Chapter 49: Seon-Ho

I reeled back behind the tree as I tried to process what I had just witnessed. I remember that Yeon mentioned in her letters that she had began training a few years ago...but I guess hearing about it and seeing it were two completely different things. Once again I was caught in between resentment over not knowing her secrets so I could protect her better and in awe of the strength she possesses that she hid quite well from me. I went back to my accommodation I was given until I had all of my fathers properties and wealth transferred into my name and I tried to distract myself in work but once again that brat was all I could think about. I tried to get drunk again but today's liquor went through me like water. I couldn't eat or sleep; as much I was getting used to all of her...surprises which definitely surpassed all the attributes women were supposed to have...another part of my was curious, I defiantly wanted to see a lot more. Despite our messed up situation once again I wanted to get to know her, the real her before going after her anyways. I knew I had to pay for my sins...but looking at her today I realised that as long as Yeon was breathing and alive...she had to do so at my side. Despite the mistakes I had to pay for I was far more miserable than I had ever been once she disappeared from my sight. I wanted her by my side every single day; I was cold without her touch or her warmth...even her smile reassured me...without her I was lost.

I tried to stay as close as possible to her without being seen for a while...I wanted to get to know the person she always tried to hide and figure her out for myself rather than bulldozing my way through her life...yet anyways. Yeon worked what jobs she could which was a miracle; girls were rarely allowed to work. It was a testament to her will; Yeonnie could take whatever came her way once she set her mind to do something. My mind wondered back to soon after I found her on that mission when she followed me; I asked her just what the hell she was thinking of coming here herself instead of sending someone to defend her father's village in her place. The defiant look on her face I will never forget. She walked over to me and asked me why she thought her brother always insisted that spar far away from the village, or why he never let her participate in any games in the village fair, or why she was practically the only girl in our village who was obsessed with books rather than shopping like other ladies did. She told me that her own father believed in gender equality, so much so that he educated and trained his daughter with her brother. She knew how to use a sword, she was versed in military tactics and wanted to not only defend everything thatcher father held dear...but to take it back as well. She didn't want to live like a common woman who only waited for marriage, and that she would chose freedom over traditional customs and wealth that marriage brought every time. I was completely floored, but I also couldn't help but notice how nervous she was when she told me all of this. I had never seen her that way with anyone else before...only me. And the look in her eyes told me everything I needed to know without saying it; another reason why she always pushed me away was because she really did have a fear of my new perception of her. I couldn't believe it, and yet the way she looked at me, dismissed me so easily, and even the way she avoided me...it was all so similar to how I behaved around my father for years. I hated that man...but I never left his side, just like how she didn't leave mine not really. She was always around me, even if it was only when I didn't notice, or she didn't give me a chance to. This revelation left me absolutely speechless, so much so that I really couldn't thin of anything to say for the whole duration of that time. All I could do was watch her as she far surpassed all of my expectations. She had a sharp mind; she could ready facial and body language quite well in a short time span and she could train well and keep up with everyone around her without fail. I honestly couldn't believe that she hid this from me.

Her life was problematic indeed; making it easier to understand why she was keeping myself and her brother at bay. Her friends told me that she was repeatedly pushed to her limits with each job she worked at for someone who was such a hard worker. It was like every ability she possessed that let her since above everyone else, there were about 10 different people looking to diminish it, even if it meant ruining her as well. She had repeatedly come across a lot of nasty people in the markets; either girls who bitched about her or men who harassed her. And there was another...resentment that came about...what if they shone so brightly that she really was harmed? And what if it took her from me again? The very thought of it left me completely conflicted in what I should do, what I wanted and what was the right thing to do by her.

In fact she had one very problematic enemy who was pretty much stalking her every move, both at work and in her free time, someone called Hyo-Sonn. I had no idea what this psychotic bitch had against Yeonnie but it was like she plotted against her every move. Every chore she carried out; she tried to sabotage, every outing she went to which was hardly any she showed up like clockwork to try to humiliate her. I tried to keep calm as much as possible and not interfere but I was lying if I didn't admit that I had completely changed around the girl...woman. I was a lot more sensitive and protective that I had ever imagined I could be. I knew that brat was headstrong but she still couldn't stop me from safeguarding her if she used all her tricks on me.