Chapter 40
A Familial Flourishing
T am sat across from the future successor of the Nam household and eyed him with a schooled expression before regarding the man on Chul’s right, who had been introduced as Chul’s assistant, Yun Shik. Yun was a few years older than Chul, handsome and poised, his features catlike, his hair long.
Yun had been perfectly polite, but there had been a reverence in his eyes when he’d seen Eli, and Tam had barely managed to resist glaring at him as a result. At least Eli hadn’t seemed to notice. She had kept her own eyes mostly on the ground during the greetings, and even seated at the dining table, she couldn’t seem to look up. Tam was relatively certain she had not once met her brother’s gaze.
Funnily enough, Chul was exactly the same way, even while Tam looked him over: The younger man sat staring awkwardly at the table while Haewon continued pouring tea.
This was odd behavior, given the blaring, bright-red coat Chul wore. In Tam’s mind, that coat hinted at a louder personality.
Once Haewon had finished pouring tea and quietly exited the room, Tam waited for Chul Nam to start talking.
But he didn’t.
And Eli didn’t.
Tam focused his attention on Yun, who was gazing with a glint of longing at Eli.
The future duke’s index finger started to slowly tap the table, which succeeded in drawing Yun’s attention to him. The assistant had a long neck, a long face, and shiny hair swept to the side. He wore a unique indigo-colored shirt and white trousers.
“Forgive me,” Tam said, deciding that if he didn’t get the ball rolling, they’d be there all day. “The two of you have come on a day when my wife is supposed to be resting, and I can’t say I’ve ever met you before.”
Chul’s face finally snapped up, and his startled eyes fastened on Eli. “Are you sick?” he asked, his expression taut.
Tam could tell by the shape of his cheeks that there was even more family resemblance than he had originally noticed.
“No, I…” Eli cast a sidelong glance at Tam as though wanting to chastise him, but he ignored her.
He had told her to stay in bed all day. When she had joined him in observing Luca earlier, she had just finished bathing.
“I was up late due to the party last night, and my husband insisted I rest today. That is all,” Eli finished explaining stiffly, her eyes briefly darting to her brother. “You were introduced last night, sir, as Chul Nam. I’m sorry to say I think you have me mixed up with someone else—”
“El, it’s me.”
Both Tam and Eli’s attention shot to Yun, who was leaning forward earnestly.
“You used to tutor me when we were children. Don’t you remember?”
Yun turned to Tam. “Elisara was already ahead of all the other children her age, myself included, and I was the smartest child in Bani until she caught up.”
Eli opened and closed her mouth, her eyebrows twitching together.
Tam could tell she was confused, and felt some modicum of relief that while this man remembered her and still thought about her— ardently —she hadn’t a clue who he was.
Yun blundered on while shaking his head with a chuckle. “You have those two beauty marks behind your left ear, Elisara. I know it is you.”
“I sincerely do not know who you are, I’m afraid,” Eli informed him.
Yun at last appeared to believe her, and his cheeks deepened in color.
“Do you know… me… though?” Chul ventured with cautious optimism.
Eli looked at Tam nervously, but the way he saw it, it was her brother, and he trusted her judgment.
He gave a subtle shrug of his right shoulder, and relished the way she understood him perfectly before she turned to Chul.
“I do. Somewhat. Though you are five years younger than me, and I left when I was eight.”
Chul’s face brightened with relief. “I’ve been looking for you for so long! Ever since I turned eighteen and Father gave me properties to manage and a ship to start building my own fortune, I—”
“Why?” Eli interrupted stiffly. “Why have you been looking for me?”
Chul’s joyous energy dwindled when he saw Eli’s eyes.
“What do you mean, why? You’re my sister.”
“Did they not tell you what they did?”
Tam noted that she hadn’t referred to their parents directly.
“Mother and Father said that you were in the palace doing important work! But I went to Gondol looking for you with Father when I was fifteen, and I couldn’t find—”
“Chul, they sold me.”
Both Chul and Yun drew back, disbelief stark on their faces.
Eli leaned forward. “Chul… I understand why they tried to shield you from this, but Father and Mother gave me away to Chin Taejo. I was adopted by the emperor.”
“What? Why would they—” Despite being an assistant, Yun was the one to speak.
Evidently Yun and Chul had a very equal footing in their partnership, which was raising several questions for Tam.
“I’m a witch and our parents didn’t like that,” Eli explained tersely. “I was in the palace for eight years, and then I was abducted and sold. I was in Troivack for a time, and then I…” Eli paused, blinking herself back away from the truth as she finished, “I met Joe Voll. My husband. We have our son together, and I want nothing to do with either of the families that handed me off. So forgive me, but I can’t say I’m interested in fostering much of a relationship. I just wanted to ask that you stop approaching me or sending people after me.”
Yun paled and Chul appeared too stunned to speak.
“I-I had no idea. That… That can’t be right! It can’t—”
“That is something you can discuss with your parents,” Eli said, cutting Chul off firmly. “And if they answer differently, you can choose what you want to believe, but I’d like to finally be happy in my life.”
“I… No, I just… You’re my sister! And I couldn’t believe you never sent a letter, or visited, and Yun, he… He said you’re so incredibly smart, and I’m starting to take over more of Father’s ventures—he and Mother are wanting to go on another trip to Daxaria, and—”
Tam held up his hand. “So you only wanted to find her because you thought it was strange she wasn’t in contact?”
Chul stopped his rant and nodded.
Yun on the other hand was staring rather coldly at Tam, and the future duke didn’t have to guess why.
“I’m alright, Chul,” Eli started softly. “And thank you. For… For wanting to find me. I’m well. But to me? You are a stranger. I have my own life now.”
“You, in particular, are a stranger,” Tam added helpfully with a nod toward Yun.
Eli shot him a brief questioning look, evidently having no idea why he had felt the need to add that comment.
The corners of Yun’s eyes twitched while Tam held the gaze firmly.
“If you were sold, does that mean your husband bought you?” Yun asked loudly.
Whatever reaction Tam had been expecting to this accusation, it was not the one Eli gave.
“How… dare you,” she rasped, her eyes flashing with rage. “You have men follow me down an alleyway, frighten me, worry my husband, make me concerned that our son is going to be approached, and you have the gall to ask if he is the one of a questionable character? Of course he didn’t purchase me! He’s the only one who has ever given me any measure of freedom!”
“Freedom is not something that should be measured,” Yun responded somberly.
Eli’s hand banged on the table. She rose and pointed to the door. “Get out.”
“Elisara, I’m sorry! Yun, apologize!” Chul ordered though it was obvious he wasn’t used to issuing any kind of command to his assistant. He turned desperately back to Eli. “Of course I don’t want to scare you or make matters difficult! I’m happy that you’ve found a life for yourself. I-I was so worried, and wondered what happened, and… And I just wanted to tell you that if you ever wanted to come home, you could! Even if I ask Mother and Father about this and they say they don’t want to see you, please tell me! Family is supposed to take care of each other, and—”
“I don’t know what family raised you, but that isn’t what I learned in the Nam household,” Eli bit out coldly. “‘You are to be beautiful and useful.’ That is what it is to be a Nam child. You had to be impressive and add prestige to the house, because that house did not accept anything less than perfection, and if you deviated? You were sent away.”
“Elisara, I’m sorry,” Chul choked out, tears gathering in his eyes. “Please—”
“Mom?”
Chul was once again stopped from talking as Luca nervously entered the room.
Turning abruptly, Tam gave his son a reassuring smile and gestured him forward.
Chul fell silent, and Yun’s eyes bulged.
“Luca,” Eli greeted breathily, while blinking herself back into a calmer state and straightening. “Are your lessons finished for lunch?”
The boy nodded while eyeing Chul and Yun uncertainly. “I… I brought this for you.” He produced a sprig of small branches covered with white plum blooms.
Eli stared, then eventually reached out and accepted them. “Thank you, Luca. These are beautiful.” Her words were awkward and her movements halting, but the way her eyes gentled… Tam could tell she liked the gift.
Flowers. She likes flowers. Tam smiled at Luca proudly.
The boy, not knowing what precisely he had done to earn such a look, smiled back.
“You wouldn’t happen to be giving your mother flowers because your tutor has something to say to us, would you?” Tam asked while ruffling his son’s hair.
Luca’s jolted with shock. “What? No!” he nearly shouted defensively, which hinted that the boy may not have been entirely honest.
Amazingly, a soft laugh sounded behind Tam. He looked back to see Eli unable to help herself from finding the scene funny.
“I think we should leave now. My apologies again, Mrs. Voll.” Chul stood, tears falling from his eyes.
Yun stood as well, though there was a sharper edge to his expression. “It is good to present flowers to your mother, though if the plum tree does not keep its flowers, no fruit will come.”
Tam was about to tell the man he could leave with his jaw intact if he begged for forgiveness over the implied chastisement, but Eli’s response was significantly better than any vengeance he could’ve doled out on his own. “Those flowers were a gift from my son, and therefore have more value to me than the seven plums that would’ve come.”
Tam noticed the way Luca’s eyes shone at Eli’s words, and felt his heart swell, though he did worry that Luca was starting to like the idea of being a family a little too much. But he chose to focus instead on the fact that the annoying assistant was still loitering by the door. Tam rose, making sure to draw himself to his full height, an inch or two above Yun. “I’ll see you out.”
“There’s no need—” Yun began.
“Oh no, I insist. Luca, would you kindly go ask Haewon for lunch, and you”—Tam pointed at Eli—“Get. Back. In. Bed. You still look exhausted.”
She opened her mouth to protest but Luca leapt in front of her and grabbed her hand. “You have to! And you’ll eat lunch there, too, like you did for breakfast!”
Tam didn’t wait to hear Eli’s response, just clapped a heavy hand on Yun’s shoulder and started pushing him out.
And while he did remove his hand once they reached the courtyard, he still walked the two men out the two front doors, closing them behind himself and making Chul and Yun turn to him.
Chul’s eyes were red-rimmed, but Yun was positively simmering with anger.
Tam slipped his hands into his pockets but made a point of still standing as tall as possible. “Is there something else you’d like to say?” he asked Yun.
“That child,” Yun started, his voice rasping. “She would’ve only been eighteen, possibly even younger, when she fell pregnant with him.”
Tam’s face hardened, and he fought against the urge to clarify that Eli didn’t give birth to him.
“Elisara Nam is the eldest daughter of the Nam family. A descendant of a Daxarian duke, and a Zinferan lord who—” Yun’s righteous rant was cut off by Tam.
“Oh, the Zinferan lord who was nearly bankrupt before his marriage to Marigold Iones?”
Yun’s mouth clamped shut, and Chul’s eyes snapped up to Tam. “You… You know of us?”
“I happen to have met His Grace Duke Oscar Harris. Marigold Nam’s half brother.”
“ Lady Marigold! And your wife is Lady Elisara Nam! And yet she is saddled to a mere scholar?” Yun seethed.
Tam didn’t bother trying to defend himself, but he did keep his eyes on Yun, who visibly wrestled his atrocious mood and attitude back. He seemed to have some awareness of the scene he was causing.
The man was quite earnest in his admiration for the Nam family. Elisara in particular…
Yun attempted to sound mild, but the ferocity in his expression still betrayed his true emotions. “Mr. Voll, with just us being here, I will ask you, as I know Elisara would never betray a vow or contract, but did you force her to marry you?”
“Hardly. It was our friend’s idea, and she was more in favor of our marriage than I was at first.” Tam watched the way his words made Yun’s ears turn red, and relished the fact that it was, in fact, the truth.
“She is exactly where she wants to be, can do whatever she wants, and I will support her—after she rests, of course. I’m discovering that she tends to work herself past her limits,” Tam finished, speaking mostly to himself.
“She could’ve married someone far more powerful, or even ascended to the throne!” Yun exclaimed.
Tam felt a cool smile curl his lips. “And do you think she wants to be the next empress?”
“Of course she would! She’s brilliant!”
“Brilliance doesn’t mean she wants power. Which is a foreign concept to you, I’m sure.”
“She wants to make the world fair,” Yun rumbled.
Tam paused.
For someone Eli had no memory of, she certainly had made an impression…
“She does want things fair. She might even want to become a Daxarian magistrate at some point, but we are still working out the legalities with the coven there.”
“Can I help?” Chul asked, stepping forward eagerly. The young man seemed the warmhearted type, and Tam genuinely believed that all he wanted was for his sister to be well taken care of and happy.
“I’ll let you know, Lord Chul, but thank you.”
Chul nodded firmly in response.
Tam offered his hand, and Chul took it.
It was during the handshake that Tam leaned forward and whispered, “Mind Yun. An ambitious, intelligent assistant can make marionettes of even the best of lords.”
Chul swallowed and stared up at Tam. There was something behind his innocent wide-eyed stare that struck the future duke…
“Chul, would you like to have a cup of tea or coffee with me tomorrow? Alone?”
While Yun at least had enough sense not to outwardly object, he did square himself to his employer.
“Yes, I… I would appreciate that very much.” Chul’s eyes darted nervously toward Yun.
“Wonderful. Do you know Lord Kim’s establishment? Lang Tea?”
Chul nodded, his watery gaze determined. “I’ll find it.”
Tam bobbed his head back. “Then I will meet you there.”
Releasing Chul’s hand, Tam watched as a discreet carriage pulled forward and stopped in front of them.
A footman jumped down and opened the door for Chul, bowing. Once the young lord had climbed into the vehicle and seated himself, Tam called out, “Yun.”
The assistant turned, already frowning at the casual summons.
Tam beckoned him forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Disparage my son, or upset my wife again? And you will regret it.”
Yun laughed. “My family has worked with the Nam household for generations, yet you think you, a mere scholar—”
Tam leaned forward, and for once he didn’t fight his magic, allowing his vision to fill with blackness—something he hadn’t known how to do prior to his time in the void—and watched Yun shudder in horror. “I’m a man content with my life right now, but if someone upsets Elisara or my son? That will change. Understood?”
Yun grasped the carriage door with a shaking hand and clumsily clambered in.
Tam watched as the carriage pulled away, allowing his eyes to return to normal. He continued to stand outside the house with pride welling inside his chest.
He had threatened someone. And that wasn’t a good thing. But… it meant he had something that was his own to protect. Something his family hadn’t given him. Even with Jeong and Bong there—two people he had never met before—he actually felt like he belonged.
And even if Eli remained nothing but an assistant to him, she was in his family.
As if sensing his thoughts, Jeong and Bong stepped through the doors behind Tam.
Jeong was fully dressed in a white-lined dark-green shirt tied at his waist, but he was looking far more serious than usual when, with his thick fingers slightly curling at his sides, his cherub face turned to look after Chul’s carriage.
Bong had only put a coat back on after their spar that morning, but his bow staff was in hand as he, too, stared after their surprise guests.
“Anything we need to worry about?” Bong asked pointedly.
“We’ll see,” Tam answered, his tone uncertain.
The future duke could feel the intensity of strength at his sides from the Ryu brothers, and so he rounded back to re-enter the courtyard with the knowledge that the more he noticed the great people he had surrounding him, the more steady he felt.
He needed to warn Chul about Yun, and then hopefully, the Nam lord and his assistant wouldn’t meddle in Eli’s life anymore.
But in the meantime? He’d have a lovely afternoon with his friends and family, who made him feel like he had, at long last, found his own home.