The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 211

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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 211
* * *
Late May. Under a clear sky, a man wiped the sweat from his brow and stepped into the inn, which was packed with patrons.
Jeom So-i immediately inquired.
“How many in your party?”
“Just myself.”
“Fortunate timing. We have exactly one seat left, though you wouldn’t mind sharing a table, would you?”
The man nodded wearily.
At the table Jeom So-i guided him to, three other patrons were already seated with their meals. The man across from him spoke with easy familiarity.
“It’s quite hot outside, isn’t it? Have some tea.”
The man drank deeply from the tea and exhaled heavily, then grumbled.
“This is my fourth inn. The previous three had no vacancies at all. I mean, she may be the granddaughter of the Baek Li Family Head, but why are there so many guests for just a girl’s coming-of-age ceremony…?”
The patrons exchanged glances and asked.
“You’re not from around here?”
The man nodded while fanning himself.
“She’s no ordinary granddaughter. It seems she’ll become the next Family Head, so everyone wants to make an impression.”
“What? Family Head? What about her brothers? And she’s not even the eldest, is she?”
“Well, the eldest has some issues, and the firstborn son also finds it difficult to inherit the position. Wouldn’t anyone prefer to pass it to someone talented?”
“A woman as Family Head…? Then what about marriage?”
The patron beside the man stirred his food with his chopsticks as he spoke.
“They’ll bring in a live-in son-in-law. What’s to worry about?”
“True. The threshold is already worn from suitors pushing their sons forward.”
“They say the Baek Li young lady is quite beautiful. I wish I could see her face once.”
“Of course. The blood of the Fourth Young Master of the Baek Li Family doesn’t go anywhere. I once saw the Fourth Young Master from a distance, and even from far away, the radiance was…”
“In those days, whenever he appeared on the streets, women would throw flowers and handkerchiefs at him, didn’t they?”
“Hmph, after her coming-of-age ceremony, she’ll only be fifteen at most, won’t she?”
“…”
“…”
“Besides, she might resemble her mother. Do you still not know who her mother is?”
“…”
“Why has everyone suddenly gone quiet?”
Just then, Jeom So-i approached with a bowl.
“Here are your noodles.”
The patron who coughed spoke as if he wished to end the conversation.
“Well… there seems to be a story there. Eat your meal.”
But the man continued speaking.
“Since we’re on the subject, that girl—she survived an encounter with Cheon-ma, didn’t she?”
“…”
“There’s been much talk about it too. Could it be that the Baek Li Family actually has ties with the Demonic Cult…?”
Jeom So-i, who was setting down the noodle bowl, suddenly looked startled and asked.
“What?”
Bang!
The other guest also struck the table with his chopsticks in reproach.
“What in the world is this man saying right now?”
“Why are you angry? Did I say something wrong? There’s no smoke without fire, as they say. Even the Murim Alliance….”
Just then, Jeom So-i suddenly took back the chopsticks and noodle bowl.
The man looked startled and spoke.
“What are you doing?”
“What am I doing? I’m telling you to get out!”
“What, what?”
“We don’t serve your kind here, so leave! Don’t bring bad luck into this place! Ptooey!”
“Now wait just a minute…! Listen here!”
* * *
While outside there was endless chatter about Baek Li-yeon’s coming-of-age ceremony, the Baek Li Estate was equally abuzz with preparations for the occasion.
“Young Miss, which hairpin would you like to wear?”
“Grandfather’s, of course.”
The hairpin Grandfather had sent was adorned with a phoenix, its feathers rendered in jade so exquisitely that it took one’s breath away. It was so heavy that wearing it any other day would be inconvenient.
Father had given me a hair ornament made of ivory, decorated with coral and pearls.
The Baek Family Aunt had given me earrings adorned with red jade, and my brother Baek Li-myeong had given me a gold bracelet.
Gifts had arrived from many other places as well—treasures that seemed far too magnificent for a mere coming-of-age celebration of a fifteen-year-old girl.
I could discern in these lavish gifts a declaration of support for my family in the conflict between the Murim Alliance and the Baek Li Family.
Among all these splendid gifts, the one from the Namgung Clan was….
“This one is beautiful too, though it’s a shame.”
It was a hairpin with a lotus flower carved from white jade, adorned with a butterfly crafted from pure gold.
The white jade gleamed with an ethereal luminescence, but the butterfly of pure gold was the true marvel—with each movement, it trembled delicately as if poised to take flight at any moment. One could scarcely imagine how many master craftsmen had labored over it.
“It’s too precious a gift for me to accept.”
“I don’t think anyone would see it that way.”
[That’s right.]
Hearing the voice transmission, I turned to look at So Nok.
So Nok had learned some martial arts in recent times. Her inability to speak stemmed from a psychological issue. So I had wondered if perhaps she could use voice transmission, and I taught her—with excellent results. She even showed considerable talent for martial arts.
However, even after becoming capable of voice transmission, So Nok seemed reluctant to speak and relied mostly on gestures.
So Nok pointed to her own arm and made a circular motion. The meaning was crystal clear.
She was saying that healing her arm with the Heavenly Life Golden Soul Pill was only natural.
As I smiled awkwardly, Geum-swe spoke.
“Speaking of which, Young Miss, haven’t you sent a reply to the Namgung Clan?”
“….”
“….”
A brief silence settled over the room.
So Nok lowered her eyes and busied herself organizing the items as if she hadn’t heard.
“I already sent one.”
“Well… the Young Master of the Namgung Clan also sent a letter, didn’t he?”
“…”
I closed my mouth.
An uncomfortable silence filled the chamber. Perhaps it was fortunate—just then, voices drifted in from outside.
“The Fourth Young Master has arrived.”
As my father entered the room and gestured to Geum-swe and So Nok, the two quickly excused themselves.
I filled a teacup from the table and offered it to my father. “What brings you here?”
What brings you here?
Though this guest had come for my coming-of-age ceremony, my father was the one receiving them rather than I—he was far busier than I was.
“Once noon passes, things will become hectic. Open it.”
My father set a long black wooden box on the table.
From just a glance, I could easily guess what lay inside. Yet I feigned ignorance, picking up the box with an eager expression.
“What is it? A gift? You’ve already given me a hairpin ornament, so what could this be…?”
I froze mid-motion as I opened the wooden box.
“…It’s a sword.”
The moment I saw the elongated case, I had anticipated a sword within.
Yet I could not tear my eyes from the blade wrapped in crimson silk inside the box.
A clean white scabbard with no particular ornamentation—not flashy, yet emanating an understated elegance. It was entirely in keeping with my father’s taste.
I carefully withdrew the sword from the wooden box and grasped the hilt.
My father asked, his voice tinged with slight tension.
“What do you think of it?”
“…”
As I gripped the hilt and drew it, the blade slid free with a soft metallic catch—a brilliant blue edge that seemed sharp enough to cut with mere touch.
“Would you like to swing it outside? We should see if it suits you.”
I shook my head.
“There’s no need.”
The sensation against my palm. The weight.
It looked identical to the sword I had received from my father at my coming-of-age ceremony before the regression. I could tell without even swinging it.
It was strange.
Had my father’s consistent taste led him to commission it with the same appearance?
But given that my relationship with my father had changed from before, how could it possibly look exactly the same?
Suddenly doubt crept in, and I asked.
“When did you have this made?”
“…”
My father fell silent for a moment.
“When you first grasped a wooden practice sword, I commissioned it from the master craftsman who has made the Baek Family swords for generations.”
“…You entrusted him with a sword for my adulthood when I was barely six years old?”
My father spoke as though it were nothing. “By examining one’s frame and bones, it is not difficult to estimate when one will reach adulthood.”
“…”
“….”
I swept the scabbard clean.
What had Father been thinking when he entrusted me with this blade? What thoughts had crossed his mind when he gifted it to me in the past? Now I would never know.
Father spoke in a startled voice.
“Y-Yeon, are you crying?”
I shook my head.
“If you don’t like it…”
I shook my head again and clutched the sword tightly to my chest.
“I really do like it.”
* * *
That night, after the coming-of-age ceremony.
I left a letter on my sleeping quarters and quietly slipped out of the Baek Li Estate. Then I rode hard for a long time before entering a forest far removed from the Baek Li Estate.
Whoosh, rustle.
A large shadow approached me along with the sound of hoofbeats.
It was Seok Ga-yak, now a young man.
I smiled with slight embarrassment.
“Thank you for doing this.”
“I wondered what kind of favor you’d ask, but it’s just this?”
Slipping myself out of the Baek Li Estate was not difficult, but taking a horse was another matter entirely.
I had no choice but to entrust the horse to Seok Ga-yak and ask him to bring it at a late hour.
Recently, Seok Ga-yak had been spending less and less time at Seok Tae-ui’s residence.
After being away for over a year, he stayed for a month before leaving again, and now he had returned after four months. And I had made this request of Seok Ga-yak, whom I was meeting for the first time in four months.
Seok Ga-yak handed me the reins and asked.
“You’re really going?”
“Yes.”
Seok Ga-yak followed beside me as if seeing me off.
“This direction leads to the river…… Are you planning to take a boat?”
The question was clear in his tone—why bring a horse if I was taking a boat?
“Yes. I’ll take the boat for about two hours, and then I’ll ride the horse from there.”
Father always rose before dawn. He would soon notice my absence.
So…… I had to put as much distance between myself and the Baek Li Estate as possible before then.

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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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