"Mistress Seo, how could you do that?" She asked me incredulously as our husband gave us his response to my suggestion by angrily smashing everything in his new concubine's room beyond repair, and on her first night as well. I told the young boy to stay in his private quarters whilst she herself would have to stay in the servant's quarters, until the servants tried to repair some of the damages, as we had no choice. But it was the look of anger about her when I first suggested this that my suspicions about her had been confirmed. She had been oddly clingy to me when I first came across her in the old brothel of our village where I waited for my man to be released, not knowing that an old enemy of his was waiting for him and had him properly ensnared in her trap that we did not see coming at all. She had been far too curious about me, even though the rest of the kingdom thought that my family had perished in a home fire and she was much too willing to accommodate my every command, my every wish and mirror my every move. I could see that now when I saw her trying to tend my husband in exactly the same way that I served the women in the brothel as I hid behind them for my own survival.
"…My Lady…?" "Her birthday is coming up, that is why I suggested it. He can get away with ignoring it before our marriage, but I will not let him continue to ignore her existence after our marriage." "My Lady, forgive me, I am just wondering why you sent me to serve him when you are here now and…" "I had no idea that he would come for me, he even burnt the brothel down to the ground and he refuses to tell me where the kisanegs are, so I am stuck here now no matter what I do." "He burned…he did…excuse me? He burnt down the brothel to the ground?" "The Lord Nam has already been through a lot, and he should never leave this life with regrets lodged into his heart as well. He should have nothing hiding him back anymore if he wants to reach his full potential."
"My Lady, what are your plans now…" "The winter season is approaching us, and the weather is already cold and wet. So I have taken the liberty to instruct the servants to start making some white flower and dried sea vines fragrant pouches for us all…" "us all? My Lady, are you talking out distributing such luxuries to the servants as well?" "It has been maybe 6 or 7 years since I was made a hostage in his father's home, and I have been managing the same set of servants ever since then without incident. These are also the same servants that helped to raise him during his childhood, so he gives them more importance than others in his position usually would, so yes. And as for the male servants, we usually reward them with thicker clothing during this weather. But the fragrance pouches will drive away unpredictable humidity and open up your vital channels." "You really are quite considerate, My Lady…" "And if I withhold one from you, then it will make me look inconsiderate." "My Lady? Bu why would you withhold one from myself as well?" "You are a noble concubine now and we must all consider you from each and every angle. The pouch is a token of my affection and you should keep it on you at all times. You should have them given to you in the afternoon whilst we change your quarters and…" "Forgive me My Lady, but I have been commended by The Lord Nam that from now on, the concubine is to take over your own quarters along with his nephew." "Is that so? Very well, I shall just have to find other accommodation for myself and…" "My Lady, you are to move into The Lord Nam's chambers immediately without hesitation; this is something that he has been planning for a while and it is only a temporary measure, as The Lord Nam is working on another property for us all to move in due to the ill memories that he holds here." "Excuse me? Won't I get my own quarters?"
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"…My Lady, what are you thinking so hard about in silence?" "These shreds of affection that I am receiving from that man, is it real or not? Or is it another power move of his? Is he trying to make me rid of that girl in addition to her secret mistress? Where is he now? What is he doing? What is he thinking about? What game is he playing at now? What scheme does he have up his sleeve now? And how do I take care of myself from now on? And himself? How can I undo all of the damage that woman has caused him just as I helped him heal from his father's cruelty?" "My Lady, the moon is bright and clear tonight; shall I retrieve your zither for you?" "It is an elegant pastime, and yet endless longing shatters my heart into ruins and…what is that noise? Is somebody else playing the zither?" "My Lady, The Lord Nam had taken out his zither and he is playing right outside in the courtyard!" "Her beauty is in the blossom in the clouds, above the ink blue layers of clouds and underneath the china blue colours of the sea waves. My soul is tittered traversing the heavens and the lands, and yet my dreams cannot cross the barricading mountains." "My Lady, his playing is really light and graceful compared to yours, it really does heighten the sense of longing as well as the lament." "Well would you look at that? Maybe he is sincere in his attempts to reconcile with me after all." "My Lady, he seems to be making his way over here, should I get you ready for service tonight?" "No, I will not be with hm until I am ready."
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"Servant….what on earth just happened on my first night?" "My Lady…I really have no idea what to say to you. Your room got destroyed, your husband left you on your first night without even taking a bite of your food and a girl who is lowlier than you in status managed to win your husband's favour when it came to your ward and now he…The Lord Nam has transferred his whore into his personal chambers just as he handed hers to you. Oh My Lady, the satchels are here already…." "What is it? Why did you just stop talking like that? What has happened now?" "My Lady! This fragrance pouch is of such low quality! It looks like a blind person made it! The sewing is too loose, the embroidery is rather ugly and I will have to tighten up all of this sewing myself! Even the ingredients inside of this seem to be of third grade quality! It doesn't even smell of anything at all." "They didn't even mention anything about my proclamation ceremony? And what a shabby room!" "My Lady, The Main Mistress had barely any time to unpack her belongings, so she didn't even have the time to decorate it at all? R as ie because she was planning this move from the start? That cunning witch, look at what she has done to me on the very first night of my marriage? What is this? Am I a concubine or a slave of her's? How can I possibly regain his attention ever again? All of my gifts are gone and…" "And the Lord Nam has just gifted her an inscribed plaque hanging right outside of their quarters." "Excuse me? What did you just say?" "I cannot believe that she hung up those few characters to hang right over their quarters, who exactly is she trying to show off to? Everyone thinks that she is dead and we cannot be the ones to spill this secret since The Lord Nam will know that it was us."
"So she is trying to announce the interest that The Lord Nam has for her in this manner? Very well then, I shall request the same favours as she does, as I am the only one of us who has a son under us. He will be our tool for survival and we will have to treat him well, regardless of our plans. Seo Yeon is clearly relying on her favour, but how long can that last for? Her trust in him was already broken from the moment he was released from the palace dungeons on our mistress's words alone. Our statuses are the same, so it will be a true competition between us from now on, which I will engage in as fairly as she does."
"Isn't it common for a husband to do such a thing?" "Are you stupid? They are not even married yet despite their years long unofficial engagement that there was no celebration for." "But there wasn't any for us either, My Lady." "But we have his nephew!" "But she raised him first, My Lady…" "ENOUGH! I do not want to hear her name being mentioned anymore tonight! Her background is better than mine, her education is miles beyond me, her clothes and food are better because she can cook from scratch, she has so much respect from everyone because she has enough time on her hands to raise a village when she isn't tending to her lover who refuses to marry her on the spot! She is simply too excessive and unpleasant to be around, no wonder she can make as many enemies as she does friends. She just has a way about her to draw out the best and worst out of everyone that she meets! How dare she look down upon me for my familial connections! She should know that favour and status are decided by background; so what if I cannot be liked here? Nothing is more important than gaining favour, and being feared instead of loved. The Mistress will never let me bear children with that man anyways; and I have nobody else to rely on apart from her, clearly." "So what do we do, My Lady?" "We get rid of that maid The Mistress told is about; the one who got The Concubine Chung and the boy's mother to kill herself. She is likely to cause us trouble and I have no more time to waste. I shall not give her another opportunity to publicise anything ever again."