I Became the Eldest Daughter of a Fallen Family - Chapter 5

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 5. Brewing Fish Stew
After circling through the forest for a while.
So Yeon-hui turned back toward the Stream with a bright, open face.
She had no choice. Her backpack was heavy with foraged greens and berries, and she’d earned eight Good Deed Points besides.
‘I was worried the points would run out buying radish and miso. This is really fortunate.’
At this rate, she could earn points by catching fish.
Full of anticipation, she carefully lifted the wicker basket from its rocky trap in one piece.
“Wow. Fish… actually got caught?”
“Right? And there are quite a lot of them!”
The younger siblings’ mouths fell open at this unexpected abundance.
Of course, So Yeon-hui’s eyes, having earned an additional three Good Deed Points, curved into crescents of delight.
“Let me see! One, two, three, four… Wow, the miso effect really works!”
Minnows and sculpins, Korean rockfish, and even mountain catfish no bigger than the palm of a hand.
They weren’t particularly large, but there were plenty of them.
More than enough to make a proper pot of fish stew.
“If we just boil these with radish and miso, it’ll be delicious.”
At So Yeon-hui’s words, tinged with admiration, the twins swallowed hard.
Their already-hungry bellies churned visibly, growling so loud it was almost embarrassing.
“Let’s get home quickly. Fish stew takes time to make properly.”
So Yeon-hui eagerly transferred the fish into her backpack in their wicker basket.
But seeing the backpack so stuffed that she could barely keep it from overflowing, her heart suddenly sank.
‘Did you bring too much?’
No matter how she looked at it, this harvest seemed excessive for someone unfamiliar with the forest.
She couldn’t blame her siblings if they found it suspicious.
But had they never suspected her before now?
Cold sweat beaded on her skin.
As she swallowed nervously, her siblings struck at her weak point without warning.
“By the way, where did you learn all this?”
“Right. I thought you only knew how to study. You’ve always had your nose in books.”
“Ha, well. Truth lies in books, they say. As I’ve read so many different kinds, I’ve picked up knowledge like this.”
“Really?”
“Yes. So you must not neglect your studies either, no matter how boring it seems. Understand?”
She offered a vague excuse and buried the matter under a lecture.
At this, So Yeon-u immediately pouted in displeasure.
“Ugh. You sound just like our teacher. People who love books must all be the same.”
“It’s all for your own good.”
She spoke in a deliberately stern tone, and her siblings’ faces sulked.
No further interrogation followed. The lecture tactic had fortunately worked.
‘…Phew. That took years off my life.’
Swallowing back the sigh that threatened to escape, So Yeon-hui hurried the children home.
But how long could she really manage the situation this way?
Her heart fluttered with anxiety. It seemed true that people couldn’t live with a lie on their conscience.
* * *
“Hey, So Yeon-u. See if you can spot a tail under your sister’s skirts.”
“Surely not! It’s midday.”
“There’s no law saying a fox demon only travels at night.”
“But if we can get a harvest like this, wouldn’t it be fine even if our sister is a fox?”
So Yeon-hui’s prediction proved correct.
The children were genuinely, seriously suspicious that something was unusual about their sister.
They simply reserved judgment on whether it was something malevolent.
Their sister’s newfound skills were turning out to be even more remarkable than expected.
The moment she arrived home, she set to work brewing the fish stew with practiced ease.
She cleaned the caught fish thoroughly, then simmered them in hot water with ginger for about half an hour until they were tender.
After that, she skimmed off the foam while the fish broth turned milky white, removing the fishy smell.
At first they wondered what she thought she was doing…
But once the radish and miso went into the fish broth and a savory aroma began rising, the suspicion vanished at once.
“When will this be ready?”
“It needs a bit more time to get the flavor right.”
“Can’t we just taste it early?”
Now So Yeon-u looked as though he might hurl himself at the pot.
‘I do need to check the seasoning anyway, so maybe I’ll let them have small sips of broth.’
The children’s pleading eyes looked so pitiful.
So Yeon-hui finally scooped small portions of fish stew broth into a small bowl and distributed it among them.
“Be careful—it’s hot. Just taste it and tell me if the seasoning’s right.”
The children swallowed once, then without hesitation both grabbed the bowl and drank the broth.
“Wow! This can’t be real. How does the broth taste like this?”
“Is fish stew supposed to taste this good?”
Not a hint of fishiness—savory and just a touch sharp.
It was among the most delicious fish dishes they’d ever eaten.
“Be honest. You’re not really our sister, are you?”
“What?”
“You’ve never learned to cook, so how could you make this? And how did you know about fish meat and miso and all that? You were picking poisonous mushrooms by mistake not long ago. Something’s definitely off.”
“That’s… well…”
At So Yeon-su’s sharp interrogation, So Yeon-hui’s face grew flustered.
Unable to offer a credible excuse, she stood trembling, and So Yeon-su’s suspicion hardened into certainty.
But even So Yeon-su did not expect what came next—So Yeon-hui’s confession.
“Maybe that’s true.”
“What?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure who I am anymore.”
Perhaps So Yeon-hui herself had never meant to say such a thing.
* * *
The Butterfly Dream of Zhuangzi, they call it.
The dream of the butterfly that Zhuangzi once had.
So Yeon-hui laid bare the story of her past as if it were something from a dream.
And because it felt so vivid, she said, she’d grown confused about who she truly was.
‘They might think I’m mad.’
Such a fear was not absent.
But she did not want to deceive her siblings. More precisely, she did not want to betray their hearts any longer.
And her effort received repayment in a rather unexpected form.
“So… you left us and died trying to clear Father’s name, and we were executed by the fourth prince?”
“More or less. Though in that world, it wasn’t a prince, but…”
“But why is that your fault?”
Why indeed. It was hardly right to abandon siblings who’d just come of age and flee.
Of course, as one bearing a crime, So Yeon-hui had no right to complain, so she hung her head and stammered an excuse.
“I ran away thinking I could live alone, that money was everything in the world. Even though I knew you had no adult to look after you…”
But when So Yeon-su heard the entire story, she actually cried out:
“That’s complete nonsense!”
“What?”
“How is any of that your fault? We’re adults too—why would we need someone’s care? And it was the fourth prince who killed us!”
She spoke as if shocked at the absurdity.
Yet at the same time, her heart ached because she understood why So Yeon-hui had dreamed such a dream.
‘She thinks the family’s ruin was her fault.’
While the fourth prince who told the lie would probably go on living without shame.
Her fists clenched of their own accord.
“Listen carefully. That was just a dream. Something that will never happen!”
“That’s right, older sister. We’re both alive and well right here.”
So stop clinging to the past.
Don’t blame yourself for what came before, the two younger siblings comforted So Yeon-hui.
That firm declaration was so reassuring.
“Are you crying right now?”
Tears spilled over before she could help it.
* * *
So Jin felt he was truly blessed.
Though he’d lost both his father and his elder brother in battle, and been betrayed by the lord he’d trusted, at least he’d kept his life.
Though he’d lost the grand Manor and fine Silk Clothing to his name, he’d managed to protect his family.
Once hailed as a hero of the nation, he’d become a man digging earth in a Remote Mountain Village, yet he felt no sorrow or grief.
Why should he suffer when everyone he cherished and loved was by his side?
So Jin had believed this right up until his eldest daughter, So Yeon-hui, ate a poisoned mushroom by mistake and collapsed.
‘Could that brilliant child really have failed to recognize a poisonous mushroom?’
Watching his daughter’s face—eyes tightly shut as if resigned to everything—So Jin dimly understood.
That his own incompetence had ultimately harmed even his family.
“Take it easy. You’ve been moving for several hours now.”
“No, sir. Bamboo roots spread far if left unattended even briefly. I must dig out as much as I can before the ground freezes.”
Thwack.
The hard earth cracked under the force of his hoe stroke. Though he should have been exhausted, So Jin lifted the hoe and brought it down again with all his strength.
His palms burned. He knew he was using more force than necessary, yet he didn’t stop. Was this the root of it?
With a sharp crack, the hoe snapped clean in two.
‘…A hoe I barely managed to buy by selling fine slippers.’
He stared down at the broken hoe and his own callused hands with a blank expression.
Hands that had once commanded tens of thousands of soldiers.
But what good was that now?
He couldn’t even properly feed his own children.
Despair darkened his vision.
But at that very moment.
“Father!”
The voice of his youngest, So Yeon-u, rang out from the far end of the field—breathless and panting, yet bright and strong.
“Sister made fish stew! Come inside quickly!”
So Jin slowly lifted his head.
‘…Fish stew?’
At these unexpected words, he straightened his back and looked toward the house.
In the evening sky, thin wisps of smoke rose from the kitchen.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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