The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 6

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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 6
Father stepped between Grandfather and me, blocking his gaze.
“Father, Yeon-i has only just awakened.”
Father’s voice was composed, as though he had never been angry at all.
‘How could I confuse him with that man? What a terrible mistake!’
I reproached myself for such foolishness and glanced at Father, only to stiffen once more. His eyes were red around the edges—he had been crying just moments before.
‘What… what is this? Surely he wasn’t… when did this happen? Why?’
Grandfather spoke with an air of exasperation.
“Ha, anyone seeing this would think I had been tormenting the boy. Do you remember that this is my Residence Quarter?”
Father, momentarily taken aback, lowered his head.
“I have shown myself to be an unworthy son.”
“That will suffice.”
Grandfather made no effort to conceal his look of disappointment as he spoke.
Father’s ears had flushed with shame. He cleared his throat and adjusted the pillow and blankets supporting my back several times over.
“….”
“….”
An awkward silence settled over the chamber.
I watched Grandfather’s expression carefully before asking Father hesitantly.
“Father, where… am I?”
“This is Subaekdang. You collapsed, and we brought you here.”
Subaekdang?
I looked around the room in surprise. Subaekdang was Grandfather’s Residence Quarter. It was the closest one to the Central Hall where I had collapsed, but…
‘I’ve never set foot inside it before.’
That explained why the chamber appeared so refined.
As I continued surveying the room, my eyes suddenly met Grandfather’s.
His gaze was as piercing as a tiger’s, and I found my shoulders instinctively shrinking. Grandfather raised his white brows. He seemed about to say something, opening his mouth.
At that moment, a voice came from beyond the door.
“Fourth Young Master, the medicinal decoction has arrived.”
“Show him in at once.”
Grandfather, who had been about to speak, closed his mouth firmly.
The man who entered at Father’s word was Grandfather’s aide. The middle-aged man, who appeared to be in his fifties, had stood near Grandfather even in the Central Hall.
‘His name was Jang Seok-ryang.’
He was the same person who had been conversing with Father before I awoke.
Father rose abruptly and accepted the tray bearing the ceramic bowl.
“To think you would undertake such an errand yourself.”
“I merely received it from the servants just outside. I also have matters to report to the Family Head.”
Jang Seok-ryang, whose eyes had met mine for a moment, smiled with warmth.
‘…What is this?’
In my previous life, I had spent over ten years in the Baek Li Family and never exchanged a single word with Jang Seok-ryang. He had certainly never smiled at me.
Father sat on the edge of the bed, holding the tray. The smell of medicinal decoction wafted strongly through the air. I grimaced at the sight of the dark brown liquid filling the ceramic bowl.
Father spoke.
“Seok Tae-ui won’t be so harsh, I’m told.”
“Seok Tae-ui?”
Seok Tae-ui was a renowned physician who had even served in the imperial court.
‘I was examined by him in my previous life too, but that was much later, if I recall correctly….’
Father, interpreting my puzzled expression, spoke gently.
“Seok Tae-ui is a physician your grandfather urgently summoned for your sake. He’s exceptionally skilled.”
“Grandfather summoned him?”
“Yes. While you were unconscious, he completed his examination. Your grandfather has instructed that you remain here at Subaekdang during Seok Tae-ui’s four-day stay for treatment.”
My eyes widened as I looked toward my grandfather.
Grandfather had summoned Seok Tae-ui for me? And I was to stay at Subaekdang while he was here?
Subaekdang was Grandfather’s private residence. No other family member had ever stayed there before.
Not even Baek Li-ui-muk, the eldest son, nor Baek Li-myeong, the eldest grandson.
I quickly bowed my head.
“Thank you, Grandfather.”
Grandfather snorted and clicked his tongue in response.
“There’s nothing to thank me for. If you’re ill, you should say so—who will know if you stubbornly endure in silence?”
“Father.”
Grandfather, catching Father’s restraining gaze, fluttered his robes and turned away.
“Mind yourself. I won’t have the Baek Li Family hauling out corpses.”
After Grandfather left the room with Jang Seok-ryang, I exhaled in relief without meaning to.
Father stirred the medicinal broth slowly with a spoon to cool it, his smile tinged with bitterness.
“Despite his words, he’s shown you considerable care.”
I nodded and grasped Father’s sleeve.
“Father, Father—does that mean you’ll be staying at Subaekdang too?”
“Yes. I can’t trust anyone else with this.”
Had Father not been present, I would have clapped my hands with unbridled joy.
‘Excellent. Truly excellent.’
At least I’d prevented a rift between Grandfather and Father. Had Grandfather been angry with him, he would never have permitted him to stay at Subaekdang.
I accepted the medicine Father offered with a beaming smile and drank it down in one gulp.
“Ugh.”
“Drink slowly. Don’t vomit!”
* * *
After taking the medicine, my bloated stomach wouldn’t allow me to lie down immediately. Father propped me up with a plush cushion.
“Yeon-ah.”
Father called me in a subdued voice.
Holding my small hand and looking down at me, Father met my eyes.
“Why have you hidden it all this time?”
“Hidden what?”
“How your servants and attendants have been negligent whenever I’m away.”
If Grandfather had heard it from the Central Hall, then Father, who was with him, would surely have heard it too.
Father’s eyes were filled with profound distress.
I hastened to soothe him with my words.
“It was fine when you were there, Father.”
“Yes. They disregarded you.”
…
“Today you collapsed in front of people, but if you had collapsed alone, I would….”
As Father continued speaking, his expression grew increasingly pained.
Father had not remained at the Baek Li Estate for more than half a month since reaching adulthood. Yet after I fell into demonic obsession, he had stayed by my side for nearly a month as if atoning for his absence. And now, after being separated for merely half a day—this had happened.
Just half a day apart, and such a thing occurred.
As his anger mounted with each word, Father rose abruptly to his feet.
“This won’t do. I must speak to Mother at once.”
I started in alarm and grasped his sleeve.
“Father, Father. Please don’t.”
Father’s birth mother had passed away long ago as Grandfather’s concubine.
The Mother Father spoke of was Baek Family Grandmother, who had entered as Grandfather’s second wife.
The mistress of the Baek Li Estate, called the First Lady or Grand Madam, had borne four children, two of whom died from plague in childhood. Now only the eldest uncle and the eldest aunt remained.
And what mattered most was that Baek Family Grandmother disliked Father.
So Father would voice dissatisfaction with the household affairs she governed?
‘He won’t hear a kind word from her.’
She would surely scold him as an unfilial son for daring to interfere in his mother’s domain.
Father gently removed my hand from his sleeve and spoke.
“Mother must know of this matter clearly. If word of this spreads outside, what becomes of Mother’s reputation?”
‘Ah! That would be perfect. If it spreads, I couldn’t ask for more.’
Yet unlike me, Father’s eyes held genuine concern for Baek Family Grandmother.
Did Father not know that she disliked him?
No—he knew, and yet he acted thus anyway.
‘Because it is the right thing to do.’
A bitter smile escaped me without my knowing.
“It won’t help.”
“Yeon-ah?”
“Father, will punishing the servants resolve this?”
“Of course it will…!”
I shook my head firmly.
“If Grandmother punishes the servants, it may appear to improve on the surface.”
“Appear? What do you mean?”
“Yes. On the surface. Will they truly acknowledge in their hearts that they were wrong?”
“Then they must be made to…understand, mustn’t they?”
Father faltered, yet answered as if he could not abandon the notion.
I posed my question at once.
“Is punishing the servants within the Residence Quarter the end of it? What about those outside?”
Did they not know I was being disrespected by the servants?
During my journeys from the Byeolchae where Father and I resided to the Central Hall of the main house, I encountered no shortage of people, yet they merely whispered among themselves. Not one of them offered assistance or inquired about my troubles, despite witnessing my struggle.
‘They simply wish to avoid entanglement.’
With a granddaughter scorned by the family head.
Father grasped the unspoken meaning behind my words immediately.
His complexion drained to an ashen pallor.
“This matter will not resolve until Grandfather acknowledges me.”
“….”
Father’s face contorted.
After a prolonged silence, Father spoke softly.
“Do you resent your grandfather?”
“No.”
“…You need not lie.”
“I truly do not.”
Father’s expression betrayed his disbelief.
I fidgeted with my fingers, choosing my words carefully.
“Well… I’m truly fine. Because I understand Grandfather’s heart.”
“Understand it?”
“Grandfather’s anger toward me exists precisely because he loves Father so dearly.”
Father regarded me with a look demanding explanation.
I continued slowly.
“So… wouldn’t it be strange if Grandfather weren’t angry at my very existence?”
“Strange? What do you mean?”
How could I explain this from a child’s perspective? Ah, I had no idea.
“If Grandfather said, ‘What’s wrong with bringing a child from outside? How wonderful to have a new granddaughter, hehe,’ wouldn’t that be far stranger?”
Father stared at me, utterly flabbergasted.
“You… you are only six years old! How could you speak such words…!”
Perhaps a child speaking so maturely was indeed too unnatural?
I nestled against Father.
Seizing the moment as Father stood speechless in shock, I spoke.
“Grandfather is Father’s father, after all.”
“What?”
“I am happy to have Father, but if I caused Father to lose his own father, that would sadden me.”
Was that perhaps too childish?
Father said nothing, merely patting me gently. Unable to see his face, I could not discern whether my words had taken root or what thoughts occupied his mind.
The novel never revealed how Grandfather truly regarded Father.
Just as the relationship between Father and me deteriorated, so too did the bond between Grandfather and Father grow increasingly strained.
Yet I remembered vividly. Grandfather at Father’s funeral, his eyes bloodshot and wild.
That was sufficient. Reason enough for me to think well of Grandfather.

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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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