Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Why Us?
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I gulped.
“Hmm… It takes a little while for my head to clear after coming back to my senses.”
The more I listened, the more I noticed his languid tone, as if he had a habit of drawing out the ends of his sentences.
Though he seemed like a cheerful person when talking to his son.
“Gasp! Big brother, did your brain turn to mush too? What a disaster…”
“Youngest, all that sleeping has only made your mouth run wild.”
“Ack, ack!”
His grip must have returned, as he unhesitatingly wrapped a hand around his younger brother Heuk Birang’s neck and squeezed.
The scene looked familiar.
“Ack! Let go of me!”
I subtly distanced myself from Heuk Birang.
*I won’t forget your sacrifice, Uncle…*
I was a little worried because that wily cousin of mine had blabbed everything before I was mentally prepared.
*If he has an aversion to anesthetics, he might get angry.*
A common trait among those who suffered from the same illness as my eldest uncle was that you never knew when or where they would have a seizure.
“Hmm…”
With his miraculous recovery, he was even sitting up now. His red eyes, staring intently at me, were unsettling.
“You're scared, aren't you?”
“H-huh? M-me?”
My eldest uncle tilted his head and muttered, "Wary?"
“I understand the situation. So, you're the little fairy, hmmm?”
“Tha— no, please don't call me that...”
It's overwhelming and embarrassing.
“Alright, fine. Peep.”
I wish he wouldn't call me that either.
My eldest uncle got up and strode toward me.
Just as I was about to let out a surprised hiccup.
“Thank you for your help, Princess.”
Something warm touched my head. I looked up to see a refreshing smile.
“Is this too much, too? That won't do~”
This man... I think he wore a similar smile in my first life, right before he died.
I felt strange.
“I heard if it weren't for you, I would've turned Birang into a lightning-charred barbecue? What a shame.”
“Hah! What are you talking about? Who was gonna get barbecued? I was going easy on you, you know. I only lost because of the elemental matchup, the matchup!”
Like P*kachu versus Squ*rtle.
Indeed, between water and lightning, lightning has the advantage.
“I would have laid a hand on my own son, too. That's the one thing this uncle wanted to avoid most. So you're my savior.”
“…”
His informal attitude was strange.
*He calls himself 'Eldest Uncle' so easily, even though we've just met.*
The people of the Heuk family that I had seen my whole life, in all my lives…
…were all cold and saw me as nothing more than a tool to be used.
“But, Peep. There is one thing I'm curious about...”
My eldest uncle bent down to meet my eyes, but he was still far above me.
I blinked and nodded.
“Pwease ask.”
“Your offer to treat me is truly commendable… but why did you choose us?”
With a slightly more serious expression, my eldest uncle made me wonder if this was closer to his true personality.
“Huh?”
“You have a father, don't you? Heuk Bihu. He lives here, in the eastern wing.”
I froze on the spot.
*Calm down.*
…It's not like I didn't expect this question, right?
“That's right. I was curious too.”
My younger uncle, who had approached at some point, added. He wore the same curious expression.
Heuk Bihu.
My father. The man confined here due to his illness.
In the original story, he died early.
I don't know why.
However, I do know where he is staying.
*But I decided not to seek him out.*
…Because I thought my eldest and younger uncles would be enough.
I tried hard not to clench my fists.
*My eldest and younger uncles are also connected to my death... but they're different from my father.*
My father, Heuk Bihu, had many opportunities to come find me during my past three lives.
When I was suffering from abuse. When I was living like a slave, being whipped.
My father had the chance to save me, the chance to step in.
I, too, had hoped at one point.
*Until my first life... I was happy that I had a father.*
*'What, doesn't she have a father too?'*
*'What, doesn't she have a father too?'*
*'Lord Heuk Bihu? Don't even mention him. You think he'd come? He's the one who abandoned his family.'*
*'Lord Heuk Bihu? Don't even mention him. You think he'd come? He's the one who abandoned his family.'*
*'Ah, right... He'd never come.'*
*'Ah, right... He'd never come.'*
Even hearing such things, I couldn't give up.
Because in Korea… I was an orphan.
I met a good friend, and her family helped me a lot, and I considered them my own family. But still, I dreamed of having a real family.
My hopes were cruelly betrayed in my first life, but I still believed my second life could be different.
*'Sister! Did you... did you try contacting him? My father might be able to help...!'*
*'Sister! Did you... did you try contacting him? My father might be able to help...!'*
In my second life, when I was framed for something I didn't do, I requested my father as my guardian.
I asked a lady-in-waiting I trusted at the time to deliver a letter.
*'Biyu... Listen carefully to what I have to say. Your father said...'*
*'Biyu... Listen carefully to what I have to say. Your father said...'*
*'That he has no daughter...'*
*'That he has no daughter...'*
The reply that came back was horrific.
In the end, in my third life, I left the family without a backward glance.
So now, in my fourth life, it's true that I have no desire to see him.
*If he had his reasons, I'd be annoyed because I wouldn't want to understand them. And if he didn't, I'd be angry that he didn't.*
I didn't want to worry about it when I was already busy trying to save the family and return home.
*I figured they would ask at least once.*
Since I expected it, I had already prepared an answer.
“The weason I came to see you, Eldest Uncwe…”
My eyes sparkled.
“…is because you were kind to me, even though you might not wemember.”
In that moment, my eldest uncle forgot to smile, his expression turning blank.
“…Me?”
Good. I'd changed the subject. I feigned composure inwardly and smiled innocently.
It wasn't a lie.
“I told you that you wouldn't wemember.”
It was only natural that the Heuk Biwon of today wouldn't remember.
Because it happened in my first life.
*'...Damn it, move! Get out of the way!'*
*'...Damn it, move! Get out of the way!'*
In my first life, I was caught up in Heuk Biwon's rampage and died, but it wasn't my eldest uncle's fault.
Before his death, my eldest uncle was no longer given anesthetics. Instead, he was given a poison that worsened his madness.
The moment our relatives gave up on him, they wouldn't even let him die a simple death.
They intended to trigger his madness and throw him at their enemies.
*Those bastards.*
But his rampage was far more severe than they expected, and rather than sending him to their enemies, the relatives found themselves on the verge of death, unable to control him.
They sent a physician as a sacrifice. That physician was me, who had just awakened my healing abilities.
The evil ones were the relatives who forced my eldest uncle to rampage and used him until the very end.
*'She's still so young... I, I really...'*
*'She's still so young... I, I really...'*
I remember my eldest uncle holding onto my dying body, trying to do something, anything.
*'I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, my pretty little one...'*
*'I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, my pretty little one...'*
Because Heuk Biwon had held me and cried.
His gentle voice whispering that he was sorry. The man who sobbed while desperately fighting back the returning madness with all his might.
He was the first person to cry over my death.
Now, it was my turn to help him.
Of course, I wouldn't deny that I sought him out of necessity as well.
“…When did I see you?”
My eldest uncle, Heuk Biwon, tilted his head.
“That's strange. If I'd seen such a pretty girl, there's no way I would've forgotten.”
“Father, you sound like a real scoundrel when you say that.”
“Hey, Heuk Biyu, let's say you've met my big brother before. What about me?”
My younger uncle interjected. I rolled my eyes.
*I have met you before, but you weren't very... memorable.*
I couldn't exactly say I needed a bodyguard before I went to see my eldest uncle, could I? I averted my gaze.
“It was… on the way?”
“On the waaaay? Am I a side dish? Something you eat on the side?! You came to me before my big brother! I was number one!”
“*Cough, cough…!* Biyu is coughing…!”
I'll exercise my right to remain silent.
Then, I turned to Heuk Biwon and spoke clearly.
“Don't be sick anymowe.”
I could feel it instinctively.
This man's intuition is very sharp.
He might have noticed that my goodwill wasn't entirely pure.
*Though it is because I like him.*
And I want to return home with your help.
“Big Bwother is vewy sad.”
Heuk Gyewon flinched.
“Biyu can tweat you.”
“…Even just hearing you say that means a lot.”
My eldest uncle simply smiled.
It was the resignation seen only in patients who have battled a long illness.
Just like my younger uncle at first, he was probably thinking, *'How are you any different from the countless apothecaries and physicians who have come before?'*
“Brother, I get that it sounds absurd, but you should probably believe her.”
My younger uncle, who had approached again, pressed down on my head. He grinned, full of confidence.
“After all, thanks to her, I woke up in just three days.”