Unlike yesterday, the meal was held inside the Family Head's Hall. Even before she stepped into the building, the sounds of laughter and cheerful conversation drifted out. Seolhwa stood at the entrance for a moment, listening.
‘I gave those rascals a piece of my mind! Didn't I do well, Father?’
‘You need to learn to control that temper of yours, Cheongsan.’
‘Ah, I wasn't asking you, Brother! Brother Cheonghae always has to pick on me, doesn't he?’
Then came the sounds of hearty laughter. The sounds of a happy family.
“…”
Seolhwa knew the owners of every one of those voices. After all, she had killed more than half of them with her own hands. Every time she was reminded of that fact, a sharp, stabbing pain pricked at a corner of her heart.
Seolhwa knew where this feeling came from as well.
‘Guilt.’
The sinful feeling of approaching those she had killed with her own hands, acting as if nothing was wrong, and blending in as one of their family. Feeling emotions, Seolhwa thought, was truly a troublesome thing.
“You’re here.”
At the voice that came without any presence, Seolhwa turned her head to look at the person who had approached. It was the Secret Wind Sword Unit Leader, Seop Mugwang. Seop Mugwang’s eyebrow rose slightly.
“It suits you. You should dress like that more often. You look lovely.”
“…”
“If you’re here, why are you just standing there? Go on in.”
Seop Mugwang gestured inside with his head.
“The Family Head sent me to get you since you weren't coming in.”
“It just sounded nice.”
“What did?”
“The laughter.”
The sound of laughter coming from within.
“I’ve never once eaten a meal with people I could call family.”
Not for a very long time. In her past life, she had considered the Blood Demon a father and the Blood Sect followers as brothers, but she had never truly thought of them as family.
To be family, they were always watching for a chance to kill each other, and hearing that someone had died never left her feeling empty or hollow.
“Is it sad when a family member dies?”
At the sudden question, Seop Mugwang’s expression stiffened. The child who had thrown out such an unchildlike question had a placid look in her eyes. He had heard from the Medicine Hall Master that the child’s dullness to emotion was her way of protecting herself, which made it all the more bitter.
Letting out a short sigh, he soon scrunched up his face and flicked Seolhwa on the crown of her head.
“What's a little squirt like you doing asking such old-fashioned questions? You shouldn't make such useless assumptions!”
“You can at least think about it.”
Seop Mugwang shook his head firmly.
“If it were me, I'd spend that time training my martial arts. All that matters is building my strength to protect my family.”
“Ah…”
Seolhwa let out a low sigh, as if she had gained a great Enlightenment. So that was the answer. All she had to do was become strong enough to protect them all.
That was why she had returned to the Namgung, but somewhere along the way, she had become soaked in detachment and forgotten her duty.
‘Get a hold of yourself.’
In the midst of this sudden Enlightenment, she was slapping her own cheeks. Seop Mugwang suddenly snatched Seolhwa’s arm.
“You…!”
His eyes widened as he saw the cloth wrapped around her hand.
“You got hurt again? Why?”
“I broke a vase by accident. I just tore my skin a little while trying to clean up the broken pieces. It's fine.”
“You…!”
He, who was about to flare up, calmly took a breath. But the anger on his face did not disappear.
“This is not fine. This is not fine at all. Do you understand? Especially for a swordsman, how important do you think hands are…!”
The anger he had tried to suppress finally burst out as he continued speaking.
“It's your own body! You have to cherish it! A scar from an injury at this age won't disappear even when you're grown! Any other little kid would be crying and making a huge fuss!”
She wanted to say that she didn't care about scars, but Seolhwa swallowed the words. For some reason, she felt that if she said anything more, fire might actually shoot out of Seop Mugwang's mouth.
“…I’ll be careful.”
At Seolhwa’s meek reply, Seop Mugwang finally calmed his anger.
“I’ll be watching from now on, so you’d better know!”
“Yes.”
“Go on in! Hurry!”
Only then did Seolhwa enter the hall. Thanks to him, or perhaps because of him, she couldn't remember her troubled feelings at all, but she felt a little confused. Inside the room where the meal was set, everyone except Seolhwa had already gathered and was talking.
As the door opened, the murmuring conversation came to a halt. The people gathered stared blankly at Seolhwa. The one who showed the most surprise was Seolhwa’s father, Namgung Cheongun.
“Welcome.”
Namgung Mucheon was the first to greet her.
“I heard some commotion at the door.”
Seolhwa glanced at Seop Mugwang, who had followed her in, and shook her head. He was still fuming.
“It was nothing.”
However, Namgung Mucheon’s gaze had already fallen on Seolhwa’s injured hand. He had heard the entire commotion outside. Knowing that Seop Mugwang had already scolded her harshly, Namgung Mucheon replaced many words with a long sigh.
“Have a seat.”
Namgung Cheongun gestured for her to come closer. Receiving the gazes of everyone gathered, Seolhwa sat down next to him. —You are truly, truly beautiful. I almost didn't recognize you.
Namgung Cheongun gently took her injured hand in his, hiding it beneath the table. —Is your hand alright? I'll hear what happened later. —Yes.
“Introduce yourself.”
Seolhwa looked at the people seated around the table. It seemed they had gathered and heard the story from Namgung Mucheon before she arrived, as they showed no signs of surprise at seeing her.
“Hello.”
“Keuheup…”
Namgung Cheongsan whipped his head away.
“My name is Seolhwa.”
A sigh was heard from someone else. They had found the child they thought they would never find. Before they were rivals competing for the position of Young Family Head, Namgung Cheongun, Cheonghae, and Cheongsan were brothers.
How could they not be happy that their first niece had returned alive?
“Welcome back, Seolhwa. I can see your childhood face in you. You must have suffered a great deal. It’s a relief that you are safe.”
The second brother, Namgung Cheonghae, greeted her first. Beside him sat his wife, Yeon Soran, and their two sons, Soryong and Ung.
“Greet her, Soryong. She was born in the same year as you, but six months earlier, which makes her your older sister.”
Soryong scowled.
He had always been treated as the eldest grandson of the Namgung. The appearance of a cousin who he thought would never show up was not very welcome, and now he was supposed to call her older sister.
“Soryong.”
“…Nice to meet you.”
Even though he had been told she was his older sister, his greeting showed no acknowledgement of that fact. Namgung Cheonghae was about to scold him in his slight embarrassment, but Yeon Soran’s words were a little faster.
“Ung, you should say hello too.”
Seolhwa’s gaze naturally turned to the second son, Ung.
“Yes, Mother. Hello, Sister Seolhwa. I’ve heard a lot about you. My name is Ung.”
His cautious voice was mixed with warmth. Unlike Soryong, it was a greeting that genuinely welcomed her.
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
“It’s truly a relief that you’ve returned.”
Seolhwa nodded, thinking what a cute cousin he was with his round face and round eyes.
“Thank you.”
After the greetings with Namgung Cheonghae’s family, it was the third brother Namgung Cheongsan’s turn. She looked at Cheongsan. The largest of the three men, his frame was even bigger than Namgung Mucheon’s. Namgung Cheongsan roughly wiped his sniffling nose and greeted her in a loud voice.
“To think the guest in the Heavenly Guest Room was you! I was so surprised! Do you remember how this uncle of yours used to give you piggyback rides when you were little?”
His wife, Moyong Yeonhwa, jabbed him in the side. Unlike the burly Namgung Cheongsan, she was a woman of small and slender build. She looked so delicate, as if she possessed no strength at all, yet for what seemed like a light poke from a smiling face, Namgung Cheongsan grunted, “Ugh,” and shuddered in pain.
In his place, Moyong Yeonhwa continued the greeting.
“It’s a great blessing to meet you in good health, Seolhwa. I was so surprised when I heard you returned on your own. You’ve become such a pretty young lady.”
Perhaps seeing a reflection of the past Seolhwa in her beautifully dressed appearance, a lonely smile flickered on her lips before quickly vanishing.
“Come visit our quarters sometime when you have a moment. There are many things I want to give you.”
She stroked the hair of the daughter sitting beside her and introduced her.
“This is Hwarin. You’ve probably never seen her before. Hwarin, you should greet your older sister, shouldn't you?”
The youngest among them, Namgung Hwarin, was five years old. Since Seolhwa had disappeared eight years ago, this was their first meeting.
‘Though we met in my past life.’
Even then, their meeting had been brief, so she didn't know much about Namgung Hwarin. Hwarin fidgeted and clung to her mother's arm, her gaze fixed on Seolhwa.
“Come on, what are you doing not greeting her? Hurry.”
Moyong Yeonhwa chided her with a pretend-stern voice, but Hwarin was too shy and only buried her face in her mother's clothes. Moyong Yeonhwa said awkwardly, “She’s very shy around strangers. I’m sorry, Seolhwa.”
“It’s alright.”
They would be living under the same roof now anyway. There was no need to become close right here and now. Just then, Namgung Hwarin picked up one of the candied fruit skewers from the food arranged on the table and offered it to Seolhwa.
The maids had deliberately placed it near the young Hwarin.
“Oh my. Are you giving that to your sister? Seolhwa, Hwarin is giving this to you.”
Since Seolhwa was too far to reach, Moyong Yeonhwa took the candied fruit skewer and passed it to her. Seolhwa accepted the candied fruit skewer, taken aback. It was a little bewildering.
It had been decades, spanning her entire previous life, since she had received an act of kindness without any reason.
‘…’
Seolhwa held the candied fruit skewer and looked at Namgung Hwarin. Hwarin, who was still peeking at Seolhwa from behind her mother’s clothes, gave a bashful smile when their eyes met and hid behind her sleeve again.