THWCS 01

Chapter 01

10 Years Later

“Huff… huff… huff…!”

Yeong-won thought she might die at any moment.

Her breath rose to the back of her throat, and her knees threatened to buckle, as if her entire body would collapse onto the dirt ground.

Born and raised for eighteen years within her family home, nurtured like a delicate flower in a vase under her parents’ immeasurable love, Yeong-won had never imagined that one day she would be running for her life on a moonless, dark night, chased by the very relatives she shared blood with.

“Yeong-won! You are the daughter of Ha Sun-yang, a criminal executed for smuggling! They are looking for you at the execution grounds! As long as you are the only one left of the Ha family, if you are captured, you will face severe torture! Only your maternal uncle can protect you!”

A familiar voice echoed somewhere along the steep mountain path and dense forest.

As Yeong-won ran recklessly, she spotted a hole beneath a large tree to her left. She crawled into it, curling herself up.

In the dark forest, dozens of torches flickered like ghostly flames.

Watching that scene, Yeong-won’s bloodshot eyes silently shed tears of devastation.

-Yeong-won, your uncle believes in your father’s innocence. Sun-yang was the most honest merchant in all of Hanseongbu. The accusation of smuggling is absurd. Someone has framed your father! I, your uncle, will uncover the truth!

Originally, Yeong-won had left on a long journey to inspect the upper areas near Jeongji. But after receiving tragic news from her uncle, Wi Jeong-mun, she returned to Hanseongbu just five days later.

Her father had been executed for smuggling, and her mother had perished in a fire at their home.

Rushing back, she saw the ashes of her home and her father’s head displayed at the execution grounds, just as her uncle had said.

Staring blankly at her father’s severed head dangling from the pole, Yeong-won felt as if she had fallen into an icy cavern, her entire body aching.

The pain in her chest was so severe that she could barely breathe. A twisting ache seemed to seize her entire body.

Collapsing onto the dirt, letting out stifled sobs, Yeong-won forced herself to focus when she noticed the ominous movement of the local guards.

They were posting notices: “Criminal Ha Sun-yang sold silver, copper, and other metals abroad through smuggling, so his entire family will be executed. The whereabouts of his daughter, Ha Yeong-won, are unknown.”

Her maid, Sorae, and the guards, who had accompanied her along Jeongji Road, forcibly lifted the dazed girl and led her away from the execution grounds.

After regaining some composure, Yeong-won went to find her maternal uncle, Wi Jeong-mun, who held a 9th-rank administrative post (Jubu).

Though a low-ranking official, he was close family and had risked his own safety to send her the news. Yeong-won thought that even as a 9th-rank official, he might understand how the Ha family had ended up in such a catastrophe.

But all of this had been a trap set by Wi Jeong-mun.

“Yeong-won! I will protect you as my own daughter, so come out! Do you trust that lowly servant beside you more than me?!”

The humid, heavy wind rustled the leaves as her uncle’s voice echoed through the forest.

Yeong-won trembled, unsure if it was fear or a sense of betrayal.

“Miss…! I clearly heard it! Uncle said he would send you as a concubine to Kim Jong-dal of the Pansang Trading Company! Using you as a useful tool in the mountains…!”

Sorae, who had accompanied her on the escape, whispered anxiously, full of indignation.

Yeong-won patted Sorae’s hand, which clutched at her navy-blue skirt like a straw, reassuring her.

She remembered arriving at Wi Jeong-mun’s house with Sorae and the guards. Though her uncle had appeared grief-stricken and outraged, it was all just an act.

“Sorae, none of this is coincidental or accidental.”

Her father had only one child—her. The next head of the Daesang Trading Company, which would have been inherited by a son, was being eyed by cunning wolves.

Though she had been raised as a well-educated young lady who had never left the main gate, Yeong-won was not ignorant of the world. She had pleaded with her father to inherit the company. But her father had refused.

For a year, this stubborn standoff had continued.

Five days ago, Sun-yang had suddenly summoned her and told her to go to Jeongji, testing whether she could take over the company. He had probably judged that if he could not choose a male heir or a subordinate to inherit, it would be better for a daughter to take it.

-Do you remember what I told you repeatedly? If trouble ever arises, seek the Qian family in Jeojado. This applies on your journey as well. Remember it well.

Before her journey, her father had looked at her intently and spoken these words. At the time, she thought it was merely a father’s concern for a daughter leaving on her first long journey. In retrospect, he had clearly known the disaster awaiting their household and used the journey as a pretext to protect her.

“Idiots! You fools! This is a young girl whose blood is barely dry! Catch her! If you fail, I’ll gouge out your useless eyes and feed them to dogs!”

Despite attempts to coax her out, Wi Jeong-mun’s tone suddenly turned violent.

Hearing this chilling voice, Yeong-won’s eyes wandered aimlessly through the dark forest.

The corpses of the guards who had given their lives to protect her lay strewn across the ground.

The searing grief made her face contort painfully.

Only her maid Sorae remained by her side.

Why the Ha family? Who had dragged her honest father and mother into such a horrific abyss?

Swallowing the weight of this burden deep in her bones, Yeong-won turned to Sorae with determination:

“Let’s go. We must survive…!”

Gathering the cumbersome skirt in one hand, she ran recklessly up the slope. Her lungs felt like they would burst and her legs like they would fall off.

The baying of hunting dogs grew closer with every moment.

An arrow meant to threaten them lodged violently into a nearby tree. Reflexively, Yeong-won ducked, scraping her knee, but immediately got back up and continued running.

She would survive. She would live.

Her frantic sprint only stopped when she reached a sheer cliff.

Those who had been hunting them had almost surrounded her and Sorae.

“Yeong-won! I am your only remaining kin! Come to me!”

Wi Jeong-mun shouted from behind.

Yeong-won looked back at her uncle—the same man who had smiled kindly at her earlier this evening. That face she thought she could trust had become a nightmare.

With no way forward and no way back, Yeong-won clenched her teeth and stepped backward, resolute.

She would survive, uncover the truth behind her parents’ unjust deaths, and exact vengeance on everyone involved. Wi Jeong-mun would not be spared.

Holding tightly to Sorae’s hand, she leapt without hesitation from the cliff, leaving no chance for anyone to catch her.