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Chapter 5
“Huh?”
The snake looked up at me gloomily without offering a hint of resistance.
I just blinked in disbelief at the situation.
‘This… what is this?’
But it wasn’t only me who was surprised.
“My lady, are you alright?”
“Biya, you… are you unharmed? You weren’t bitten, were you?”
“Yes… it didn’t bite me. I think it’s a gentle, tame snake…”
At those words, one of the guards standing behind Father bravely stepped forward toward me.
But—
“Hisssssk!”
“Argh!”
The moment he approached, the snake straightened its body and bared its fangs, forcing him to retreat in a hurry.
“Goodness gracious.”
I mustered up some courage and tapped the snake on the head.
“You mustn’t hiss at people.”
“Hisss…”
I gestured toward Father.
“If you give me the chest, I’ll put it inside.”
“Will you be alright?”
“As you can see…”
Father pushed the iron chest toward me.
I placed the snake inside.
“Good.”
“Hisss…”
The snake struggled a bit as if it didn’t want to go in, but when I pushed it in firmly, it didn’t resist too strongly.
As soon as the snake was inside, I shut the chest.
Bang!
The lid closed, and everyone in the room let out a collective sigh of relief.
Father came closer to check on me.
“You really are alright?”
But there was no sense of urgency in his voice—it sounded more like he was helping a daughter back up after a fall.
Of course, he was the only one who didn’t seem anxious.
The others were raising their voices, insisting that the Master of Medicine be summoned immediately.
“This is no ordinary matter! We must have her examined at once!”
“Where is the Lord right now?”
But I simply nodded while held in Father’s arms.
“Yes, I’m fine. I’m not in pain. Though… I did get bitten just a little earlier…”
At that moment—
“……”
“……?”
The atmosphere in the room instantly turned cold.
The noisy chamber fell into dead silence.
The warriors who had been about to move the chest froze in place.
“……Uh?”
I blinked.
Of course, such a reaction was to be expected.
But—
‘Why does this feel… strange somehow?’
It didn’t seem like the usual panic one would expect just because a young lady with no poison resistance had been bitten by a venomous snake.
Feeling unsettled, I rolled my eyes nervously in Father’s arms.
“……”
Without a word, Father pulled up my skirt to my knee and asked,
“Where were you bitten?”
“My ankle. I stepped on the snake by accident…”
“Does it hurt?”
“Hmm, no.”
Father pulled back the fabric and examined the wound. Three puncture marks were visible on my ankle.
Blood welled from them, though not in large amounts.
I brushed at the wound lightly, unconcerned.
‘Come to think of it…’
In all the commotion, I hadn’t noticed until now—
There was no pain at all.
Could it be true? Was I really immune to poison?
Everyone else looked horrified, but I couldn’t help feeling a little pleased.
Just then—
“Where is the Myriad-Blood Serpent?”
A stranger’s voice rang out.
Still nestled in Father’s arms, I looked up sharply.
At the sound, the crowd of servants and guards blocking the doorway parted at once.
Through the gap, an old man in green robes strode in.
I knew instantly who he was.
‘Grandfather…’
Tang Cheongi, the Poison Sovereign.
The greatest master of poison in the world, the man who had ushered the Tang Clan into its golden age.
But in my previous life, I had never once heard my grandfather’s voice up close.
To the Clan Head, a granddaughter incapable of using poison arts was worth no more than that.
So this was my first time ever seeing him at such close range.
Overwhelmed, I clung tighter to Father instead of greeting him.
Grandfather silently approached and stood at the door, looking down at Father and me.
Then, after glancing at the iron chest once, he asked Father,
“Jinhyeon, was it you who captured it?”
“……”
Father said nothing.
Instead of pressing him, Grandfather turned his head slightly to the left.
“Elder Shim.”
Elder Shim, who had just regained his composure, leapt to his feet in a fluster.
“Y-Yes, Clan Head!”
“Was it Jinhyeon who captured the Myriad-Blood Serpent?”
“T-That is…”
As Elder Shim hesitated, Grandfather’s brows furrowed.
“Did you not hear my question?”
“N-No! It is true the serpent was captured, but it was not the Second Young Master who did it. It was Young Lady Bi.”
At his words, Grandfather’s sharp gaze fell upon me.
“……!”
The moment my face reflected in those piercing eyes, I instinctively burrowed into Father’s embrace.
But I didn’t avert my gaze.
After all, I had done nothing wrong.
Elder Shim hurried to speak again.
“This is no time for delay, Clan Head! We must summon the Master of Medicine at once!”
“Why?”
“Because the young lady was bitten by the Myriad-Blood Serpent!”
“How much time has passed since the bite?”
“About a gyeong…”
“That is enough.”
Grandfather turned his gaze back to Father, who was still seated silently with me in his arms.
“You tell me, Jinhyeon. Do you think he should be called?”
“There is no need.”
At Father’s words, Elder Shim’s face turned pale.
He stamped his feet anxiously.
“But Young Master! If she isn’t treated quickly—!”
“You know as well as I do, anyone bitten by that serpent dies without fail.”
“Then all the more reason—!”
“Within one gyeong they would be dead.”
Father patted my back as he spoke.
I looked up at him, wide-eyed.
Huh? One gyeong?
‘That snake was that venomous?’
No wonder the guards had panicked so badly—there was a reason.
Grandfather glanced again at Father, who calmly soothed me, then signaled the guards with a nod.
“I will see that the Myriad-Blood Serpent is returned to its place. Take the chest to the Eight Poisons Vault. As for the rest of you, return to your duties. I must speak with Jinhyeon.”
“But—”
“Did I not say it was unnecessary?”
The servants and guards left the room with bewildered faces.
The heavy iron chest was carried out, and even Elder Shim, who had been fretting by my side, was dismissed.
Only then did the commotion subside.
Grandfather, after confirming we were alone, stepped fully inside and closed the door.
Clack!
Now, only Grandfather, Father, and I remained.
For some reason, I felt I shouldn’t continue facing him while clinging to Father, so I quietly slipped from his arms.
I bowed my head.
“Grandfather.”
“So, it was you who confined the Myriad-Blood Serpent?”
I nodded.
“Yes, I did.”
“How?”
That question made me hesitate.
‘It just went in quietly, so I put it in… but if he asks how I put it in…’
After thinking for a moment, I simply told the truth.
“It let itself be caught, so I just put it in.”
“If it let itself be caught, then how did you end up bitten?”
“Before that, I stepped back carelessly and accidentally trod on it…”
Partly my carelessness, partly the snake’s fault for creeping into my room.
Still, fearing Grandfather might scold me, I clutched Father’s sleeve tightly.
“Give me your hand.”
I obediently held out my hand.
Grandfather took it, felt my pulse, then turned to Father.
At last, he gave the answer I had longed to know.
“The poison has vanished entirely. The serpent’s venom dissipated within her body.”
My eyes blinked as his hand still held my wrist.
‘So it’s true—I really am immune to all poisons.’
Uncle had been right all along. Father had lied to me.
But why?
I turned to look at Father.
He only gazed back at Grandfather with a weary expression, one that even seemed faintly defiant.
Grandfather pressed him.
“Even now you have nothing to say to me?”
I watched Father silently.
Without replying, he tore a strip from his sleeve, bound the bleeding wound on my ankle tightly, then finally raised his head to meet Grandfather’s eyes.
And at last, he spoke.
“What answer is it you wish to hear?”
“You…”
“What you suspect is correct.”
Father pulled me firmly into his arms.
My hand slipped free from Grandfather’s grasp.
‘Oh!’
With me held tightly against him, Father continued in his calm voice:
“This child possesses the body immune to all poisons.”
