The return of the granddaughter of the Namgoong family

***

The meal was held inside the master’s residence, unlike yesterday.

Before even entering the building, the sounds of laughter and quiet conversation could be heard.

Seolhwa stood at the entrance for a moment, listening to the voices.

‘I gave those guys a proper lesson! Didn’t I do well, Father?’

‘You need to control your temper, Cheongsan.’

‘Ah, I didn’t ask my older brother! Cheonghae always tries to provoke me, doesn’t he?’

Laughter, and chuckling, followed a warm family atmosphere.

“…”

Seolhwa recognized the voices of all the people inside. She had killed more than half of them herself.

Whenever that fact crossed her mind, it caused a sharp, painful feeling deep in her chest.

Seolhwa understood where this feeling was coming from.

‘Guilt.’

The guilt of approaching them so casually and mingling with their families after having killed them with her own hands.

Seolhwa thought to herself.

Feeling emotions was truly a troublesome thing.

“You’ve come.”

The voice, without any sound of approaching footsteps, caused Seolhwa to turn her head and look at the person who had spoken.

It was Seom Mugwang, the leader of the Hidden Wind Sword Sect.

Seom Mugwang raised an eyebrow slightly.

“You look good. Wear it often. You look lovely.”

“…”

“Why are you standing there? Come inside.”

Seom Mugwang gestured toward the inside.

“You haven’t entered, so the master asked me to bring you in.”

“I just like the sound of it.”

“What sound?”

“The laughter.”

The laughter ccamefrom inside.

“I’ve never had the chance to eat with someone I could call family.”

Not for a very long time.

In her previous life, she had considered the Blood Demon as a father and the members of the Blood Cult as brothers, but she had never truly thought of them as family.

As a family, they only ever waited for the opportunity to kill each other, and when someone died, she never felt empty or lonely.

“Do you get sad when your family dies?”

The sudden question made Seom Mugwang’s expression stiffen.

The child’s eyes, devoid of emotion, looked unaffected.

Seolhwa had heard from the master that the child’s emotional dullness was a way of protecting herself, which made Seom Mugwang feel even more bitter.

He let out a short sigh before suddenly smacking Seolhwa on the top of her head with his knuckles.

“What kind of old-fashioned question are you asking? Stop with such nonsense!”

“I can still think about it.”

Seom Mugwang firmly shook his head.

“If it were me, I’d spend that time training martial arts instead. By growing my strength, I can protect my family. That’s all.”

“Ah…”

Seolhwa sighed softly as if she had gained an important realization.

So that’s what it is.

She just needed to grow stronger and protect everyone.

That was why she had returned to Namgung, but somehow, she had become lost in her detachment and forgotten her true purpose.

‘Snap out of it.’

In the middle of her sudden realization, she was slapping her cheeks to refocus herself.

Seom Mugwang suddenly grabbed Seolhwa’s arm.

“You…!”

His eyes widened when he saw the cloth wrapped around Seolhwa’s hand.

“Did you get hurt again? Why?”

“I accidentally broke a vase. I just tore it a little while cleaning up the broken pieces. It’s fine.”

“You…”

For a moment, Seom Mugwang seemed ready to snap, but he took a deep breath to calm himself. However, his anger didn’t completely disappear from his face.

“This is not fine. Not fine at all. Do you understand? Especially for a swordmaster, your hands are so important…!”

His anger, which he had managed to suppress, flared up as he continued.

“Your body is yours! You should treat it carefully! If you get scars from injuries when you’re this young, they won’t disappear when you grow up! If it were any other kid, they would have been crying and causing a fuss!”

Seolhwa wanted to say that scars didn’t matter to her, but she swallowed those words.

Something told her that if she said anything more, Seom Mugwang would explode with rage.

“I’ll be more careful.”

At Seolhwa’s obedient response, Seom Mugwang finally started to calm down.

“I’ll be watching from now on, so keep that in mind!”

“Yes.”

“Go in now! Quickly!”

Seolhwa finally entered the room.

Whether it was because of that or something else, the uneasy feeling she had earlier was no longer on her mind, though she still felt a little confused.

Inside the room where the meal had been set, everyone except Seolhwa had already gathered and was talking.

As the door opened, the chatter abruptly stopped.

The people inside stared at Seolhwa in silence. The one who looked most surprised was her father, Namgung Cheongun.

“Come in.”

Namgung Mucheon was the first to greet her.

“There was quite a commotion at the door.”

Seolhwa glanced at Seom Mugwang, who had followed her and shook her head. He was still snorting in anger.

“It’s nothing.”

However, Namgung Mucheon’s gaze was already on Seolhwa’s injured hand. He had heard the commotion outside.

Knowing that Seom Mugwang had already scolded her, Namgung Mucheon let out a long sigh, which conveyed many unspoken words.

“Sit down.”

Namgung Cheongun gestured for her to come closer.

Seolhwa sat next to him, under the gaze of everyone gathered.

— Truly, truly beautiful. I almost didn’t recognize her.

Namgung Cheongun gently wrapped his hand around her injured one, under the table.

— Is your hand alright? We’ll talk about how it happened later.

— Yes.

“Introduce yourself.”

Seolhwa looked around at the people seated at the table.

It seemed that they had already gathered and heard about her from Namgung Mucheon before she arrived, as there was no visible surprise despite seeing her.

“Hello.”

“Ugh…”

Namgung Cheongsan abruptly turned his head away.

“It’s Seolhwa.”

A sigh escaped from someone.

The child they had thought would never return had come back.

Namgung Cheongun, Cheonghae, and Cheongsan were competitors for the position of deputy lord, but they were also brothers.

The first nephew they had finally obtained had returned alive. Could they not be happy about that?

“Welcome back, Seolhwa. I see the face of the child from when you were young. You’ve been through a lot. I’m glad you’re safe.”

Namgung Cheonghae was the first to greet her. Next to him sat his wife, Yeon Soram, and their two sons, So-ryong and Wung-i.

“Say hello, So-ryong. You were born in the same year as her, but she was born six months before you, so she’s your older sister.”

So-ryong frowned.

As the eldest grandson of the Namgung family, he had always been treated with respect.

The appearance of a cousin he had thought would never show up wasn’t exactly a welcome surprise, and the fact that she was now his older sister didn’t make it any better.

“So-ryong.”

“…Nice to meet you.”

Despite being told she was his sister, this greeting made it clear that he didn’t acknowledge her at all.

Namgung Cheonghae seemed a little taken aback and was about to scold him, but Yeon Soram’s voice came out a little quicker.

“Wung, you should greet her too.”

Seolhwa’s gaze naturally turned to the second son, Wung.

“Yes. Mother. Hello, Sister Seolhwa. I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Wung.”

There was a hint of warmth in his cautious voice, unlike So-ryong, he truly greeted her with kindness.

“I’m glad to meet you too.”

“I’m so relieved you’ve come back safely.”

Seolhwa nodded, thinking that Wung, with his round face and round eyes, was quite a cute cousin.

“Thank you.”

After greeting Namgung Cheonghae’s family, it was now Namgung Cheongsan’s turn.

She looked at Cheongsan.

He was the largest of the three, even bigger than Namgung Mucheon.

Cheongsan roughly rubbed his nose and greeted her in a loud voice.

“So it was you who was the guest of the Heavenly Guest Hall! I was so surprised! Do you remember when this uncle used to carry you on his back when you were little?”

His wife, Mo Yongyeonhwa, poked him in the side.

Unlike the large Namgung Cheongsan, she was a small, delicate woman with a fragile frame.

She looked like she couldn’t even lift a finger, yet when she poked him with a smiling face, Namgung Cheongsan shuddered in pain as if it had hurt.

Instead of him, Mo Yongyeonhwa continued with the greeting.

“I’m so glad to see you healthy, Seolhwa. I was really surprised when I heard you came back on your own. You’ve grown into a beautiful lady, haven’t you?”

Looking at Seolhwa’s beautifully dressed appearance, she seemed to reflect on the past and a faint, lonely smile appeared on her face before quickly fading.

“Come visit us sometime when you have time. There’s a lot I want to give you.”

As she petted her daughter’s head, she introduced her.

“This is Hwarin. You probably haven’t seen her before. Hwarin, greet your older sister.”

The youngest of the group, Namgung Hwarin, was five years old. Since Seolhwa had disappeared eight years ago, this was their first meeting.

I met her in my previous life, but…

Back then, their meeting had been brief, so Seolhwa didn’t know much about Hwarin.

Hwarin shyly clung to her mother’s arm, her eyes fixed on Seolhwa.

“What are you doing not greeting her? Hurry up.”

Mo Yongyeonhwa scolded in a playful voice, but Hwarin, embarrassed, buried her face in her mother’s sleeve.

Mo Yongyeonhwa apologized awkwardly.

“She’s a bit shy. Sorry about that, Seolhwa.”

“It’s fine.”

After all, they would be living under the same roof soon. There was no need to become close right away.

At that moment, Namgung Hwarin picked up a tanghuru from the food set on the table and handed it to Seolhwa.

The servants had placed it near the young Hwarin.

“Oh, are you giving this to her? Seolhwa, Hwarin is giving it to you.”

Since they were sitting far apart and couldn’t reach, Mo Yongyeonhwa took the tanghuru and handed it to Seolhwa.

Seolhwa caught off guard, took the tanghuru.

She felt a bit embarrassed.

It had been decades, across both her past and present lives, since anyone had offered her such a kind gesture.

‘…’

Seolhwa looked at Namgung Hwarin, still hiding behind her mother’s sleeve while peeking at Seolhwa. When their eyes met, Hwarin smiled shyly and quickly hid again behind her mother’s sleeve.