The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 328

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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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Side Story Episode 22
Baek Li Pae-hyuk gazed at his great-granddaughter with kind eyes.
The child did not cry even in the arms of a stranger she was meeting for the first time, but instead stared back with wide, bright eyes.
Baek Li Pae-hyuk, delighted, his eyes crinkling into crescents, repeatedly pressed his lips to the infant’s forehead.
Had he always been so fond of children? I had never witnessed such a side of him before.
“This child is truly bold.”
Baek Li-yeon rolled her eyes in disbelief.
“She’s only been alive for four days.”
“Tsk, if you don’t know, keep your mouth shut. Children are especially sensitive. No matter how much I suppress my presence, newborns burst into tears the moment I draw near. It’s always been that way.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Baek Li-myeong’s brats would wail the instant I approached until they turned one year old. I never even got to hold them.”
The child cradled in Baek Li Pae-hyuk’s arms had quietly drifted to sleep at some point.
“Sehwa, look at this child—her limbs are long, her frame sturdy, her eyes clear and bright with intelligence. She will become a truly remarkable child, proficient in both the martial and scholarly arts! I stake my reputation on it!”
Whether it was true that he had stopped by on his way to deal with Wi Ji-baek, Baek Li Pae-hyuk remained for exactly three days before departing.
Namgung Ryu-cheong, who had come to see him off, spoke respectfully.
“Please stay a while longer.”
“That’s enough. My absence must remain secret. In times like these, if one leaves their post, the jackals become insufferably bold.”
Baek Li-yeon spoke with a smile.
“Surely the jackals value their own lives enough to know better.”
“The decision is made. It’s done.”
“Still….”
Baek Li-yeon trailed off, reluctant to see him go.
In the time since she had last seen him, her grandfather had aged remarkably.
Baek Li Pae-hyuk, sensing her feelings, spoke.
“I have a long way to go yet. I cannot depart before those older than myself.”
“You’re not referring to me, are you? Between you and me, there’s only a two-year difference.”
It was Namgung Mu-cheol, who had also come to see him off.
Baek Li Pae-hyuk let out a scoff.
“Two years, indeed.”
“Anyone watching would think you were a newborn. Making such a fuss over two years at your age.”
“If you’re so aggrieved, why didn’t you arrange to be born two years later?”
Fortunately, all the preparations for departure were complete, so this embarrassing exchange mercifully ended quickly.
“Father, please take care of yourself on the journey.”
Baek Li Pae-hyuk barely acknowledged Baek Li Ui-gang’s farewell, instead taking the child from Yu-mo’s arms.
“What a precious little thing. Coo, coo. You mustn’t forget your grandfather, yes? We’ll see each other next year.”
The child, dragged from sleep, blinked drowsily in Baek Li Pae-hyuk’s embrace before simply falling back asleep.
At the sight, Baek Li Pae-hyuk shook his head slowly.
“Goodness, I cannot fathom whom she takes after.”
* * *
And true to Baek Li Pae-hyuk’s words, opinions on whom the child resembled were deeply divided.
What was certain was that Sehwa bore little resemblance to Namgung Ryu-cheong. Typically, the eldest child resembles their father greatly, but Sehwa was nothing of the sort.
Baek Li-yeon claimed she resembled her biological father, the Great Lady insisted she took after herself, and Namgung Wan swore she was the image of his sister. Of course, all three were striking beauties with luminous, melancholic features.
Baek Li-yeon, the Great Lady, and Namgung Wan debated this daily until they eventually placed a wager: they would determine whom Sehwa most resembled when she came of age in fifteen years at her coming-of-age ceremony.
It had begun as mere jest. Yet all three possessed generous natures, and when word spread to the household members of the Namgung Clan, even they joined in—the prize for winning had grown substantial enough to secure a considerable fortune.
Baek Li-ui-gang clicked his tongue and spoke.
“Why does it matter so much whom she resembles?”
“Father! Don’t pretend otherwise. Grandfather told me you placed a wager too!”
“…I was promised discretion.”
“So who did you bet on? You wouldn’t tell me that part.”
Baek Li-ui-gang cleared his throat to evade the question, but unable to resist Baek Li-yeon’s persistence, he relented.
“I wagered on myself.”
Baek Li-yeon collapsed onto the sleeping quarters, bursting into laughter.
‘And here I thought you were so dignified!’
Baek Li-ui-gang frowned as he lifted the child into his arms.
“You’re a mother now—when will you learn to laugh with more decorum?”
“Why? Is my laughter displeasing to you?”
It was Namgung Ryu-cheong.
Baek Li-yeon welcomed him as he stepped through the doorway.
“You’ve come?”
“Yes. I had some time, so I thought we might share lunch together.”
…
Baek Li-ui-gang’s mood soured watching his daughter’s delighted expression.
He ought to be pleased that she favored her husband, yet each time he saw them together, his irritation only deepened. Rather than growing accustomed to him, Baek Li-ui-gang found himself resenting him more with each passing day.
Especially when he thought of his daughter, who had suffered greatly bringing Sehwa into the world—it seemed his son-in-law had gained everything without effort.
“In your view, whom does she resemble?”
“Does it matter whom she resembles? All three of you are exceptional. My only concern is what sort of man might come to claim her.”
“A man like me, perhaps?”
…
Baek Li-yeon rolled across the sleeping quarters again, laughing.
* * *
Sehwa’s childhood name became Hwa-a.
Namgung Ryu-cheong had been asked to choose both the prenatal and childhood names, and after months of deliberation, he eventually settled on simply taking the second character from Sehwa’s name, resulting in Hwa-a.
A month later, a celebration feast was held to commemorate Sehwa’s safe passage through her first month. With over twenty tables laden with dishes, the celebration was extraordinarily grand.
Namgung Wan, the child’s grandfather, was far more eager to boast of the infant than Namgung Ryu-cheong, her father, his eyes remaining crescent-shaped with joy throughout the entire feast.
Immediately after the one-month celebration, Baek Li-ui-gang returned to the Baek Li Estate.
Though he wished to remain until the one-hundredth-day celebration, Baek Li-ui-gang now bore nearly all the family’s affairs as quasi-Family Head and could not afford to be absent for long.
Instead, Baek Li-yeon and Namgung Ryu-cheong decided to depart for the Baek Li Estate soon after. By Sehwa’s first birthday, the promised three years would have elapsed, and since Sehwa, as the firstborn, was to inherit the Baek Li Castle, they resolved to celebrate her first birthday at the Baek Li Estate as well.
However, to arrive at the Baek Li Estate by March for the first birthday celebration, they would need to depart in February.
February was still a season of bitter cold. After discussion, they decided against traveling with the child in such harsh weather and instead chose to depart early in August, spending the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Baek Li Estate instead.
The child grew swiftly, and the time spent with her passed just as quickly.
The child who once couldn’t hold up her head had begun to lift it, and could now grasp and shake toys in her small hands. With each passing day, the infant’s temperament revealed itself more clearly.
She ate well, rarely cried, and possessed a remarkably gentle disposition. Everyone agreed they had never encountered such a docile child before.
But this was a misconception.
The child, whom they believed to be endlessly gentle, possessed an absolutely formidable stubbornness about anything that captured her interest!
On a boat gliding across the placid river, bound for the Baek Li Estate.
Baek Li-yeon’s voice was saturated with exasperation.
“That’s enough now, dear. Yes? Hwa-a, you can give up.”
Sehwa had been grunting and straining for over two hours without nursing, then would wail loudly before resuming her determined efforts—all in a relentless attempt to roll over.
Beads of perspiration dotted the child’s flushed forehead. Most infants would rest when exhausted, but this one seemed determined enough to lose consciousness in the attempt.
Unable to bear it any longer, Namgung Ryu-cheong scooped Sehwa into his arms to soothe her.
“Hwa-a, stop now. One must sometimes retreat to advance….”
“Waaaaaaah—waaah!”
The moment he lifted her, Sehwa began crying with impressive vigor.
Since the child rarely cried under normal circumstances, he had no tolerance for such displays. Namgung Ryu-cheong startled and hastily set her back down. Immediately, as if she had been waiting for precisely this moment, the infant ceased her wailing and began whimpering softly.
“….”
“….”
The message was unmistakably clear: do not touch me.
He should have recognized this trait from the moment she developed the strength to grip—when she would clutch her favorite objects and refuse to release them for an entire week.
Gyeol-i demonstrated the rolling motion before Sehwa, as if to say “watch and imitate.” The infant fixed her bright mahogany eyes upon her intently, then began attempting the maneuver herself.
Whether to laugh or remain silent was unclear.
Baek Li-yeon asked with an ambiguous expression.
“Is this truly acceptable?”
The middle-aged woman responded with an awkward smile.
“To wield a sword, one must possess this degree of determination.”
Baek Li-yeon exhaled deeply.
Her appearance did not resemble Namgung Ryu-cheong’s, but her stubbornness certainly did.
“Was Ryu-cheong like this as a child?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong raised his eyebrows as if questioning why he was being singled out.
The middle-aged woman spoke with a smile.
“The So Family Head was extremely sensitive in his youth. He would not permit anyone near him except the Great Lady and the Family Head. Not only myself, but even the nursemaids—we went through several because he was so particular with strangers.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong cleared his throat and averted his gaze.
“Moreover, he would not sleep at night whatsoever, so the Great Lady and the Family Head had to carry him about all night long. The young miss does not suffer from such difficulties.”
“…That much is true. She doesn’t shy away from strangers. She sleeps well….”
Baek Li-yeon nodded slowly. In that regard, she was fortunate.
Wait—wasn’t the stubbornness identical nonetheless?
Namgung Ryu-cheong shrugged and spoke.
“She takes after you, doesn’t she?”
“Me? Well, I wouldn’t know. No one remembers what I was like as an infant.”
“….”
The middle-aged woman’s eyes widened toward Namgung Ryu-cheong, and the atmosphere grew solemn for a moment.
Sehwa remained focused on her rolling practice, oblivious to whatever the people around her were saying.
Baek Li-yeon sighed once more.
“I’d love to help, but the moment I touch her, she bursts into tears….”
She had an almost supernatural sense of it. Just half an hour ago, unable to bear watching any longer, Gyeol-i had quietly sat beside her and tried to assist with a gentle nudge, but Sehwa had cried out in protest—”Uh-uh! Uh-uh!”—forcing them to undo the roll and start over from the beginning.
It seemed that any assistance from another person didn’t count as a success….
‘Not even a year old and she’s already so particular about these things!’

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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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