[CYM] 35 – Forbidden Pavilion

She smiled awkwardly and placed her hands properly on her knees.

            “But you said you were unwell. How do you feel now?”

            “I got over it in a day.”

            He was someone who recovered from acute illnesses but never fully shook off his chronic ones. Occasionally having difficulty breathing and feverish, the young master often seemed enveloped in gloom, which naturally stirred sympathy.

            “It’s fortunate the fever broke in a day.”

            “There you are, looking at me with those eyes again.”

            Perhaps interpreting her concern as pity, his reaction was sharp. The young master did not want to reveal his sickness in front of her, as if hiding a flaw.

            “However you take it, I am just worried about you... But this is a very precious book, isn’t it? I wouldn’t have thought such a book would be found in a rural book rental shop.”

            She picked up the young master’s book, neatly spreading it on her knee and flipping through it page by page. Not understanding the title or content, she pretended to peruse it diligently while surreptitiously scanning the surroundings.

            If she could find and dispose of an item possessed by an evil spirit, perhaps the situation would improve. That was her purpose for the visit, after all.

            ‘Something that would attract an evil spirit.’

            An item to which one has attachment, or perhaps a tree serving as the household’s guardian spirit, sucking the life force from its host...

            ‘Come to think of it, an evil spirit appeared on the persimmon tree on the day of the ancestral rites.’

            Could that robust tree be the culprit?

            As she eyed the branches of the persimmon tree hanging over the wall, a dark shadow suddenly fell over her eyelids. Then a large hand reached out and abruptly turned her head.

            “What are you doing?”

            “Excuse me?”

            The young master had taken her chin in his hand and turned her face toward him.

            “It looks like you’re searching for something.”

            “Oh, that’s...”

            Had she been that obvious?

            “Well, do you see something?”

            His hand, which had been cradling her chin, dropped immediately, but she felt as if her heart had plummeted with it. The sudden closeness was secondary to the shock. The reason her heart sank was because of the unexpectedly close proximity to the young master.

            “Just like that day when you suddenly lay on the young master’s lap, you were very close. The furrowed brow, the sharp nose almost touching, all hovered closely in view.”

            “What are you seeing, huh?”

            “Seeing? What would I...”

            She brushed off his shoulder as if guilty, retreating.

            “Then that’s enough drama.”

            Embarrassed, she flipped through the book roughly, while the young master lay back on the porch. He alone seemed utterly peaceful. Meanwhile, she fidgeted, babbling about nothing.

            She knew this wasn’t right. There had been a profound mistake. It was supposed to be a casual conversation as usual, but after the young master approached her suddenly, it seemed as though her heart had been replaced within a matter of days, changing the circumstances entirely.

            “When is the master expected to return home?” she asked tentatively.

            “In about an hour,” was the reply.

            “Excuse me for a moment.”

            It was a good thing that she had been cautious; otherwise, she might have innocently blushed in front of a man, which could have been dangerous considering her situation.

            She excused herself, claiming she needed to visit the outhouse, and hurriedly left the pavilion. While her reasons included wanting to look around the master’s estate, her priority was to escape the discomfort of sitting on pins and needles.

            Facing the brisk wind that gently scraped her nose, she moved stealthily to avoid the servants’ eyes.

            The garden was lush with royal azaleas and daylilies. From the direction of the pond, where abnormally large lotus flowers, bred to an unnatural size, bloomed like poison, there emanated a vile energy. It was the place where Master Ki had forbidden even the servants from entering, a pavilion now smothered by lotus roots spreading like kudzu vines across the water’s surface.

            The red pavilion, adorned with luxurious, decorative paintwork, was alive with merry shadows as usual. Could the master have already returned? If she were caught loitering here, she wouldn’t be able to recover even a bone.

            She took a deep breath and walked toward the pavilion, where a heavy presence was felt. Indeed, the master had returned, but instead of partaking in the dance, he stood leaning against a pillar in the inner quarters, his gaze fixed on the ground. In his other hand, he held a shovel, digging through a pile of dirt...