[AFYC] Chapter 32

“Seo Ah.” 

A deep, kind voice, warm like the summer sun with no hint of coldness, called out to her. 

Seo Ah instinctively looked down at the shadow on the ground. The shadow of a large figure leaned toward her small shadow, and the warm voice caressed her head. 

“Child, lift your head. Why are you always looking down at the ground?” 

She hesitated for a long time before slowly raising her head to meet her father’s gaze—no, her grandfather. His dark eyes, which had weathered many storms over the years, looked down at her with a gentle light. 

“That’s right. Lift your head.” 

The hem of his robe fluttered in the breeze, brushing against her hand. 

“Have you noticed? The youngest lady is looking more and more different as she grows.” 

“Shh!” 

“She looks more and more like a foreigner by the day—pale skin, brown hair, and brown eyes.” 

“Quiet.” 

“Are you sure Madam didn’t... have an affair with a foreigner?” 

“Blasphemy! I said be quiet!” 

“Oh, come on! I’m not the only one thinking about it, am I? Anyone who’s seen the youngest lady would whisper the same. Isn’t that why she’s not allowed to leave the inner quarters despite having a foreign tutor?” 

Even as a child, Seo Ah understood the meaning of these words, but she couldn’t bring herself to repeat them aloud. 

When the world around her blurred and tears began to fall, her grandfather gently wiped them away. Silently, he wiped her tears repeatedly before speaking to her as he always did, with tender affection. 

“Child.” 

“...Yes.” 

His next words, as if he could see right through her, were ones she could never hear enough. 

“You are my daughter.” 

The daughter I love most in this world is my youngest daughter. 

“...Yes.” 

She lived, leaning on those words, knowing they weren’t true. 

She would have lived that way if not for that fateful event. 

The inner quarters of Ho Yeonjae, with its single large hall and two small rooms, were her whole world. Her grandfather, feeling sorry for her, had brought a tutor to keep her company. She would have spent her days visiting the night market with her tutor, finding joy in those small moments. 

She would have lived as the youngest daughter of Han Hongheon, the landowner of Yongcheon. 

But that false life shattered without warning. 

Seo Ah. 

Seo Ah, wake up. 

Her heart pounded as if it were about to drop at the sound of the kind but low voice. 

Seo Ah became aware that this was a dream for reasons she didn’t fully understand. She also knew that this scene was from that night. 

The sound of crying reached her from afar, and the stench of blood hung thick in the air. Flames climbed high, turning the paper screens red. 

Footsteps approached from the distance, closer and closer. Fear seized her, and she tried to back away, but the door burst open. 

There stood the matriarch of Ho Yeonjae, her white hair loose and dishevelled. 

The woman who had tragically lost her beloved daughter was now a figure of terrifying fury. Behind her, tiles burned brightly, consumed by fire. 

Standing there, silhouetted by the flames, she looked like a deity of vengeance who had just emerged from hell—or a god come to punish the guilty. 

“Get up.” 

“...” 

“Get up and see what your so-called father has done.” 

Her voice was soft but thundered in Seo Ah’s ears like a storm. 

“The man who left my daughter to die after turning her into that wretched state has now desecrated the grave of the man who took you in when your so-called father abandoned you. He dug up your grandfather’s remains. It was your father’s doing.” 

It felt as if the flames consuming the roof tiles were igniting within her chest. The intense heat from her melting heart released soot and ash that clogged and choked her lungs. 

Her grandfather’s grave, his remains. 

Seo Ah trembled violently as she got to her feet. Even though she knew it was a dream, her mind went blank. She couldn’t bear to lift her head as she crossed the threshold, huddling over as she did so. 

A cold voice pierced the silence. 

“You’re not even surprised, are you? You knew all along.” 

“...” 

“You knew that I’m not your mother and that the man you called father was your grandfather. If you knew all that, then did you also know what that man did to my daughter?” 

It was early summer, yet the wind that blew against her skin felt like it would flay her alive. 

I’m sorry. I... 

She didn’t know what she was saying. Barefoot and in a panic, she bolted from the house. Behind her, she heard a voice calling out as if it would tear itself apart. 

“Go to your father and bring back your grandfather’s remains!” 

She ran through the flames, smoke, and ash that hung in the night sky like a shroud. Screams and sobs dragged at her ankles like a swamp while sharp gazes cut into her back as if slicing through her flesh. The devastation in the fire’s wake was filled only with mournful cries and boiling anger. 

The fragile world she had pieced together, as delicate as a sugar sculpture, crumbled around her. As the sky collapsed and the ground beneath her feet shattered, he was the only person she could turn to. 

“Master!” 

But the man she called father hadn’t only taken her grandfather from her. 

Her master was the only one able to respond effectively to the silent attack. Though she couldn’t protect the grave, it was because of her that the damage wasn’t worse—she had burned herself alive to fend off the attackers. 

The nightmare shifted, changing scenes as it continued.