"... So you were wandering the streets after being fired from your guard job?"
"Who said I was fired! It's a vacation, a vacation!"
Heuk-yeong glared at Baek Su-ryong, who was walking beside him.
His hands were full of various bundles, though the number had halved since they first met.
This was because Heuk-yeong was carrying half of the luggage.
'Why am I doing this...'
Baek Su-ryong had asked her what she was doing there when they met on the street a little while ago, and since she wasn't doing anything in particular, she couldn't help but hesitate.
Then Baek Su-ryong suddenly handed over the luggage he was carrying.
"If you have nothing to do, help me out. I'm busy preparing for the new students' entrance exam these days."
"What?"
"I'll buy you a meal later. For now, just help me carry this."
"Suddenly, what..."
"I'm taking all this to the Cheongryong Academy. Are you very busy?"
"Give it to me."
...
And so, Heuk-yeong ended up following Baek Su-ryong, carrying half of his luggage. 'This way, I can enter the Cheongryong Academy confidently.'
The two roamed the city like peddlers, carrying bundles and backpacks.
"When the entrance exam starts, we need a lot of supplies. The student supervisor told me to buy them myself."
"I see."
"The problem is, why do I have to go buy them? I came to teach martial arts, not to babysit kids."
"Well..."
"They pay me peanuts, yet they make me do so much work... Sigh. I wonder if things will change once the semester starts. It's hard to make a living, isn't it?"
"..."
Baek Su-ryong grumbled nonstop, and Heuk-yeong had no choice but to agree a little.
But it's hard for a conversation to flow one-sidedly forever.
"So why were you there? Is something wrong?"
"Well..."
In the end, Heuk-yeong ended up explaining why she was alone.
Of course, she regretted it now.
"... Anyway, I wasn't fired."
"If you weren't fired, why did you look like you were? If you got a vacation, you should enjoy it properly."
"I don't need a vacation."
Heuk-yeong said firmly, her expression hardening.
And she soon regretted it. 'Why am I saying this to this man?' He wouldn't understand even if she explained, as he knew nothing about her.
Was it because they had been seeing each other every day in the same space for a month? Because he was the benefactor who restored Elder Gongson's health? Or was it because of those occasionally unfathomable eyes of his?
At that moment, Baek Su-ryong turned his head and looked at Heuk-yeong intently.
Feeling like her thoughts were exposed, Heuk-yeong held her breath for a moment.
"We've been walking for a while. Aren't your legs tired? Shall we take a break at a nearby tea house?"
"... I'm fine. And didn't you say you were busy earlier? It would be better to go straight to Cheongryong Academy..."
"Even if I finish quickly, they'll just give me more work. Ah, let's go over there."
"... Do as you please."
Heuk-yeong nodded with a resigned heart.
Anyway, to enter Cheongryong Academy without any issues, she had to follow this man.
After a while, the two entered a tea house and put down their heavy luggage.
As they ordered tea and looked out the window, they heard whispers around them.
Heuk-yeong's keen hearing didn't miss a single voice.
"Oh my, look over there..."
"Wow, what a handsome couple."
"If only the guy wasn't there, I'd try talking to her..."
"Stop it. Do you think you stand a chance with your face?"
"... But honestly, isn't the guy better looking?"
"You, you! Is that your taste?"
One good thing about being with Baek Su-ryong was that pesky flies no longer bothered her. 'Though being compared in looks is a bit unpleasant.'
While looking out the window, Heuk-yeong glanced at Baek Su-ryong, who was drinking tea.
His white skin and sharp jawline made it hard to believe he practiced martial arts, and his deep eyes seemed to draw you in if you stared too long.
His fingers, gently holding the teacup, were more delicate and long than most women's.
'He is handsome.'
Though she had never been particularly interested in men's appearances, even by objective aesthetic standards, Baek Su-ryong was an exceptional beauty. '...
Though he doesn't seem to be aware of it.'
In fact, most of the people who had secretly peeked into Baekryongjang over the past month were women.
Baek Su-ryong probably didn't know how many women Heuk-yeong had quietly chased away.
"Why? Is there something on my face?"
"... No."
In fact, Heuk-yeong had once investigated Baek Su-ryong.
It was a necessary measure for the safety of Elder Gongson, whom she served.
'His past was certainly clean.'
Baek Su-ryong had lived in the countryside until he joined Cheongryong Academy.
His father, who had never made a name for himself in the martial world, ran a martial arts school in the countryside, and his mother died shortly after giving birth to him.
Baek Su-ryong, who had been weak since childhood like his mother, reportedly became a different person after surviving a major crisis.
'And at Cheongryong Academy... he did several unbelievable things.'
He declared he would make Cheongryong Academy win at the Heavenly Martial Festival.
He made a bet with Namgung-su, a renowned instructor, on whose student would enter with better grades.
Heuk-yeong knew all of this.
Of course, she reported everything to Gongson-su as well.
- Haha! Is that so? I guess I have to work even harder for Teacher Baek!
Gongson-su just laughed it off after hearing about the bet.
Heuk-yeong couldn't understand that either, but since the elder said it was fine, she didn't need to understand.
"It's your first vacation, so why not enjoy it a bit more? Don't frown so much."
Baek Su-ryong said leisurely while sipping his tea.
At his gentle smile, several women in the tea house squealed.
But Heuk-yeong replied more bluntly than usual.
"My body doesn't feel the need to rest."
"... Hmm. It seems you need some counseling."
"Counseling?"
Baek Su-ryong sighed softly and looked at Heuk-yeong's stiff face before speaking.
"When I see you, I think you're like the elder's shadow, just like your name."
"That's exactly my role."
Heuk-yeong replied with a proud expression.
However, what Baek Su-ryong wanted to say was different from what she thought.
Baek Su-ryong placed his teacup on the table and spoke.
"So earlier, were you standing there blankly like a shadow abandoned by its master?"
Heuk-yeong placed her teacup down roughly and glared at Baek Su-ryong.
"Please refrain from presumptuous remarks."
"Seems like I hit the mark."
Though Heuk-yeong glared fiercely at Baek Su-ryong, his relaxed smile didn't change.
"If, hypothetically, the elder told you to die, would you?"
"Of course."
"If the elder ordered you to kill me?"
"I wouldn't hesitate for a moment."
Though she answered with a deliberately cold smile, Baek Su-ryong's expression didn't change.
Instead, he smiled as if he expected it.
"Last question. How would you feel if the elder suddenly passed away one day?"
"..."
Heuk-yeong was at a loss for words.
She had never considered such a scenario.
Of course, she was prepared for the fact that he would pass away someday...
But imagining that 'if' made her mind go blank.
Baek Su-ryong lowered his voice and asked seriously.
"Don't you understand why the elder gave you a vacation?"
"That's... because Cheongryong Academy doesn't allow outsiders, so... I had no choice..."
Baek Su-ryong refuted Heuk-yeong's stammering answer point by point.
"Then he could have told you to wait at the entrance. Why did he force you to take a vacation and wander around?"
Heuk-yeong couldn't answer.
She had never thought the elder's order was strange.
Baek Su-ryong clicked his tongue as he watched her.
'As expected.'
After observing them for a month, Baek Su-ryong realized that their relationship was not the typical one between a guard and the person they protect.
Not that it was an inappropriate relationship or anything.
"You might think you're protecting the elder, but from what I see, you're the one more dependent on him."
"What...!"
Heuk-yeong reacted defensively, unable to accept it.
However, she couldn't help but fall silent at Baek Su-ryong's next words.
"The elder thinks of you as a daughter."
"!!"
- I don't know how you see me, but I think of you as a daughter.
There was no way she could forget.
It was something she had heard just a few hours ago.
But how did this man know something she had only learned herself after years?
"Of course, you also think of the elder as a father."
"How, how did you..."
Heuk-yeong stammered in surprise.
Baek Su-ryong chuckled as he picked up his teacup.
"I'm very perceptive. And you're not. How could you think he abandoned you when he gave you a vacation to foster independence?"
"That's..."
If she had a father, she wished he would be like this.
As an orphan, Heuk-yeong often thought that while serving Gongson-su.
Baek Su-ryong noticed Heuk-yeong's fingers trembling as she held the teacup.
'Should I call this a side effect of learning assassin martial arts?'
He had known for a while that Heuk-yeong had learned assassin martial arts.
And at a fairly high level, too.
"It must be unfamiliar, feeling such emotions towards others."
"..."
Assassins are trained from a young age to suppress their emotions.
Heuk-yeong must have undergone such training.
But training is just training, and over time, human instincts return.
'It's been several years since she was assigned to protect Gongson-su.'
During those years, the human emotions she had killed as an assassin slowly revived.
Little by little, very slowly.
Only recently did Heuk-yeong realize she was different from before.
But in terms of emotions, she was still like a child.
Her body was an adult, but her mind was like a child blindly dependent on her father.
"I... I..."
Heuk-yeong looked confused.
She looked at Baek Su-ryong, then at her reflection in the teacup, and then back at Baek Su-ryong.
"Am I doing something wrong..."
"You're not doing anything wrong."
Baek Su-ryong said firmly.
An assassin having human emotions.
In the past, it might have been considered a failure as an assassin, but now he didn't want to say that.
After all, she wasn't an assassin anymore.
"The elder wouldn't want you to go back to how you were. If he did, he would have dismissed you long ago."
"..."
"Think carefully about why the elder gave you free time as a vacation, why he wanted you to be on your own instead of being his shadow."
Baek Su-ryong finished his tea with a slurp and stood up.
He had given enough consultation.
Beyond this, it was something she had to think about and decide for herself.
"Let's go. If we return too late, the student supervisor will scold me."
"... Yes."
The two left the tea house and walked together.
Baek Su-ryong walked a little ahead, and Heuk-yeong followed a step behind.
There was no conversation.
'This is so awkward.'
He wondered if he had meddled unnecessarily.
But when he saw Heuk-yeong alone, looking completely lost, he couldn't help it.
- In the future, there will be times when you see students lost and wandering.
As a teacher, you must never ignore those children.
He recalled something he had heard from Maek Geuk-ryeom not long ago... 'Come to think of it, she's not even a student.'
He decided to consider it a bonus for the money he received from Gongson-su.
"You."
Walking a step behind, Heuk-yeong suddenly spoke.
"Do you know about the elder and my identity?"
"... I have a rough idea. I'm not an idiot."
For a month, he had heard words like 'emperor' and 'imperial palace' quite often.
It would have been stranger not to notice.
Gongson-su was probably one of the unimaginable powerhouses in the imperial palace.
"I can't tell you about the elder, but... I'm from the Jinyiwei."
"..."
The Jinyiwei was the emperor's personal guard and secret police.
Even powerful figures feared the Jinyiwei, and their power and authority were immense.
Currently, the head of the Jinyiwei was considered one of the top ten martial artists in the world.
"I was taken in as a war orphan by the Jinyiwei, learned martial arts, and carried out various missions."
Heuk-yeong spoke in a calm voice about herself.
It was a story she would never tell anyone, but now she just wanted to talk.
"I've carried out countless missions, including infiltration, assassination, and operations. Then, a few years ago, the emperor assigned me to the elder."
"Assigned you?"
When Baek Su-ryong turned his head to ask, Heuk-yeong nodded as their eyes met.
"Since then, I'm not part of the Jinyiwei but the elder's personal guard. If the elder passes away... I'll be free. The elder burned all my records in the Jinyiwei and gave me a new identity."
"... You're telling an incredible story so casually."
"You're taking it more casually than I expected. I thought you'd be shocked."
"You're terrible at jokes."
Baek Su-ryong chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.
Before they knew it, the sign of Cheongryong Academy was visible in the distance.
The two entered the Cheongryong Academy, carrying their loads.
Wow!
Cheers erupted from the direction of the training ground, as if something was happening.
Heuk-yeong suddenly asked.
"Will it be okay?"
"What?"
"After the elder enters Cheongryong Academy. If other students pick on him because of his age..."
"Pick on him? What does it matter?"
Baek Su-ryong smiled confidently, his gaze directed toward the source of the cheers.
"I've taught him to be strong enough."
He had a strong feeling that his students would be there.
Puhong!
Jo Mak-saeng bent over like a shrimp after being hit in the abdomen.
For a moment, he couldn't breathe, and the sky turned dark.
"Huff...!"
Jo Mak-saeng looked up in disbelief at the opponent who had done this to him.
"Oh dear. I'm sorry. I didn't expect you couldn't block that..."
With an expression that showed he wasn't sorry at all, Gongson-su looked down at Jo Mak-saeng.