Chapter 13: Traditions (1)

A small child with black hair that had a reddish sheen, like she'd had it dyed. Judging by the child's height and build, she appeared to be around eleven or twelve years old.

Which, when you think about it, isn't that far off from this body's fifteen years. But my actual self, Seo Ji-hoon, was thirty-four.

Wait, I've been here a year... does that make me thirty-five now?

Either way, the mental age gap was too large for me to feel any sense of peer connection. Instead, the child felt more like an adorable niece, one from a rather affluent family.

Even at a quick glance, you could tell the clothes she was wearing were expensive for this time period.

'Given that Jin Hayeon referred to her as Young Lady, it's clear this isn't just any ordinary kid.'

Upon closer inspection, both the child's hair and eyes held a slight reddish tint.

'How fascinating.'

Maybe because I was staring intently at the child called Seon-ah, she bashfully lowered her head and mumbled in a tiny voice. Not only did the child lower her head, but she also clutched a small doll she was holding while fidgeting with her small fingers, clearly showing signs of nervousness.

“I-I was just… curious…”

Finding her demeanor both pitiful and cute, I unconsciously adopted a tone used when speaking to children.

"What were you curious about~?"

In response, Seon-ah kept her head down but raised a tiny hand and a small finger.

And her finger was pointing directly at me.

"Me?"

At my question, the child's head bobbed slightly up and down.

"I wonder why you were curious about me~?"

"I... I heard the adults talking. They said the new... new Heavenly Demon's disciple is very smart..."

I got a rough idea of what had happened.

It looked like my Master and brothers had been talking me up all over the place after that banquet.

And as that rumor spread far and wide, it apparently reached this little one.

While I was pondering this issue.

A cold voice escaped from Jin Hayeon's lips.

“Young Master Il-mok is busy preparing for his entrance exam. Do not disturb him."

At this cold dismissal, the child's shoulders, who had been shy just from making eye contact, slumped even further.

'I know she's got issues because of her Demonic Art, but isn't this too harsh for a child?'

Sighing deeply at Jin Hayeon's wonderful personality, I spoke up.

"It's fine. If she’s just watching, it won't interfere with my studies, right?"

"But..."

As Jin Hayeon tried to object in a cold tone, I quickly turned my gaze to look at the child called Seon-ah.

Maybe surprised that I’d spoken up for her, she lifted her head and stared at me with these huge, rabbit-like eyes.

'Keuk.'

When the child was cowering, I felt a strong sense of pity, but the moment I met those bright, innocent eyes, I felt like I had been struck in the heart.

'So cute!'

How should I put it?

In modern terms, it was like when a cute stray kitten decides you’re going to be its human.

Naturally, a strange thought also crossed my mind.

'What kind of place is this anyway?'

It wasn't enough that they had Jin Hayeon, who was so gorgeous she could make movie stars jealous. Now they had a little girl who was as cute as a professional child actor. I had no idea why a psycho cult was hoarding all these good-looking people.

“Can you promise me you'll just sit over there and be super quiet?”

The kid looked up at me with those bunny eyes and nodded her head so hard I thought it would fall off.

The sight of such a cute child adorably bobbing her head up and down was quite an attack on my heart.

Without realizing it, the corners of my mouth curled up as I approached the child and extended my pinky finger.

"Let's make a promise with this uncle... ahem, big brother."

"???"

She had no idea what I was doing, so I had to show her how to hook our pinkies and then 'stamp' it with our thumbs.

“See, link your pinky like this, and then stamp it. If you break your promise, scary people will come and get you. Got it?”

“Yeees~!”

The child's earlier timidity vanished, replaced by a bright exclamation. And beside me, Jin Hayeon simply let out a deep sigh with a cold expression for some reason.

Paying her no mind, I ended the conversation so that she could no longer scold the child again.

“She promised to be quiet, so how about we get started with my lesson now?”

Jin Hayeon looked alternately between the child and me once again before sighing deeply and responding with her usual cold face.

"Very well."

* * *

My daily routine proceeded as usual even though there was an additional cute observer.

Seon-ah, true to her word, remained silent and simply watched.

The lesson had been a solid two hours long before Jin Hayeon announced, "Let's take a short break."

"Haah..."

A sigh escaped my lips involuntarily. Even for someone accustomed to studying for exams like me, two hours of uninterrupted learning was no easy feat, especially given my circumstances.

'So this is why 50-minute classes and 10-minute breaks became the golden rule, huh?'

I cleared my head of these useless thoughts.

Jin Hayeon sat across from me, sipping tea to quench her thirst after talking for two hours straight.

"Haa."

Naturally, another sigh escaped.

'They call it a break, but there's nothing to do.'

Back in the modern world, I could at least use my phone to entertain myself, but there was no such thing here. And even if I were to do something on my own, I'm pretty sure Jin Hayeon would stop me before I could do anything.

Although she said she was assigned as a maid and tutor for me, she felt more like a warden than a servant and tutor.

'Forget the Demonic Art. I'm gonna go crazy from sheer boredom and frustration first.'

Lost in thought, I met the gaze of the little girl who had been watching me.

"What were you doing~?"

When I asked with a smile, the child blushed and answered.

“I-I was… l-listening to the lesson.”

“Oh yeah? Did you understand everything that sister was saying?"

"Yes..."

While the child’s bashful response was cute, it also made me wonder.

‘This child is… Eleven? Twelve maybe? Twelve years old seems a bit young to understand such complex content. Oh, that’s it. Since the child seemed to be from a well-off family, she must have started her education early.’

It hit me then that she might be studying for the same entrance exam I was.

"What's your name, little one? I'm Il-mok."

Hearing my question, the child fidgeted with her doll with her small hands and answered.

"Se... Seon-ah. Hyeokryeon Seon-ah."

‘Hyeokryeon...where have I heard that before?'

After briefly searching my memories, I remembered something.

'Master's name was Hyeolryeon Il-hwi, wasn't it?'

I then remembered that my Master had said that the Blood Shadow Eighteen Swords, the martial art he had mastered before the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts, was a specialty of the Hyeokryeon Family. Connecting the dots, the Hyeokryeon Family had to be a big deal in this cult.

'So that's why Jin Hayeon called the child young lady.'

She was the daughter of a prestigious family within the Demonic Cult and likely a relative of my Master, the Heavenly Demon.

'Should I keep using honorifics then? No, I'm Master's disciple, so am I actually higher in hierarchy?'

Our positions within the Demonic Cult seemed to be on a similar level. In that case, it probably wouldn't be a problem for me, as the elder, to speak informally.

"Then, what's the name of that doll you're holding, Seon-ah?"

"Um, M-Mommy."

"Mommy?"

When I asked again with a puzzled expression, Seon-ah nodded.

"Y-yes, Mommy doesn't hate Seon-ah like my real mother does, and she doesn't leave me alone. S, so Mommy is my real mother."

"......"

I suddenly felt like I had walked in on a conversation I was definitely not supposed to hear.

"Ahem. So, Seon-ah," I said, forcing a smile, "what do you usually do?"

"Similar to Big Brother. I study, and practice martial arts..."

"Only studying and training? You don't get to play?"

"I... I just stay with Mommy."

When she speaks of Mommy this time, she likely refers to the doll rather than her real mother.

‘We're quite similar.'

A sudden sense of loneliness washed over me.

When I think about it, I also spend all day studying and training, with no time to socialize or relieve stress.

That banquet last time?

That was just a minefield where I had to worry about screwing up.

Jin Hayeon, who was constantly by my side, is more like an inhuman machine. She only engages in work-related conversations.

Just as she has her doll, my only friend is my diary.

The diary where I poured out my frustrations about this damned cult every single day.

"We are the same, then."

Perhaps feeling some inexplicable kinship, I felt more comfortable talking with Seon-ah.

“Do you want to come visit often? Big Brother is happy to have someone to talk with like this.”

"Really?"

"Of course."

Seon-ah smiled brightly and asked without avoiding my gaze this time.

At that moment, a cold voice interrupted our conversation.

"Young Master. This promise may cause problems..."

The second she started talking, the little girl’s happy expression just deflated.

“Now, now, Seon-ah kept her promise, didn’t she? I too will maintain my current schedule, so don’t be such a worrywart.”

Perhaps reassured by my firm response, the child looked up at me again.

“So, are we going to do… that thing again?”

“That thing?”

When I asked in a puzzled tone, Seon-ah wiggled her tiny finger.

"Ah! The promise?"

"Yes! The promise!"

Seeing the cute little one's bright smile, I felt some of the stress that had been building up during my confinement in the Demonic Cult dissipate a bit.

I smiled pleasantly as I hooked fingers with the child and made the promise.

Jin Hayeon, watching this scene from the side, sighed deeply.

'I know my exam is important, but why is she being so over-the-top about this? If she's so worried about my time, she should've tried to get me out of that stupid banquet!'

If the issue was the reduction in study and training time, that banquet was a far more serious problem. As if to answer my question, Jin Hayeon's voice echoed in my mind through the voice transmission technique.

—Young Master, getting close to the Hyeokryeon Family's daughter is dangerous.

"???"

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

I must have had a 'What the fuck?' look on my face, because she started to send another message. But before she could, a party crasher showed up.

Creeak. Bang!

Without even the courtesy of a knock, the main door of the Windrock Palace burst open.

I instinctively snapped my head toward the entrance.

Standing there was a beautiful woman who seemed to be in her early thirties, her cold eyes scanning the interior of the palace. Behind her, I glimpsed the figures of several men and women.

The woman's eyes changed subtly when she saw Seon-ah near me, and Seon-ah's shoulders hunched when her eyes met the woman's.

"M-mother..."

Only after hearing Seon-ah's timid voice did I notice that Seon-ah's face resembled the woman's.

As I realized that the woman was Seon-ah's mother, her expression turned even more vicious as she glared at me.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Her tone was as vicious as her expression.

However, there was one more woman here who could match her viciousness.

“What is the meaning of your rudeness, Lady Cheonghwa? This place is where Young Master Il-mok, the disciple of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons, holds his studies.”

Jin Hayeon's cold reply made Lady Cheonghwa’s head whip around to face her.

“You are the one who is utterly disrespectful. It doesn’t matter how esteemed he is; he’s merely the disciple of the Heavenly Demon, not the Supreme One himself. Are you suggesting that the Supreme One’s disciple is above the great Hyeokryeon Family? And how dare a mere servant talk back to me and try to borrow the Supreme One’s authority for her own gain!”

Her viciousness rivaled that of mothers-in-law in K-dramas.

It looked like natural-born spite was stronger than Demonic-Art-induced emotion loss. Jin Hayeon was actually speechless.

Lady Cheonghwa continued her attack.

“The Eighth Young Master has only recently joined the Divine Cult, so his ignorance of our customs is understandable. You, however, are failing to educate the Eighth Young Master. You shall be punished accordingly!!”

Traditions? What traditions?

While that thought came first, there was something more important.

"Who are you to barge into another's residence and create a scene?"

Even if Jin Hayeon was more of a warden than a servant, she was still my subordinate.

'Really, there's a limit to how much you can disrespect people.'

Berating my servant in front of me was no different from berating me directly. In fact, it was arguably more insulting. As I stepped between the two women, Lady Cheonghwa glared at me with venomous eyes. Had I been my old self, I might have cowered under such a gaze. In modern terms, she was the equivalent of a chaebol family's daughter-in-law.

But now it just made me laugh inwardly.

'So what if you're a chaebol family's daughter-in-law? I'm the favorite disciple of a cult leader!'

Though it wasn't something to be proud of, it carried tremendous weight within the cult.