Grandfather's Fury - Our Recovery, Part 3
A surge of energy exploded from the direction of the main gate, potent enough that even I—a mere first-rate—could sense it clearly. "My grandson! I heard you're here!" Grandfather's voice soon boomed out.
It rang as sharp and vivid as if he were shouting right beside us. He's here, I thought with an involuntary sigh.
When word of my collapse reached Kaepyeong, Grandfather had been in Sichuan, which let things slide by safely. But it seemed he'd returned around the same time I did. In fact, he'd come straight to Akwangjeo the moment he arrived.
"He must be really worried," Ak I-yeon murmured beside me, picking up on the raw emotion in Grandfather's thunderous aura and voice. She sounded sympathetic, but deep down, she was probably more than just empathetic—she was rooting for him.
Ak I-yeon had plenty of questions for me too, but she'd been holding back out of consideration. Now that Grandfather had arrived—the one person who could legally give me a proper thrashing—she had to be secretly thrilled.
"Yeah. I've never seen him this angry before," I replied to her with a wry smile, my heart heavy.
To others, Grandfather might seem crotchety, but he was a free spirit with a relaxed soul. Outbursts like this were rare—nonexistent, really, at least since I was born.
"Han Jung! Both of them need rest!"
"My grandson needs rest! It'd be weirder if I didn't check on him!"
"In that state, the kids would just get scared!"
While I pondered what to say to Grandfather in his rage-blind state, furious footsteps and heated arguments drew closer. Grandfather, desperate to see me right away, clashed with Ak Wang, who was trying to hold him back out of concern for me and Yeon-i's conditions.
Even a mere verbal spat between two Hwa-gyeong masters sent chills down my spine.
"Ak Hyeon, old friend. If it were your grandson in this mess, would you hold back like this?"
"Who said not to meet? I'm just saying regain your senses first!"
"I'm the most rational man alive. No need to worry."
"Bullsh—!"
The argument cut off abruptly as Grandfather flung the door open.
There stood Grandfather, face rigid with tension, and behind him, Ak Wang clutching his forehead. A striking sight, but not one I ever wanted to witness.
"Gr-Grandfather. We greet you."
"We greet Your Highness Giwang."
At his entrance, both Ak I-yeon and I slid off the bed and offered careful bows. Normally, he'd open with a grin, asking how his grandkids and granddaughter-in-law were faring. But now, he was barely containing his emotions, his burning gaze fixed on us.
"Don't stand. Sit comfortably. Aren't you recovering?"
Thankfully, reason still held sway over fury. Grandfather shook his head stiffly.
"Though it was recovery that could've been avoided entirely."
His piercing glare made my head bow automatically. He was right.
Had I not pulled that stunt in front of Koke Temur, neither I nor Ak I-yeon would have collapsed.
"Un-a."
"Yes, Grandfather."
"How could you do such a thing?"
His short question carried layers of meaning, and I bowed deeper.
"The grandson I know is sharp, unlike me. He knows right from wrong without comparing lengths, wise beyond his years."
As I stayed silent, Grandfather stepped closer, one deliberate footfall at a time.
"Yet how could you fail to discern what even a three-year-old could?"
"I'm sorry. I have no excuse."
"No. You owe me words."
With that, his hand rested on my shoulder.
"Only then can this old man decide how to teach his reckless grandson."
I glanced up slightly. His eyes burned hotter than before, demanding I confess my sins myself—lay bare my true thoughts.
"Speak. What possessed you?"
"...I thought capturing him there was worth the injury to one warrior."
Grandfather's brows twitched violently.
"Arrogance. You thought a first-rate risking injury could take a Hwa-gyeong?"
"Y-Yes?"
The response came from Ak I-yeon, not me. Realizing she'd intruded on a grandfather-grandson talk, she clamped her mouth shut, but her trembling eyes brimmed with indescribable emotion.
"From your reaction, even my granddaughter-in-law didn't know."
Grandfather sighed roughly, looking at her with pity.
"Listen well, child. Hear how reckless your future husband was."
"Han Jung. Yeon-i just woke up. She still needs rest."
"I think telling her now will shock her less than later."
Ak Wang's gaze shifted to Ak I-yeon at Grandfather's words, and she nodded cautiously. Ak Wang sighed too, of course.
"Un-a."
"Yes, Grandfather."
"A Hwa-gyeong is heaven's chosen. Among countless warriors like grains of sand, only a rare few reach it."
I knew that. In Daesong, twelve; Mongolia, one; Goryeo, three. Monstrous beings, favored by heaven to roam its heights.
"When the Emperor rose for our great cause, the Three Great Masters of the world blocked us. Countless comrades fell fighting them. You know this?"
"Yes. Their sacrifices let us fell two of the Three Great Evils, paving the way for Daesong today."
"Not quite right. We slew Chalhan Cheopmoka and Tal Tal Cheopmoka thanks to fellow Hwa-gyeong. Our comrades' devotion meant nothing against them."
I swallowed hard.
"That's a Hwa-gyeong. Righteous men, the talented, those with loved ones or vows of revenge—all equal before it. No novel protagonist's backstory could prevail."
Grandfather—a founding merit subject—dismissed the war dead's efforts as futile.
"Understand? Stronger, steadfast warriors staked their lives and failed. Not one or two, not tens or hundreds, but thousands—perhaps more."
Or rather, he'd carried their deaths as eternal regrets.
"If a mere first-rate like you could take one by risking injury—if your tantrum could topple heaven's chosen—it wouldn't be worthy of the name. What does that mean?"
"I... don't know."
"You tried to throw your life away most wastefully. You challenged heaven on Gichungmuwang's legacy."
Ak I-yeon's trembling hand gripped mine at his blunt words. Even Buong-i, who'd been playful before, hid behind me, gauging the mood.
"I taught you Jeongisim Gong hoping you'd stay unharmed—a shield, not a dagger for throats."
I knew that too. When he taught it, he'd said it'd keep me from getting beaten wherever I went.
"If that shield choked you instead—"
Grandfather closed his eyes briefly, then opened them. His hand on my shoulder felt heavier than Mount Tai.
"Better to cripple your dantian and make you a full scholar."
"G-Giwang Highness!"
"Han Jung!"
Ak I-yeon and Ak Wang cried out at his bombshell.
Crippling the dantian—as good as killing a warrior. Their fierce reaction was natural.
"You're excited now! Don't say things you'll regret—calm down first!"
"I already regret it. Teaching martial arts to a boy I should've raised as a scholar was the mistake!"
"Enough!"
Ak Wang's roar filled the room with two Hwa-gyeong auras, dwarfing their earlier spat outside. Too harsh for warriors hovering between first-rate and peak.
"Hng...!"
Ak I-yeon, holding my hand, shuddered violently. Unlike me, fresh from Koke Temur's thrashing, she had no resistance.
"Oh."
Grandfather withdrew his aura hastily, and Ak Wang's eased.
"...Yes. As you say, I need to cool my head."
Grandfather sighed softly and turned away— a powerless sight I'd never seen.
After he left and Ak I-yeon calmed, Ak Wang pulled me aside. "Don't mind Giwang. He lashed out in anger—not sincere."
I gave a bitter smile at his comforting pat.
Just heat-of-the-moment words, as Ak Wang said. But the ever-composed Grandfather had been that riled? My heart couldn't rest easy.
"It's my karma. How could I blame Grandfather?"
"Blame him if you want. Crippling a warrior's dantian? Absurd."
I swallowed the retort that it wouldn't matter to me. In this mood, it'd be tone-deaf—and Ak Wang might do it himself.
"The problem is hearing this right after returning from Sichuan."
I had no reply to his lament. Grandfather's trip there had seemed odd—like something special awaited in Sichuan.
"Your grandmother left Han Jung's side similarly..."
"Pardon?"
His ominous slip drew a reflexive question, and Ak Wang shut his mouth fast.
"A slip. Pretend you didn't hear."
"No, Grandmother just now..."
"A slip."
His unyielding tone left me blinking blankly. Dropping that and calling it a slip? Too much.