I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 47

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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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“W-well, yes. They might try to take Dang Eum away again, I s-suppose!”
Dang Lim wiped his reddened nose as he answered. His eyes were wide open, as if he’d steeled his resolve.
“Right. If we don’t kill them first….”
Dang Eum nodded with a composed expression.
Even Gui-heon, who had been agitated, and Father shared the same sentiment.
“My dear.”
Suddenly Father lifted me up and cradled me in his arms.
Only then did my eye level roughly match everyone else’s. Of course, Dang Lim was standing on his tiptoes.
I met each person’s gaze in turn. My rigid body seemed to relax a little.
“We will never let anyone take you from us.”
“Never.”
“Never.”
My brothers spoke thus, their fists clenched tightly.
Their eyes burned with unwavering resolve.
Father and Dang Mu-seon smiled softly when their eyes met mine.
Both of their gazes were calm and settled.
I couldn’t imagine what tempest might be brewing behind those serene eyes.
“Anyone who lays a hand on you will be slaughtered.”
…Now I could imagine it.
“Ha ha…. Yes. That’s good.”
I was laughing awkwardly at Dang Mu-seon’s chilling words.
“Hmm?”
Father turned his head toward something—the direction of the door.
“Someone has arrived.”
It was strange that he could sense it even through the barrier. Remarkable.
“Tsk. We could simply ignore them.”
Dang Mu-seon seemed to sense it too, clicking his tongue as he moved toward the barrier.
“…Yet why aren’t you letting them inside?”
“That is….”
Only then did I hear voices in conversation.
One belonged to the Poison Expert Branch Master, and the other was a voice I’d grown familiar with.
“If the Household Master would kindly wait a moment, surely that would be acceptable.”
“Who dares make the Household Master wait within these walls?”
Namgoong Sae-ryun.
From the flow of the conversation, ignoring him would have been a grave mistake.
Father set me down and opened the door to greet him.
“Household Master.”
Through the open doorway, I could see Namgoong Do-hwi standing beside Namgoong Sae-ryun.
“Ah, so everyone has gathered here.”
Sae-ryun clapped his hands as if surprised.
Then I furrowed my brow and deliberately assumed a grave expression.
“I heard there was an unfortunate incident. Is my daughter unharmed?”
Father answered his question at last.
“She’s fine. It’s all over now.”
“Then, has my son’s name been cleared of suspicion?”
It was a pointed question.
Suspecting Namgoong Do-hwi had been my mistake—and the Dang Household’s mistake—without question.
‘He came to receive an apology.’
There was no way he’d come out of concern for me. Of course not.
I quietly stepped forward and tugged at Father’s sleeve, which hung like a curtain before me.
“Um….”
As I timidly poked my head out and spoke, the gazes of Father, Namgoong Sae-ryun, and Do-hwi all turned toward me.
I took another step forward and bowed my head deeply.
“I’m sorry. I misunderstood. Do-hwi isn’t that kind of person….”
At my apology, Namgoong Sae-ryun offered an awkward smile.
“Ah, my. That’s not why I came.”
His gaze, which had been looking at me with pity, shifted toward Do-hwi.
“With an apology like this, what does my son wish to do?”
Do-hwi met his eyes and then walked toward me as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
I spoke with a deflated expression, hesitating.
“I’m sorry. I was so startled back then that I thought wrongly of you.”
“It’s fine.”
Without hesitation, Do-hwi extended his hand toward me.
“Can we be close again now?”
Do-hwi asked with a gentle smile.
I looked up at him, my eyes sparkling in return.
“Yes!”
I grasped his hand and nodded.
I could see Namgoong Sae-ryun watching us with satisfaction.
‘Am I actually smiling properly?’
I forcibly pulled up the corners of my mouth, which kept trying to droop.
The hand clasped in mine had grown stiff and rigid.
I smiled brightly, hoping he wouldn’t notice.
But my mind was filled with other thoughts.
At the place where the carriage that kidnapped me had stopped.
And at the place where I, having run away, had arrived.
‘You were always there.’
Wherever the Nanny guided me.
Could this be coincidence?
I couldn’t shake the suspicion.
But at the same time, I prayed desperately that this was mere coincidence.
***
First, there was one piece of good news.
Dang Dam, who had nearly been imprisoned without my knowledge, was safely released.
Though he faced some reprimand, he was reinstated as my personal guard.
Seeing Gong Myo weeping with relief, it seemed he had come perilously close to death.
And there were two pieces of bad news.
The first was that I had lost the woman who kidnapped me.
The only trace left in the Alley was the remnants of a formation, and no one had seen the woman’s face.
In the end, all we could do was sketch her face from memory and post it throughout the Market District.
And the second was.
“Ugh….”
I had fallen ill.
My body burned with fever and felt impossibly heavy; even my fingertips refused to obey.
My stomach churned. My head threatened to split.
Groaning in agony, whenever I drifted to sleep, nightmares engulfed me in a maelstrom.
Nightmares of being kidnapped.
Nightmares of the day I interrogated the Nanny.
Nightmares from before my regression.
“Young Miss. Come here. Our beautiful young Miss.”
It always began the same way.
The Nanny called to me with gentle words, and I simply followed.
Ah, the Nanny hadn’t died.
She hadn’t deceived me or harbored hatred toward me.
Delighted by that thought, I followed her, only to lose my family forever.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
Or else the Nanny shoved me off a cliff.
It seemed my mounting anxieties, towering like mountains, had manifested as a psychosomatic illness.
‘There is a force that seeks to kill my family.’
That thought pursued me relentlessly.
Logically speaking, it seemed most reasonable to attribute it to the Demon Cult Remnants.
But then, what of Namgoong Do-hwi?
It could be the work of those Heterodox Sect dogs who practice malevolent arts.
But….
‘Jin Hwa, their leader, sent me here himself.’
Could it possibly be the Namgoong Clan?
I had no solid clues pointing to any single answer.
How could my head not ache under such circumstances?
“Your body is burning! What do we do? Shouldn’t we cool you down?!”
“Calm yourself and bring cold water. You’re making a fuss—go wait elsewhere.”
Dang Lim’s and Gwi-heon’s voices echoed faintly through my mind.
During those rare moments of consciousness, the sounds around me filtered through as though from underwater.
“Little one.”
A cool hand settled against my forehead.
I recognized him instantly by his unhurried voice and the scent of his long-stemmed pipe.
“We’ll head home now. Rest easy and sleep deeply.”
Dang Mu-seon’s touch seemed to draw the fever from my brow, and my breathing eased.
“Mmm….”
I managed a faint response, and Dang Mu-seon chuckled softly.
“Sleep well, now.”
He pulled the blanket up to my neck and departed.
We truly left for Sichuan without attending the closing ceremony.
I felt guilty—the kidnapping incident combined with my failing health had forced our early departure.
Most of my memories from the carriage ride back to Sichuan had dissolved into fragments.
But certain moments remained crystalline.
“My dear. Just a sip. My precious child. That’s it.”
The warm water Father had carefully coaxed into my mouth as he cradled my upper body against his chest.
Even after I vomited it all back up, Father wordlessly reheated the water and fed it to me again.
“When we return, let’s eat sweet rice cakes. We’ll pile them high as mountains and toss them into each other’s mouths. Understood?”
Dang Lim, speaking ceaselessly at my side as I thrashed through nightmares.
He seemed desperate to coax me toward pleasant dreams.
Yet I wept in terror that I might never hear those words again.
And Gwi-heon, who would slip in whenever he found a moment to check if the carriage window was open before leaving.
Dang Eum, who had pressed a freshly-caught lizard into my hands, insisting it was good for fevers.
My muddled consciousness finally cleared more than a month later.
“Miss… sob. You must wake up.”
Gong Myo’s voice came through clearly, accompanied by the sound of water sloshing.
My eyes snapped open.
I lurched upright without thinking. For a moment my vision blurred, then sharpened again.
What I saw was Gong Myo’s retreating figure as she carried out a water bucket.
Beside her stood Dang Dam, his back against the wall.
Both of us looked equally startled.
I was shocked too. I hadn’t expected to wake so suddenly.
“…Miss.”
Dang Dam murmured as if his soul had left his body, and I noticed he’d grown noticeably gaunt.
It seemed he’d suffered greatly from worry.
He appeared to blame himself for my condition.
‘That’s not it.’
The fault lay with those who harbored wicked intentions. Dang Dam bore no blame.
“Yes.”
I deliberately put on a cheerful expression as I spoke.
“I don’t hurt anymore now. I think I’m all better. Isn’t that amazing!”
At that, Dang Dam’s pupils trembled.
He bowed his head so deeply that I couldn’t see what expression he wore.
Still, I hoped this would lift some of the guilt from his shoulders.
Bright sunlight streamed through the window.
Beyond the pane, a bird cut across the luminous sky while willow branches swayed gently in the breeze.
This place too would become a sea of flames.
Gong Myo and Dang Dam—I would never see their faces again.
I wouldn’t allow that to happen.
‘I will protect them no matter what.’

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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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