I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 4

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

“Uh….”
Why? I couldn’t answer in that moment.
‘Is that not allowed?’
Now that I thought about it, I didn’t really know where the servants’ duties ended and mine began.
I wouldn’t have known what the servants should have done anyway.
“There was no one there.”
“…What?”
Dang Lim’s expression hardened.
“Why is there no one?”
“Well. There just never was.”
Servants entering my room was rare enough to count on one hand.
That’s how I remembered it, and that’s how it likely was. My room was dangerous because of the hallucinogenic herb.
“That’s… what do you mean….”
Dang Lim’s bewilderment was written plainly across his face.
He seemed completely unaware that I had been neglected by the servants.
How could he not know? He would have realized it the moment he stepped into my room.
It simply meant he had never cared about me that much.
“…”
Suddenly, Dang Lim gritted his teeth with a grinding sound. His face flushed crimson, starting from his neck and spreading upward.
‘Wait, wait, what?’
Something felt off.
I thought he’d either apologize for not knowing or scoff dismissively—that would be all.
“I, I should go now!”
Snap.
With a premonition that things were about to escalate, I hastily grabbed his hand.
“…!”
As if the heat were draining away, Dang Lim came to his senses.
‘I still need to find that hallucinogenic herb!’
I couldn’t afford to cause a commotion before then.
I gripped his hand firmly and pulled him along.
Whether he was following my lead or his mind was elsewhere, he came along without resistance, his gaze flickering between my hand and my face.
I felt his eyes on me, but I deliberately ignored it and stepped inside.
***
“Why would you come to a place like this yourself…?”
Even as I voiced my confusion, he was already rolling up his sleeves and stepping decisively into the Warehouse.
‘Thanks to him, we’ve made it this far without any trouble.’
I’d been worried the gatekeeper might stop us, claiming it was dangerous.
With Dang Lim at my side, everyone simply parted ways with a single glance.
And besides.
“Oh my, I’ve never actually seen him in person before…!”
“Look at those chubby cheeks. They’re going to burst!”
From the way the servants murmured as we passed, it seemed he was quite popular.
‘Dang Lim doesn’t have such round cheeks. The Dang Family really is strict, isn’t it….’
“Ah! Don’t go in there.”
Just as I was tilting my head and about to venture deeper, Dang Lim stretched out his hand to block me.
“There’s too much dust! Talk from here.”
“Oh…? Yes.”
“What kind of incense is it?”
Dang Lim asked, arms crossed.
“Hmm.”
I recalled what I’d heard before about the silent guest.
“The scent of dried peach blossoms and Ligusticum mixed together, and it looks so much like a peach tree branch that it’s easy to confuse.”
“Dried peach blossoms and Ligusticum scent?”
As I relayed the same information to Dang Lim, he sniffed the air as if recalling the fragrance.
“Let’s see. Dried peach blossoms….”
Then, with an almost supernatural precision, he rapidly pulled out several boxes hidden in the corners and handed them to me.
All of them were medicinal herbs with a subtle peach fragrance.
Watching him sift through dried peaches and peach tree sap in one swift motion, admiration escaped my lips unbidden.
“Wow.”
“This isn’t it either.”
Dang Lim pretended otherwise, but his shoulders shrugged with satisfaction.
I stared blankly at Dang Lim, covered in dust, completely absorbed in his search for the guest.
‘It would have been a disaster if he wasn’t here.’
There were dozens, perhaps hundreds of large and small boxes stacked in the Warehouse.
It would have been impossible for a six-year-old to search through this alone.
I was glad I’d brought Dang Lim along.
“What about that?”
Dang Lim tilted his head back and pointed upward.
Following his fingertip, I spotted a small box on top of a beam.
Dang Lim leaped up in one motion and tapped the box.
As it lost its balance and fell, he caught it effortlessly with one hand.
“Wow.”
I clapped my hands in applause, and Dang Lim scratched the back of his neck.
“Here.”
“Thank you.”
I accepted the box and gently cracked open the lid.
‘There it is.’
White ginseng, angelica root, and five-spirit mushrooms overflowed from within.
With this quantity, I wouldn’t need to worry for the next year.
“But what kind of fragrant herb is this? I’ve never seen it before.”
Dang Lim scratched his chin and asked casually.
As expected, he didn’t know.
Well, it wouldn’t help with cultivation anyway.
“Hm? What do you mean?”
Dang Lim stretched his neck forward and asked again.
His eyes gleamed with curiosity.
‘He’s definitely favorable toward me.’
The way he bristled at the mention of the family servants abandoning me earlier proved it….
Should I dangle a little bait?
I flashed a bright smile at Dang Lim, whose eyes narrowed with interest.
“Mm. I’m not sure. They just said it was good for the body.”
I picked up one angelica root and continued with a cheerful grin.
“It’s nice. My heart doesn’t race, and it feels like I’m dreaming.”
I’d rephrased the effects—how the mind grows hazy and the heartbeat slows.
Hoping he’d understand the implication.
“…And what else?”
Sensing something, Dang Lim’s expression grew serious.
“Well, I can see things I want to see. Before, it showed me Mother… Huh?”
Before I could finish, Dang Lim snatched everything from my hands.
I pouted and held out both palms.
“Give it back! I need to see Mother.”
“…No.”
Dang Lim muttered, his face blank as if his soul had left his body.
He’d definitely caught on to something strange.
When I mentioned seeing my deceased mother, even someone as dense as him would understand.
“You just go back. As is. Understood?”
“But…! I can’t!”
I could. I absolutely could.
I stamped my feet and gazed at the box with longing.
Dang Lim pushed me completely outside and locked the Warehouse door behind me.
He looked down at me with troubled eyes and then….
“Wait! Brother!”
He vanished, leaving only deep footprints.
I swallowed my laughter as I observed the footprints stretching far into the distance.
Now that I’d noticed something suspicious, investigating would quickly reveal the incense’s true nature.
Finding the culprit would then be merely a matter of time.
I felt myself drawing gradually closer to the truth.
Stepping out of the Warehouse with its bewildering blend of fragrances, a faint sweetness brushed against my nostrils. I gazed down at the sweets and pouch Dang Lim had given me.
‘Dang Lim today was completely different from my memories of him.’
He wasn’t the Dang Lim who used to criticize me harshly.
Though he grumbled and had some rough edges, he’d been kind.
“How can I share the same bloodline with someone like that!”
Yet that voice from my memory remained vivid….
‘Hm?’
I drew in a breath.
Vivid? No. It wasn’t.
As I carefully retraced the memory, it proved far hazier and more opaque than I’d thought.
I couldn’t quite recall Dang Lim’s voice saying those words clearly.
It seemed as though other voices were mixed in alongside it.
“Ugh….”
My head throbbed, and I clutched at my hair. I crouched down and forced myself to breathe steadily.
Was this all the work of the hallucinogenic incense?
If it never happened, why do I remember Dang Lim this way?
“Miss! Please slow down! You’ll fall!”
“Stop bothering me! If I lose my brother, you’ll pay with your life!”
A familiar voice called out from a distance.
“…Dang Gyo-gyo.”
The headache gradually subsided. I lifted my head and slowly rose to my feet.
“I need to make up for this before she gets on my bad side. Otherwise, that wretched girl will take my place again…!”
My eyes met those of Dang Gyo-gyo as she burst through the threshold.
That voice mixed together in my head—
It was unmistakably Dang Gyo-gyo’s.
“Hee-yeon!”
Dang Gyo-gyo came rushing toward me, her eyes once again adorned with that characteristic melancholic gleam.
“Were you taking a stroll?”
“Yes.”
“You came all this way—how impressive.”
With an innocent smile, Dang Gyo-gyo glanced openly around the surroundings.
“Where is Brother Dang Lim? Where might he be?”
“He’s not here.”
The moment I shook my head in response, Dang Gyo-gyo’s expression vanished entirely.
Her eyes transformed completely, and she clicked her tongue in annoyance.
“You could have mentioned that earlier.”
This was Dang Gyo-gyo’s true nature, then.
I had anticipated as much, so it came as no great surprise.
“Sigh. Where could he have gone?”
Even with me standing right before her, Dang Gyo-gyo continued searching for places where Dang Lim might be.
“Hmm?”
Her gaze suddenly fixed on something—the Medicinal Herb Storage behind me.
I watched her brow furrow.
“But why are you here?”
Her displeasure was unmistakable, tinged with what seemed like surprise.
As if she already knew what lay within.
Something felt decidedly off.
‘I should investigate this.’

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