The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 325

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

Side Story Episode 19
* * *
Namgung Ryu-cheong departed quietly at dawn, avoiding the eyes of others.
Striking down Wi Ji-baek was a covert operation of the Murim Alliance, so his absence had to remain secret. And as Namgung Ryu-cheong vacated his position, a guest arrived at the Baek Li Estate.
“Jin-jin!”
“Young Miss! How have you been?”
Jin-jin had now fully matured into adulthood.
For the sake of deception, Jin-jin departed the Baek Li Estate alongside Baek Li Ui-gang and arrived at the Namgung Clan with the others in tow.
“So Nok wanted to come as well, but she was far too occupied to leave her post. I suppose it’s true—being too capable is a curse. Someone like me, who manages things just adequately through good judgment, can slip away like this.”
“Jin-jin, don’t lie! Everyone knows how much Baek Geom Danju cherishes you. There’s even a rumor that you’re his secret youngest daughter! If not for your age, you would have been the next Baek Geom Danju. What a shame.”
Jin-jin was nearly twenty years younger than Baek Geom Danju’s first disciple.
Though Jin-jin demonstrated the most outstanding achievements among Baek Geom Danju’s disciples, she could not overcome such an age gap. More precisely, she had no desire to.
“A shame? I’m content to remain by your side, and once the young master is born, I’ll guard him.”
“What? Don’t say such wasteful things! Who gave you permission?”
“Pardon? It’s my choice.”
Though Namgung Ryu-cheong was absent, Jin-jin and the others ensured I lacked for nothing through their devoted care.
For the sake of the child, I endeavored to eat well, sleep soundly, witness only beautiful things, and maintain a joyful disposition.
Yet I could not help but let out deep sighs at unguarded moments. The frustration of merely waiting for news gnawed at me.
Late February arrived. The wind still carried the bite of early spring, yet the sunlight had grown considerably warmer. Magnolia and plum blossoms swelled on the verge of blooming, and a few impatient flowers had already unfurled.
“So Bu-in, a letter has arrived.”
I sifted through the letters on the tray. Baek Li Pae-hyuk, Baek Li Ui-gang, Namgung Ryu-cheong—none of the three I awaited were among them.
Concealing my slight disappointment, my eyes caught upon one letter as I continued searching.
[Jeggal]
“….”
My expression hardened.
Since the silk interpretation, there had been no particular contact from him.
Jeggal Hwa-mu had been preoccupied reorganizing the clan he had abandoned under the pretense of his limited lifespan. I heard he had provided assistance in this campaign against Wi Ji-baek but had not personally participated.
Yet a letter arriving at this moment.
“This bodes ill….”
As I murmured to myself, the door opened and Jin-jin entered carrying a basket.
“Young Miss, have some tangerines. Why are you glaring at it like that? Is there an enemy in there?”
I turned my gaze away and spoke.
“You should call me Lady or Madam now.”
“Hehe, but every time I call you Young Miss, the people here make such amusing expressions. It’s quite entertaining.”
Jin-jin mimicked the expressions of those around us.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
“Stop bickering over such strange things.”
“Strange? The Baek Li Family Head commanded me to… Ahem, please have some tangerines.”
“No, I’m full.”
Lately, even small amounts left me satiated. The child had grown that much.
She stroked her swollen belly.
‘Baek Li-yeon, you’ve become a coward.’
She had always feared the unknown, never the known.
Since her regression, living a life where she knew the future, she had grown especially fearful of situations where she didn’t know what would happen. But then again, most people lived this way. Now she too had to grow accustomed to fear.
Yet running away didn’t suit her nature. Turning a blind eye and truly not knowing were vastly different things.
Baek Li-yeon steeled herself and withdrew Jeggal Hwa-mu’s letter from its envelope.
[I held my brush for a long time, uncertain whether to tell you this. But this choice is not one I can make for you. I wanted to hide it, but given how much I owe you, I dare send this.
…(omitted)… I found Yalyu.]
As Baek Li-yeon read through the letter, her expression gradually turned cold and rigid.
* * *
That evening, she couldn’t remember what state of mind she’d eaten in. Her head was too cluttered, so she dismissed her attendants early, claiming she would retire for the night.
The ominous premonition had been correct. There was a reason Jeggal Hwa-mu had been so eager for me not to read it.
Sighs continued to escape her. Yet in this situation, no clear solution presented itself. Perhaps because she had never merely watched and waited like this before, her frustration was suffocating.
‘If only my body weren’t so heavy, then I could….’
In that instant, startled by a thought that had escaped her awareness, she opened her eyes wide.
She hastily soothed herself, stroking her belly.
‘What a good child you’ve been. I’m sorry, little one.’
Baek Li-yeon abandoned the fruitless thoughts and lay down on her sleeping quarters. Tonight, the bed felt unusually vast.
And was it because of such thoughts?
On the third day of the third month, in the deep hours of the night when all slept, a sharp cry pierced the silence and woke those within.
“Meow, meow, meow!”
At the sound echoing before the Great Lady’s residence, the Female Servant gasped and spoke to the White Cat.
“Hush! Hush! Be quiet!”
This was the cat that understood human speech so well it had even insisted there was a person inside.
“Meow! Meow!”
But instead, it cried out even more loudly.
“What on earth is wrong with you!”
“Can’t we drive it away?”
“It’s So Bu-in’s cat. Lately, even So Ga-ju treats it like a sacred shrine. How dare we lay hands on it and invite disaster!”
“But if this continues….”
That was when it happened.
“What is all this commotion?”
The Great Lady, her face weary, and a middle-aged woman emerged from the chamber, walking with measured steps.
The middle-aged woman regarded the Female Servants with a piercing gaze.
“Which of you dares wag your tongue against So Bu-in and So Ga-ju?”
“We apologize.”
“We are sorry.”
Even so, the cat continued to cry out. Upon seeing the Great Lady, it came to her feet and kept tugging at her robe.
The Great Lady pressed her temples and asked the Female Servant.
“What is the matter with it?”
“I’m not entirely sure either. She just appeared suddenly and started crying.”
“Hmm… Could she be someone the Patriarch sent?”
“No, she wasn’t.”
Recently, Namgung Wan had been sleeping and eating in his office. It was far closer to the pavilion where Baek Li-yeon resided, allowing him to immediately notice if anything occurred.
Each time the Great Lady exhaled with a troubled expression, her breath formed wisps of mist in the cold dawn air.
When the Great Lady coughed softly, the Middle-aged Woman’s complexion changed, and she gestured toward the Female Servant with a question.
“My lady, what should we do?”
“First, I must visit Yeon’s residence. Send word to the Patriarch to come to her residence as well.”
“Understood.”
The Middle-aged Woman, who had answered respectfully, took the thick outer robe the Female Servant had brought and draped it over the Great Lady’s shoulders.
“Ah, and summon the Physician as well. And which alley did the midwife say she lived in?”
The Middle-aged Woman’s eyes widened in surprise at these words.
“A midwife as well?”
“Ryu-cheong said… to trust and follow Gyeol-i.”
The Female Servants, who had been keeping their heads down, exchanged bewildered glances—what on earth did it mean to follow a cat?
“The hour is late, and the midwife lives in O-byeong Alley, so it will take considerable time to send someone and have her arrive. Instead, wouldn’t Won Bu-in from the outer quarters, who has experience delivering children, be suitable? She should be able to come immediately.”
“That sounds reasonable. Then let’s do as you suggest.”
The Middle-aged Woman remained behind to summon and direct the Female Servants and servants, while the Great Lady set out toward Baek Li-yeon’s residence with a Female Servant.
The White Cat’s golden eyes gleamed strangely in the darkness as it urged the Great Lady forward several times, as if to hurry.
The Female Servant following behind the Great Lady found something oddly unsettling about the sight and hunched her shoulders.
When the Great Lady arrived at Baek Li-yeon’s residence, she was breathing quite heavily from her unusually hurried pace. And almost simultaneously, Namgung Wan arrived as well.
Namgung Wan asked.
“I’ve heard the explanation. What exactly is happening?”
“I’ve only just arrived myself.”
At the commotion, Jin-jin and Baek Li-yeon’s Female Servant rushed out from the adjoining quarters in alarm.
“Family Head? Great Lady? What brings you here at this hour?”
The Great Lady’s brow furrowed slightly. She had come, certainly, but now that she tried to explain, she found herself at a loss for how to describe this situation.
“Well… Ryu-cheong said to listen carefully to what this cat says, but… truthfully, I myself don’t understand what’s happening right now. Why is she crying like this, I haven’t the faintest… Is Yeon sleeping well?”
Jin-jin answered respectfully.
“Yes. She said she would retire early today. However, since the young lady wakes immediately if there’s someone beside her, we haven’t checked on her since she fell asleep.”
Watching Gyeol-i begin crying again the moment they arrived at Baek Li-yeon’s residence, the Great Lady’s expression grew troubled.
Yeon had been sleeping poorly since Namgung Ryu-cheong’s departure. Today too, she had tossed and turned before finally falling asleep, but could one really trust such a creature, no matter how perceptive and intuitive? And besides, for the mistress of the household and a mother-in-law to enter an unmarried woman’s bedchamber without permission would be improper.
Yet she had decided to trust and follow her son’s words.
Yet she had decided to trust and follow her son’s words.
“I’ll go in and look for myself.”
“Pardon? Great Lady. But the young lady is sleeping…”
“I’ll just slip in, see her face, and come back out. Besides, she may well already be awake by now.”
The Great Lady took the lamp from the Female Servant and passed by Jin-jin, entering the inner chamber of the residence.
Namgung Wan, who had been glaring as if he would not tolerate Jin-jin blocking his mistress, covered one ear after the Great Lady entered and spoke to the cat.
“Listen, you’re too loud. Be quiet, be quiet.”
Whether the White Cat understood my words or was satisfied that the Great Lady had entered, it finally fell silent. Only then did the surroundings settle into the hushed stillness of dawn.
Yet moments later, a sharp cry pierced the air from within the Residence Quarter, and chaos erupted in an instant.
“Yeon! Wake up. Physician! Midwife, call the midwife! Hurry!”

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