When the west dawns - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“The sky looks clear. Doesn’t seem like it’ll rain today.”

Seo Hyo glanced out the window as she retied her hair. After brushing some dust off her clothes and slinging her painting tube over her shoulder, she was ready to head out.

Inside the tube was a sketch of the hairpin that once belonged to Lord Ga, the man who had tried to strangle her two days ago. From today, she planned to start asking around about it.

“It’s quite an unusual design,” she thought. “Maybe I can find some clue easier than expected.”

Her plan was simple: find the hairpin first—then maybe she’d finally understand the strange, uneasy feeling that lingered inside her.

“…Huh?”

But before she could even step out the door, she hit her first obstacle.

Actually, not even the door. She hadn’t even left her room yet.

“Where are all my shoes?”

Seo Hyo froze in front of the empty shoe cabinet. She had been about to change from her indoor slippers into outdoor shoes—but the cabinet was completely empty.

Last night, there had been four pairs neatly lined up. Now they had vanished without a trace.

Not only her everyday shoes, but also her wooden clogs for rainy days and the nice leather shoes she only wore on special occasions—all gone.

“What in the world…”

Baffled, Seo Hyo wandered around her room before spotting Cha Eon passing by in the hall.

“Cha Eon! My shoes are gone!”

“That’s correct,” he replied calmly and kept walking.

Seo Hyo blinked, then hurried after him in her soft indoor slippers that dragged noisily on the floor.

“What do you mean, ‘that’s correct’? What did you do to my shoes?”

“I washed them,” he said.

“All four pairs? At once?”

“They were all dirty.”

“Liar.”

Seo Hyo frowned. She wasn’t a child who went stomping through mud, and none of the shoes had even been washed ten days ago. There was no doubt about it—Cha Eon had hidden them to stop her from going out.

He hated even hearing about Lord Ga, let alone her looking for him.

Still, wasn’t this a little too childish?

She glared at the butler carrying sacks of rice.

“Fine, then where are my wooden clogs? Don’t tell me you washed those too.”

“You can’t exactly wash wooden clogs,” she added pointedly.

She hadn’t planned to wear them on a sunny day, but she at least wanted to make him surrender.

“I lent them out,” he said flatly.

“What?”

“The neighbor’s daughter needed a model to make her own pair.”

“Does that sound believable to you?”

Seo Hyo’s jaw dropped. His answer was so ridiculous that she almost smacked him. Narrowing her eyes, she played her final card.

“You didn’t lend out my leather shoes too, did you? Those are my favorite.”

Let’s see how he talks his way out of this one.

Cha Eon dusted off his hands after carrying two sacks at once and turned to her, utterly shameless.

“Why don’t you check for yourself?”

His expression was so brazen that Seo Hyo wondered if she’d heard him wrong.

“They’re somewhere in the house.”

“Give them back.”

He looked down at his sleeve as if he hadn’t heard. Seo Hyo scowled, trying to look as threatening as possible. Was he really hiding her shoes just to keep her trapped inside?

He could be stubborn sometimes, but this was too much.

“If you don’t give them back, I’ll go out just like this!”

“Perfect. Those soft slippers won’t get you very far anyway.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Butler?”

“Since you’ll be having lunch at home, is there anything special you’d like to eat?”

That was it—he wasn’t going to listen. Seo Hyo turned on her heel and went back to her room, pretending to give up.

Relieved, Cha Eon returned to work—only to freeze when she came out again.

Under her lovely lavender dress peeked a pair of ragged, ancient shoes.

“Aren’t those the ones I threw away eight years ago?”

“You remember well,” she said proudly.

“I pretended to throw them out, but after you went to cook, I took them back. They’re too comfortable to give up.”

“Those…”

“Guess it was worth hiding them after all. I’m heading out now, Cha Eon.”

But before she could take two steps, he grabbed her by the back of the neck. Every time this happened, she felt like a child being caught by her mother dog. Seo Hyo glared up at him.

When he turned her around, his expression was unusually serious.

He sighed, and something about that sigh softened her irritation.

“I’ll bring them,” he said quietly. “Change into those instead.”

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t?”

“You’re determined to go. But if you wear those old things, dirt will get in through the cracks.”

He brought her outdoor shoes—completely dry despite his earlier claim they’d been washed.

Seo Hyo watched him, uneasy. He’d been by her side for so long, and yet he’d never opposed her like this without explanation. Even when he was stubborn, he always had a reason.

He knelt and gently helped her put the shoes on. For someone who’d hidden them just to keep her home, his touch was strangely careful.

When he stood up, their eyes met.

“Don’t frown,” he murmured.

Seo Hyo poked his forehead.

“If you’d just tell me what’s bothering you,” she thought. “Why you’ve been looking so dark lately… I’d help if I could.”

It didn’t feel right, always being the one cared for.

Cha Eon was her butler—his duty was to protect her—but lately, Seo Hyo wanted to protect him, too.

Maybe it was because of what Mirang had said—the man she’d mistaken for Cha Eon had such a lonely, pained face.

Could Cha Eon be making that same face somewhere she couldn’t see? Without telling her why?

Just thinking about it made her chest tighten.

“Again with the frown. What’s got you so worried?”

Cha Eon looked at her intently. Just as she thought he was about to give a serious answer, he reached out and pinched her cheek hard.

“Ow! Ow ow ow! It hurts!”

Her soft cheeks stretched like sticky rice cakes.

“You, my lady,” he said sternly, “always attract trouble wherever you go. I’m worried that if you step outside, misfortune will start following you like a chain. Understand? Hmm?”

“Ow! Let go!”

“Do you understand?”

“Ahh!”

Finally, when her cheeks turned bright pink, he released her. Seo Hyo glared furiously, ready to kick him—but when he reached to pinch her again, she shrieked and ran away.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

She ran out the gate and kept running until her breath came in gasps.

“That horrible Cha Eon! So mean! I take back my worry for him!”

He didn’t even try to understand her feelings!

“Hmph!”

Pouting, she hurried toward her original destination.

“If it didn’t end up in a ditch, then it probably turned up as stolen goods.”

Seo Hyo went straight to the most reputable shop she knew. Of course, there were no stores that openly dealt in stolen items, so this one had a sign that read ‘Books & Scrolls’ out front.

It did sell and rent books, but the real business was known only to those in the know.

“I’m looking for a hairpin like this,” she said, showing the shopkeeper—a man with a goat-like beard—the drawing. “It was lost about a year ago inside the city.”

The man owed her a favor. When his only son had fallen sick with stomach pain, Seo Hyo had given him medicine that worked wonders. Since then, he’d always let her borrow popular books first.

“Lost a year ago… that’ll be hard to trace,” he said reluctantly, peering at the paper.

After two quick glances, he shook his head.

“Never seen it. Definitely hasn’t passed through here.”

“Could it have been taken to another region?” she asked.

“Hmm… unlikely.”

He stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“The design is unique, yes, but it’s not a royal treasure or a famous person’s heirloom. No one would go to the trouble of smuggling it far. Either it’s still in the city, or someone already owns it.”

He gave her the names of a few other dealers. Seo Hyo thanked him brightly, but his gaze turned uneasy.

“You’re not going alone, are you?”

Blinking, Seo Hyo tilted her head, her innocent eyes sparkling.

“Where’s your servant?”

“My butler. He’s at home today—I came by myself.”

…And probably will tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, too.

Even without saying it, the man seemed to understand, his expression tightening.

“Is it dangerous?” she asked.

“There are a few places where one shouldn’t even set foot,” he warned with a click of his tongue.

His last words echoed in her mind:

“An unguarded flower only makes people want to pluck it.”

“…Flowers have their own will too, you know,” Seo Hyo muttered, folding the list. “Do I really look that defenseless?”

The shops were all within the city. Since her pharmacy was just outside the walls, she only needed fifteen minutes to reach them. She decided to visit them all in one go.

Unfortunately, every single lead turned up empty.

Still, her courage grew. None of the shops were deep in alleys, and there were always people passing nearby.

The next day, she marched into the city again—
and at the last shop on the list, she finally met the trouble the shopkeeper had warned her about.

“That looks familiar,” a man drawled.

One look at him and Seo Hyo could tell he was trouble. He was dressed in cheap silk, his fan tacky with brass ornaments—exactly the kind of man who hung around gambling dens pretending to be a noble.

Still, Seo Hyo was tired and desperate for any clue. There were two other people in the shop, which made her feel somewhat safe.

“Where did you see it?” she asked.

The man grinned, pleased to have caught her attention.

“Well, this hairpin here…”

He reached out to snatch the paper from her hands. Even when she pointed out that he shouldn’t need to take it if he already recognized it, he didn’t back down.

“I just want to make sure,” he said, finally pulling it from her grasp.

He skimmed the drawing lazily, nodding.

“Looks like a love token to me.”

Seo Hyo knew exactly what he was implying.

In their culture, a woman’s hairpin—or a man’s donggot—wasn’t something you exchanged lightly.

So to him, she was a woman searching for her lover’s lost keepsake.

“How sharp-tongued,” he teased. “Tell me—did you give it to him, or did he give it to you?”

“Just tell me where you saw it,” she said flatly.

“Ooh, feisty.”

He laughed, circling her with mock admiration. “A beauty like you walking around alone… I think I see what’s going on here.”

If only I were the goddess of fire, Seo Hyo thought grimly. Or even of insects—then I could summon an army of ants to bite your back raw.

It was times like this she regretted having such a small divine power.

She reached to snatch the paper back, but he lifted it high above her head.

“Come on, don’t be like that. I was about to tell you something useful.”

“No thanks. Just return the drawing.”

“Cute when you stand on tiptoe like that.”

I’ll look up your name in the medicine cabinet when I get home, she thought furiously. Missing: brain. Or maybe just missing manners.

As soon as he lowered his hand, she lunged for it—but he laughed and pulled back.

Her face flushed red with anger.

That drawing was her only record of the hairpin—the color of its jade couldn’t even be reproduced with paint. Losing it would mean losing her only lead.

Her heart pounded with rage and panic. If she complained to the guards, he’d just destroy it before she got there.

Fine. My power’s small—but my friends… my friends’ friends…

She clenched her fists. The little gods she knew weren’t strong, but they were kind. Even if one lent money to a mortal and never got repaid, they’d just smile and wait a generation or two.

Those were her kind of people.

So at best, they might hide this man’s shoes forever—but that was something.

Maybe she should just charge at him and grab it.

As she was gritting her teeth, the man suddenly reached out—a huge hand aiming straight for her arm.

Not good.

If he grabbed her and pulled—

“Should I remind you,” said a calm voice, “that harassing a lady carries fifteen strokes of the cane?”

Clack.

Someone caught the man’s arm midair. The once-proud limb froze like it had been clamped in a vice.

“What the—?” the man hissed.

“Cha Eon?” Seo Hyo gasped, her eyes wide.

TO BE CONTINUED…….