Chapter 11 (1/2)
TL: pineapples
ED: Sid
***
“Hello, unnis.”
“Yes.”
“The wind’s getting colder. Autumn will be here soon.”
“Yes.”
“……Did you eat?”
“Yes.”
“……I’ll be back after playing.”
“Yes.”
None of the four newly assigned servants looked into my eyes and spoke. They aren’t even soldiers, but their expressions were so stark when giving out short answers. Those unnis weren’t just like that to me. I spied on four of them together one day, and they didn’t say a word to each other.
It creeped me out that they were sitting stiffly and staring into space like machines. I wanted to show off my pronunciation and have an intelligent conversation with them, but I could never start a conversation with these unnis.
I grabbed onto my nanny’s hand.
“Don’t you think the girls are weird?”
“What?”
“They are like dolls. They have no expressions and don’t talk at all.”
“It’s because they have been educated to be like that since they were young.”
Why are they getting that kind of education?
I didn’t understand at all, but Seoyoung answered it for me..
There was also another strange thing.
Isn’t the daughter of the sect leader not allowed to use honorifics?
‘Don’t be respectful to your inferiors, Young Miss.’
Such words should have been said at least once, but no one said such things.
Do the magyo have unexpected respect for their seniors? Weird, it didn’t seem like that.
I clasped Seoyoung’s hand and circled the maze of corridors.
I wasn’t familiar with the new palace I had moved into and the corridors were so busy that it was hard for me to explore alone.
After taking a long time to find and enter the garden, Seoyoung let go of my hand and said
“Young Miss, stay here for a minute.”
“Are you going to make another flower crown? I have 158 flower crowns which were made by you alone. We will run out flowers if you keep that up.”
“Well, then, I’ll just… I’ll be right over there.”
“I’ll come with you”
“You can’t!”
Suddenly Seoyoung burst into a roar. When I looked at her with my eyes wide open, Seoyoung hurriedly avoided my eyes.
“Well… you could fall while following me, so… stay here.”
“…okay.”
Seoyoung quickly left as if she had been waiting for me to answer. I stared at her and opened my eyes wide at a thought that flashed upon me.
Oh! Is she going to meet her boyfriend?
Seoyoung is 20 years old. Isn’t it high time for her to be in a relationship?
No wonder she was so flustered when I said I was going to follow her.
You probably didn’t have time since you were taking care of me, but fortunately you met someone. Nanny, I commend you.
I giggled while making a bouquet. I should congratulate her when she comes back and give her this.
It was then.
“Hmm, hmm!”
Suddenly, I heard a cough coming from behind my back. When I looked back, there was an old man standing there. The old man’s face looked like someone had sprinkled red paint on it.
“Who are you?”
“Just an old man passing by.”
“…? Then good-bye.”
“Who said I was leaving now?!”
“Oh, I see.”
I scratched my cheek, ignored the old man. and focused my attention on making the bouquet.
Grandfather seemed a little embarrassed. He hesitated for a moment and spoke again.
“Well… can you take this?”
He took out something. It was a red orb that was a bit bigger than my thumb. What is this?
“What is this?”
“Don’t you see? It’s an orb.”
“Why are you giving me this?”
“It was in front of me, so I picked it up. If you don’t like it, throw it away.”
The old man answered curtly. I held out my hands as I stared at him blankly.
“… Thank you.”
“Hmph! Since there’s a safety mechanism built inside, it’ll be okay to mess with it.But it’s better to leave it alone.”
“I thought you just picked it up from the ground. Do you know what this is?”
“… I just know! Does it have to be mine for me to know what it does?”
“Well not necessarily…”
Since I sounded a little scared when I answered, the old man hesitated. Blinking rapidly, he looked embarrassed. He was an emotional old man.
“Uh, you know, if you see an annoying guy, try throwing it at him.”
“What happens then?”
“It will explode.”