The Last Imoogi

A Feast For The Lowly People

"Seol-ah! Byeol-ah!" Sandara was so delighted to see the two girls and hugged them both tightly. The two were so surprised earlier when they saw their lady walk out with an apron over her pretty purple robes and skirt, but Sandara was even more surprised to see them before her eyes. When she released them, that's when she started questioning them.

"What happened? Why are you here? How did you find me here? Are you alright? Are you hungry?"

Seol and Byeol didn't know which question to answer first so Seol, being the older and the more outspoken one, explained everything.

"Since it's Moeseumnal today, Head Mistress allowed us to visit you, agashi— I mean Ma-nim! Hehe." That's right. Sandara was aware of the feast because back in her hometown and even at Cherry Blossoms House, they have always observed it with the peasants. She would even give them extra money and presents. Ah, those good old days.

"So you traveled on foot? When did you leave Busan then?" Sandara knew the Busan was too far from Hanyang so she worried for them.

"No Ma-nim. We left the other day and Head Mistress even lent us a carriage up to the outskirts. We only walked from the boundaries til here." Seol then fished out something from Byeol's bag and handed it to Sandara.

"Head Mistress told us to give this to Ma-nim as her present for Ma-nim's wedding!" Seol said with so much excitement.

"Head Mistress was very delighted with the news of your wedding, Ma-nim. So for this year's moeseumnal, she closed the institution and gave all of us twice our pay and even gave us extra money to spend while the house is closed." Sandara covered her mouth, surprised and overwhelmed by the news. 

So Head Mistress still thought of her while she was so happy she was finally away from her grip? Sandara felt somewhat bad for acting that way.

Seemed like these people from the Cherry Blossoms House were genuinely happy for her. She was teary when she received the package. Her wedding could be plain and simple but at least her loved ones and family sincerely congratulated her. She blinked her tears back and smiled at the two. "Do you guys have any place to stay at now that the Cherry Blossoms House is closed?"

Seol and Byeol looked at each other before silently arguing on who should answer their lady's question. As usual, it was Seol who opened up first.

"If... If Ma-nim would accept us... We would serve Ma-nim even without pay!"

Without pay? Sandara glared at the two. "Yah! When did your lady ever treated you so poorly? Have I ever been stingy to the two of you?" She pretended to get hurt but before the two could even apologize, she spoke once more. "Fine then, since you two have hurt and judged your lady wrongly, I shall punish you by making you two my personal maidservants for as long as Head Mistress permits!"

Seol and Byeol held each other's hands and jumped up and down in joy. Sandara then gathered the other servants and introduced the two. While Kang Daesung secretly wanted to protest because his master was not around to have a say on this matter, Jo Sanggung was deeply hurt. She wanted to be the only woman to serve and wait on their lady but it seems like their lady preferred these two over her.

Kang Daesung immediately penned a report to His Excellency for he knew his master was never fond of surprises, especially these kinds of surprises. If His Excellency comes back suddenly and sees these two new faces, who knows what the cruel man would do? Certainly, he would have two new people to kick out. No, scratch that. If he doesn't report this immediately, there would be three.

At the Hidden Seclusion, an estate in the Eastern boundaries of Hanyang, Kwon Jiyong spent his time reading more reports and replying to them. By the fifth day, the men he was waiting for finally arrived from the Dragon Realm.