Volume 5 Chapter 10 – Self-Destructive Move

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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A quiet garden in a secluded area of Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment.

‘Did Father end up clashing with the Eldest Young Master after all?’

Yeom Baek-ha, pale as white, was in the middle of shouting at I-ryeong for a long time.

“Right now! If something happened to Father, let me go to Father right now!”

While I-ryeong conversed via sound transmission about something, the maids blocked her front like an iron wall.

“If I cannot, at least the warrior captain here…!”

The maids strictly acted according to the emergency response regulations for each situation.

“You must remain here until the situation is terminated.”

Because the response regulations directly written by the Eldest Young Master were something more than law to them, no matter how much Yeom Baek-ha clung to them, it was of no use.

“Warrior captain…!”

She cried out to the warrior captain, who was standing silently guarding her while her hands trembled violently.

“Lady…”

But the warrior captain only shook his head as if it couldn’t be helped.

Not following the control in this situation was equivalent to saying they would fight a battle, and in a state where the situation was not even grasped, it would only add to the confusion.

“I have received commands from the lord to escort the lady.”

Yeom Baek-ha tried to shout something, but at the torment blatantly floating on the warrior captain’s face, she ultimately could not say a word.

She could do nothing but suppress the trembling of her entire body and soothe her gasping breath.

Among the current subordinates, was it not this warrior captain who had served her father the longest?

The sense of shame and pain he must be feeling now would be greater than hers.

“Situation terminated.”

Receiving the sound transmission, I-ryeong let out a sigh of relief and turned to Yeom Baek-ha.

“Lady. You can rest assured now. It seems there was just a temporary misunderstanding while the two were conversing.”

Whether it was the same for I-ryeong who was frustrated at not being able to be by her master’s side in this situation, her eyelashes were seen trembling slightly.

“Ah…”

Yeom Baek-ha, whose tension was released, plopped down on the spot.

The warrior captain politely supported her.

Her body was soaked in cold sweat, to the extent that it felt cold.

“Then, there was no physical clash?”

I-ryeong immediately nodded.

“Yes. Since they said Elder Yeom, who had raised his momentum, soon laughed out loud, it seems it was no big deal.”

“….”

Yeom Baek-ha was relieved at those words, but discouraged at the same time.

‘Father raised his momentum in front of the Eldest Young Master, who does not know martial arts, and ended up laughing in the end?’

Only one such situation came to mind.

‘The moment when defeat must be accepted.’

At that moment, I-ryeong asked for Yeom Baek-ha’s understanding with an apologetic expression.

“I must return for now in this situation, so I am sorry but I will have to leave for a moment.”

She raised her hand and pointed to two maids.

“Still, I will leave these girls here, so if there is anything you need…”

Yeom Baek-ha, who sat there, shook her head.

“It is fine. Take these maids along as well. Give me a moment of time to be alone…”

The white tiger in the form of a cat licked her cheek, worrying about its owner.

“Yes, then we will leave for a moment.”

The Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment personnel flew away using light body technique after politely greeting her.

The warrior captain, who watched their backs disappear, turned to Yeom Baek-ha with a smile.

“Lady. Doesn’t the lord have thoughts for everything? So please rest assured…”

“Now, the limit…”

However, Yeom Baek-ha did not see that smile of the warrior captain.

“Lady?!”

This was because Yeom Baek-ha, whose body’s trembling grew too great to the point she could not even sit properly now, fell forward.

“Lady! Lady!”

She was no longer able to hide the seizure she had been suppressing until then.

Fortunately, the warrior captain basically threw his body to catch her, but her condition looked extremely bad.

The warrior captain, who had thought until then that it was just because she was too tense, realized at that moment that his thought was completely wrong.

A pale complexion, lips turning dark blue, and a slender body trembling uncontrollably.

“A seizure?!”

It was unmistakably a seizure symptom of her chronic illness.

Although it was his first time seeing her seizure directly in front of his eyes, he, who had received sufficient training in preparation for such a situation, rummaged through his chest pocket.

“Lady, hold on for just a bit! Right now, the pill…!”

The pills that the Medicine King had prepared for her in the past had been handed down among those who had protected her closest from before.

“Lady?!”

However, there was a weak touch holding his wrist.

“N-No… way…”

The owner of that touch was none other than Yeom Baek-ha.

“What are you saying? Right now…!”

She seemed to be in a state of stupor due to the seizure.

Therefore, he tried to shake off her hand, but froze solid at Yeom Baek-ha’s words that followed.

“…T-This is, the… o-only way, for F-Father… to win.”

“What do you mean by th-?!”

The warrior captain felt his breath choking at the spirit contained in Yeom Baek-ha’s gaze looking at him.

“I, if I, die… the need to… negotiate… disappears…”

She was approaching death in real-time even now, but her eyes were alive more sharply than ever.

“Lady! Such nonsense…!”

If Yeom Baek-ha died, Elder Yeom would not be caught by any weakness by the Eldest Young Master.

In the first place, the very need to negotiate with the Eldest Young Master disappears.

Even if he was a simple warrior who had rolled around on battlefields all his life, it was not difficult to understand those words.

“I cannot. I cannot grant such a request…”

“Listen to my words-!”

Yeom Baek-ha’s ringing voice resounded in the forest.

“I, I am, Father’s… successor. Let me, even for once, play the role of the successor…”

She gushed out blood from her mouth.

The white tiger cried sorrowfully.

“Lady!”

“It is… just my turn… to sacrifice… for everyone…”

Actually, starting from when the meal ended, Yeom Baek-ha noticed that there was something wrong with her body.

And at that time, she made up her mind.

If the worst situation approached, she would fulfill her responsibility as the family’s successor.

Even once.

She wished that this useless body of hers could be of help even just once.

However, she could not know whether her plan would actually succeed.

This was because the conditions were difficult.

She had to be able to know that her father’s negotiation was practically ending in defeat, and only someone she could persuade had to be around her.

It was a slim possibility, but in the end, fortunately, she was able to seize the opportunity like this.

‘Rather than being a weak target that had to be protected, I also wanted to become everyone’s comrade-in-arms.’

She wanted to step onto the battlefield together with everyone.

She wanted to stand side-by-side.

Even just once.

Even in this manner.

“Lady!”

The warrior captain, who came to know her determination, only wailed and poured tears, unable to do anything with the pouch containing the pills in the end.

“I, I also, am a comrade now…”

The white tiger also only licked the cooling cheek of its owner, dripping tears from its large eyes.

“If… Father… would be… proud of me…”

Her vision gradually blurred.

And only then did the beautiful scenery of Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment, called a fairyland, enter her eyes.

Mild sunlight, leaves shaking peacefully, flowers blooming profusely in all directions, and petals scattering in the wind.

‘Eldest Young Master…’

At that moment, the voice of an old man was heard in her ears.

“Proud? What father in the world would say he is proud when his daughter committed suicide?”

The warrior captain, who was just blankly staring, was startled and raised his head.

“Y-You are…?!”

The old man approached with a pouting expression.

“Yes. I am the Medicine King.”

The Medicine King took large strides, approaching and snatching the pill pouch held in the warrior captain’s hand.

“How did the Medicine King come here…?!”

Checking the state of preservation as he took out the pill from the pouch, the Medicine King replied.

“Because within Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment, there is someone who hears and watches everything.”

As the Medicine King approached holding the pill, Yeom Baek-ha twisted her body and resisted harshly.

“N-No…!”

The moment she took that medicine, her plan was a failure.

But would the Medicine King under heaven just look on as a patient died right in front of his eyes?

“Uh-huh! Stay still!”

“Mph! Mph…!”

The Medicine King skillfully and gently subdued her, trying to feed her the pill.

“No, come to think of it…”

Yeom Baek-ha looked up with a puzzled expression as the Medicine King’s hand stopped.

The Medicine King ignored Yeom Baek-ha’s gaze, put the pill back into the pouch, and stood up from his spot.

“Elder…?”

The Medicine King pulled out his pipe from his chest pocket and put it in his mouth.

“Come to think of it, now is not the time to feed her this medicine. I almost made a mistake.”

“What do you mean by…?”

Just then, a noisy sound was heard from afar.

“Baek-ha! Baek-ha!”

It was her father’s anxious cry, running in a straight line while smashing the trees that blocked his front.

“Elder!”

The moment Elder Yeom saw the Medicine King’s appearance, he knelt right down.

“Please! I beg you like this, so please save my daughter!”

Did he misunderstand something upon seeing the Medicine King just puffing on his pipe?

“I apologize like this for what happened in the past! Elder!”

“Hey now! This fellow!”

At that, the Medicine King flared up in anger.

“Are you making this Medicine King into a narrow-minded person who abandons a patient over just that kind of thing?!”

“Yes?”

Elder Yeom raised his head while shedding tears and looked at the Medicine King.

“Have you forgotten? That when the seizure comes is precisely the opportunity to perform the procedure to completely catch this terrible illness.”

“Ah…!”

The Medicine King said with a benevolent smile.

“As for acupuncture, that disciple fellow of mine is a tiny bit better than me, so wait until that fellow arrives. From what I see, this child can still hold out sufficiently.”

Just then, a voice was heard from inside the bushes.

“I always say this, but I am not your disciple.”

The one who revealed himself was none other than Yeon So-hyeon, always looking relaxed.

“However, I heard well that you admitted my acupuncture skills are superior.”

“I have never said such a thing!”

Yeon So-hyeon ignored the jumping Medicine King.

‘Ah…’

And Yeom Baek-ha closed her eyes tightly.

Although it was Yeon So-hyeon’s face that she had always wanted to see the most, it was the face she never wanted to see at this very moment.

Because…

“Eldest Young Master!”

Elder Yeom knelt before the Eldest Young Master.

“This Yeom Gwak-chu! If it is the Eldest Young Master’s command in the future, I will jump even into hell, so please, please just save my daughter!”

For the words her father would say were as good as predetermined like that.

‘Father…’

Tears flowed down from Yeom Baek-ha’s eyes.

That was the moment she had wanted to avoid the most.

It was the moment her plan was ruined in the worst shape.

In the end, she had to watch her father kneel because of her useless body.

“Eldest Young Master! Please! I beg of you!”

Yeon So-hyeon ignored Elder Yeom.

“It seems there is still enough time…”

Yeon So-hyeon, who calmly observed her state, commanded the maids who began to reveal themselves with nimble movements.

“Transfer this patient immediately.”