I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 45

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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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“So you truly wish to die.”
Father’s voice reached me, trembling with fury.
“This is no time to listen to your nonsense!”
Following Father’s lead, my older brothers twisted their expressions into something harsh and menacing.
They all believed the Nanny was spouting absurdities.
I thought so too, but….
‘Why do I feel so uneasy?’
The woman who had kidnapped me was wearing the Nanny’s clothes.
‘I naturally assumed the Nanny had been overpowered and her clothes stolen.’
Yet the Nanny’s attire remained unchanged, and she appeared completely unharmed.
“Speak truthfully about what has transpired. Now!”
At Father’s sharp command, the Nanny blinked her eyes several times before shaking her head slowly.
“It is no jest, sir. I speak only the truth.”
“….”
“It was my doing. I kidnapped the young lady. I did not expect to be discovered by the young master of the Namgung clan, though.”
The moment the Nanny finished speaking, the atmosphere grew suffocatingly heavy.
My chest plummeted. My entire body burned with an inexplicable unease.
I did not need to be told.
I could sense how furious my family had become.
“…Father. It would be wise to move to another location.”
After a brief silence, Gwi-heon quietly informed Father.
Now that I thought about it, the surroundings had grown chaotic.
People had gathered here due to the commotion in broad daylight.
Father clamped his mouth shut. His broad shoulders heaved heavily.
“Bind that woman and bring her to me.”
He spoke each word with suppressed fury, then turned away.
Father took me with him and left the area first.
His hand, resting upon my shoulder, trembled with rage.
…Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded painfully. It felt as though it might burst. My ears throbbed.
‘What in the world is happening right now?’
***
“Fortunately, it seems you haven’t suffered any injuries.”
The moment we arrived, Father brought me to Dang Mu-seon’s Residence.
Dang Mu-seon examined me thoroughly with the ease of someone fulfilling a promise.
“Mmm.”
At Dang Mu-seon’s words, Father released a long breath of relief.
“…Little one. You must have been terrified, weren’t you?”
Dang Mu-seon asked while gently stroking my head.
This was the first time I’d heard Dang Mu-seon speak in such a soothing, child-comforting tone.
I started to say I was fine now, but simply nodded instead. I truly had been frightened.
“You’re safe now. Grandfather is here.”
With those reassuring words, Dang Mu-seon handed me a tanghoro.
“Eat it.”
The man who had always scolded me for eating sweets, saying they weren’t good for the body, was now readily offering me a tanghoro.
My heart stirred inexplicably.
“Thank you…”
I accepted the tanghoro with both hands and bit into it with a crunch.
The hardened sugar shattered, and the dry, tart fruit flesh crumbled.
Though it should have tasted delicious, I couldn’t taste anything at all.
I was numbly chewing the tanghoro when it happened.
“Sir, the young masters have arrived.”
The Poison Expert Branch Master announced from outside.
Father glanced at Dang Mu-seon and gave a slight nod.
With a grave expression, Dang Mu-seon instructed those outside.
“Let them in. Keep everyone else away.”
“Yes, sir.”
Before the Poison Expert Branch Master’s words even finished, the shadows of my older brothers appeared.
“Yeon-ah. I think it would be best if you returned to your room now.”
Father spoke to me gently.
It seemed he intended to interrogate the Nanny from this point forward.
This wasn’t a place for me after all.
What was about to unfold here wouldn’t be a pleasant sight for me to witness.
“No. Stay.”
What?
It was unexpected.
Dang Mu-seon sharply objected.
“This happened to you. Don’t you need to know the full story from beginning to end?”
Grandfather’s eyes gleamed with intensity as he spoke.
He truly was a man with very different principles from Father.
‘Even allowing me to attend the Family Council Meeting was like that.’
Perhaps he believed that knowing everything would be to my advantage.
“….”
Father reluctantly sealed his lips shut.
It seemed he had instinctively realized he could not oppose me now.
‘Thank goodness. That he would listen.’
I naturally wanted to remain here as well.
Somehow, I needed to understand what had driven Nanny to commit such an act, and why.
The door opened, and my older brothers entered with the bound Nanny.
“….”
My mouth had gone completely dry.
Nanny was seated in a chair at the center of the room.
Gui-heon and Dang Eum bound her to the chair’s backrest, then retreated.
Father immediately stepped forward.
He removed the wooden gag from Nanny’s mouth and jabbed her jaw with his fingertip.
“Ugh!”
Her mouth fell open loosely.
She seemed to be trying to bite her tongue or grind her teeth, but her jaw muscles had gone slack, making it impossible.
Dang Mu-seon then approached her.
Looking down at her with an emotionless face, he forced something small like a pebble into her mouth.
“Cough! Ugh!”
It had to be poison. The acrid stench reached even here.
I studied my older brothers’ expressions for a moment.
‘As expected.’
Despite their attempts to hide it, they were deeply shaken.
Gui-heon’s eyes trembled especially.
It was only natural—she had been like a mother to them.
“Confess in detail. What you did, by what means, and why.”
Father’s voice cut through the room with lethal coldness.
The atmosphere had darkened. It was suffocating.
Nanny’s shoulders convulsed as she gasped for breath and opened her mouth.
“I hired someone. To evade the escort guards and send the young lady far away….”
The Nanny, her sclera reddened, answered haltingly.
The image of the woman I had seen in the alley surfaced in my mind.
Was she saying she had hired that woman?
Why on earth would she do such a thing?
“Were you desperate for money? Were you trying to sell Yeon-a?”
When Gui-heon asked quietly, Nanny managed to produce an answer.
“Money… would I move for such a pittance?”
It was an evasive response.
Something was wrong.
The poison’s effects should be rising now, yet Nanny maintained her rationality.
The Confession Poison destabilizes emotions and clouds the mind, stripping away the ability to conceal one’s true nature.
The poison is working as intended.
She must be clinging to reason through sheer force of will.
“Why did you confess? What exactly are you hiding? Answer me.”
Gui Heon pressed further.
The Nanny met his wavering gaze with an unwavering stare.
“Haha….”
A bitter laugh escaped her lips as she responded.
“Since everything has fallen apart, I’ll die by their hands regardless.”
“So who are they—”
“So! I thought it better to be caught by you instead. At least I get to see your wounded faces like this.”
The Nanny cut off Gui Heon’s interrogation, her words laced with bitter emphasis.
Just as she said, Gui Heon could not hide his wounded, disheveled expression.
‘How could she be like this?’
No guilt. No hesitation.
If she harbored even a shred of affection for us, her emotions would be in turmoil.
The Nanny, laughing as she faced my brothers directly, seemed like a stranger.
Was all that care she showed us—treating us like her own children—nothing but a lie?
For a moment, her eyes, glinting with laughter, turned toward me.
….
Then the Nanny’s steadfast eyes began to waver.
“Dang Seon-hwa…?”
She murmured Mother’s name in a daze.
“Why are you alive.”
Do you see Mother in me?
Her breathing grew increasingly ragged.
“Why are you alive…!”

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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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