Chapter 7

“W-What do you think you know, running your mouth like that?!”

Terrified, Gyoa screamed at me as if making one last desperate attempt.

“Well, I only returned home today, so there are many things I don’t know yet. But I do know that Grandpa Tang Wunsam, the overseer of the outer residence, ordered Uncle Myeong Hongbang, the guest hall manager, to wash me with warm water and give me a full meal. I heard it myself.”

“…H-How do you know the names of the Outer Residence Overseer and the Guest Hall Manager?”

“Is that really the issue right now? Why do you think the Grand Kitchen Head is looking for the maid who was assigned to me? You do know it’s not to praise her, right?”

I smiled lazily at Gyoa as if saying, You’re in big trouble now.

“T-That can’t be…”

Gyoa trembled like someone who had just been doused in icy water.

“Start removing the coal from the brazier right now!”

At my shout, Song-ok moved first.

She grabbed a shovel used for scooping ashes and began scraping the coal out.

“Young Miss, I’ll do as you say! Look, I’m removing the coal as fast as I can!”

“Hey! Are you betraying me now?!”

Gyoa shoved Song-ok’s shoulder in anger.

Song-ok pushed back fiercely.

“Betrayal? Use your brain for once! You treated the young master’s long-lost youngest daughter like a beggar! You’re dead for sure now!”

“Tch! Do you think you’ll get away with it?! Aaaah!”

As they shoved each other, a piece of red-hot coal brushed against Gyoa’s skirt.

Whoosh!

Her skirt caught fire.

Panicking from the heat, Gyoa kicked wildly.

Her foot struck the brazier, knocking it over.

“Fire!”

Gyoa and Song-ok screamed and ran away.

The flames rose violently and blocked the entrance in an instant.

“Cough! Cough!”

I began coughing repeatedly.

Oil that had spilled onto the coal burst into flames, filling the medicine hall with thick toxic smoke.

I quickly covered my nose and mouth and held my breath.

But poisonous fumes were deadly for a child’s body.

My consciousness began to fade.

My breathing grew shallow, and my vision blurred.

No…

I haven’t even properly met Father yet…

Tears streamed down my face.

“Sniff…”

Just as my body was about to collapse—

Bang!

Something smashed through the ceiling.

A dark figure appeared and grabbed the back of my neck.

In an instant, I was lifted into the air.

Before I knew it, I was already outside the medicine hall.

My heart pounded loudly.

The man holding me smelled incredibly familiar.

“…?”

The thick smoke cleared as the wind blew it away.

My vision sharpened.

Two deep, calm eyes—like a clear lake—were looking at me.

Dad?

All the longing that had built up deep inside me burst out at once.

My trembling hand wiped the soot from my face.

Father would recognize me.

He had in the past.

“M-My name is… G-Gahye. Tang Gahye.”

Father’s eyes widened.

He inhaled sharply.

Grief, longing, and the joy of something lost long ago all mixed together as his face twisted.

“…Gahye?”

The word came from deep within his chest.

His lips trembled as he spoke a name he had not been able to call for years.

“Are you really my daughter… Gahye?”

Yes, Dad.

But the words would not come out.

My throat closed, and only hot tears flowed.

“Sniff…”

Even though I had traveled back a thousand years…

Even though I had returned twenty years into the past…

In front of my father, I was still just a little girl.

Crying, I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck.

I missed you, Dad!

But those words never left my mouth.

As my consciousness faded, the last thing I saw was my father’s sorrowful eyes.

* * *

“…The dantian…”

“…Treatment first…”

“…Strange… it’s difficult to believe… perhaps we should investigate…”

Father was speaking with someone.

From the careful hands checking my pulse, it seemed to be a physician.

I tried to listen carefully.

But my consciousness was still hazy, and I couldn’t follow the conversation.

In the end, I only caught one word clearly.

Dantian.

Even the direct descendants of the Tang family only began forming a dantian around the age of seven through training.

But I, who had not grown up in a martial family, had a pure and refined dantian?

At only six years old?

That’s impossible.

Other members of the Tang family might try to push me into a corner to uncover the nonexistent “mastermind” behind this.

Perhaps even Father suspected me.

No… please…

I was terrified that things would go wrong before Father and I even had a proper beginning.

Please…

Please don’t abandon me.

Please believe me.

Desperately, I tried to move.

But my body wouldn’t respond.

It felt like I was trapped in sleep paralysis.

All I could do in that dark unconscious world was beg silently.

“…It doesn’t matter.”

Father?

“As long as she isn’t hurt, that’s enough.”

Through my hazy consciousness, I felt a large, warm hand covering mine.

“Dad…?”

***

When I finally forced my eyes open, the room was empty.

“Ugh… my head.”

I held my forehead and breathed deeply for a while.

My blurry vision gradually cleared.

The first thing I noticed was a window decorated with an ink painting.

Sunlight shone through a painting of elegant bamboo drawn with careful brushstrokes.

I slowly looked around.

Hanging scrolls.

Lacquered furniture shining softly.

Simple yet beautiful ceramic pieces.

And suddenly—

“Here…!”

I realized where I was.

This was Father’s bedroom.

Everything was exactly as I remembered.

“Dad!”

I quickly lifted the curtain, eager to run out and see him—

But then—

“If you will not confess your crimes yourself, there is only one option left. Must I personally make you speak?!”

Father’s thunderous voice came from outside the door.

I had never seen him raise his voice like that.

Youngest clan heir in Tang family history.
One of the Three Great Masters of the World.
The Greatest Sword of the Orthodox Faction.

Even one of those titles would be enough to crush someone’s spirit.

Most martial artists could barely endure meeting his eyes.

Why would such a man need to shout?

Who is he scolding?

With trembling eyes, I peeked through the door.

Many people were kneeling on the ground.

In the front row were Tang Wunsam, the overseer of the outer residence, and Je Hoon-gyeong, the head of the medicine hall.

Behind them were the workshop head, the guest hall manager, Gyoa’s group, the medicine hall maids, and even the guest hall cooks.

It seemed every servant from Yakgawon had been gathered.

“You will all remain silent together? Then you shall all be punished equally!”

Wait!

Punished together?!

The moment I saw Hyang-a kneeling among the cooks, I threw the door open.

Bang!

Everyone turned to look at me.

Under the accusing stares that seemed to say this was all my fault, my body froze.

Do they think I started the fire in the medicine hall?

I quickly found Gyoa among the servants.

Even though her skirt had caught fire earlier, she was kneeling there looking fine.

How shameless.

Beside her, Song-ok couldn’t even raise her head and was lying flat against the ground.

Maybe they had already spread rumors that I started the fire.

“You’re still not fully recovered. Why did you come out?”

Father frowned, as if this was not my place to interfere.

Grandfather, the clan leader, had not yet returned.

Maybe that meant I had not yet been officially acknowledged as part of the Tang family.

Even so, no one knew the cause of the fire better than I did.

Gyoa and Song-ok would surely have burns.

And if someone searched the ashes in the medicine hall, they would find coal residue.

It wouldn’t be difficult to prove that the fire started because they used coal instead of charcoal.

“I have something to say.”

“Didn’t I tell you to stay in your room?!”

Father raised his voice again.

I’m scared.

If I disobeyed him now, would he end up hating me forever?

My heart pounded far harder than it had the first time I met him in my previous life.

Still, I gathered my courage.

With my short legs, I walked toward him.

The distance that had once been two cheok slowly disappeared.

Finally, I grabbed the hem of Father’s robe tightly.

“There’s something I must say.”

Father looked down at me with furrowed brows.

Though his face seemed calm, countless emotions swirled in his eyes.

They even looked painfully strained.

“Forgiveness is not possible.”

“…What?”

“If I let those who looked down on you go unpunished, they will lose all sense of boundaries.”

“Huh?”

I blinked in confusion.

So… Father hadn’t gathered everyone here to find the arsonist of the medicine hall?