The Love They Never Had: The Nam Mansion

Chapter 52: Geoli (Distance)

A few days later, I first began to notice that things from my quarters were being misplaced or stolen, then the things that were being delivered to my door were still in such poor quality that I was still forced to cook and clean by myself and carry out my own chores. I didn't mind in the least though, as I regained my sense of independency, and it seemed to bother Nam-Jeon, which did give me a small amount of pleasure. But after our last encounter, he didn't bother me again, so I had nothing to fear at all. But when the Young Master caught me washing my own clothes and hanging up my laundry, he left me completely speechless with how petty he was being about the whole issue. Not only did he leave me to do my own chores, I had to carry out his own as well, and this man had a lot of things to be cared for. He had enough clothes for 3 commoner families, he had his books that constantly needed dusting, his scrolls that couldn't be touched, his expensive ink set that he gifted himself and he even made me look after his horse exclusively since he didn't have the time to do it himself anymore. But he was still evading my questions I had about my memories and his behaviour and always came up with various excuses as to why he broke the laws and brought a common girl to live with him. And I was getting sick of it.

But during the day I still had to interact with the maids if I wanted to eat, and our interactions were getting more and more interesting. And if I wasn't being accusing of seducing the Young Master who still sometimes wouldn't let me near him even if we were in the same room, then I was being accused of stealing their work from them. I had no idea that the Young Master actually went so far as to dock everyone's pay, nobody told me anything that happened in his home. But I could tell that they were up to something, and I needed to find a way to protect myself before I got kicked out of the only shelter that I had for now.

But the maids and the mysterious man were not the only problems that I had; probably over a year after the war in Liadong ended, the Nam's started receiving some very prestigious guests that I wasn't allowed anywhere near. For weeks on end all I could hear from quarters were heavy carriages marching their way outside of the residence, footsteps making their way in and out of the main house which I still didn't have access to, and I could smell all of the delicious food that I could never even hope to taste in this lifetime. Originally, I thought that this was a good thing for the Nam's, and Nam-Jeon certainly couldn't keep his smile off of his face. But the Young Master had changed once again; every time he came out of these meetings, he looked more and more depressed. It was like he was being forced to partake in whatever it was that the noble class did to make themselves thrive and he wasn't happy about it at all. Honestly....he looked just as miserable as I felt deep down inside, but no matter how hard I tried, he still wouldn't let me approach him during this time for reasons that I could not understand all of a sudden.

But seemed that he had an entirely different personality outside of the home, especially when I caught him trying to talk to a very pretty kisaeng who seemed to have nothing but pure hatred for him. She humiliated him and cursed at him more than anyone that I had ever seen, not even he neighbours who insulted him when they saw him were that venomous towards him. It broke my heart to see this never mind hearing it, but what made me really very angry at him was the dejection he felt and he still tried his very best to woo her with everything that he had. I had no idea why his personal life affected me so much, but it got to the point where I was hiding myself in my room despite the various summons that I got so I didn't feel the pain I did whenever I saw him from now on. I was able to get away with ignoring him for a day or two, but that was all that he could seem to handle. The next day I came back from the kitchen only to find him going through my poetry books violently, to the point where he was ripping the pages apart.

"You girls really like this stuff don't you? I still remember the poem you read to me in hte kitchen before I left for the war. What was that all about?" His voice sounded strained, he looked as if he hadn't slept and he had the nerve to sit on my bed so I had no chance of hiding myself even if I wanted to. This man went on and on about observing etiquette and yet here he was shamelessly siting in the the most intimate area in this entire room with a smirk on his face. But despite the farce he was putting on, he still looked beaten down, but I had already tried everything that I could to help him and he kept rejecting me every time, so what on earth was he doing here? What did he want from me? If he didn't want me to approach him since he was so in love with the other girl, then why not treat me as his father did and just leave me alone? Why was I still being called into his study just to waste my time?