The moment he saw the child, Namgung Cheong-Un knew.

‘Seol-Hwa.’

Even though eight years had passed since he lost her, the child’s youthful face still clearly carried the traces of his daughter that he remembered so vividly.

Despite his resolve to immediately run to her and embrace her the moment he found her, his steps moved sluggishly, betraying his determination.

‘Seol-Hwa….’

Tears welled up in Namgung Cheong-Un’s eyes.

By the time he finally reached the bright lights of the pavilion, tears were already streaming down his face.

“You’re such a disgraceful man.”

His father, Namgung Mu-Cheon, grumbled curtly, but the reproach barely registered.

Cheong-Un knelt on one knee in front of the child, meeting her eyes.

Facing the clear and gentle gaze of Ilhwa, her chest tingled strangely. Without realizing it, her fingers, which had been resting against her chest, twitched. Finding it odd, she clenched her hand into a fist and lowered it.

‘The Namgung blade that I killed before dying.’

The man who, at the last moment before her death, had called out to her using the name “Seol-Hwa.”

‘Namgung Cheong-Un.’

My… father….

As that thought crossed her mind, she felt as if something heavy had fallen inside her. Her body, which had been pounding steadily, now felt inexplicably strange, causing Ilhwa to lightly furrow her brow.

Namgung Cheong-Un’s hand reached out toward her. The hand that almost touched her shoulder stopped midair, hesitating, and finally hovered without making contact.

“Verify first.”

At Namgung Mu-Cheon’s words, Namgung Cheong-Un lowered his hand and nodded. Smiling softly, he spoke to Ilhwa.

“It seems I need to examine your body briefly. Will that be alright?”

Ilhwa nodded.

Cheong-Un also nodded in response, his gaze briefly taking on a serious intensity.

“When Seol-Hwa was born, I personally left a mark on her body.”

It was a statement meant for everyone present.

“To others, it might look like just five ordinary dots, but when connected, they form the shape of a dragon.”

Among the clans, it was not uncommon for a father to mark a child’s body shortly after birth.

The larger and more powerful the clan, the more frequently this occurred.

Being powerful often meant having numerous enemies, and adversaries targeting the clan’s vulnerabilities—such as abducting children or switching infants—wasn’t unheard of.

Thus, marking a newborn was a quietly practiced tradition.

“Behind the left ear, on the right collarbone, under the left index fingernail, on the right knee, and the left heel.”

As he recited the five locations, Namgung Cheong-Un began examining Ilhwa’s body carefully, just as he had described.

His hand visibly trembled.

Each time a mark matching his description appeared at the specified locations, soft gasps escaped from those gathered around.

When viewed individually, the marks resembled ordinary dots. However, they were too small and inconspicuous for an outsider to identify precisely.

At last, when his hand gently touched the back of Ilhwa’s small foot, a profound silence fell over the pavilion.

After carefully setting her foot down, Namgung Cheong-Un raised his gaze to look at her.

By then, tears were cascading uncontrollably down his face.

“She is my daughter, Seol-Hwa.”

‘Namgung… Seol-Hwa….’

At the moment when Ilhwa, now recognized as “Seol-Hwa,” was acknowledged, she felt an indescribable sensation as her clear, tear-filled eyes met his.

As if bound by something, she found herself unable to look away from his gaze.

Her throat tightened, making it difficult to breathe.

‘Is it because I confirmed that I killed my father with my own hands?’

Unconsciously, her clenched fists tightened further.

“Seol-Hwa. It’s your father….”

Namgung Cheong-Un’s trembling hand reached up to gently stroke Seol-Hwa’s cheek.

“I am your father….”

His voice, choked with emotion, conveyed a deeply suppressed surge of joy.

Eight years.

It had been eight long years.

For eight years, he had searched for his child.

Throughout that time, he had encountered countless children, but not once had he felt the certainty he did now.

That certainty overwhelmed Cheong-Un.

As his memories of her began to fade, he had grown anxious, feeling as though he was letting her go. But now, it felt as if he was being rewarded for holding on.

It felt like confirmation that not giving up on her was the right choice.

“You’ve grown so much….”

‘Daddy! Don’t go! Don’t leave Seola behind! Waaaah―!’

The image of his daughter crying her eyes out, begging him not to leave for work, overlapped with her current appearance.

The child who used to fit snugly in his arms had grown much taller, but the memory of her younger self had not completely faded.

Unable to hold back any longer, Namgung Cheong-Un pulled his child into a tight embrace.

Seol-Hwa’s eyes widened as she was enveloped in his arms.

Over Cheong-Un’s shoulder, she could see the general manager, Seop Mu-Gwang, Cho-Ryeon of the medical hall, and the maidservant who had been attending to her.

The general manager, Cho-Ryeon, and the maid were all shedding tears, while Seop Mu-Gwang sniffled with a reddened nose.

‘Why… are they all crying?’

Seol-Hwa couldn’t understand.

When people are happy, shouldn’t they smile?

Why was everyone crying?

But even more incomprehensible was the strange feeling in her chest that told her she, too, wouldn’t have been able to laugh, even if she understood their emotions.

‘This is strange.’

They’ve found a child who had been lost for eight years, yet they’re all crying.

Of course, it was natural for her to feel uneasy because of the karma from her previous life.

‘It’s really strange.’

As she listened to the sound of Namgung Cheong-Un’s sobs near her ear, Seol-Hwa lowered her gaze.

Trapped in the warm heat of his embrace, Seol-Hwa stiffened, clenching her fists tightly.

The moment someone held her, the first time in 30 years, she didn’t know how to react.

She stood there blankly until the sobbing continued for a long time and finally subsided.

It was the moment Seol-Hwa was fully recognized as a child of the Namgung family.

---

After finishing her meal, Seol-Hwa returned to Cheongak Pavilion with Namgung Cheong-Un.

Namgung Mu-cheon and Cheong-Un had suggested she move to Cheong-Un’s quarters in the inner residence, but Seol-Hwa chose to stay at Cheongak Pavilion until her official recognition was complete.

While Namgung Cheong-Un stayed behind to speak with Namgung Mu-cheon for a moment, Seol-Hwa returned to Cheongak Pavilion first. Sitting cross-legged on her bed, she began to circulate her internal energy.

Although she hadn’t formally learned the Namgung family’s martial arts techniques yet, she needed to examine her meridians.

‘Just a little will be fine.’

Luckily, traces of the energy Namgung Mu-cheon had used while examining her body remained, so it wouldn’t raise suspicion.

Seol-Hwa carefully circulated her internal energy.

“…”

A clear, white energy rippled in her dantian.

It was the pure energy from the Grand Rejuvenation Pill, which hadn’t fully settled in her body yet.

Through the Namgung family’s techniques, this colorless, pristine energy would eventually transform into the clear, vibrant energy of a blue sky.

‘Just a little.’

The energy that began in her dantian slowly traveled through her Huiyin point, flowing along her meridians.

It passed through the Changqiang, Mingmen, and Zhongshu points, eventually reaching Baihui.

The energy that started in the lower dantian circulated through the upper dantian and returned to the Qihai.

After completing a full cycle of circulation, Seol-Hwa opened her eyes.

In her pupils, a faint blue light flickered before gradually fading away.

‘As I thought… it’s really dirty.’

Though she thought she had expelled all the impurities, performing the circulation after so long made it clear.

Residual impurities were clinging to her meridians like leeches, damaging various points along the way.

‘I thought I’d completely expelled them.’

No wonder they still treated her like a patient.

“So, it’s true you’ve trained in martial arts.”

The door opened, and Namgung Cheong-Un entered.

He carried a basin of water and a towel in his hands.

Approaching her bed directly, he placed the basin on the floor with a visibly happy expression and rolled up his sleeves.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to wash your feet.”

Seol-Hwa’s eyebrows furrowed.

“My feet? Why?”

“No reason. I just want to. Will you let me?”

Though she didn’t understand why he suddenly wanted to wash her feet, Seol-Hwa easily extended them toward him.

Cheong-Un grinned as he took her small feet in his hands, giving them a playful shake.

After his minor teasing, he carefully removed her socks.

“Your feet are still so small. When you were little, both fit into one hand…”

As he removed her socks, his expression froze.

Her feet, still small enough to fit snugly in his hands, were far from normal.

They were riddled with calluses and scars from wounds that had healed improperly.

Feet like these might belong to a seasoned martial artist who had experienced countless trials, yet the marks on her feet were too deep, too numerous for a child who was only thirteen.

It was clear how grueling the past eight years must have been for her. She had endured injuries but hadn’t received proper treatment.

Cheong-Un couldn’t bring himself to smile as he held her feet.

“Why?”

“No… it’s nothing.”

When Seol-Hwa innocently asked with her pure voice, Cheong-Un forced himself to continue moving his hands.

He gently wet her feet with warm water.

Though he was supposed to be washing her feet, his actions were more like timidly patting them with water.

As he continued, his head finally drooped low.

The hands that touched her scarred feet were flawless and smooth.

Unlike her rough, battered feet, his were unblemished.

“Ugh….”

Tears fell into the basin, creating ripples in the water that lightly touched Seol-Hwa’s legs.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry….”

Cheong-Un pulled her feet into his embrace.

His chest grew damp from the wetness of the water, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“This father of yours… truly, I’m sorry….”

His tears fell on the tops of her feet.

Seol-Hwa silently stared at Namgung Cheong-Un’s trembling shoulders for a long, long time.

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