Chapter 6
“D-Daughter, you say? So that means the young lady was caught up in the Blood Sect’s rampage back then…?”
“Yes. But she was found, miraculously.”
Jo So-hee’s expression darkened as she replied to Un Mu-hyeok. Her hand cautiously hovered near my stomach.
I followed her gaze and looked at Un Mu-hyeok.
‘So the rumors must have spread.’
If someone around my age knows the details, then the attack on the Paeng family by the Blood Sect must have been quite infamous.
Of course.
The Paeng family is among the top five powers even in orthodox martial arts circles.
If the legendary Jo So-hee was the Paeng family’s gamora, then it would make sense that even her lost daughter’s story would be known.
Un Ga was also part of the Five Great Families.
And geographically close as well, which would make interactions even more frequent.
“Congratulations. Our family will be overjoyed to hear this news.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“So, is your intention to meet the Grandmaster to introduce the young lady?”
“Well… I’ll explain that matter in due course.”
Un Mu-hyeok nodded at Jo So-hee’s words and then turned his gaze toward me.
He greeted me.
“Welcome back, Paeng So-jeo. I am Un Mu-hyeok of the Un family.”
“Yes. Pleased to meet you.”
I nodded slowly while clinging lazily to Jo So-hee.
Perhaps because a grown young lady was clinging to a mother who appeared to be her peer, Un Mu-hyeok’s expression was subtly awkward.
“Is something wrong?”
“Uh… no. It’s just that the Grandmaster has always been deeply devoted to her children.”
Hearing that as a pseudo-child felt a bit awkward.
As the meal was about to be served, I tugged lightly on Jo So-hee’s sleeve to indicate I wanted to be put down.
But Jo So-hee, with a somewhat brazen expression, declared:
“I will feed you myself. Just stay in my arms, little one.”
“Eh?”
“Yes?”
Both Un Mu-hyeok and I spoke in surprise. When our eyes met, he quickly looked away.
Hey…
“No, Mother, even so… being fed while held is a bit…”
“Is there a problem?”
“Eating while lying down makes digestion difficult.”
“Oh. I hadn’t considered that.”
After a brief struggle, I finally freed myself from her arms.
“Ahem, let’s eat. I take pride in this inn’s cuisine; it is quite excellent.”
Meanwhile, Un Mu-hyeok seemed to decide to ignore Jo So-hee’s overly doting behavior. With a polite blink, he began introducing the dishes from the Shanxi region to me instead of the local delicacies.
And Jo So-hee?
“Oh, go ahead.”
“Mother.”
“Yes.”
“…Yes.”
She was carefully picking apart pieces of fish and feeding them directly into my mouth.
The legendary skills of Huh Gong-seop—supposedly every martial artist’s dream—had been reduced to little more than utensils for a meal.
Seeing that, Un Mu-hyeok finished his own meal cautiously, beads of sweat forming on his face.
“Then I, Un Mu-hyeok of the Un family, shall take my leave. Please enjoy your time with the young lady, Grandmaster.”
He left.
And what was with that line?
Anyone watching might think the pair weren’t mother and daughter, but lovers.
‘Cheeky fellow. Next time I see him, I’ll give him a good smack.’
While clicking my tongue, Jo So-hee now laid me down and cut pieces of candied fruit for me.
Fruits preserved in sugar were neatly sliced into bite-sized pieces.
“You eat well.”
With eyes dripping honey, Jo So-hee pressed the next piece into my mouth before I had even finished chewing the last. It was torture for the one being fed.
‘I wish she’d stop.’
I’ve always had a small appetite.
But after being possessed, I often went hungry, so when lavish food was forced into me, it made me nauseous.
‘Besides, I really dislike sweets…!’
Almost on the verge of vomiting, I shook my head. Jo So-hee looked slightly shocked.
“Why, it doesn’t suit your taste?”
“Uh… well, I’m already full. Eating too much makes digestion difficult.”
“…I see. Your body is still weak, and I was just being overzealous again.”
Another trap?
I thought I could excuse myself with the digestion issue like before, but I had apparently touched a nerve.
Watching Jo So-hee dig into the matter indiscriminately made my head spin.
It seemed that the trauma of almost losing me during our reunion had left a lasting impression. Her overwhelming maternal instinct was intoxicating.
I wondered if I should repay her somehow.
Should I act cute, like a cliché youngest daughter? But in such clichés, the counterpart is usually a tyrant emperor or a monstrous duke…
‘Wait. If a tyrant emperor were transposed into martial arts, that would be Cheonma.’
And I already had a mad Cheonma stepmother who wanted to literally preserve her daughter because she was too beautiful.
Now that I thought about it, the orthodox side’s mother had been far less burdensome. And she was my real mother!
I changed tactics, rubbing my palms together.
“It’s late. Shall we get ready for bed, Mother?”
“Shall we? Then I’ll go to my room.”
“Shall we sleep together?”
Jo So-hee froze as she rose, her face a mix of surprise and disbelief.
“Together?”
“Mother and daughter sometimes share a bed, don’t they?”
“Just for today…” I added with a smile. She hurriedly embraced me tightly.
In her thin, dry voice, she murmured:
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
Jo So-hee, Swordmaster of the Hwangryong Sect.
Or Princess Seo-yeong.
She was born in the imperial palace under the stern sky, the third daughter of Lady Dang (ranked Fifth Grade), who had one son and one daughter with the emperor.
Some might ask: If Lady Dang had one son and one daughter, how could Jo So-hee be the third daughter?
A good question.
And the answer was simple.
“Princess, I have already lost five children in this vast palace. Only you and the Crown Prince remain in my arms, but if the vile Empress and Crown Prince act again, how could I, as a concubine, protect both of you?”
“Y-Yes, Mother.”
“She will become Empress.”
Having lost three sons and two daughters to disease and court intrigue, Lady Dang had entered a risky succession struggle to ensure her last surviving son, Ju-won, would become Crown Prince.
Failure meant that the Crown Prince and Jo So-hee, his full sister, would surely die as well.
“This is a secret imperial manual, secretly taken from the late Emperor’s library. Take it, Princess. With this, you can leave the palace and blend into the martial world.”
Thus, the last surviving young princess was granted secret martial skills only permitted to the imperial heirs and sent into the martial world.
She could not return to the Dang family.
To escape the palace undetected, she had to feign death. Having been poisoned into a vegetative state, Jo So-hee was officially ‘dead.’
Thus began the martial world life of a young princess raised like a greenhouse flower.
Luckily, she possessed unprecedented talent.
She mastered the imperial martial skills entirely through self-study. Upon meeting a mentor who recognized her talent, she rose like the sun.
Simply put, she was a martial genius.
Lady Dang’s desperate choice to send away her daughter had been the right one.
When Lady Dang finally became Empress, Jo So-hee chose to remain in the martial world.
Because she loved it.
Her marriage to the eldest son of the Paeng family was also part of that.
If she had lived solely as a noble imperial princess, she could never have known the sweetness of love or domestic happiness.
After having her own beloved children, her joy grew even greater.
‘Could life get any better than this?’
Her mother and brother had grown highly honored.
She herself had survived.
Even gaining freedom.
Jo So-hee believed she was extremely fortunate.
“Breaking news! Ma’am, the young lady…!”
Until her beloved youngest daughter disappeared.
