The Love They Never Had: The Chase

Chapter 206: A New Contestant (Saeloun Chamgaja)

The Lady Min had brought the entire banquet to silence as I could feel everyone's eyes on myself, waiting to see how I should react to such...forward flirtations. But it made me uncomfortable, as Hui-Jae made me feel with her constant dominance. Where the hell was Yeon and why wasn't she here to tear apart this crazy woman for me, even if she was more powerful than both of us put together? "You should be congratulating me Young Master; your maid has paved the way for me to establish authority for your sake. And as for you, maid, not a single drop should be left." Her servant then came out and reiterated her whole speech in such a condescending way that it was making my ears bleed just hearing it all over again, but I suppose that was the whole point.
"Young Master, my Mistress heard that your unruly maid has nightmares that affect your sleep, so she ordered me to bring this billing medicine to treat her, thus ensuring your precious sleep." "Young Master! Please save me! Do not let me drink boiling hot soup! This should kill me! I can never see you again after this!" "The Lady Min clearly cares abut your health, you should drink it." "Master! How can I swallow this disgusting thing!" "If you want to be exempt from this, I can find a way..." "Young Master Nam! How dare you impede my authority!" I ignored the Lady Min and I went straight over to my mind who was being held down by her servants. "Tell me where you have hidden Seo Yeon, and I will save you from this!" "Young...Young Master...after everything that I have done for you, you still cannot forget her...!" "So it was you! You really do know where she is! After all of these months! You deceived me so thoroughly! What a deceitful and evil woman! You deserve to drink this soup and die from it!"

I had caught her in her own lie and she knew it, I could tell by her widened eyes and sudden shortness of breath. "Young Master! That isn't it! Please let me explain! You have a noble whom like myself to take care of you! I am beautiful and talented in all ways from my noble upbringing, but you only think about that lily woman!" I simply couldn't help myself, especially when I needed to be careful around this spoiled brat of a woman; the Lady Min. I picked up my maid by the collar of her dress and I brought her so close to my face so she would know that I wasn't joking around at all. "Don't you dare criticise her! She is more beautiful and talented than you can ever be!" "I have been praised for my beauty since childhood, and I am well-known in performance arts. But the only man that I have ever helped in such high esteem never even looks at me! I am younger and prettier than she is! Tell me how I am inferior to her! Well!" "You are petty and jealous, which has driven you to your own end! Good medicine usually tases bitter, which is usually unpalatable. Or do you intend to ruin me any longer?" "So can you blame me for what I did to Yeon! What we all did! You want to know where she is! Then you can ask the Lady Min herself! Why else do you think she has come here for the first time in her life!"

The Lady Min got to her before I could and she made her servants force feed her the billing hot soup, but I was no longer interested in this meaningless drama. I stumbled right out of that place as drunk as ever and my feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they took me to those mysterious quarters as more and more servants and guests like kept commenting about that place, only arousing my interest even more.

"I saw the newly blooming plum trees when I passed the Garden of Leaning Plums. I was simply captivated by it and I lost track of time, that is why we are late to the banquet!" "Have the plum trees really call come into bloom? Isn't it a little early for this?" "It is true! They are all beautifully in bloom right now and sushi a beautiful view must not go unappreciated...." "If the northern wind can hear the plum flowers, please spare the blooming wishes for a peaceful spring." That was Yeon's favourite poem and I had almost lost hope of ever seeing her or hearing her voice again until I heard her chant that line over and over again. And even in my drunken haze, I swore that I could see the back of her figure roaming around the courtyard of her quarters with butterflies flying so closely to her that she almost looked like a goddess, even from a distance.
"Where are you? Why are you hiding from me like this? Why are you torturing me like this, on top pf everything else that I have been through? Why aren't you here when I need you the most? I shall never forgive you for this, for going back on your promises, never..." "So can you blame me for what I did to Yeon! What we all did! You want to know where she is! Then you can ask the Lady Min herself! Why else do you think she has come here for the first time in her life!" What happened to Yeon? What did she go through? What happened to her whilst I was away at war? And why was she here instead of with her brother? And why were butterflies drawn to her? Was it because she was infusing the air with fragrance? My heart was becoming inebriated with the same thing, although her scent was different from what I remembered. "...I still pray for you every night and bathing and burning incense to be mindful of every single detail..." that was all that I heard before my legs gave out under me and I fell face first onto the ground with no help or support at all.
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"Young Mistress, you should get some sleep now, it is quite late at night." "I do feel tired, but I do not want to sleep yet. But why did they make the charcoal s much warmer today?" "They have always used the same amount of charcoal Mistress, it is you who have changed your temperament and your senses. You like trying different foods and scents now, you don't put in effort to get dressed anymore and you feel hotter much more than you used to." "I am without my husband, how do you expect me to become?" "Mistress...." "I mean my real husband, not this fake one that keeps me confined to these quarters. The war has come and gone and he still hasn't looked for me once and I am still attached to a brothel, maybe that is wha has scared him off of me." 'He is love with you, and you know that." "Ever since I left that brothel, I feel strange, as if this body I am standing in is not my own." "Dal still puts you above everyone else...." "He is no-one to me to do anything for me, it makes me feel like 'the flower in the mirror' and 'the moon in the water.' I can only act with cleverness to get what I want now and just surprise my feelings in recovery. But now that you have spoken them out, they shall no longer become a burden on you." "This will not be a peaceful night for sleeping for me, once again." "Young Mistress! The Young Master Dal has arrived."
"Do not let him in, not again, for goodness sake. Please inform him that I have already gone to sleep." "He will not keep facing for that trick, Young Mistress." "I truly do not care, he can throw me out of here for all I care so I can find my brother and my man."

"Wife? Have you gone to bed already? Again?" "I do not know whom you address as your wife sir, but your sister-in-law has already retired for bed." The silence that ensued us was almost borderline predicable at this point and I was sick of it. "What bring you here so late?" "I just wanted to know if you were feeling better? My mind will no be at ease until I have checked on you myself." "I have not yet recovered from my cold. I am not able to attend to you and I hope that you can understand that." "Please! I just want to come in and have one look at you! Just one look!" "Excuse my vulgarness, but where were you when I was getting whipped as a bad jinx in the previous brothel where I was placed? Where were you when I was locked up and starved? Or forced to kneel all night long? Forgive me sir, but the time that I needed any help is long gone and you need to attend to work early in the morning. Getting up now will only prolong my recovery and delay my service in the brothel that is paying for your stay here. I hope that you will accommodate to my request." Another long silence ensued between us as I began to undress myself with by belly weighing more than it ever has due to the scarring I received from my 'previous master's.' My body was still sore all over and I had been in constant pain for months now, even when they just whipped my legs.

"Goodnight then." "Young Mistress, how long can you keep this up for?" "For the rest of my life, so this man can get the hint to leave me alone for good." "Very well Mistress, goodnight..." "Where do you go? After you carry out your shifts with me? You always seem tired, maybe you are not getting enough sleep?' "I am simply carrying out my Master's orders, Young Mistress. You do not need to worry about anything at all, for you are being taken care of, more than you ever have before, and this nightmare should be over quite soon." I could only trust her words as I was finally left alone with the shadow or ghost of my man that has never left me alone since the moment that I was kidnapped from my home and thrown into one brothel after another for sheer humiliation. It was the only thing that kept giving me hope in my time of upmost loneliness. I didn't know how to function without my man anymore and I was recently on the verge of tasing death then even dreaming about a reunion with him. I was a different person now with different goals to follow old dreams of justice, and now more than ever, I had to see this through. I loved Nam Seon-Ho, more than anything, but he wasn't going to give up his grand hobbies for a whore like me, even if I did never let anyone touch me at all. I was on my own now whilst he probably had another girl on his lap that he could have tailored to his perfect image. I only wanted to put enough distance between us to make him realise how much trouble I could cause, but all that did was to backfire on me in the worst way. We were now 2 separate people walking on separate paths in life and I...could only wish for his happiness and nothing more...