I could tell just from the serving boy’s panicked face that something serious had happened.
“What’s going on?”
“Well, it seems the proprietress has been kidnapped.”
“W–what did you just say?”
I’d heard him clearly. Kidnapped?
The serving boy explained what had happened from the beginning.
“She said she wanted to greet the guests who rented out the third floor today and told me to call her when they asked for the bill. So I went to the proprietress’s room to get her, and…”
He caught his breath and continued.
“The proprietress wasn’t there, and there was a letter pinned to the table with a dagger.”
He immediately used his lightness skill and sprinted off, and I ran after him.
The proprietress’s room was on the first floor, and he shoved the door open so hard it looked like it might break.
Bang!
And right there in front of us was the letter, just like he’d said, with a dagger stabbed through it.
Head Cook Hwang glared at the letter with a terrifying look in his eyes.
Just what was written in there to make him look like that?
[Dark Feather Assassin. You should never have refused our offer. You threw away your chance to return to us safely. Since you left our organization because of this woman, we will take her life as the price for your betrayal. You know this already, don’t you? The price of betrayal is always the life of the one you cherish most.]
When I read the letter, I was taken aback.
The Dark Feather Assassin.
He was a fairly well–known assassin.
He supposedly left a single black feather stuck in his victim’s chest as proof after each job, which was how he got that name.
But I hadn’t heard that name in years.
So rumors went around that he’d either died or retired from the trade…
“You were… the Dark Feather Assassin?”
He flinched at my question.
“Wh–when did you get here? No, how did you even follow me?”
“Did you forget I sent word through my Escort Guard? Obviously I said that because I can actually help.”
At that, he bit his lip.
“Are you going to turn me over to the authorities?”
“As far as I’m concerned, you being the Dark Feather Assassin is just a one–sided claim from whoever wrote this letter. I don’t feel like risking anything based on something that uncertain.”
I continued.
“The man I know is just the Head Cook of Golden Rooster Pavilion, the one who makes the best spicy braised chicken I’ve ever tasted.”
Thump.
He dropped to his knees in front of me.
“Please. I’m begging you, save my wife. Honestly, I’m confident when it comes to killing someone, but saving someone… that’s where I’m helpless.”
“Hmm… then let’s do this. I’ll keep your identity a secret, and in return, you keep quiet about me.”
“Really… that’s enough for you?”
“More than enough. I really want to keep eating your cooking.”
“Understood.”
“Then wait here for a bit.”
First, I headed back up to the third floor to send my fellow Deputy Merchant Lords on their way.
“Ah! Where did you go?”
“I went to thank the Head Cook for the meal.”
“I see. We were going to thank the proprietress as well, but…”
“They said she’s out at the moment.”
“Ah, then there’s nothing we can do.”
I politely suggested that we call it a night.
“How about we wrap up here? It’s getting pretty late.”
“That sounds wise. Everyone’s got things to do tomorrow, after all.”
“I had a great time today. I hope we can all meet again.”
“Same here.”
We exchanged warm farewells and parted ways.
As the host, I saw them off.
Now then, time to go rescue the proprietress.
It was a pretty urgent situation, so why was I taking it so easy? Because I had someone I could rely on.
‘Where… am I?’
When Jang Eun-ok came to her senses, she realized she was in an unfamiliar place.
It was dark on all sides, so she couldn’t see a thing.
She tried to piece her memories together.
She clearly remembered waiting for the serving boy to come call her so she could go greet the young master who had rented out the third floor.
He’d been visiting Golden Rooster Pavilion for several days, and thanks to that, she’d learned who he really was.
He was the one they called the Handsome Young Hero, a Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group.
Either way, he was a guest she was grateful for.
Especially since he never stopped praising her husband Hwang Seok’s cooking.
But then the window to her room had suddenly slid open, and the moment she turned her head toward it… her memories cut off.
‘Ah… I was kidnapped!’
Come to think of it, Hwang Seok had told her earlier that day, with a dark look on his face, not to stay alone.
He’d had a reason.
In truth, her husband Hwang Seok was an assassin.
She had first met him six years ago.
Jang Eun-ok’s beauty was famous in her village, and because of that, a rich man took her as his sixth wife.
The man was notorious as a lecher, so her parents hadn’t wanted to send her, but they had no choice.
No one in that village could afford to offend that rich man’s temper and keep living there.
So once she became his sixth wife, she might as well have been another item in his collection.
He kept her shut up in an annex, never letting her go anywhere.
Then one day.
She found a man collapsed in the courtyard of her annex.
The man in the mask looked suspicious to anyone’s eyes, but…
“Uh, excuse me? Hey, you?”
He barely managed to open his eyes and asked,
“Are you thinking of saving me?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t. I don’t mind dying like this.”
He said it with such desolate eyes that she could even less bring herself to leave him there.
So she personally treated his wounds.
Afterward, he spoke to her.
“You’re doing something foolish.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I killed the master of this house. I’m the enemy who killed your master.”
She sighed and answered,
“…I’m his wife.”
“What?”
“I’m his sixth wife.”
“Hack! Just how old are you, anyway?”
“I’m twenty–three this year.”
“The master’s already seventy…”
“I was sold here, that’s all. I’m just another piece in his collection. Since when does a collection have feelings?”
After that, he started visiting her annex from time to time, and new feelings began to bloom between them.
Then one day.
“Why do you look like that?”
“The master’s son sent word for me to come to his bedchamber.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be the master’s son step-mother?”
“That’s right.”
“That bastard.”
“Thanks for cursing him out for me.”
“So what are you going to do now?”
“What else can I do? I have to go.”
A hand suddenly caught Jang Eun-ok’s wrist.
She stared at him in surprise, eyes wide, as he made a serious request.
“Don’t go.”
“What?”
“Be my wife instead.”
And just like that, she ran away with him, which led to where they were now.
Clatter.
Just then, the door to the room she was in slid open and a group of people came in carrying lanterns.
“So you’re the bitch! The one who stole Dark Feather Assassin, the greatest treasure of our village!”
At those words, she couldn’t help but snap and shout back.
“He’s not some thing! Don’t talk about him like that!”
The man in front of her swung his hand toward her.
Smack–!
“Shut up!”
“Aaaah!”
The man drew his sword and pointed it at her as she lay sprawled on the floor.
Shing.
“Anyway, you’re the root of it all! Because of you, our senior threw away this path!”
She clenched her fists and argued back.
“Sure, maybe it is because of me. But he already hated being an assassin long before that.”
“I told you to shut it.”
He pressed the drawn sword against her shoulder.
“I’ll cut off your arm and use it to bargain with him. We’ll spare your life if he comes back to us.”
At that, the blood drained from Jang Eun-ok’s face.
She couldn’t bear the thought of him being dragged back onto the assassin’s path he’d barely escaped, but she was powerless to stop it.
He brought the sword down toward her.
She squeezed her eyes shut on instinct. But no pain came.
Clang–!
Instead, an odd sound rang in her ears.
It was clearly the sound of a sword being blocked.
“Huh?”
When she opened her eyes, a man was standing in front of her. He was the one who had stopped the sword.
“Who the hell are you?”
He completely ignored their shout and spoke to Jang Eun-ok instead.
“Proprietress, just focus on going back to him.”
“And you are?”
Jang Eun-ok felt like she knew who he was.
He was one of the Escort Guards of the handsome young man who had been frequenting Golden Rooster Pavilion lately. What was his name again… Jin Yu?
A fight broke out between them almost immediately.
They snuffed out the lanterns.
Fighting in the dark was a disadvantage for anyone who hadn’t undergone special training.
But what they overlooked was that their opponent, Jin Yu, was an assassin too – one who had already reached the pinnacle of the killing arts.
Crash!
Just then, the wall of the room they were in shattered.
It turned out not to be a wall at all, but a window.
The outside view opened up wide.
Thanks to the bright moonlight, Jang Eun-ok finally realized she was on the top floor of a tall pavilion.
Right then.
“Proprietress, jump.”
“What?”
“Senior Hwang is waiting. Jump.”
At his words, she nodded. Then, without a shred of hesitation, she squeezed her eyes shut and leaped straight down.
If she hit the ground like this, she’d definitely die.
But,
Thud–!
She soon realized she was cradled in someone’s arms.
Hwang Seok had timed it perfectly and caught her as she fell.
Wrapped in his familiar, warm embrace and scent, Jang Eun-ok called out to him.
“Hwang…”
At her call, Hwang Seok spoke.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve explained things properly.”
“It’s okay.”
She gently stroked his cheek.
“Thank heaven I wasn’t too late.”
“Honestly, it almost turned into a disaster, but a warrior named Jin Yu helped me.”
At that, Hwang Seok nodded.
“So that’s why he was so unhurried – he’d had someone he trusted.”
“Huh?”
“That person over there is the one who helped.”
He landed lightly on a nearby rooftop and pointed.
Over there, a masked man was moving with flowing grace, sword flashing.
She couldn’t see his face, but she felt certain she knew who he was.
Even his back looked handsome.
But her husband was, and always would be, Hwang Seok alone.
The next day, we headed to Golden Rooster Pavilion.
Head Cook Hwang Seok had said he wanted to thank us and treat us to dinner.
I’d been planning to come back soon anyway, so it worked out nicely.
Besides, I’d felt bad that Escort Guard Jin Yu had missed the gathering yesterday.
“Welcome.”
Proprietress Jang Eun-ok greeted us personally.
“Thank you for welcoming us like this.”
“Please, come in. Welcome.”
We went up to the third floor, and before long the table was filled with dishes.
Last night, we wiped out Dark Village, the assassin group that had kidnapped Proprietress Jang Eun-ok.
I briefly considered turning them over to the magistrate, but changed my mind and silenced them cleanly.
If their tongues loosened and Head Cook Hwang Seok’s past came to light, that would be troublesome too.
Now, the only other person who knew about Head Cook Hwang Seok’s past was the serving boy.
I personally picked up some food and put it on Escort Guard Jin Yu’s plate.
“Eat up.”
“For my lord to serve me personally… I’m honored.”
“No need to be so formal. I’m the one who’s grateful. Thanks to you, the proprietress avoided a disaster.”
While we were eating, Head Cook Hwang and Proprietress Jang came over to us together.
“We can’t thank you enough for the great favor you granted us.”
“I’m just glad nothing worse happened.”
Head Cook Hwang continued.
“I have no idea how we could ever repay this grace.”
I set my chopsticks down and said,
“We’ll be leaving this place the day after tomorrow.”
“I see.”
“If, the next time we come through here, I can eat your spicy braised chicken again, that’ll be more than enough repayment.”
I went on.
“Will that be possible?”
“Of course. Please, come visit us again anytime.”
.
.
.
They went back downstairs, and we returned to focusing on our meal.
“Wow, this is really incredible!”
At Palgap’s words, we all nodded in agreement.
Maybe I should suggest opening a branch in Hubei Province someday.
If we can just recreate this flavor, success would practically be guaranteed.
I headed downstairs.
They’d said tonight’s meal was on the house, but I still felt I had to pay.
“Is there anything you need, sir?”
I shook my head at the serving boy’s question.
“I’d like to settle the bill.”
“Huh? But today is…”
“I know. I just don’t really like eating for free, that’s all.”
Saying that, I took out some money from my pouch and paid.
“Um, by the way… is it true that Head Cook used to be the Dark Feather Assassin?”
I shook my head at that.
“No. They were mistaken.”
“I knew it! There’s no way someone that kind could be like that.”
He kept nodding over and over.
You always had to be careful around serving boys – you never knew which one might be a Hao Clan informant.
When I looked outside, I saw Head Cook Hwang and Proprietress Jang standing together under a tree.
Suddenly, what he’d said yesterday came back to me.
“If Eun-ok had died, I’d have wiped them all out and burned to death together with Golden Rooster Pavilion.”
But in this life, Golden Rooster Pavilion remained intact.
And the couple could go on living, with only each other in their eyes.
Watching them, I felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
As I watched the couple chatting affectionately, I gently stroked Geumryeong.
“Kui?”
Lonely? No, that’s not it…
So why do my eyes sting a little?
–TL Notes–
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