Sarak-

In the midst of the silent stillness, the first sound that always echoes is the rustle of a letter being turned.

Sarak-

I don't know what keeps him so busy, but my father is always at work.

Carefully, I pushed open the door to the master's room.

My father looked the same as ever.

"I heard you called for me."

At my words, my father finally looked up, meeting my gaze.

"Yes."

He put down the letter he had been reading and, turning to me, began to speak.

"First, you've been through a lot."

"It was nothing."

"Your punishment ends here."

The initial few months of seclusion have ended, and the time spent on the battlefield, which lasted over a year, has also concluded. Looking back on it now, calling it a punishment might be inaccurate. After all, I gained strength during that process. In some ways, it was actually beneficial.

'Could it be that... he planned it this way?'

The thought made me suspicious for a moment.

'No, that can't be.'

Even if the seclusion was intentional, sending me to the front lines couldn't have been. My father couldn't have known I could absorb demonic energy. Sending me to the front lines was undoubtedly a punishment.

'It was better than in my previous life.'

Back then, it wasn't just one year, but two. I barely survived, dragged by the hands of Gu Hui-Bi. That time was truly like hell.

'...It probably wasn't much different this time.'

If I had to describe it, it wasn’t so much the physical hardships, but rather...

'The mental strain... was severe.'

In many ways, it was mentally exhausting. I didn’t want to dwell on the process any further.

As I stood there with a grim expression, my father spoke to me.

"As long as no further issues arise, you will leave for Anhui in a few days as per the letter."

Without any preamble, he got straight to the point, which, though uncomfortable, was something I preferred. His personality remained the same.

But still...

He's really going through with it?

'Anhui...'

I've been there maybe once or twice before. In my previous life, I went there a few times with less than honorable intentions as a demonic practitioner.

'To think I'm going there now for an engagement...'

Life truly is unpredictable. Of course, there's no way to back out now.

'...Even if I could.'

The thought of a certain woman, who was probably lying down in her room or mine, asleep by now, came to mind, preventing me from even considering running away.

'Will I really go through with this engagement?'

An engagement in my life, out of nowhere... What is this...

As I started to feel a strange sense of reality creeping in, my father spoke again.

"Lady Yi will accompany you to Anhui."

"...What?"

I couldn't help but gasp at my father's words.

Lady Yi? Lady Mi will go to Anhui with me?

"...Why?"

The question slipped out before I could stop myself.

My father gave me a rare, strange look in response. Though it was subtle, barely noticeable unless you were really paying attention.

"Why? That's an odd question."

Indeed.

Now that I think about it, it was odd for me to ask. It made sense for Lady Mi, the main wife and mistress of the household, to attend such an important event as the engagement of a direct descendant of the family.

'Wait... then...'

A sudden thought struck me, and I quickly asked my father.

"Is that why Lady Mi returned to the family earlier than expected?"

"Yes."

"Ah."

Only then did I understand why Lady Mi had returned to the family earlier than she had in my previous life.

It was for my engagement.

'...There was no engagement in my previous life.'

Not that I refused one—my reputation was so terrible that no proposals came my way. Thinking about it now, it made me feel rather bitter.

How badly must I have behaved for that to happen? Even in a prestigious family, no one proposed an engagement to me.

But that wasn't the only reason.

Gu Hui-Bi also hadn't married despite being of age back then.

'...Lady Mi will be going with me.'

Even if it's for her official role, will she feel uncomfortable? Of course, I also felt a bit burdened by it.

"By the way..."

"Yes?"

"I heard there was a clash with the Hwangbo family on the front lines."

"...Ah."

I was startled by my father's sudden question.

How did he find out? I thought I had kept everything under wraps.

"It was nothing."

It really wasn't anything significant.

I just crippled the eldest son of the Hwangbo clan and exposed the younger brother's ambitions, dragging him into a family power struggle.

'That’s nothing, right?'

Back in the day, wiping out an entire family was just the beginning, and we argued over whether or not to destroy all of Central Plains. Compared to that, becoming the head of a family is nothing.

My father stared into my eyes for a moment after hearing my answer.

"Alright."

He replied briefly and didn’t pursue the matter further. As always, that was his way of saying that was enough.

'...It's almost scarier when he doesn't ask more.'

It had always been like that. As long as I didn't cross a certain line, my father would usually let things slide. But once I crossed that line, he would come down on me like a hammer. I tried to stay within those boundaries as much as possible.

...Or maybe I didn’t. Not really, now that I think about it.

Anyway.

After this, we discussed minor matters, like visiting the merchants associated with our family briefly, basic training as a family member, and other routine issues.

"...For the rest of the details, listen to the head steward."

"Yes."

The major issue is that I'll be heading to Anhui for the engagement, and Lady Mi will accompany me. That seemed to be the main points.

As my father finished his instructions and I prepared to leave, I suddenly remembered something.

"...Master."

"Hmm?"

I remembered something I needed to ask about what happened on the front lines.

The orb that was said to be left behind by our ancestors... The beast referred to it as a seed. It warned that if the seed were to sprout, it would lead to disaster.

Did my father know about this?

"About the orb in the central area."

"Yes."

"Do you know what it is?"

My father's hand froze for a moment at my question. His eyes remained fixed on me, and his blood-red eyes seemed to shine brighter, making me instinctively want to avert my gaze.

"Why do you ask?"

"...I'm just curious."

My father fell silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, before he finally spoke again.

"It’s something you don't need to know about yet."

He firmly ended the conversation and returned his attention to the letter he had been reading. It was a stern refusal, yet his words lingered in my mind.

'Not yet...'

If he says I don't need to know yet, it means I'll learn about it eventually. If my guess is correct, my father does know what that orb is.

'Whether he knows it as a seed like the beast said is another matter, but...'

At the very least, it was clear that the orb held some significance.

The problem is...

'He won't answer any more questions about it.'

No matter how much I pressed, my father would just brush it off. And if I pushed too hard, I might end up with my head burned by his touch.

'...At the very least, I should keep my hair intact.'

No matter how much I heal, if my hair gets burned off, it can't grow back. A physician once told me that.

"...Then, Master."

"Is there anything else?"

"What should we do about Seol-Bong?"

This was a separate matter. My father’s eyes widened slightly at the unexpected question.

"Seol-Bong?"

"What should I do about the contract with her if I go to Anhui?"

I had agreed to give her energy at regular intervals, and only my energy could help her condition. My father and Gu Hui-Bi had both tried, but they could only warm her temporarily. It didn’t linger in her body or expel the cold inside.

'Is this also a result of the Demonic Absorption Technique?'

It seemed more certain now. Even the cold that eventually claimed Seol-Bong’s life in my previous life could be easily absorbed by the Demonic Absorption Technique.

'The only question is whether I’m taking her energy or just using mine to dispel the cold.'

If I were taking her energy, I would feel it in my core, but I didn’t. So that didn’t seem to be the case.

My father quickly answered my question.

"I’ve already discussed it with the Moyong family."

"When?"

I hadn’t heard anything about it from Moyong Hee-Ah... But then, I hadn’t sought her out since returning to the family.

"What was decided?"

"Hmm..."

My father looked out the window for a moment before turning back to me. I followed his gaze, wondering what he saw, but all I could see were trees.

"...Go outside and find out for yourself. It seems someone is waiting for you."

"What? Who’s waiting for me...?"

The head steward? My father signaled that there was nothing more to discuss, urging me to leave.

With that, I bowed slightly and left the master’s room. As I walked away, I called out to the beast within me.

'Hey.'

[Grr?]

The beast stirred deep within my core, responding to my call.

I had told it to sleep when we returned to the family, as it wouldn’t need to absorb energy for a while. It seemed to have taken my advice to heart and actually fallen asleep.

The more time I spent with it, the more I realized it was more obedient than I expected.

It was almost like raising a pet dog.

Of course, that wasn’t the point.

The real issue was something else.

'When are you going to wake Noya?'

[Grr...?]

'It’s been over a year, hasn't it?'

For the beast to absorb energy more easily and communicate with me, the old god, Noya, needed to sleep for a while. We had agreed on a year during our conversation in the secluded room.

And now, it had been over a year and a few months.

'Don’t pretend you don’t know. You’re aware the time is up.'

[Grr...]

'Hurry up and wake him up. I have something to ask him.'

I needed to ask Noya about the orb we saw on the front lines. Noya had been active around the time the Demonic Path was opened and had witnessed the bloodshed caused by the Blood Demon firsthand. Given his long history, I thought he might know something about the orb.

'Maybe he’ll know something about the orb.'

After all, Noya was from a time long before the current sects and clans. He might not know much about the Wulin Alliance or the Gu family, but who knows?

More than anything, I missed the grumpy old man’s nagging.

[Grr...]

Without answering, the beast growled softly and began to fade away, likely returning to sleep.

'Where do you think you’re going... hey, hey!'

Even though I urged it to respond, the beast didn’t answer and soon vanished into silence.

This damn creature.

Is it telling me to cut it open?

'Does it not realize that I’m an expert at cutting open bodies?'

Not just cutting open— I could burn them afterward too.

'If you don’t want that, you’d better...'

"You're here."

My steps halted at the unexpected voice. It was a familiar voice, but not one I had anticipated.

Turning to face the direction of the voice, I saw the head steward standing there. But the voice wasn't his—it was a woman's voice. And when I looked around, I realized I had somehow ended up outside without noticing, probably because I was lost in thought.

The head steward bowed slightly upon meeting me, and I nodded in return. Then I looked past him to where the voice had come from. To my surprise, I saw not one, but two familiar figures.

"Why are you here?"

I asked, and the woman in front flipped her hair back as she answered.

"...We were supposed to meet again, but you were nowhere to be found..."

The one flipping her hair was none other than Moyong Hee-Ah, whom I had encountered earlier in the day. The other was...

"...To eat... together."

Of course, it was Namgung Bi-Ah.

The two women seemed to exchange glances, but whether it was due to their naturally cold features or mutual dislike, the atmosphere between them was less than pleasant.

I couldn’t help but rub my arms unconsciously.

'Why does it feel so cold in the middle of summer?'

My body, which usually didn’t feel cold, was sensing a chill in the middle of summer.

"So, you were waiting here?"

"..."

"It just sort of happened..."

Now I understood why my father had been looking out the window earlier. Most of the family grounds were within his sensory range, so he must have known who was waiting outside.

Namgung Bi-Ah was one thing, but I hadn’t expected Moyong Hee-Ah to be here too.

With a sigh, I addressed Moyong Hee-Ah in a slightly exasperated tone.

"Why would you wait out here? I thought you hated bugs."

"...I’m sorry. I didn’t notice Namgung Sojeo and just..."

Moyong Hee-Ah, who seemed embarrassed by her own behavior, blushed slightly as she answered. Then she suddenly stopped talking and stared straight at me with a curious expression.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"...How does Young Master Gu know that I hate bugs?"

"...Huh?"

Damn.

I slipped up.

I quickly tried to cover it up.

"...You just look like you would."

"This is the first time I've heard that."

'Of course it is.'

It wasn’t a convincing excuse.

How could anyone guess that someone who looks so cold would be scared of bugs?

'I didn’t even know.'

It wasn’t something I learned intentionally. It just so happened that in my previous life, we encountered an insect-like monster. Moyong Hee-Ah, who was far stronger than me, suddenly froze, causing me to nearly die trying to protect her.

Afterward, I asked her why she had freaked out, and she admitted with a guilty look that she couldn’t stand bugs, nearly crying as she said so. That’s how I learned.

'...Even though her family raises moths.'

It was widely known in Central Plains that the Moyong family used moth-like creatures in their business. And yet, their precious daughter hated bugs. It was ironic, to say the least.

"I just happened to know."

"...You just happened to know that...?"

As Moyong Hee-Ah took a step closer, a hand reached out and pulled me back. I lost my balance and fell backward into something soft, wrapped in white arms.

"...That’s enough..."

It was Namgung Bi-Ah’s hand that had suddenly pulled me in.

"...Sword Dancer."

She glared at Moyong Hee-Ah, as if to draw a line she was not allowed to cross. Moyong Hee-Ah frowned slightly in response, clearly not pleased with how things were turning out.

It was obvious that the situation was getting tense.

I quickly glanced at the head steward, hoping for some assistance, but...

"Hoh, hoh, hoh..."

The perceptive head steward was already walking away with a knowing smile.

'...Is he really abandoning me?'

Was this the survival instinct of someone who had served as head steward for decades? He was fast—too fast.

At that moment, a tingling sensation shot through me as I felt a jolt from Namgung Bi-Ah, who was still holding me. Her electric energy was starting to show.

And I also felt a cold touch brush against my arm—Moyong Hee-Ah’s cold energy.

Both women were bristling like cats, their auras becoming increasingly sharp. If I didn’t intervene soon, I’d be crushed in the middle.

I had no choice but to act.

Clap!

"...!"

"Ugh!"

The clap, infused with energy, sent a wave of pressure through the air, dispersing the tension. This required a high level of energy control, and I hadn’t expected to use it in such a situation.

Looking at the startled women, I spoke.

"Enough. The master is watching from behind."

"Ugh."

"...!"

The mention of my father seemed to bring them back to their senses, and they slowly returned to their original expressions. This was, after all, the master’s residence, the area where my father’s presence was strongest. He was likely watching everything that happened.

Moyong Hee-Ah, who was more aware of these things, seemed to realize what she had just done and her expression turned even more sorrowful. Namgung Bi-Ah was the same.

Seeing this, I carefully spoke.

"Let’s not do this here. Let’s... eat first."

Remembering that Namgung Bi-Ah had come to eat with me, I suggested it. Both women, perhaps feeling embarrassed, nodded in agreement.

'...I guess I’ll have to take them out.'

Maybe it was because of the tense atmosphere, but I felt a sense of urgency. I needed to get them out of here.

It wasn’t until less than an hour later that I realized how foolish it was to think I could calmly have a meal with these two.