Surviving as the Dang Clan’s Handmaiden

Chapter 5

A playful voice tickled my ears. After my feet touched the ground, I slowly opened my eyes. I immediately recognized the one who had broken my fall.

“Young Master?”

Suddenly, a thunderous voice boomed, “‘Young Master?’ Impertinent child! How dare you insult him so?”

The booming voice belonged to a man standing beside the boy. I shrank back. His vocal cords were as powerful as his physique.

“Tsk, tsk. That’s enough, Geunmyeong.”

“But… understood.”

The man clearly wanted to say more. But when the boy scowled at him, he quieted down at once. Seeing as how the young master could subdue the man just with a look, I realized that he might have more authority than I had initially given him credit for.

Wouldn’t he have to be the son of the clan leader to command a grown man like that? I wondered. Wait… am I on to something here?

My mind raced, reflecting on whether I’d done anything to irk the young master. I panicked. It was said that a guilty conscience needed no accuser.

I didn’t offend him, did I?

The young master loosened his hold on me and asked, “Where were you headed this time before you got lost?”

“I was ordered to clean the training grounds.”

“The training grounds? Within the inner palace? They just won’t let you be, I see. Follow me.”

With a chuckle, the young master began leading the way. When the man began following him, the boy waved his hand.

“Stay here, Geunmyeong.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The man called Geunmyeong shot me a look. His fierce gaze silently told me to behave myself.

Look, I didn’t do anything wrong. If you wanna complain, complain to the young master.

Noticing my hesitation, the boy urged me once more to follow him.

“What are you waiting for? It’s this way.”

I could feel Geunmyeong staring daggers at my back, but I shrugged it off and began following the boy.

Don’t blame me. I’m just going because he told me to.

* * *

The pond where I had ended up was in the back garden of a building that was ten chambers wide—and it just so happened to be the young master’s dwelling.

“Handmaidens aren’t allowed in these quarters unless given specific orders to enter. Do not forget that.”

Per his words, I saw a black flag fluttering at the entrance of his residence. It meant that no one was allowed inside.

I nodded. It was no wonder Dang Geunmyeong had yelled at me. He must have mistaken me for an intruder.

Whoa, I almost got myself killed back there.

I sighed in relief and reassessed my impression of the boy. Instead of punishing a handmaiden who had wandered into his residence, he decided to simply show me the way.

You’re so generous, Young Master.

However, the moment I silently expressed my appreciation, he asked, “Child, were you really lost, or is this all an act?”

“Pardon?”

His accusatory tone made me frown.

Now why would I do that?

I was about to argue back until I noticed his chilling expression. I quickly stopped myself. His calm, sunken eyes were boring into me. They were as sharp as blades, as though they were digging deep into me.

My legs turned to jelly. His petrifying gaze made me feel as if I’d become the prey before a predator. My entire body shook. As silly as it sounded, greeting a flock of penguins in the middle of the Antarctic would’ve been less cold than this. I wasn’t joking when I thought it a struggle just to breathe. Some great, invisible force was pressing down on me.

Could this be the murderous aura that martial artists give off?

I instinctively began thinking that I should run away.

“You are quite an enigma. You seem like an ordinary handmaiden.”

Tilting his head, he grabbed my chin and lifted it. Despite his light grip, my chin throbbed with pain.

“But at the same time, I can’t help but wonder if you’re a spy.”

No! I’m just your average handmaiden!

He turned my head this way and that with rough movements.

Did I do something to upset him?

I couldn’t figure out why he was suddenly so hostile. The agony glazed my eyes with tears.

“Oh, dear.”

When he saw the teardrops fall, he panicked ever so slightly. I felt his grip on my chin begin to loosen. However, I still couldn’t bring myself to move.

The moment he withdrew his hand, I dropped to the ground. The invisible energy that had been weighing down on me lifted, but the raw terror of being so vulnerable was now burned into my mind. Tears and snot dripped down, leaving a faintly salty taste on my tongue.

The reality of my transmigrating into a world of the strong hit me. This was the kind of world in which a child who I considered a friend could choose to kill me on a whim.

As I wiped my face, shaking, I heard the boy mumble awkwardly, “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

I looked up with bloodshot eyes. He was awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

“Tsk, tsk. Even your crying face reminds me of Hwayeon. It bothers me. Can you get up?”

You think? Whose fault is it that I’m in this state?

I sniffled. Overcome with sorrow, I continued weeping.

“Hngh…”

“Oh, dear.”

The blasted young master heaved a sigh. Before another sob could escape, I covered my mouth out of fear of angering him. He shook his head.

“Cry if you must. Holding back will do you no good.”

Is he having extreme mood swings or something?

The sight of my twitching and sniffling seemed to make him squirm. He crouched down in front of me. I noticed a flicker of longing in his deep, dark eyes, but it wasn’t directed at me. He was reminiscing about someone else while looking at me.

With a bitter smile, he slowly and gently picked me up. More precisely, he swung me over his shoulder like a sack of flour. I squirmed in his precarious hold, afraid that I might fall flat on my face. He patted me on the back as if reassuring me.

“Stay still. I will take you to the training grounds.”

Carrying me like a sack?

The absurdity of the situation stopped my crying. But I didn’t dare argue with him. I held on tightly to his robe so that I wouldn’t fall. The fact that he was personally carrying me there meant that he wasn’t exactly a bad guy. Still, I had no idea what had aggravated him.

As I was being transported like cargo, I suddenly realized that my hands were empty.

“Young Master…”

“It’s all right. You don’t have to say a word.”

“But… I left my broom back there,” I muttered between the sniffles.

He stopped and turned around. There in the distance lay a single broom on the ground.

He let out a guffaw.

* * *

“Eat.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Eat this too.”

With a nod, I popped a rice cracker into my mouth. Watching me munching on the snack, the young master took out a rice cake this time. Even though I was stuffed, I couldn’t dare tell him that I couldn’t eat anymore. He was clearly feeding me treats— No, snacks, as a token of apology.

How long are you gonna feed me…?

I wanted to ask—and almost did—as I watched the young master search his robe’s sleeves. He continued to pull out an endless stream of snacks out of his sleeves as if they were magician’s hats. By that point, I wouldn’t have been surprised if a pigeon flew out. Perhaps the Dang family were meant to be magicians.

How do they carry all that? Do they have some kind of magic pocket in there or something?

As I looked up in amazement, I caught a glimpse of some colorful powder floating in the air. I wondered if it was poisonous, but I didn’t dare ask. Knowing would only make me uncomfortable anyway.

That was right—we were sitting outside the training grounds, waiting for training to end. From the other side of the wall, I could hear the clashing of steel and men shouting.

“You’ll pay for that!”

“My lord, you’ve been saying that for days already. You need to learn to dodge a little more quickly.”

“Why, you little…!”

The sound of grinding teeth was bizarre. I looked at the wall, beyond which came murderous shouts. The boy shrugged.

“They’ll be at it for at least another half hour.”

Considering how the third young master inside is running around like a loose cannon, I think they’ll need more than that.

Smacking my lips, I swallowed the snack I was chewing on.

I had learned only a few hours ago that per the rule, I could only clean the training grounds after everyone was finished with their training for the day. It was because the martial artists’ training techniques were a heavily guarded secret. So in order to clean the arena, I had to wait until all the Dang Clan members were finished. If I was lucky, I could get started while the sun was still up. But if I wasn’t, I would have to wait until the middle of the night to clean up.

Shouldn’t you people who use the place clean up after yourselves? Yeah, you heard me! Do it yourselves!

It was ridiculously unfair, but there was nothing I could do about it. I was just a powerless handmaiden. I had no choice but to wait.

Suddenly, something whizzed toward me. My body reacted before I could even register what was happening.

“Oh? Your reflexes are quite extraordinary,” the young master exclaimed in surprise.

He straightened up and studied me more closely. I followed suit to see what he was looking at. In my hand was a dagger that I had never seen before.

Huh? What’s this?

The moment I realized what it was, my hand spasmed in pain. My flesh had torn when I caught it. Beads of blood were forming on my skin. My eyes widened in horror.

Did a dagger from the training grounds fly straight at my face just now? I nearly died, right?

Frightened, I hurled the dagger away from me. The young master snickered.

“Don’t be so dramatic. You ended up catching it.”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t join in on his laughter, not when I realized that I had nearly lost my life. All it took was one bad accident, and it would be the end of me.

Is it really okay for me to work in such a terrible environment? Shouldn’t I be getting hazard pay as well?

My jaw dropped in shock. The young master nudged me.

“An injury like that isn’t enough to kill you, child. Give me your hand. Let me see.”

I hesitantly showed him my hand. He pulled up my sleeve and felt my pulse. His index and middle fingers pressed lightly on my wrist.

A strange energy slithered into my arm. It felt like my fingertips were dipped in warm water or encased in soft jelly. The energy from my fingertips and flowed up and down my arm through blood vessels. Then, in the blink of an eye, it spread to the rest of my body.

The sensation of something fumbling inside my entire being made me retch. Unable to bear it any longer, I covered my mouth. The young master patted me on the back.

“You’re sensitive to qi, I see. Good. You’ll cultivate inner energy very quickly,” he said, sounding quite proud for some reason. After slowly withdrawing his energy, the young master asked, “Child, why don’t I teach you martial arts?”

“Pardon?”

Did I hear that right just now?