I Decided to Give the Contract to the Male Vassal - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 18

Chapter 5. Fate Changes

I carefully crossed over to the tea house’s guest room together with Wicheonso’s confidant.

When I entered through the window, Okxiang showed a relieved expression. She seemed to have been waiting anxiously with her heart in her throat.

“Miss, are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

I said that, but I wasn’t fine at all.

I had stood firm in front of Wicheonso, but as soon as I returned to the tea house, my legs gave out and I collapsed.

My chest felt tight as the tension was released.

I could only walk to the tea table after receiving Okxiang’s help.

“Please moisten your throat with this tea.”

I received a cup of tea from Okxiang and quenched my thirst.

I hadn’t even realized it due to tension until just now, but my throat must have been very dry as the tea was so refreshing and sweet. I finally felt like I could breathe again.

“How much time has passed?”

“About one shichen (20-30 minutes).”

The mental exhaustion while being with Wicheonso was so tremendous that I thought a long time had passed, but in reality it wasn’t so.

“Please rest on the bed until Miss Riri returns.”

Okxiang recommended rest, perhaps because my complexion still didn’t look good.

Since I had completely lost my appetite, I decided to organize my thoughts rather than eat something.

Lying on the bed and looking at the ceiling, my heart gradually calmed down.

‘Wicheonso… Indeed, his intimidating presence was considerable as rumored.’

With the handful of internal energy I possessed, he was an opponent I couldn’t even face.

The current me is so weak that I could faint just from the killing intent he emanates. So it was natural to be nervous.

‘Still, the meeting with Wicheonso was successful.’

Nothing had been decided yet, but I was satisfied with the fact that I could stand on his testing ground.

Though I had to pay a high price by drinking poison.

‘Still, if I can just get the antidote within ten days, there shouldn’t be any major problems.’

Someone of Wicheonso’s caliber wouldn’t have spoken falsehoods.

As the tension was released, I could see things that weren’t visible until just now.

Okxiang was waiting demurely beside the bed where I was lying.

“But Okxiang, aren’t you going to ask who I went to meet?”

“I have some idea.”

Okxiang knew that I had sent a letter to the third prince.

“It’s fine to report the truth to Chung-rin.”

Okxiang only bowed her head instead of answering.

Since I had already joined hands with Chung-rin anyway, it was better to leak some information.

To keep my promise with Wicheonso, there couldn’t be even the slightest deviation from my plan, and for that, I needed Chung-rin’s help.

‘By now, Yeonriri must have reached Mukheolam.’

I hoped she would face the truth there.

❖ ❖ ❖

Yeonriri reached Mukheolam wearing a blood-wind cloak pulled down low.

Mukheolam wasn’t far from the tea house, so she could arrive within one gak.

Mukheolam seen from outside was as quiet as a temple.

As she approached, the tightly closed door opened.

An old woman appeared as if she had already known Yeonriri would come.

“I came to see Grandmother.”

The old woman nodded and gestured for her to follow. She was the caretaker of Mukheolam, a person who didn’t speak as if practicing silent meditation.

Yeonriri had met that old woman once when she was young, following her father to visit Grandmother. She had been scared of this old woman then, but today her mind was too complicated to even care.

However, since this was her first time coming to Mukheolam alone, she followed the old woman nervously as before.

In the center of Mukheolam was a small tower called Myobu (Grave Rain).

When she asked Grandmother what was inside, Grandmother smiled sadly and said there were clothes, a sword, and a blood-stained robe instead of remains.

Perhaps because that memory came back, the atmosphere felt even more eerie.

Mukheolam was not a place for the living.

Though outwardly known as a training space for disciples, in reality it was a space like a tomb for severing blood-stained relationships or burying past memories.

After the death of the first son who was the heir, Yeonriri’s grandmother and Daebuin, Sobaek, moved her residence here.

At least when Yeonriri was young, she maintained her sanity and went back and forth to the main residence. It was on such a day when she saw Yeonriri’s swordsmanship.

However, now her condition had worsened and she was said to not even recognize her second son Yeonjo.

The main building where Grandmother stayed had the acrid scent of incense that reached the tip of one’s nose.

The old woman gestured to wait here and left.

‘Can I get the answers I want here?’

It might be a wasted trip.

But in very early, faint memories, there was a different name, a different voice.

“Bia.”

A somehow familiar name. And that voice gave a feeling of longing.

She felt confused not knowing what that memory meant.

She sat in front of the table, hiding her complicated feelings. Grandmother must have copied scriptures of the Heavenly Sect as phrases were densely written on white paper.

Yeonriri was examining those papers when she discovered an unfamiliar phrase.

Daughter of Sobaek Yeonjeok, Yeonhyeonbi.

Yeonjeok was the older brother of current family head Yeonjo and Yeonriri’s uncle’s name.

She vaguely remembered hearing that her uncle had a dead daughter.

But why did that name ‘Hyeonbi’ feel so familiar?

It was when she picked up the paper to look at the phrase more closely.

Thud.

Something fell with a sound.

It was the sound of Daebuin Sobaek, who had discovered Yeonriri, dropping the staff she was holding. She was pale white like a ghost.

“Grandmother. You’ve just arrived? I’m sorry for visiting so suddenly.”

Thinking her sudden visit had startled her, Yeonriri was apologizing when

Sobaek took a deep breath and knelt in front of Yeonriri.

“…Grandmother?”

Then she looked up at Yeonriri with tear-filled eyes.

“Bia. You’ve grown so much since I last saw you.”

Today Daebuin was not in a state of lost mind. Rather, she seemed more lucid than usual.

“Grandmother. You look well today. Are you feeling alright?”

But Bia instead of Riri.

Yeonriri looked at her in bewilderment.

“I’m sorry.”

Moisture gathered in Daebuin’s eyes.

“I shouldn’t have done that, even for your sake…”

Whatever was sorrowful, Daebuin shed endless tears in front of her.

“Grandmother.”

Yeonriri helped her up in confusion.

“Bia. Your real name isn’t Yeonriri. It’s Yeonhyeonbi.”

Her voice pierced her ears like a sword.

“Even when Yeonjo said he would adopt you as his daughter, I could only say I understood.”

Daebuin’s face was distorted with guilt.

She couldn’t even imagine what had made her suffer so much.

Yeonriri gradually realized that her real father had died and she had become her uncle’s daughter.

It was a truth she had never dared to imagine.

It felt like the sky was falling.

However, it was certain that she had grasped a clue to the questions that had been circling in her mind.

“Grandmother. Could you tell me about my uncle… no, my real father?”

When Yeonriri asked cautiously, Daebuin burst into tears.

She wept silently while clutching her chest, as if trying to prevent her heart from bursting out.

Yeonriri didn’t understand the meaning behind those tears.

Daebuin finally parted her lips.

Yeonriri instinctively knew that the words to follow would completely change her fate.

“Go to the tower in the center of Mukheolam, to Myeou. There are things there meant for you.”

Daebuin continued with her head bowed.

“Why did my uncle adopt me as his daughter?”

Yeonriri asked in a calm voice. She was curious why Daebuin wore such a guilt-ridden expression.

Daebuin clutched her chest as if it would tear apart, then hung her head.

Hot tears fell drop by drop onto the floor.

“Bia. This is all my fault. I knew the truth but hid it… I will pay the price.”

The tears of anguish that Daebuin shed wouldn’t stop.

“Please… forgive ‘my son.'”

Though she couldn’t know exactly what it meant, her heart raced frantically.

Her instincts seemed to warn her of what was to come.

It felt like facing a thick door that had appeared before her eyes.

Behind that door, a burdensome truth seemed to be hidden. If she just didn’t open the door, nothing would happen.

But she headed to Myeou without delay.

When she came outside, it was already raining.

Spring had come to Cheonsan, but the rain was still cold.

She headed to Myeou while being drenched by the pouring rain.

Behind Myeou, there was a door. When Yeonriri reached out her hand, the door opened by itself.

In the center of the tower, she saw a sword emitting a gentle light.

It was the Yeomhan Sword that Yeonjeok, who had been the Sobaek of the Yeomhwa Family, had used.

She remembered hearing that it was a treasured sword made from special cold iron that could only be found in mines near Cheonsan, capable of withstanding even the hot flames of Hwama techniques.

When she touched the sword, she felt a subtle vibration as if it was responding to her energy.

Soon after, the mechanical formation that had been spread around the sword opened with a clicking sound.

As if recognizing Yeonriri, the space below the stand where the sword was embedded revealed itself automatically.

Inside were letters that Yeonjeok had exchanged with his mother and books presumed to be his legacy, neatly arranged.

‘This is…’

There was an advanced martial art of Yeomma techniques interpreted in his own way. Furthermore, there was a secret manual that had evolved this even further.

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