Ch#4
A maid’s day in the castle always begins with the morning assembly.
Truth be told, calling it “morning” was a stretch; it was the crack of dawn, well before the sun even rose.
To ensure the days of the high and mighty began without a hitch, it was only natural that maids like me had to move diligently.
“Seol-ha-ya!”
The moment I stepped into the courtyard, So-ok waved as if she had been waiting for me.
Perhaps the news of my assignment as the Second Young Master’s personal maid had already spread, because the sidelong glances I received were far more intense than usual.
Some among them even glared at me with sheer resentment.
Anyone would think I had stolen their man.
Deliberately ignoring my coworkers’ stares, I approached So-ok and greeted her.
“Did you sleep well last night? You must have been scared sleeping alone.”
So-ok, who shared a room with me, was notoriously faint-hearted once the sun went down.
“No, I slept with the girls from the next room.”
So-ok leaned in, whispering so only I could hear.
“You went to see your grandmother, right?”
“Yeah. I didn’t think I’d have any free time for a while.”
“Still, I’m so jealous. To think you get to see that face every single day. If it were me, I’d feel full without even eating.”
The probability of that was zero, but I simply offered a silent smile.
In truth, I was a bundle of raw nerves.
They say you can survive even in a tiger’s den if you keep your wits about you, but the real question was whether my wits would remain intact.
In the original novel, Jeok I-geon was the very definition of terror.
The gruesome scenes of slaughter I had only read about as a reader might unfold right before my eyes.
Since last night, the image of myself weeping in the middle of it all, drenched in blood, had been relentlessly haunting me.
“Is everyone here?”
Just as I shook my head to dispel the horrific imagery, Madam Gwak finally emerged from her quarters.
The morning assembly always took place in the courtyard in front of her residence.
“There is a slight shift in duty assignments today. Seol-ha has been appointed as the Second Young Master’s personal maid, so keep that in mind and ensure there are no disruptions to your work.”
The murmuring grew louder for a moment, only to quickly die down as Madam Gwak continued.
After adding a few more instructions, she concluded the brief assembly.
“Now, let’s move with energy today as well!”
The instant Madam Gwak’s order fell, the maids dispersed swiftly to attend to their duties.
It was a familiar sight. Usually, I would have been among them.
But today, my feet refused to budge.
My mind went blank at the prospect of facing Jeok I-geon.
“Seol-ha-ya, do your best!”
So-ok’s voice drifted into my ears.
Right. This is no time to stand around dazed.
Word had it that Jeok I-geon was an early riser. I had to hurry if I wanted to arrive before he woke.
Forcing myself to ignore my pounding heart, I headed toward Geonyeonggak(建榮閣), the residence of the Second Young Master, a place I had never once set foot in.
“I knew it was far, but this is ridiculously far.”
The Demonic Cult’s castle was massive, but more than that, its pathways were like a labyrinth.
The very first thing I did after getting hired as a maid was memorize these convoluted paths.
Only then could I arrive on time and handle my designated duties.
Fortunately, I had an excellent sense of direction. In fact, I had memorized the castle’s layout faster than anyone, almost to a genius degree.
It was practically a survival instinct. My fierce determination to never even glance in the direction of Geonyeonggak had played a major part in it.
Thanks to that, despite it being my first time visiting, I reached Geonyeonggak on time without making a single wrong turn.
“Wow, I can’t believe I’m actually here!”
As I crossed the main gate, a sigh escaped my lips of its own accord.
I still desperately wished someone would wake me up from this nightmare.
“Oh, listen to her. She’s practically bursting with joy.”
It was then that an unexpected barrage of sharp words came flying my way.
“I didn’t think you were this kind of girl, Seol-ha, but you’re quite the sly one, aren’t you?”
“Just how much did you bribe Madam Gwak to get this?”
Appearing out of nowhere, three pairs of hostile eyes glared at me.
One of them looked familiar—she was the one who had been glaring at me during the assembly as if she wanted to kill me.
Was her name Do-ae? She was a senior maid, two years ahead of me.
“I heard you’re an orphan living only with your grandmother, so you must be desperate to climb the social ladder.”
“And you certainly have high standards for looks, aiming for the Second Young Master of all people!”
“Do you honestly think someone of your station stands a chance?”
What? So I’m being treated like some sort of social climber now?
Listening to this nonsense, I was so flabbergasted I didn’t even know where to begin explaining.
I was already stressed to death by this awful situation, and now these delusional girls were spouting what?
‘Who am I aiming for?’
I had gone four years and ten months without causing a single incident, but today, I felt a distinctly violent urge rising within me.
“You don’t actually dream of becoming the mistress of Geonyeonggak, do you?”
“If so, you’d better wake up.”
“Do you think the Second Young Master would spare a single glance for someone like you?”
“Did you suddenly go mute? Why aren’t you answering your senior when she speaks to you!”
“Ah, were you waiting for my answer?”
They had been babbling non-stop among themselves, and now they were throwing a fit because I was ignoring them.
Well, the only way to deal with crazy is to match their crazy.
“But what can I do? Your words have to make sense for me to respond.”
“What?”
“You’re taking turns barking nonsense, so I can’t understand a single word.”
“B-barking?”
“Yes. As you can see, I’m a human. Unfortunately, the three of you don’t seem to be. I happen to be good at many things, but I haven’t quite mastered barking yet. I’ll try to learn it when I have some free time.”
My counterattack left the three of them utterly dumbfounded. Up until now, I had always been quiet, gentle, and on good terms with everyone.
They must have picked a fight thinking I was an easy target, but they hadn’t expected my tongue to be this sharp.
In truth, I had nothing left to lose.
I might die at Jeok I-geon’s hands this very day; why should I let myself be pushed around by mere maids?
My survival instinct was stronger than ever.
“Y-you… Do you think you can just say whatever you want! Do you want to die today?”
“Are you going to hit me?”
“The three of us tearing you to pieces would be child’s play!”
“Three against one. How incredibly cowardly.”
My continued mockery made them completely lose their minds.
Screaming in blind rage, Do-ae lunged at me to grab my hair.
She was completely full of openings.
Her movements showed absolutely no trace of martial arts training.
I wasn’t some grandmaster myself, but I wasn’t entirely ignorant of martial arts either.
It was all thanks to Madam Sin-geum, who insisted I must know how to protect myself and had practically beaten early training into me since I was a child.
I lightly struck the right side of Do-ae’s shoulder with the edge of my hand.
“Argh!”
Senior Do-ae screamed, collapsing onto the ground.
Since I had struck her Gegol acupoint(巨骨穴), the pain in her right arm would be excruciating. She probably wouldn’t even be able to lift her arm today.
Now, who’s next?
Without giving me a moment to catch my breath, another senior lunged to grab my collar. She was quite heavily built.
In a fight, speed and decisiveness always win the day.
I drove the palm of my hand hard up against her chin.
With a dull thud, she collapsed, instantly knocked cold.
“Y-you…!”
The first time could be dismissed as a fluke, but the second time certainly wasn’t.
Having lost two of her companions in the blink of an eye, the remaining girl stared at me, utterly terrified.
Though her expression was still resentful, she clearly didn’t dare to charge after witnessing what I had just done.
“What will it be? Do you want to finish this with me, or shall we call a truce here?”
“W-what about them?”
“They’ll wake up soon. We still have to clean Geonyeonggak, after all.”
I didn’t want to get dragged down by poor cleaning on my very first day. The seniors surely felt the same.
“I’ll let it slide quietly this once. But there won’t be a next time. From now on, everything that happens inside Geonyeonggak is my responsibility. That means, in effect, I am your superior. You do know I have the authority to issue penalty points based on your performance, right?”
She looked flustered, clearly not having thought that far ahead.
Did she just act without thinking?
Sigh, what was Jeok I-geon to them anyway?
“Let me say one last thing. You seem to have a massive misunderstanding here, but the person most furious about this assignment is me.”
I pounded my chest with my fist in sheer frustration.
“I obviously didn’t offer any bribes. I might be a bit bold, but I have zero desire for social advancement. Mistress? I don’t want to be that, nor do I ever plan to. I have unique tastes, you see, and I absolutely despise handsome men. I’m probably the only maid in this entire castle who doesn’t like the Second Young Master. To me, he is nothing short of a disaster. Who in their right mind would want to attract a disaster’s attention? Ah, of course, our wildly popular Second Young Master wouldn’t have the slightest interest in someone like me anyway.”
It absolutely had to be that way. And the chances of that were highly likely.
“So, in any case, I hope you won’t trouble me with this matter again. Do you understand, you three?”
At my question, the two lying on the ground flinched.
Understanding my silent command to stop pretending to be knocked out, they awkwardly began to push themselves up.
“Let’s do our best to get along until our shift rotation.”
As long as I was the personal maid, Geonyeonggak would always be kept in pristine condition. I couldn’t let them find even the slightest fault.
I was going to do my absolute best for these two months!
Just thinking of Jeok I-geon made my stomach twist in anxiety again, but I forced myself to hide it and stepped firmly into the inner courtyard of Geonyeonggak.
A moment later, a dark figure dropped lightly from a nearby tree where the scuffle between Seol-ha and the maids had just taken place.
“A disaster, is it…?”
