“It’s okay.”

“Uh…”

“I also spoke a bit rudely.”

Even though they were the ones who caused it, for now it was like that.

“You’re right, I should have acted more like an elder brother first. You don’t need to apologize.”

Sighing again, my elder brother’s shoulders finally relaxed as if his tension had eased. Then he fumbled to take something out of his pocket and handed it to me.

“What is this?”

As I received it reflexively and asked, he avoided my gaze and mumbled in response.

“It’s candy… I heard from elder brother Ha Sung that you liked this.”

“Ah.”

Elder brother Ha Sung was someone who would offer me candy whenever he saw me, like plucking grass to give to a passing rabbit. Unlike other elder brothers or seniors, he didn’t say anything, he would really just put it in my mouth and then watch for a moment before slipping away.

‘But he really knew.’

It’s true that I like it.

I smiled faintly as I accepted the package of candy he offered and immediately opened it.

“Elder brother, please have some too.”

“Thank you.”

We sat on the training ground floor for a while, silently chewing candy.

As the serious atmosphere broke, a strange peacefulness and awkwardness settled around us. A warm breeze occasionally brushed past our hair. I didn’t particularly mind staying quiet like this, but it seemed elder brother had difficulty enduring the silence.

After hesitating, he opened his mouth again.

“To be honest, I admire elder Yu Un.”

“…Oh, you mean Master?”

I slowly raised my head, reacting a beat late.

We had already exchanged apologies, so it should have been the timing to bring up some lighter conversation, but I didn’t expect such a weighty confession of inner feelings to come out suddenly.

I listened to his words with a somewhat dazed feeling.

“Actually, who among Hwasan’s disciples wouldn’t? When I had just entered, when he wasn’t yet called the Sword King… I happened to see him perform the Seven Plum Sword once. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. In fact, there was a time when I wished I could call him Master instead of elder.”

I suddenly realized. The problem for elder brother wasn’t that I had received the Doho, but that I was Master’s disciple.

If I had become the disciple of another first-generation disciple instead of Master, he might not have paid much attention to me unexpectedly.

“I see.”

“Yes, so… that’s why I was like that to you.”

Elder brother, who had been speaking with a blank face, looked at me once and then suddenly smiled bitterly.

“You really don’t seem your age.”

…Suddenly changing the subject.

“All of a sudden?”

“Looking at your expression made me think that. You’re certainly not an ordinary person either. But thanks to that, I feel like my heart is calming down a bit too.”

If his heart is calming down because I’m not an ordinary person, does that mean he thinks I seem worthy of being Master’s disciple?

I asked dully.

“You think I’m qualified?”

“Qualified?”

But elder brother tilted his head as if he had heard something unexpected.

“No, rather than that…”

He fell into thought for a moment before continuing.

“I just meant that because you’re calm, I can bare all my inner thoughts too. Well, when I was feeling jealous of you, I did think you might not be qualified… But thinking about it differently, what qualifications are needed for a master-disciple relationship? Besides, Hwasan is a Daoist sect. It’s just that a Daoist was led by fate to find a disciple, and I had foolish thoughts because I was less of a Daoist…”

Seeing elder brother become wistful towards the end of his words, I was a bit taken aback in my own way.

“Elder brother… did you suddenly reach enlightenment?”

“Isn’t that a Buddhist term? If I had to say, it would be that I’ve gained some insight into the Dao.”

With those final words, elder brother put the candy he was holding into his mouth in one bite and stood up.

He reached out his hand to me, so I grabbed it reflexively, and he helped me up from the floor before brushing the dust off his clothes.

“Anyway, I’ll be going now. I feel bad for taking more of your training time. I shouldn’t create more things to apologize for. Thanks for accepting my apology.”

“…Ah, yes. Thank you too.”

With that conversation over, elder brother gave a light nod and quickly left the training ground. Watching his retreating figure, I couldn’t help but marvel in a certain sense.

‘He’s become such a Daoist…’

It’s amazing, the Dao.

A few hours after my conversation with elder brother Ryu, when the sun was setting, another visitor came to me. This time it was the eldest senior brother.

“Is our youngest sister disciple inside?”

“Ah, yes!”

I was in the middle of practicing tying my hair with a cloth that had no elasticity whatsoever, in this wuxia world devoid of rubber. I quickly flipped down the mirror and approached the door while tidying my hair with a comb. When I opened the closed door, the eldest senior brother was looking down at me with a gentle smile.

“Can I talk with you for a bit… Oh my, what’s going on with your hair?”

“I was practicing tying it…”

“Should elder brother help you? No, before that, may I come in?”

The position of eldest senior brother isn’t given just because of age, but he is actually the oldest among the second-generation disciples.

Moreover, since he’s known for bringing the disciples together with his gentle personality rather than outstanding skills, he tended to show an especially kind attitude towards me, given our significant age difference.

“Yes, eldest senior brother. Please come in.”

It just happened to be this time, but I had a rough idea why he had come, so I responded to his suggestion without hesitation.

I was using the room alone anyway. Originally, second-generation disciples share a room in pairs, but when I entered, the number of female disciples in the second generation became odd.

Since I was in a mentally unstable state when I first arrived, they let me use a room alone to avoid unnecessarily stimulating me, and it just became the norm.

In any case, having a room to myself was convenient in many ways. Starting with being able to let anyone in as long as I allowed it, like now.

Once inside the room, the senior brother first tried to somehow fix my hair as he had just mentioned.

“When you’re a bit older than now, you can use a hairpin to secure it and it won’t come loose easily.”

“I just want to cut it short.”

This country, like most wuxia stories, is a Confucian state. Perhaps because of that, everyone, regardless of gender, naturally grows their hair long, but since Hwasan is a Daoist temple, there were occasionally a few senior brothers who went around with short hair.

“…That, well.”

Of course, only the brothers. The sisters all have long hair.

Hearing the eldest senior brother’s hesitant voice trying to dissuade me, I inwardly sighed.

‘Unfair…’

It was an unavoidable issue since in this era, women with short hair, unless they were Buddhist nuns, tended to receive strange looks.

Only after that did we sit down across the tea table. Then I looked at the empty table and suddenly fell into thought.

‘Should I bring out the leftover candy that elder brother Ryu gave me?’

I just realized that since I never use tea utensils, I hadn’t brought any in, so I didn’t have anything particular to offer even when someone came over like this.

“Should I get you some water?”

“No, it’s fine. Rather, I brought some candy. Would you like some?”

The eldest senior brother took out something wrapped in paper from his pocket. I recognized what it was and couldn’t help but smile again.

As a matter of fact, it was exactly the same type of candy that elder brother Ryu had given me earlier in the day.

“Ha Sung said you like these.”

I see. He doesn’t talk to me directly and just watches, but it seems he’s been telling everyone else about it…

“Thank you. Please have some too, elder brother.”

I feel like I said the same line earlier today.

Anyway, the eldest senior brother seemed pleased that I had included him and nodded willingly. And around the time we had each finished eating a piece of candy, he brought up the main point.

“Actually, I only heard today that there was an issue between you and disciple Ryu. As the eldest senior brother, I should have noticed earlier and taken measures, but I found out about the situation after everything was over. I’m sorry I couldn’t fulfill my role properly in time.”

I shook my head as I swallowed what I was chewing.

“I feel like I’m hearing too many apologies today. There’s no need for eldest senior brother to apologize. It’s fine. I’ve also made up with elder brother Ryu.”

“…Hm.”

I’m not sure what part of this was funny, but the eldest senior brother suddenly bowed his head and started shaking his shoulders as if laughter had burst out.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

The eldest senior brother raised his head, seemingly trying hard to stop laughing, and spoke with a voice that still hadn’t lost its amused tone.

“Yes, I heard that you made up too. Do you think you’ll get along well now?”

“Yes, well… It seemed like elder brother Ryu suddenly gained insight into the Dao.”

“That’s good.”

With those words, he burst into laughter again. I narrowed my eyes for a moment, but since everyone finds different things funny, I just let him laugh to his heart’s content.

After laughing for a while and finally calming down, the eldest senior brother brought up a few more trivial questions. How the training was going, if I missed Master, things like that.

After continuing such small talk for about half an hour, the eldest senior brother checked the position of the moon through the window and stood up from his seat.

“It’s time for you to sleep now. You need to sleep early to grow taller and train hard tomorrow. Right?”

“Yes, elder brother. Good night to you too.”

“Goodnight.”

He smiled and lightly stroked my cheek before leaving my room completely.

In the room that suddenly seemed quiet, even though I knew the outside air would be cold since it was early winter, I needlessly opened the window once.

The cool air instantly filled the room, but it didn’t feel unpleasant.

It must be because the problem was well resolved, after all.