The Reconciled Siblings
Tang Suryeon, the master of the Patriarch's Pavilion, fell into deep thought after receiving a report from her maid. The news was that her son, Tang Hwi, had personally invited Tang Ga-hui—who had been living in seclusion—to dine with him. It was a surprising development, considering that since the incident, he had avoided even crossing paths with her.
"Hoo... Hwi. What could you be thinking?"
Tang Ga-hui had fallen into Qi Deviation while recklessly practicing an advanced poison art, leaving her with an indelible scar. As a result, half of her face had turned dark and unsightly. Of course, it wasn't just Tang Hwi; most of the clan members had harbored an unconscious aversion to looking at her face, so it wasn't solely her son's fault. However, for Tang Ga-hui, who was once called the 'First Beauty of Sichuan' and courted by many, it was a devastating wound. That was why she had entered seclusion over a year ago, under the pretext of practicing her poison arts independently.
Tang Suryeon felt heartbroken for her daughter, who spent her days in lonely isolation, but she dared not offer help. After all, it was she who had taught Tang Ga-hui the very poison art that had led to her failure. Having pushed her precious daughter to practice such a dangerous technique and causing this tragedy, Tang Suryeon could not bring herself to offer comfort.
"Is it a simple whim? Or has he finally matured?"
She hoped for the latter. As a flawed mother, she could only desperately pray that her son would embrace the wounded heart of Tang Ga-hui.
Tang Ga-hui was suffering from depression so severe that it wouldn't have been strange if she had taken her own life at any moment. She stayed confined to her room, which had been half-converted into a training hall under the guise of practicing her arts, but in reality, she was just a shut-in. It was understandable; hadn't she paid a painful price for trying to force her way through the Poison Butterfly Divine Art, the signature technique of Tang Suryeon?
Half of her face had turned dark, as if burned. They said that in the Beast Palace of the Southern Barbarians, many people tanned their skin to a bronze color, but their skin remained smooth. In contrast, Tang Ga-hui's darkened skin was dry and coarse, feeling like touching the remains of burnt coal. It was hard and rough. The texture, which evoked a sense of profound discomfort when touched, was a constant reminder of her loss of humanity.
Because of this, the marriage talks with the Moyong Clan had collapsed, and she had been unilaterally dumped, shattering her confidence as a woman into dust. Even her family would reflexively wince when they saw her face. They tried their best not to show it, but having witnessed those fleeting moments time and again, Tang Ga-hui could not help but be hurt.
But recently, a change had come. Her younger brother, Tang Hwi, had sent a maid to propose they eat together. And even when she refused, he had continued to ask at every meal. Was he perhaps looking for advice regarding the Yongbong Jihoe, which would take place in half a year? Tang Ga-hui thought this was the most reasonable guess. She had participated in the Yongbong Jihoe once before her face had become like this. It was far more valuable to hear advice from someone with experience than to rely on mere knowledge.
"Young Miss, I have brought your lunch. And the Young Master has requested to join you for the meal again. Should I refuse as usual?"
At the maid's question, Tang Ga-hui's hesitation grew. It was rude to keep refusing the same request, but it was also rude to keep turning him down. Considering that it was a request from family to share a meal, there was no denying that she was being a bit too harsh. Besides, it was becoming a hassle to keep refusing. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to share a meal and ask him why he was acting this way all of a sudden.
"...Tell him that if this evening is fine, I will accept."
"Yes, I understand."
The maid, who had left the tray in front of the door just like every other time, retreated quietly. Only after the presence had completely vanished did Tang Ga-hui open the door to bring the tray inside, eating her meal with the usual quiet maturity. Since it was a nutritious meal prepared by the chef for the secluded Tang Ga-hui, she ate it cleanly, leaving no side dishes behind, and placed the dishes back outside the room on the tray.
The maid, who returned just before the end of the O-si (11 AM – 1 PM) hour, naturally left the Patriarch's Pavilion with the tray. Once again left alone, Tang Ga-hui began to circulate her Mind Method to pass the time. Instead of the Poison Butterfly Divine Art, which she had failed to master, she practiced the Green Lotus Mind Method, a foundational technique. It was a method that accumulated energy with properties similar to poison, rather than true poison itself. She should have been learning a true Poison Art, but after failing to master the Poison Butterfly Divine Art, Poison Arts had become a distant dream for the now-fearful Tang Ga-hui.
But why was it? Unlike usual, not even an hour had passed before her concentration broke, and her mind surfaced to reality. Was it because she had made a dinner appointment with her younger brother for the first time in a while? Tang Ga-hui suddenly remembered an item she had forgotten. She hurriedly stood up and rummaged through her drawer. It was something she had prepared right after her face was scarred, but she hadn't used it all this time while in seclusion.
Rustle.
It was a veil. She put on the veil to cover her face. Although it was slightly translucent, it was enough to hide the contours of her face even if one looked closely. Tang Hwi would surely frown again if he saw her face, and she would be hurt once more. To prevent that entirely, the veil was a necessity for her.
"Still, why on earth does he want to eat together all of a sudden?"
Even as she said that, her voice held a faint hint of vitality. Without realizing that she was strangely excited, Tang Ga-hui began to worry about what they would talk about.
Tang Hwi, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, did not show his face. She had covered her face with a veil and reacted sensitively to his actions. Her younger brother, who had been hurt by the foolish behavior she had displayed before her awakening, seemed to still be suffering from the psychological aftereffects.
"Sister. Won't you show your face to your brother whom you haven't seen in a while?"
"...I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologize."
Tang Ga-hui's shoulders hunched. The sight of her cowering in fear that her brother might get angry at her behavior was hard to believe for someone who was once a promising talent of the Tang Clan. But Tang Hwi's following words were far from her expectations.
"If anything, I should be the one apologizing."
"Huh?"
Her younger brother had already become a mature adult.
"You were hurt by the atrocities committed by the foolish me when I was younger. I wanted to sincerely apologize for what happened then. Truly... I am sorry, Sister."
"......"
Receiving the sincere apology from Tang Hwi, who had bowed his head, Tang Ga-hui could not utter a single word. It was true that her brother's behavior at the time was wrong. But it wasn't just his problem. Hadn't her youngest brother and their father also held a faint sense of disgust when they saw her bare face? Tang Hwi was the only one who had persistently come to apologize for it.
Before being siblings, she couldn't help but feel happy as a human being. But perhaps it was because she had spent over a year in solitude. She had chosen loneliness over being hurt, but that didn't mean she wasn't lonely. Her desolated sensibility was like a dry wilderness, and the wounds that split her heart were as unsightly as a drought. At that exact moment, Tang Hwi's action of apologizing for the mistakes of the past was like pouring water onto that parched land.
The joy and relief she felt for the first time in a while felt so unfamiliar that she didn't know how to react, and she struggled to steady her breathing, confused. Since he was still bowing, all she could see was the back of his head.
"Hoo... Yes. Thank you for finding the courage. So, could you please lift your head?"
"Are you accepting my apology?"
"Of course. My brother had the courage to apologize for the past, so as his sister, I can't act petty."
Tang Ga-hui smiled faintly beneath her veil. How long had it been since they had a conversation like this between siblings? It felt so unfamiliar that the last twenty-one years felt like nothing.
"In that sense, I would like to have meals like this often from now on. It's embarrassing to say it out loud, but I want to restore the bond between us siblings."
"Yes. Shall we eat before the Yu-si (5 PM – 7 PM) hour ends? We have plenty of time to talk after that."
At her words, Tang Hwi sat down, looked at the bowl the maid had brought, and then stared intently at his sister as she took her seat. Feeling his gaze, Tang Ga-hui tilted her head.
"Why are you doing that?"
"Does it interfere with your meal?"
He didn't explicitly mention the veil. "Yes. In the beginning, when the scars first appeared from the Qi Deviation, I wore this while active. But after the elders forced me to take it off, saying it was against etiquette to cover my face during meals, I've been eating alone."
"Shall I kill the elders?"
"What kind of ominous thing are you saying all of a sudden?!"
Tang Ga-hui was horrified by Tang Hwi's sudden display of madness before they had even started their meal. Perhaps failing to read the reaction of his sister, Tang Hwi continued to exude a menacing aura and insisted strongly.
"They are the old men who hurt you, Sister. I know they have contributed much to the clan, but thinking that they, who should be spending their remaining days leisurely like back-room old men, dared to hurt you makes my blood boil."
"I, is that so?"
Could her younger brother be a 'sister-fool'? The possibility that he had matured, which she had thought of just a moment ago when receiving his apology, had diminished. Afterward, they had a normal meal, exchanged promises to eat together again, and Tang Hwi left the room. It was a day of many changes for Tang Ga-hui.