The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 299

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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 299
“Sigh.”
I righted the chair that had toppled during our scuffle and sat down.
Crossing my legs and folding my arms across my chest to keep my fists from rising again, I asked.
“So how’s your body feeling?”
Jeggal Hwa-mu, his disheveled hair making him look utterly unkempt, glanced down at himself briefly.
“The chronic illness isn’t cured, but… at least I’ve bought some time.”
Jeggal Hwa-mu’s expression remained inscrutable.
“Shouldn’t you be doing cartwheels of joy or something?”
“Want to see?”
“Don’t you dare!”
Jeggal Hwa-mu laughed softly, then his expression turned serious again as he continued.
“I meant it when I said I expected this to fail.”
“….”
It wasn’t that his feelings were inscrutable—it was that he couldn’t properly define his own emotions himself.
Now that the memories of all the previous Jegal Family Heads had returned to his original body, the balance of his vital energy would crumble once more.
As time passed, his meridians would deteriorate rapidly, and he would die.
But.
“Now you won’t need to carry those memories of the previous Family Heads anymore, will you?”
“That’s right.”
Jeggal Hwa-mu’s voice carried a slightly hazy quality.
I knew well how much he despised receiving the memories of the Jegal Family Heads. That’s why I was puzzled.
“Why didn’t you think of dispelling the spell earlier?”
“From the moment I first accepted this spell, I inherited the will of the first Jegal Family Head. As long as Cheon-ma lived, there was no choice to abandon the memories.”
It figured that someone using the same technique as Cheon-ma would say such a thing.
I felt irritated seeing him move with the same single-minded determination as Cheon-ma, who had been driven by the goal of killing Jianghu martial artists.
“Then you can discard them now.”
“Right. Cheon-ma is dead, so now it’s over.”
“From the beginning… was this all part of your plan?”
Jeggal Hwa-mu nodded.
“Isn’t it a win-win? It helps you and gives you an opportunity, while I extend my own life.”
I glared at Jeggal Hwa-mu.
Jeggal Hwa-mu smiled and spoke.
“If it had failed, I was prepared to be your companion in death.”
“…What a pointless thing to do.”
“And if we hadn’t succeeded, it would have been my final words. I wanted to say what I truly wished to say, at least at the end.”
“….”
Jeggal Hwa-mu spoke as if to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
“Still, wasn’t it at least a little entertaining?”
I reached for the pillow.
“Haven’t you taken enough of a beating?”
“Please, spare me.”
Jeggal Hwa-mu shrugged slightly.
“There’s no need to be so horrified. I don’t have a perfect understanding of everything you did. It was merely a faint sensation of reading your will from within your sleeping consciousness.”
“Well, that’s a relief at least.”
If he could have known my every thought, I would have truly despised it.
I rubbed my forehead and opened my mouth.
“So… then…”
“Speak.”
“Yalyu took it, didn’t he? The demonic energy?”
Jeggal Hwa-mu nodded.
I clenched my teeth.
That was not an amount of power Yalyu could have endured. He must have fallen into demonic possession.
“…What a fool.”
No, wait. I never confirmed his body, did I? Could he still be alive? Like that man before me.
As if reading my heart, Jeggal Hwa-mu spoke.
“Will you search for traces of Yalyu?”
“…Please.”
A white form brushed past my feet and leaped onto the sleeping quarters. Jeggal Hwa-mu stroked Gyeol-i as she landed on the bed.
I watched silently before speaking.
“Why did only Yalyu and I remember what happened before the regression?”
“I don’t know.”
“…I see.”
If even Jeggal Hwa-mu didn’t know, then perhaps no one could answer—unless it were Cheon-ma, who was now dead.
“I don’t know for certain either. Reversing time was something Cheon-ma did alone. But…”
“But?”
“Perhaps it’s because you two were deeply connected to Cheon-ma?”
“What do you mean?”
“You were born from Cheon-ma’s actions, weren’t you? Since Cheon-ma created your destinies, perhaps that’s why. It’s merely a hypothesis.”
“…”
“Nothing is certain, only conjecture.”
Jeggal Hwa-mu shrugged.
“So that fool wouldn’t have died so easily from the demonic energy.”
“…Yes.”
I exhaled a long breath.
Yes. Yalyu would not have died.
I fell silent for a moment, then spoke again.
“About what you said—that Cheon-ma influenced my birth—then what about my past life…?”
As I continued speaking, my words suddenly caught.
Jeggal Hwa-mu asked as if questioning what I meant.
“A past life? You mean when that bastard cut off your head and killed you?”
“No, it’s not that. It feels like there was something else….”
I had no idea what I was trying to say.
“Since you don’t recall many of Jegal Family Head’s memories, you’ve lost fewer of them, but you’ve still forgotten quite a bit.”
“It bothers me that I don’t even know what I’ve forgotten.”
“Do you need to know?”
I paused to consider.
“No. I don’t need it anymore.”
My past life, the time before regression—all of it was unnecessary now.
What mattered most was that I was alive right now. And that I had a long future ahead of me.
Looking at Jeggal Hwa-mu, I suddenly felt the urge to say something.
“I’m free now.”
“That’s right.”
Jeggal Hwa-mu murmured absently.
“What will you do with your life now?”
“Now I can do anything.”
“….”
“….”
Silence settled between us, and Gyeol-i, who had been quietly accepting Jeggal Hwa-mu’s caresses, suddenly rose and licked his cheek. Tears—shed at some unknown moment—wet his gaunt face.
* * *
Ten days later, Jeggal Hwa-mu announced he would return to his family.
I told him it was too soon and that he could stay longer until his body fully recovered, but Jeggal Hwa-mu refused.
“I have many things I’m curious about. I need to think about what comes next.”
I surveyed the surroundings where preparations for departure were already complete. Within Hunan Province, the Baek Geom Unit would escort him, but once he left, only his own guards would accompany him.
“There could still be remnants of the Demonic Cult. Are you really sure about this?”
“Ha, are you worried about me?”
“If you die on the road after barely surviving, my dreams will be troubled.”
I sighed with a reluctant expression.
“Are you really okay in that condition?”
“Yeon, I’ve traveled in far worse states than this.”
His complexion was haggard, but his eyes gleamed with sharp clarity. The gloomy atmosphere that had always surrounded him and the mockery that used to surface were gone.
Jeggal Hwa-mu spoke with a hint of laughter in his expression.
“You know from experience, don’t you? Lying in bed day and night is exhausting. It’s better to get some fresh air outside.”
“I suppose. I get terrible carriage sickness, so I felt like I was dying.”
“Ah, is that so?”
It was something I had mentioned before.
Jeggal Hwa-mu shrugged and spoke.
“Come see me if you’re ever in the area. You’ll always be welcome.”
“…Yes.”
When would I see him again? It could be years from now.
“I’ll leave Gyeol-i behind. She seems to like you more than me.”
“….”
Gyeol-i leapt from the carriage and rubbed against my feet as she walked.
The reason Gyeol-i favored me was because Jeggal Hwa-mu favored me.
I had naturally assumed everyone would forget, that they wouldn’t remember.
But the day I could express this to him again would never come.
I bid farewell.
“Then, goodbye.”
I watched until the carriage disappeared from sight, then turned away.
I felt a strange lightness mixed with an inexplicable emptiness. Gyeol-i rubbed against me as if to console me.
I lifted Gyeol-i into my arms.
Animals truly were the best. This warmth and soft fur gave my heart a deep sense of comfort.
Even after Jeggal Hwa-mu awakened, the connection I felt with Gyeol-i remained. Very faintly.
I had naturally expected it to sever completely, but it seemed I couldn’t cut it off as cleanly as slicing through a vegetable.
It was when I arrived at the Residence Quarter with Gyeol-i that I sensed Namgung Ryu-cheong’s presence from the direction of the Back Garden.
‘What is he doing there? He didn’t even come to see Jeggal Hwa-mu off.’
I stopped in my tracks at the sound of a raised voice as I approached.
“Please, just say something!”
It was the voice of Gu-sa, Namgung Ryu-cheong’s servant.
While Namgung Ryu-cheong stayed at the Baek Li Estate, several people from the Namgung Clan had come to visit. Gu-sa was one of them.
“Young Master! How much longer do you intend to stay here? It’s been quite some time since Miss Baek Li awakened. You must return home now! Another urgent letter arrived today. This time, Father is truly furious.”
I stood quietly and listened to their conversation.
Namgung Ryu-cheong said nothing.
Gu-sa pleaded desperately for some time longer, then resorted to threats.
“The Family Head said that if he doesn’t receive a proper response to this letter, you should be prepared for the consequences.”
My relationship with Namgung Ryu-cheong was currently ambiguous.
While I lay unconscious, Namgung Ryu-cheong had tended to me the entire time.
The household had already acknowledged us as lovers. And for good reason—if we weren’t lovers, it would be unthinkable for an unrelated man to come and go from a woman’s quarters so freely.
‘Thanks to So Nok and Geum-swe’s management, I haven’t heard the servants gossiping….’
After I awakened, I was too preoccupied to give him a proper answer to his confession, and just when things seemed to improve, the matter with Jeggal Hwa-mu erupted.
I made my presence known as I approached.
“Ryu-cheong! I wondered where you were. What are you doing here? Hwa-mu just left.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong’s expression darkened slightly.
“Ah, I just forgot for a moment.”
Then Gu-sa spoke to me.
“Miss! Please tell the Young Master to return home. If this continues, the Family Head will…!”
I stopped in surprise.
Namgung Ryu-cheong burst out loudly.
“Gu-sa! Can’t you keep your mouth shut?”
“But…!”
Gu-sa, who had opened his mouth to speak, finally lowered his head beneath Namgung Ryu-cheong’s piercing gaze.
“My sincerest apologies.”
“Get out of my sight this instant!”
The way he shouted like that truly resembled Uncle Namgung Wan.

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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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