It was all dark and around midnight when they arrived in Hanyang. Dan, who had been dozing off on the horse, woke up, startled by Jin-wi’s voice. When she looked to the side, she saw a gate the size of a small shop. Dan, who had blinked her sleepy eyes for a few times, asked in a slow voice.

“Here… Where is this?”

“It’s the general’s house.”

With those words, her sleepy eyes opened wide. Dan couldn’t keep her mouth shut with the scale of the house, where even the walls seemed endless. But looking around, she couldn’t see anyone else. There were only the two of them, her and Jin-wi, in that place.

“I.. that… where is the General?”

“The general has work to do for a while and has gone to another place.”

“Where?”

“You won’t even know where that is,” Jin-wi replied bluntly, showing that he still didn’t like her. “He said once you get inside, someone will take care of providing what you need. From then on, you’ll have to figure it out.”

Dan tilted her head and Jin-wi looked at her suspiciously.

“If you want to waste your life, don’t even think of running away.”

‘Me, thinking of running away? What do you even see me as…’

Dan licked her lips in embarrassment. No matter how unfamiliar and frightening this place was, she was not ungrateful enough to forsake the general’s grace of saving her life. 

Whether she liked it or not, Jin-wi took her off the horse swiftly and immediately turned around afterwards.

Wait a minute, are you really leaving me alone like this?

“Hey there! Am I really going alone? What should I say when I go inside? If it’s okay, even just inside the gate… hey!”

She desperately tried calling him but Jin-wi disappeared without looking back. 

Huh… Look at that sweet man.

Dan, who was left alone, looked back with a groan. The majestic mansion was showing off how majestic it was even in the gloomy darkness.

“Ha… even if I fall on a barren land it would be less daunting than this.”

A sigh escaped from her chest. What else awaits beyond that door? It was hard to even imagine. But she couldn’t stand outside all night long.

‘Let’s go inside, I heard someone will help me.’

Dan knocked on the door with a grim expression.

Thump, thump.

After grabbing the thick handle and knocking a couple of times, Dan heard someone’s presence from beyond the door. An old man with gray hair and eyebrows appeared through the open door with a squeaky, heavy sound. It seemed that this was the person that Jin-wi was talking about.

“What did you knock on the door for?”

The gentle voice calmed Dan’s nervous heart a little.

“Hello, My name is Daniola,” Dan, who swallowed dry saliva, spoke carefully. “It’s said that you’ll be helping me?”

“What do you mean?”

“General Seo-gyeol.”

At the mention of the name, the old man looked around with surprised eyes.

“The master… the master is here?”

Since Dan was alone and the old man might think she was lying, she quickly added, “No! The general went to another place to work, and General Jin-wi took me here.”

At that, the old man let out a shaky sigh. After holding his breath for a moment, he looked closely at Dan with wrinkled eyes. Then he asked the same question that she had heard from Gyeol before.

“When is your birthday?”

“This coming new year.”

“Hmmm…”

The old man let out a small groan and opened the door wide, telling her to come in immediately. When she came inside she was filled with a lot of nervousness. Even though it was late at night, some people were crawling out and staring at her. It’s like they were watching something strange.

‘What? Is there something on my face?’

She groped her face wondering if there was dried saliva while she was sleeping on the horse. The old man who was walking ahead called her.

“Come here.”

She followed him in front of an annex.

“You can stay here from now on.”

“In here?” Dan blinked eyes like a rabbit and looked around the room. It was a very spacious room.

“Are you going to rest until the master arrives?”

“Young master… is that General Seo-gyeol?”

“Yes.”

The old man who thought about something for a moment, continued, “You’re better off just calling me Naira.”

“Yes, all right.”

Did he guess that she came from far away by looking at her clothes? He had provided clean beddings, blankets and a change of clothes along with a water basin. Then he disappeared, along with the others who had gathered there.