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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: 42
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Seolhwa looked at Namgung Mucheon.
She had erred, but she didn't regret it. The Twelfth Month wouldn't have shown himself unless she made a move.
It wasn't because she didn't trust Namgung Mucheon.
"I thought it was right for me to solve the problem I brought upon myself."
"Is that the kind of responsibility that involves deceiving the elders of the family?"
"If I hadn't done that, you wouldn't have let me go, would you?"
"I wasn't trying to imprison you. Rather, I was trying to protect you."
"Grandfather."
Seolhwa raised her head and met his gaze.
His gaze was unwavering, utterly unyielding.
"If you tell me to starve, I'll starve. If you tell me to be whipped, I'll be whipped. Three days is fine, a week is fine."
"...What?"
"I'll accept any punishment you hand down. I'll take it all if you wish. If only that can appease your anger and the anger of the family elders. So..."
She had been prepared for punishment ever since she deceived Seop Mugwang and climbed over the wall.
So, no punishment scared her.
However, what Seolhwa feared was something else.
"Just don't tie my hands and feet."
To be controlled and monitored under the guise of protection, simply because she was a child.
To be rendered incapable of doing anything.
The most terrifying thing for Seolhwa was knowing the future yet being unable to change anything, ending up with the same outcome as her previous life.
"I didn't come back to be protected. If I were afraid of them, I would have hidden myself away in the mountains where no one could find me."
For a brief time after her regression, she even thought it might be better to hide somewhere Hyeolma couldn't find her and live quietly until she died.
If she went deep into hiding, there would be no need to confront Namgung or be used by them.
But that thought didn't last long.
'If I disappear, will Namgung be safe?'
'No.'
If she disappeared, Hyeolma would bring another child from Namgung and raise them as Cheonmyeolgeom. Even if not a direct descendant, he would find a suitable child from a collateral branch and use Namgung's own hands to destroy Namgung.
Because Hyeolma was a person obsessively fixated on achieving what he desired.
In that case, it was better to keep Hyeolma's attention focused on her. That way, at least the other children of Namgung would be safe.
"I came back to fight. If I came back to fight, but you won't let me, then there's no reason for me to stay here any longer. Grandfather."
"You..."
Namgung Mucheon's mouth, which had been about to say something, closed again without a word.
The child's gaze was confident.
The child admitted her mistake yet felt no shame in her choice.
Namgung Mucheon realized.
'This child's conviction cannot be broken.'
Even if he could go back to last night, the child would have made the same choice, choosing to fight on her own.
His expression, as he looked at Seolhwa, was complex.
What could he say to a child who, despite being confident in her choices, asked for punishment? To a child who seemed to consider such punishment as a matter of course.
But even so, how could he, as her grandfather, abandon the child to danger?
"I won't die easily."
"..."
Seolhwa's last words further stirred Namgung Mucheon's complex feelings.
The words "I won't die."
Because Seolhwa knew what Namgung Mucheon truly worried about, it was the best promise she could offer.
"I'll do my best to survive. I'll try not to get hurt. So..."
"..."
"Could you... protect me so I don't die?"
Namgung Mucheon let out a soft sigh and gently closed his eyes.
She was a child blunt in both emotion and sensation.
Paradoxically, precisely because of that, the child didn't know how to hide her emotions.
The child's straightforward demeanor was always sincere and truthful.
So, her words about leaving home if confined were not merely a child's tantrum.
'I had hoped she would just grow up beautifully now, after living such a difficult life.'
The child was determined to walk a thorny path.
She was about to throw herself into a bloody war.
What parent could ever truly win against their child? And this was a grandchild who could outdo even a child, so this had been an unwinnable battle from the start.
"You can't tell a ginseng collector not to climb the mountain just because there are tigers."
His voice, mixed with a heavy sigh, flowed softly from his lips.
"If you must fight, I will no longer stop you."
"!"
"However."
Namgung Mucheon opened his eyes and looked at her.
His gaze became even more serious.
"You, too, must follow my will. As the family head and as your grandfather, I have a duty to protect you."
Seolhwa nodded obediently.
Namgung Mucheon held up one finger.
"First. Do not deceive me like this again. You must not act alone or deceive the family elders, not just me. If you intend to do anything, at least inform me."
"Yes, Grandfather."
Namgung Mucheon raised a second finger.
"Second. I will assign you a guard. No matter how mature you may seem, you are still thirteen years old. You will remain under the family's protection until you reach the age of twenty. However, if your cultivation reaches the pinnacle of the Jeoljeong realm, I will not force this upon you either."
The pinnacle of the Jeoljeong realm was a level that one might not achieve even if they dedicated their entire life to martial arts.
However, Namgung Mucheon had no doubt that Seolhwa would reach that realm soon.
Seolhwa, too, thought it wasn't an unreasonable condition, as she had already reached a higher realm than that in her previous life.
'Twenty, the pinnacle of Jeoljeong. It might be around the same time, but...'
With more effort, she might achieve it at an earlier age.
Seolhwa nodded confidently.
He hadn't expected her to object, claiming the conditions were absurd, but the child's reply was excessively confident.
It was as if she was absolutely certain she would reach the pinnacle of the Jeoljeong realm.
Namgung Mucheon, who had been quietly watching Seolhwa, finally let out a hollow laugh.
"What am I to do with this pitiable child?"
"?"
"Seolhwa."
Namgung Mucheon's thick hand stroked Seolhwa's head.
It was still a hand like a rock.
"Don't try so hard by yourself."
"..."
"Are you and I not family? Just as you think of Namgung, I also think of you. So, when you need help, it's alright to ask this grandfather for it."
'Family...'
Seolhwa unconsciously murmured the word in her mouth.
The concept of family, she understood with her mind, but she simply couldn't grasp it.
What was family, that one could freely ask for help when needed?
No, not just help?
In her previous life, the people of Namgung sacrificed their lives for each other and willingly endured pain for each other.
Even Namgung Cheongun, who had been her enemy for over twenty years, didn't he sacrifice his life for her?
What on earth was family, then?
"..."
While Seolhwa was lost in thought, Namgung Mucheon, who had been looking at his granddaughter quietly bowing her head beneath his hand, finally stood up with a bitter smile.
Seolhwa looked up at him.
"It's time for your father to return, so I'll be going now."
Seolhwa's eyes widened.
Namgung Mucheon, seeing her eyes blink in surprise, asked in puzzlement.
"Do you have something to say to me?"
Seolhwa, frowning slightly and hesitating for a moment, asked in a cautious voice.
"Aren't you going to punish me?"
Namgung Mucheon's brow twitched.
He swept a hand over his tired eyes with another sigh.
"Seolhwa."
Namgung Mucheon knelt on one knee.
His eyes now level with Seolhwa, who was sitting in the chair, he grasped her shoulders and met her gaze.
"I promise you. No matter what happens, I will never hit you or starve you."
"...Why?"
Did he mean there was a more definite punishment than that?
"I don't know what kind of life you've lived for the past eight years, but in Namgung, we don't inflict physical punishment on children who make mistakes."
The hand gripping her shoulder tightened.
"Punishment is merely one way for an adult to guide a child who has made a mistake, never a reason to harm that child."
Seolhwa nodded slightly.
She didn't fully understand everything Namgung Mucheon said, but she understood that he meant he wouldn't punish her.
"Although you did wrong by deceiving the elders, you returned safely, so I will let this slide this time."
Namgung Mucheon stroked Seolhwa's head once more, then stood up.
"Rest now."
Just as he turned to leave after saying his farewell.
The child's grip, tightly clutching his hand, made Namgung Mucheon turn his half-rotated body back to look at her.
"Grandfather."
Still holding Namgung Mucheon's large, thick hand, which even her two hands couldn't fully encircle, Seolhwa spoke.
"Help me."
