoung was fiercely protecting his brother, so it was really a problem. Choyun started to explain slowly and carefully to soothe and pacify the children.
“His hand is not yet fully healed. If food gets into his wound, it will worsen. And I need to change the silk cloth wrapped around his hand, so there’s a lot of minor tasks to do. Also, I can’t ask you to serve him during meals, so I had to do it.”
“…Then when his hand heals, you won’t debone his meat anymore?”
“Of course. If he doesn’t know how to eat by himself, I’ll teach him. If he knows, he should eat by himself.”
The children’s expressions slightly softened. The important part was yet to come.
“The reason I made you cook for yourselves was to have you understand the effort of preparing meals. Also, I wanted to make sure you can manage on your own when I am away to sell medicine, as you know I often need to leave.”
“Ah…”
“Now that I think I have achieved that goal satisfactorily, I will from now on focus on your growth and make meals for you. You cannot put the right medicinal ingredients in your meals, can you?”
“Like… in the medicinal bath?”
“Yes, like this medicinal bath.”
Next to Choyun were two wooden tubs. The tubs were filled with steamy transparent brown liquid, and were surrounded by the smell of various medicinal herbs.
Choyun put her hand into the medicinal bath to gauge the temperature and spoke.
“As I mentioned earlier, you will take a medicinal bath every night starting today. You must stay soaked until the water cools down. After getting out of the tub, rinse your entire body with clean water and dry yourself thoroughly before going to bed.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Yes!”
Watching the children excitedly undress as if going to play in the water, Choyun left the bathroom. Although the bathroom was simply a high wooden fence made behind the hut, it was necessary to create such distinctions to teach the children about the concept and use of space.
‘It’s fortunate that my impromptu excuse worked. I should be more careful from now on.’
With a sigh of relief and fatigue, Choyun walked slowly to the front of the hut. She couldn’t even sigh freely, fearing the children would see and learn.
‘But it was the right thing to do… It could be troublesome if they end up disliking me, since we’ll be living together for an extended time.’
In Saeyoung and Sahyun’s world, there was only each other and Choyun. Choyun was their mother, father, friend, brother, and master. Even though Choyun’s original personality was naturally somewhat awkward, the atmosphere and policies had changed dramatically and become more gentle and natural after Jeong Hayoon’s possession.
Given that he was such an important person, it was only natural for them to feel jealous if he suddenly started paying attention to another child. It was a common pattern for children to act out to gain attention when their parents’ attention suddenly shifts to a newborn baby.
Above all, jealousy and envy were emotions that elementary school children could not handle skillfully. Since no one but Choyun could mediate between them, she had to be cautious and examine all her actions and words.
Anyway, since the siblings were taking a bath, there wouldn’t be any issues for about half an hour. Choyun resolved her mind and entered Musimsa’s quarters. She immediately sensed something strange.
“You’re awake.”
When Choyun went out to boil the children’s medicinal bathwater, Cheonoh, who had been asleep after dinner, was already up and sitting. It wouldn’t have been unusual if he had just been sitting, but it was odd to see him sitting neatly with his knees together and fists on his thighs, a position inappropriate for a child who usually appeared absent-minded.
Choyun softly approached Cheonoh and spoke.
“Don’t kneel. You’re taxing your barely healed legs.”
“…”
“Unless you want to add to my work, get up.”
The child opened his mouth several times in an attempt to speak but eventually released his posture without a chance to protest. Choyun sat gracefully in front of him after wrapping a blanket around his shoulders.
“You have something to say, don’t you? Go ahead.”
“…”
If speaking is difficult, he can just move his lips. As the child hesitated to speak, he placed his hands on the floor and bowed deeply, touching his forehead to the back of his hands in an uncomfortable position. When he finally spoke after rising, his voice was low and mournful as if he hadn’t spoken for a long time.
“…Thank you for the grace you’ve shown me.”
I’m still not a sage.
Choyun swallowed the words that almost burst out. For some reason, it felt like cold sweat was running down her back. Although he was not yet ten years old, the young child’s demeanor was no joke. It was clear he exuded the air of someone who would become the final boss of this world.
‘And yet, I’m not really a sage. Didn’t I tell him my name?’
“I should repay you with everything I have, but sadly, I have nothing left. In such a state, I dare to ask a few questions. If my asking displeases you, please scold me.”
‘Why does he speak so formally? Who taught a kid to speak like this?’Choyun thought internally. Despite her internal musings, Cheonoh continued to ask his questions at a measured pace, leaving Choyun momentarily speechless.
“…Is my family truly crushed? Did everyone in the Unhan Seo clan truly perish?”
Servants not related by blood were trapped and crushed, while blood relatives were impaled and burned. The child’s eyes, asking if everyone who lived with him was really dead, were as dark and dead as his hair.
Choyun, after a brief internal struggle, finally opened her mouth.
“…I heard no one other than you survived.”
“But surely… there must be someone. There were children doing odd jobs in the clan. My grandparents took in wandering children and let them work as servants…”
“They said they killed every last one of them. After that, they poisoned the land so that not even a single blade of grass would grow.”
“…”
The child’s eyes sank deeper into a state of despair. Choyun took a deep breath to compose herself then opened her eyes and continued.
Cheonoh, as if intending to extinguish any remaining hope he had, kept questioning Choyun.
“I heard people from my clan speak about the Baekhyup League. Was it really the Baekhyup League’s faction that exterminated the Unhan Seo clan?”
“The ones who attacked your clan were the forces called Jamryongdan and Wahodan, the enforcement units of the Baekhyup League. These units, which can only move with the consent of more than half of the leaders of the League’s nine big clans and five great families, are its direct combat units.”
“…Why did my family die?”
Just as Saeyoung and Sahyun had quickly sensed Choyun’s interest shifting to Cheonoh, children were naturally perceptive beings. And among them, Cheonoh was exceptionally bright and intelligent. Trying to deceive or hide things from him would be futile and could lead to great animosity later.
So, I should just be honest. Choyun made up her mind to be straightforward, but when it came time to speak, the words wouldn’t come. How could she explain that adults, to satisfy their own greed, had condemned the child’s very existence as a crime?
Especially when she knew it was a piece of background that the writer threw in thoughtlessly to give the villain some semblance of motivation.
