The young master's maid "Laura" had always envied the other maids who served "Leo" and "Reiyon" because they served them in the correct way. Young master Reiyon woke up early, and so did young master Leo, and the maids prepared everything for them, and each of them went on his own way. Young master Leo went to study and then to training and came back home, and it was the same with Reiyon. She envied them because they were able to serve correctly and because they were always busy making both Reiyon and Leo better people, to the point that they competed over who would become the best maid who succeeded in making the master they served the best one.
But I never participated in this, not because I didn't want to, but because I couldn't. The young master woke up late and didn't go to study or train. He watched sword books and only ate and drank. This made her feel that she wasn't a real maid. She tried everything to make Byul study, but she lost hope.
But now she had been summoned. She was very worried, thinking that something happened to Lang Byul. She went as fast as she could and opened the door in panic, but what she saw was Byul looking at her calmly.
"Oh, are you here? Didn't anyone tell you that I'm going to study? Why didn't you come? Are you sick? If you're sick, I'll bring another maid…"
But before he could finish speaking, the maid stopped him.
"No, no no, impossible! I… I'm here! Just give me three minutes!!"
Her clothes were not neat and her hair too. She went quickly, wore her clothes and tied her hair, then rushed to Lang Byul. She prepared the bath and pushed him inside forcefully. Lang Byul wanted to talk but it was late.
The maid prepared the beautiful white clothes. After he finished wearing them, she gathered his hair and tied it into a ponytail, brought him some pastries, and went to prepare the books.
Lang Byul's mind stopped for a moment, but now he was thinking again while eating the pastries. He went to study not because he wanted to, but because he had three reasons.
The first reason was Riong Shin and Ming Kyun and some old friends.
The second reason was training—before returning in time he heard that there were great sword users hiding in the appearance of ordinary teachers, so he wanted to learn some useful techniques.
And the third reason was that there was nothing else to do. If he stayed at home doing nothing, he would become depressed. So he decided to go and have some fun too.
"Young master, the books are ready. Come quickly."
Lang Byul took one of the pastries in his hand and left.
"You have the books, your clothes are clean and white, your hair is good, now you can go."
The maid was extremely happy, even on the verge of tears, though Lang Byul couldn't understand her. His expression was uninterested, but then he suddenly remembered something important and smiled mischievously.
Lang Leo was about to get on the carriage, but Byul's voice stopped him.
"Brother! Look, brother!!"
Leo's foot, which was about to step inside, stopped. He looked at Lang Byul, who was smiling cheerfully and waving. When Byul got closer, he stopped and took a breath.
"What… what do you want?"
"What? Are you stupid? Of course to ride with you."
Leo: "...."
Byul ignored him and got in before him with a cheerful smile.
"What? Do you expect me to go in another carriage while my brother is going to the same place? What, are you trying to make it look like we're strangers? Hahahahaha."
Leo: "Did he hit his head? Why is he acting like this?"
He stayed silent for a moment, then got into the carriage. He looked at Lang Byul's victorious grin. He was smiling, but his eyes weren't happy—more like provoking him.
"Don't call me brother again."
"Why? Could it be that you're my adoptive brother? Which means you're an orphan and a bastard?"
"You!!!"
"What, me what?"
Leo clenched his teeth in anger and decided to stay silent, but Byul's mocking laugh only made him angrier.
Even though his brother killed him, he didn't kill him because he was weak. Byul could have avoided the sword, but he didn't really care whether he died or not, so he let him kill him. And Byul didn't consider Leo his brother anyway.
But now, he looked at him—Leo was looking away annoyed. But now, he was his little brother, even if Leo was older by two years. But considering Byul's previous life before returning in time, Byul was much older. So he decided to teach him again to become a good brother.
Even though Leo couldn't read minds, he felt a sudden shiver. He looked at Byul, who changed his mischievous smile into a bright one, like the weather changing from dark to sunny.
After the carriage stopped, Lang Byul got out before Leo. Leo felt this behavior was childish, but for Byul it was like he had won.
One passerby was going to the library but found Byul—one of the strangest things he could ever see. Byul and Leo together, riding the same carriage and talking. But the reality was completely different.
Leo: "Don't talk to me."
Byul: "Why? Do you have social anxiety?"
Leo got annoyed by Byul's reply, so he grabbed his sword threateningly.
"It's not my fault you have free time because you're useless. Go play with people like you. I don't have time to play with you."
Byul smirked mockingly and turned Leo's threatening tone into ridicule.
"No matter how much a cat tries to be a tiger, it will never become one. Even if it copies the tiger's actions, it will stay a cat and be played with."
The students: "...."
Leo tried to calm himself, but one of the students spoke, and everyone heard.
Student: "Actually, comparing Leo to a cat isn't wrong… he—"
His friend covered his mouth before he continued, but it was too late.
Byul: "Pfft hahaha."
In the end, Leo couldn't calm down and swung his sword at Byul, but a long, flawless white hand stopped him. Leo looked at the person who stopped him—his sharp gaze turned into terror immediately.
Leo: "Teacher… I didn't…"
It was Parki Wang. He looked at Leo coldly, then at Byul. But unlike Leo, Byul was extremely calm, even with a hint of mockery. Parki Wang looked at him for a moment, then turned away.
"All second and third grade students gather in the discipline and explanation room."
After saying that, he left, and Leo left with him without looking at Byul.
Byul watched them leave and sighed.
"He hasn't changed at all, that bastard… even after returning in time, and before."
Riong Shin: "Look at him leaving without any shame."
Ming Kyun: "It's funny how he always talks about morals and forgiveness, but when his students do something wrong, he ignores it. But if it was anyone else, he would punish him severely."
Shin: "Yes, you're right. He's truly shameless."
They were about to continue talking about Parki Wang, but another student stopped them, telling them they must go to the room before the teacher returned.
The discipline and explanation room opened every day to explain the awareness lesson, which talked about sword users and things that happened long ago, expressing the wisdom and intelligence of great sword users.
Byul sat next to one of the students, even though Riong Shin was already waiting for him to sit beside him. But when Shin saw he was being ignored, he sat next to someone else in annoyance.
After all the students sat down, Parki Wang entered with a book.
"Open the awareness book to the page titled The Maximum Stages of Despair."
Everyone opened the book, including Lang Byul. After two minutes, the sound of page-turning stopped, and the place became quiet—except for one sound of flipping pages.
Parki Wang waited for a minute, but the sound didn't stop. He looked toward the source, and it was Lang Byul. Byul held the book all the way to the last page but didn't find the title, so he flipped the book aggressively.
Parki Wang approached him, took the book, and after three seconds, returned it.
Byul looked again but still didn't find the title.
Parki Wang: "The title is at the bottom, not the top."
Byul: "...."
Byul: "Who is the idiot that puts the title at the bottom?"
Parki Wang: "...."
The person who wrote the book was Parki Wang's brother, and everyone knew that—including Byul, who intentionally insulted him.
Parki Wang ignored him and began the explanation:
"Killing is a very bad thing because the person you kill is a human like you, and there is nothing that allows you to kill him for a trivial reason. For this, it was decided that—"
Byul: "Achoo."
Before Parki Wang continued, Lang Byul sneezed, so he paused, then continued.
"For this, the emperor decided—"
Byul: "Do you have a tissue?"
His seatmate quickly handed him a tissue. Byul took it and cleaned the book and the spot where Parki Wang had touched it thoroughly. Everyone noticed, even Parki Wang, but he chose to ignore it.
When he was about to continue, Lang Byul interrupted again:
Byul: "Here, now it's clean from dirt."
Parki Wang: "....."
Everyone: "....."
"And so the fourth emperor forbid—"
Byul: "Thanks for the tissue, but—"
Parki Wang: "Silence!!!"
After making sure the place was quiet, he continued.
"And he forbade killing without reason, and there are two allowed reasons: the person was attacking you, or he was an enemy and needed to be killed. Anything else means the accused will be imprisoned forever or executed. And this law helped in—"
Byul: "Teacher."
Parki Wang: "What is it?"
This time Lang Byul didn't interrupt without a reason—at least there was a reason. Byul smiled, stood up, and began speaking.
"Hahaha, teacher, isn't it funny that the fourth emperor forbade killing even though he killed his brothers for the throne? And he was also killed, yet the one who killed him was never imprisoned. Isn't that funny? Hahaha."
Parki Wang: "....."
Everyone: "....."
Three minutes later, in the same way he had stood up—but the difference was that now he had been expelled and was standing under a tree as punishment. His bright smile was no longer there.
Anyway, he didn't want to attend this bastard Parki Wang's lesson, so he didn't regret it at all. In fact, he was happy. When he remembered Parki's shocked face, he laughed wickedly.
"Ha, look at this lunatic laughing. He's really gone mad."
Byul looked at the voice's owner and saw four students in front of him. He tried to remember where he saw them before. He touched his cheek and stared deeply at them. One of the students whispered that he had become strange.
And still, he couldn't remember them. He sighed and stopped thinking.
They seemed like bullies. Byul thought he wasn't in the mood to beat anyone.
"Hey, you. Where are you looking? Looks like you want to get beaten."
Lang Byul couldn't comprehend that he was arguing with children while being thirty years old, someone who had killed the greatest sword users and was known as "The Deadly White Shadow"—and now he was dealing with stupid children.
"You, are you so scared that you can't speak? Hahaha."
Byul looked at him sharply and thought that maybe it wouldn't hurt to beat up some kids. He was ready to teach them a lesson they would never forget.
But he heard Riong Shin's voice, along with Ming Kyun.
"Do you have a problem with my classmate Lang Byul?"
Shin spoke with a gentle smile and a voice full of threat. As for Kyun, his hand was on his sword's hilt, ready to fight.
The bullies froze and decided to leave. Who would dare fight Ming Kyun, the psycho who broke another student's arm just because he touched him? And Riong Shin, the talent of the year who defeated one of Parki Wang's students?
They left, but Lang Byul spoke:
"Who allowed you to leave?"
I am Lang Byul, the White Death, the Deadly White Shadow—how could I let bullies like them go unpunished? His face was terrifying, with a mad grin.