The Love They Never Had: The Nam Mansion

Chapter 43: Jiltuui Dog (The Poison of Jealousy)

Why? Why wasn't anything I had said worked with this girl? Just what on earth was she made of? I had managed to convince Nam-Jeon of all people to hire me to watch over his only living son, I had managed to convince Seon-Ho to trust me, but nothing I said or did had any impact on that so-called lowborn who still could not tear his eyes off of him. I thought when people lost their memories, that they would transform into new people since they could not remember anything from their previous lives? So why was Seo Yeon still obsessed with the Young Master as she was in her childhood? Even the Young Master himself would laugh as he recounted her childish antics in front of him, so what happened to the pair of them now? I was the only person that the Young Master had after he had eventually betrayed his only friend, but for the very first time, I could not read his mind when it came to this girl at all. He was either to gentle or too intense with her with no warning at all. His behaviour was completely unpredictable and I was getting sick and tired of it. His performance in the palace was below average for the first time and he could not focus at all despite working so hard his entire life to get into the palace and I knew it had something to do with the Seo's. I was going to find a way to kill Seo Hwi myself, but now it looked like Yeon was the one who was the cause of his confusion. So maybe killing her brother wasn't the best plan, but bringing him back to his sister would remove a huge obstacle of mine so we could get back on track with our goals in the palace.

But it wasn't just her presence in the Young Master's life that was a distraction, it was her's in mine as well, or lack thereof. I was clearly in control of the Young Master, but it was like she couldn't see me at all. I was the one who took care of him long before she showed up in this home of ours and it was like they only had eyes for each other. I was the one who really ran this household, I was the one that a tyrannous man like Nam-Jeon trusted to control his son, I was the one who helped both Nam men in the palace...and I was the one who helped him out of the water when he let his brother drown. But nobody remembered my contribution at all. I was the one who ran errands for Yeon when she needed it, but her gratitude seemed to be directed to the beats of the man that everyone despised, apart from her. But why? What did she see in him that she couldn't see in me? I could accomplish far more than he could, I could even do a better job of it and I could take care of Yeon far better than even the Young Master or her brother could due to his low status. In fact, I think it was time to find him and show him exactly what his best friend had turned his precious little sister into. But not without saying my goodbyes to her, the lowborn girl who had outdone what most married women failed to do and who as starting to invade my thoughts and mind. But it looked like somebody had beaten me to it when I made my way over to her quarters to find the Young Master just sitting outside the closed doors, where the shadow of Yeon was also sitting. They were together again and they did not even need to speak a word to each other. The master had already been beaten by his father and instead of tending to his wounds straight away, he just sat outside in the cold weather with a frozen chrysanthemum flower in his hand. A flower which I had never noticed or held before until now I had realised.

"Young Master? Your father and neighbours are summoning you." "Go to sleep Yeon, and remember do not seek me out unless it is an emergency, do you understand me?" "...yes, brother." "Yeon!" "Yes, Seon-Ho." "Let us go, Dal." "But I..." "I said...let us go. You have no reason to talk to her at all, do you?" The look in his eyes had completely betrayed his cold manner. He was in pain, but he had to keep going on for all of us. "You want me...to stay away from her?" "I am the only person in this home that has a connection to her, I am the only person she has..." "...apart from her brother. Who will find her and take her home."

"...Confucius is flourishing at present; if you keep talking about wanting to divorce your wife and ending your marriage, how will the scholars look at you then?" "So what do you suggest I do after what she did today? Continue staying with her after she..." "Why don't you send her to a nearby temple to become a nun. She does come from a powerful family after all..." "She is indeed clearly muddle-headed, and slowly becoming senile. She has even displayed signs of madness today in your home and completely forgot her manners in your presence and that of your family..." "You do not need to worry about that bastard son of mine, just sort out your wife before this talk of your family reaches the ear of the emperor, or any of his princes. And take back your concubine since she is just nothing but dead weight..." "My goodness, both of these women will bring down my entire family clan..." "Just deal with the women first so we can both restore peace in our households..." "I am going to bed Dal, I need to wake up early for the palace tomorrow."