Grandfather’s open insults did not faze Danmokbi, who remained calm as if he had anticipated this. For some reason, I felt more sorry because of it.

‘I suppose he became angrier because he ran into us while trying to sleep. Perhaps we should have met tomorrow morning instead of tonight.’

As we were each watching the other, Namgungryeo laughed heartily and greeted Danmokbi.

“It’s been a long time, Danmok Master.”

“It has been a long time indeed.”

However, the greetings of the two seemed quite intimate. I blinked in surprise.

“Do you know Danmok Master?”

“We met in Shinsan when we were children.”

“Really?”

At Namgungryeo’s words, spat out with a laugh, I was utterly stunned. Whether my reaction bothered him or not, Danmokbi added in a soft voice,

“After you disappeared like that, I stayed in Shinsan for a while too.”

“You did?”

The fact that Danmokbi had become so strong and still went to Shinsan was unexpected.

‘Has Danmok Master still not abandoned his ambition?’

The reason I had helped Danmokbi grow stronger was to prevent him from living as the catalyst for a spell that trapped Baekho in his body.

I thought Danmok Master would know that he could no longer trap the divine beast in his son’s body.

‘Besides, meeting by chance in Shinsan while recuperating in childhood is the opportunity for the male and female leads to meet.’

In the original, the chance encounter in Shinsan was when Namgungryeo and Danmokchang felt love for each other.

I thought the story had completely twisted because Namgungryeo had changed, but Danmokbi met her instead of Danmokchang?

‘Could the plot have changed?’

If the male lead has changed to Danmokbi, then…

I was nervous about whether the two had felt any special impression of each other.

Unaware of my confusion, Danmokbi picked up a round lantern.

“Let’s go before it gets darker.”

Leading with the lantern, Danmokbi’s back was broad, solid enough to lean on and trust.

However, my heart fluttered at the thought that he and Namgungryeo had made a connection like in the novel.

While I was thinking differently, we arrived at the place from before. Seeing the shabby and gloomy appearance, Grandfather’s eyes narrowed.

“Is this your parents’ grave?”

“It’s more accurate to say it’s a place that needs to be made into a grave.”

I smiled awkwardly. In Grandfather’s eyes, who had lived in a good house and worn good clothes, this ruin must have looked like a graveyard.

“It’s this way.”

Again, Danmokbi guided us. Namgungryeo chuckled and said,

“You’re kind, Danmok Master.”

“…….”

Danmokbi only flashed a small smile as if he had heard enough nonsense, but it was enough to spread an unnecessary anxiety in my heart.

I had been fiddling with the hem of my clothes when suddenly I turned to look at Grandfather, who was standing still without a word.

“Grandfather?”

Grandfather’s wrinkled eyes were trembling. It wasn’t just his eyes. His arms, shoulders, his entire body seemed to tremble like a person wailing.

‘Why is he like this?’

Startled, I stepped back as Grandfather walked step by step towards the corpse. Then, standing in front of it, he sighed faintly.

“My daughter, how have you fallen asleep in such a miserable place like this?”

Not only I but Danmokbi and Namgungryeo were all taken aback by his words. I asked with a trembling voice,

“What? Daughter? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Grandfather heaved a long sigh and spoke with a swifter than usual tone. His passion was evident in his voice.

“How could I not recognize this dress, no matter how ragged it has become? This is the dress she was wearing the last time I saw her.”

“But, but.”

It could be a dress of the same color. I could not bring myself to say those words, stammering with my lips when Grandfather flipped the tattered hem of the dress.

“Is not her name written here?”
Grandfather was right. No matter how frayed the name embroidered in silk was, the characters were clear.

Grandfather closed his eyes tightly and said,

“This is my daughter’s corpse.”

“That means…….”

“Yes.”

Grandfather, with his eyes open again, stared at me with a terrifyingly clear look.

“I knew it the moment I saw you. That you are my real granddaughter.”

(This is a time separator.)

‘I was my grandfather’s biological granddaughter.’

Since the time he first met me, Grandfather had said that I looked like his daughter, but I never knew that there was such a secret to my birth.

Since my mother was revealed to be a person of Jegalsega, she could not be buried here. Unexpectedly, someone reached out to help us in our dilemma.

“I think I can deliver a letter since my hawk has stayed in Jegalsega until recently. I’ll contact my hawk.”

Originally, using a hawk from another family could be a sensitive issue that could lead to misunderstandings, but no tricks could be seen from the bright smile on Namgungryeo’s face.

‘Since relations with the Namgung family are not good, it must not have come to snoop out secrets.’