I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 44

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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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The carriage came to a halt.
I tilted my head and peered through a crack in the wall at the world beyond.
‘A relay station.’
I swallowed hard, my throat dry.
Not much remained before we left the Market District behind.
Once we crossed beyond this point, it would become far more difficult for them to find me….
“Ha ha. I’ve finally made it in life!”
“Tell me about it. They’re paying that much just to move a single girl….”
I heard the Carriage Driver speaking with a man.
But the woman was nowhere to be seen.
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen the woman since the carriage departed.
Where could she have gone?
I wanted a wider view of the outside, but my vantage point had its limits.
Leaning against the wall and turning my head this way and that, the carriage door suddenly swung open.
“Well, well. Still here, are we!”
The Carriage Driver had returned without my noticing.
He looked down at me with a repulsive smile.
“Tch tch. You look like a young lady from a noble household, that’s for sure.”
“So, shall we collect a ransom before we sell you off?”
The Male Accomplice who had followed the Carriage Driver draped an arm across his shoulder as he spoke.
“You heard him, miss? You’d better tell us which household you belong to.”
The Carriage Driver drew near and lowered the cloth bound around my mouth.
“Well? Go on.”
Greed glimmered in his eyes.
“Don’t be afraid, you little—gaaaah!”
He stumbled sideways mid-sentence.
“What the—ugh, aaargh!”
A deep gash ran across his back.
“Ugh, g-guh….”
He convulsed once before his body went limp.
“W-who are you!”
The Male Accomplice spun around in shock.
I turned to look in that direction at the same moment.
A white, mist-like form shimmered faintly with light.
“Kugh!”
Something sharp pierced through the man’s chest, and blood sprayed forth in a violent arc.
My vision flooded with crimson, obscuring everything before my eyes.
Yet I knew exactly who had done this.
A familiar scent reached me—the fragrance of the sachet I had made.
Buried beneath the stench of blood, but unmistakable.
“…Are you alright?”
The young boy approached and knelt before me.
He then carefully untied the bindings on my hands and feet, gently wiping away the blood smeared near my eyes with his thumb.
Only then could I see his face properly.
His face was flushed more than usual, sweat dripping steadily from his temples as if he had run here.
“Do-hwi….”
I couldn’t manage to say anything more.
I was too shocked. Too bewildered.
‘Do-hwi came.’
And he came first.
As I blinked, blood began to blur my vision again.
Thud! The carriage suddenly shook violently.
Crash!
The door splintered and fell to the floor.
Without thinking, I shrank back, and Do-hwi immediately shielded me behind himself.
“Yeon-ah!”
Dang Lim burst through like lightning.
“Yeon…ah?”
His fierce expression melted away in an instant. He seemed to realize the situation had already been resolved.
Dang Lim glanced briefly at Do-hwi and the fallen man, then rushed toward me.
“You—this blood. What is this? Huh?”
He caressed my cheek, asking with a deathly pale face.
His hands were trembling.
“It’s not my blood…. I’m fine.”
Perhaps because Dang Lim was trembling so much, I grasped his hand and forced a smile to reassure him.
“I’m fine, brother.”
Then Dang Lim’s expression crumpled as if he might cry.
“Fine, you say…!”
He pulled me into a tight embrace.
“While you’re shaking like this!”
What? Wasn’t it Dang Lim who was shaking?
When I lowered my head to look, my entire body was trembling like an aspen leaf.
I didn’t realize. I had tried to stay composed….
‘I was terrified.’
Sniffling, I rested my chin on Dang Lim’s shoulder as he swallowed back tears.
“Sob… you… how could you worry us like this! We were all so afraid of what might happen to you… and Elder Dok-jon even released his poison hounds to find you!”
At Dang Lim’s words, my heart ached.
I couldn’t fathom how terrified they must have been at the thought of never seeing me again.
Perhaps they felt the same way I did.
I wonder if they felt the same way I did.
‘But if they really did poison him….’
Lost in thought, I patted Dang Lim’s back when my eyes met Do-hwi’s.
He still held his sword.
Catching my gaze, he—who had been steadying his ragged breathing—offered a brief smile.
“….”
I couldn’t bring myself to smile back.
My mind was too consumed with certain thoughts to manage it.
After that, I descended from the carriage and sat wrapped in Dang Lim’s green robe.
“Stay right here!”
Dang Lim left briefly to announce news of finding me, while Do-hwi kept watch at my side.
“Would you like some water?”
He asked carefully, gauging my mood.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you truly uninjured?”
“…Yes.”
I answered numbly, staring into empty space.
Then the wind stirred, and a silhouette suddenly appeared before me.
In my vision, bare feet caked with dirt came into view.
“My child.”
My throat tightened painfully.
“Father… ah.”
My legs gave way as I tried to stand.
Father caught me swiftly.
“Haa….”
The arms holding me trembled violently.
“You’re safe, my child.”
His voice cracked at the edges.
I nodded silently, and Father pulled me into his embrace.
As if to convince himself of my presence, he didn’t let me go.
“Yeon-ah!”
“Yeon-ah.”
I heard Gwi-heon and Dang Eum’s voices.
They too had rushed over in haste, their appearances thoroughly disheveled.
Waving to them from Father’s embrace, I saw their eyes shimmer.
“….”
Without a word, they rushed forward and wrapped their arms around me.
For a long moment, we held each other as if we might never meet again.
When Dang Lim arrived shortly after, sudden worry overwhelmed me.
“Um, Father. What about Dang Dam….”
I grasped Father’s sleeve and asked carefully.
What if he were dead…?
“Due to his carelessness, I nearly lost you. I will see that he receives proper punishment, so do not worry.”
Father answered in a stern voice.
Fortunately, Dang Dam was alive.
‘But carelessness? Really?’
I opened my mouth slightly.
Could that truly be the case? The moment we entered the Alley, Dang Dam vanished.
I knew Dang Dam. He was not someone who would ever let his guard down.
Especially not in this Foreign Land.
Soon after, Father turned his head toward Do-hwi.
“Young Master Namgoong. I hear you were the first to find my child.”
At Father’s words, Do-hwi, who had been fidgeting with his sword hilt, lifted his head with perfect composure.
“Yes. Upon hearing the news, I searched the Market District to be of assistance. And then, by chance… I discovered the carriage in which you were hidden.”
“…Truly…”
Father opened his mouth slightly.
As if recalling what might have happened had I not been found, he squeezed his eyes shut.
“I express my deepest gratitude. Without this child, I would have…”
Father spoke while repeatedly stroking my shoulder.
“Child, you should offer your thanks as well.”
I held my green robe tightly for a moment.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I needed to organize my thoughts.
“Child?”
Father called to me again.
I opened my eyes slowly and gazed at Do-hwi.
‘That’s enough. My judgment is clear.’
As I stared at him, the words would not come easily.
Perhaps it was because of how he had wielded his sword moments before.
But I could not suppress my curiosity.
“Thank you, Do-hwi.”
“It’s nothing.”
At my calm expression of gratitude, Do-hwi shook his head.
“I was merely a very little bit faster than the others.”
Yes. That was what I wanted to say.
“You’re truly humble. Yet you found me faster than Grandfather’s poison tracker, Dok-jon.”
At those words, Do-hwi’s lips stiffened for an instant.
“And besides, you didn’t follow the trail of candies I dropped like my older brother Dang Lim did. That’s truly remarkable!”
Father and my older brothers were not in their right minds now, so they were missing this.
But I could not possibly overlook it.
Throughout my time in the Relay Station, every one of my senses kept screaming.
‘Namgoong Do-hwi is strange.’
You have no idea how hard I tried to ignore it.
“And you really are incredibly strong, aren’t you?”
I forced a bright smile onto my face and approached him.
“Dang Dam is incredibly strong too—my bodyguard, you know. You defeated a master powerful enough to deceive Dang Dam and kidnap me. Just how strong are you?”
Something felt off from the moment those two collapsed like logs.
The fact that he’d eluded Dang Dam meant he was fast and skilled at concealing his presence.
Yet when Namgoong Do-hwi appeared, even such a master was helpless against him.
It would have been strange if only the woman who lured me was strong.
‘Then where is that woman right now?’
“…That is.”
He opened his mouth.
Do-hwi’s expression, which had been kindness itself, hardened in an instant.
My family, who had been surrounding me like a halo of light, all turned their heads in unison to look down at Do-hwi.
Do-hwi swallowed hard under the weight of their gazes.
“Do-hwi. Answer me.”
My tongue stung as the words left my mouth.
I prayed I was simply being paranoid.
“How did you find me so quickly?”
That my nerves were just too frayed, making me suspect an innocent boy…
Do-hwi’s eyes trembled violently.
His complexion didn’t turn pale like someone caught red-handed. Instead, he looked frustrated.
“You, why do you always—”
Just as he was about to speak.
“Are you looking for the culprit behind this scheme?”
A gentle voice captured my attention.
Chills ran down my spine.
“You’re certain this wasn’t a simple kidnapping.”
I turned my stiff neck toward the source of the voice, and there stood my Nanny.
“Truly perceptive, as expected, young lady.”
Without a single scratch, dressed in the same clothes as the woman who had lured me.
She clasped her hands together and smiled wickedly.
As if regretting being discovered.
“It was me, young lady. I orchestrated it all.”

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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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