Chapter 136

A little while later, I was promptly led to my father’s study.

Until the other warriors had left, my father had maintained his usual stern expression as he looked at me. But the moment the door closed behind everyone, his face softened, overwhelmed with emotion, and he stepped toward me.

“Jina! You’ve returned safely! You’re really back! Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Tears welled up in his eyes as he embraced me tightly—a side of him I had never seen in all my years, not even once.

No, I hadn’t even dared to imagine it.

To be welcomed home like this, to be held by my father with such a look on his face…

A sudden warmth surged up in my chest.

What was more, my father wasn’t moved by how thin I’d become, but simply by the fact that I had come back alive.

Unlike the many members of the Sunwoo clan I’d met on the way here.

All of them had been shocked by how much weight I’d lost, but none had shown any real joy that I had returned.

Seeing my father genuinely happy to have me back made me feel, for the first time, that I was truly home.

He held me close for a long moment, repeatedly thanking me, before gently brushing his hand over my face.

“You’ve lost so much weight. You’re so thin now. You must have suffered terribly…”

Though losing weight was expected of a warrior, my father’s first thought was of the hardships I must have endured.

His eyes, full of pity, made my heart ache again.

But I forced a smile and said, “No, Father. I met good people, learned a lot, and grew stronger. I lost weight on purpose to become a better warrior—I didn’t suffer as much as you think.”

“Is that so? Well, if that’s true, then I’m relieved. You’ve been through a lot.”

He said this, then suddenly his gaze grew distant and wistful as he murmured,

“Now that you’ve lost weight… you look just like your mother.”

As he slowly examined my face, his eyes held a deep, sorrowful tenderness—as if he were looking at someone else entirely.

Unable to hold back, I blurted out, “Father, why did Mother die?”

His eyes trembled violently for a moment before freezing in place.

He struggled to speak.

“Jina, that is…”

But when he saw the seriousness in my eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to say more.

And in that silence, I knew for certain.

“It was because of Great-Aunt and Second Mother, wasn’t it?”

At my words, spoken with certainty, my father squeezed his eyes shut.

After a moment, he opened them again and spoke gently, as if trying to reason with me.

“No, Jina. Your mother… she was just—”

But I shook my head firmly.

“Father, I’m living a life on the front lines where I could die at any moment. I was lucky to get leave and come home now, but I can’t promise there will be a next time. So please, tell me the truth. Don’t let me die without knowing the truth about Mother’s death.”

It was a bold move.

To speak of death before my father—I was surely being unfilial.

But I had to hear the whole story, no matter what.

My father couldn’t continue.

He moved his lips for a long time, then finally, with weary eyes, he said,

“…It’s my fault. All of it is my fault. Back then, I should have let her go. But I couldn’t give up on the family or on her, and that’s what led to everything.”

What followed was exactly as I had expected.

Great-Aunt and Second Mother tormented my mother mercilessly, and unable to endure it, she grew weak and eventually passed away.

After he finished, we sat in silence for a while.

Then, with a heavy expression, my father asked me,

“Do you want revenge?”

There was something in his tone that made me feel he would simply nod if I said yes.

But I shook my head.

“I think I’m beginning to understand the burden you’ve carried in protecting the Sunwoo clan. I can’t now say I want to destroy everything you’ve worked so hard to preserve.”

My father looked at me with surprise—clearly not expecting that answer.

But I wasn’t finished.

With eyes blazing like a wild beast, I continued,

“However! If there are those who threaten the Sunwoo clan you’ve fought so hard to protect, shouldn’t we cut them out without mercy?”

Seeing his puzzled look, I told him what Hao Moon’s Deputy Director Yibin had said.

“When I asked about the Sunwoo clan at Hao Moon, they said it’s like a scale barely balanced by the clan head, Sunwoo Joong. If the weight tips even slightly, the whole thing will collapse.”

My father stared at me, shocked, then let out a heavy sigh.

“They see us, the Sunwoo clan, like that? The world’s gaze is so sharp. It’s all… my fault.”

His sigh was thick with exhaustion and self-reproach.

Despite all the sacrifices made to protect the clan, it had become nothing more than a pawn to outside forces.

But I hadn’t said any of this to blame him.

Shaking my head, I spoke gently, as if to comfort him.

“I’ve heard the circumstances. Without outside help, you couldn’t have held on. I think that decision was wise. It’s just that now, after we’ve regained strength, there are still those who need to be removed.”

“…Remove them. Yes, that’s right. I should have done that… but now it’s too late.”

I smiled faintly.

“No, Father. It’s not too late at all. In fact, now might be the perfect time.”

My confidence made him look at me with curiosity.

I grinned and said,

“Would you like to hear what I have to say?”

As he listened, the light in his eyes grew clearer and brighter.

---

The Sunwoo family had been suddenly summoned by the clan head, Sunwoo Joong.

The message was simple: come together for dinner.

On the way back to the main hall, the Sunwoo siblings met with disgruntled expressions.

“What’s all this about? Dinner together? What’s gotten into him all of a sudden?” the eldest, Sunwoo Seong, grumbled.

The second brother, Sunwoo Hyuk, shrugged in agreement.

“Like you don’t know. I can’t even remember the last time we all ate together.”

Then the fourth brother, Sunwoo Gi, chimed in.

“Could it be because the ‘pig’ has returned? I heard he got leave from the front lines.”

At that, the two older brothers frowned.

“Pig? You mean Jina?”

“What? The third brother came back alive? That can’t be true.”

Sunwoo Gi shrugged.

“Believe it or not, it’s true. He’s lost so much weight he looks like a different person.”

“Wow, that’s something I never imagined.”

“Yeah, the front lines are more disappointing than I thought.”

At that moment, their fifth sister, Sunwoo Yeonha, overheard and suddenly stopped in her tracks, her face pale.

The eldest brother noticed and asked,

“Yeonha, why do you look so unwell?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing. I just don’t feel well today…”

Of all of them, she was the most shaken by Sunwoo Jin’s safe return.

But the others had no idea.

The fourth brother approached her with concern.

“Yeonha, are you feeling sick? Have you taken any medicine?”

She smiled faintly, cheeks flushed.

“No, Brother Gi. You don’t have to worry so much…”

Just then, a clear voice rang out.

“Looks like everyone’s been called by the clan head.”

Like the sound of jade beads rolling, the voice was pure and clear.

The three brothers turned sharply toward the speaker.

And all three exclaimed in unison,

“Je, Jegal Sojeo?!”

Standing before them was a woman dressed in sky-blue robes, radiantly beautiful and dignified, as if descended from the heavens—Jegal Seoyul, the cherished jewel of the Jegal family’s Heavenly Sword Peak.

At her appearance, the three brothers brightened and rushed to greet her.

Even Sunwoo Gi, who had been worrying about Yeonha, joined in.

“Sojeo! It’s been a while since you’ve been out!”

“Sojeo! You look stunning as always!”

“Sojeo, are you joining us for dinner tonight?”

Though the attention from these grown men might have been overwhelming, Jegal Seoyul smiled faintly, as if accustomed to it, and replied,

“The Sunwoo clan head invited both me and my uncle to dinner. We’re on our way to the main hall now.”

Behind her, the Jegal family elder, Jegal Jiyong, cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Despite being a senior by far, he was standing right beside them, yet the three brothers kept rushing only toward Jegal Seoyul as if he were invisible. That rubbed Jegal Seoyul the wrong way.

Only then did the three brothers, who had truly ignored him until now, awkwardly greet him.

“Oh, Jegal Daehyup, you’re here too?”

“Greetings, Jegal Daehyup.”

“Greetings, Jegal Daehyup.”

Their greetings were anything but sincere, but Jegal Jiyong merely nodded slightly, clearly reluctant.

Watching this with a faint smile, Jegal Seoyul suddenly asked them, “By the way, what’s the occasion? Why did the head of the Sunwoo family invite all of us to this meal?”

Sunwoo Gi quickly answered, “Probably because, well, the third brother just returned from the front lines.”

“What? The third brother…?”

At that moment, Sunwoo Seong, who had been cut off by Sunwoo Gi, hurriedly jumped in.

“You mean the one we used to spar with, the big guy who knocked Gi out?”

“That’s right! He knocked Gi out and then collapsed himself. It was hilarious. Right, Gi?”

Their attempts to belittle Sunwoo Gi in front of Jegal Seoyul made Sunwoo Gi’s face flush with anger, while Jegal Seoyul quietly sighed in disappointment.

Watching the whole scene with eyes burning with hatred was Sunwoo Yeonha, who had been treated like she didn’t exist ever since Jegal Seoyul arrived.

Her clenched fists trembled as she glared at them.

“Jegal Seoyul, I will never, ever forgive you!”

But Jegal Seoyul, the target of her hatred, glanced at her with a calm, confident smile.

To him, the hatred of a young girl like Sunwoo Yeonha—just the fifth child of the Sunwoo family—was nothing but a joke.

He tolerated her only because he still needed something from the Sunwoo family. Once that was settled, he was confident he’d make sure she’d never dare look at him like that again.

And that wasn’t all.

He had no intention of ever speaking to those pathetic men of the Sunwoo family again.

“Yes, once that matter is resolved.”

But that matter showed no sign of being resolved anytime soon.

Jegal Seoyul smiled politely at the Sunwoo brothers while gritting his teeth inside.

“The Sunwoo Thirteen Swords… I have to find a way.”

The reason she had returned to the Sunwoo family after training with many martial artists was because of the Sunwoo Thirteen Swords.

The Jegal family lacked a martial art worthy of representing their clan.

Though they excelled in formations, mechanisms, and military strategy, they were notably deficient in a martial art that could stand out in the martial world.

This was a long-standing shame for the Jegal family and the very reason they were barred from joining the Five Great Families.

So, when the clan head Jegal Jikang saw Jegal Seoyul—a rare martial prodigy in their history—he resolved that she must acquire an outstanding martial art, if only for her sake.

It was for this reason that Jegal Seoyul had traveled extensively, sparring with many martial families using the connections of Jegal Jikang, a military officer in the Martial Alliance.

She sought to acquire exceptional martial techniques.

And the technique that caught her eye was the Sunwoo Thirteen Swords.

“I welcome you, Jegal Daehyup, and Lady Jegal.”

Jegal Seoyul recalled the rare bright smile of Sunwoo Jung, the head of the Sunwoo family, as he greeted them at the main hall.

Eight months ago, when she was about to leave the main house, disappointed by the poor skills of the Sunwoo brothers, Sunwoo Jung had personally demonstrated the Sunwoo Thirteen Swords as an apology for his sons’ shortcomings.

He had lightly performed the forms his sons couldn’t execute properly, almost like a dance.

And it was…

“Absolutely breathtaking. Almost mystical.”

It was impressive enough that he flawlessly performed the first to third forms in sequence, which his sons had struggled with.

But the final form he briefly showed—the “Phantom Sword Mirror”—was truly…

That dazzling phantom sword technique completely captivated Jegal Seoyul’s heart.

At that moment, she made up her mind.

This was it.

This was the sword technique the Jegal family needed.

But when Jegal Jiyong cautiously suggested, “We’d be willing to pay any price if you’d teach us the Sunwoo Thirteen Swords,” Sunwoo Jung only smiled and replied,

“If Lady Jegal becomes a daughter-in-law of the Sunwoo family, then perhaps I might teach her.”

Though politely phrased, it was an absolute refusal.

For the Jegal family’s precious gem and the martial world’s phoenix, Jegal Seoyul, to become the daughter-in-law of the relatively minor Sunwoo family was unthinkable.

Swallowing her disappointment, Jegal Seoyul had no choice but to leave the Sunwoo family then.

But months later, she had to return.

No other sword technique could satisfy her eyes.

And now, they were prepared to use any underhanded means.

First, they would try to persuade Sunwoo Jung, but if he remained stubborn, they’d try to convince his heir—or, failing that, recruit the sons who had lost out in the succession battle.

That was their plan.