Chapter 10

“…I’ll come back later.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Yeonhye probably wanted to hear me call her unnie1, but I had no intention of saying that. I would be the one that the prime minister or Ji Inwoo would retaliate against if one of the maids started creating a rumor.

It was not guaranteed that Yeonhye would protect me then.

“How annoying, ugh.”

I lied down after roughly organizing and throwing everything Yeonhye gave me in the corner. It was June and very hot, so I wanted to take a rest.

“My lady, what should I do with these?”

Danyi slowly approached and asked while pointing her fingers at the objects. It seemed like she really liked the rouge.

“Do you want it?”

“Huh? N, no. How could I possibly take what lady Yeonhye gave…”

“You can have it if you want. What’s the point of me putting on rouge if I have no reason to go outside?”

“Really?”

Danyi’s eyes sparkled. I nodded and handed her the rouge.

“Do you want a daenggi2 too? Do you like deep red or pink better?”

“I like deep red!”

She usually couldn’t meet my eyes and stuttered often, but when I offered a present, she answered very eagerly. However, it was much more comfortable for me when she was like this.

“You can have everything. I don’t need it.”

I gave Danyi most of the things that were given to me.

“Thank you, my lady.”

Danyi swept everything in her skirt and shouted in excitement.

“I was really worried at first because they ordered me to serve in the annex, but my lady is a really good person.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! You even give someone like me a present, and you don’t order me around often!”

“It’s tiring to move when it’s hot.”

“Yes! I’m happy!”

It made me feel a bit better to see her so happy. I was so tired due to Yeonhye’s visit in the morning, but I felt like my head was getting clearer.

Danyi went to the kitchen and came back with a cool tea, then sat down next to me and started chatting.

“I actually feel more comfortable in the annex than the main building. Lady Yeonhye is the complete opposite of my lady. I probably don’t know well because I wasn’t in the house long enough, but… lady Yeonhye can be scary sometimes.”

“Why?”

This was interesting to hear. I thought everyone liked Yeonhye because she was the main character.

“She sometimes stops smiling all of sudden. When her expression changes like that suddenly, I get chills down on my back. Her head also seems a little blank.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. But other maids said that they’ve never seen that happen and that lady Yeonhye isn’t scary.”

“Hmm.”

“They said serving lady Yeonhee is scarier and warned me to be careful because she will beat me with a broomstick or an ink stone if I did something wrong…oh!”

It’s no use to shut your mouth now.

But based on Yeonhee’s personality, it was probable that she did act like that, so I didn’t want to be angry at her.

As a punishment, I ordered  Danyi to fan me harder.

“But my lady, why did you really go to the cowshed?”

“I don’t know, I don’t remember.”

Although Yeonhee did not sleepwalk, it couldn’t be helped because of the game’s storyline. I was about to stop thinking about it.

“That’s strange. Then does lady Yeonhye not know either?”

“Why would lady Yeonhye know?”

“She was with you in the cowshed.”

Something strange was going on.

I got up suddenly.

“Tell me more.”

When I came to, I was already slapped by the prime minister and was forced to kneel. I didn’t know any details besides that I apparently killed a cow.

“Lady Yeonhye couldn’t fall asleep and decided to take a walk and made it to the cowshed when she saw you standing still with a dead cow.”

“Did she see me kill the cow?”

“No, but you had blood on your hands.”

“Then did I really kill the cow?”

“I wouldn’t know…”

Danyi started avoiding my eyes again. It seemed like it would have an adverse effect if I kept asking more.

I let go of Danyi and lied down again. Danyi ran off saying she would go wash dishes.

‘I feel crappy.’

I was going along with it because that was how the story of the game went, but I kept feeling weird.

“I can’t.”

What if I wake up and find myself killing a cow?

Unnie – how a younger sister calls an older sister in Korean.