In an instant, every gaze in the main hall turned toward the pill resting in my palm.
“You…?”
Grandfather’s eyes narrowed. I quietly nodded.
Watching this, Yeon So-taek’s expression twisted.
The Yeon Hwi-cheon whom he had raised as his successor had not prepared anything for Grandfather’s return after such a long absence. On top of that, he had only managed to reveal his lack of skill despite being given the chance to examine precious medicinal ingredients.
He must have been furious enough to lose his mind.
“Father, what could Ryeong-hwa possibly know about making medicinal pills? It’s nothing more than a child’s game. So…”
“Silence.”
Yeon Baek-yu cut him off and slowly picked up the pill.
First, he smelled it. Then he crumbled off a small portion with his fingertips.
The moment he touched the powder to the tip of his tongue, his eyes flickered ever so slightly.
“This…”
His voice dropped into an even more serious tone.
“Did you truly make this yourself?”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“How could a child who has done nothing but be sick in bed possibly…”
I did not avert my gaze even once.
“The main ingredients in the pill I made are astragalus and Seolhoncho. I used thirty percent of each, and added ten percent licorice.”
After taking a brief breath, I continued.
“And finally, I added just a little Hyeonryeong root.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the restless atmosphere in the main hall fell silent as though someone had poured cold water over it.
“Don’t lie! How could you have obtained such precious medicinal ingredients in the first place?!”
Yeon So-taek was the first to step forward, raising his voice.
“Enough.”
But Yeon Baek-yu immediately cut him off.
“Father, this is not something we can dismiss lightly. Regardless of how young she is, she must not lie about medicine.”
“It is not a lie.”
At Yeon Baek-yu’s answer, Yeon So-taek froze.
Yeon Baek-yu slowly raised his head.
Unconcealed admiration was visible in his eyes.
“This pill has the same effects as the decoction I made.”
The moment Grandfather said those words, I inwardly cheered.
‘I did it…!’
In my previous life, I had tasted that decoction.
Its name was Blood-Warming Decoction.
Grandfather had newly developed it, though he had probably not revealed that fact to anyone yet.
Later, after Father returned, Grandfather had given me the Blood-Warming Decoction to try.
It could not completely cure my illness, but my condition noticeably improved for a while.
After that, I immediately began studying the decoction.
I analyzed its effects and experimented with various combinations of medicinal ingredients until I finally succeeded in recreating the same effects in the form of a pill.
‘This will be the first step toward showing them what I can do and earning their trust.’
I swallowed nervously and clenched my fist tightly.
Grandfather examined the pill as though he still could not believe it, then asked,
“How did you make this? It cannot have been written in any medical text.”
I fell silent for a moment.
I had spent a long time thinking about how I should answer that question.
And I had come to one conclusion.
I would not reveal everything yet. I would hide what needed to be hidden and reveal only what needed to be revealed.
Throb.
Just then, pain spread from the wound that had been treated moments ago. I clasped my injured hand as though trying to hold on to the sensation.
Then I spoke quietly.
“Because… I wanted to live.”
Everyone seemed to freeze at my words, which I had forced myself to say while suppressing my emotions.
To the people of the Yakryeong family who had given up on me and regarded me as nothing more than a burden that would soon be discarded, I spoke clearly.
“I wanted to live, so I studied by myself… And then I happened to make it.”
I was telling them that I was still alive.
“You mean you created a new medicine all by yourself?”
“Yes. I had a disease that could not be treated with existing medicines. I thought I had to try something, anything.”
Grandfather’s gaze wavered for a moment.
His lips moved as though he wanted to say something.
But in the end, he closed his mouth without saying a word.
‘I don’t know what he was going to say…’
But at least I was certain that he had not simply dismissed my words.
“And…”
I was about to tell him the real reason I had made the pill and came all the way here.
But at that moment, my vision began to sway as though on cue.
‘Huh?’
The floor seemed to ripple, and everything around me began to tilt.
‘Don’t tell me…’
I tightly clenched my cold fingertips.
‘The medicine is already wearing off…?’
What I had taken was merely a temporary treatment made from whatever medicinal ingredients I could obtain immediately.
Since it was still incomplete, its effects were bound to be weak.
But because I had pushed my body especially hard today, it seemed the effects had worn off much sooner than usual.
‘No. If I collapse now…’
There were still things I needed to tell Grandfather.
Whoosh.
The world spun around me.
“Ryeong-hwa !”
That couldn’t be right, yet I heard Grandfather calling my name as though it were a hallucination.
Then I vaguely saw Yeon So-taek and Yeon Hwi-cheon rushing toward me.
“Lady!”
“Lady Ryeong-hwa has collapsed!”
“Family Head!”
I felt Grandfather catch my collapsing body and hurriedly check my pulse.
And then, my consciousness abruptly went dark.
***
How much time had passed?
I gradually began to regain sensation, starting from my numb fingertips, and suddenly opened my eyes.
“Cough!”
As always, the familiar pain returned.
My chest felt tightly constricted, followed by shortness of breath and a fit of coughing. My head also throbbed as though it were about to split open.
After barely catching my breath, I looked around.
It was definitely my room, but it looked noticeably different from usual.
The bedding spread across the floor had been replaced with something soft and thick, and the entire room had been thoroughly cleaned, not a single piece of porcelain left lying around.
The stale smell was gone, as though the room had been aired out, and a faint herbal fragrance lingered in the air.
‘This room was always damp and stuffy, but now it’s even warm…’
I raised my head toward the gentle sunlight filtering through the paper windows.
And then I noticed a steaming bowl of porridge placed beside my pillow.
I thought for a moment about where all these changes had come from, then soon nodded when I came to a likely conclusion.
‘They’re doing this to fool Grandfather.’
Until now, Grandfather had never personally visited my room because of my uncle’s interference.
But after witnessing me collapse right in front of him, there was no doubt he would be paying attention to me.
My uncle must have hurriedly taken measures, thinking that Grandfather might investigate.
‘Even if only a little… this time, did I actually change something?’
I let out a small sigh of relief.
‘Still, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt this kind of warmth.’
I carefully wrapped both hands around the bowl.
The warmth spreading through my palms and the savory aroma naturally stirred my appetite. With my weak hands, I barely managed to lift the spoon and bring the porridge to my mouth.
I had taken only two or three spoonfuls, warming my stomach, when—
BANG!
Someone recklessly flung open the door.
A gust of wind rushed inside, instantly disturbing the peaceful air of the room.
“Lady!”
The uninvited visitor was none other than Hong-dan.
“You’re finally awake.”
She stormed inside, looking furious, then planted both hands on her waist and glared down at me.
“I heard you recklessly left your room and went all the way to the main hall?”
Hong-dan raised her voice and, as though taking out her frustration on the room, flung the window open as well.
“Why on earth would you do something like that? No, where did you even get the strength to go that far? You could barely walk around your own room…”
As the wind blew in, I shrank my shoulders.
Then I looked up at her with cold, steady eyes.
“Do you have any idea how nervous everyone was because you caught the Family Head’s attention? They were worried he might come visit the detached residence.”
“So?”
“Ha! So? Lady, do you know your place?!”
Hong-dan shook her head as though my question were utterly ridiculous.
“After bringing the family to this state, did you really have the nerve to go all the way there?”
I watched Hong-dan as she pursed her lips and looked down on me.
Then I slowly shifted my gaze toward the window.
And in that instant, I froze.
‘That person…’
Heo Jin-byeok.
The people of the Yakryeong family did not know who he was yet, but I did.
He was Grandfather’s closest aide, recruited from outside the family, and the second-most skilled martial artist in the Yakryeong family after Father.
But why had someone like him come all the way to the detached residence—a place he had never once visited in my previous lives?
‘Could it be that Grandfather… realized my wound wasn’t simply the result of an accident?’
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