Recently, Dokgorin always looked happy.
If she used to feel sharp or prickly, now she seemed much more rounded in personality.
Maybe the reason she was in a good mood was probably because of me.
After spending a long time troubled because of me, now that I finally accepted her feelings, it must feel like two years of pent-up frustration was finally released.
Even someone completely unfamiliar could tell that there had been a significant change in her state of mind, and many people close to her asked me about the reason, but I pretended to know nothing as much as I could.
After all, if it became public knowledge that I was dating Dokgorin, her foolish brother Dokgojin might just come after me right now.
It was still a time to keep our secret relationship.
“Chilbok, aaah~”
“Uh, Miss. It’s better if you don’t express affection like that inside the house.”
“Aaaah~”
“…So please don’t ignore what I said.”
Saying that, I reluctantly took a walnut that Dokgorin offered me.
It was tasty, but honestly, I was on edge about being caught in this situation by others.
“By the way, Chilbok, why did you go back to calling me Miss? I told you to just call me Rin when it’s just the two of us.”
“Well, since I spend most of my time here, I’m worried I might make a slip-up in front of others.”
“That time, we could just say we’re dating.”
“I still don’t want to get fired from a decent job.”
“Tch.”
Crossing her arms and huffing, Dokgorin expressed her pouty feelings with her whole body.
I looked at her awkwardly, then sighed softly and said, “Calm down. Rin.”
“Chilbok! I like you so much!”
At that, Dokgorin clung to me as if it was the first time she had ever done so.
“Uh, Miss, could you get a little further away, please?”
“Why?”
“If you keep sticking to me like that, I’ll be in trouble too.”
As I said that and awkwardly pulled my hips back, Dokgorin seemed to understand what I meant and smiled like a cat.
“Pervert♡”
“No, I mean, this is out of my control.”
As I sighed softly, Dokgorin shrugged her shoulders and said it was all just a joke.
To lighten the awkward atmosphere, I brought up another topic of conversation.
“By the way, my birthday is tomorrow. Is the coming-of-age ceremony preparation going well?”
“Yeah. Mother and the maids are teaching me well, so it should be fine.”
“That’s a relief. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime coming-of-age ceremony; we have to do it without any mistakes.”
“I’m not worried. I’ll make sure everything goes well. Sometimes, Chilbok, you act just like a mom.”
“Haha, then I guess it’s nice that you have two mothers?”
I joked, and Dokgorin replied with a serious expression.
“Chilbok, even for you, that’s a bit much.”
“…Yes, I’m sorry.”
I immediately apologized.
I guess it was too early for a joke in this era.
*
In the morning, I helped Dokgorin practice martial arts disguised as self-defense training, and in the afternoon, I helped other servants prepare for the coming-of-age ceremony tomorrow.
The coming-of-age ceremony signifies that a child has grown into an adult, a tradition widely spread throughout East Asia due to Confucian customs.
Generally, the age at which the coming-of-age ceremony is celebrated varies by region and era, but in the world of Cheondokmyeon, it is held when one turns fourteen.
Perhaps the author was too lazy to research Chinese customs and just made it up roughly?
Anyway, since my birthday was before Dokgorin’s, I vaguely conducted a simple ceremony in front of my parents’ memorial tablets with the help of Elder Eom Baekhyun.
In reality, only wealthy families throw grand parties for coming-of-age ceremonies; for poor commoners like me, it’s typically a day to eat something nice with family.
Even that was impossible for me as an orphan with no one to share a meal with.
On the actual day of the coming-of-age ceremony, I ended up simply eating some seaweed soup.
“Chilbok! Can you move that table over here?”
“Yes!”
As I lifted the table upon Kyungah’s request and moved it to the desired location, the other maids working nearby began whispering in admiration.
“Chilbok is really strong, look at those muscles in his arms!”
“How about when his abs peek out a little every time he lifts something?”
“My husband hasn’t been able to lift anything lately.”
“I wonder how he is in bed?”
As the old ladies’ peculiar dirty talk flowed out like fresh air, my face turned red, and Kyungah, who was watching the situation, jumped in.
“Hey! Hey! Stop bothering innocent Chilbok and get back to work!”
Thus the group of ladies disbanded as if pushed away.
“Thanks for stepping in for me.”
I immediately expressed my gratitude, and Kyungah shrugged her shoulders as she said.
“You’ve helped me with so much around here. It’s only right to return the favor.”
As she said that, she looked around and thoughtfully stroked her chin with her fingers.
“I’ve been working hard to get ready since morning, but it feels like something’s missing. What do you think, Chilbok?”
“I wouldn’t really know.”
“No, no, sometimes people who know less actually catch the key points better! So open your eyes wide and take a look!”
With her continued requests, I unexpectedly had to survey the shrine where the coming-of-age ceremony would take place tomorrow.
“Um. How about placing a large jar in that empty space? The shrine is quite spacious, but there aren’t many items, so it feels a bit empty.”
“Oh! That’s a good point! I’ll do that right away!”
Saying that, Kyungah quickly caught a passing male attendant and asked him to bring two decorative jars to the front of the shrine.
Seeing her immediately reflect my input in the arrangement was truly impressive.
“Oh, by the way, Chilbok, did you know?”
“What is it?”
“I decided to quit working as a maid tomorrow.”
“Suddenly?!”
As I widened my eyes in surprise, Kyungah shared a shy smile.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I can’t stay here forever, and I’m getting older, so it’s time for me to find a suitable man and settle down.”
“What about the Second Young Master? He might take you as a concubine if you ask.”
At that, Kyungah waved her hands in front of her with a serious expression.
“Oh no. That’s impossible. He’s not my type. Especially since I’ve seen all the ugly situations he’s been involved in since he was a personal attendant during his school days.”
Even now, he might have reformed after meeting his lady, but who knows if he might go back to his old ways?
Ah… Oh dear…
It seems that Dokgoseok has a low rating in various respects with Kyungah.
What in the world happened in the past?
“So I’ll retire cleanly and return to my hometown. My younger sibling is now old enough to take care of themselves, so I don’t need to work hard as a maid anymore.”
“Ah, speaking of which, you mentioned you have a younger sibling around my age? How old are they?”
“This year, they’re fourteen. They’re the same age as you and the Miss.”
At that moment, Kyungah suddenly stopped speaking and gazed at me intently.
“I wish my younger sibling could take after you half as much.”
“Oh? Did I have such a good evaluation from you?”
“Well, if you weren’t dating the Miss, I’d probably want to abduct you to my hometown and keep you for myself.”
As she said that, she looked at me with a sly mix of anticipation.
…Could this be a subtle confession?
While I was grappling with my confusion, Kyungah suddenly stuck her tongue out and said, “Just kidding.”
“What? It was just a joke.”
As I let out a sigh of relief, Kyungah looked a little choked up and said.
“No matter how much it’s a joke, if you react like that, it hurts my feelings, you know?”
“No, I don’t dislike you. It’s just that I already have someone I’m dating.”
At that, Kyungah’s eyes sparkled with surprise.
“Who!? Is it the Miss!? Or is it someone else?!”
“It’s a secret. If I tell you, it feels like the whole neighborhood will know about it.”
“Come on~ You’re quitting tomorrow, so it doesn’t matter, just give me a little sneak peek.”
Saying that, Kyungah playfully pinched my sides with her hands.
“Aha! Hahaha! Stop it! I’m ticklish!”
“Eh! Is this where you’re ticklish!?”
“Hahaha! Stop it! Really!”
While we were making a ruckus together, suddenly—
“Chilbok?”
A familiar voice came from behind, freezing both Kyungah and me like stones.
“I was curious if you were working well, so I came to check, but what’s going on here?”
Dokgorin was looking at us with eyes darker than a bottomless pit.
Feeling like a mouse in front of a cat, I hurriedly spoke up.
“Miss! There’s a reason for all of this?!”
Kyungah quickly jumped in too.
“Chilbok is right! We were just joking around!”
Then Dokgorin’s gaze shifted to Kyungah’s hands that had been tickling me.
“Oh! I’m sorry!”
Startled, Kyungah withdrew her hand.
“Miss, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but there’s been a big misunderstanding. Kyungah and I are just close sister-brother friends.”
Then Dokgorin, without a smile, lightly squinted her eyes and said, “There’s no such thing as friendship between a man and a woman.”
Dokkyaaaah!
After that, it took a long time to clear up the misunderstanding caused by Dokgorin’s possessive switch being flipped, alongside Kyungah.
If Dokgoseok hadn’t appeared at a timely moment to take Kyungah away, it probably would have taken even longer.
And so went the chaotic day filled with many events, finally leading to the morning of my birthday.
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