The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 331

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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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Special Side Story Episode 1
Side Story 3. Flowing Without Understanding
So what in the world was this situation?
Baek Li-yeon faced the figure before her, glaring with such intensity. Cold and rigid, those eyes held no warmth—only sharp, guarded suspicion. Namgung Ryu-cheong finally broke his silence, as if he could bear it no longer.
“Following me around wasn’t enough, and now you’re barging into my private chambers without permission? Do you think this is behavior befitting a young lady of a prestigious martial family?”
“There seems to be a misunderstanding—”
“A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? I saw it with my own eyes, experienced it myself. What could possibly be misunderstood about that?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong swept his hair back, his tone dripping with exasperation.
“Baek Li-yeon, please come to your senses. How much longer will this continue?”
Baek Li-yeon sighed deeply, pressing her fingers to her brow.
If only this were a dream—I wish someone would wake me.
* * *
Two days before the incident.
Thud, thud. Deliberate footsteps echoed through a perfectly circular chamber, clearly carved by human hands. The sole source of light within danced with each step, and gradually, the deepest recess revealed itself—a strange form at the very center of the chamber.
A massive stone monument. Surrounding it at intervals were wooden stakes adorned with talismans the color of dried blood. The sight was profoundly ominous.
Then a tremendous sword wind erupted.
Crack-boom!
The talismans, the monument, and even the wall behind it split as if raked by a beast’s claws, and the wooden stakes crumbled to dust and vanished.
“Is it done?”
“It appears so.”
Baek Li-yeon answered Namgung Ryu-cheong’s question. She smiled as she looked at him and continued.
“Finally the ordeal is over, yet your expression seems rather grim.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong nodded with a dissatisfied look.
“It was far too anticlimactic.”
“I suppose it was.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong sheathed his sword while Baek Li-yeon held her torch aloft as they approached the monument slowly.
The monument was covered in indecipherable script, and within its jagged split, something faint glimmered.
Namgung Ryu-cheong reached out and grasped what lay inside the monument.
“This is… a wooden tablet?”
“Is this what Hwa-mu mentioned?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong examined it from all angles as he spoke.
“I don’t sense any power from it, though.”
Just as Baek Li-yeon was about to voice her agreement, a faint, ominous aura suddenly emanated from the tablet.
Baek Li-yeon swiftly used the power of her golden eyes to suppress the aura’s movement. Then she turned to Namgung Ryu-cheong urgently.
“Ryu-cheong, just now the tablet released an aura—”
But Namgung Ryu-cheong merely looked at her as if confused about what she meant.
“An aura from the tablet?”
“…You didn’t sense anything just now?”
“I felt nothing at all.”
Baek Li-yeon’s brow furrowed as she tried to examine the crimson aura she had suppressed. Yet the ominous red aura she had clearly seen and contained vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.
Baek Li-yeon blinked in surprise. Namgung Ryu-cheong asked with concern.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“…Are you really okay?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your hand burning, pain somewhere, or sensing some strange energy.”
“I don’t feel anything.”
“Really? Let me see.”
After staring at the wooden tablet for a long moment, Baek Li-yeon’s expression twisted.
“We’ve been deceived.”
“What?”
“This is a fake.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah. There’s no power contained in it at all.”
Baek Li-yeon furrowed her brow.
They had come here based on information that Cheon-ma’s legacy was hidden in this place. In the end, it was a fake.
‘Then what was that ominous crimson energy I saw earlier?’
Namgung Ryu-cheong brushed back the strands of hair falling across his forehead and spoke.
“A fake, you say. I thought it seemed easier than expected.”
“That’s true. …But still, why grab it so recklessly? How could you know what might happen?”
“That’s exactly why I should be the one to take it.”
His resolute voice carried not a shred of doubt.
Namgung Ryu-cheong, who had silenced her objections and calmly examined the stone tablet, belatedly noticed her gaze and looked down at her. As he regarded her with a questioning expression, he suddenly lowered his head. At the warmth touching his lips, Baek Li-yeon’s eyes widened in bewilderment.
“…What are you doing all of a sudden?”
“Ah, you seemed to want it.”
The sensation of their lips meeting and moving sent a tingling through her fingertips.
“Is that your excuse for this?”
“Isn’t it?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong deepened the kiss through the slight gap between them.
* * *
Baek Li-yeon folded the letter and placed it in an envelope. At the sound, Namgung Ryu-cheong, who had been gazing out the window, turned his head.
“Are you done?”
“Yes.”
Baek Li-yeon looked down at the envelope with the Jegal Family written as the recipient and murmured bitterly.
“They made an effort. It’s unfortunate it came to this.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong, who had been watching quietly, spoke in a low voice.
“You did your best too.”
“…”
“In the first place, this was something Jeggal Hwa-mu could have handled alone, yet you unnecessarily inserted yourself into it.”
“That’s true, but…”
Namgung Ryu-cheong was right. In truth, there had been no real need for her to involve herself so directly.
But….
Baek Li-yeon recalled an old friend she hadn’t found traces of in a long time, then erased the thought from her mind.
“Still, isn’t it nice to spend time together like this after so long, getting some fresh air?”
“It’s the only good thing about it.”
“I wonder what the children are doing right now?”
The moment the children were mentioned, Namgung Ryu-cheong let out a snort.
“What else? They’re probably thrilled to be with their grandfather.”
“Ha ha, why? Are you feeling left out?”
“Left out? Their father is leaving and they don’t even want to come see me off!”
“Ha ha ha! They must be really happy to see their grandfather after so long. It’s strange, though. Father was never popular with the children.”
Before Namgung Ryu-cheong and I left to handle matters, I had entrusted Baek Li Se-hwa and Namgung Hee to Baek Li-ui-gang.
Perhaps because of that, even when their mother and father said they would be away for a while, Baek Li Se-hwa and Namgung Hee were too captivated by their grandfather and great-grandfather to pay us any attention.
They didn’t even want to see us off until Baek Li-ui-gang scolded them, saying they should bid farewell to their mother and father, and only then did they say goodbye with a “have a safe trip.”
I recalled Sehwa bowing politely and Hee waving his small hands excitedly. There wasn’t a trace of sadness or reluctance in either of them. In fact, Hee seemed delighted that his parents were leaving.
I spoke.
“The problem is you’re all too easygoing about everything.”
….
Now that I thought about it, the most easygoing person of all was right beside me. Even if Namgung Ryu-cheong said such things, he would surely melt into a goofy smile the moment he was in front of the children.
“At least Hwa-a is finally showing interest in the sword now.”
“Can we stop talking about the children?”
“Huh?”
“There’s someone here who needs your attention.”
At his sudden words, I widened my eyes and looked at Namgung Ryu-cheong. Soon I let out a hollow laugh and placed my hand on his cheek.
“I really do spoil you too much, don’t I?”
Thus we returned safely, took a walk bathed in moonlight, spent the night together, and the next day passed as ordinarily as any other.
* * *
“Wake up!”
“What…? First thing in the morning. You have no conscience at all. I’m exhausted.”
“Stop your nonsense and get up!”
I rubbed my sleepy eyes and barely managed to open them.
“What on earth…? What’s going on?”
“Why are you here?”
“What?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong, standing pressed against the wall across the room, had turned beet red and couldn’t even meet my eyes.
“Your clothes… put them on properly!”
“…?”
I felt puzzled and straightened my garments. Though it was merely adjusting my inner robe. Yet even that seemed to help Namgung Ryu-cheong breathe easier.
I covered my mouth and let out a long yawn, then asked.
“So, where are you going this early in the morning?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong had somehow already dressed in both his inner and outer robes. He clenched his teeth and asked.
“Stop spouting nonsense. I’m asking why you’re here. Explain yourself.”
“What are you going on about since earlier? Why am I here? We always slept together.”
“What ridiculous talk! Sleeping together? Why would I ever!”
“…Huh?”
Only then did Baek Li-yeon sense something amiss, and she examined Namgung Ryu-cheong carefully.
He showed no difference from last night. He lay exactly as he had when they fell asleep together. Even his outer robe was the one he had removed yesterday. Yet there was one thing—just one—that had changed.
The way his eyes regarded her.
Gone was that gaze brimming with gentle warmth or burning with fierce intensity. Instead, his eyes were sharply vigilant, bristling with caution. Within that cold stare, a faint glimmer of contempt flickered.
And this gaze was terribly familiar. Once, long ago, Namgung Ryu-cheong had looked at her with such eyes.
It was as though someone had drenched her head with ice water—her mind snapped into focus.
“You… who are you?”

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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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