The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 66

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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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The Doomed Clan’s Expiring Contract — Episode 66

There was no word for what the two of them were to each other now.
They’d ended up in a Martial Match on impulse over family honor, spent a month preparing, and finished in a Draw—so there was nothing left to say as they sat beside one another.
In the end, unable to bear the awkward silence any longer, Dan Mok Ryeon broke it.
“Um, you both were magnificent.”
“…….”
“…….”
The suffocating air pressed down on her. Dan Mok Ryeon swallowed a sigh.
‘God. One of them should have won…….’
Then at least one of them would have something to feel good about.
Both Dan Mok Seong and Jin Jong Ha had eyes reddened with frustration, yet pride alone kept them from spilling tears.
“Should I step away?”
Why did Jin Jong Ha want to do a Review with her included, anyway?
But the moment she tried to stand, both of them suddenly grabbed her. Then they both froze in horror and quickly let go.
“……All right, all right. I’ll stay.”
Dan Mok Ryeon sat back down. Dan Mok Seong stared at her with intense eyes, then lowered his head slightly.
Jin Jong Ha was an outsider, but Dan Mok Seong was her cousin, and after training together through this month of preparation for the match, she’d grown quite attached to him.
Dan Mok Ryeon reached over and patted Dan Mok Seong’s back.
“You really worked so hard. You were absolutely incredible. I mean it.”
“You won, though. I…… I didn’t.”
Dan Mok Seong’s voice trembled.
Dan Mok Ryeon scratched her cheek.
Her cousin had risen from his sickbed and managed to hold his own against Jin Jong Ha using only the bare minimum of sword technique he’d learned in that short time—so Dan Mok Seong must have believed he had to beat Jin Jong Ha as well.
“No, you’re not understanding me.”
“Well, you’re naturally talented, Miss Dan Mok Ryeon.”
At the sudden sound of clapping, Dan Mok Ryeon’s vision went dizzy for a moment, then she spun around to face Jin Jong Ha.
That sharp glare made Jin Jong Ha’s eyes widen.
“What, why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something strange?”
“Be quiet.”
“No, obviously you’re better than me, so I lost to you. You’re truly amazing—to think you could beat someone like me, Miss Dan Mok Ryeon, you must have extraordinary talent, really!”
Jin Jong Ha even started clapping. Dan Mok Ryeon just stared, mouth agape.
Unable to deny reality any longer, Jin Jong Ha seemed to have reached that conclusion. It was certainly an unconventional way of thinking.
Dan Mok Seong looked back and forth between Dan Mok Ryeon and Jin Jong Ha, his mouth firmly shut, his thoughts unreadable.
Then Dan Mok Seong muttered softly.
“That’s right. You…… are frail, but more……than I am.”
After spending an entire month training and studying together, there was no way he could overlook Dan Mok Ryeon’s skill.
The same went for Jin Jong Ha’s strength. Jin Jong Ha’s loss to Dan Mok Ryeon was, as he’d said, because she possessed both talent and skill. More than he did.
The moment Dan Mok Seong accepted this result, Jin Jong Ha tilted his head. He’d caught the phrase “frail, but.”
“Right, after my match with Miss Dan Mok Ryeon ended, she swayed a bit. My father was even very worried about it. Are you all right now?”
After saying that, Jin Jong Ha felt oddly satisfied, as if he’d just played the role of an older brother.
‘That’s right. I’m two years older anyway.’
“When was that…… Of course I’m fine.”
Dan Mok Seong thought to himself for a moment, then seemed to reach some conclusion.
“Yes, I understand.”
“What? You understand? Understand…… what?”
At Dan Mok Ryeon’s question, Dan Mok Seong reached his own conclusion and stepped before her with a look of firm resolve.
“Se—Seong?”
“Why are you two acting like that?”
Jin Jong Ha was puzzled, but the young people of the Dan Mok Household paid him no mind.
Dan Mok Seong gripped Dan Mok Ryeon’s shoulders firmly.
“From now on, trust only me.”
“What? I…… I’ve always trusted you.”
“You two…… what is this? What are you two doing?”
There seemed to be some misunderstanding at work, but what kind of misunderstanding it was remained utterly unclear, making any explanation impossible.
Dan Mok Seong grew late to his embarrassment and released her with a dismissive gesture, settling back into his seat with an even more earnest and determined expression.
Jin Jong Ha, who had been reading the tension between them, made a small cough and glanced at her sideways. “So then, why don’t you help us review what happened?”
“The review should be done by the two people who fought.”
“But you watched the whole thing.”
“You two were the ones who actually did it.”
Dan Mok Ryeon mimicked the motions of grasping and moving an invisible Sword Method, the way she had seen it performed in the match moments before. But at that very instant, Jin Jong Ha’s eyes flashed. It was as though a brilliant spark had ignited right before them.
“Just now! How did you do that just now? That’s our family’s Sword Method, isn’t it?”
Dan Mok Ryeon, overwhelmed by his intensity, drew her body back and cast a sidelong glance at Dan Mok Seong.
Dan Mok Seong was barely maintaining his composure, but his expression made it clear he too was desperate to know what he had just witnessed.
With only her lips moving, Dan Mok Ryeon finally decided to help with the review as the boy and girl before her wished.
‘They’re both clever, so their fortune should skyrocket… Fine, fine. This is good.’
“All right, I understand. Let’s review together. So from the two of you’s first exchange….”

“Indeed it has. From now on, I shall visit more often.”
“Ahem.”
“Hmm.”
While Wi Ji Cheong and Song Yeong Rang clasped hands and exchanged warm greetings, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo and Jin Jeok Geol fell silent and exchanged awkward coughs.
Aside from the matter of Dan Mok Hyeon Seong, the two of them had long competed over Hang Zhou itself, and neither possessed a particularly agreeable temperament. They found themselves thinking, ‘Why are we smiling at each other’s faces like this is pleasant?’ but neither gave voice to it.
As the two ladies offered a slight smile, Jin Jeok Geol opened her mouth. “In any case, it must be a great joy that the two daughters of the Dan Mok Household have such outstanding talent.”
“Well, it’s only fitting. They are of the Dan Mok Clan, after all.”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, who had been holding Dan Mok Seong and praising her profusely, lifted her chin with deliberate composure and spoke in measured tones.
As Jin Jeok Geol’s eyebrows twitched, Song Yeong Rang made no effort to conceal her honest frustration and sighed heavily.
“Still, we’ve been told since Jong Ha was ten years old that he was the finest around, yet how did things come to this?”
“My lady.”
“Sigh. My lord, but truly—they say young Dan Mok Seong has only been studying the Sword Method for a mere month now?”
A quiet pride lit Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s face. But her expression hardened at Song Yeong Rang’s next words.
“Then has young Dan Mok Seong truly committed now to mastering the Sword Method? There are renowned masters in the household, so it would be quite splendid if she were to go that route instead.”
“That is….”
Just two weeks prior, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo would have said flatly that the girl intended to face only their son and would take up the Sword Method no further. Yet now, for reasons she could not name, the words would not come.
Only when she saw Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s strained expression did Jin Jeok Geol, divining the situation, change the subject.
“In any case, the children will be attending the Gyeong Hang Yunryeon next year, I take it?”
“Yes, we intend to. Bia is still too young, so we’ll leave her at the household. Will Geum Ga Jang also be bringing Jin Ga Jang Ju?”
“Oh, don’t mention it. I said if we lost this match, we’d leave empty-handed. But the result turned out this way—what’s to be done? Without question they’ll say, ‘You should have said draws don’t count!’ or ‘How can we protest her outstanding talent?’ So I must bring him along just to keep them quiet.”
“I’ve heard that your family’s maternal home is in Nam Jik Rye Seong. Perhaps you might visit while we’re there. Everyone would be delighted to see you.”
“Well, I’m not sure about that. Being naturally forthright in my speech, my family was split—half favored me, half did not.”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo managed to suppress a laugh with an awkward cough and quickly turned her head away.
From the way Song Yeong Rang spoke so freely about her son’s loss, even before those who had beaten him, it was plain to see she must have been the same at home.
“In truth, at first they didn’t like me either.”
“My lady!”
Jin Jeok Geol, caught somewhat off guard, called to her softly—not in reproach, but in urgent distress. Song Yeong Rang laughed brightly.
“But how is it that both young Dan Mok Ryeon and young Dan Mok Seong carry themselves with such maturity and grace? So humble as well.”
“Hmm.”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo gave a small cough and glanced sidelong at Wi Ji Cheong.
“Dan Mok Ryeon resembles our inner branch leader quite a bit. As for Dan Mok Seong… she takes much after her father.”
“Ah! You mean the consort of the external branch leader, the Lord Seok? I have heard tales of him. There was a time when people lined up outside his house in Gangnam just to catch a glimpse of his face, or so they say?”
“Yet there was no one who could ever win his heart.”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo spoke without thinking, and only then did she realize what she had said as the eyes of all three women fell upon her. Her cheeks flushed red.

* * *

In the carriage returning to the Dan Mok Household, the children, worn from the day’s exertions, leaned against one another and slept soundly.

The children, who had promised to review their match together, emerged in such disarray that the fresh clothes they had been dressed in were rendered meaningless. Only Dan Mok Ryeon appeared unmarked.
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo found her mood darkening when she saw Jin Ga Jang Ju’s expression of ‘I know well enough what happened here’—but she held her tongue.
Afterward, they received a gift that Geum Ga Jang had prepared in advance of this match. When Dan Mok Hyeon Yo looked inside the box, she nearly fell backward.

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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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