Chapter 2

I’m sorry. I’ve given up crying.

Seoyoung’s life was in danger and, to be honest, my throat got sore, so I couldn’t cry anymore.

After crying for 10 long days, I realized something.

The gloomy reality is that no matter how much I cry, the situation I’m in won’t change.

Being in the world of martial arts, being the daughter of Cheonma, an esteemed public figure, and being killed by the male lead. Nothing has changed.

‘I thought it was fate…….’

I thought I was finally compensated for my past lifetime of poverty and hardships.

So, even though I didn’t see my parents’ faces until I was 100 days old, I didn’t care.

I grew up as an orphan in my previous life, so I had no expectations of my new parents.

Furthermore, since I was blessed with someone like older sister Seoyoung next to me, I wasn’t lacking affection.

‘It was good back then…….’

With the knowledge that I’m inside the den of the villain of the world of martial arts, my room, which used to be the most comfortable in the world, now made me uneasy.

The protagonist of this novel is Yeon.

He was kidnapped by Cheonma at the age of three, raised to be a (sociopath) strong and powerful leader, before escaping at the age of 23.

Through various achievements, he will then become a typical martial arts hero who plays a role in the series five years later when he becomes a great high-ranking official.

The reason Yeon was able to beat the villain, Cheonma, was because he got help from the Murim-in.

The Murim-in has long been unable to bury the world of martial arts and Cheonma away from the public.

TN: So, at this point, I think it would be good to tell you, the readers, a bit of background information about “murim”, or “moorim”, as it’s pretty important in order to understand the story and not everyone may know about it. You can google it yourself if you want to learn more, but I will try to explain as best I can here.

From what I’ve gathered, Murim is a sort of trope some Korean manhwas and novels use. It’s a world “hidden” away from the general public, co-existing within the real world, sort of like in Harry Potter, but in this case it’s more specifically a sort of underground world of martial arts, set in some unspecified Chinese historical setting. The people within this world can be inhumanly strong and are also divided into two different factions, where it’s good vs. evil.

Murim-in refers to people who are part of this underground world.

Now, I’m no expert in these types of stories so I apologise in advance if I get something wrong or confused. I’ll try my best not to. Sorry for this awfully long TN but I feel it was important to bring up. Anyway, back to the story.

Yeon seized the opportunity and removed the evil Cheonma from the public eye.

It was at that time that I, Chun Lihua, was killed by him.

23 years old, the age were one fully blooms.

That said, I can’t just hate Yeon.

For him, he just took out his revenge on Cheonma, his parent’s murderer.

And of course, if Chun Lihua had been nice, she would not have died so brutally.

She regarded human life the same as that of a fly, and didn’t treat those of lower position or rank like people.

As a wicked woman, a villain who hates even villains, no one helped her when she died at the hands of Yeon.

But that doesn’t mean that Yeon likes me right now.

I wasn’t even a year old, yet he already hated me.

It’s because he remembers being kidnapped by Cheonma when he was three.

What does a three-year old know? I wondered. But then again, he was a genius who even remembers what he was doing while he was naked in his mother’s belly.

Since I’m the daughter of the enemy, I’m in a terrible situation.

‘When I read it, Chun Lihua’s death, I thought nothing much of it. Now, I wonder when I’m going to die…….’

But it’s different now that it’s my job, now that I’m Chun Lihua, because I’m different.

After all, I’ve been crying for ten days, now I have to figure out how to live in earnest.

I can’t die like this.

***

“……You’re not crying today.”

It’s too hard, I’m too tired to cry.

I quit yesterday because I thought I smelled blood coming from my throat and I feared I would develop a fever.

But, just because I stopped crying doesn’t mean I welcome Cheonma.

I simply just came to the conclusion that it is pointless to waste my time crying.

“Hmm…….”

I’ve always been crying, but now that I’ve stopped I was left amazed. Rather than stop coming, Cheonma was observing me carefully.

Go, you’re burdensome, so can you turn your face away?

With my mouth tightly shut, I blew out air, filling my mouth. This way, it will make it so the saliva pours out like a fountain.

“Ubufu!”

A massive amount of saliva shot from my mouth and soaked Cheonma’s face.

Seoyoung, who had been watching us happily close-by, became surprised and approached.

“My Lord! Are you alright?”

“……Mmm.”

Hmm, mmm, die. Are those the only words you know?

With that kind of personality, I don’t know how he got into a relationship or had a child.

“Here you go.”

Cheonma accepted the handkerchief that Seoyoung brought to him.

Then, after wiping away the saliva, he began looking at my face again.

He wasn’t afraid of my attack at all, in fact, he appeared to be standing a bit closer than before.

Oh, am I so interesting? Is it exciting to look? Yeah, look, look.

I’m a bit embarrassed to say this myself, but I look kind of pretty.

The big eyes, cute and dainty nose, and plump lips were cute even to me.

Especially if I half-close my eyes into half-moons and smile brightly, Seoyoung will go all soft and melt.

And I’m not misunderstanding since it’s not just her either, the older sisters who clean my room are also like that.

But Cheonma wasn’t looking at me because I was pretty. I mean, didn’t it seem more like he observed me like some specimen in an experiment?

The feeling of being observed with cold, uncaring eyes which lacked any admiration was really dirty. I’m not a monster.

‘It’s frustrating.’

The reason I feel frustrated is…… look at this.

“Abu!”

I reached my hand out to Cheonma. He easily avoided it despite it being such an unexpected attack.1

He didn’t even avoid it discreetly. He just did it as if it had been nothing.

It’s not like you’ll get sick if you touch my hand.

Then, narrowing his eyes, he stared at me. I don’t know why you’re suddenly doing something you haven’t done before.

TN: Weird, I could’ve sworn he’s been staring at her for the entire chapter? ;¯_(ツ)_/¯

That’s why it’s frustrating.

Going the classical route of bringing the father, who is not interested in his daughter, over to your side by making him soften through childcare and parenting does not seem to be working when it comes to Cheonma.

Even dogs are at least a bit more like humans, aren’t they? They are not emotionless monsters like Cheonma.

‘It’s my destiny.’

Actually, I didn’t have a great plan.

There’s no way to do it right now, so for now I’m going to make a little fuss for the most powerful man in the country.

That way, you won’t be able to tell what I’m doing, right?

In the original story, Chun Lihua never learned martial arts because she hated becoming dirty and sweaty from all the work, but I am different.

Even if I have to roll and roll on the ground so much to the point I can no longer recognize the colour of my face, even if my body starts smelling pungent all over, I’m definitely going to learn martial arts.

That way, I’ll be able to survive even if I decide to run away.

If a woman is to live alone in the middle of Jungwon, her ability to protect her body is important.

TN: Jungwon might refer to the former name of Chungju, in North Chungcheong, South Korea when it was a sub-capital during the United Silla dynasty, meaning the story takes place around that time.

Yes. I intend to escape from this villain’s den.

I’m going to run to the ends of the earth. You’re not going to chase after me all the way there, are you?

I’ll hide myself in a rural village, waiting for Yeon to defeat the villain. Until the original story is over.

The problem was Cheonma. I wasn’t confident that I could win in a fight of martial arts against that cold-blooded, ruthless man, much less get him to teach me.

Look at that stern expression. You could break rocks with that hard-looking face.

I turned my head away while Cheonma stared at me.

Let’s aptly give up and try to target someone else.

Of course, no one likes me, but I’m still the daughter of your leader, so won’t you teach me?

Then, the door opened and someone came in.

‘Ugh!’

Before I even checked who it was, I could tell that it was the first person I ever saw.

Out of all people I’ve met so far, no one else has had such a strong scent.

‘Who is this lady?’

Wearing crimson red dress robes with her bright hair done up, she was a beautiful woman with lips painted red.

“Master, you’re here.”

She laughed coquettishly. She covered her mouth with her fingertips and looked at me with a light smile. She was so seductive that it was hard to take your eyes off of her.

However, Cheonma did not look at her, far from it. Instead of staring, he acted as if there was no one there at all.

The woman’s smile hardened for a brief moment, perhaps because her pride had been hurt. Then, she smiled even more splendidly, as if she’d never smiled so brightly before.

“I heard you’ve been visiting our daughter lately. Since I’ve become a mother now I’m so sorry for my daughter, because I’m sick I can’t even move my weak body for her. So, thanks to the nanny I’m a little embarrassed. But, thank you very much.”

‘Huh? Is that my mom?’

Was there ever anything about Chun Lihua’s mother in the original story?

As far as I remember, Chun Lihua never missed or mentioned her mother.

From the beginning, Chun Lihua’s mother was not with her father’s, Cheonma’s, family, so I thought she was dead.

But what is this, you’re still alive?

She came up to me and picked me up without permission.

“My daughter, how much have you missed your mother? You’ve been very patient.”

Ugh, the smell of perfume!

Ajumma, please get away from me!

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She just gave me a smile and forced me to embrace her as she squeezed me. I clenched my teeth together, my jaw muscles tightening so that it was visibly protruding.

Hey! I’m not such an easy baby! Are you trying to play the role of a parent when you’re showing up now all of a sudden?

It was then.

I felt a sting in my side, as if I had been stabbed by a skewer.