[CYM] 29 – Clandestine Meeting

The young nobleman had no desire to sit at a nauseating dinner table again, while the nanny pressed to know who had been stuck in the hole.

As a form of retribution, the noblewoman called out ‘thief,’ but fortunately, the nanny did not seem to trust the word of her young charge, who had only recently recovered her senses. She scoffed at the idea of a clumsy thief being caught red-handed in broad daylight during a bustling feast.

The stern lecture continued, insisting that it was improper to roam around aimlessly, and that the elders would not be pleased if they saw the young master wandering the forest.

After the voices had faded, she ran back to Yunhu.

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            When hungry while playing in the backyard, she would scoop up a spoonful of rice from the feast, and when full, she would return to play.

            Today, the Ki household had its gates wide open. The well-maintained front yard was completely accessible for anyone to visit. Children from the Muritmaegol enjoyed their time looking at exotic plants and smelling the sour-scented flowers in the yard of the Ki residence.

            She was there too, feeling sharp gazes like arrows on her back, waist, and the side of her head. Though the sources were distant, they felt close.

            She was crouched on the sandy ground, reviewing the lecture given by Yunhu. Wind direction and speed, the distance to the target, the trajectory of the arrow, and the strength of the arm. She carefully memorised everything that Yunhu had taught her when suddenly, a long shadow was cast over her.

            “Why not play with me instead of that guy.”

            She had been so engrossed in the sand drawings, considering them as significant as great art, that she hadn’t noticed the surrounding silence. The children around her parted like the Red Sea.

            Lifting her head at this sudden sensation, she saw the young nobleman’s silhouette backlit by the sun at the end of her gaze.

            She shuddered. To compare him to a hunting dog that wouldn’t let go once it had bitten was an understatement; he was far too graceful. Then what should she compare him to?

            With a dazed head, she felt the buzzing noise seeping through like the sound of pebbles clattering. It seemed that the spectators hadn’t expected the heroine of the feast, a commoner among commoners, to appear in the open space where they were gossiping, as they whispered into each other’s ears.

            She stood up abruptly.

            “Aren’t there many young masters from noble families waiting for the young master? Why aren’t you mingling with them?”

            “Come to think of it, I didn’t know your name until now.”

            He still spoke off-topic. Feeling that it was not working, she took the lead as if to escape. The children, whose words were lighter than feathers, lay scattered around her, and the young master could not engage in conversation.

            She dragged him, who was trying to stand his ground, to a secluded place and stopped. Just as she was about to shoo him away, he beat her to it.

            “Did you lie to give me medicine?”

            “What?”

            “Were you worried about me?”

            She did not understand why he clung to that one sentence as if it mattered so much. She sighed in response.

            “It’s not that. If a rumour spreads that a nobleman’s son like you is mingling with the son of a shaman, it would be troublesome not only for you but also for the master.”

            “Why do you care?”

            Indeed. Normally she wouldn’t care if his reputation was damaged, but now that she had received a stern warning along with a money transaction, what choice did she have?

            “Anyway, from now on, that won’t do.”

            To put some distance between them, she clasped her hands respectfully and bowed her head politely.

            The young master closed his mouth and stared at her. She realised that his dry eyes had a peculiar difference from when he was dealing with the chattering noble children. Only she knew this fact, having locked eyes with him at close range for a long time.

            His beautiful black eyes suddenly turned cynical. His gaze narrowed, and small wrinkles formed between his eyebrows. A hint of disappointment surfaced and then faded.

            “Alright, then.”

            The young master, who had lost his smile like a year ago, turned his back and left. She belatedly realised that the string of the slingshot was still hanging from his hand.

            As he left, he discarded it on the ground like trash. She didn’t understand why he had brought such a useless string in the first place, but seeing his drooping shoulders made her feel not entirely at ease.

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