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Chapter 7
I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated
“The nursemaid guarded you so fiercely, saying you needed absolute rest. Nobody could enter carelessly, so everyone just worried from afar.”
Tang Rim, sitting on the edge of the bed, sniffled as he spoke.
“She had to take care of you in Father’s place, so she was constantly on edge.”
“Mhm….”
I sat beside him, accepting the candy he broke into smaller pieces for me.
Tang Rim stayed away because of guilt, and Tang Guiheon was blocked by the nursemaid.
I could understand the nursemaid’s feelings too.
She’d probably been afraid I would fall even deeper into despair if I saw my brothers after losing my dantian.
Especially since all the direct descendants were constantly praised as promising rising talents.
So Brother Guiheon didn’t avoid me because he hated me either.
For some reason, the candy in my mouth tasted even sweeter.
“And then….”
Tang Rim’s hand stopped in the middle of breaking apart another candy.
He pressed his lips together, seemingly lost in thought.
“……”
“Brother?”
I tilted my head and looked up at him, causing him to flinch.
“Ah, right. Candy.”
Carefully making sure not to drop the broken pieces, Tang Rim tipped the candy into my mouth.
I hadn’t called him over because I wanted candy, but since he was offering it, I ate it anyway.
“Geez. Is it good?”
Tang Rim grinned while lightly pinching my cheek.
Judging by how much he grabbed, I apparently had quite a lot of baby fat. Was it really okay to keep eating this much candy…?
“Yeon-ah.”
After staring at me for a while, Tang Rim finally spoke.
“You’re completely better now… right?”
My headaches were gone now, and my body could handle normal daily activities again.
“Yes. I’m okay now.”
“Then… do you want to go see Nursemaid?”
Nursemaid.
At the careful question, I blinked.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen her once since returning to the past.
I’d been too distracted by the Hallucination Grass to notice.
I assumed she’d simply been busy taking care of Tang Rim and Tang Guiheon too, but…
Judging by how cautiously he’s saying this, something must’ve happened.
Swallowing the sweetness lingering in my mouth, I asked,
“Where is she? Nursemaid?”
“Well….”
***
“After what happened to you, Nursemaid worried herself sick. She collapsed from stress not long ago.”
“We were going to tell you after you recovered properly, since we thought you’d only worry more if you knew— Hey! Where are you going?!”
Before Tang Rim even finished speaking, I bolted straight toward the detached residence where Nursemaid stayed.
“Hey! Hey! You’ll hurt yourself!”
Tang Rim shouted while chasing closely behind me.
“Slow down! You’re going to fall!”
“I won’t fall!”
I answered vaguely while running with all my strength.
Nursemaid is sick?
And she’d collapsed because she worried about me?
I hadn’t even gone to see her once this whole time.
I blamed myself over and over internally.
I should’ve gone to Nursemaid first.
She was the person who loved and worried about me the most!
“Haah, forget it…!”
Still looking restless, Tang Rim finally grabbed me and tucked me under one arm.
Then he leapt over the head of a maid carrying a laundry basket.
“Eek!”
The wind sent the clothes in the basket flying.
The long rows of walls flashed by in an instant, and before I realized it, Tang Rim stopped and set me down.
We had already arrived in front of a small tiled house.
“Now walk slowly— Ah, damn it!”
The moment my feet touched the ground and Tang Rim let go of my side, I immediately sprinted off again.
Cough! Cough….
The sound of Nursemaid coughing echoed through the quiet hallway.
The area already reeked of medicinal decoctions. A faint bitter herbal smell stung my nose.
“Nursemaid.”
Standing outside the door, I called out in a trembling voice.
A shadow quickly approached.
The maid who opened the door widened her eyes in surprise upon seeing me.
Then she lowered her head and stepped aside.
“Please come in, Young Miss.”
Beyond her, I could see Nursemaid lying in bed.
The white blanket was damp, as though she’d been suffering from a fever.
Nursemaid turned her pale face toward me.
Her hollow eyes trembled.
“Y-Young… Miss.”
She struggled to sit up.
I hurried over to support her.
I didn’t have enough strength by myself, but Tang Rim, who’d entered behind me, helped.
“Young Miss… how…?”
Nursemaid muttered in disbelief.
“I’m all better now.”
I deliberately spoke brightly.
So she wouldn’t worry about me anymore.
Nursemaid’s lips trembled.
As if she couldn’t believe it, she looked me up and down repeatedly.
“You’re… truly alright?”
“Yeah. Really!”
I grabbed her hand and nodded firmly.
Her hands were rough, and her fingertips were darkened.
“It’s thanks to you protecting me.”
If Nursemaid hadn’t worried so much and overprotected me, maybe my life could’ve turned out differently.
Because I’d been isolated due to her overprotection, nobody noticed the Hallucination Grass, and the misunderstandings only grew worse.
But if she hadn’t done that, maybe I would’ve fallen victim to something even worse than the Hallucination Grass.
“And you need to get better soon too, okay?”
Besides—
She’d only done it because she cared about me.
If that was the reason, then everything was okay.
If it was done by someone who looked at me with such warm eyes, then I could understand all of it.
“She seemed a little better, so I mentioned Nursemaid, and she instantly ran out. Seriously.”
Tang Rim said helplessly while placing a hand atop my head.
At that, tears welled up in the corners of Nursemaid’s eyes.
“How could our Young Miss… worry about me the moment she recovered….”
“If I don’t worry about Nursemaid, then who will I worry about?!”
I cheerfully burrowed into Nursemaid’s arms while secretly wiping my tears on her clothes.
“Stop worrying about me and hurry up and get better, okay?”
Nursemaid gently hugged me and coughed softly.
Cough. “I think I’m already feeling much better….”
“Hmph. Liar.”
Her voice sounded terribly hoarse.
There was barely any strength in the arms pulling me close.
If only I’d gathered the courage and come out earlier.
That regret kept stabbing painfully at my heart.
We couldn’t stay in the room long.
Nursemaid insisted it was bad for sick people to have visitors around too long, even if the illness was caused by stress, and she kicked both of us out.
Unable to argue at all, we obediently returned to our residence.
“Hey, you run fast. I thought you were a flying squirrel.”
Tang Rim said while placing his hand atop my head again.
My head squished under his palm.
He’d done this earlier too.
Surely this wasn’t why I stopped growing before reaching five feet tall, right?
The thought made me uneasy, so I wriggled out from under his hand.
“Hey! I’ll get shorter, Brother!”
Tang Rim let out a dumbfounded laugh.
“Hah! Like that’ll suddenly make you grow to eight feet!”
“My goodness!”
A startled unfamiliar voice sounded from behind Tang Rim.
Two maids I’d never seen before covered their mouths and quickly stepped aside.
“Come here. Don’t run again.”
Tang Rim gestured casually to me as though he didn’t even notice them.
I obediently grabbed his hand and slowly walked past the two maids.
“She came out again today…!”
“I know. I wish we could see her every day.”
Tiny whispers reached my ears.
Their voices were openly affectionate.
Everyone says things like this whenever they see us.
Tang Rim must’ve been incredibly popular within the family.
I secretly glanced up at him.
I expected him to feel embarrassed, but not at all.
His expression was perfectly calm.
Maybe he’d heard it so often he was used to it.
My heart felt ticklish.
Now that the misunderstandings were cleared up, I suddenly wanted to tease him.
“Brother, you’re really popular.”
“Hm?”
Tang Rim stopped walking and lowered his head to meet my eyes.
“I’m popular?”
“Yes. Everyone keeps saying it. That you’re cute. They just did too.”
I pointed toward the maids.
Tang Rim blinked while looking back and forth between them and me.
I expected him to blush, but instead he simply grinned.
“They were talking about you.”
“Huh?”
Me?
“No way. They were definitely looking at you—”
When I turned around, our eyes met.
“Ughhh!”
The maids immediately clamped their mouths shut and trembled.
“Huh?”
Their expressions looked like they were both laughing and crying at the same time.
…They really were talking about me?
Naturally, I thought they meant Tang Rim.
After all, he was admired everywhere for his talent in poison arts.
I assumed the servants praised him for that too…
“Uh….”
Back then, I’d always been carried around in Mother’s or Nursemaid’s arms, so I never realized it.
I was actually pretty loved.
I’d learned too many new things in a single day and felt completely dazed.
“Th… thank you.”
Whatever.
I clasped both hands together and greeted them, but Tang Rim immediately added,
“You outrank them.”
“Then what should I do?”
“Just nod your head. They’re only stating the obvious.”
He crossed his arms and jerked his chin confidently.
Hmm. I didn’t realize it before, but Brother is pretty arrogant….
“Come on! Copy me.”
I crossed my short arms over my chest.
Tang Rim somehow looked natural doing it, but my tiny arms made it look different.
Still, there was nothing I could do about that….
I nodded solemnly.
“Thank… thank you for thinking I’m cute.”
“Ahh… Young Miss…!”
The maids’ eyes filled with emotional tears.
I quickly lowered my arms and grabbed Tang Rim’s hand.
“B-Brother. Let’s hurry and go!”
“Alright.”
Tang Rim laughed softly and patted my head.
“Please return safely, Young Miss!”
The maids called after me from behind.
I hurried away with quick little steps.
If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up.
For the first time since returning to the past—
it felt like I had finally come home.
