It was at that very moment that I unconsciously tightened my grip.
“Kyuu……”
The otter gazed at me pitifully with its moist eyes.
“Ah…….”
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t tempted. But this was something it had found first.
I held the Hyeonryeong Root out to the otter just as it was.
“……It’s yours.”
“Kyuu?”
The otter’s eyes widened as it carefully accepted the Hyeonryeong Root into its paws.
Even then, it stared intently at me for a while before toddling toward me once more.
Tap.
The otter placed the Hyeonryeong Root on my lap and gently swished its tail from side to side.
“……?”
“Gwoong!”
At that moment, a clear and melodious voice rang distinctly inside my head.
-Thank you.
“What?!”
I looked around in surprise, but there was no one inside the storage room.
“What? Where did that come from…?”
Meanwhile, the otter dashed away on its short legs and slipped through the gap beneath the window.
Before I even had a chance to grab it, it had already vanished in an instant.
All that remained inside the storage room was the strong medicinal scent and the high-grade Hyeonryeong Root it had left behind.
I was bewildered, unable to understand what had happened, but either way, this was an incredibly fortunate thing for me.
I tightly gripped the Hyeonryeong Root in my hand, my eyes shining.
‘Good. I’m going to try it.’
***
One hour later.
Patter patter patter.
I tucked the things I had hurriedly prepared into my clothes and hurried along, urging my short legs forward.
After returning to the body of a seven-year-old, my stride was so small that it took much longer to get around than I had expected.
‘I have to hurry. Before the medicine wears off.’
The effects of the medicine lasted only three shijin (six hours).
If I delayed any longer, my physical condition would rapidly deteriorate.
‘I’m here!’
“Whew……!”
I bent over with both hands on my knees, breathing heavily.
A long blue-tiled roof stretched before me, with jade-colored beams supporting it from beneath.
The grandest and most magnificent building standing at the center of the Yakryeong family loomed before me.
It was the main hall where the family head resided.
Perhaps because Grandfather had returned after such a long time, the main hall was already bustling with people.
Servants and physicians, as well as members who had come from the collateral branches, had gathered in groups of two and three, all waiting for one person.
Yeon Baek-yu, the family head of Yakryeong and said to be the greatest physician of his generation.
Today was the day the entire family had gathered to celebrate the family head’s return.
And I was someone who had no business being here.
Because I was the very root of all the misfortunes that had befallen the family.
“Huh? Young Lady Ryeonghwa?”
“I heard the young lady can’t even get out of bed.”
“My goodness, how did she even get here…….”
“What nerve does she have coming here?”
As I walked forward without hesitation, the gazes of several people immediately turned toward me.
Their eyes were filled with surprise, displeasure, and undisguised disgust.
Terminally ill. Defective. The culprit who had brought down the family. A burden.
Because it was the first time someone like me had come to the main hall on my own two feet.
Just as I was about to cross the main hall’s entrance, a large shadow suddenly blocked my path.
It was a fairly large middle-aged man wearing a gray robe.
Yu Jin-bok, the Chief Steward of the Inner Hall, who oversaw the affairs of the Yakryeong family.
With his arms crossed, he looked down at me and spoke in a low, intimidating voice.
“Young Lady.”
Even when facing a direct descendant of the family, he did not bow his head even once.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of warmth in his voice as he addressed me.
“You are not even in good health…… What brings you here?”
He slightly narrowed his eyes.
Apparently, he found it strange that I, who had been called a walking corpse, had appeared here perfectly well on my own two feet.
But I had no intention of satisfying his curiosity.
“I don’t think I have any obligation to explain that to you.”
I said coldly and gave him a look that clearly told him to move aside, causing the Chief Steward’s expression to turn even colder.
“This is not a place for you to enter, Young Lady.”
But I didn’t retreat even a single step and instead raised my chin.
“I came to see Grandfather.”
The steward’s eyebrows twitched faintly.
“Today is an event to welcome the family head’s return. At present, the family head is meeting with the young master before the event. Since your health is poor, we were ordered to exclude you from the event.”
His attitude was as though he were simply stating an obvious fact.
As if my lack of qualification to enter the main hall had long since been established as one of the Yakryeong family’s rules.
The reason he was treating me this way was obvious.
My uncle, Yeon So-taek.
I only learned it in my previous life, but every time Grandfather returned, he deliberately reduced the amount of medicine I was given, worsening my condition on purpose.
Whenever the family events ended, Grandfather would always visit my quarters.
But every single time, I was so seriously ill that I couldn’t even remain conscious.
There was no way I could have retained a proper memory of facing Grandfather.
Then, one night in my previous life.
I happened to overhear something.
“Her symptoms worsen if she comes into contact with outsiders, Father.”
“Since we cannot determine what kind of illness it is or its cause, it would be best to eliminate as many risk factors as possible.”
“For now, all we can do is preserve her strength.”
Yeon So-taek had been using plausible-sounding words to drive a wedge between Grandfather and me.
And so, Grandfather gradually stopped coming to see me.
Even on the one day a year when he returned.
I became known as someone who had completely fallen out of the family head’s favor, and the people of the family began treating me even more harshly, as though they had been waiting for it.
Of course, I had no intention of quietly taking it this time either.
I slowly raised my hand.
Although the blood had partially dried, it was clearly a wound to anyone who looked at it.
“I need urgent treatment.”
“Young Lady, that…….”
“The patient comes first.”
I raised my eyes and put strength into my voice.
Because I had caught a glimpse of my grandfather emerging from inside the main hall.
“Are you planning to violate the absolute rule of the Yakryeong family?”
The atmosphere around us changed instantly.
The steward’s tightly pressed lips trembled faintly, and a small murmur spread among the servants.
I deliberately clenched my fist tightly.
The wound scratched by the fragments of the Evil Energy shattered relic split open again, and red blood gathered into droplets.
Ignoring a patient who was bleeding.
That was something directly contrary to the principles of the Yakryeong family.
The rotten Uncle and his people might do such a thing, but Grandfather was an extreme stickler for principles. There was no way he would be unaware of that rule.
The steward’s eyes wavered.
“…Young Lady, I will have a servant attend to your wound and treat you.”
“The main hall is the closest place, and Grandfather is inside. Why should I do that?”
“……!”
“Open the way so I can go to Grandfather immediately.”
I tried to speak as clearly and calmly as possible.
That was when it happened.
“Good grief, you’re making quite a racket.”
A voice as cold as a blade rang through the main hall.
The steward, along with the people who had been surrounding me and whispering among themselves, turned around in surprise.
An old man with a long white beard stood before the main hall.
Even with nothing but his fierce face and piercing green eyes, he was a figure who overwhelmed everyone around him.
At the sight of the family head who had appeared without making a sound, the atmosphere instantly froze.
Everyone bowed their heads at once.
Yeon Baek-yu.
My grandfather, and the family head of Yakryeong.
He was a man known as the greatest physician in the Tianming Kingdom of his generation.
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