The Love They Never Had: The Chase

Chapter 202: Living Nightmares 1 (Sal-Aissneun Agmong)

"Madame! What on earth are you doing! Is this how we treat the elderly women in this brothel! Let her go! Right now!" I remember having to fight my way through a bunch of women who were al determined to stand against me, but I wasn't going to be stopped by anyone, not here. And my usual tactic of resorting to psychological warfare simply wasn't going to cut it against a brothel full of women who had to compete against each other to survive as long as they could. I had endured quite bit of torture and bullying during my time in the first brothel that I was thrown into, in my first 2 weeks before my plant to rule the brothel came to light. But this place was a part of my mother's identity when my father courted her and took hers her bride, just as my brother took in his bride. So I was determined to either fix this place and turn it int a safe haven for women, or I was going to burn it down to the ground as to eradicate this stain on my mother's reputation as well as my own.
"What on earth is going on here!" "Madame! This Senior kisaeng of yours was attempting to force a drug down the elder's throat!" The patrons of the brothel had all started to pour in after one of the senior kisaengs barged into my new room and attempted to kill one the only woman who had dared to show myself and Hyeon a little bit of kindness in that place and had the younger girls pin her down whilst forcing some concoction down her throat as if she were some sort of lame animal that was being kicked around by it's owner.

"Madam? What is going on here? Why can't we get any peace and quiet here?" "Forgive us Sir, we are attempting to discipline this new girl and it looks like she needs more lessons in humility if we are ever going to straighten her out!" "You liar! Explain to him why this old woman is slumped over then!" "I...I just sent in some women to feed her medicine! Those are all just supplements! How could these kill her! Anyone can examine them if they do not believe me..." "Of course you can say that since this brothel doesn't even have a physician assigned to it! There is nobody to check if you are poisoning us here or not!" "You lowly bitch! I have already seen to everything to make sure that you are well looked after here, and this is how you repay me? By framing me!"
"Madame! Madame!" "What is it girl? What has happened!" "Everything! Everything has gone wrong Madame! All of our new koi fish have died in the pond! The food has been spoiled, the drinks have gone bad and..." "Hang on a minute! The brand new koi fish that we just received yesterday? They are all already dead! But how....why...do you have any idea how expensive they were! Quickly! Find the person who was responsible for feeding them and have them flogged 100 times! How dare they neglect such an important sponsor of wealth in our establish brothel!" "It isn't just the fish! Your new Kiwi bird just dropped dead in it's cage! Just now, I saw it with my very own eyes!" "Just what on earth is going on here! Who has cursed us!" "Madame! This all happened ever since we took in this orphan girl! She must be cursed, as all orphaned women are! Women who have no father to marry them off are simply burdens in this world and nothing more!"

I could remember that day so vividly, even as i lay unconscious somewhere where i assumed I was safe. There were only so many insults that i could take and that day was one of my most rare days where i couldn't help but to break down when they hurled these unfair statements at me over and over again, every single women there apart from Hyeon laughed at me in that place. I was all alone then without my brother to protect me, as well as my father and my lover, whom I didn't know if he would stay by my side if he found out where I was in that moment. "It must be her! She is the jinx! We simply cannot keep her here with us at all! Even the Master Taoist came by here a few days ago to remind us, do you remember Madame? He told us that..." "Are you guys being serious? Do you really expect us all to believe that a religious man would d a reading at a brothel? Is that seriously the best that you guys can do?" But nobody heard me this time, due to the people of my nation being quite superstisos as the Royal Family themselves were.
"...Madame! these mishappenings are so scary! We must take cautions for everyone's sakes here!" "Am i truly a jinx? Or has someone set me up here? Maybe the same people who brought me here! it is surely very suspicious! How could these things not be pre-arranged!" Again, nobody was listening to me, but I still couldn't leave this place no matter what, so I had to go along with this, even if it cost me my life, for my mother's sake. "She is a jinx! Just wait until we bring the Taoist back here to deal with you and leave the rest of us be!"

After that, i was almost instantly tied up to the nearest pillar outside and I had to wait all night for the Taoist to show up as soon as daybreak. It was one of my worst nights and the it was only the memories of my man that kept me going, as a reward for all of my pain and hard work that I was putting into this place. My man and his intense stares, his passionate touches that distracted me from my doubts and his sweet tongue that he struck down my throat every time that he kissed me so I couldn't object to him taking what he wanted from me. My man who loved me, who wanted me, who wanted children and a family from me...what wouldn't I give to have him in that moment to come to my rescue right there and then instead of me fighting for a dead parent of mine that I barely knew at all. This was just so damned hard...
"...Madame, after gaining insight into the recent accidents and bad luck that this place has endured, I can finally conclude that these are all related to a lowborn epileptic orphan girl that you have recently taken into your care." "I knew it!" "...and I am afraid that even more misfortune shall fall upon you if this wild animal isn't tamed very soon." "What a load of..." "...you vulgar girl! How can you possibly become so rude in front of the Master Taoist! Have you really no shame or manners, woman!" "Master Taoist, how can this issue possibly be resolved?" "The wisest thing to do would be to drive her out of the brothel, but if that is not an option, then you can commence a set of rituals to cleanse this impure and rebellious spirit that resides inside of her, by whipping her with black dog's blood 20 times. You must rid yourself of this woman's auspiciousness to rid us all of the jinx within her."

I must have been delirious at that point, because i could remember laughing quite manically as soon as those words had left his mouth. I was going to be whipped? Again? Now I couldn't have been more thankful that i had the gall to take up work in the Nam yangban, even if it meant is was going to happen now in public as I was still tied to the pillar with no food or water in my belly as I took on these tortures. "Men! Get the whip ready!"

"How does a Taoist show no respect for life as a religious man..." my claims were quickly drown out my the pain that I was facing, but I still wouldn't let anyone hear me scream. I win't going t give anyone the satisfaction of breaking me, especially now when I was on my own and I needed to return to my brother alive in one piece."It is my responsibility to cleanse impure souls girl, i am only fulfilling my duty towards god himself; let us proceed with the ritual!" I still remembered every single whip that laid against my skin that had just began to heal from my previous jobs that i had before this and how painful each and every one of them were. And i took the pain, because i knew that it would motivate me to get my revenge on those who sought to hurt me when I had done nothing to provoke them at all. It wasn't my fault that my father was powerful even after his death to see myself and ma brother as threats to certain Royal Family members. But it was still a fragile night that left Hyeon in tears as she tended to my wounds whilst i seethed in anger as I was trying to figure our what sort of length these people would go to to end my life just so they could take down my brother, my man and everyone else that I held close to my heart.
"Will you stop crying? I am not that fragile, just a bit humiliated that i was beaten in the cold weather with a full blown audience to watch over me. I only have mild injuries that shall recover soon." "These cuts of yours are not healing this time." "Really? Maybe it is better if i just bleed to death then." "Yeon! Do not say that! Please do not leave me here on my own!" "Clam down, i have no intentions of dying here. I still have to live long enough to marry my brother off myself." "But what should we do if these do not heal?" "Maybe i can die in peace and rejig my deal family as I watch my brother carry on wit his life here." "Yeon!" "What!" "What about me? What about your lover? You must live so we can all carry on in our lives." "Yes, you are right, I simply cannot give up, not now and not ever..."