Chapter 63
Part 13. Visiting the Inner Court
The triplet maids thought that if the First Young Master personally visited the main building of the Inner Court, everyone would tremble in fear.
But their expectations began to miss the mark right from the entrance.
“Oh my, we greet the First Young Master of the main clan.”
When they announced their visit to the guards standing at the main gate, a butler in charge of the front gate soon appeared.
“Please come this way.”
He showed his respects to Yeon Sang-hyeon with an exaggerated voice and gestures, then guided them toward a side gate.
At that sight, Jeong-ah’s eyebrows twitched.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Why are you guiding the First Young Master of the main clan, who has personally come here, through a mere side gate?”
At that, the grizzled butler’s eyes widened.
“What do you mean by that…?”
The triplet maids pressed him in exasperated voices.
“The First Young Master, a direct blood relative of the main clan, has come to visit. Is it not only natural that you open the main gate and receive him with proper courtesy?”
“And it should be the ceremonial butler who comes forward, not the butler in charge of the front gate.”
“A mere second-rank butler is attending the First Young Master of the main clan? Have you lost your mind?”
Around the grizzled butler’s waist hung two tassels made of golden thread.
Unlike the Luoyang Sword Clan’s other departments, due to the nature of the Inner Court’s work, most of its high-ranking personnel were “butlers.”
Therefore, the number of tassels was used to clearly show their rank.
The greater the number of tassels, the higher one’s position in the Inner Court.
“Oh dear, First Young Master, please show mercy just this once.”
The old butler hurriedly bowed his head.
“Surely you know that the Inner Court’s finances have been difficult lately, and our personnel have been reduced as well, making it hard to offer proper formalities?”
His act was exaggerated, but it was not enough to make one’s body tremble.
Jeong-ah snorted.
“Are you saying that the Inner Court, which should originally attend to direct blood relatives from the closest distance, cannot even perform proper ceremonial reception?”
Even at Jeong-ah’s low rebuke, the butler merely bowed and scraped.
“Oh dear, I apologize. This is all because this lowly one is lacking…”
Yeon Sang-hyeon waved his hand as if he found it bothersome.
“Enough. Let it pass.”
Then the butler, who had been bowing and scraping, straightened his back and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Since the First Young Master himself has said so, there is nothing to be done.”
The maids clenched their teeth.
“Now, now, everyone, please do not frown and come this way.”
He chuckled quietly.
“Wrinkles are the enemy of beauty, are they not?”
“Stop talking nonsense and guide us.”
When Yeon Sang-hyeon lightly rebuked him, he bent his back again and guided the group.
“Oh dear, how thoughtless of me…”
Yeon Sang-hyeon’s group had to enter the Inner Court’s inner yard mixed in with the other visitors.
The visitors glanced sideways at Yeon Sang-hyeon, who was accompanied by beautiful maids, but none of them recognized him.
Even if the maids revealed Yeon Sang-hyeon’s identity to them, it would only bring disgrace, so they had no choice but to keep their mouths tightly shut.
Jeong-ah’s frost-cold gaze brushed past the firmly closed main gate.
When she examined the marks on the ground with her eyes alone, traces clearly remained showing that it had been opened several times recently.
They were undoubtedly traces left from when other direct blood relatives had visited.
“Pay it no mind.”
As if he understood her feelings, Yeon Sang-hyeon smiled kindly and patted her near the waist.
“Yes, Master.”
The group had to circle around the wide inner yard toward the main building, mixed in with the other visitors and the Inner Court personnel.
The broad road crossing the center of the inner yard was a path only direct blood relatives could use.
“As you already know, this is the main building of the Inner Court.”
They had already seen it upon entering the inner yard, but the pavilion that formed the Inner Court’s main building boasted an enormous scale.
Even if all the pavilions in Wongakjeong were combined, they would likely not amount to half of the Inner Court’s main building.
“Now, please come inside.”
This time as well, they had to use a side door like everyone else.
Once they entered the main building, an exceedingly splendid and spacious interior revealed itself.
Sunlight pouring in through the high ceiling shone upon the lavish interior with a solemn glow.
“Now then, this way…”
“Wait.”
Jeong-ah stopped the butler, who was about to guide them to a waiting room.
“Master wishes to meet the person responsible for rejecting Wongakjeong’s bill. Bring that person out.”
At her words, the butler played dumb.
“Wongakjeong’s bill, you say?”
“The rumor has spread throughout the main clan, and yet you dare say you do not know?”
Even though Jeong-ah pressed him, he remained perfectly composed.
“Is that so? To think such a thing happened. How serious.”
Unless she unleashed her aura, it seemed impossible to intimidate this old butler, who had survived all sorts of storms among those in power.
“But as you can see, the Inner Court is such a massive organization, and we are so terribly busy that matters large and small arise without pause.”
Contrary to his words, however, there were not that many people moving through the Inner Court.
Nor did they look especially busy.
Their most important duty was to assist the clan head from the closest distance.
But with the clan head collapsed, how could their work possibly be excessive?
“…Stop spouting nonsense and bring the person responsible at once.”
Even while watching the maids’ eyes grow sharper and sharper, he merely wore a troubled smile.
“Hm, I will do my very best to find them from this moment on, but it may take some time. Would it not be better for you to wait comfortably in the waiting room…?”
His eyes glanced sideways at Yeon Sang-hyeon.
Yeon Sang-hyeon shrugged.
“Very well. If that is the case, there is nothing to be done. Guide us to the waiting room.”
“Oh dear, thank you, First Young Master. I shall escort you this way.”
He bowed his head repeatedly as he guided them to the waiting room.
“This is the finest waiting room suited to the First Young Master’s dignity. A butler in charge of reception will come soon, so would you please wait a short while?”
“There are no tea leaves.”
“Not only tea leaves, but even the tea utensils…”
Yeon Sang-hyeon burst into laughter.
It was true that the place was a top-class waiting room.
However, despite the fact that there was surely a separate ceremonial waiting room for direct blood relatives, he had guided Yeon Sang-hyeon here.
Moreover, should the personnel in charge of reception not have already been waiting there first?
But before they could even argue, the grizzled butler had already disappeared.
Yeon Sang-hyeon smiled at the trembling maids.
“Enough. Brew me a cup of tea.”
Yeon Sang-hyeon sank into the exceedingly splendid chair.
“Master. We are terribly sorry, but…”
“Hm?”
The triplet maids bowed their heads to him.
***
An office in the main building of the Inner Court.
A middle-aged female butler set down the documents she had been looking through.
She was the same female butler who had visited Wongakjeong in the past over the matter of Jeong-ah’s outdoor attire.
Around her waist hung four golden tassels.
She was a fourth-rank butler, a high-ranking member who had a separate office within the Inner Court’s main building.
“What did you just say?”
“The First Young Master is currently in a waiting room in the main building.”
“That man?”
At her sharp gaze, the attendant trembled.
“Yes. That is correct. I heard it is because Wongakjeong’s payment request was rejected.”
A wrinkle formed on her brow.
“…Because of that lowly broker?”
The conflict between the First Young Master and the Inner Court had not lasted for only a year or two.
Every time it happened, the First Young Master presented the clan head’s seal, and the Inner Court reluctantly accepted his requests.
“Any more details?”
The attendant bowed his head again and again.
“I apologize, but the person who relayed the story was not from our faction…”
She clicked her tongue.
“The front gate is currently handled by the Third Young Master’s side.”
At that moment, a third-rank butler assisting her opened his mouth.
“He may have visited in person, but is there really anything to worry about?”
The other butlers in the office also hurried to agree.
“It is probably because the rumor circulated within the main clan.”
“Perhaps even that man still had some face left to save.”
At those words, one butler burst into laughter.
“Swordless has face?”
“After driving away all his servants and filling his surroundings with maids as beautiful as flowers, perhaps even face he did not have before has appeared.”
They were all busy laughing loudly and mocking Yeon Sang-hyeon.
At their continuing jokes, the fourth-rank female butler waved her hand.
“Enough joking. Who was in charge of that book broker?”
A young female butler leisurely raised her hand.
“Butler Seomun, it was me.”
The fourth-rank butler called Butler Seomun turned her gaze toward the young female butler.
Two tassels hung at the young woman’s waist.
She was a woman Butler Seomun cherished, as she was capable enough to have reached second rank at a young age.
“If it is you, you can handle it properly, can you not?”
The young female butler smiled confidently.
“Please leave it to me.”
Butler Seomun leaned forward.
“You must not let your guard down. The rumor regarding that man’s seclusion and his visit to our Inner Court may be connected.”
The young female butler nodded at Butler Seomun’s warning.
“Yes. I will handle it properly so that there are no repercussions.”
The other butlers chimed in as well.
“We are not about to clash with that man immediately, so what could possibly happen?”
“If we say that some mistake caused the problem, and that we will call the book broker back and pay the amount, that should be the end of it.”
“Why else would he be called Swordless? He is the man who merely drove away the insane underlings of Wongakjeong instead of punishing them.”
If they had known what had happened to Elder Yeom’s butler, they might have been at least a little nervous.
But Elder Yeom was not so clumsy as to let his own affairs leak outside.
“If that still proves insufficient, shedding a tear or two should be enough.”
Butler Seomun nodded.
“Very well. Then I will leave that man to you.”
***
The young female butler smiled at Butler Seomun.
“Even in the worst case, all I need to do is prostrate myself at his feet and beg, no?”
She covered her mouth and smiled.
When the young female butler arrived near the waiting room where Yeon Sang-hyeon was, she could hear loud voices coming from inside.
“How could you prepare low-grade tea leaves for the First Young Master of the main clan?!”
“You people lack even the basics as reception maids!”
“And how dare mere maids be assigned to attend the First Young Master of the main clan?! Call your superior at once!”
As soon as the triplet maids’ voices ended, the reception maids who had been driven out poured out in a rush.
The women who came running into the corridor were all forcibly hiding smiles at the corners of their mouths.
When they noticed the young female butler, they bowed their heads deeply and passed by her side.
‘There is not a single person in the Inner Court who thinks well of the First Young Master.’
They did not belong to the same faction as her, but anyone from any faction within the Inner Court would likely feel the same about Yeon Sang-hyeon.
A smile appeared on the young female butler’s face.
‘Good. They have set the stage very nicely.’
If she went in now and showed herself sincerely apologizing, she expected that the matter would be resolved more easily than she had thought.
While desperately hiding the confidence that was about to show on her face, she headed toward the door of the waiting room.