Why Am I Your Sister?
The resemblance was unmistakable. The slightly drooping eyes, the pupils tinged with a reddish hue, and even that neat little mouth. There was no way I would mistake a woman I’d met before for someone else. The person staring down at me with a worried expression was undoubtedly the Sword Empress of Botamun—Yeon-jin.
But even though traces of her youthful beauty remained, she had been a seasoned female warrior well past her fiftieth year…? ‘She’s young. No… she’s practically a girl?!’
The face of the woman standing before me belonged to a lovely young lady who had only just come of age.
“Um… Sister…?”
“Wait, you—you’re the Sword Empress, right—huh?!”
What the hell is this? I barely managed to squeeze the trembling words out, only to clap a hand over my mouth in fresh shock. That wasn’t my voice.
It wasn’t the deep, masculine timbre that could set any woman’s body on fire just by calling her name. What slipped between my lips now was a clear, delicate voice—like jade beads rolling across a tray.
‘And what the hell is this disgusting sensation…!’
Starting from that moment, discomfort flooded every part of my body at once. My arms and legs felt strangely off-balance. The very center of my body seemed misaligned at its core; the slightest movement sent a powerful wave of alienation racing up my spine. But what irritated me most was my chest. Something heavy that had definitely never been there before now rested inside my clothes. Every time I breathed in, the weight hanging from my front swayed along with the motion.
‘Damn it, this is suffocating…!!!’
I tried to look up to check whether my body had been tied down with ropes or something, but my vision remained shrouded in a thick white fog. Nothing was clearly visible except Yeon-jin’s face as she examined my complexion.
“Ah, haa… what should I do…”
When I couldn’t hide my bewilderment and began fidgeting in this absurd situation, the woman—who could only be the Sword Empress in her younger days—let out a small, troubled sigh. Then, with careful movements, she extended her hand toward me where I lay collapsed on the floor.
“The Sword Empress…? But I’m not Master… Sister, you really haven’t recovered yet, have you?”
Her voice was gentle and warm. She gazed down at me with eyes full of concern. The crimson eyes that held such tender light seemed impossible to reconcile with the woman who had once tried to execute me on the snowy mountains of the North Sea.
“You don’t have to push yourself with training. Please go back to your room and rest…!”
“...Huh…?”
—Rustle.
Still dazed by the ridiculousness of the situation, I instinctively took the hand she offered. As I slowly rose, holding her soft, slender fingers—
“Ah…!”
“S-Sister!!”
My body swayed violently as I tried to move while my limbs and vision were still unsteady. The young Sword Empress let out a short gasp and quickly caught me around the waist.
‘Ha, what the hell kind of fucked-up situation is this…!!!’
I had somehow managed to stand, but my mind was still blank. I couldn’t even grasp exactly what kind of mess I was in.
“Jin-ah.”
At that moment, a woman’s stern voice heavy with authority rang out from behind my shoulder, striking my eardrums.
“No matter how great your worry, how can you show such disheveled behavior in front of your junior sisters?”
“M-Master Hyeon-wol…”
The sharp rebuke hidden beneath the gentle tone made the young Sword Empress—who had been supporting me—flinch violently. The affectionate gaze she had shown me just moments ago vanished in an instant. Her face turned deathly pale as she hurriedly bowed her head.
‘This aura… it’s no joke…!’
Even I felt a chill run down my spine at the presence directed this way. It was as if an invisible giant hand had seized the very space where I stood. And that wasn’t all. The presences I sensed beyond the foggy vision weren’t limited to her alone. Refined energies—qualitatively different from the crude killing intent of the back-alley thugs who bragged about eating “knife meals”—pricked at my skin from every direction.
‘One, two, three… at least eight. No, nine. And among them, one is an absolute supreme master.’
I swallowed dryly. Whoever these people were, each one clearly possessed considerable martial power. Even though only a handful in all the Central Plains could face me—Wi Yeon-seol—head-on, if this many high-level experts attacked me together, there was no way my body would come out unscathed.
The instinct to flee and the reason that demanded I assess the situation clashed violently inside my head.
‘Where the hell am I? Where have I fallen? Is this a dream… or reality…?!’
I lifted my still-weak neck and looked around. Sure enough, beyond the blurry vision, a strange scene came into view. Aside from me and Yeon-jin, roughly eight young women sat perfectly still. On a rather spacious temple hall, beautiful young ladies sat in half-lotus positions with their eyes closed or gently lowered.
‘This is a temple. Since it’s only women, it can’t be Shaolin…’
I carefully turned my hazy gaze toward the direction where the voice that had rebuked Yeon-jin had come from—
“...!!!”
There stood an old woman who carried the full weight of years upon her. Fine wrinkles layered her face, and her snow-white hair was neatly twisted up without a single strand out of place. Though she simply gazed at me with deep, unreadable eyes, I felt as if she could see straight through me from head to toe.
‘…That woman is a master.’
The flow of air around her was different. Her inner energy was so perfectly refined it gave me goosebumps. And within that aged body lay a razor-sharp spirit capable of slicing through anything. It was like something dangerous lurked beneath calm waters—an eerie pressure that crushed my entire body.
‘Damn it, a monster like her was hiding in the murim all this time?’
In nearly ten years of the great war between the righteous and unorthodox factions, I had never seen such a female warrior. Even Yeon-jin, the undisputed female supreme of both factions, seemed a notch lower in comparison to this old crone.
“...”
The old woman whom Yeon-jin had called Master Hyeon-wol stared at me for a moment with calm eyes, then shifted her gaze to Yeon-jin, who was still supporting my waist.
“I am well aware of how deep the bond between you two is. However…”
She paused, then scolded Yeon-jin with a strict look.
Seol-hye has already received the important title of Little Sword Empress of our sect last month. Since she must serve as a model for her junior sisters, in public settings you shall address her as Eldest Senior Sister or Little Sword Empress.
“I-I’m sorry, Master…!”
Yeon-jin hurriedly withdrew the arm around my waist and apologized to Hyeon-wol. Then, with a deliberately formal and stiff expression, she bowed deeply to me as well.
“I apologize, Eldest Senior Sister Seol-hye…! This disciple acted rashly for a moment.”
“Uh… um…?”
Wait, who the hell is Seol-hye? And what’s this about being Eldest Senior Sister? My mind had gone completely blank. I had no idea what I was supposed to say. I wasn’t even sure whether this place was a dream, reality, or the afterlife I’d arrived at after dying.
“Ah, yeah… I-I’m fine…?”
Still, I couldn’t just stand there in a daze. With a stupid expression, I nodded and blurted out a foolish reply.
“...”
At that moment, Hyeon-wol’s gaze turned to me. Her profound eyes quietly and deeply studied me.
“Hye-ya.”
For some reason she let out a faint sigh before continuing.
“It seems your mind has not yet fully recovered. A sickness of the heart soon harms the body as well. For today, withdraw and calm your heart. Take proper rest.”
“...?”
Was she talking to me…? When I couldn’t answer right away and simply tilted my head, Hyeon-wol immediately turned her eyes to Yeon-jin, who stood nervously beside me.
“Jin-ah, escort Seol-hye back to her quarters. If you leave her like this, your worry will prevent you from focusing on your training. Stay by the Little Sword Empress’s side and attend to her with all your heart.”
“...!”
The moment those words left her lips, Yeon-jin’s face brightened as if she had been waiting for them. The trembling fear she had shown in front of the tiger-like master vanished without a trace.
“Y-Yes! Thank you, Master…!”
She bowed quickly, then turned to me with a bright smile that made it hard to believe she had just been scolded.
“Then, Sis— I mean, Eldest Senior Sister Seol-hye, let’s go quickly.”
—Embrace.
With endlessly gentle eyes fixed on my face, she naturally took my arm and carefully supported me. It was a completely different expression from the one that had glared at me on the North Sea snow mountains as if ready to cut off my head. Her soft voice and eyes overflowing with affection toward me felt utterly foreign. Even as I was led along by her touch, I couldn’t adapt to Yeon-jin’s attitude and frowned.
And above all, that title that had been bothering me since earlier.
‘She keeps saying Seol-hye, Seol-hye. Whose name is that supposed to be? And sister? Don’t tell me she means me?’
I didn’t know. Ever since I had thrown myself off the cliff into the dark abyss, no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out what kind of situation I had fallen into.
“Ugh, in front…!”
“Sister, be careful…!”
My physical condition was a mess compared to anything else. My vision was still hazy as if wrapped in thick fog. My limbs creaked as if they were someone else’s flesh crudely stitched onto me. With every step, the discomfort of feeling like my entire body was wrapped in waterlogged cotton made me feel like I would topple forward.
Still, thanks to Yeon-jin supporting me at my side, I somehow managed to stagger out of the temple hall.
—Whoosh—
The moment I crossed the threshold, sunlight poured down from above and a cool breeze brushed my cheek. The refreshing energy seeped through my clothes, but unfortunately, my current situation was far from ideal for enjoying such clear weather.
“...”
“...Sister?”
After only a few steps, I decided I couldn’t go on like this. I stopped dead in my tracks and roughly rubbed my blurry eyes. Yeon-jin, who had been supporting me, tilted her head worriedly and examined my face.
“Um, Sister? Are you alright…?”
Sister. There it was again. The title that had felt strangely irritating since earlier sounded even more alien the clearer my mind became.
“Yeah. That. It’s been bothering me for a while.”
“Y-Yes…?”
Yeon-jin blinked round eyes, clearly confused. My vision was still annoyingly blurry, so I pressed hard around my eyes and continued in a curt tone.
“That ‘sister’ title. Why do you keep calling me that?”
To me, it was a purely innocent question. First of all, I wasn’t a woman, and the name Seol-hye definitely wasn’t mine. But the moment I finished speaking, Yeon-jin’s shoulders trembled violently.
“Ah……!”
Her face turned deathly pale in an instant. Large tears welled up in her wide eyes.
“I-I’m sorry, Eldest Senior Sister…! I made another mistake, ugh!”
“Huh?”
“Since you’ve become the Little Sword Empress now, I shouldn’t call you Sister like Master said, but I got ahead of myself, huuuh!”
“Ah, no! That’s not what I—”
The young Sword Empress finally burst into tears, big droplets rolling down her cheeks. Flustered by her sudden crying, I waved my hands in panic and tried to explain.
“Hey, hey, that’s not it! I was seriously just asking out of pure curiosity!”
“I was wrong, Eldest Senior Sister…. Hic, sob……”
“Aish, damn it. I’m not angry! Just stop crying! Stop!”
That’s right. Whether in the past or now, I’ve always been especially weak to a beauty’s tears.
“Hic!”
Eventually even hiccups burst from her lips. She began sobbing like a child, gasping as if she would run out of breath.
“Huuuuhng, I-I’m sorry…! Hic! So please don’t be mad at meee…”
Watching a proper young lady cry as if the world had collapsed was incredibly awkward. I scratched the back of my head in discomfort and called to her in a much softer voice than before.
“I’m really not angry. So stop crying, okay?”
“Waaaaah!!”
Damn it, words clearly weren’t going to work…
‘Ah, I’m really going to go crazy…’
—Embrace.
I let out a short sigh, gently pulled her trembling shoulders into my arms, and hugged her.
‘There’s no better medicine for soothing a crying woman.’
One warm embrace is more effective than a hundred words. As I slowly stroked her back, Yeon-jin’s body flinched.
“S-Sister…?”
She froze for a moment, then suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around my back and clung to me.
“Waaaaah!! Sister!!”
She buried her face in my shoulder and wailed. The sound was louder than before, but the sobs now carried more relief than sorrow. I patted her back with familiar, soothing motions.
...Wait, is this girl really the Sword Empress I know? Even though her face is identical, I can’t believe this crybaby is the same ice-cold woman who wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed with a needle…
‘Maybe it’s someone who just looks a lot like her…? Or a twin…?’
But earlier, that Master Hyeon-wol definitely called her Yeon-jin…
I let out a hollow laugh, wondering if my blurry vision had caused me to see wrong. Logically speaking, it was impossible for that old Sword Empress to suddenly become this young.
‘No, that’s not right.’
If I started thinking that way, then jumping off a cliff inside a cave only to end up in some incomprehensible temple made even less sense. The more I thought about it, the less real it felt. I simply continued stroking the back of the young Sword Empress in my arms with a blank mind.
“Huu… huu…”
How much time had passed? The tears that had soaked my shoulder gradually subsided. Yeon-jin swallowed her sobs, slowly lifted her head from my chest, and gave me a bashful smile with her tear-streaked, messy face.
‘...!’
The moment I saw that disheveled face, something hot stirred deep inside me.