Chapter 04
It was Jegalseon, the mistress of Myeoga Manor and Hong-seol’s mother.
‘Mom’s face… it’s been so long…’
Her mother was not alone. A young girl was sleeping on her lap.
It was Myo Ga-ryeong, Hong-seol’s younger sister by two years.
Jegalseon was gently fanning Ga-ryeong’s forehead as she slept.
‘Ga-ryeong is lucky.’
Hong-seol found her gaze drawn to the scene without realizing it.
“Don’t even think about disturbing Lady Ga-ryeong’s nap. Let’s go!”
At Cheong-ok’s words, Hong-seol took a weak step forward—then stopped again.
She had noticed a small bowl placed beside the sleeping Ga-ryeong. Inside were glossy, syrup-coated confections.
‘That looks tasty. Maybe it’s what she’ll eat when she wakes up.’
Grrr—
Hong-seol looked down at her thin stomach. Come to think of it, she hadn’t eaten anything all day. Cheong-ok hadn’t even brought her her usual salted rice, using the excuse of moving rooms.
“Honestly, you’re like a parasite, always mooching food—and you still get hungry so fast!”
At those words, Jegalseon’s fanning suddenly stopped.
“What is it?”
Her sharp voice shot through the air like an arrow.
“Nothing at all, madam! Let’s go, Lady Hong-seol!”
Even as Cheong-ok yanked her forward, Hong-seol did not move. After hesitating, she spoke in a voice as small as an ant.
“C-could I try just one of those sweets… Mother?”
“What did you just call me? Mother?”
Jegalseon’s unusually red lips twisted into a cruel smile.
“Cheong-ok, did you hear that? She just called me her mother.”
Cheong-ok, who had served Jegalseon since before her marriage, was quick-witted. Catching her mistress’s intent, she immediately glared at Hong-seol.
“A broken child who can’t even cultivate thinks she deserves to be treated as a daughter of Myeoga Manor?”
Hong-seol’s small shoulders shrank further.
She was used to being looked down on. But hearing such words from the person she longed to call “Mother” made her chest tighten in a way she could not endure.
Her eyes reddened as she tried to hold back tears.
‘It’s all my fault… If only I could use internal energy…’
Once upon a time, Hong-seol had been the precious heir of Myeoga Manor’s lord, Myo Wi-heon—until it was discovered that she could not use inner energy.
It happened on her fifth birthday.
She had only just begun learning the clan’s cultivation method, Myo Su Jin-gyeol (Cat Whisker True Art).
Praised for her unusually fast accumulation of energy, she had collapsed in the middle of the training grounds.
The physician who had served the clan for years declared:
“Her dantian is intact, but her meridians are broken in several places. There is no known cure.”
Everything changed after that.
It was as good as a declaration that the heir could never become a martial artist.
The clan lord locked himself away in seclusion. Jegalseon fainted.
When she finally awoke two days later, she pointed at Hong-seol and said:
“Get that thing out of my sight and lock her in a storage room.”
Since that day, Hong-seol had never once been allowed to call her “Mother.”
Now, Jegalseon looked at her coldly.
“If you truly wish to call me mother, then prove your worth to Myeoga Manor despite being unable to cultivate.”
“How… how do I do that?”
Just then, a mountain came into view behind Jegalseon’s gaze.
It was Mount Daechuk, a famous peak of Anhui Province.
Not very tall, but always covered in strange snowstorms at the summit—so dangerous that even strong men avoided it.
A wicked smile formed on Jegalseon’s face.
“Very well. If you bring back the inner core of the ‘Master of the Lake’ at the summit of Mount Daechuk, I might acknowledge you as a daughter of Myeoga Manor.”
Inner core?
Hong-seol tilted her head, not understanding.
Above her, Cheong-ok and Jegalseon exchanged glances. Quick-witted Cheong-ok quickly added,
“Even so, how could a young girl like her possibly climb Mount Daechuk alone? Maybe if she catches a cart going to the mountains at noon in front of the main gate…”
Noon? Main gate? Cart?
Hong-seol tried to memorize every word, clenching her small fist.
‘If I bring back that inner core, I can become a daughter of Myeoga Manor… I can call her “Mother” again!’
“And if you really manage to bring it back, not only would you be recognized as a daughter—you could even eat sweet treats every day!”
Sweet treats… every day?
Her heart began to race.
It smells delicious.
Hong-seol, lost in an old dream, frowned slightly.
“Hong-seol.”
A gentle voice called her name from somewhere.
Even in her dream, she found it strange.
‘Did I succeed in bringing back the inner core from Mount Daechuk?’
Otherwise, no one would call her so gently.
“Wake up.”
Her eyes slowly opened.
Soft bedding pressed against her cheek. The room was warm. Nothing like the cold storage room of Myeoga Manor.
‘Where… am I?’
She sat up quickly.
The first thing she saw was a bowl of sweets on an elegant table. The sweet aroma of oil, flour, and sugar seemed to beckon her.
Then a deep voice spoke.
“Are you awake?”
She looked up—and found the scarred face of Namgung Ho right in front of her.
‘The grandpa from the Namgung Clan!’
Startled, her cat ears instinctively tucked away, unnoticed by her.
She swallowed nervously.
Gulp.
Clutching the blanket tightly, she looked at him. He looked back at her.
Then—
Grrr—
A loud sound echoed.
It was her stomach.
“Are you hungry?”
“….”
She hesitated, biting her lip.
Finally, in a careful voice, she asked:
“If… if it’s okay… can I have just one of those sweets?”
Huff.
What did I just say?!
Even she was shocked and covered her mouth immediately.
Normally she would have swallowed those words.
But she could not take her eyes off the sweets.
‘Would it taste like the sweets from my dream?’
Just one.
No—just one bite might make the sorrow in her chest disappear.
But Namgung Ho did not answer. His expression had grown stiff.
Seeing that, Hong-seol shrank further.
Then she quickly added:
“I-I can wash your robes instead! I don’t need expensive soap, just a washboard—”
“No.”
His firm voice cut her off.
Hong-seol’s lips trembled. Her eyes grew wet.
‘Of course… there’s a master of sweets here too… just like Ga-ryeong…’
She lowered her head, trying not to cry.
Then—
“Eating comes first. Bring out the meal I prepared.”
The door swung open.
Servants in cloud-patterned robes entered endlessly, carrying dishes. Soon the table was completely covered.
Hong-seol froze.
“Here.”
Namgung Ho placed chopsticks in her hands.
“This is fried croaker. That is beef meatballs. That is egg stir-fried with chives. Which do you like?”
After hesitating, she pointed at something familiar.
Cucumber salad.
Of all things—cucumber.
Even with meat and eggs in front of her.
“An unusual taste for a child. Why that?”
She answered softly:
“It’s… the only thing I’ve ever eaten here.”
Namgung Ho fell silent.
In Myeoga Manor, even a prestigious clan, they didn’t feed meat to the direct heir?
Unacceptable.
In the Namgung Clan, even servants ate meat every few days.
‘No matter how useless they think she is, she is still a child who should be protected.’
And she was the daughter of the clan lord of Myeoga Manor.
Starving a growing child and then sending her to retrieve a snake’s inner core from a mountain…
He could not understand such cruelty.
He raised a hand—
“Go ahead and eat—”
He stopped again.
The child still hadn’t moved her chopsticks.
“Is it really okay for me to eat this?”
She asked cautiously, as if she had learned not to hope.
That final restraint shattered something in him.
‘Damn those cruel cat bastards…!’
A heavy killing intent rippled faintly around him.
Hong-seol mistook it for anger directed at her.
She trembled and quickly said:
“I-I don’t have to eat the cucumber! Just salted rice is fine! No—just let me stay here—”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Suppressing his anger, he softened his tone.
“Eat everything slowly. All of this is for you.”
“For me…? Even that fried fish bigger than my face?”
“Yes.”
“…Really?”
Still uncertain, she tilted her head.
“Go on.”
Only then did she begin to eat—hesitantly at first, then hurriedly, as if she were afraid it might disappear.
Namgung Ho watched her silently.
A strange ache filled his chest, mixed with a warmth that felt almost like he himself was eating.
Then suddenly—
A sound from outside shattered the quiet moment.
