Book 2 Chapter 40

Mu was beginning to feel that it might be time to move on from this place.

Willow had learned enough etiquette that they were no longer likely to shove their foot in their mouth the minute they met someone from a prominent family. Their grasp on the intricacies of water qi also seemed decent enough for them to build on themself in the years to come. Not to mention the mental technique that they’d gotten a hold of which would make it possible for them to go to the cities and more populous settlements.

She’d no longer have to avoid the larger settlements out of consideration for her charge. Which was good as the next teacher she had lined up was in the heart of House Herrera’s territory.

Mostly she just wanted to get out of this place. Being cooped up in one location for too long wasn’t good for her, and her brief jaunts for missions often left her worried about Willow being left with the old bat.

Not that there was any real danger with the Madame, she wouldn’t have had her teach her apprentice otherwise, she was nothing if not a consummate professional.

She was more worried about Willow letting something slip about their background. Madame Park might be a professional, but she’d likely sell them out in a heartbeat if it meant getting a favour from the Li or Hao clan.

Quite a large favour at that, spirits like Harmony and Change were quite rare to come by.

Mu puffed away on her pipe, the medicinal herbs within helping to soothe some of her worries. She really should kick the habit one of these days, it didn’t help to heal her anymore and enough people complained about the smoke that she produced.

It was still a mighty handy vector for some of her techniques though.

She shook her head, clearing it of distraction. She’d try to tell her apprentice that they’d be leaving soon.

A wanderer wasn’t meant to stay in one place for so long.

***

Willow was not having a particularly good day at the tea house.

The morning had started off well enough, but things quickly grew worse when a delegation from the Li clan arrived.

Initially, Willow was convinced they had somehow found out that she was here and that the group was here for her. That suspicion grew more pronounced when they’d requested that she be the one to serve them in place of Manager Kim.

She contemplated running and trying to alert her teacher, but determined that even with her ability to harmonize she wouldn’t be able to get too far before she was caught.

So she defaulted to her training, and began serving the small delegation of women.

They were all quite pretty in similar ways and Willow definitely saw the familial resemblance that Li Wanyu shared with these people, pale skin, dark eyes, and straight black hair done up in a variety of styles. It was almost eerie being surrounded by so many beautiful people.

Willow realized fairly quickly that the group was definitely not in Yeobaek for her. They were on some sort of trip to show off their young miss in celebration of her binding her first spirit. Which was something Willow was tangentially aware of as being important to the big clans.

Though why they felt the need to strut around about it was beyond her.

The only reason the group had requested Willow to be their server was due to wanting someone around the same age as the young miss to attend to her during their stay. Likely under the same mistaken impression that Septimus had of her being a member of some branch family or another, which would at least make it somewhat acceptable for the two girls to mingle.

After taking their order and helping to prepare their tea, Willow returned with a tray laden with fancy looking cups and a teapot. She knew theoretically it should be quite heavy, but due to her training she was able to carry it with ease.

Something that was noted by those she was serving.

“My, quite strong for a girl your age, aren’t you?” One of the women commented. From her proximity to the youngest member of the group Willow assumed that was either the girl’s mother or aunt.

Then again, clans were one big family from what Willow understood, so maybe they could’ve just been cousins or something.

Which made her realize that she probably had a bunch of family that she never met related to House Petros.

Weird.

She gave the woman who commented on her strength a polite smile as she served the tea to everyone. “This one has been training her core for a couple years now. This much is to be expected.”

Willow kind of hated the more indirect language the Li clan expected, but she knew that it was better to speak in a way her clients were comfortable with.

However her answer still seemed to make the young miss pout.

“You’ve had a spirit for years already? I only got mine late last year.” She turned to the woman seated next to her. “I thought you said she’d be a similar age to me?”

Willow redirected her false smile to the girl. “I don’t know how old the young miss is, but this one has lived through nine winters.”

The adults seemed to focus their attention even more on the serving girl.

Was it really that strange to have bound a spirit at such a young age? She really needed to stop drawing attention to herself, if the people in front of her found out about Harmony and Change it would be disastrous.

The woman next to the young miss took a sip of tea, while her eyes never left Willow. “Your family must have quite the confidence in your capabilities then, child. Which family would that be, by the way?”

Willow could at least answer this question without fear of giving anything away. However she did worry about a different reaction. “This one’s family doesn’t have a name, honored guest.”

The woman’s nose scrunched up like she smelled something foul. “Madame Park has really let her standards slip if she’s teaching an urchin like you.”

Willow didn’t let any anger or hurt show on her face. “The Madame has been a fine teacher for one such as me, I owe her much.”

The young miss piped up again, likely tired of not being the center of attention. “If her family’s nameless then her spirit isn’t half as good as mine!”

She then summoned forth her spirit and the room filled with moonlight.

Moonlight that was quite familiar to Willow.

“This is Man Yue! My brother lent them to me until he can get me my proper spirit. I’m sure your piddly spirit pales in comparison.”

Willow stared in shock at the spirit of her one time saviour before masking her expression as best she could.

The girl’s mother placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Now now, Xiangyin.” She chided. “There’s no point in boasting to a commoner.”

Her eyes sharpened and her voice took on a similar edge.

“And that traitor isn’t your brother any longer.”