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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: The Namgung Sega Granddaughter's Return
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Was he talking about what happened at the Medical Hall?
“That Jeokryongdan child drew a sword on you, didn’t he?”
Her guess was wrong. She had naturally assumed he would ask about the Medical Hall incident, but Namgung Mucheon brought up something unexpected.
“I wasn’t hurt. It was just a wooden sword.”
“A wooden sword is still a sword. A swordsman, no matter what they hold, must be cautious before they strike. Be it a sword, a wooden sword, or even a common twig.”
“That warrior wasn’t skilled enough to truly threaten me. More than that, I wasn’t afraid of what he held.”
“Because you’re stronger than him?”
“If you only consider internal energy, I wouldn’t say I’m stronger, but you know that strength and weakness aren’t solely determined by power.”
A slight smile touched Namgung Mucheon’s lips.
His eyes were full of profound admiration as he looked at Ilhwa.
Then, his expression grew cold.
“I wished you weren’t my granddaughter.”
Ilhwa raised her head and looked at him.
A cool breeze fluttered the long robes of Namgung Mucheon, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
Willow leaves rustled softly in the wind.
“You’re not like a child. An ordinary child couldn’t exude the same killing intent as you. To accumulate that much killing intent, killing just one or two people wouldn’t be enough.”
Namgung Mucheon’s eyes saw many things surrounding Ilhwa.
The blood on her hands, the pain she had endured. Perhaps, even memories from a past life contained within her small body.
Ilhwa herself knew it.
She knew that the killing intent she emitted was mixed with the aura accumulated from the bloodshed of her previous life.
And that the blood of this very Namgung family was mixed in it the most.
Time had turned back, but she herself had not.
The resentment and tears of the countless people she had killed could neither disappear nor be forgotten; they were the karma she had to bear.
Namgung Mucheon saw that burden in this young child.
“Who would wish for their own flesh and blood to live a dangerous life, constantly teetering between life and death?”
To kill, one must be prepared to die oneself. Having killed many meant that she, too, had overcome many near-death experiences.
“I wished my granddaughter had grown up sheltered. Even if she hadn’t lived lavishly, if she had grown up ordinarily, I would have asked for nothing more.”
“…”
“Who raised you like this?”
“Does that matter?”
“It matters.”
At that moment, an unimaginable aura erupted from Namgung Mucheon.
A suffocating blue aura rippled around him.
It was an overwhelming aura, as if the surrounding air had frozen, yet Ilhwa felt no pressure at all.
This was thanks to Namgung Mucheon controlling his aura to not affect her.
“Don’t I need to know who it was, to hold them accountable for their sins?”
From his low voice, which carried a chilling undertone, deep fury could be felt.
Every single word he uttered, she knew, was not spoken lightly.
“I will certainly not let the scoundrel who made my granddaughter like this die easily. Even tearing them limb from limb and butchering them wouldn’t be enough.”
“What if I wasn’t your granddaughter?”
The suffocating aura instantly receded.
Namgung Mucheon stared intently at her.
Suddenly, he drew the sword from his waist and thrust it into the ground next to Ilhwa with a thud!
“Still a long way to go.”
“What are you doing?”
“I was checking how much you’ve grown. When will you be taller than Cheonmyeong?”
“Is this sword’s name Cheonmyeong?”
“Yes.”
He re-sheathed his sword and said,
“When you used to hold my hand and wander around my residence, you weren’t even half this height.”
He placed his large hand on top of Ilhwa’s head.
“You’ve grown so much since then.”
The hand stroking her head wasn’t particularly gentle. No, it felt like rubbing a stone.
But it wasn’t unpleasant.
“Let’s have dinner together tomorrow evening. You like good food, don’t you? I’ll have plenty prepared.”
“…Yes.”
“Good. Get some rest. I’ll send someone.”
With those words, Namgung Mucheon left the Cheongaekwon.
He never brought up the incident at the Medical Hall.
She couldn’t tell if Seop Mugwang hadn’t mentioned it, or if he knew but chose to remain silent.
After Namgung Mucheon left, Ilhwa headed to the Cheongaekwon’s training grounds.
It was to continue her external martial arts training that she hadn’t finished.
She didn’t want to be seen training alone, but she couldn’t cause any more commotion today.
After washing and eating, the sun had already disappeared beyond the horizon.
The interior of the Cheongaekwon was quiet.
It was a tranquil place where the only sounds were the soft rustling of maids and warriors moving about.
Ilhwa sat on a soft comforter, watching the gray clouds drift across the night sky.
The moon was hidden by clouds, then revealed its clear face again multiple times.
Before she knew it, Ilhwa had fallen asleep.
It was her first night spent in the Namgung family.
* * *
Chime— Chime—
A clear bell chime echoed through the Cheongaekwon.
At the same time, a chilling aura enveloped the Cheongaekwon.
Like a thick fog, a thin mist began to rapidly fill the entire Cheongaekwon.
However, neither the warriors nor the maids of the Cheongaekwon noticed this change at all.
As if they were all enchanted by something.
Chime— Chime—
The bell chime spread through the mist.
Through it, a sharp aura swiftly advanced towards a single spot.
The aura passed by the warriors patrolling the Cheongaekwon.
It swirled as if searching, encompassing the maids stationed throughout the Cheongaekwon.
Finally, the aura headed towards the guest rooms of the Cheongaekwon.
Whoosh—
The sharp aura entered the corridor of the Cheongaekwon’s guest rooms.
Just as it had outside, it rapidly moved, swirling around the maids in the corridor.
The aura, passing through the corridor, stopped in front of a door.
It lingered briefly in front of the room, as if assessing something.
Thud—!
The aura passed through the door without hesitation.
The sound of the door rattling from the aura echoed through the quiet hallway.
“…?”
A maid standing guard in the corridor noticed something amiss and looked towards the room.
Chime— Chime—
Inside the room, filled with a chilling aura.
Within the shimmering darkness, Ilhwa opened her eyes.
Her black eyes, staring blankly into the air, were empty as if she hadn’t fully woken from sleep.
After staring at the ceiling for a moment, she sat up.
Ilhwa turned her head and looked towards a certain spot.
It was the direction of the side table where she had placed her sword.
Ilhwa got off the bed and picked up her sword.
Shing—
With the sound of the sword being drawn, the silver blade gleamed within the hazy mist.
A white shimmer rippled around her sword.
It was the pure aura of internal energy, still without color.
“Young Lady, do you need anything?”
Ilhwa’s head turned towards the door.
The shadow of a maid, who had come after hearing the sound, flickered beyond the door.
Ilhwa’s sword began to hum and vibrate.
* * *
“Would it kill you to speak a little more gently?”
In the Family Head’s office.
For the past four hours, Seop Mugwang had been grumbling at Namgung Mucheon.
“No matter how mature that little one seems, she’s not an adult on the inside. Couldn’t you have spoken more kindly to a child who came all the way to the family to meet her relatives?”
“Hmm.”
Namgung Mucheon pondered deeply, his arms crossed and eyes gently closed.
“Bipunggeom. That’s enough.”
Namgung Mun, the Chief Steward, tried to stop Seop Mugwang.
“Look at the Family Head. It’s clear from his reaction that he believes he spoke warmly enough, isn’t it?”
Namgung Mucheon opened his eyes and glared fiercely at the Chief Steward.
The Chief Steward sighed deeply and shook his head.
“You can glare all you want, but you can’t take back what you’ve said. So why didn’t you listen when we sent you a mental message?”
Namgung Mucheon’s brows furrowed slightly.
When he had gone to Cheongaekwon to talk with his granddaughter, these two had been sitting on the Cheongaekwon roof, eavesdropping.
They had been backseat driving with every single word.
Eventually, he got annoyed and created a sound-blocking barrier around the entire pond.
“Why did you bring up a wager there? It wasn’t to show off how strong this old man is, was it?”
“Ahem, ahem!”
Hit squarely, Namgung Mucheon cleared his throat unnecessarily.
“I merely reassured my granddaughter because she seemed uneasy.”
“But that’s not the only way, is it? Instead of reassuring her, you probably just scared her even more…”
“You, who report her every move, are in no position to talk.”
“A sharp intake of breath…”
Seop Mugwang also averted his gaze unnecessarily.
His monitoring of the child was supposed to end once she arrived at the family, but he had inadvertently ended up reporting the incidents at the outer training grounds and the Medical Hall to the Family Head.
“What was I supposed to do? That little one was in danger! Was I supposed to keep silent until your granddaughter died, Brother?”
In moments of urgency, Seop Mugwang’s habit of calling Namgung Mucheon ‘Brother’ resurfaced.
“You should have seen her at the Medical Hall, Brother! That little one’s eyes were like…!”
It was at that moment.
“…!”
Seop Mugwang’s words halted, and Namgung Mucheon’s gaze snapped up.
Chief Steward Namgung Mun, who had merely been nodding, noticed something amiss and looked at the two men.
But by the time he turned, Namgung Mucheon had already vanished.
Namgung Mun asked Seop Mugwang, who was now standing.
“What happened?”
“The smell of blood.”
“…!”
“Come to Cheongaekwon. You’ll need to bring a sword unit.”
“Cheongaekwon…!”
Namgung Mun shot up from his seat.
At that very moment, Seop Mugwang also vanished from his sight in an instant.
Only the lattice of the wide-open window fluttered in the night breeze.
