The Love They Never Had: The Nam Mansion

Chapter 47: Daleun (Different)

I had to get out of here before I did something that I regretted, because now was clearly the wrong time for me to ask him anything. And I had no idea why he was trying to sow discord between myself and the Young Master, but I still couldn't fully comprehend what sort of relationship I had with him. I only knew that I should never abandon him, and that feeling went deep down into my bones, no matter what he did. "I will visit you later on, I must continue with my chores now." "No wait!" "What is it now?" "You...you need to bathe." "Excuse me?" "You stink of rotten fruit, you should take a bath. Now that you are on punishment, I am afraid that it will be harder for you do these simple tasks since everyone has a reason to bring you down now." "You want me to bathe here? Isn't it inappropriate?" "Like I said, all of your daily rituals will get a lot harder from now on because you are on punishment. So it is better to just get it over with here." "What about the Young Master? Where is he?" "He is recovering from a cold he has, no-one is allowed to visit him when he is sick." "I see. Ok then, I just need my..." "I already have a change of clothes here waiting for you." "Dal? What happened to you? To your face?" "You can ask your precious Young Master. If you are ready to hear the truth that is." "And what is that supposed to mean?" "He isn't as innocent as you think he is. We all carry some childhood trauma, you more than anyone I have ever known. And I know for a fact that you will never do what he has done." "Are you going to explain yourself further or leave me in the dark like this? Just like he does?" "If you want information, I can give you that. But it depends on what you will do for me." What an overbearing and ill-mannered bull of a man, why couldn't he just give me what I wanted without all of these silly riddles and games? I fear that I may be a middle-aged woman by the time I figured out what was really going on with my stay here in this mansion, that was if Nam-Jeon was generous enough to let me stay here for that long. So after having one last look at the room, I proceeded to use his bath which was even more luxurious than mine. And for the first time in a while, I didn't have anything to distract me as soon as I submerged myself in the water for the first time since the accident happened, and it was not a pleasant feeling at all.

I was bathing in hot water that almost burnt my skin, but all I could remember was the ice cold water that I was pushed into that day. I was beyond frightened for the first few moments since I did not remember that I could swim, but what about the boys? How frightened and helpless must they have felt? And why wasn't there anyone to help them? What on earth could have happened to them if that girl didn't save them in time? And who were they? Was the second boy ok? Was he still alive? Was any of what I saw in the water even real at all or was I just imagining things? But why did my heart always feel like it was going to jump out of my chest and my stomach tied itself in knots when I thought about it? The very memory made my hands tremble, but why? There was nobody else there apart from the three children, so how could I have possibly witnessed what had happened? Unless...
"DAL! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND! WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT GIRL DOING IN YOUR QUARTERS?"I was so caught off guard that I almost jumped straight out of the bath and I barely had time to dress myself again before I heard Seon-Ho burst through the doors and almost tear Dal apart. I was still getting dressed behind the screen, but I could still get a small peak behind it and just in time to see Seon-Ho grab Dal by the collar and outright slam him against the wall by the entrance with an already very bruised set of knuckles. "My Lord! What are you..." "I told you! I told you the last time I was here that you are to stay away from her! Haven't you learnt your lesson yet!" "But she is being bullied my lord! And she doesn't deserve it!" "Whether she is being bullied or she lives like a queen under my roof, that is my concern and not yours! Yeon! Come out of here right now!" I was honestly too scared of him in this moment not to obey him, so I tried to come out as quickly as I could without escalating matters any further. "My Lord, what about..." "Do NOT bring up that girl's name ever again!" He didn't even look at me once as came bursting in through the bathing area and he just grabbed my arm and dragged me back to my room without an explanation.