Chapter 54: Nunmul (Tease)

I really could not believe the nonsense that was coming out of this girls' mouth. Did she eat the heart of a lion or something? I didn't expect her to exactly be the same as she was before she lost her memories, but the difference between how she was now and how she used to be was a little overwhelming to be honest. The person she was now was unlike anything had ever witnessed before and something that even the most educated noblewoman wouldn't dare to become. Yeon didn't just speak when spoken to anymore, she even joked around and teased her male seniors comically, she spoke her mind almost every chance she got and the fact that she could scheme for her own survival completely startled me. I thought that I was the one taking care of here, and now I didn't know if she was the one taking care of me instead.

"She...don't you know what she can do to you?" "So does that mean I have to spend every waking moment sharing in fear over the retributions for tonight? She will not do anything to us, so stop freaking out so much. Despite being from the noble class, she is kind of pathetic, isn't she?" "Pathetic?" "I cannot believe that despite you growing up in the same class, that you have the same narrow mind as everyone else does." "W...what? You..." "Do you trust me?" "Excuse me?" "Do you trust me that no matter what comes out of my mouth, that I do not mean to offend you at all?" How on earth was she expecting me to say no after the way that she was fluttering her eyelashes at me like that? She thought that she was being funny, but certain body parts of mine would say otherwise. What on earth was she doing to me? Wasn't I in love with someone else? What spell did she cast on me that had me completely wrapped around her finger? "There is someone who is clearly being shameless around me and you...you just..." I could feel a new sort of anger rise in me that I just could not explain at all. Yeon used to chase me around the village, why the hell was she being so calm and playful now? As if she could predict the future or something. Did she really not care at all? Or was she just hiding her feelings from me? She...I...I had to get the hell out of here before I did something that I regretted. She...Yeon....I was still responsible for her no matter what...

I shouted at the guards to return to their posts and I had Yeon in lockdown in her own quarters for her own damned good lest she got herself into trouble again. She was first and foremost the most important responsibility that I had in my life, and I wasn't going to mess up anymore than I already have.

I marched to my bed in such a fit of anger that I did more damage to myself when I tried to undress for a bath. Her words haunted me until I got back in bed full of anticipation for what the results of tonight would be. Yeon was carefree and didn't understand that people could hold a grudge over such minor issues simply because they could. And it was mine and her brother's fault since we both kept her locked up for her own good. She was going to get herself killed with her naive mindset, and I had no idea what to do about it. I couldn't be by my father's side, in the palace and with her all at once. Should I spend more time with her? To teach her what the real world was like? But how? I barely got away with the time that I had already spent with her already, and she drove me crazy wherever I was with her because she had become so unpredictable. I used to be able to read the Seo's like he back of my hand and now I had lost even that. I was the one who was lost and I had no idea what to do about it.

I could not sleep at all, and in the end I had to call for Dal in the middle of the night to attend to me. "You called for me, Master?" "From now on, you are to be inseparable from Yeon. Every single word, action, movement and emotion I must know about." "Master?" "Just do as I say." "Of course Master, although I have to say that this girl is very much different from the girl who used to follow you around everywhere in the village." "Tell me about it." "She now has so much bearing of nobility; her etiquette, poise, posture, mannerisms, interactions and even her smile is better than the rich lady who comes here to meet you." "I cannot explain it, but in the short time that we have stayed together, I think I might have rubbed off on her, even though she cannot remember me at all. Everything she has now comes from me; whatever I have given her I can take it away. But from the moment she woke up with a different mindset, she seems to have her own motivation for survival that I cannot figure out. I cannot be entirely sure, but I think that even if she encounters obstacles as big as mountains, she can overcome them. But she used to rely on me solely in the past, why can't she do it again? I have to figure this out...for her own good, so I can protect her...for her brother's sake. And I have one more task for you; I want you to get me every poetry book that girl has in her bedroom."

Now that I had that issue sorted out, now I needed to focus on my work. My first 2 years in the inspector generals office kept me extremely busy, especially with the out of town trips that we had to make in order to capture criminals that went into hiding and so on. After my father had once again bribed me into the palace with such blatant nepotism that immediately lost me all respect from the moment I put on my work robes as a general inspector when I started my very first day. I could still remember my very first day at work; it was a long hard day that was full of humiliation and shame, and I was almost forced to the point to kill my own supervisor for his own corrupt behaviour. Every single day from the day I was snatch from my mother's arms, I had stones thrown at me for just being born. And now that my father had robbed me of my dignity at my first milestone, all I could think about were the good days that I had with Seo Hwi that I treasured and used to think about all day long with the biggest smile on my face. But now thinking of him tore my heart into pieces and made it hard for me to think. I then tried to think about Hui-Jee, the girl we both fell for...but she hated me just as much as my father did for sending Hwi away when I had to. She was beautiful and bold, there was no doubt about that....but there was no trace of warmth on that woman, she only reserved that for Hwi. So as much as I wanted to think about her and almost hope that she...

But of course, that wasn't all I had on my plate, and in the end I had to use Hwi for some of the work that my father delegated to me, I had no choice. Hwi wasn't happy about it at all and I was the one who had to put up with his resentment, his pain and my guilt that drove me away from his sister for a while. I couldn't handle it at all, coming home with all these raw emotions on my back and then being welcomed by a warm person like Yeon who only smiled in this home for my sake. But the worst thing was that she never got really angry at me or resented me at all, not to the point where she could take it at least. She didn't come to my room anymore until she was summoned, and even when I ignored her, she just lived her life as if I didn't exist at all. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't figure her out at all. If I picked a fight with her, she just went along with it. When I called for her, she just picked up where we both left off without even asking me why I didn't call for her more often like I used to. And I absolutely did not want to admit this at all to anyone, most especially her or her brother...but I was beginning to miss her. Quite a lot. She had a smile ready for everyone and anyone; it radiated a lot of warmth wherever she went. In fact, I cannot remember even a single time where I heard her complain about her circumstances which had rendered both her and her brother to drop their social status from noble's to lowborn just as I had been born as such but raised to quarter noble when my father snatched me from my mother. She now even had an air of confidence that most certainly wasn't there before.

But she couldn't keep out of trouble for too long; I had no idea what her ongoing issues with the maids were, but even the new ones had all been coming for her ever since I brought her here. Dal had told me some nonsense about the servants fixation on me that I did not believe for a moment, simply because I was barely at home to witness anything for myself anymore. Until one day when I had woken up to the sounds of people fighting and accusations of stealing of all things. I barely made my way out of my bedroom to join my father outside when I spotted a very calm Yeon walking towards myself and my father before we even had the chance to call on her...and already her presence made me feel...lighter, warmer and more confident around my tyrannical father, which I had never felt around him before in my life. I guess this was why Hwi adored her so much, now that she was in my home I had a real reason to continue to survive to move forward with my plans in the palace and revenge against my father.

So what crime am I accused of committing? Right when I am in the middle of organising food supplies for the servants?" Her defiant tone still took me aback, though she still had her honey sweet voice...but it sounded unrecognisable today. "You are accused of stealing food ingredients from my kitchen, food that I work hard to provide for you filthy lowborn..." "Father!" I felt my anger rise to dangerous new levels ever since had brought her home and defied my father for the first time to keep her safe under my care. I looked over at her...but she didn't even blink! In fact...was she...smiling? "Filthy lowborn? That's rich coming from you" she muttered under her breath and my father caught it. I had to step in front of her to shield her from the slap she almost got from my father...but before I knew it I was the one who was being pulled behind her as she caught my father's arm! I swear to god I almost felt my heart slip out from under me, not even I had ever defied my father before to this extent!"Before you start hurling insults and punishments my way, why don't you take the time to exam the evidence properly? The maid who had accused me despises me, of course she will run to you with any excuse to see me punished or sent away from this mansion." "What the hell are you talking about?" That came out a lot more angrily than I was expecting it to. "Don't worry about it" she muttered again but this time I found myself grabbing both of her arms as I urged her to confide in me as her protector just like I promised her I would be.