The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 111

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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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Chapter 111
Baek Li Pae-hyuk continued speaking as he observed his son’s shocked expression.
“It’s not a complete cure, which is unfortunate… but still, what more could we ask for? We need to buy as much time as possible while we figure out the treatment method.”
Baek Li-ui-gang, who had been silent for a moment, asked as if he couldn’t believe it.
“But Father, how does the Jegal Family Head know about my condition?”
Baek Li Pae-hyuk paused before answering.
“He doesn’t know that you’re suffering from it. He merely knows the treatment method.”
Baek Li-ui-gang’s expression grew even more confused.
“Does the Jegal Family Head truly know the treatment method? And he happens to know it right when we requested his protection? The timing seems far too convenient.”
“If he knows it, then he knows it—why must you be so suspicious!”
When Baek Li Pae-hyuk grew angry, most people quickly bowed their heads and chose their words carefully. Baek Li-ui-gang was no exception. Yet this time, he spoke as though he could not back down.
“It is suspicious. Until now, no one even knew such an illness existed. Even Seok Tae-ui had never seen this disease before, had he not? And yet….”
“What are you trying to say!”
Baek Li Pae-hyuk shouted abruptly, clenching his fist while pressing his other hand to his forehead.
“I searched far and wide for a treatment method… and it eventually led me to the Jegal Family Head.”
“…But Father, weren’t you in closed-door cultivation training the entire time I and Yeon were at the Namgung Clan?”
So when Baek Li-yeon had been swept away by the landslide and returned to the family to search for her body, he hadn’t even faced her.
“How could you have searched for anything when….”
Baek Li-ui-gang’s expression shifted as if he had realized something.
“Could it be… that the closed-door cultivation itself was a lie?”
Baek Li Pae-hyuk’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“Only Jang Vice-Commander and Baek Geom Danju know that I never actually entered closed-door cultivation. You must keep this secret as well.”
….
Then Baek Li Pae-hyuk casually changed the subject.
“More importantly, how are things lately?”
Baek Li-ui-gang, who seemed to have been lost in thought, lifted his gaze and spoke.
“…Father, if it’s because of me, there’s no need to accept the Jegal Family Head’s proposal. I cannot bring disgrace upon our family.”
“Disgrace? Don’t think of it that way. You bear the Baek name as well—how could this possibly be a burden?”
A faint smile crossed Baek Li-ui-gang’s lips.
“I am grateful simply that you care for me so deeply, Father.”
At those words, Baek Li Pae-hyuk felt as though he were swallowing bitter medicine.
“But what use is it to entrust my body to one who cannot even manage his own illness?”
“I’ll turn that question back on you. How can you claim to heal your daughter’s body when you cannot even save your own? Hmm!”
* * *
I shared a meal with Baek Li-myeong and gradually learned what had transpired in the family during my absence.
“…So both Pyo and Ak Jung-hae went to Gogye Hermitage.”
I had wondered why the Twin Cousins went to Gogye Hermitage together instead of So U-ak and my aunt leaving the family.
‘It was Baek Li-myeong who instigated it.’
Though I had planted the seed, I never expected it to sprout so vigorously. It only proved that the soil had been made fertile by the constant nourishment my aunt and the Twin Cousins had provided all along.
And now I understood both the true reason Baek Li-myeong had come to see me and why he had suggested we dine in the Guest Room.
“That’s right—Yeon calls the Namgung Family Head your grandfather, doesn’t she?”
I paused mid-spoonful of soup, blinking in surprise.
“How did you know that?”
“I overheard Grandfather discussing it with Jang Vice-Commander.”
Could the Namgung Family Head’s letter have contained such details?
It seemed entirely plausible.
“Yes, that’s correct. The Namgung Family Head instructed me to address him that way.”
At my response, Baek Li-myeong’s eyes brightened as he murmured thoughtfully.
“So you’ve cultivated a connection with the Namgung Family Head as well…”
Moments later, he broached another subject.
“Oh, and Ak Jung-hae visited the Baek Family Estate.”
Ak Jung-hae? I paused, trying to place the name.
“You mean my older brother Ak Jung-hae?”
“Yes. According to what he said, you saved his life, as well as that young lady and the other young lady from the Demonic Cult?”
“Ah… it wasn’t so much that I saved them as Father did…”
“Is that so? That’s not what he told me.”
What exactly did Ak Jung-hae do when he visited the Baek Family Estate? Why was he addressing Baek Li-myeong as an older brother?
It became clear that Baek Li-myeong had many questions for me, but with others present downstairs, he likely felt too self-conscious to probe too openly.
“If the opportunity arises later, I can explain to the Namgung Family Head…”
He was still speaking when it happened.
A small shadow suddenly crossed the window—Jegal’s white cat.
My eyes widened in horror. This time, the wretched creature had a poor sparrow clamped in its jaws!
Baek Li-myeong spoke with bewilderment.
“Where did this cat come from?”
“No, don’t come here!”
I leaped to my feet and retreated nearly ten paces in an instant. The cat padded across the chair where I’d been sitting and sprang onto the table, then spat out the sparrow with a soft sound.
Baek Li-myeong flinched in alarm, half-rising before composing himself and settling back down.
“What is this cat?”
“It belongs to the Jegal Family Head.”
“But why is it bringing birds…?”
“This morning it brought me a dead mouse!”
The cat fixed me with its golden eyes. Baek Li-myeong regarded it with fascination.
“Don’t you think that cat likes you?”
“What?”
“I once heard from a friend that the stray cat he feeds sometimes brings small animals or insects. He said it seems like gifts, so he can’t bring himself to throw them away, though it worries him.”
I don’t need such gifts…!
Baek Li-myeong reached out and stroked the cat.
“It’s adorable.”
His expression was quite delighted. Watching with reluctant resignation, I asked.
“Do you like animals?”
“Isn’t it adorable?”
“But Elder Brother, you don’t keep animals, do you?”
In my previous life, I had never once seen him raise any creature.
“Ah, Aunt dislikes animals, so I couldn’t keep one.”
Without thinking, my eyes narrowed slightly. Baek Li-myeong spoke carelessly, but beneath those words lay undisguised resentment toward Aunt.
I asked as though I knew nothing.
“Besides, you have your own separate residence, and Aunt isn’t even your biological mother… couldn’t you just keep one anyway?”
“….”
The reason Baek Li-myeong had come to see me. He was weighing whether I or Aunt would be more advantageous to him.
‘Seeing that he came all the way here following Grandfather, it seems he’s nearly decided….’
The moment I saw the cat, a brilliant idea struck me.
I approached the table again and stroked the cat’s head with my fingertips. Fur scattered across the food, dancing along with its swishing tail.
“That’s enough. Don’t bring me anything strange from now on. Do you understand?”
I glanced at the sparrow the cat had dropped. Should I call it fortunate? This sparrow was still alive. Whether it had fainted from shock or was playing dead, I couldn’t tell. It showed no signs of injury.
I picked up the cat.
“I should return the cat to the Jegal Family Head.”
I turned back to Baek Li-myeong and smiled.
“Would Elder Brother like to come along?”
* * *
The pale young master, who seemed to be the room’s owner, gazed into empty space with his chin resting on his hand. A figure dressed in jet-black robes approached before him.
Jeggal Hwa-mu opened his mouth, still staring into the void.
“What of those traitors?”
“All have been dealt with.”
“Mother will be cautious for some time now.”
Jeggal Hwa-mu closed his eyes and leaned back against the armrest. A faint smile played at the corners of his lips.
“Mother really should have waited patiently—she would have obtained it all. But she couldn’t restrain herself. How troublesome.”
The Black-Robed Attendant, who had been silent, spoke again.
“Would it not be better to handle this matter thoroughly this time?”
“Why bother? It’s tedious.”
“However, the Lady Consort also has connections with the Demonic Cult….”
Jeggal Hwa-mu cut off the Black-Robed Attendant’s words.
“The Demonic Cult has wanted to extinguish the Jegal bloodline for years now. This was foreseen the moment I left the main family in this condition.”
A carefully concealed assassination probe. And then betrayal, waiting for his condition to deteriorate.
Betrayal, though in truth it was something he had foreseen. Rather, Jeggal Hwa-mu had intended to exploit it. Before arriving at the Baek Li Estate, he had devised a plan to eliminate one layer of traitors tainted by his mother’s hand. He had feigned a seizure to observe the traitors’ reactions, but… something had gone wrong.
“No, sigh… who could have known a real seizure would strike at that exact moment?”
The Black-Robed Attendant had been guarding the Jegal Family Head from a distance while his subordinates quietly pursued the traitors. Naturally, he could have rushed over and helped circulate his energy the moment the Jegal Family Head collapsed.
The Black-Robed Attendant bowed his head.
“My apologies. I believed it was the Family Head’s plan.”
Yet even the Black-Robed Attendant had thought the Jegal Family Head’s collapse was an act. The Jegal Family Head tilted his head back and sighed.
“A misunderstanding. I have no hobby of gambling with my own life, after all.”
“….”
Jegal Family Head spoke as though truly wronged.
“I’m serious. If you want to keep both eyes, shut it.”
The Black-Robed Attendant bowed his head quietly. A moment later, Jegal Family Head slumped over the table with a sigh.
“Sigh… how am I supposed to make this anger go away?”
“….”
“I never expected him to get angry there. Is he really six years old? How could he get angry at that? He should be curious yet frightened. What did I say wrong?”
The Black-Robed Attendant, who had been silent, spoke carefully.
“Perhaps you should explain the situation properly and apologize….”
“Enough. Baek Li-ui-gang came and got angry with me, telling me not to approach his daughter.”
“Did Baek Li-ui-gang say such a thing?”
“You weren’t there, so you wouldn’t know. He speaks politely enough, but his eyes… hmm. For now, it might be best to lay low….”
A pale complexion with a scornful smile at the corners of his mouth—this was how the Black-Robed Attendant had always seen Jeggal Hwa-mu.
But now it was different. His complexion remained pale, yet Jeggal Hwa-mu’s smile overflowed with vitality. He truly looked like a young man reborn.
Then Mak-chu opened the bedroom door and stepped inside.
“What is it?”
“Baek Li-yeon has arrived. However….”
“Yeon is here?”
Before Mak-chu could finish speaking, Jeggal Hwa-mu sprang to his feet. He immediately rushed toward the door.

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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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