The Precious Baby of the Bandit Leader Chapter 83

…It was a valid point, but since I didn’t particularly want to admit it, I simply ignored him. 

 

“Then!! Dad has to promise Yeong too! Promise you’ll never leave Yeong!”

 

“Alright, let’s do that.”

 

The Chief reached out and familiarly hooked his pinky finger with mine.

 

After shaking it a few times, he lightly tapped his forehead against mine with a soft thud. 

 

“Is that enough now?”

 

“If you don’t keep your promise, I’ll really! Really hate you!”

 

“Now… that is a terrifying threat indeed.”

 

I pouted my lips.

 

At my reaction, the corners of the Chief’s mouth kept twitching until a bursting smile finally spread across his face.

 

“Now, stop that and let’s start getting ready, Chief. We don’t have much time.”

 

At Gaon’s urging, I turned my head, going “Huh?”

 

When he lightly raised his hand once, Bokhee and Malja, who must have been waiting, quietly stepped forward.

 

‘Wha—what is it? What are they going to do…?’

 

Flustered, I rolled my eyes around.

 

The Chief nodded with his arms crossed, as if he had already discussed something with Gaon.

 

“Yes, let’s see. You’ll need to try on a variety of things today, so brace yourself, Yeong.”

 

Huh? What does that mean?

 

One hour later.

 

I had transformed into a perfect young master.

 

After I was dressed from head to toe in clothes meant only for boys, Bokhee applied something to my face with skilled hands.

 

Then, the reflection in the mirror was undeniably that of a ‘young master’.

 

“What a pretty flower boy, indeed.”

 

As Gaon teased from the side, the Chief nodded with a pleased expression.

 

“Our Yeong looks pretty in anything she wears.”

 

Bang—!

 

At that moment, two men appeared, peeking their heads through the crack in the door.

 

“Argh, my back! My back!”

 

“I told you not to push!”

 

“Everyone move aside! Are you going to ignore the orders of the Deputy Chief?”

 

It was Four Ddong Uncle and Uncle Dupil.

 

It was pure chaos as one pushed to see first, and the other fell over after being pushed backward.

 

Dupil’s words, which would never be disobeyed under normal circumstances, seemed to fall on deaf ears right now.

 

“Wow… she really is the prettiest young master out there…”

 

“Our Yeong was pretty no matter what she wore, but now she’s even handsome…”

 

I couldn’t help but laugh at the uncles’ excessive fawning. Without hesitation, I trotted over and opened the door wide myself.

 

“Uncles!”

 

The uncles’ eyes widened in surprise as I ran out to greet them first.

 

“I’ll be back safely! Uncles, you have to stay healthy too. Okay?”

 

The Chief wasn’t the only one I was worried about.

 

If I was going down because this place was dangerous, then those staying behind couldn’t be called completely safe either.

 

“Don’t worry.”

 

“Our Yeong is even worrying about her uncles. Such a kind heart.”

 

Finally, I turned my gaze to Bokhee and Malja.

 

Because they were the ones who always took care of me, I felt even more concerned for them.

 

“Aunts, you have to be careful too. Got it?”

 

“Don’t worry, Young Miss. We are quite stronger than you think.”

 

“We are stronger than most men.”

 

As Bokhee laughed heartily, I laughed along.

 

‘Still… it would have been nice if I could stay and be of help.’

 

My slingshot skills were second to none, but I was merely a child with a small frame and weak strength. 

 

And above all.

 

‘The moment I get caught, I’ll become a hostage.’

 

I now clearly understood that staying safe was the way to protect my dad and my family.

 

‘Of course… it seems there are still people who dislike me.’

 

I glanced out the door.

 

Beyond the scene revealed by the uncles opening the door, there were a few gazes quietly watching me from afar.

 

They neither approached nor smiled.

 

“What are you doing? Let’s get ready to go.”

 

Gaon urged me, and only then did I tear my gaze away and quickly stand up.

 

“Yeah! I’m ready!” 

 

I started packing various things in my bundle to prepare for going down to the village.

 

* * *

 

Gaon and I weren’t the only ones going down to the village.

 

“Take Gaeddong and about fifteen others with you.”

 

The Chief assigned Uncle Gaeddong and a few more stronghold members to go with Gaon and me.

 

Uncle Gaeddong was tasked with looking after me while Gaon was away, and the rest were the ones who would pull the carts to bring the funds back.

 

Of course, in terms of numbers, it was woefully insufficient, but they had selected only the strongest ones.

 

It was a time when the government troops were fiercely searching for members of the mountain stronghold with their eyes wide open.

 

If too many people moved at once, it would inevitably arouse suspicion. 

 

Thus, we spent several days and nights traveling down the mountains and finally arrived at an inn in the village, where we secured a room. 

 

“I will go and secure the funds. In the meantime, Gaeddong, you look after Yeong. Understood?”

 

Before leaving, Gaon repeatedly warned him and entrusted me to Uncle Gaeddong.

 

“I’ll be right back. Make sure to stay right here and don’t go anywhere. Even if you meet strangers, don’t talk to them.”

 

I nodded dutifully and waved my hand softly at Gaon.

 

So… I never dreamed a situation like this would occur.

 

“Why… is he here?”

 

On the way back to the front of the tavern after buying some snacks nearby with Uncle Gaeddong.

 

I ran right into a familiar face.

 

A boy leisurely smiling while munching on a delicious-looking sweet potato in his hand.

 

The sight of him limping with a cloth wrapped around one of his legs was definitely…

 

“Damho…?”

 

One of the supporting characters from the original work.

 

The successor of the pirate captain, Damho.

 

He sharply turned his head upon hearing my voice.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, at the same time.

 

“Your Excellency! Young Master Gaon…! Young Master Gaon has arrived!”

 

A slave came running in a flurry.

 

“What?!”

 

Lord “It has been quite a long time since we met.”, who had been taking a short nap after leaving his office, woke up with a start and jumped to his feet.

 

“What do you mean! Didn’t you say he left without even meeting us last time?!”

 

“Yes. He definitely turned around and left back then, and there had been no further contact… but suddenly like this…”

 

“…Hurry and send someone to report this to His Excellency—”

 

Just as he hastily put on his gat and was about to give the order.

 

“Father.”

 

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out from outside the door.

 

He stopped in his tracks just as he was opening the door to step out onto the main porch.

 

Gaon, who had already entered through the main gate, was crossing the inner courtyard at a leisurely pace.

 

With a comfortable expression as if he were in his own home, he looked up at Lord Kim Junmo.

 

“It has been quite a long time since we met.” 

 

It had been a staggering 13 years.

 

Gaon, who was only ten years old, was expelled from the family and kicked out without a single penny….

 

After tenaciously surviving while enduring all sorts of hardships on the streets.

 

The time it took to meet the Chief, Kim Gangdu, form the mountain stronghold, and reach this point.

 

Exactly 13 years.

 

Clench.

 

Fragments of vivid and sharp memories suddenly rushed over him.

 

Gaon clenched his fists tightly in an effort to shake them off.

 

He still could not forget.

 

The day he failed the civil service examination.

 

Being beaten all over his body and thrown out of the main gate into a blizzard in the middle of winter.

 

“Just once, please just look back at me once. Father!”

 

“I can do better. If you give me a chance, I’ll definitely prove myself.”

 

“I was wrong. I was wrong. I was entirely in the wrong. So please don’t abandon me! Please! Don’t throw me away. Please, sob…”

 

That winter.

 

The young Gaon was always crying, huddled in front of the main gate.

 

Because he was different from others since birth, he had no choice but to grow up being mistreated and treated as a stain on the family’s honor.

 

In the end, those were days filled only with scars, ending with him being discarded as useless. 

 

The memories of that day entirely dominated Gaon’s whole life and shook him to the core.

 

“There’s no way Father did that because he hates me. This is all… this is all… because of the King… no, because of that bastard.”

 

“If that’s so, if I kill the current King… will Father take me back in?”

 

Countless resentments and torment.

 

In the midst of it all, the blade of resentment he found could not bring itself to point at his own father until the very end.

 

Because even after being abandoned, he was merely a small child who just wanted to be loved.

 

And so, for many long years, he missed his father while deeply resenting the current King over and over again.

 

However.

 

‘Not anymore.’

 

The child version of himself that had been flickering before Gaon’s eyes vanished like scattering dust.