Chapter 672: Hesitation Vanishes
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 672: Hesitation Vanishes
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Sun-woo was stamping approval documents without a moment's rest.
Ever since he had transformed into Tang Jin-cheol, he had been doing his best to fulfill his duties as the Clan Head.
When he was in his own form as Sun-woo, he didn't particularly need to work. He could simply leave all the affairs to Tang Seo-yoon or Geum Jeok-hwa and live like a carefree idler.
However, his approach had changed since he took on the guise of the Clan Head. He could no longer afford to be a loafer. If he didn't perform his role properly, it might arouse suspicion.
Thud.
'I don't wanna do this...'
Sun-woo let out a mental wail as he brought the stamp down.
At a glance, a desk job seemed like an easy enough profession, but if it didn't suit one's personality, it was nothing short of hard labor. Sun-woo was exactly that type. He was someone who preferred moving his body over being a "desk-warmer."
To someone like him, sitting still and mindlessly stamping documents was akin to torture.
'I'd rather be swinging a sword like a madman,' Sun-woo thought.
He felt that performing a spirited sword dance would be far better than rotting away in this chair.
"Sun-woo."
Just then, a voice as sharp as a blade pierced his ears.
"...Whaaat?"
Sun-woo slowly turned his head toward the source of the voice. A peerless beauty with her brows slightly knitted came into view.
It was Dok Seo-si, Tang Seo-yoon.
"Are you actually focusing?" she asked, her voice pointed.
"Of course," Sun-woo replied confidently.
"Then what is this?"
She held up a sheet of paper. The document had both the "Rejected" and "Approved" stamps pressed onto it simultaneously.
"Ah."
Seeing that, Sun-woo realized his mistake. He had been stamping away without a single thought in his head.
"......Sorry."
Sun-woo apologized immediately. He figured an apology would be better than an excuse.
"Do you want to die?"
Tang Seo-yoon's beautiful brows furrowed further.
"Is this work a joke to you? When did you lose your mind?"
"......Probably... about half a shijin ago?"
"You bastard!"
Tang Seo-yoon spat out a curse. That meant he had been doing a half-assed job on the paperwork for the past hour.
"Did I ask for something difficult? I told you to just stamp them according to what's written! Why can't you even do that properly?"
Tang Seo-yoon raised her voice, shouting. She was already busy enough as it was, and seeing Sun-woo spacing out and making blunders only added to her frustration.
".......Sorry."
Sun-woo spoke with an embarrassed expression.
"I told you to just sit still! I told you to just pretend to work!"
"I... I wanted to help."
Sun-woo looked awkward as he spoke. In truth, he had intended to just occupy the seat and look busy. But seeing Tang Seo-yoon working so hard right in front of him, he couldn't just sit idly by. It made him feel like some sort of useless freeloader.
So, despite her insistence that he wasn't needed, he had forced himself to take on some of the work. He wanted to show her he was a capable man.
But then he had gone and caused an accident. A major one at that.
Since the Central Plains lacked photocopiers, any document with a mistaken stamp had to be recreated by hand. In his attempt to help, he had actually dumped a mountain of extra work on her.
"If you're going to help, do it right! Because of you, I have to do twice, no, three times the work!"
Tang Seo-yoon glared at him with eyes full of rage. This was exactly why she hadn't wanted to give him any tasks. Since Sun-woo had always kept his distance from administrative duties, she figured his efficiency wouldn't be great.
But looking at it now, it wasn't a matter of efficiency. Beyond being inefficient, he was "creatively" causing trouble by inventing work that didn't need to exist.
Tang Seo-yoon felt her irritation boiling over.
"What are you going to do! These are confidential documents, so I have to rewrite them all by hand myself!"
".........I... I'll... help..."
"How can I trust you when you can't even keep your head straight while stamping?"
Tang Seo-yoon glared at him with a sharp gaze.
"..............."
Hearing her words, Sun-woo shut his mouth tight. There was absolutely nothing he could say in his defense. He was the one who had caused a disaster because he couldn't even handle a stamp. There was no way she would entrust him with something like drafting documents.
"Just stay still! Just keep the seat warm! Don't do anything! Just breathe! Got it?"
"......Yes, ma'am."
Sun-woo immediately agreed and answered, cowed by her forceful tone. He felt that if he offered to help again, she might actually spray poison on him.
"Whew."
Hearing Sun-woo's response, Tang Seo-yoon let out a deep sigh. She then began rummaging through the documents Sun-woo had processed, sorting the correct ones from the mistakes.
Sun-woo watched her silently. Just as she ordered, he did nothing but breathe.
After some time had passed...
'It's heavy... It feels like a boulder is crushing my chest.'
Sun-woo began to feel a suffocating pressure. Watching Tang Seo-yoon silently clean up the mess he had made filled him with unbearable discomfort, apology, and guilt.
It was heavy—the weight of that guilt.
It was uncomfortable—Tang Seo-yoon's attitude of simply getting to work after a single scolding without saying another word.
He would have felt better if she had just slapped him across the face to clear the air. But the deep-hearted Tang Seo-yoon had settled everything with a few sharp words and moved on to the task. Her restraint made it even harder for Sun-woo.
'Save... save me.'
Sun-woo pleaded inwardly. He hoped someone would come to the office and bail him out. He felt like he would suffocate if he stayed in the room with her any longer.
As if his wish had been granted...
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Suddenly, someone began knocking on the office door.
'Yes!'
Sun-woo cheered internally.
"Who is it?"
Sun-woo hid his inner thoughts and spoke in an exceedingly polite, formal voice.
"It is your humble servant, Tang Gam!"
A thick male voice echoed from outside.
'Tang Gam?'
Sun-woo felt a flicker of curiosity. Wasn't Tang Gam a member working in the Jaegyeong Pavilion? What business would he have at the Clan Head's office?
"Enter."
Though curious, Sun-woo granted him permission to enter.
Creeeeeak.
The door opened, and Tang Gam, dressed in a green martial arts uniform, appeared.
"I greet the Clan Head!"
Tang Gam bowed deeply, showing a very respectful attitude.
"What brings you here so suddenly? I don't recall any word of the Jaegyeong Pavilion sending someone..."
Sun-woo asked with a puzzled expression.
"Something... something terrible has happened!"
At his question, Tang Gam's expression turned grave as he raised his voice.
"What is it? Speak calmly."
Seeing Tang Gam's serious face, Sun-woo adopted a solemn expression and prompted him.
"The... the vanguard of the... Cheonmu Alliance..."
"The Cheonmu Alliance's vanguard? Ah, have they arrived?"
Sun-woo spoke with a hint of brightness in his voice. He thought he had finally found an excuse to escape.
"The Cheonmu Alliance's vanguard has been annihilated!"
Tang Gam replied immediately. The vanguard had indeed arrived. The problem was that they were wiped out the moment they got there.
"What!?"
Hearing Tang Gam's follow-up, Sun-woo's expression turned to one of shock. This was a completely unexpected development.
"What do you mean? Explain in more detail!"
Sun-woo pressed him urgently.
"Well... what happened was..."
At his prompt, Tang Gam began to stammer out the explanation. He told the story of how the vanguard arrived at the Tang Clan and got into a power struggle with the gate guards, how they unilaterally assaulted the guards, and how someone suddenly intervened to punish them. He detailed the circumstances of the vanguard's total defeat.
"Who could have annihilated them? Did a Demonic Cult strike force appear?"
"No, it wasn't that!"
"Then who on earth wiped them out? Was it a third party other than the Demonic Cult...?"
Sun-woo spoke with a suspicious look. The vanguard was supposed to be a large group of over five hundred people. To annihilate such a force, it had to be a group of considerable power.
"The one who annihilated them was a single person!"
"One person!?"
Sun-woo looked stunned.
"Yes. All five hundred members of the Cheonmu Alliance vanguard were brought to their knees before a single individual!"
"Who is this person?"
Sun-woo's expression turned grim.
"I apologize. We have not yet been able to identify them."
Tang Gam apologized with a remorseful look, feeling as though his own incompetence was being exposed.
"There is no need for apologies. How could you know the identity of someone who vanished after wiping out the vanguard?"
Sun-woo offered words of comfort to the apologizing Tang Gam. He didn't think it was the man's fault. He wasn't an omniscient god; how could he know everything? There was no reason to scold him.
"......Well... that is..."
Hearing Sun-woo's words, Tang Gam spoke up with a troubled expression. He realized Sun-woo was under a serious misunderstanding.
"Do you have something else to say?"
Seeing his hesitation, Sun-woo asked again, sensing there was more.
"They... they didn't vanish."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The culprit who annihilated the vanguard... has entered the Tang Clan estate."
"What!?"
Sun-woo questioned him in shock. According to him, the Tang Clan had allowed a dangerous individual to enter. How could such a thing happen?
"No, how is that possible!? Did you let them in because you succumbed to their martial might?"
Sun-woo spoke rebukingly, his expression stern and serious. Rage flared within him at the news that they had permitted the entry of an outsider—and a dangerous one who had wiped out the vanguard at that. The Tang Clan was a safe zone he had established, a place no different from a second home. Its safety had to be guaranteed above all else. How could the security be this lax? He couldn't help but feel furious.
"Well... that is..."
Facing the enraged Sun-woo, Tang Gam stammered as he spoke.
"What is it!"
"Lady Neung... she... took the culprit with her..."
"Lady Neung did?"
Sun-woo's expression turned to one of confusion. Why was Neung So-hwa suddenly being mentioned?
"...Yes... After... speaking a few words with the culprit... she reportedly took them away just like that."
"With the culprit?"
"Yes... From what I heard, they seemed to be acquaintances."
".........."
Sun-woo's expression grew heavy. He couldn't understand it at all. It had only been about a year since Neung So-hwa had entered the world. It was highly unlikely she would have many acquaintances.
'Is it someone from the Imperial Court?'
Sun-woo began to form a reasonable suspicion. He wondered if it might be someone related to the Imperial family.
"Were there any other characteristics of the culprit?"
Sun-woo asked with a somber face.
"Well... first, their hair color was said to be unique."
"Hair color?"
"Yes, they reportedly had hair as white as snow... Ah, but it wasn't the brittle white hair that comes with age, but beautiful, lustrous hair."
"Huh?"
Hearing that, Sun-woo felt a sudden sense of familiarity. It was an incredibly familiar description.
"And... they were said to be holding a cute baby in their arms. The gate guard caught a glimpse and said the baby was so adorable it left him dazed."
"...A... baby?"
"Oh, and they used ice arts. They reportedly froze all five hundred people at once!"
"WHAT!?!?"
Sun-woo let out a roar of pure shock. He had realized it. He knew exactly who the "culprit" who annihilated the vanguard was.
Hair as white as snow.
Powerful ice arts capable of freezing five hundred warriors in an instant.
A cute baby held in their arms.
An acquaintance of Neung So-hwa, who had only been in the world for a year.
'Bukgung Yeon.'
It was Bukgung Yeon.
The Master of the North Sea Ice Palace.
His lover.
And the mother of his child.
Sun-woo's eyes began to well up with tears.
"Where are they now!!!"
"Pardon!?"
At Sun-woo's sudden outburst, Tang Gam asked back with a dazed expression.
"I'm asking where that person is!"
"I heard... they went to the pavilion where Lady Neung resides."
Thump!
Sun-woo bolted upright from his seat. Then, he began to sprint outside.
"Clan Head!"
Seeing this, Tang Seo-yoon urgently called out to him.
"Later!"
But Sun-woo gave her a brief reply and dashed out of the office. He moved like the wind.
Soon, only Tang Seo-yoon, looking bewildered, and Tang Gam, looking awkward, remained in the office.
*
Dash, dash, dash, dash.
Sun-woo ran. He ran and ran again.
He had heard the news. The woman he had left behind in the North Sea, the woman he loved, had personally come to the Tang Clan. And she had come while holding his own flesh and blood in her arms.
He accelerated his blood flow, pushing his physical capabilities beyond their limits. Then, he began to sprint using the Wind-Dust Step at its peak.
Soon, Sun-woo's form vanished completely. He was moving with a speed that transcended limits, appearing as if he were teleporting.
After maintaining that movement technique for some time...
Step.
Sun-woo finally came to a halt. He had arrived.
He stood before Neung So-hwa's quarters. Sun-woo looked up at the door. He thought of Bukgung Yeon and his own child who would be behind that door.
He wanted to see them. Right this second.
But his feet wouldn't move easily. The guilt of having left Bukgung Yeon alone blocked his path.
"Whew..."
Sun-woo took a deep breath. He knew he couldn't just pace around in front of the door forever.
"Giggle..."
Just then, the sound of a child's laughter reached Sun-woo's ears. It was a sound that made one feel good just by hearing it.
Grip.
Hearing that laughter, Sun-woo grabbed the door. In an instant, his hesitation vanished.
Creeeeeak.
He slowly pushed the door open.
The interior of the room began to unfold before Sun-woo's eyes.