The Love They Never Had: The Nam Mansion

Chapter 58: Daesgeul (Reply)

"And just what the hell is your problem? Why do you sound so angry that my baby sister cooked for me? Or invited me here?" "You know you could jeopardise her stay here, Hwi! So stop being so reckless and just..." "Her stay here? In your home? And exactly how long are you planning to house her here when she has a brother to bring her home where she belongs? And what are you having her do for you? She isn't a goddamned slave you know and neither am I!" We were both nose to nose in each other's faces in this point, two people who were the best of friends in the entire village were now reduced to enemies and I swear that I would have done him some serious damage if mu sister didn't come back out with a tray of some things that I had never seen before. "Brother? What are you doing here? Has she resolved the conflict yet?" "Obviously not if I have come back here to find you." "Very well, I am coming to help you sort out this mess. Just let them eat in peace and I will follow them out." "Just what on earth were you thinking of, inviting gown men back to your quarters alone! Have you lost your mind?" "And why can't I? The whole point of today was to give the Nam servants a treat for all of their hard work. Unless you do not wish for me to meet them? And why is that I wonder? Is there a reason why I shouldn't meet them in particular?" And just like that, she lifted the atmosphere in this room with only a few words and managed to shut Seon-Ho up for once. The look on his face was completely priceless as he stormed out again whilst my sister continued to serve us without even blinking. And that was just one of her many talents. "Hwi, we will meet you later on. Thank you for the food...." "Yeon. My name is Yeon." "No, it is ok, I am finished as well. Thank you for serving us the food...Mistress." I could see the disappointment in her face and the tears welling up in her eyes, and it was only then that I realised exactly what she was doing and why. My poor sister; now that I looked at her more closely, she looked like she hadn't been able to get any sleep lately and she was a little irritated by it. But as soon as she opened her mouth to protest my leaving, I could only motion to her that Seon-Ho was clearly waiting outside for her, despite being told to leave about 3 times. She did at least walk me outside and I chose to savour these moments when I had her by my side again. The sense of relief that she gave me was simply indescribable, and it looked like she didn't detest me at all. In fact, she was very clearly treating me better than anyone else in this home and she really didn't want me to leave at all. She put her hand into mine again just like she used to when she was little and she squeezed them just when I had to leave. We looked at each other for a while before that asshole turned up right behind her and practically dragged her back inside the home in a way that I would have never touched her and he knew it. No, something was definitely on between them and it was my duty to find out what that was, even if she couldn't remember me yet.

"...Mistress! Thank goodness that you are finally here!" "What on earth is going on? I was only absent for a few minutes and these servants cannot run a simple food stall without me? Why hasn't any of the porridge been distributed yet? Why can't these servants carry out simple instructions!" "Mistress, the rice...it is so mouldy and spoiled that it cannot be consumed!" I peeked through the main gate and there was a whole group of servants crowding around Yeon with a murderous vibe throughout. The food stalls that my sister set up had been turned over and destroyed and there wasn't a single bowl of soup insight. And Seon-ho was just standing there like an idiot and waiting for my sister of all people to give instructions on how to deal with this mess. "Young Master, are you not going to investigate this matter? Find out whilst I deal with the servants once again..." "No Yeon...do not worry about it. Just leave it to me and I will handle it all." "Then why did you keep disturbing me and asking me to come and assist you." "Because...the situation looked bad and I cannot trust you on your own with those servants." So earlier he was acting as if he was her bodyguard and now he was actually apologising to her? Just what the hell was going on here? Weren't we all supposed to keep distancing ourselves from each other? Or was I the only person who was taking Nam-Jeon's threat seriously? How had my baby sister and best friend become so close that they always found ways to be close to each other? Seo Yeon, what the hell are you really up to?
"Hwi!" "What is it?" "The prince is calling for us, you had better come along now before we all get into trouble." "Ok, I am coming." I had no choice but to leave now, but I would be back to carry out my own investigation of what was really going on with my best friend, my sister...and my old lover who had started to hover around the Nam manor at nighttime.