Chapter 6: Bad Aim

Yunho's planning was then interrupted by a maid's knock on the door. He looked up from the desk and sighed. He'd have to plan another time.

"Young master, are you awake?" A voice called out from behind the door. It was the sound of one of his assigned maids, Marella, the same one who he met his first day after being transmigrated. Every morning, it was one of their jobs to make sure he was awake and bring him his breakfast.

At first, the maids also tried to bathe and dress him, but Yunho almost fainted from the thought back then. Thankfully, they let him do it himself after he adamantly refused.

"Yes! You can come in," Yunho said in reply. He hid the used papers underneath the rest of the stack and stood up. The door opened, and the older woman stepped in.

Yunho ran his fingers through his hair. Usually, he had bathed and washed his mouth by now. But since he had been too busy to do it today, he felt a bit dirty.

"Here is your lunch, young master. Would you like me to place it on the desk?" The maid asked while holding the usual silver tray.

Marella was more relaxed with the young master these days. He was less volatile than before falling ill. Maybe sickness does that to someone.

"Oh, yeah, that'll be fine," Yunho sluggishly looked up at the woman as she came over to place the tray on the desk.

"Hey, Marella, if let's say I wanted to go on a trip or stay somewhere else, where would you recommend I go?" Yunho asked, trying to appear nonchalant as he fiddled with his white nightrobe.

He didn't want to make anything too obvious, but how would he form a plan to leave if he didn't even have a place to go in mind? Yunho didn't want to stay in the manor with Irene just for their relationship to worsen but throwing himself blindly into wandering on the streets was too much!

The maid was surprised at the sudden question and looked up in thought. She drummed her fingers on the desk and hummed. The older woman suddenly made a short "ah" sound and stood straighter.

"There is one place you could stay, but it's a little…If young master just wants to travel, wouldn't a good inn do fine? I heard the flowers are blooming in Haeth," The maid said.

Yunho's interest was piqued by the unfinished first part of the woman's words. He needed a place to stay for a long period of time. An inn wouldn't work. And he was familiar with Haeths from the novel. It was a fine city and was just the setting of a throwaway chapter where the male lead took Irene there to see the flowers bloom, but It was pretty close to the House de Evastine.

In the novel, by the time the trip to Haeths happened, the Evastine family was already ruined, but that wasn't the case now. Yunho wanted to take the extra precaution and go somewhere further than a day's trip away.

"Oh, Haets? I don't know...I want to stay somewhere for a little longer than the appropriate amount of time for an inn," Yunho said, hoping to get a better answer. He added, hoping to put the final nail, "It's good to travel in your youth, and I am an adult now."

If Yunho's memory was serving him right, then since Irene was still here, this was the beginning of the book. At the beginning of the book, Iris is 19, and it isn't too weird for a kid that age to want to live away for a while. Yunho stiffened a little bit at this thought and chuckled inwardly. He and Iris were the same age…what a coincidence.

"Young master? Are you planning on moving away? I don't know how the Lord and Lady will think of that..." Marella replied. Her face showed slight worry. Yunho conjured up a cover-up fast.

"I don't want to go anyway permanently. Just a year or so to get a better understanding of the outside world. I can't succeed father with my current, narrow experience," The youth said.

Marella pursed her lip and stopped briefly before sighing, her body less tense.

"Well, that makes sense," The older woman started, "but the only property the House de Evastine owns not near is...well, it's a sizable lodge in the North,"

Yunho's eyebrows raised. He now remembered such a property from the novel. After Irene dismantles the House de Evastine and takes over, she gains ownership of all the properties and land the Evastine family owned. The lodge in the North was among these. It ended up being used as a temporary hideout by the female lead and some side characters during the war arc.

Would it be fine for him to use it? Well, he was planning on changing his fate which most likely brought along the entire House too, so Irene may not need the lodge with him as a variable.

Sensing his curiosity, Marella continued.

"I wouldn't recommend going there."

Yunho was surprised at this and looked at her with a questioning expression. The northern lodge wasn't a key setting in the novel and even when if it was, it was far later in the novel than now. He wouldn't know if there were any issues with staying there.

Marella cleared her throat.

"Well…the North's a bit…It's far colder than down here, and I heard there are beasts. Plus, House de Evastine has no connections up there. I heard the Lord talking about selling the bit of land they own there since it's proving useless."

Yunho rubbed his chin in thought. It wasn't anything he didn't already know, but living was different than just reading. But if this was his key to changing his destiny, it was a risk he was willing to take.

"That's fine. It'd be good for me to experience a different environment. I might ask Father if I can stay there," Yunho said, tapping his fingers on his thigh in thought.

The older woman opened her mouth but closed it after a second thought. She digressed. Marella bowed as her task was done and took her leave.

Marella walked slowly down the halls with a slightly puzzled face. She was stunned by the young master's change in personality. Iris barely tried in his studies unless it was to one-up Irene. But now he wanted to travel to the North of all places to gain experience? She couldn't tell whether the abrupt change was a good or bad thing.

Yunho looked at the now-closed door and sighed. He knew that it wouldn't be easy convincing the Count and Countess to let him go to the lodge, especially since he wanted to stay there for a year, but he'd have to try.

"Ugh…I should go bathe now…"

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The garden had white stone paths and lush hedges with yellow and pink flowers. Yunho took in the scent of outside. He had freshened up in his bedroom, but it wasn't long before he had gotten bored. Yunho managed to convince the butler to let him go out and now, was walking through the garden.

It was peaceful and quiet, making a good breather from the shock Yunho had been subjected to the past week. He took in a deep breath, but then, he heard the laughter of multiple young women.

It was probably some maids enjoying their break, but Yunho felt compelled to check it out. He walked in the direction of the sound and peeked past the garden hedge. There was a circle of maids, and they were talking to something in the middle of their circle.

"Ha, despite being the daughter of the Count, you're no better than a servant!" One of the maids jeered.

"Yeah! How about you come clean my shoes? They need a little bit of buffing, Irene," another added with a sneer.

Yunho's eyes widened. That something in the middle was a someone, and that someone was the female lead! Who did these maids think they were? He had to stop this somehow.

Yunho looked around before settling on a rock. He picked it up and threw it toward the group before ducking behind the hedge again.

There was a sharp groan, then silence among the group.

"Who threw that?" A maid's voice called out.

"Don't call out to them. That means someone else is here," Another girl said.

"But they hit Irene. Doesn't that mean they're on our side?" A third voice asked.

"I think we should still go. We'll still be punished if we're caught no matter how little the Lord and Lady think of Irene," A fourth voice added on, and there were murmurs of agreement.

The sound of multiple pairs of departing footsteps could be heard, and Yunho was now sitting behind the hedge with a dumbfounded look on his face.

The words: "But they hit Irene" kept resounding in his head.

Was his aim so bad?

Yunho quickly got up and fled. No matter the answer, he definitely couldn't be seen by the female lead now!

—

Irene was curled up on the grass. Her arm hurt where the stone had landed, and she was staring up at the sky.

Though the rock had hit her, it still scared off the group of maids that'd been tormenting her. Irene looked towards the direction the rock came from, listening to the hurried, fleeing footsteps, soft and deft.

A flash of silver could be seen from the gaps of the hedges.

Her eyes narrowed, and she rubbed the already forming bruise on her arm.

"Hah..isn't that something?"

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End of Chapter 6