TYMIR Ch 42

As noon approached, the luggage piled high in the front yard began to disappear one by one out the main gate. The servants all moved about busily, without exception.

“My expectations are high, so do not disappoint me.”

“I will conduct myself so as not to bring you dishonor.”

As the outside grew chaotic, Lord Kim, who had been leaning against the main hall with a long pipe in his mouth, finally spoke. Not a hint of sorrow for his departing son could be felt. As if accustomed to it, Hyowon bowed with an emotionless face.

“Yes, that is how it should be.”

As if quite pleased with the answer, a gentle smile appeared on Lord Kim’s stern face.

“I shall be going now, Father.”

With those few short words, Hyowon crossed the yard without any lingering attachment. Yoonyi hurried to keep up with his long, confident strides. An unexplainable anxiety welled up, causing his palms to sweat. Yoonyi wiped them on his pants several times.

“Young Master…….”

Yoonyi, who had been trailing him like a puppy, couldn’t hold back and called out. At the soft voice that sounded as if it could melt away in the passing wind, Hyowon, who had kept his back turned, turned around and gave a bright smile.

“Do not worry. Did I not say I would be back soon.”

Only at the sound of the firm voice brushing past his ear did Yoonyi finally nod.

“Have a safe trip, Young Master.”

“Have a safe trip, Young Master.”

When they reached the main gate in the blink of an eye, the servants who had come out first each said a word, wiping away tears. Hyowon replied curtly several times, “Thank you.” Manseok, who was to accompany him on the long journey, was diligently securing the luggage loaded on the donkey cart with straw rope.

“Don’t you worry about the Little Master’s quarters.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Suni, whose eyes had also become damp, added in a choked voice. With a much softer expression, Hyowon patted her shoulder. Their departure was truly imminent now.

“Brotherrr!”

It was then. The middle gate leading to the inner quarters opened, and a half-grown child shot out from inside like an arrow.

“Seunghun.”

“Y-you have to play with me when you get back.”

As if he knew what was happening, the eyes of the child, who was always smiling brightly, were already brimming with tears. Feeling a strange tug at his heart from that innocent face, Hyowon repeatedly stroked the small head.

“Farewell.”

“Yes.”

Madam Han, who had just passed through the middle gate, offered a short greeting from a distance. Hyowon naturally bowed his head in response. Leaving the long farewell behind, Hyowon finally crossed the threshold of the main gate and mounted the jet-black horse prepared for him, as lightly as if he were taking flight.

“Um… Brother, and you too, Makgae, p-please be careful on your journey.”

Suni looked back and forth between her husband, who was carrying a mountain of luggage on his back, and Makgae. Her eyes, facing a brief separation, trembled violently. Manseok was always the quiet type, so it was expected, but for some reason, Makgae also seemed tight-lipped.

“Please have a safe trip.”

Yoonyi whispered quietly, his eyes fixed on Hyowon, who was now mounted on the horse. Hyowon barely managed to control his churning emotions and gripped the reins tightly with a hardened face. Finally, with Hyowon’s powerful cry of “Hiyah!” a cloud of dust instantly kicked up.

“He’s truly gone.”

Yoonyi remained in his spot until the firm figure in the distance became as small as a dot, muttering listlessly.

“Y-yes, he is……”

“Suni?”

Suni’s usually composed voice trembled, sh-shaking as if a typhoon had hit. It was hard to believe this was someone who was only parting with her husband for a short while. So anxious about something, she bit her nails so hard they made a clicking sound. Come to think of it, unlike her usual self, she hadn’t met his eyes even once today.

“Suni, what’s wrong……”

“Close the gate.”

At Madam Han’s sharp command, those guarding the front quickly bolted the main gate. The creak of the hinges sounded particularly ominous.

“Tie up that wicked thing at once.”

Just as Yoonyi’s eyes were wavering feebly, Lord Kim’s thunderous order fell from where he stood in the main hall. His icy gaze was directed at none other than Yoonyi.

“Wh-why are you doing this, my Lord.”

As if he had been waiting, Chilbok approached and twisted Yoonyi’s slender arms behind his back, tying them with a straw rope. In the sudden turn of events, Yoonyi’s large eyes, filled with terror, shook precariously. His delicate body, dragged powerlessly like a scarecrow, was thrown onto the dirt ground of the yard without a moment to think.

“Ugh! S-Suni!”

The memory of the harsh mat-beating he’d suffered as a child came to mind, and his voice trembled involuntarily. He had no idea what this sudden disaster was about. Yoonyi’s eyes darted around, calling for Suni. But his once-kind friend, the moment their eyes met, dropped her head as if to look away.

“You wretched thing! How dare you bewitch a person!”

With a smack, his head was knocked to the side. His mind went blank, unsure of what had just happened. Then, one of his cheeks grew numb and hot, as if seared by fire. Only then did Yoonyi realize he had been slapped.

“M-Madam.”

Yoonyi clutched his cheek, looking up at Madam Han with empty eyes.

“Bring him in at once.”

“Oh dear, why are you doing this.”

“H-he, that man is……”

Along with the fierce command, an elderly man was dragged into the yard, his arms held tight. He had more wrinkles than before, but Suni recognized him at once and covered her mouth.

“Are you the physician who checked this one’s pulse before?”

“Pardon? Ah, y-yes, I am. M-Madam.”

The physician raised his eyelids wide, stared blankly at Yoonyi, and then nodded his head vigorously.

“Check it once more.”

Yoonyi watched the situation unfold before him, utterly dazed. Then, his wrist was forcibly seized by a rough hand. As everyone’s gazes focused on him, the physician, who had slowly closed the distance, placed his wrinkled fingers over the wrist. As if time had stopped, no one could break the heavy silence that had fallen.

“……There is no mistake. I feel two pulses.”

The old physician, who had kept his eyes closed for a long time, finally parted his lips.

“Two?”

“Yes, he is clearly a man. But like an expectant mother, two pulses are beating!”

When Madam Han questioned him with narrowed eyes, the physician cried out as if making a declaration. At the same time, murmurs arose from all around. Yoonyi’s clear eyes had grown dull and unfocused; it was impossible to tell where he was looking.

“Check it again.”

“Yes, Madam.”

Madam Han twisted one corner of her mouth and gestured with her eyes toward a young physician standing stiffly by. As if time had stopped, everyone forgot even to swallow, waiting only for the physician to speak.

“……It is true, two pulses are beating.”

The young physician, who had been meticulously checking the pulse at the wrist, finally spoke. At that, sighs of ‘Oh dear’ erupted from here and there.

“Did you hear that, my Lord.”

“Hah, what is this bizarre……”

Madam Han turned her head to gaze at Lord Kim. The old man’s body, which had been leaning against a pillar, staggered weakly and then collapsed right where he stood.

“M-My Lord!”

Kkotdani, the maid who served Lord Kim, quickly rushed to his side.

“Madam, His Lordship!”

“There is no need to cause a scene. Hurry and take him inside.”

Even though Lord Kim had collapsed right before her eyes, Madam Han gave the order coldly, without a hint of surprise. Yoonyi couldn’t get his bearings at all in the face of this incident that had happened as quick as roasting beans in a lightning flash.

“Th-then, I shall be on my way……”

The old physician, having finished his task, glanced around nervously and then dashed out of the main gate as if fleeing.

“Where did this come from?”

Madam Han strode forward and picked up the norigae that was rolling on the ground.

“Th-that is……. It is something I bought with the wages I saved.”

Despair spread across his terrified eyes. He could not bring himself to mention Hyowon’s name here. So Yoonyi took a deep breath and managed to utter a lie.

“Is that so?”

At that, Madam Han looked at him, her eyes slitting open. Her pupils, black as the night, glinted menacingly like a demon’s—just like Lord Lee’s from his childhood. Seeing that look, his body involuntarily trembled as if facing a harsh winter wind.

“Tie that wench up as well, immediately.”

“M-Madam! This is not what you promised! You said that if we just cooperated quietly, y-you would spare our lives……”

A neatly manicured fingertip pointed somewhere. At the same time, Suni collapsed to the ground and began to wail loudly.

“Is there some law that says I must keep a promise made to a lowborn?”

“Wh-what is this… Suni……”

A promise? His mind, filled with chaos, felt like it was hardening into stone. Yoonyi could only move his dry lips in the empty air.

“What a hopelessly foolish boy you are. Do you still not understand?”

A pair of fine silk shoes stepped gracefully closer to Yoonyi, who was trembling pathetically. Madam Han leaned in and whispered in Yoonyi’s ear.

“Those lowborns over there sold you out to save themselves.”

At the voice, colder than a blizzard, Yoonyi’s gaze scattered wildly, losing all direction.

“Start with that wench.”

“Oh dear, oh dear, Madam, what has our Suni done to deserve this, huh?”

“Her crime is that she was of no help. Useless wench.”

At the sharp command, Chilbok, holding a paddle, approached with slow steps, as if hunting. Unable to watch the wretched scene any longer, Yeonggil’s wife suddenly intervened, grabbing and clinging to the hem of Madam Han’s skirt. Sounds of tongues clicking in pity could be heard from all around.

“Come to think of it, you’re this one’s mother. Tie her up as well.”

Madam Han watched the sorrowful scene with dry eyes, devoid of any emotion, and murmured.

“Madam! What you asked yesterday! I-I will tell you everything!”

When her old mother was also rolled up in a straw mat like a corpse, Suni’s complexion turned from pale to deathly blue, and she suddenly screamed.

“Just as you said, the relationship between Yoonyi, Yoonyi and Young Master Hyowon has been unusual for a long time. I saw with my own two eyes him touching the Young Master’s face, despite his low birth, and I also saw the Young Master personally teaching him his letters!”

“……Is that so? But you should have answered that yesterday when I asked.”

Suni’s desperate voice echoed through the estate. A sardonic smile played on Madam Han’s face as she watched. Chilbok raised the paddle he was holding high into the air and brought it down hard on the mat-wrapped Suni. A beastly scream of ‘Aaargh!’ shot over the wall.

“I will not ask a second time. Who gave you this norigae?”

“I-I……”

Madam Han lowered her gaze and quietly asked again. The servants surrounding them could no longer face the wretched scene and all dropped their heads. Even so, he simply could not bring his own mouth to say Hyowon’s name. Just as Yoonyi’s lips parted feebly.

“Aaargh!”

The sharp sound, like flesh tearing, was heard again, and a rain of blows fell upon Suni’s body. As the strong, cracking sounds of bones shattering continued, Yeonggil’s wife, who had been screaming and wailing, lost consciousness.

“Hh, hhh……”

Suni, enduring the harsh beating while wrapped in the mat, let out a low sob and then lost consciousness.

“M-Madam, why are you doing this? His Lordship has also fainted; now is not the time for this.”

The Gatekeeper belatedly came out, limping, and bowed his head before Madam Han. His wrinkled hand, placed on the ground, trembled like an aspen leaf.

“What was that?”

Madam Han, standing erect in the middle of the yard directly under the sun, flashed her jet-black eyes and pulled the corners of her mouth up tight.

“Oh dear, Gatekeeper, not now! You should know your place!”

In the gruesome atmosphere where a string of deaths would not have been surprising, a kitchen maid quickly stepped forward and dragged the Gatekeeper away.

“You should think carefully before you answer. As you well know, he is to become a government official, even if a low-ranking military one. If word gets out that he was messing around with a servant he raised, of all things, do you think that Hyowon fellow will be safe?”

Madam Han, who had been quietly observing this entire situation, bent her knees and moved closer to the dazed Yoonyi. A faint scent of flowers, unaware of the season, still emanated from her clothes. It was the same scent he had smelled on Makgae years ago. When Hyowon’s name finally emerged from those harsh lips, it felt as if his heart was plunging not just to the soles of his feet, but deep into the earth below.

“M-Madam, why are you doing this to me?”

Tears welled up along the corners of his eyes, then streamed down, soaking his chin. Yoonyi managed to part his bitten lips and force out the words.

“Why did that simple, foolish boy change so much? I have thought about it. It was all you. Thinking back now, it was all because of you.”

Madam Han’s sunken eyes flashed fiercely.

“The military examination? What military examination. If it weren’t for you, he would have lived his whole life like a shadow. If you hadn’t spread your wicked energy in this house, Seunghun would not have been born such a simpleton!”

“Madam! I have found the evidence.”

It was then. A male servant came running quickly, holding something. As the figure drew nearer, what he held in his hand became clearer. It was none other than dozens of sheets of yellowed rice paper.

“……Th-that’s.”

Yoonyi’s eyes shook violently. From when he was first learning to write, the pages were densely packed with characters he and Hyowon had written together, as if sketching out their future. At the sight of Yoonyi’s expression crumbling in an instant, Madam Han raised an elegant eyebrow as if she had seized victory.

“Oh, oh my goodness……”

The onlookers’ jaws dropped to their limits, unable to say a word. It felt as though their breath had stopped.

“A lowborn dares to learn to read and write. Fine, will you still deny it even with this? I will watch and see how long you can keep making excuses.”

Madam Han roughly threw the papers she received onto the ground. The rice paper, flying lightly in the wind, fell with a thud right in front of Yoonyi. On the paper, he could see the neat handwriting. Yoon, meaning lustrous. It was the name Hyowon had first given him. Along the trembling edges of his eyes, tears overflowed without a sound.

“Beat him soundly until he tells the truth.”

Finally, a sharp pain spread over his body. Before he could even collect himself, another round of blows rained down on his back. Thud, thud. He could vividly feel his bones breaking and his flesh tearing. He couldn’t even bring himself to close his eyes, as Hyowon’s final image kept flickering before them.

“Kugh, M-Madam. It was not the Young Master. It was just m-me……”

Yoonyi squeezed out every last bit of his strength to finally get the words out. But even that was broken and blurred in the air by the downpour of cracking sounds.

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“Madam, but what will you say when His Lordship regains consciousness, having made such a huge scene?”

“What is there to say?”

Yeonim, who had hastily followed Madam Han into the inner quarters, looked at her with half-tearful eyes.

After all, she had never imagined her mistress would stir up such a tremendous incident while the master of the house, however old and frail, was still clearly alive. At that, Madam Han, sitting on a thick mattress, retorted in a stiff tone.

“Pardon? What do you mean by that?”

Taken aback by her master’s utterly calm reaction, Yeonim’s shoulders jumped.

“Didn’t that Makgae fellow and that Suni wench both say it? That every time that boy was sick, they heard strange animalistic sounds from the master’s quarters.”

“Yes, yes, they certainly did.”

“That is what’s important. That he is a monster, not a human.”

“Even so. Oh my, I’m just so anxious.”

Yeonim placed a hand on her still-pounding chest and kept breathing in ragged gasps.

“If what that physician said earlier is true, when the lowborn can’t bear it anymore, he will run away, and then that Hyowon fellow will naturally follow him out.”

Madam Han continued in a calm tone, raising one eyebrow slantwise.

“But will he really follow?”

“He certainly will. He gave the servant boy a name himself, showing him so much affection; would he pretend not to know him now? But who said anything about him being able to return?”

“Pardon? Hah……”

As the sinister words continued, chilling enough to make her hair stand on end, Yeonim fell back onto her bottom once again. Madam Han exuded an aura that was not just cold, but frigid, as if she had become a different person. Yeonim stared blankly at her mistress, her mouth agape like a cave, barely managing to breathe.

“If it turns out that way, His Lordship won’t be able to do anything about it either.”

“Th-that’s right.”

No matter how much he favored his grown illegitimate son, Lord Kim was not a merciful enough man to forgive a child who harbored a lowborn—and a male monster at that.

“Everything will naturally become our Seunghun’s.”

Madam Han added with a faint smile, as if the matter was already settled. Yeonim, who was stealing glances at her, stared intently at the norigae held in that pale white hand.