Youngest Daughter of the Ultimate Martial Master Namgung Family

Chapter 7

Heeran puffed out her cheeks at Hwi as he stood looking at her in front of her cradle.

You stand there confidently, so why are you coming in secret?

She couldn’t understand what he was thinking. The night she had first made eye contact with him, she had been so startled.

Heeran thought back to that moment...

In the middle of the night, her whole body had been hot. The blanket covering her was making her feel hot and stuffy.

“Goo-gah.”

Just as her whine was about to turn into a cry, a cold hand was placed on Heeran’s forehead. To get more contact with the cool touch, she rubbed her face against it.

She felt the hand flinch, but she ignored it. The cold feeling on her forehead felt refreshing.

After a short while, the stuffy blanket was taken off her body, and she finally felt like she could breathe.

Most of the time, she would try not to fuss before dawn—she didn’t want to wake up Nanny or Soso. But this time, she hadn’t been able to help it. Heeran smiled brightly and blinked her tear-filled eyes. Since Nanny and Soso liked her, she smiled to pay them back for waking them up before dawn.

If it had been Soso, she would’ve been clutching her heart and talking nonsense about Heeran’s cuteness; if it had been Nanny, the woman would’ve laughed.

But as her field of vision cleared, she saw that the face belonged to a completely different person.

The smiling Heeran froze.

Hwi Namgung?

Heeran’s eyes trembled. His clean-cut face looked like it had been carved from ice—this was unmistakably Hwi Namgung. There was no other face like his.

Hwi was called “The Best Sword from the Vault of Heaven.”

He was a genius. No one doubted that he would bring about a brilliant revival of the Namgung Family, which had been stagnant and declining since their father’s generation.

He was an icon of indifference and coldness that rarely showed his true feelings.

But Hwi, who had been ridiculed by people asking if he’d been carved from ice, was now looking at his little sister in bewilderment, as if he didn’t know what to do.

What the...? Why are you here?

Soso, the maid, had openly complained about the siblings not coming to see the Youngest Miss. And while Nanny had rebuked Soso and told her not to say that, she also didn’t disagree with her. This was just like the past Heeran remembered—it seemed like her siblings were treating her coldly from the start.

That was why she didn’t have particular expectations for them this time around. She was not foolish enough to rekindle hopes that had already been dashed countless times before.

I don’t think it’s because he cares about me, so why is he coming to visit?

Heeran gazed at her brother with suspicion.

“It seems like you have a fever. You feel hotter than yesterday,” he murmured.

Had she heard incorrectly? It was a shock to think that Hwi might be worried about her, but there was something even more surprising than that in his words.

Yesterday? You came here yesterday too?

Heeran was dumbfounded. She opened her mouth.

“Is something making you uncomfortable, little one?”

Unlike his expressionless face, Hwi’s voice seemed fearful. When she saw that disparity, she came back to her senses.

“Goo-goo, gah-gah.”

Go away if you’re done here.

But Hwi must’ve understood her babbling as something else—he suddenly looked touched.

What the...? Why are you looking at me with such goose bump-inducing eyes?

Heeran struggled to swallow the bitter taste in her mouth. He was definitely mistaken about something.

“Yes, Ahee. I’m your... Eldest Brother,” Hwi said with a faint smile. Heeran’s eyes widened as she saw him smile for the first time.

Uncheon often smirked, but Hwi was expressionless. Was it because he had shouldered the pressure of leading the family from such a young age? Or did he use indifference as a way of hiding his true feelings? Regardless, she had never seen Hwi smile.

But now, he was carefully stroking her cheek as if he had been possessed by something—until he suddenly stopped. Hwi glanced at the doorway and then let out a regretful sigh.

“I’ll come visit you again.”

After that short goodbye, Hwi covered her with the blanket again. He then climbed out of the window with familiarity, like he’d done it many times before.

Heeran watched him go with a dumbfounded expression. Wasn’t that the Patriarch of the Namgung Family? Why is someone like him climbing out the window? What if somebody sees?

It was like he was trying to avoid someone’s gaze.

As if she had just been haunted by a ghost, Heeran blinked repeatedly. Just then, she heard the door opening. She abruptly closed her eyes and pretended to be sleeping. She felt a hand checking up on her and smelled a warm aroma.

“You seem to have a slight fever.”

Hearing the sound of that worried voice, Heeran fell asleep again.

That was the day it had all started. While Heeran didn’t purposefully try to wake up at night, babies usually slept in short bursts. So, every time she woke up at night, Hwi or one of her other siblings would be standing in front of her.

Like now.

It was the middle of the night again, and an uninvited guest had visited her room. While his face was as unreadable as usual, this time, Hwi took out something from his pocket.

A... rattle? I am not a child!

As Heeran’s gaze grew cold, she caught sight of the sapphire embedded in the rattle. Her eyes sparkled—if she was correct, that was a sapphire of the highest quality.

And the red stone next to it is...? Heeran stared hard at the rattle. A ruby? It seems like it’s also of the highest quality.

Moreover, judging by the size of the stones, the rattle was a valuable item that would be treated as a treasure by small and medium-sized sects.

Wait a minute, just how many jewels are there? One, two...

As she fixated on the rattle’s stones, her eyes were ablaze. Seeing Heeran’s gaze, Hwi slowly moved the rattle to the right. Heeran, who was busy counting the number of jewels decorating the toy, moved her head to follow it without realizing what she was doing.

This happened a couple more times. Heeran was so fixated on the jewels that she didn’t see the subtle change in Hwi’s eyes.

Wow, that’s crazy. Even if I just have that, I could buy a manor in the mountains and still have money left over.

Her eyes sparkled. She may have been a direct descendant of the Great Namgung Family, but she had been an ugly duckling. Money had usually been tight, and there had never been a time when she’d had enough.

Emergency fund! I could use it for that!

She currently had many people adoring and caring for her, from her siblings who visited her every night to her nanny and Soso. However, that would stop once she turned five.

Who’s going to look favorably on a direct descendant who can’t master martial arts?

It might’ve been okay if she had been a blood relative the family cherished, but that hadn’t been the case either. So when she had the chance, she had to save up money.

While it may look pathetic, living outside will probably make me feel more at ease.

Heeran had been thrown into the world for the first time after the family’s collapse. While she had been hated, it was only then that she’d realized—she had grown up comfortably as a daughter who was a direct descendant of a major family.

Even so, it was comfortable on my own too.

She had lived a life driven by revenge. But even while being pursued, she’d been able to enjoy small noodle bowls or dumplings that cost a few pennies. These were things she had achieved entirely on her own without feeling like she was in debt to anyone. While her environment had been poor, her mind had been more at peace compared to when she’d been at home.

Although... I owe them all my life.

A bitter taste filled her mouth. As she thought about the past, her memories naturally led to her death and the day the Namgung Residence had burned down.

When Heeran no longer was following the rattle’s path with a bright face, Hwi cautiously called out to her.

“Little one.”

Heeran was shaken out of her thoughts by that soft voice. Perhaps because of the thoughts she’d been having, the last image of Hwi that she had seen in her previous life overlapped with his young face now.

“Namgung does not give up a child of Namgung. I have never once thought that you weren’t family.”

Heeran tilted her head at the Hwi standing in front of her. Unlike then, he was now filled with youthful energy. When she went to the underworld, she had wanted to ask him something: “Why did you save my life?”

But she would never be able to hear his response now. She had become a baby instead, and the person standing in front of her was not the Hwi Namgung of that time.

Heeran turned her head away, resting in the crib.

“Are you all right?”

She looked up again at Hwi’s worried voice. When she saw the unfamiliar expression on his face, a thought struck her. In her previous life, in the past she didn’t remember, had Hwi been like this?

If that’s the case...

Once he had learned that she couldn’t master martial arts, had he stopped coming to see her?

No matter how hard Heeran tried to remember, her childhood memories were hazy. But there was nothing that resembled a memory of secretly meeting with her siblings at night.

Then there’s only one answer. They never came during the day. And then they eventually stopped coming during the night.

So in the end, this current affection had a definite expiration date.

Without realizing it, Heeran puffed up her cheeks with air to vent out her grievances. Hwi poked her cheek as if he was unable to stop himself. She sharply raised her eyes and glared at him, but she just looked cuter like that.

“Goo-gah.”

Hey, take that finger away. Take it away I said! Heeran tried to speak fiercely, but all that came out was a baby’s babbling.

Yet as her cheeks puffed up more and more, Hwi seemed to realize Heeran’s dissatisfaction. “Okay, okay. I’ll stop. Your older brother’s sorry.”

When she heard laughter mixed in with his voice, Heeran stared at him with a sour look. You’re laughing? Is this funny to you? After looking at him with annoyance, she quickly turned her head.

“Little one.”

Heeran ignored him.

“Ahee.”

Even though his voice sounded uncharacteristically soothing, Heeran refused him her attention.

Heeran flinched at the rattling sound. It seemed like the rattle was back in his hand.

Hwi Namgung is annoying...

But she wanted that rattle. Not because she was a baby, but because when the family gave her the cold shoulder later on, it would become a solid emergency fund.

The rattling sounded louder. Heeran turned her head slightly as if implying that she was cutting him some slack. Even though he knew her gaze went to the rattle first, Hwi’s face softened. It was, after all, a gift that he had taken great pains to prepare for her.

“Do you like it?”

“Goo-goo.”

Leave that and get out of here already.

Heeran stretched out her arm and squirmed. Hwi seemed to understand what she was saying—he lowered his arm, as if to put down the toy.

Finally!

Her eyes sparkled as she saw her future emergency fund getting closer. However...

“If I leave it next to you, something could go wrong and you could get hurt. I’ll put it in your toy box.”

It had seemed like he was going to give it to her, but he just rattled it one more time and withdrew.

Was that... really necessary? Disappointment and sorrow spread across Heeran’s face. And when she couldn’t hold back her sadness, she let out a long and pitiful wail.