By Zephyria 
“You aren’t completely without feelings for him, are you? Then what is the problem! Go to Master right now.”
As Gang Woong suddenly pushed him toward the door, a flustered Seong Mu-yeon held onto the doorframe to resist.
“Wa-wait a moment!”
“What is it now? What else is left? Adults are just….”
Gang Woong let out a grand sigh.
“No, it’s not that, it’s just that I haven’t even washed yet. My clothes are too dirty….”
Seong Mu-yeon muttered as if making an excuse. Gang Woong also frowned, seemingly agreeing that it wasn’t an appropriate appearance for going to discuss something important.
“That’s perfect. The junior brothers will be preparing Master’s bath water, so you can just wash together.”
What!
Seong Mu-yeon’s jaw dropped in shock.
“A young Taoist really has no filter!”
No matter how long they had been apart, had he really grown up to be this bold?
Unlike Seong Mu-yeon, whose face turned beet red from a mix of embarrassment and bewilderment, Gang Woong’s expression remained calm.
“Is there a problem? I always wash with the junior brothers.”
“…….”
“Now, hurry along before the bath water cools. We mustn’t waste firewood. It’s a great opportunity to naturally start a conversation while scrubbing each other’s backs.”
Gang Woong spoke cheerfully and, before stepping out the door, roughly brushed off the dirt and leaves clinging to Seong Mu-yeon’s clothes.
Seong Mu-yeon became even more embarrassed and couldn’t bring himself to look up. Gang Woong was still a pure youth, untainted by the world. He was the one who was dirty.
Steeling his resolve, Seong Mu-yeon pushed the door open. Dazzling sunlight poured over his head, and the hut where Baek Ryeo-il would be came into full view.
Right. I can’t put this off any lon—
“Oh, what brings you here?”
Seong Mu-yeon and Gang Woong turned their heads toward the voice. A group of flustered boys were huddled together.
“What’s going on?”
Gang Woong approached the junior brothers in one stride and asked.
“Senior Brother, a guest has arrived….”
“A guest?”
As the boys stepped aside, the identity of the guest who had been hidden behind them was revealed.
“……Gasp.”
It was Jegal Yeom-gang, with a sinister gaze that seemed to harbor killing intent. Seong Mu-yeon inhaled sharply and instinctively hid behind a pillar.
‘Why is the Jegal Clan Head here?’
He had a bad feeling.
True to his high status, his outward appearance radiated a stiff, stubborn personality, and he had left a terrible first impression on Seong Mu-yeon.
Their first meeting had occurred when Seong Mu-yeon was tailing Jegal Un and happened to witness the man being fiercely reprimanded by his father.
The fact that he had secretly watched a side of the meticulous Jegal Un that he would never want others to see weighed on his mind, and that had remained as a feeling of discomfort toward the Jegal Clan Head.
Of course, there was no reason for Jegal Yeom-gang to come looking for him, so he must have come to see Baek Ryeo-il. Seong Mu-yeon’s expression hardened.
‘I wonder if something happened in Lanzhou….’
“So you were here… Seventh Prince Seong Mu-yeon.”
“Hieek.”
When Jegal Yeom-gang’s terrifying face appeared right before his nose, the strength left Seong Mu-yeon’s legs, and he nearly collapsed.
“I have come to see you.”
“Me? Why, why? I haven’t done anything wr—”
Seong Mu-yeon couldn’t finish his sentence. A titan of the martial world like Jegal Yeom-gang wouldn’t have happened upon him by chance while taking a leisurely stroll.
This was also the first time he had ever held a conversation with Jegal Yeom-gang. Therefore, it couldn’t be a good thing. Whatever it was, he must have done something wrong, and the man had come to demand an explanation!
Who knows? Maybe a boil had sprouted on Jegal Yeom-gang’s skin from the brief moment their flesh touched three years ago.
While Seong Mu-yeon’s eyes darted around in guilt, Jegal Yeom-gang rummaged through the front of his robes.
“……That necklace!”
Seong Mu-yeon’s eyes widened upon spotting the golden necklace. Jegal Yeom-gang had produced the necklace that he had lost back then.
Moreover, there wasn’t just one. Two identical necklaces were held in Jegal Yeom-gang’s hand.
“Shall we speak for a moment?”
“…….”
After a brief hesitation, Seong Mu-yeon led him inside. Gang Woong’s peculiar expression vanished behind the closing door.
As Jegal Yeom-gang entered the hut with his perfectly straight posture and attire of luxurious fabric, the interior—which was already shabby—felt even more wretched.
Jegal Yeom-gang glanced around the narrow hut with an evaluative eye and frowned upon realizing the only place to sit was a single, crumbling wooden chair.
With a reluctant expression, he sought out the creaking chair and sat down.
“Sit.”
He naturally acted as the host. The arrogant attitude of someone who had reigned as a powerful figure in the martial world for a long time seeped through.
“…….”
Seong Mu-yeon sat opposite him with a stiff face.
“This object should be familiar. Does this necklace belong to you?”
Jegal Yeom-gang placed the two necklaces on the table for him to see.
“One is mine. But the other one is….”
“It is mine. Your necklace must have had an original owner before as well,” Jegal Yeom-gang said.
“…….”
Seong Mu-yeon gazed blankly at the two necklaces with sunken eyes. He had felt great guilt after losing the necklace.
Because it was a memento of his mother.
However, now that the necklace had reappeared before his eyes, he wasn’t exactly happy. The necklace, which had simply been an object to remember his mother by, had returned to his hand with a completely different meaning.
“The original owner of the necklace, Jegal Yeom-mi… she is my sister.”
“…….”
“Which means I am your maternal uncle.”
“……I see.”
Seong Mu-yeon reached out and carefully picked up one of the necklaces.
“You aren’t surprised,” Jegal Yeom-gang remarked, sounding surprised himself.
“……I knew a day like this would come. My mother told me that there was another identical necklace somewhere in this world.”
〈This necklace… is one of a pair that your maternal grandfather gave to me and my sister. Because we fought so much… to strengthen our sisterly bond…〉
The words the Seventh Madam—no, Jegal Yeom-mi—had said while handing him the necklace were as vivid as if it were yesterday. Though his mother had not done so, Seong Mu-yeon thought that he might one day visit his maternal family during his lifetime.
“……But I never expected that maternal family to be the Jegal Clan.”
“Did you perhaps not even know your mother’s surname? How could you not know! Just how little interest did you have!”
Suddenly, Jegal Yeom-gang burst out in anger. He seemed to think that Seong Mu-yeon was ignoring his mother and sister. In the martial world, the culture of women being called by their husband’s surname after marriage still remained, so there were quite a few children who didn’t know their mother’s surname until they were quite grown if they hadn’t paid much attention.
But Seong Mu-yeon was not such a case.
“My mother was stubbornly insistent on not revealing her maiden family. She insisted on being called only by the title and name she had newly received. Looking back, it seems the name I thought she had was actually a childhood name.”
Seong Mu-yeon let out a long sigh with a heavy heart. It was a guess, but it seemed Jegal Yeom-mi had kept the secret until the end, fearing that the fact that she had married the Demonic Cult Leader would harm the Jegal Clan. Because of that, he had grown up knowing nothing of his maternal family except for the only clue, the necklace. He might never have found out if things had gone differently.
‘And to think it’s the Jegal Clan.’
If it had been some nameless family in a small village, he wouldn’t feel this conflicted. There was a reason his mother hid it. As the son of the Demonic Cult Leader, Seong Mu-yeon could not stand proudly before his maternal family. He had found his family, but he was destined to hide himself as if he didn’t exist.
“……My sister was exactly the type to do that. She was so stubborn.”
Seong Mu-yeon looked up, slightly surprised, as Jegal Yeom-gang let out a faint laugh.
And he was surprised once more to realize that the smiling face resembled his mother’s. He hadn’t noticed before because the man’s expression usually looked as if someone invisible were pricking him with a needle.
Now that he realized the truth, it became even clearer. They were undoubtedly blood relatives.
Jegal Yeom-gang instantly erased the smile from his face and returned to his usual self.
Silence flowed between the two for a while.
“……So, did you chase me all the way to this remote area just to tell me this fact?”
In Seong Mu-yeon’s opinion, it wasn’t something that required urgency. The blood flowing in their veins wouldn’t change if it were a bit late, and he could have just waited for the man to return after finishing his business, yet he had stubbornly chased him all the way here….
He might have missed a blood relative he had been separated from for a long time. However, Seong Mu-yeon judged that Jegal Yeom-gang was not a sentimental person who would be swayed by such tender emotions. He must have another motive.
Seong Mu-yeon had no choice but to be wary of the inscrutable Jegal Yeom-gang. Although they were blood relatives, it was the first time he had met him today, and he was the kind of person Seong Mu-yeon didn’t particularly prefer. He was rigid, meticulous, and because he was born into a wealthy house, his nose was pointed toward the sky, making him difficult to deal with… he was the epitome of a stubborn old fogey.
Yet, surprisingly, for a very brief moment, a look of hurt flashed across Jegal Yeom-gang’s face.
Surely… it couldn’t be.
Since Jegal Yeom-gang seemed like a man with a heart too hardened to be hurt by his nephew’s business-like attitude, Seong Mu-yeon concluded it was his own delusion.
It must have passed too quickly for him to have seen it correctly.
“Indeed. Since there is a sufficient reason, is that not why I have come so urgently?”
As expected, Jegal Yeom-gang spoke with an arrogant tilt of his chin and a cold face that seemed to loathe the world.