Youngest Daughter of the Ultimate Martial Master Namgung Family

Chapter 6

Heeran heard what sounded like a baby’s babbling. She tried hard to open her tightly shut eyes. But it didn’t work out as she expected.

When she felt her anxiety rising, she immediately pushed the panic aside and regained her composure. After the fall of the Namgung Family, she had been successful in her revenge in the midst of hopeless despair. That spite and strength hadn’t gone anywhere.

Heeran quickly tried to grasp the current situation.

First off, this isn’t the Blood Church.

If those b*stards had caught her, she would’ve been greeted by the musty smell and cold moisture of a basement dungeon. Instead, she felt warm and cozy.

I cut off the Blood Church Successor’s arm.

They would repay their enemy not with grace, but with blood—she was sure of that. But nothing like that had happened to her, so she was sure she wasn’t in their hands.

Then where am I?

Heeran’s nickname was the Sword Ghost. She was like a specter, possessed by a sword that thirsted for revenge. Befitting of this nickname, she had lived without showing the slightest interest in anything else.

Furthermore, her wound had been so obviously fatal that she’d thought she would surely die, even if the great Chinese physician Hua Tuo had treated her. Heeran had been injured enough times to know this.

I need to open my eyes first.

Then, whatever this situation was would become clearer. Along with the nonsense that had come out of her mouth.

It doesn’t feel like there’s killing intent in my surroundings. Wait... where’s my inner force?

Heeran had been about to utilize her inner force as she had always done, but when she felt nothing, her heart sank heavily.

It’s gone?! My inner force is gone? None of it is left?

A martial artist used their inner force as naturally as breathing. But Heeran couldn’t feel any at all.

Heeran was so taken aback and surprised that her eyes finally snapped open. She quickly looked around.

The first thing she saw was an ornate ceiling that looked like it was part of a wealthy family home. Her eyes flickered back and forth. Because of the position she was in, she could only see the ceiling and what looked like a fence surrounding her.

If I want to look around properly, I have to get up first.

It seemed like nobody was around. Heeran put strength into her body and tried to get up.

But...

What the...? Why can’t I move? Have they tied me up?

It didn’t feel that way. Heeran frowned and wriggled her hands and feet.

Huh?

She stopped moving for a moment at the sight before her eyes. At the same instant, a baby’s chubby little hand also stopped moving.

No way.

Heeran trembled at the absurd thought that passed through her mind. Then, once again, she put strength into her hand and saw the cute little baby hand clenching into a fist.

No, it must be a coincidence.

This time, she relaxed her hand. The clenched baby hand opened too.

This... is my hand?

What was going on?! The sound that came out of the shocked Heeran’s mouth was not a scream but a wail. To add to that, a baby’s body could not easily stop crying.

Then was it me who made that baby babbling noise earlier too?

It was ridiculous. Heeran stared dumbfounded at the ceiling. In the meantime, her body let out another wail, and then, someone suddenly picked her up.

Because her eyes were welling up with tears and she couldn’t move her body of her own volition, she hadn’t realized that somebody was approaching her.

“Oh, my lady, is something causing you discomfort?” The voice was smooth and the arms warm.

A surprised Heeran opened her eyes wide. An adult’s face was suddenly very close to her own, taking up the entirety of her visual field. It rendered Heeran speechless—she could only blink.

Nanny?

It was, without a doubt, her nanny.

Is this... a flashback?

This was a face that she had missed for a very long time. If this was a dream, she welcomed it.

Her siblings had saved her, but they were people who had died and left her with many questions and an unknown longing. In contrast, her nanny was someone she had missed dearly—someone she’d wanted to see again at least once.

Heeran’s mind wandered to the past. Like other martial clans, the Namgung Family taught their members martial arts from an early age. As a direct descendent of the Namgung Family, Heeran had not been an exception.

But there had been a problem.

I was deemed unable to master any martial arts at the mere age of five.

It was not a small matter for a direct descendant of a prestigious martial family to be unable to master martial arts at all.

From then on, her environment had changed.

The once well-decorated bedroom, which was befitting of a place where the direct descendant of a prestigious family lived, became shabbier. And instead of well-trained maids, clumsy ones who did not know manners were brought in to serve her.

My education was also drastically reduced.

At that time, Heeran hadn’t known any better—she’d been happy about that fact.

I didn’t know that the family withdrew support because they foresaw that I had no prospects.

They had tried various things to see if she had other talents like her brother Uncheon, but as soon as they’d found that she didn’t have any, she’d been reduced to being mistreated by everyone.

But she’d still had her nanny—the person who had scolded the maids when they treated her poorly and the woman who took care of Heeran.

But...

Nanny had died when she was eight.

Heeran’s eyes wavered. Is it really you, Nanny?

As she could no longer bear it, Heeran moved her lips.

“Goo-goo.”

Huh...? She paused. Heeran couldn’t believe her ears at the gurgling baby sound coming from her mouth.

Did I just make that noise? No way.

She once again opened her mouth. “Goo-gah.”

After two attempts, Heeran realized that something was wrong. The strange sense of disharmony that she had felt since waking up was becoming clearer now.

“Hmm? My lady? Are you uncomfortable somewhere? Are you hungry? Or did you poop?”

The nanny put her down. After she changed her clothes, Heeran was in a daze.

“How strange. Miss Heeran seems to not have much energy today...”

When she heard the words of concern, Heeran opened her mouth again and tried to smile. “Gooo!”

“Oh, is that so? Well, I guess it was a silly worry then. Rest up, my lady.”

The worry disappeared from the nanny’s warmly smiling face. As soon she left the room, Heeran stared into space with a face that looked like she had chewed a sour persimmon.

So wait... This isn’t a memory? No flashback could be sensed as vividly as this.

Heeran was dumbfounded. The body that wouldn’t move earlier, no matter how hard she tried, was now moving according to her will.

And this small thing is my hand?

As she watched her chubby fingers open and close repeatedly at her command, Heeran closed her eyes.

Does this even make sense?

She trembled from the shock of it all. Her young body couldn’t withstand such a thing, so she promptly fell asleep.

***

Heeran had no doubt that she would wake up from this dream after a deep sleep, however, the situation didn’t change. It was like she was being mocked.

Baby Heeran’s daily routine was easy. She lay down all day, ate gruel, burped, got her clothes changed after going to the bathroom, and shook her arms and legs while lying down. Because she was an infant, she obviously couldn’t do anything on her own.

Heeran stared at the maid who was shaking a rattle in front of her.

“Here, my lady! Look over here!”

Heeran had just wanted to be left alone to quietly think, but as soon as she woke up during the day, too many people started bothering her.

“Hmm? Our Lady must’ve wet herself. Let’s change your clothes.”

Heeran stared off into space. Yes, this has to be a dream. A dream.

She tried hard to deny reality. According to common sense, was it even possible for a dead person to return to their childhood?

But she could distinctly feel the maid’s hands changing her wet bottom. Heeran felt like she was about to cry. She had liked it up when she had first seen her nanny. However, that was because she had not been fully aware of her circumstances.

I can’t do anything on my own—just lying in a corner of this room all day feels so stuffy. I feel like I’m going to die.

While apparently reliving her time as a baby, there was never a moment where somebody wasn’t by her side, whether it was her nanny or the maids. Moreover, she was treated more lovingly than she had expected.

Her eyes rolled back and forth. Starting with the soft clothes that wrapped her body, the ornate bedroom also looked like the room of a noble daughter.

Did I grow up being treated this preciously?

Even before the Namgung Residence had burned down, she couldn’t remember ever staying in such a luxurious room.

I guess I was treated well as a direct descendant of the Namgung Family before it was discovered that I was useless.

Of course, she couldn’t confirm this, as she had no memories from when she was a baby the first time around.

Ah, whatever. Let’s just enjoy this.

This wouldn’t last long anyway. Only five years remained. Around the age of five, while trying to learn meditation techniques, she had been judged unfit.

Besides, after getting used to this, it’s quite comfortable.

The life of a baby, who had everything taken care of even though she didn’t lift a finger, was both dull and strangely comforting.

After the collapse of the Namgung Family, Heeran had continuously walked a precarious path. It was a path where, if she had made even a single mistake, she would’ve assuredly died. So this time—of not having to do anything or have anything to watch out for—was secretly sweet.

“Goo.”

“Oh dear, Our Lady is sleepy. I’ll roll up the screen so the sun doesn’t hit your face. Good night.”

Soso, the noisy, chatty maid who was always next to Nanny, smiled widely at her—it was like she thought Baby Heeran was so cute that she didn’t know what to do with herself.

“By the way, I don’t understand how the Young Masters and Eldest Miss can be so indifferent.” Soso sulked as she rolled up the screen to block out the sun from the large window.

Heeran had an aloof expression as she let Soso’s words enter in one ear and out the other. She liked the maid who took care of her when Nanny wasn’t present, but she talked too much.

“How could they not come see you at least once during the late Patriarch’s funeral or when you were sick, my lady?”

Heeran looked contemplative. What Soso was saying was both right and wrong. And the reason for that was...

After trying to resist her drowsiness, Heeran’s eyes closed.

When Heeran awoke again after a sound sleep, it was late at night. She opened her eyes with a yawn; as she did so, she made eye contact with the person who was looking at her.

You again?

Heeran had a strange look on her face. The person staring down at her was the young Hwi Namgung.

I have no idea why you don’t come during the day and instead sneak in and out like a thief in the night. Aren’t you busy?

She had definitely heard that he was busy.