Chapter 70

A messenger from Glorious Flower Manor arrived two days later.

“Miss Bukgung Yoon, the Family Lord requests your presence.”

He had expected it. She had moved the Shadow Pursue Troops without the Family Lord’s permission.

She braced for a reprimand. Bukgung Yoon stood immediately and said, “Let’s go.”

“No. He has called for one more person.”

“Who?”

“The Family Lord wishes for the External Protection Troops Captain of Flying Swallow Manor to come with you.”

“…?”

“Captain Yeon. Don’t be nervous.”

“Yes.”

“The wounds were treated properly, right?”

“Yes.”

Chubby Yeon Mujin had returned to slim Yeon Mujin.

He couldn’t meet the Family Lord in such a pitiful state, so he tightly wrapped cloth beneath his uniform to keep the wounds from worsening.

“In front of the Family Lord you must be careful—very careful. Don’t stand with your hip cocked like usual, don’t fold your hands behind your back. Stand properly. The Family Lord won’t turn a blind eye to such slights.”

“Yes.”

“Choose your words carefully… No. Captain Yeon, just keep your mouth shut. I’ll answer alone. From your usual way of speaking, caution won’t help.”

“What’s wrong with the way I speak?”

“Captain Yeon’s way of speaking is a bit… free-spirited.”

Free-spirited? She’s insulting me right now, isn’t she?

“No matter what the Family Lord says, just nod and smile. Don’t give him any reason to criticize you with a single look or action. The Family Lord is that kind of person.”

“I suppose…”

The Bukgung Cheon Yeon Mujin knew was not that kind of man. If anything, he was the opposite. The family didn’t know their own members at all.

“Don’t worry about me and worry about the manor lord. Why do you think the Family Lord called you?”

“Probably because I moved the Shadow Pursue Troops. He’ll punish me for that, I suppose.”

“No. It won’t be because of that.”

“What?”

“If he intended to reprimand you, he wouldn’t have called me with you. He wouldn’t chastise the manor lord in front of me. Calling both the manor lord and me together means he has another motive.”

One of the most important duties of a head of house is preserving the leader’s dignity. Bukgung Cheon knew that well.

“Then why did he call?”

Bukgung Yoon naturally redirected the question.

“Well…”

Yeon Mujin already knew the answer. Wasn’t there only one reason Bukgung Cheon would call her and him together?

“How should I know? I’m not the Family Lord.”

He didn’t explain it to Bukgung Yoon. From here on, this wasn’t Yeon Mujin’s fight; it was Bukgung Yoon’s. No matter how perfect his answer might be, it wouldn’t be the right one. Only she held that.

The carriage passed through Glorious Flower Manor’s main gate and stopped before the Family Lord’s hall.

“Presenting Lady Bukgung Yoon.”

Unexpected faces stepped out to meet the carriage: Inner Hall Chief Seong Yu-geon of Glorious Flower Manor and Outer Hall Chief Yeom Su-gon.

Those two, like oil and water, rarely appeared together.

Only then did Bukgung Yoon realize this summons was not ordinary.

“Inner Hall Chief, Outer Hall Chief. My greetings.”

The chiefs bowed properly to Bukgung Yoon. Behind her trailed Yeon Mujin.

The Inner Hall Chief’s eyes gleamed at the famed External Protection Troops Captain, while the Outer Hall Chief looked at Yeon Mujin with the sour expression of someone who’d bitten a bug.

Yeom Su-gon had once mocked Yeon Mujin when he first applied to Flying Swallow Manor as a Bukgung Guard candidate. Now that time had passed and he was in the position of greeting that very man, Yeom Su-gon could not hide his displeasure.

“Glad to see you, twin chiefs.”

“Pleasure.”

“…”

“Is the Outer Affairs Chief unwell? Your expression looks off.”

“…I’m glad to see you too.”

“It’s been a while.”

“I see.”

“Thank you for the trouble of coming out to greet a rootless mongrel.”

The Inner Hall Chief and Bukgung Yoon tilted their heads at the remark.

“What do you mean by that?”

“No, no, cut the chatter and let’s go inside. The Family Lord is waiting.”

The Outer Affairs Chief hastily wrapped it up and led them in.

‘He has a good memory,’ Yeon Mujin thought. He never would have imagined the man remembered such a trivial insult.

“This is it.”

The twin chiefs stopped in front of a single door. A sign above read: Declaration Hall.

Yeon Mujin felt a private triumph. Bukgung Yoon didn’t seem to notice, but this was where Bukgung Cheon decided family affairs and proclaimed them to the retinue.

“Lady Bukgung Yoon, enter!”

At the Inner Chief’s call, the twin chiefs each grabbed a door and swung them open.

Family Lord Bukgung Cheon—the man who had put Yeon Mujin in this state—sat on the grand seat behind the curtain, waiting.

“Enter.”

Bukgung Cheon was not the strongest man in the world, nor the shrewdest schemer. But he had one ability he trusted above all: his eye for people.

Sitting as the head of the greatest family and meeting all sorts of human figures had honed that skill. He met Bukgung Yoon’s eyes.

Her gaze lifted defiantly as always, chin slightly raised, though she could not hide the tremor in her fingertips—anxiety mixed with anger, the tension of someone desperate to avoid fault. These were the emotions his youngest daughter usually showed.

Beside her stood her bodyguard.

‘Hmm?’

Observing Yeon Mujin, Bukgung Cheon felt intrigued. His bearing was polite, but his eyes betrayed other emotions: irritation, gladness, and… longing?

‘Longing?’

Who could feel longing for the head of the Bukgung Family? Who would feel irritation toward me—and even gladness?

He had seen countless faces, but never anyone with such feelings aimed at him.

‘As I heard, he’s a madman,’ Bukgung Cheon concluded.

“I’ve heard about the recent incident,” Bukgung Cheon began, addressing his daughter. “You’ve caused quite a commotion.”

Bukgung Yoon’s shoulders flinched.

“You didn’t just argue with your youngest elder brother—you escalated things considerably. You tried to strip him of his power, caused trouble, and even fought. Moreover, your brother lies in a coma, teetering between life and death. Do you know that?”

“…Yes, I know.”

“Has a belated adolescence come upon you? No matter how much you resent him, he’s your brother. He’s kin. Are you satisfied leaving him in that state? This is like cutting another’s belly to fill your own. How do you explain this?”

“…”

“Bukgung Yoon! You even abused the Shadow Pursue Troops privately to check your brother’s power? Did I raise you that way?”

The Family Lord thundered his rebuke. Bukgung Yoon couldn’t meet his eyes; she hung her head and her hands trembled.

Bukgung Cheon inwardly grimaced. If she shook at his words alone, she wasn’t the caliber he had expected. Where had the poise she’d shown in Supreme Harmony Hall gone? He felt utterly disappointed.

At that moment, an unexpected voice answered from an unlikely quarter: the supposed madman—no, Yeon Mujin.

“The Family Lord is speaking rather oddly.”

“What?” Bukgung Cheon’s brows shot up in surprise. If anyone else in the room had spoken like that, they’d be foaming at the mouth while scolding Yeon Mujin.

“You say she fought with her younger brother? No. If there was conflict, it was with the lord of Solitary Cloud Manor, not a sibling quarrel. Sixth Young Master is in a coma? So what of it? The attack was launched by Solitary Cloud Manor, and it was the group of commanders imprisoned in the dungeons who put the manor lord in that state. Flying Swallow Manor is not at fault. Nor is our Flying Swallow Manor Lord. If the Family Lord intends to reduce this to a domestic spat, he is completely mistaken.”

“I am mistaken?”

How many dared to tell the head of the Bukgung Family he was wrong?

“Yes, completely wrong. This isn’t a cute sibling squabble over toys. It’s a war for the Bukgung Family’s hegemony. Would someone of your standing fail to understand that? Do you have some perverse hobby of tormenting your daughter?”

With a few blunt words, Yeon Mujin shifted the heart of the matter—much like Bukgung Cheon himself would. According to him, Flying Swallow Manor Lord Bukgung Yoon had prevailed against Solitary Cloud Manor Lord Bukgung Bi-beom.

Though coarse in speech, Yeon Mujin did not falter under rebuke; he struck precisely at the point.

Moreover, his attitude—pointing out the head of the greatest family’s errors without fear—was unheard of. Bukgung Cheon could not recall anyone else daring such insolence.

“Then how do you explain the Shadow Pursue Troops? It is true the Flying Swallow Manor Lord privately used the troops to check the Lonely Claw Troops, isn’t it?”

Bukgung Cheon had already elevated ‘Bukgung Yoon’ to ‘Flying Swallow Manor Lord’ in his words.

Yeon Mujin lifted one corner of his mouth and smiled.

“Don’t talk rubbish. What private misuse? I think the troops reported that day too. Lonely Claw Troops’ leader Un Ji-kang was arrested for treason—for forging the Sixth Young Master’s corpse and smuggling out Solitary Cloud Manor’s lord. For daring to assault, threaten, and kidnap blood relatives of the Bukgung Family to carry out their schemes. Do you think the shadow squad leader would act without justification like some neighbor’s dog? If the Flying Swallow Manor Lord had such unchecked power, would Flying Swallow Manor have been called a ghost estate for so long?”

His accusation was scathing and precise. Both Bukgung Yoon and Bukgung Cheon were taken aback—one by his tone, the other by the justification in his words.

“…Captain Yeon!”

Bukgung Yoon turned sharply and shot Yeon Mujin an angry look—a warning to curb his rudeness before the Family Lord. Yeon Mujin, however, did not step back.

He lowered his voice and said to Bukgung Yoon, “Because the manor lord is like a blind fool, I had no choice but to speak up, right?”

“Even so, your words…!”

“Ah, I don’t know. I know nothing. What’s done is done. That’s why the manor lord should have handled it before I stepped in. Where is the one who said they’d answer alone? I thought I was to be a scarecrow.”

For a moment Bukgung Yoon wanted to slap Yeon Mujin—both for the time he’d grabbed her head before and for this insolent attitude.

Clack!

She extended and raised her right index finger.

“?”

Yeon Mujin didn’t understand what she meant. It wasn’t a signal—it was an attack.

Bukgung Yoon jabbed mercilessly at the white cloth wrapped over Yeon Mujin’s chest with her index finger.

“Owwwwwww!”

“That is the price for daring to challenge the Manor Lord’s authority.”

Only then did Bukgung Yoon feel a little relieved. She glanced at Bukgung Cheon, who snickered in disbelief, and spoke.

“Father, no, Family Lord.”

Before Bukgung Cheon could reply, Bukgung Yoon continued.

“I am not here as your daughter Bukgung Yoon, but as the Flying Swallow Manor Lord. I ask that the Family Lord afford me the respect that implies. If you intend to reproach me with slander and nonsense that do not match the facts—blaming me for things I did not do—then this young woman will take her leave.”