Chapter 53
“Thank you very much!”
I cheerfully took the mooncake from my uncle’s hand.
No—more accurately, I pretended to take it.
“Ah!”
The moment the mooncake touched my fingers, I deliberately loosened my grip.
Thud, roll.
The sweet pastry tumbled and rolled right to Tang Pae-jin’s feet.
Before he could even open his mouth, I quickly crouched down and picked it up.
“Oh no!”
I made a show of brushing off the dirt on the mooncake, pretending to wipe it clean—while actually smearing even more on it.
“Oh dear, it’s dirty now. It’s all covered in soil, I don’t think I can eat it… Father always told me never to eat things that fall on the ground…”
Now the mooncake was such a filthy mess that no one could possibly eat it.
His gaze fell on my dirt-stained hands and the ruined pastry.
“Tch. You can’t even catch one thing properly…”
Then he clicked his tongue and turned away, displeased.
‘Success!’
Operation “Avoid Eating Uncle’s Mooncake” — complete.
I tried my best not to look too satisfied as I stood up, clutching the grimy mooncake.
Then I looked up at my uncle.
“Um…”
His tall figure cast a long shadow over my face.
“Uncle, why did you call me here?”
“To give you that.”
“…”
‘…What?’
He called me out just to give me this?
That sounded suspiciously like something a conman would say.
He wasn’t the kind of person who’d call a child out just to give them a treat.
Unless—
‘Wait, was there actually something inside this mooncake?’
No, that couldn’t be it.
Everyone in the Tang family knew that I had not just a “poison-immune body,” but an immortal poison spirit physique.
Feeding me poison would be useless.
Still, something about this whole thing felt off.
When I stayed silent, Tang Pae-jin glanced back at me and spoke.
“Do you know that your father never formally married your mother?”
“They said they drank the union wine together.”
“Just sharing a cup of union wine doesn’t make two people husband and wife. Especially not among noble clans.”
He flicked the sleeve of his dark-green robe arrogantly.
“In a noble family, marriage is an alliance, a transaction between parties whose interests align.”
“…?”
That was far too complicated a topic for an eight-year-old.
But I made sure to look like I was listening carefully.
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s why I took a daughter of the Hwangbo clan as my wife, and my concubine is from the Moryong clan.”
“Yes…”
“But your father—he sired you with a woman of unknown birth and background. Instead of helping the clan, he shamed it.”
I blinked.
Why was he saying all this to me?
To break my spirit?
‘If I really were eight years old, I’d probably be crying by now.’
Fortunately, I wasn’t really eight.
So I just endured it and waited for him to finish.
It was better to hear him out before I talked back.
Tang Pae-jin spoke again, very slowly.
“Therefore, the elders of the family wish that he would do something—anything—to make amends.”
“…You mean they want Father to remarry?”
“That’s right.”
I blinked again.
It wasn’t unheard of for men in noble families to remarry.
But it wasn’t exactly common either.
Besides—
‘Father already has a child.’
What family would take in a man like that?
Even if they were desperate to form ties with the Tang clan, not that desperate.
And if there really was such a family,
then it meant they were so in need of Tang’s power that they’d marry a man with baggage.
That could only mean trouble.
I looked up at my uncle.
“Uncle.”
“Yes.”
“Father’s remarriage would be his matter, and the clan’s business belongs to the elders. Why are you telling me this?”
“Your existence isn’t widely known.”
Tang Pae-jin’s sharp eyes glinted.
“Thanks to your father hiding you away, very few people know you even exist.”
“…?”
“So, for your father’s remarriage and to conceal your mother’s lowly origins, I intend to take you in as my adopted daughter.”
“What?”
My eyes widened.
But Tang Pae-jin continued as if nothing was strange.
“Jin-hyeon will be considered never married. You will grow up under my care as my daughter.”
“…?”
“This is your chance—to spare your father and yourself from bringing further shame to our clan.”
That was when I finally understood why he had called me out in secret.
‘So that’s what this is…’
He wanted to get rid of Father sooner.
In my previous life, Tang Pae-jin had let Father die slowly, after poison spread through his body.
That was seven years from now—when I was fifteen.
But last night, Father had already suffered a seizure from the poison.
‘He must’ve decided to act sooner this time.’
And now, he was spinning this ridiculous story to justify it.
He planned to get rid of Father, then use me as his pawn.
‘Last time, he killed me too…’
Maybe now I was too valuable to kill easily.
I stared at him, speechless.
Tang Pae-jin said,
“Yeong-i is greedy and slow to master martial arts. But you—you’re different.”
“…”
“If you truly care for your father’s future and the honor of this clan, then this—”
I couldn’t hold back any longer.
“That’s absurd—”
“What’s absurd about it?”
That voice.
It was so familiar that I froze.
I turned toward the sound.
Standing there was my father.
The sickly pallor he’d worn until yesterday was gone.
He stood tall, back straight, radiating strength.
“Brother.”
He walked toward us, step by step, and gently took my hand.
“What exactly are you saying to my daughter?”
“Jin-hyeon! How did you—”
“What father wouldn’t know where his child is?”
When his large, calloused hand clasped mine, I felt my heart settle.
Behind him, I caught a glimpse of Choyo’s robe before she slipped away.
She must have told him where I was.
“Father…”
“Bi-ya, you don’t need to listen to this.”
“It’s an old custom for an elder brother to take in an illegitimate child born out of wedlock,” Tang Pae-jin said stiffly.
“Only when the parent wants it,” Father answered, voice icy.
“When did I ever say I wished to remarry?
When did I say I couldn’t raise my own child?
When did I beg you to take my daughter in, brother?”
“Jin-hyeon!”
“Tell me, where in this world does an uncle adopt a child whose father is still very much alive?”
“You don’t understand! The elders—”
“You mean a few elders and you, don’t you? Am I wrong?”
Father’s tone was calm, but his voice trembled with fury.
“I have never wished to remarry, and even the clan head himself holds no such intent. So why are you interfering?”
His grip on my hand tightened.
“Bi-ya is neither a disgrace nor a blemish to the Tang family.”
“…!”
“My daughter is a genius like no other—she will bring honor to our name. She is not someone to hear such words from you. Therefore…”
Father took a step closer, his eyes lowered, and his voice dropped to a near-whisper.
“Watch yourself, brother.”
“You…”
“Enough. I will not stay silent any longer.”
It was a tone I had never heard from him before—cold, commanding.
Tang Pae-jin’s face flushed red with rage.
Father stepped back, gently tugging me along.
“Let’s go, Bi-ya.”
“Jin-hyeon!”
“Do not summon my daughter again. I’ll make sure the guards know as well.”
With that, Father led me away.
As he pulled me along, I discreetly tossed the filthy mooncake into the pond.
