The Neglected Daughter
Ju Sang-ah had always possessed an exceptionally gentle heart, even from a very young age. As the daughter of the Sword Sovereign, Ju Tae-sung, and Namgung I-hwa, she was the kind of child who always thought of others first. She showed them every consideration, and even if it meant suffering a loss herself, she lived her life for the sake of those around her.
That was Ju Sang-ah.
A thoughtful and intelligent child. That was all there was to her.
She had always lived that way.
But now, everything she had built her life upon was crumbling into dust.
The scenery around her warped several times. Overwhelmed by a powerful aura, she lost consciousness, and when she finally came to...
She found herself suspended in midair, her limbs tightly bound.
“Awake now, are we?”
A chilling voice reached her ears.
She barely managed to turn her head toward the sound. A man stood there, staring at her.
“Why am I… where is this…?”
She couldn’t remember. She had been leaving Geomhonjeon on her way back to her quarters when...
‘I think I met someone…’
It had definitely been a face she knew. But the memory refused to surface. It was as if someone had forcibly put that part of her mind to sleep. That section had been cleanly erased.
“Who am I, you ask? Who indeed. I’m the monster that’s going to devour you. Heh heh.”
The man let out a grotesque laugh.
He began touching her body, his hands roaming everywhere. The sensation was so repulsive that she thrashed wildly, but the bonds holding her refused to budge.
“Ugh… ughhh…”
Just before the sobs could break free, the man pulled out a rag and stuffed it into her mouth.
“Too noisy. We’re going to have a good time here. Understand?”
He whispered directly into her ear.
“I have orders that it doesn’t matter what I do to you. I intend to follow them. You’ll spend the rest of your life attending to me at night, unable to live or die properly. Hehehe.”
“…Mmph! Mmph!”
Ju Sang-ah struggled with all her might, but the restraints didn’t even twitch.
“Don’t worry. Everyone’s scared the first time. But if you just close your eyes tight, paradise awaits on the other side.”
His hand brushed against her shoulder.
Ju Sang-ah twisted desperately, evading his touch.
“You bitch!”
Irritation surged through the man. He slapped her across the face with brutal force.
The blow was powerful enough to rattle her skull. Blood soaked into the rag in her mouth. A ringing filled her ears and her vision blurred.
Even so, Ju Sang-ah fought to stay conscious. She gathered her wits and glared at the man, shouting through the gag.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
“Hm? Got something to say, do you?”
The man carefully pulled the rag from her mouth.
“Go on, speak. Of course, if you scream, I’ll give you pain far worse than what you just felt.”
“…Do you really think you’ll get away with this? Do you even know who I am?”
“Of course I know. The Sword Sovereign’s discarded daughter. The girl no one would care about no matter what happens to her, right?”
“…!”
Ju Sang-ah’s eyes widened and she froze solid. The words struck too true; nothing else came to mind.
“Tsk tsk. The feeling of being abandoned by your own father even though he’s right there. I know it well. Oh yes, I know it all too well. Heh heh.”
The man’s hand seized the collar of her robe and began slowly peeling it away.
“Yes, yes. I prefer obedient women…”
“Stop it. Please, stop.”
Ju Sang-ah shook her head. She struggled frantically, pouring every ounce of strength into breaking her bonds.
But they were far too tight.
“Just give up.”
At the man’s harsh command, Ju Sang-ah’s eyes went hollow. Soon her entire body went limp.
Yes. She had given up.
‘There’s no one who would come to save me. I have no strength left.’
Her other siblings had been blessed with talent in martial arts. To stand above them and earn her father’s attention, she had believed the only answer was academics.
She had never neglected her martial training, but she had also refused to abandon her studies. Formations, tactics, strategy. Commanding troops, managing a clan. She had learned everything the academy could teach.
Yet in the end, she was going to die this miserably.
She was going to die.
This was the end.
The light in Ju Sang-ah’s eyes began to fade. She was just about to sink into darkness when...
“Where is this place?”
A familiar voice came from outside.
A single ray of light settled into her pupils, which had been drowning in shadow. She was about to cry out when...
“Now, now. Shh.”
The man hurriedly shoved the rag back into her mouth. He clamped both hands over it, even pinching her nose shut.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
The agony of being unable to breathe made Ju Sang-ah thrash wildly. But the sound she made was pathetically small.
“Let’s stay quiet. Seems the Ju Family has come looking for you.”
“…!”
She had to live. She could live.
In the darkness that had held nothing but despair, a light called hope had risen.
‘I’ve always… done my very best.’
It was the same now. If she could see the light, she would struggle with everything she had to seize it. Just like she had fought for her parents’ attention!
But...
With her nose and mouth blocked, her consciousness gradually sank back into the dark. The sound of footsteps outside the door grew distant.
“Heh heh.”
The man lifted Ju Sang-ah, still bound, and suspended her in the air. Her upper body was now almost completely exposed.
“Looks delicious.”
The man licked his lips. There was nothing left to fear. The Ju Family warriors seemed to have left. Now he could properly...
“Ah, found you, you bastard.”
At that moment.
BOOM!
The wall exploded outward. A hand shot through the gap, grabbed the man by the throat, and hurled him aside.
“Gack! Kek!”
The man scrambled to his feet. He stared at the one who had thrown him with disbelief.
But the newcomer didn’t spare him even a glance. He was looking only at Ju Sang-ah, hanging helplessly in the air.
“Hmph.”
It was Woo-jin. He exhaled cold fury.
“I’m sorry, Sister.”
Woo-jin offered her a faint smile, as if to say she could relax now. The smile was awkward—he clearly didn’t make the expression often—but strangely, it eased the terror in Ju Sang-ah’s heart.
But then.
“Don’t move. If you do, that bitch will…”
RUMBLE!
The entire interior shook with a massive vibration. A mechanism activated, and the floor directly beneath Ju Sang-ah split open with a loud crack. A gigantic cauldron rose from the gap, its contents boiling furiously.
“Hee hee. The moment you move, she becomes soup. Understand?”
“…”
Woo-jin let out a small sigh. His gaze never left Ju Sang-ah.
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
“I didn’t come alone.”
BOOM!
Another section of wall collapsed. Sword energy flew through the opening, each streak transforming into a massive dragon that literally tore the man’s body apart.
Even that wasn’t enough. The dragons ground him into complete dust.
Through the thick cloud of debris, another man stepped forward.
“…”
When Ju Sang-ah’s eyes met his, they widened to their limit.
“Are you alright?”
It was the Sword Sovereign.
No—her father, Ju Tae-sung.
One hour earlier, at the Ju Family estate.
I had been waiting for my second older sister. Then, suddenly, my senses snapped to high alert.
‘Demonic energy?’
Right in the heart of the clan—near Geomhonjeon, no less—someone had dared to release demonic energy. I rushed toward the source.
But when I arrived, there was no one there. The only thing left was a single scrap of fabric, wet with tears. It looked like it had come from Ju Sang-ah’s clothing.
As I quietly picked it up, I noticed a pair of feet.
“My Lord.”
It was Ju Tae-sung.
“This is an open provocation.”
BANG!
His rage erupted. This was Geomhonjeon—his own private hall. Releasing energy right in front of his face was no different from declaring war.
Together with my father, I tracked the enemy and finally caught up to them. And there, for the first time, I saw my father shaken.
He had always seemed utterly emotionless, yet today he was deeply disturbed. Had he seen it? Had he heard it?
He must have heard. The sound of Ju Sang-ah crying silently, trying to hold back her sobs. The moment the Sword Sovereign’s cherished blade, the Tiger White Pointed Sword, resonated with a sorrowful cry, I realized something.
We had been living with far too many misunderstandings between us.
Father quietly removed his outer robe and draped it over Ju Sang-ah’s body. The garment, made for his tall frame, completely covered her small figure and still had room to spare.
Father’s lips moved as he stepped closer to her. From his pocket, he took out a document. It was the Cheonmu Academy report card she had given him—the one stamped with proof that she had taken first place in every single examination.
Looking at it, Father spoke in a calm, steady voice.
“I am proud of you. You have always been…”
“…!”
Ju Sang-ah barely held back the sob that threatened to burst out.
“…a daughter I am proud of.”
She had lived her entire life fiercely, desperately wanting to hear those exact words. Just hearing them seemed to wash away all the years of heartache.
“Let’s go home.”
“Y-yes, Father.”
At her reply, the faintest smile touched Father’s lips. No matter how many times she had been scolded, Ju Sang-ah had always called him “Father” instead of “My Lord.”
For such an intelligent child, why had she never corrected that title? Thinking about it now, it wasn’t that she couldn’t. She simply hadn’t wanted to. She had just wanted to call him Father.
I hadn’t wanted to understand that young heart through the stubbornness of old age. But now I did. Now I would try to see it.
We had hurt each other with cold words as much as we had grown distant. There had been more than enough time to heal those wounds.
The entire clan was thrown into chaos. The Jeokryongdae and the Black Dragon Unit—every warrior in the family—began scouring the grounds, watching every direction.
“What is going on?”
A warrior came running and dropped to his knees before the Lord, Ju Tae-sung, who had returned carrying Ju Sang-ah.
“Forgive me, My Lord. It appears that…”
“Speak clearly. I asked what is going on.”
“The young lady of the Mong Family Villa… seems to have been kidnapped.”
My head snapped up.
The young lady of the Mong Family Villa.
Mong Yeo-rin.
‘No way…’
Ju Sang-ah had been nothing but bait. A lure to draw Father and me away!
‘Because my youngest uncle isn’t here.’
There was no Blood Sovereign currently in the clan. He couldn’t stay away from his post for long and had already returned to it.
Damn it all.
‘I was too hasty.’
There was no time for regret. I looked at Father and nodded. It meant I would handle everything. He returned the nod, and I turned on my heel.
Back in my quarters, I shed the clothes I had been wearing and put on a black martial uniform.
“Muyoung.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Send word to the others. Today, that bastard…”
They had caught me once.
“I will make sure he dies.”
Cheonsu-maje. There was no one else who would orchestrate something like this.
The time had finally come to reveal the full extent of the power I had gathered.
The Black King Sect was placed on emergency alert. It was due to an urgent message sent by its true master, Woo-jin.
“Heaven-grade! Heaven-grade express message!”
At the subordinate’s report, both Gae-pyeong and Yeo Mong nodded at the same time.
Heaven-grade was one of the highest and most urgent signal systems. It meant every intelligence asset in the Black King Sect was to be focused on the task.
Yeo Mong opened the letter that arrived and immediately began issuing commands.
“Seal off the entirety of Jiangxi Province. Record and report every suspicious movement and group without exception. Also, distribute these portraits to every branch. The moment these two are located, track their every movement. Execute!”
Under Yeo Mong’s orders, the subordinates moved with perfect coordination. The portraits she had left behind depicted the faces of Cheonsu-maje and Lee Eul with perfect accuracy.
The Black King Sect had begun to move against the Demonic Cult for the first time.