Son soon started teaching Sol about the rules of chess.
It didn’t take long for Sol to grasp the pieces’ movements, but to actually defeat Son in a game, he realized that would be difficult.
Son seemed to be really talented at chess, to the point where Sol would lose without even noticing.
However, as the sun began to slowly set and the two played game after game, Sol skills started to improve by quite a lot.
Son was a bit shocked by his rate of progress, but he didn’t show it.
Soon Sol’s progress reached a point where Son had to take a few minutes to reply to his moves as opposed to a few glances.
The sun slowly set and plunge the two into darkness, but they were cultivators so they could clearly see the board. Plus, tonight was a full moon; moonlight poured over them and illuminated the surroundings in a calming silver glow.
After some time, the two decided to end their game. Sol had improved but he still wasn’t able to defeat Son.
Sol got up and was escorted to his own room by a servant on Son’s orders.
The next day the two continued to play chess while they chatted. Due to Sol’s curiosity, Son also began teaching him all the Four Arts.
"My sister is better than me in the guqin so she can teach you instead of me."
That was how the girl Sol saw before came and joined them. He found out her name was Ha-Yoon. She would sit next to him and teach him how to play the strange instrument after he lost all his chess matches with Son.
Sol stayed with the brother and sister for a couple of days while following this routine. During this time, he was thankful to see that Son was getting better.
He had personally cleaned up his room so the three of them didn’t have to meet in his pungent room.
Son also ate the food given to him, and from what Sol could tell he was getting enough sleep. The lingering smell that made it obvious he hadn’t showered in a while was gone as well, but he still had his unshaven stubbles, and there were also times he would stare off into space during their matches.
But overall, Sol thought Son was doing better.
On his sixth day of staying at Son’s home, Sol was playing a game of chess in Son’s room while the sun had already gone down.
Sol had just won. It wasn’t easy, but this was his third time winning against Son.
Ha-Yoon, who was off to the side, stopped playing her guqin and look over at the two with a worried expression on her face.
After a moment of silence, Sol grabbed the sleeping Little Zeel and said.
"It’s rather late so I’ll visit Brother Son tomorrow."
Son nodded, and Sol got up and left the room. He then walked down the hall and reached his room. It was only a few doors away.
Upon entering, Sol saw a young female servant, who bowed to him.
"Young Master Sol, the bath is ready for you."
Sol said, feeling a little weird having someone serve him. But he didn’t know how to refuse so he just went along with it. At least it wasn’t like the first night when this woman wanted to personally wash his back.
Even now, Sol was still slightly shocked that people actually live . Stepping aside, he allowed the servant to leave. Afterward, he let out a sigh and placed Little Zeel on the gray blanketed bed.
The room wasn’t as luxurious as Son’s own, but it was quite large. The bed was more than big enough to fit four people, and the washroom beyond the door that was to the side could fit about a dozen people.
He didn’t have an open courtyard where he could walk outside, but he did have a window that showed the view of the starry night sky. The faint sounds of crickets could be heard coming through this window.
Sol walked over and closed it before he patted the snoring Little Zeel on the bed. He then decided to take off his clothes and enter the prepared bath.
However, just as he undid the new robes that were given to him by the servant, the door to his room was suddenly slammed open. It even startled Little Zeel awake, but seeing who it was he immediately drifted off back to sleep.
"You can’t leave yet!"
Ha-Yoon, who came rushing in, said with a deeply troubled expression on her face.
Sol was on his way to the bathroom, but he paused upon Ha-Yoon’s entry. Letting out a sigh, he said.
"I can’t stay here forever; I need to head back to the Academy."
Ha-Yoon seemed as if she wanted to cry as she said.
"But if you leave, brother won’t have anyone to talk to. He’s going to go back to how he was before you came!"
"Don’t worry, I’ll come back to visit when I have time."
Ha-Yoon shook her head vehemently. After, she stared at Sol and then gritted her teeth. It looked like she had made up her mind on something.
Sticking out her hand to point at Sol...
She then demanded in a firm tone.
"You’re going to marry me and stay here with my brother!"
Upon hearing this, Sol stared at Ha-Yoon completely dumbfounded by her proposal. But he soon shook his head and said.
"I’m sorry but I can’t marry you."
"Huh? Why not? Am I not pretty enough for you?"
Ha-Yoon suddenly got defensive and folded her hands with a pout.
After spending the last few days with her, Sol had a good grasp on the type of person Ha-Yoon was. She was bossy, inconsiderate, and very, very spoiled.
However, there was one thing he found endearing about her and that was her love for her brother Son.
Sol never had a sibling... well, not that he knew of, but if he had one, he would have wanted a little sister like Ha-Yoon.
He knew she didn’t propose marriage out of love or anything like that, she was just suggesting this so she could help her brother.
"Ha-Yoon, rather than a wife, I would prefer it if you were my sister."
A bit of disappointment flashed in Ha-Yoon’s eyes when she heard Sol say that, but she hid it before snorting and said indignantly.
"A beauty proposes to you, and this is how you respond?"
With a final huff, she turned around and left the room. However, just as Ha-Yoon stepped through the door, she suddenly popped her head back in and yelled.
"Also, you’re shameless for showing yourself like that in front of a girl!"
Sol stared at the closed door and said with a bitter smile.
"But you were the one who came in..."
In truth, during the entire conversation, Sol was completely naked. He had thought that after barging in Ha-Yoon would see him and run out blushing, or perhaps while screaming, but no, she was unphased and went on to have a full-blown conversation with him, even proposing they got married.
However, he did spot her taking glances at him. Thankfully, Sol had a towel in hand that managed to barely block her wandering gaze. Though he wouldn’t have cared either way, he was already used to bathing in the river with the other children in the village.
But her reaction just now was strangely different than Seon’s reaction back then.
While rubbing his nose, Sol thought that Ha-Yoon was indeed a strange girl.
After letting out a chuckle to himself, he headed for the bathroom to take a bath.
Tomorrow will be a difficult day.