Chapter 3

Chapter 3

He doesn’t look like I remember him.
Of course, no one remembers their childhood in its entirety.
The more I resented my family, the less I remembered the good things about them.
Not when I saw myself so sunny and transparent.
At the sight of the South Palace walls, I crumbled.
I was me, but not me.
I could neither step forward nor step back.
“Wall.”
It was as hard as stone.
“Wall.”
The voice was familiar, but different.
It was a gentle, warm voice, not the faint breaths of a sickly man, whose color was so faded that he looked as if he might die on his bed at any moment.
I turned my head and saw the image of a woman rushing over with concern and scooping her child into her arms.
She was beautiful. She stood in front of me, her skin not pale and bloodless, but full of life with a subtle flush, and her eyes full of warmth as she looked at her child.
She scooped the child up into her arms and locked eyes with me as I stared blankly at her.
I flinched.
Should I tell her she’s Moorish.
Should I tell her to run away, that she’ll suffer for her ugly family.
Or should I apologize for the filial piety I didn’t fulfill in my previous life?
Should I shout that I am your child, not him or her, but me.
Countless thoughts flashed through my mind as I took a step closer.
“……I wonder if the Grand Duke has come this far.”
The woman’s warm eyes and gentle voice were no longer directed at me. They were focused solely on the child in her arms.
My thoughts were suspended by the unfamiliar, icy coldness of that line of emotion. I stood there, staring into those wary eyes, unsure of what to do and how to react.
“Mommy, Mommy. I want to play with you.”
It wasn’t the woman, nor was it me, that made me loosen up.
It was a three-year-old child, not anyone else, who changed the subtle air that flowed between the woman and me.
But the child’s wish was not granted.
The woman said it could never happen, and soon bowed her head, begging me to forgive the dumb child.
“Now, let’s go.”
I instinctively opened my mouth to speak as the woman turned away with the regretful child.
“Excuse me.”
The woman turned to look at me. Her posture was awkward.
“The wall…… is my brother.”
“……What’s that.”
“I, uh, I meant, as his big brother, there’s no reason you can’t play with him.”
Gibberish.
I’m not sure I know what I’m saying either.
“…….”
The woman’s gaze lands on me, shakes her head, and then disappears just as quickly.
This isn’t right.
This isn’t right.
I spun around, feeling a strange sensation.
I gathered my thoughts until I was back in my room, down the hallway I’d run out of and back into my room.
My rush to vent my frustration was long gone, replaced by a single thought.
“I have to protect …….”
From the moment I uttered those words, I decided my fate, and I needed strength to do it.
* * * *
I focused on the gap that was being filled. Talent was one thing, but the great experience I had acquired was another. I had practiced the inner qigong method through countless battles with my body over the insignificant qualities of my previous life.
With my current body, I would be able to comfortably surpass my previous life’s level in no time.
I smiled with satisfaction as I felt my inner strength spreading through my veins and veins, more so than the inner gong accumulating in the lower stance. It was different from the form of simply accumulating qigong in a single battle, feeling full and drawing on it when the time came.
Every day in the army and every battle was a life-and-death struggle. If there was even a hint of resistance, I had to move my leg to take one more step, or my arm to cut down one more enemy soldier.
Maybe it was the memory.
I had a body that was overflowing with talent, and I was practicing the habits of my previous life, metallurgically widening the veins and arteries and increasing the size of the narrowest of wires.
He was no less powerful than he had been in his previous life.
“I guess this is just as much of a problem.”
I smirked and looked down at my body, which was bulging with something a mere fourteen-year-old shouldn’t have.
The flesh on my forearms when I spread my arms, the flesh on my thighs when I stretched my legs, the flesh on my stomach when I leaned back.
The palms of his hands, which he folded and unfolded, were free of calluses. Perhaps I should say that he had no talent, but rather no need or interest in martial arts.
Nevertheless.
Even though he was a big man, he felt that he needed to spend more time practicing and familiarizing himself with the internal arts first. It was a necessary process for lightness of movement and lightness of step.
So the day passed, two days passed, three days passed, and I pushed and pulled to build up my strength and handle it efficiently.
Perhaps the start of this day was no different.
“Grand Duke.”
His thoughts were interrupted by his nanny’s voice calling out to him.
I opened my mouth to respond, thinking it was already yogi time.
“Put it down. Don’t come in again today until I say so.”
“Yo, not yogurt…….”
The cold words made the nanny stiffen, and she stumbled forward as if someone pushed her from behind. At the same time, someone walked in.
“No greeting, or have you still not forgotten your mother?”
It was a stranger. I frowned at the same time.
Why would he suddenly bring up my mother? Of course I didn’t know what happened to the Grand Duke’s mother, and it was not something I cared about.
“Your mother would weep in heaven if she saw you, the Grand Duke of the Southern Palace Family, not even holding a sword.”
I felt uncomfortable with this stranger coming in and telling me all these stories. I assumed anyone would. I’m sure anyone would be too, especially if they were talking about a past I didn’t know.
But…….
I was gripped.
Now I was a child of the Southern Palace, only fourteen years old, and already motherless.
She must have died before my time in the Southern Palace. Now I could understand why he had come to me and shown me such sadness.
Feeling the same sorrow had the power to bring understanding to areas that would otherwise be incomprehensible.
“…… died.”
I didn’t even remember her. Hagiya was the only person I could think of who had a connection to me, so of course she wasn’t there.
But as I turned away, disappointed, I knew I needed to catch it. I needed to know a little more about myself.
“I’ve lost my memory.”
The man stopped dead in his tracks, sighed heavily, and shifted his gaze to scan me from head to toe.
“……Heh, you’re an easy one, eh, nanny, you’d better get out of here.”
The nanny bowed once to me and once to the man, then stormed out.
She should tell him who it is and get out.
What will I do if she goes like that?
As if sensing my thoughts, the man identified himself before I could ask.
“I’m your uncle.”
My uncle.
He’s the brother of Ms. An, Namgungban’s mother. He gave his name as An Baek.
I didn’t have a lot of feelings for him, but I guess he didn’t have a lot of feelings for his family either.
“Wow. I’m the one who has lost his memory, and I’m the one who has to reap the rewards of a bastard who can’t even hold a sword properly and cries.”
After saying that, An Baek gave me a quick glance, and as if he didn’t like what he saw, he stormed out. I didn’t forget to get the last couple of words out.
“Don’t expect me to come all this way because I couldn’t refuse my sister’s request. It’s only been a year. It’s enough to make a man out of a woman.”
Thump, thump.
He just barged in and started talking to himself.
I felt like I’d been punched in the face.
But it was just the beginning.
* * * *
My plan went awry from the start. I thought I was going to take care of myself and build myself up slowly from the beginning, but every time I woke up, I was grabbed by the scruff of the neck by my uncle and forced to show up at the rehearsal hall early in the morning.
“From the moment you open your eyes and breathe, to the moment you close them, to the moment you eat and drink, you will not be able to do anything without my permission.”
The laughter of my uncle-in-law as he let go of his grip, revealing his hollow teeth to me, was indeed a bitter one.
“If you want me to treat you like a grand duke, then open your mouth and say you’ll give it up now, because once again, I’m not here to carry your baggage.”
My teeth chattered as I listened to the insensitive tale spouted over and over again.
I was a madman who had risen from nothing to become the leader of a unique species and a Heavenly Master, with the titles of Flesh Guy and Sword Guy.
I didn’t even bat an eyelid at the idea of training to shed a few pounds.
It was impossible.
I’ve been a flesh-eared and sword-eared man for so many years, and I’ve cut down so many people, but I’ve been able to endure because I have an immovable heart.
He must have thought so.
“Treat me like a grand duke, or treat me like a bastard. Do as you please. Just!”
I doubted my own immobility.
“Let’s make a bet.”
I was the first to make the same provocation.
Gumtul.
And the little man, the uncle, I mean Anbaek.
“As you wish. Terms?”
He was a brat.
Regret washed over me as I flaunted my useless pride.
An uncle betting with his nephew.
The nephew rolled his eyes at his uncle’s treatment of him.
What’s the difference?
It’s even worse when you consider that the nephew is a thick-headed man who’s already been around for decades.
Nevertheless.
It was nothing more than two assholes meeting and pitting their egos against each other, but it lit a fire in both men’s hearts and pulled the trigger.
“If that’s what you want.”
He must be suffering from amnesia.
Or maybe I ate something wrong.
He had that look on his face that I’d interpreted earlier as exhilaration at my words.
Of course, I was neither. This was not the Southern Palace class An Baek knew, but the Namgung Byeok, who had lived a harsher life than anyone else.
“Very well, make me recognize you, within a year.”
“Fine.”
“Since it’s a bet, you’ll have to put something on the line.”
I didn’t really need to put anything on the line, I just wanted to press the bridge of his nose.
I wanted to evoke something resembling surprise, or maybe even horror, in his eyes, which lacked the slightest hint of warmth.
So I wanted to at least make the uncle’s gaze at his niece different.
Well, if that’s begging for some kind of affectionate warmth, I have nothing to say.
Anyway.
“Be on my side.”
“……what?”
He responds as if it’s some kind of fatty word, but I don’t care.
“Only my side, no matter how much anyone else criticizes me, undermines me, or belittles me. Please stand by me unwaveringly, that’s what I want.”
I was merely stating my desire.