I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 73

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

“Oh no, I got carried away!”
Seized by the urgent need to survive, I quickly stepped back and waved my arms lightly.
“I was just so happy to see you that I hugged you without thinking. Sorry!”
I offered an awkward smile and extended my hand.
“You asked what my name was, right? I’m Dang Hee-yeon. What’s your name?”
I flashed the brightest smile I could muster, my lips trembling slightly.
I was absolutely terrified, that’s what this was.
The moment I saw Jin Hwa awaken and move, it all came rushing back.
All those sinister rumors I’d picked up about him in my past life!
“A wild boar charges at people, a tiger tears them apart…”
“And the Crimson Flame Alliance leader? He rips people to shreds!”
If he really did tear people apart, how could I possibly act carelessly?
I had to grovel and beg for my life, that’s all.
“…Dang Hee-yeon.”
Jin Hwa stared directly at my face and murmured my name.
There was something meaningful in his gaze—as if he already knew my face somehow.
‘Could it be…?’
I tilted my head and cautiously approached him.
“Do you… know me? Have you seen me somewhere before?”
I asked carefully, wondering if perhaps he also retained memories from his past life like I did.
But Jin Hwa blinked for a moment, then immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“Ah…”
I couldn’t hide my disappointment at his firm answer.
If he had remembered, I could have asked him questions.
‘Why he used such a technique…’
The more I thought about it, the stranger that technique seemed.
A technique whose caster didn’t even remember using it?
I glanced at him sideways.
‘Does he really not remember? Or is he lying?’
Lost in thought, I suddenly heard a clattering sound from outside the door.
Thud! Thud…
It sounded like a carriage wheel had caught on a stone.
At that sound, Jin Hwa flinched and turned around sharply.
He sprang to his feet, adjusted his slightly loosened collar, and peered through the gap in the window at the landscape outside.
His expression was tense.
‘Ah, he’s worried someone might be outside.’
He must have been awake since my older brothers and I were talking in front of the Warehouse.
When it looked like someone was about to open the Warehouse door, he quickly hid.
“My older brothers have left. It’s safe now.”
I spoke gently to reassure him.
But he remained anxious until the carriage had completely passed.
He looked less tense than outright terrified.
Cold sweat trickled down his jaw.
‘Somehow, he looks rather fragile.’
I hadn’t anticipated such a reaction.
The vague dread I’d harbored toward Jin Hwa seemed to dissipate slightly.
After a long moment, he finally relaxed and leaned against the wall, exhaling deeply.
“Haa….”
His breathing trembled as he slid down to sit on the floor.
Though some color had returned to his complexion, he still seemed to be in pain throughout his body.
“Um, would it be alright if I just checked your wounds once?”
As I gestured toward his collar, he regarded me with a suspicious gaze.
I let out an exasperated laugh and spoke.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Did your belly wounds heal on their own?”
“Surely… you didn’t…?”
“I treated them. So there.”
He seemed quite astonished. Well, I wasn’t at an age where stitching flesh came naturally to me.
“If you understand, will you open your clothes?”
I subtly brought my hand toward his collar.
Smack!
“Ow!”
The back of my hand swelled red. He’d struck it away like lightning.
“Hey, if you don’t want to, just say so! Ugh…!”
I glared at Jin Hwa while rubbing the back of my hand.
“It hurts!”
“….”
He seemed to have struck reflexively, looking quite flustered.
The sharpness in his gaze appeared to soften slightly.
“I was just trying to check because I was worried the wound might reopen…! If you keep acting like that, you might develop a fever, and I won’t be responsible!”
I seized the moment to press my point further.
Strangely, Jin Hwa’s pupils wavered slightly.
Was he truly afraid the wound might reopen?
He looked more apologetic than afraid, though….
‘No way. Would someone like him ever feel sorry?’
Yet his resolve clearly seemed to waver.
He stared intently at the back of my hand before moving his lips.
“…Just check for fever, that’s all.”
I nodded.
“Right. If it hasn’t reopened, you won’t have a fever anyway.”
At my response, Jin Hwa blinked slowly.
Seeing his hesitant reaction, I stroked the reddened back of my hand and muttered.
“Ugh, it hurts. My hand’s throbbing because of someone.”
Then he spoke.
“…Check. Now.”
When I lifted my head, Jin Hwa’s face suddenly drew close.
With a reluctant, subtle frown, he brushed back his hair from his forehead.
Jin Hwa closed his eyes, revealing his round, pale forehead.
Because of his thick eyelashes, it felt like I was looking at a doll brought back from the Western Regions.
“…Understood.”
I reached out as if enchanted.
The moment my fingertips touched, he flinched slightly—whether from the coldness or something else.
“It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt.”
At my gentle reassurance, the furrow between his brows slowly eased.
I couldn’t suppress the smile blooming across my face.
It was fascinating how noticeably his expression softened each time I spoke gently to him.
“Do you remember? I said the same thing when I was treating you.”
“…I don’t.”
I saw Jin Hwa’s ears flush crimson as he answered curtly.
He clearly did remember.
“No fever. That’s a relief.”
I withdrew my hand as I spoke.
It was slightly warm, but nothing to worry about.
Besides, I’d already accounted for his body temperature, which seemed naturally higher than most.
Only then did Jin Hwa open his eyes and straighten his posture.
The boy leaning against the wall looked quite exhausted.
He probably hadn’t fully recovered yet. I couldn’t even be certain his wounds had completely healed.
“Still, you shouldn’t move around. I’ll take care of you, so stay here. Understood?”
Jin Hwa turned his head away firmly in response.
“Fine.”
He then pushed off the wall and peered out the window.
After confirming no one was outside, he clutched his abdomen and began walking toward the door.
‘Is he trying to leave?’
I hastily blocked Jin Hwa’s path as he reached toward the door.
“No, no! You can’t go out!”
At my urgent voice, Jin Hwa’s eyes narrowed.
He must find it strange why I’m saying he can’t leave. Outside was empty, and it was peaceful enough to be quiet.
On the surface, anyway.
This is the Sacheon Tang Clan. A place where outsiders cannot set foot without permission.
And by now, Dang Dam would be coming to escort me, and if he discovered this….
“Anyone who enters this place without permission is imprisoned. There are no exceptions whatsoever.”
As Gui-heon’s voice brushed across my mind, a chill ran through me and my body trembled.
I seized the boy’s hand and cried out.
“Do you have any idea where you are? The Sacheon Tang Clan. The Sacheon Tang Clan!”
He didn’t seem to grasp how terrifying those words were.
“If you’re discovered…!”
I had to keep him here no matter what.
‘Scaring him into staying put would be ideal….’
But how could I frighten someone so audacious that he’d been stealing from martial sects since childhood?
‘Oh, forget it!’
“You’ll be eaten!”
At my desperate cry, the boy’s footsteps halted just as he was about to pass me.
“…Eaten?”
He turned his head slowly, asking the question.
He was visibly agitated.
It had worked. Yet somehow, knowing he’d fallen for it left me feeling oddly offended.
Was our Dang Family’s reputation really that terrible?
“Y-yes!”
I nodded quickly, and Jin Hwa’s face clouded with worry.
I seized the opportunity.
Grasping both his hands, I spoke to him as though coaxing a child.
“So stay with me. Understand? I won’t eat you!”
“Why… won’t you eat me?”
Jin Hwa narrowed his eyes and asked suspiciously, as though even he couldn’t believe it—ready to pull his hands away at any moment.
Right, why wouldn’t I eat him?!
My mind raced, but no suitable answer came to me.
I simply blurted out whatever came to mind.
“Because… you’re… important to me….”
As I spoke in a faltering voice, Jin Hwa’s eyes narrowed.
He didn’t believe me.
This was bad.
“And besides, I’m vegetarian!”
When I added this second reason, Jin Hwa’s guarded expression finally softened slightly.
Instead, he looked at me as though I were very strange.
“Come on. Let’s sit back down. Once I finish treating you, I’ll let you out quietly. You don’t want to be eaten, right?”
I fumbled to pull the boy’s arm along.
He limped as he followed where I led him.
Only then did the atmosphere in the Warehouse settle into calm.
I sank to the floor beside him again and let out a long sigh.
“Sigh….”
I had aged ten years in that moment.
If I hadn’t persuaded him, Jin Hwa would have been captured and executed right then and there.
‘The thought makes my head spin.’
I watched silently as Jin Hwa wrapped the bandage around his wrist with practiced care.
‘So this is how we’ve met. You and I.’
Song Hak’s words echoed in my mind.
That I was destined to encounter Jin Hwa no matter what.
And from our very first meeting, I had branded myself as that strange aberration—a vegetarian from a cannibalistic family.
When this wary creature needed nothing more than a harmless impression, I had done the opposite.
‘If only we could become close…’
Yet it didn’t seem entirely impossible.
In my previous life, had I encountered Jin Hwa, there would have been no option for friendship.
Only death or submission as a lackey. Those were the only choices.
But this life was different.
Jin Hwa was still young, and perhaps I could pry open the doors of his guarded heart.
Through that, I might naturally come to understand the Grand Method.
And if, after Jin Hwa unified the Heterodox Sect, the Crimson Flame Alliance became an ally to the Dang Family…
‘It would be as if I had gained ten thousand soldiers!’
My eyes gleamed with ambition. I gazed at Jin Hwa with undisguised covetousness.
“?”
He narrowed his eyes, wondering what I was staring at now.
‘Yes. I’ve made my decision.’
Jin Hwa, I will become your friend.

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