The Voices

Outside the hall, Mrs. Walsh was staring daggers at the door with an ugly expression. Linnie came back from talking to a few of the other women and cleared her throat before affectionately hugging her sister-in-law's arm.

"I-I admit, he looks a little older than I remember but-"

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"I think....12 years ago? He looked nothing like he does now, I swear! I don't think I have ever seen a 29-year-old man with that many grey hairs..." she quickly glanced at her before whispering, "I-It does make him look a little distinguished though don't you thin-"

Mrs. Walsh glared at her, immediately silencing the poor woman.

"Distinguished? He looks like he is OUR age! The man is a damn brute, did you see how he spoke to his own grandfather?! I can only imagine how he will treat my baby-"

"Well maybe that's a good thing, you know? If he says no then we can just forget about the whole thing-"

Just then the doors opened and Seo Man-Shik walked out, interrupting their conversation and immediately becoming the center of attention.

"Apologies for the wait everyone," he flashed a smile at the curious crowd, "The ceremony will begin in four hours when the guests have arrived. I'm sure you know how Jin can be, he just arrived from another kingdom so please excuse his appearance haha."

Everyone besides Linnie and Mrs. Walsh burst out laughing, saying things like 'He hasn't changed' or 'That's Seo Jin for you.'

Linnie bit her lip nervously while mumbling, "Okay...okay, it's not that bad. They will still be living just a few streets down from you in the capital so there is nothing to be worried about."

But Mrs. Walsh had other concerns. She was looking at the other guests with a furrowed brow, "Why did they just accept that? Is this normal behavior for these people?"

"Well...they kind of have to, they are all family. Plus they have known him personally."

"...What?"

"Everyone here is related to the Seo clan, they are all part of the extended family that lives nearby. It's normal unnie, they usually have a few hundred family members."

Mrs. Walsh rubbed her eyes sluggishly, "I need to sit down..."

***

Somewhere on the other side of the palace, Seo Jin was led to a luxuriously decorated bedroom by a platoon of female servants. He stopped outside the door and waved them away, "This is fine. Make sure no one disturbs me until the ceremony starts."

"Yes, my lord."

They bowed from the waist and remained in that position until he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

There was already a person waiting for him inside.

It was a well-dressed man in his fifties with a head full of white hair. Clean-shaven but with a thin French mustache. He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt. There was not a thread out of place on his outfit and everything melded together perfectly.

Seo Jin glanced at him once before shaking his head, "We've barely been back a few hours, when did you have time to prepare all that, Sebastian?"

Sebastian clicked his heels twice and gave a quick formal bow.

"You have your armor sir, this is mine. As your butler I must always be beyond reproach, especially in a place such as this. Otherwise, it reflects poorly on you."

"I don't think there is anything you could do or say that would make me look any worse. But as your master, shouldn't I look better than you at least?"

"Not everyone can pull off such an elegant look, Master Jin. You have other talents," Sebastian replied with a straight face.

"Is that right? Well, I'll remember that the next time you ask for a pay raise- Ugh, help me take this off," he turned his back towards Sebastian.

Sebastian strode towards him without making a sound and helped him take off one layer at a time. He was very careful not to make any sudden moves and after nearly five whole minutes the last shirt was cut off to reveal Seo Jin's body.

Unlike his previous burly appearance, the man was just skin and bones underneath all those garments, being held together by patches of bright green bandages. In fact nearly 80% of his body was covered in those bandages.

It looked like just the bandages and hair on his body outweighed all the muscles.

"Phew, I can finally breathe!" Seo Jin let out a breath of relief but before he could sit down Sebastian touched a spot on his back which made him shudder.

"Ouch! What the hell are you doing?!" Jin almost jumped out of his boots.

Sebastian showed him his glove which was covered in blood, "You are bleeding, sir. Some of the stitches have come loose...strange. They were almost healed."

"Oh, never mind that. It was a little 'welcome home' gift from my second uncle," he joked but the look in Sebastian's eyes was nothing to laugh at.

The glint in his hazel eyes resembled uncut rubies under the white light as a tinge of murderous intent seeped into them.

"Should I take care of him while we are here, sir?"

"Na, no need," Seo Jin walked over to the bed and slipped inside, "We need to keep a low profile while we are here, remember? There have already been some developments that I did not anticipate."

But Sebastian did not want to give up that easily, "What about his children? What if one of them, say the oldest or the youngest, whichever is his favorite, had a little accident? Nothing too serious, just a severed limb or two-"

"No bloodshed on such an auspicious day please," Seo Jin grumbled while his eyelids fluttered like butterfly wings.

"Auspicious day?" Sebastian reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out an abnormally large calendar.

But after flipping through it a couple of times he was even more confused, "Is it a special day today? I don't have anything marked. A new local holiday perhaps?"

"Well, if I know my grandfather like I think I do, then it will be a holiday by tomorrow. The news should have already gone out," he rolled over to the side to look Sebastian in the eye, "Good news or bad news first?"

"Always the good news first, sir."

"I got the deed to the old lands, the whole region in fact," Jin flashed a toothy grin.

"Already? I was preparing to fight for it for the next three months at the very least. Is it related to the bad news?"

"Yeah, apparently I'm getting married in exchange."

"Oh, well it could be worse. Has the date been decided? I'm sure we can come up with a way to get you out of it in time-"

"Today, in the evening. In 3 or 4 hours I think. Tsk, I come back after eight years and this is how they welcome me."

Sebastian froze in place after hearing the news which made Seo Jin smile, "There it is, I missed that expression."

But then he quickly rolled over and laid flat on his back with arms spread open, "So do your thing. Make me look presentable but don't wake me in the process. Trim the beard a little but make sure the scars underneath aren't visible, it will only raise more questions."

By the time Sebastian came to, Seo Jin was already snoring...long lost in the land of dreams.

He walked over to the bed and stared at his master's face for a moment before mumbling, "Thy will be done, my lord."

He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a razor blade, looking at his reflection on its glossy surface.

***

A couple of hours later Laura finally awoke from her unexpected slumber with a raging headache. Her head felt like it was about to burst open and the cacophony of loud voices did not help one bit.

"Ow, what...happened? Why is it...so loud!"

She could barely open her eyes because of the blindingly bright lights. And only by covering them with both hands did it alleviate some of the pressure.

She sat up with some effort and peeked through her fingers to look around but the room was completely empty.

"What...but I hear them..."

It sounded like the voices were coming from all around her but there was not a person in sight. She tried to stand up but lost her balance and fell onto the bed.

"Why do I feel...so weak...Ma, where are you? I think something is wrong..." she tried to yell but there wasn't even enough energy to do that.

Every word, every breath took so much effort that it made her delirious. She mumbled incoherently for a few seconds, "Stop...the voices...please stop...loud...so loud..." before passing out once again.