The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 82

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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 82
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In the end, I went to buy the fragrant oil with Namgung Ryu-cheong. This was his first time leaving the Residence, after all.
To me, both Namgung Ryu-cheong and Yalyu were children brought into Market Street, but Namgung Ryu-cheong was experiencing it for the first time today….
‘No, seriously? His first time out at ten years old?’
Of course, he must have gone out with his parents before. But riding in a carriage surrounded by guards and servants, with not a finger to lift, was entirely different from today’s outing. When I asked as we walked, it turned out Namgung Ryu-cheong had never even purchased anything himself!
As we walked, I kept glancing back over my shoulder. We’d already come quite far, so there was no way Yalyu would be visible, yet my anxious heart compelled me to keep looking back.
I asked Seo Ha-ryeong.
“How much farther?”
“We’re almost there!”
“Alright.”
Well, nothing should go wrong while we’re just standing in line.
I was trying to calm myself and look ahead when Namgung Ryu-cheong fixed me with a stare.
“Baek So-jeo.”
There was a hint of irritation in Namgung Ryu-cheong’s voice.
“What?”
What’s wrong with him now? What’s he sulking about?
Namgung Ryu-cheong fell silent for a moment, regarding me with displeasure before blurting out.
“Go back.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll stay with Seo So-jeo, so you go on ahead.”
My surprised response was drowned out by Seo Ha-ryeong’s cry.
“What! No way! Why are you sending Yeon away?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong shot Seo Ha-ryeong a cold glare.
“Baek So-jeo keeps turning around to look back.”
Seo Ha-ryeong’s eyes widened as she looked at me.
“It’s distracting, so go.”
“But I don’t want to….”
“Then we all turn back. What’s so important about your maidservant’s fragrant oil anyway?”
“You’re the one who followed me here on your own, so why are you taking it out on me!”
Namgung Ryu-cheong, who looked ready to shout back, bit his lip hard instead and looked at me.
“So you won’t go?”
I looked between Namgung Ryu-cheong and Seo Ha-ryeong and made my decision.
“Young Master, thank you. Ha-ryeong, I’m sorry. I’m worried about leaving Yalyu alone. You two go and come back.”
“Yeon!”
Ignoring Seo Ha-ryeong’s cry, I turned and ran back immediately. The street was crowded, so I couldn’t run recklessly. I committed the shops I’d noticed on the way to memory.
‘If I go straight from here and turn left at that shop… wait?’
I suddenly turned my head while searching for the path.
“What?”
I craned my neck and scanned the spot that had just caught my eye.
I thought I saw Father….
“…or did I?”
With so many people crowding the street, keeping my eyes closed left me completely disoriented.
‘…Let’s just go.’
I pushed the fleeting impression from my mind and quickened my pace. Soon I spotted the shop ahead, and my eyes widened. The line had grown even longer in the time we’d been away.
‘What…? Wow, if we’d arrived any later, we’d have been in real trouble.’
It seemed the lunch rush was drawing crowds. Just as I was about to hurry forward again, the shop owner next to us muttered in exasperation.
“Those guys are at it again. Sigh.”
I glanced at the owner and turned my attention ahead. Not far away, I could see Yalyu. The line had thinned considerably, and it would soon be his turn.
‘Hm?’
I tilted my head in confusion. Yalyu was conversing with a boy who stood about two heads taller than him.
‘What, I was worried for nothing.’
To be honest, I’d been somewhat concerned about Yalyu’s social skills. After all, he was always glued to my side.
His expressions rarely changed, he showed little interest in anything, and he simply followed me around like a shadow—I’d worried whether it was right to let a child grow up this way.
Yet I couldn’t take a more active role myself, not when we were staying at the Namgung Clan. I had no choice but to hold back.
So there was always an uncomfortable knot in my heart. I’d even considered whether it would be better to find him a home and send him away. But sigh, the problem was that I had no one to entrust him to—he was still so young and needed protection.
Seeing him like this, I thought perhaps it would be alright after all—until the moment the other boy’s hand struck Yalyu’s cheek with the back of his palm.
‘What…is happening…?’
The situation was so absurd that my mind couldn’t process it. My thoughts had frozen, but they snapped back to life the instant Yalyu grabbed the boy’s wrist and twisted it. The boy’s scream pierced the air.
“Ahhh!”
I rushed forward in panic.
“Let go! Argh! No, don’t—ahhh!”
“Brother!”
“You bastard!”
The other children in the boy’s group were rushing to join in—it was complete chaos.
I shouted urgently.
“Yalyu!”
At my desperate cry, Yalyu looked at me.
“Oh? You came early.”
He even smiled slightly as he looked at me in that moment. In that instant, Yalyu’s grip seemed to loosen just a fraction, and the boy wrenched himself free and escaped. He raised his fist.
“You bastard…!”
My body rushed forward and instinctively wrapped around Yalyu. At the same moment, the incoming fist grazed my shoulder and crashed into the ground beside us.
I was completely disoriented. I only belatedly realized the soft sensation beneath me—I was pinning Yalyu to the ground. Even as he fell, Yalyu had positioned himself so I wouldn’t roll across the pavement.
I gasped in surprise and pushed myself up from him.
“Yalyu, are you alright?”
“….”
Yalyu rose silently without a word. The moment I saw his eyes, my heart sank.
‘Something’s wrong with his gaze.’
His pupils had darkened to pitch black, devoid of any light. Through my closed eyes, I could sense the inner energy rippling through Yalyu’s body.
A murky aura spread from Yalyu’s dantian outward through his limbs. Yalyu’s eyes opened wide as he slowly extended his hand toward the frozen boy.
“You…”
I hastily grabbed Yalyu’s arm.
“Don’t.”
“….”
“Yalyu, don’t.”
With my repeated words, the murderous aura that had been wavering slowly, ever so slowly, began to subside.
Yalyu’s lips parted gradually.
“…Are you alright?”
Only then did a relieved breath escape me. I had been so tense that I only now felt the pain in my shoulder where his fist had grazed it. I lied casually.
“I’m not hurt. I’m fine.”
The boy, who had never been exposed to killing intent before and thus didn’t know what it was, had gone rigid with an eerie dread. Now, belatedly released from that tension, he cried out.
“You, you two, what, what are you!”
The boy looked at Yalyu, then flinched and averted his eyes in fear. Then he shouted at me.
“Who are you to suddenly butt in and cause a scene!”
Fourteen? Fifteen? By Korean standards, he looked like a middle schooler. He was dressed in an elegant yellow martial robe, with a gold-decorated belt around his waist and a jade pendant swaying at his side. He was flaunting his wealth with his entire body.
‘And he has inner energy.’
I could see a sword hanging at his waist. He appeared to be either a child from a martial family or a disciple of some sect. The other children behind him, who seemed to be his companions, were all similar.
‘There’s no way dark practitioners would cause trouble right under the Namgung Clan’s nose, so these must be from the Orthodox Martial Arts Sects, naturally.’
Understanding the situation, I quickly shouted.
“Who are you? An Orthodox Martial Arts Sect disciple beating people in broad daylight?”
“…What, what, you’re the one who butted in!”
“You’re the ones who cut in line! You jumped the queue!”
If these kids had been standing in front of me, there was no way I wouldn’t remember them. And I was right.
“You… you! Do you know who I am?”
“Who are you? Let’s see which family you belong to—someone who not only cuts in line but beats people in broad daylight!”
The boy’s face flushed crimson as he looked around. The people standing in line before and after were craning their necks at the commotion, watching. A few of them chuckled and murmured, “That girl’s got guts.”
“You, you!”
Embarrassed and losing his mind, the boy raised his hand to strike again.
‘Is this bastard insane!’
I had just calmed Yalyu down!
I stepped in front of Yalyu and quickly gathered my natural energy.
‘I didn’t want to use it until I built up my physical strength.’
In that instant.
“Ugh!”
Before I could even block, the boy suddenly grabbed his hand and let out a scream. The children who appeared to be his gang cried out in succession.
“Brother!”
“Big brother!”
“What’s wrong!”
I was bewildered too.
I hadn’t even touched him!

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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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