The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 98

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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 98
“…Why is this happening?”
I couldn’t even verify all the divination sticks inside.
When I’d watched earlier as the gathered girls departed, the sticks had clearly been drawn properly. No matter how indifferent I tried to remain, experiencing such incidents in succession left me deeply unsettled.
As I stared down at the divination result, Namgung Ryu-cheong snatched the bamboo tube from my hand, set it down, and pulled me to my feet. I abandoned my original plan to read his fortune and followed where he led me out of the Main Hall.
I tried to soothe Namgung Ryu-cheong, whose expression was even grimmer than mine.
“It’s fine. It’s just a divination result, after all.”
Then doubt crept in. Wait—wasn’t that my divination? Why… was I the one comforting Namgung Ryu-cheong?
After leaving the Main Hall, Namgung Ryu-cheong encountered a passing monk and sharply protested about the empty divination stick. The monk insisted it couldn’t be, but when Namgung Ryu-cheong showed him the result, his expression hardened.
I pulled Namgung Ryu-cheong away.
“It’s fine. Let’s just go.”
“What is the matter?”
An old monk approached, drawn by the commotion.
The Old Monk, with age spots blooming across his wrinkled face and a gaunt frame, appeared to be the eldest of all the monks I’d encountered thus far.
The monk who’d been hearing Namgung Ryu-cheong’s protest politely explained what had occurred.
“Ah. So such a thing happened.”
The Old Monk received the divination stick with interest, but suddenly his brow furrowed. Alternating his gaze between me and the stick, he cast it away as though he’d touched something profane.
The compassionate atmosphere that had flowed moments before vanished in an instant.
“A worthless endeavor.”
“Pardon?”
“You are one whose life cannot receive divination. Withdraw at once.”
“Pardon? What do you mean by…?”
“One who defies the will of Heaven seeks to know her fate! Do you mock the heavens!”
In that instant, my heart plummeted as though it had fallen to the ground.
Does this person know something?
“Wait…!”
I reached to grasp the hem of the monk’s robe, but he recoiled as though facing a plague victim and hurriedly departed.
As I watched the bewildered monk leave, Namgung Ryu-cheong erupted beside me.
“What manner of conduct is that!”
Looking as though he would chase after the monk immediately, I seized Namgung Ryu-cheong.
“Let go!”
“Where are you going?”
“How can I remain silent after hearing such words? They fail to manage properly and then cast blame on me without cause!”
I laughed softly.
“You find this amusing?”
“It’s just… I thought perhaps that’s one way to see it.”
“What?”
At that moment, the Young Monk emerged from within the Main Hall and spoke.
“You must not cause disturbance within the temple.”
“Now you…!”
Before Namgung Ryu-cheong could speak with the twin-wicked lamp lit, I quickly covered his mouth. Namgung Ryu-cheong glared at me as if asking what I was doing. I greeted him while wrestling with Namgung Ryu-cheong as he tried to brush my hand away.
“Yes. Then I’ll go take a look.”
We were near the entrance to the Main Hall. It was the most crowded place in the temple. People who had come to pay their respects were turning their attention toward us. “Come on, let’s go. Ryu-cheong, let’s leave now.”
I dragged Namgung Ryu-cheong along.
Namgung Ryu-cheong endured being dragged, endured it, endured it—until he finally shook my hand away.
“Let go! How long are you going to keep blocking me!”
“Ha ha, sorry, sorry.”
But if I hadn’t covered his mouth back there, I was terrified of what else he might say. I spoke to Namgung Ryu-cheong, who was still grumbling as his anger hadn’t quite subsided.
“Ryu-cheong, do you believe in divination?”
“What?”
I didn’t even need to hear his answer—I could read the disbelief in Namgung Ryu-cheong’s eyes.
“Right. It’s nothing. Don’t be angry. Whatever the divination says, my life is something I walk through myself. Isn’t it?”
“You really are shameless!”
“Well, you got angry on my behalf instead. So I don’t need to be angry myself.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong glared at me.
I linked my arm through Namgung Ryu-cheong’s and pulled.
“Enough, enough. Let’s stop talking about divination. I want to look around Cheon-am Temple now. When will you show me around?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong bit his lip and, as if deciding to let this slide for today, glared in the direction where the Old Monk had disappeared before turning his body.
* * *
Still, he said his mother dragged him here about twice a year, and Namgung Ryu-cheong knew Cheon-am Temple well.
“If you go this way, you’ll come to the Peach Blossom Forest.”
After passing several pavilions, stone pagodas, a bell, and a small pond, a gentle slope with a narrow path came into view.
“From here all the way over there—it’s all peach trees.”
At this time of year when the wind was still cold, there were only bare, withered branches everywhere. Children brought by their parents to offer incense were happily running and playing among them.
The sound of the temple bell echoed softly from afar.
It was a landscape that naturally put the mind at ease.
“It would be beautiful when the peach blossoms bloom. It’s a shame I can’t see it.”
“Then ask Mother to come then. She’d like that.”
“Hmm, I don’t think that will be possible.”
I met the gaze of Namgung Ryu-cheong, who was looking at me with a puzzled expression.
“I’m going back now.”
“What?”
“I’ve decided to return to the Baek Li Estate.”
I slowly explained to Namgung Ryu-cheong, whose expression had hardened in surprise.
“I spoke with Father today. We haven’t set a specific date, but still—I probably won’t see the peach blossoms bloom before I leave, will I?”
“Ah….”
Namgung Ryu-cheong’s expression was somewhat confused.
After blinking several times, Namgung Ryu-cheong spoke calmly.
“I see. Understood.”
Aside from being slightly taken aback, Namgung Ryu-cheong returned to his usual self very quickly.
There wasn’t a trace of reluctance or displeasure on his face. If anything, his composure made me feel the one left behind. I’d thought we’d grown quite close, yet how could he be so unbothered about parting ways?
Why am I the only one feeling wistful about this?
Unable to help myself, a note of disappointment crept into my voice.
“Why are you so unaffected?”
“What do you mean?”
“….”
Namgung Ryu-cheong actually reproached me as though I were the strange one.
“We can see each other again.”
“I suppose, but….”
“If you want to see me, you can come visit.”
“The distance between the Baek Li Estate and the Namgung Clan isn’t trivial.”
“There’s nothing difficult about it.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong was about to say something more when he opened his mouth.
Rustle. The sound of dry brush being disturbed reached my ears—a creature of small size.
‘…A puppy? Or perhaps a cat?’
Barely had I thought it might be some animal I didn’t recognize when a cat burst through the undergrowth. It was a cat with golden eyes and a coat white as snow from ear to tail.
The cat approached me in a straight line and circled around my feet. I felt its tail brush softly against my hem.
“What is this? A cat kept by the temple?”
It seemed very accustomed to people.
As I bent down cautiously, the cat flopped onto its back.
“Oh, how adorable!”
I wondered if I was allowed to touch it.
I reached out and stroked it. Silky fur tangled against my palm. After I petted it a few times, the cat suddenly rose and tried to climb onto my lap.
“What’s this? Do you want me to hold you? Are you cold?”
A cat that followed people so readily—was this what they called a dog-like cat? As I picked up the insistent creature, I felt its substantial weight in my arms.
Was this the right way to hold it? It looked rather uncomfortable.
Despite the awkward posture, the cat remained perfectly docile.
“Now, don’t you dare extend your claws. Understood?”
I lifted my head to look at Namgung Ryu-cheong.
“Ryu-cheong, you try petting it too. It’s incredibly gentle.”
That was when Namgung Ryu-cheong took a step back.
“Hm?”
“Don’t come closer.”
“Why not?”
“I said don’t come closer!”
…Could it be?
“Ryu-cheong, are you afraid of cats?”
“I’m not.”
“Then why…?”
As I took a step toward him, Namgung Ryu-cheong retreated a step backward.
“I told you not to come!”
I was taken aback by his sudden outburst, his voice sharp with genuine anger.
“Achoo.”
“Huh?”
“Achoo! Achoo!”
“Wha—?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong suddenly erupted into a series of sneezes, his eyes growing visibly red.
“I—I’m not feeling well. I should go.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong hastily excused himself from the room, and I could only stare after him in bewilderment.
What on earth was happening?
“Ryu-cheong!”
That reaction… it seemed rather suspicious.
The Female Servant, who had remained quiet until now, stepped forward with an explanation.
“Young Master has always suffered from coughing and rashes whenever he gets near the White Cat.”
I bit down hard on my lip, desperately suppressing my laughter.
‘Ryu-cheong has a cat allergy!’
I shouldn’t laugh—it wasn’t appropriate. And yet… and yet…
I finally burst into laughter.
‘How utterly unbecoming!’

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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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