The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 337

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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 Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 337

Chapter 337. This Is Most Troublesome (6)

She answered my question with a forced smile.
“I know my fate. I won’t live long. So…”
Not living long because of fate?
Where did such a thing come from?
If Lady Zaling spoke truly, then in my previous life, being brutally murdered by Namgung Kang would have been my fate.
But I believe that fate can always be changed.
Even I, thanks to Ancestor’s sacrifice, am living a different life against my fate, am I not?
And there are those whose fates have changed because of me.
I reached out and wrote Lady Zaling’s name on her eyes. This was admittedly a rather impulsive action.
“These eyes will not melt until the new year. So you will live past a hundred years.”
She smiled softly and spoke.
“Thank you for saying that.”
With those words, she reached out her hand and gently touched her name inscribed upon her eyes.
I read the longing in her gaze.
It was a longing for life.
A yearning for existence—believing death was her fate, yet not wanting to die.
I opened my mouth for her sake.
“Lady Zaling, I believe fate changes depending on how a person acts. Do you know? By writing your name on your eyes like this, your fate might change to one where you live past a hundred years.”
“I want to change my fate too. But what if no matter what I do, my fate doesn’t change? What should I do then?”
Her question, tinged with resignation.
I answered with conviction.
“Even so, I will not give up on changing my fate. It isn’t over until it’s truly over.”
Then her mother approached from behind.
“Are you struggling? Shall we rest now?”
But she shook her head lightly.
“I’m fine, Mother. Perhaps because I’ve seen my eyes like this, I don’t feel as exhausted today.”
Indeed, a faint color had returned to her complexion.
Wait, color returning to her complexion…?
“Is this all there is to the eyes?”
“No!”
I quickly shook my head.
“There are five more like this one. Shall I bring you a fresh one?”
“Yes. This time, I’d like to try closing my eyes.”
I carefully placed the board I had first shown her into a box.
I then retrieved another plate and set it before her.
“Compacting snow can make your hands quite numb, more than you might expect.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
She gathered the snow between both hands and packed it firmly.
“Oh! The snow really does compact!”
Lady Zaling’s eyes widened, sparkling with delight. She smiled brightly as she spoke.
“Father. Thank you so much for giving me this gift of snow.”
Her smile was utterly beautiful.
So much so that even I found myself entranced.
It wasn’t because of her outward appearance.
It was the genuine gratitude emanating from her heart that made her radiate such brilliance.
“Young Lady, though it is beautiful and fascinating, you mustn’t handle it for too long. Frostbite can be quite painful.”
“Restraint is truly difficult.”
Even as she said this, she quickly withdrew her hands from the snow.
“I shall leave the box containing the snow and the vessel holding the cold here. You may touch the snow whenever you wish.”
“Thank you.”
She bowed her head with a gentle smile.
Her complexion certainly appeared much improved compared to when I first saw her.
She had collapsed from her intoxicated state and then awakened—so why had her complexion improved?
Was such a thing even possible?

* * *

Eun Seo-ho withdrew, and Dong Ja-ryeong watched as the attendants carried away the box containing the eyes.
“Ja-ryeong, aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”
Mother’s expression beside her grew anxious. In truth, I could barely stand for even a moment.
A year ago, I could walk a little in the back garden, but now even taking five steps away from the bed felt exhausting.
Honestly, standing for over a moment like this felt like a miracle.
“I’m fine.”
Mother, noticing my improved condition, released a relieved sigh.
“It seems seeing the eyes has done you good.”
“Yes, Mother.”
I tilted my head curiously.
“It’s strange—I feel energized. Just moments ago, I was struggling.”
This was truly remarkable to me.
I had been growing increasingly suffocated, breathing becoming labored. Yet now, as if by deception, even breathing felt easy.
Shortly after, Mother, who had been conversing with me, left the room to attend to her duties as mistress of the household.
Alone once more, I sat upon the bed and gazed toward the back garden.
True to the care lavished upon me, the back garden bloomed with flowers of remarkable beauty.
“Ah!”
Then something appeared before my eyes.
It was….
Spring? Something with white petals drifting….
No, it wasn’t.
It was whiter and more radiant than petals could be. And it was accumulating softly upon the ground.
I was witnessing snow.
Not here, but in another place—and behind it stood Father, dressed in winter garments.
And Father was facing the handsome young man I had seen today.
His expression was most troubled.
Something about that expression made me laugh.
Moments later, the back garden returned to my vision.
A single tear streamed down my cheek.
“Has fate… changed? How?”
In truth, I possessed the ability to see the future.
Only for the briefest of moments.
Through this gift, I had been helping Father.
And I knew that my interventions altered the future.
But I could not change my own fate of falling ill.
No matter what method I employed, my destined death this coming autumn could not be changed.
So I had abandoned all hope.

“I too wish to change my fate. But if no matter what I do, my fate cannot be altered, what should I do?”

That question I had asked Eun Seo-ho earlier was nothing more than a petulant resignation toward my unchangeable fate.
Suddenly, an even darker thought crossed my mind.
What if my ability to see the future was the very reason I was destined to die young?
But then my fate changed.
Snow falling meant winter had arrived.
And the fact that I could travel northward to where snow accumulated meant something profound.
It meant I would recover. It meant I would become healthy.
Upon realizing this, I wept—not from sorrow, but from overwhelming joy.
Who would truly wish to waste away from illness?
I wanted to live. I desperately wanted to live, and so this reversal of my fate filled me with indescribable happiness.
Then, the words of that young nobleman Eun Seo-ho echoed in my mind.

“Young Lady, I believe destiny changes based on the choices we make. Did you know? By writing your name in snow as I did, your fate may have shifted—you could now live to be over a hundred years old.”

And his words: it isn’t over until it’s truly over.

I found myself smiling without realizing it.
“It seems he was right. But why did my fate change? I didn’t do anything.”
I couldn’t understand how my destiny had shifted.
Yet one thing was certain—the turning point of my changed fate was Eun Seo-ho.

* * *

Two days had passed since then.
During that time, I carefully observed everyone in the Magistrate’s Residence, searching for anyone connected to the Murim Alliance.
However, I found no one who appeared to be affiliated with them.
Could they have already withdrawn?
Given Lady Zaling’s condition, they might have disappeared since she would die regardless of further intervention.
I was reading in my guest quarters to clear my increasingly complicated thoughts.
It was to prepare natural conversation topics for when I encountered others.
People naturally favor those with whom conversation flows smoothly.
And such favor is the most crucial factor in whether a transaction succeeds.
It was then that Po Jung-sa’s Attendant came to find me.
“Small Guild Master, the Provincial Inspector requests your presence.”
“Understood.”
I followed the attendant toward where the Provincial Inspector was, but the place he led me to was not his office.
It was the Inner Quarters.
“Am I permitted to enter here?”
“Yes. I received orders to escort you inside.”
I tilted my head in confusion as I entered, and soon spotted the Provincial Inspector standing in the Back Garden.
“I heard you summoned me.”
“Come here. I apologize for not attending to your needs more carefully.”
“Not at all. I’ve been quite comfortable thanks to your hospitality.”
Lately, the Provincial Inspector had been occupied with crushing the Oseong Trading Company.
The bribery incident that surfaced due to the theft of implements I had arranged as a precaution was no small matter, and the discovery of actual document forgery meant the Oseong Trading Company was now being thoroughly dismantled.
What would become of the Oseong Trading Company?
Would it collapse completely as it had in my previous life?
But for a merchant guild of the Oseong Trading Company’s scale, they would have prepared contingencies for situations like this.
If my assessment was correct, only those like Maeyeom, who frequently associated with Pyeong Tak, would likely face punishment.
Unless something more serious was discovered.
“Do you have any pressing matters today?”
I smiled in response to the Provincial Inspector’s question.
“None at all.”
“Excellent. Then would you care to share some tea with my daughter?”
“I beg your pardon?”
Wait, what is he saying?
The Murim and merchant circles are relatively lenient by nature, but the government bureaucracy is different.
Especially since the Provincial Inspector is of imperial descent.
In such circles, unmarried women are strictly kept away from unrelated men.
Knowing this, I could not fathom his intention.
As I regarded the Provincial Inspector with a puzzled expression, he waved his hand and spoke.
“I harbor no ulterior motive.”
“I see….”
“I’m simply honoring my daughter’s request to see you once more.”
At that moment, a Maidservant emerged from within.
“The refreshments are ready.”
The Provincial Inspector nodded and spoke to me.
“Just follow that Maidservant inside.”
“Understood.”
“Ah, and regarding that tea and the jujubes… it remains a secret.”
So he’s keeping it confidential after all.
“I shall keep that in mind.”
With that, I followed the Maidservant inside.
This is the Guest Reception Room, quite a distance from Lady Zaling’s quarters from before.
Could Lady Zaling have walked all the way here?
As I pondered this, a familiar sound reached my ears.
Creak, creak.
It was the sound of a wheeled chair’s wheels rolling.
Soon, Lady Zaling entered the Guest Reception Room, seated in the wheeled chair. How delightful to see it here.
Seeing the wheeled chair that Gong Mil and I had created proving useful in such a place filled me with quiet satisfaction.
“Please, be seated.”
“Thank you.”
As I took my seat, she asked gently.
“Does the tea suit your palate?”
“It’s an excellent tea.”
“The Physician said that the teas I was drinking seemed to be harming my health, so I’ve been drinking different ones instead.”
“I see.”
The Provincial Inspector had mentioned keeping the matter of the tea and jujubes secret, hadn’t he?
Well…
Sometimes ignorance is a blessing.
If one knew they’d been poisoned, worrying over who had done it might only deepen the illness.
“I’ve heard that the Small Guild Master’s merchant guild is famous for its tea.”
“Ah, yes, that’s true.”
We sipped our tea while exchanging pleasant conversation, and our discussion naturally turned to my journey to retrieve the snow.
“So you traveled all the way to the Northern Sea to bring back the snow?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“That’s remarkable!”
I laughed somewhat awkwardly and glanced to one side.
Sigh…
The Provincial Inspector truly is an incorrigible doting father.
I’d suspected as much since he commissioned the snow for his daughter this summer.
Suppressing the urge to laugh, I chuckled quietly to myself.
Right now, there exists a hidden space within this Guest Reception Room, invisible from inside. The Provincial Inspector is eavesdropping on our conversation from there.
I can’t help but smile at the thought of the Provincial Inspector straining to hear what on earth we’re discussing in that cramped space.
Our tea time didn’t take very long.
Perhaps half an hour?
And then I returned to my quarters.

* * *

After Eun Seo-ho returned to his quarters, Dong Ja-ryeong removed her veil as she entered her chamber.
A faint vitality had returned to her face.
It was the same as when she had met Eun Seo-ho two days prior.
“Ja-ryeong.”
At that moment, the Provincial Inspector entered the chamber and asked her.
“I granted your request, but what exactly are you thinking?”
“Father. My fate has changed.”
“What?”
The Provincial Inspector was startled by her words. It was his daughter’s fate—something that hadn’t changed despite all manner of treatments until now.
Yet her fate had actually changed!
‘Then could it truly be that my daughter’s illness is addiction, just as Small Guild Master Eun Seo-ho said?’
He carefully observed Dong Ja-ryeong’s complexion.
Indeed, her color looked better than before.
And she still seemed unaware that she had become addicted.
He had issued orders of silence to those around her, and it appeared to be holding well.
Dong Ja-ryeong’s ability to see the future was quite fragmentary and fleeting, independent of her own will—which made it possible.
Yet even that had been of great help to him.
Of course, the Provincial Inspector’s love for Dong Ja-ryeong stemmed not from such abilities, but from the fact that she was his daughter.
“I’m certain that the reason my fate changed is because of Small Guild Master Eun Seo-ho.”
She continued speaking.
“It’s not through my ability—I’m directly experiencing it. Strangely, when I meet him, my pain lessens.”
“I see.”
“And Father. I’ve just seen another future.”
She spoke with a serious expression.
“I think we should become close with Small Guild Master Eun Seo-ho.”

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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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