Na Manor (3)

The next day, Na Manor was thrown into an uproar.

It was because Na Seohwang had returned half crippled.

At the horrifying sight of the son she had raised with such care, Lady Min flew into a violent rage.

“Who was it?! What damned bastard dared lay a hand on the heir of Na Manor in Heungui?! I will never forgive this! Send letters to every martial family nearby! Search every corner of Heungui and find him!”

“Yes, Madam!”

Na Manor remained as noisy as a disturbed beehive for half the day, and Lady Min was only able to calm down somewhat by the afternoon.

However, although she had calmed down a little, her anger had not subsided.

There was no way her rage could abate after the physician said he could not guarantee that Na Seohwang’s bones would heal properly.

Slap!

“Kyaa!”

“You wretch! How dare you clean my room like this?! Do you think you can continue working in Na Manor after this?!”

“I-I’m sorry, Madam!”

“And why does this tea taste so awful?!”

Crash!

Lady Min vented her anger on everyone she saw. It was nearly afternoon before Na Seoyu finally came to mind.

Lady Min shouted at the servants.

“Bring that wretch Seoyu here at once!”

“Yes! Understood, Madam!”

Lady Min ground her teeth as she waited in her room for Na Seoyu to arrive.

It felt as though all of this had happened because that wretched, ill-fated girl had returned.

She ground her teeth inwardly as she thought.

‘Just try saying you won’t marry him again. I’ll smash you to pieces!’

If that wretch were before her, Lady Min felt as though she could hurl abuse at her for two si-jin.

Given the chance, she even wanted to strike her as she had when Na Seoyu was a child.

A short while later, Na Seoyu entered the room.

The moment Na Seoyu sat down, Lady Min glared at her and asked.

“So, have you thought about your marriage?”

Na Seoyu smiled faintly and answered.

“Yes, I have.”

Lady Min frowned with a trace of disappointment at those words.

If Na Seoyu accepted too easily, she felt she would not be able to vent all her anger.

However, Lady Min’s eyes widened greatly at what Na Seoyu said next.

Na Seoyu spoke very slowly.

“I decided that I would never agree to it.”

Lady Min had never even imagined such a firm refusal.

Her fury surged to the top of her head, and she shouted at Na Seoyu.

“You wretch! How dare you!”

However, Lady Min could not finish speaking.

Na Seoyu looked her directly in the eyes and spoke again.

“I already told you that I have no intention of entering a marriage against my will.”

Lady Min could only open and close her mouth as Na Seoyu continued speaking slowly but distinctly.

Lady Min could not have known it, but it was because of the pressure radiating from Na Seoyu, a peak first-class master.

Na Seoyu was a dutiful daughter who valued her family above anyone else and had always sacrificed herself for them.

However, she was also an elite frontline warrior capable of taking an enemy’s life without hesitation when necessary.

Until now, Na Seoyu had treated Lady Min as her father’s new wife and the mistress of Na Manor, despite knowing she was not a good person.

She had done so no matter how unfairly she had been treated or persecuted.

But no longer.

After hearing from Seonu Jin that Lady Min had poisoned her father, Na Seoyu no longer considered her worthy of being called family.

Thus, there was no longer any room for mercy or hesitation in how Na Seoyu dealt with Lady Min.

Having witnessed the true face of the martial artist Na Seoyu for the first time, Lady Min swallowed dryly and stammered.

“D-does it not matter to you if you can no longer see your father?”

The matter of the Lord of Na Manor had always been Lady Min’s strongest card for restraining Na Seoyu.

However, Na Seoyu merely smiled as she answered.

“Of course it matters. That is why I intend to leave the clan immediately and bring back a renowned physician. Someone distinguished enough to treat Father. I happen to know someone connected to the Living-Dead Eccentric.”

Lady Min’s face instantly turned pale.

However, she soon clenched her teeth and shouted.

“W-what are you talking about?! The physician I worked so hard to bring here is treating him well, so why would you seek another physician?!”

Na Seoyu asked back as though she did not understand.

“He is in such critical condition that he cannot even see the face of his only daughter. How can you say he is being treated well? Shouldn’t he at least recover enough to see me before you can call it proper treatment?”

“Th-that is….”

“Besides, why do you seem uncomfortable with my bringing a distinguished physician here, Mother? I naturally assumed you would be delighted.”

Na Seoyu sent her a sharp look as she spoke, and Lady Min swallowed dryly before shouting.

“W-what nonsense is that?! I merely feared that if another physician said something absurd, the Manor Lord’s condition might worsen…!”

However, her excuse did not work in the slightest.

“Can his condition become any worse than it already is? Or could it be that Father’s condition is not actually so grave, and you deliberately prevented me from approaching him?”

Na Seoyu continued speaking in a consistently calm tone. However, as the killing intent she emitted intensified, it became an overwhelming pressure to Lady Min.

Unable to endure it, Lady Min shouted as though lashing out.

“Y-you wretch! H-how dare you suspect me…!”

However, her words were cut off once more by another sudden burst of Na Seoyu’s killing intent.

Na Seoyu slowly spoke while radiating a presence that seemed capable of crushing Lady Min through sheer force of will.

“I was on the front lines, Mother. I learned something there while killing dozens of demonic villains. Wicked people always raised their voices the loudest when they heard the truth. Isn’t that strange?”

Her killing intent resembled that of a snake poised before its prey.

Unable to withstand Na Seoyu’s overwhelming gaze, Lady Min could no longer continue speaking.

Her undergarments were growing damp.

She seemed on the verge of bursting into tears if this continued for even a little longer, but Na Seoyu did not pressure her further.

Na Seoyu slowly bowed her head to Lady Min and rose from her seat.

“Then I will take my leave.”

Lady Min, pale as a corpse, could not say a single word until Na Seoyu left the room.

Only long after Na Seoyu had left did Lady Min’s furious voice erupt from within.

“Th-that insolent wretch! How dare she!”

However, as though afraid Na Seoyu might hear, it was only a timid little shout raised after a considerable distance had opened between them.

Na Seoyu gave a faint laugh as she heard it.

Lady Min became that timid before anyone she perceived as stronger than herself.

She was truly foolish.

Lady Min was foolish, and so was Na Seoyu herself for having allowed such a woman to control her….

When Na Seoyu returned to her room, Seonu Jin, who had followed her while concealed, had already arrived ahead of her.

He smiled and said.

“You did well, Lady Na. That was extremely satisfying to watch.”

However, Na Seoyu answered with a bitter smile.

“I feel somewhat bitter. The fact that I tried so hard all this time to serve a woman like that as my mother makes me feel unbearably foolish and pathetic. Had I hardened my heart and cut her off from the beginning, Father might not have ended up like this….”

Na Seoyu had endured countless abuses and sacrificed herself in order to preserve peace within the family.

The realization that all of that patience and sacrifice had been meaningless left her feeling utterly hollow.

No, to be precise, it had been worse than meaningless.

Had she not mistaken a wolf preying on the household for a guard dog and entrusted her family’s safety to it?

It had been an unbearably foolish choice.

Seeing Na Seoyu’s bitter expression, Seonu Jin looked at her with sympathy and comforted her.

“You were far too young to understand that back then. Even if wicked people exist who exploit the good, that does not make goodness itself wrong. It was not your fault, Lady Na. It was the fault of that woman who deceived and exploited you when you were still young.”

At Seonu Jin’s consolation, Na Seoyu looked at him with moist eyes.

Seonu Jin smiled warmly and continued.

“Besides, it is not too late. I think it is fortunate enough that you gained the chance to set things right before it became completely impossible. At this point, everything can still be restored.”

Those words gave enormous strength to Na Seoyu, who had fallen into self-reproach.

At Seonu Jin’s warm words and gaze, Na Seoyu recovered her smile and spoke.

“You’re right, aren’t you? Everything can be restored, can’t it? Father and Na Manor as well….”

She then looked deeply into Seonu Jin’s eyes and said.

“Thank you so much, Young Master Seonu. I do not even know how I could possibly repay you for all of this. Everything is thanks to you.”

Seonu Jin also looked deeply into her eyes and answered.

“There is no need for thanks. I am happy enough simply because I can do something for you, Lady Na.”

Their intense gazes lingered on one another.

Neither could look away from the warmth held deep within the other’s eyes.

For a time, the two simply gazed at each other without speaking.

At that moment, Seonu Jin suddenly felt as though he were dreaming.

What Seonu Jin had just said—that he was happy simply to be able to do something for Na Seoyu—had been his complete and honest feelings.

Being able to do something for her for the first time across both of his lives gave him an immense sense of satisfaction.

And now, Na Seoyu, the only woman he had loved throughout those two lives, was looking at him with a tender gaze he had never seen before.

At least at this moment, he felt as though he stood proudly before her as a man, rather than as a platoon member she needed to look after like a son.

Suddenly, he thought this was the moment when he should confess his feelings to her.

He opened his mouth.

“Lady Na, the truth is, I….”

However, Na Seoyu seemed to suddenly regain her senses. She avoided Seonu Jin’s gaze and asked in a slightly flustered voice.

“Ah, look at me. I was supposed to pretend to leave the manor now, wasn’t I? Should I leave immediately?”

Deep disappointment appeared around Seonu Jin’s eyes as he looked at her.

The atmosphere had been so perfect, yet it felt as though he had missed his chance.

Even so, he hesitated for a moment.

‘Should I just tell her now anyway?’

After some thought, Seonu Jin ultimately swallowed his disappointment and answered.

He thought it would be better to wait for a more certain opportunity.

“Yes, you should leave now.”

At present, it would not have been an exaggeration to say that Lady Min had complete control of Na Manor.

Therefore, Seonu Jin judged that they needed more decisive evidence to remove her.

Na Seohwang’s testimony had been heard by Seonu Jin alone, and even if he threatened Na Seohwang into confessing again, most of Na Manor’s people were Lady Min’s loyal followers and would refuse to believe it.

Seonu Jin continued.

“Once Lady Na leaves Na Manor, that woman will have one of two possible courses of action. She will either try to harm your father before you return with a renowned physician, or she will attempt to harm you. Of the two, I believe there is a high probability that she will try to harm your father.”

Na Seoyu asked with a puzzled expression.

“Why is that? After what happened today, I imagine that woman would want to kill me as well.”

“Hmm, it is a matter of efficiency and probability. Harming your bedridden father would be extremely easy. On the other hand, with her limited martial arts, she could not be certain how much force would be required to kill you. Hiring assassins would also cost a considerable sum, and she did not seem like the kind of woman who would ever spend her own money.”

Only then did Na Seoyu understand Seonu Jin’s reasoning.

Lady Min had indeed always behaved like a miser who refused to release any wealth once it entered her hands.

Ironically, it was also true that this had allowed her to manage Na Manor’s finances soundly until now.

Perhaps it was because she regarded Na Manor as her own property.

Na Seoyu nodded and said.

“I understand. Then I only need to pretend to leave the manor, conceal myself, and protect Father.”

“Yes. When that woman makes her move, we will secure decisive evidence and bring her down immediately. Concealment may be slightly uncomfortable since you are not accustomed to it, but it probably will not take long. That woman seemed quite cowardly. She will likely act as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, understood. Then I will pretend to leave Na Manor right now.”

“Yes. I will guard your father.”

Lady Min had no idea, but her plan to ruin the Lord of Na Manor and Na Seoyu was instead slowly driving her toward destruction.

Plans were made by people, but their success was decided by Heaven.

However, Seonu Jin and Na Seoyu did not know that the same held true for everyone.

That night, at Jo Manor, a martial household located on the southernmost outskirts of Heungui in Guizhou Province.

A storm of blood suddenly swept through the previously peaceful estate.

It began with the gate guards, who had been standing watch while yawning.

Through sleepy eyes, the guards watched three figures approaching Jo Manor.

“It looks like someone’s coming.”

“Hm? You’re right. There are three of them.”

“What business could they have at this hour? Surely this won’t turn into something we need to report inside.”

The gate guards straightened their tired bodies and prepared for the approaching people.

It was then.

“W-what is that?!”

“Who the hell…?! Aaaagh!”

Stab! Crunch! Rip!

“Aaaaaagh!”

“Aaaagh!”

They did not even have time to prepare themselves properly.

The three figures suddenly accelerated and pounced on them like wild beasts.

The three men and women pierced, tore, and ripped apart the gate guards in an instant, like wolves leaping into a rabbit pen.

A faint crimson glow streamed from their eyes.

“Those were screams!”

“They came from the main gate!”

“Have bandits invaded?!”

A commotion arose inside Jo Manor as the people within heard the gate guards’ screams.

Without the slightest hesitation, the three men and women smashed through the gate and charged into Jo Manor.

Boom!

“W-who are…?! Aaaaaagh!”

“A m-monster! Save me! Aaaagh!”

“Run! We need to get help! Guaaagh!”

“Aaaaaagh!”

“Guaaagh!”

One sikyeong was enough for all fifty-plus members of Jo Manor to be slaughtered.

When not a single living person remained inside Jo Manor, the three men and women once again began moving north, following the traces of the martial artists who had fled earlier.

They were no longer in any particular hurry.

While escaping Yunnan Province, they had learned that allowing one or two people to survive and then following them was an easier way to find their next target.

The Iron Fiends’ intelligence had already developed to that degree.