Chapter 38
“‘Prestigious’ clans my foot.”
The Dokgo family, the Sacheon Dang family—why were there so many broken, ruthless households? What kind of rotten lineage would stoop to kidnapping children…
“Huh? I… feel like I’ve seen this before.”
Eun Sowol’s mind spun at the sudden, uneasy familiarity. Sacheon Dang Clan… a kidnapping… Dang Jinmyeong… and his brother Dang Jinak…
Her face went pale with horror. Dokgo‐wang… Dang Jinak!
In the original story, Dang Jinak is the head of the Sacheon Dang Clan. To claim the position, he slaughtered all his half‐siblings, seized control by force, and even murdered his own father with his own hands.
Still, every villain has an origin. His cruelty had a reason:
“My mother died in that carriage accident, and my brother went missing—only to be found as a corpse. At first I thought it was an accident or a bandit’s raid, but my investigation revealed it was an inside job.”
And the perpetrators were his own half‐siblings, desperate to neutralize Dang Jinak as a rival for clan head. In Sacheon Dang tradition, kindness is repaid doubly, but grudges tenfold.
“I never imagined that I—along with that deceased sibling—would be kidnapped!”
Eun Sowol screamed, tearing at her hair and thrashing—when suddenly, whoosh—
“Whoa!”
The thick drape was yanked aside, and Eun Sowol froze.
“I expected wailing and screaming, but you’re surprisingly… quiet.”
Her heart sank at the sight of the man who’d lifted the cloth. From his left brow down to his lip ran a deep scar. His left eye was milky white—blind—and his lip was grotesquely torn so that, even sealed, his teeth were exposed.
Yet his fierce glare was even more chilling than his disfigurement.
“You look too stunned to speak. Most kids cry when they see the clan’s enforcer.”
“Um… excuse me!”
At her trembling voice, two men bowed their heads.
“Where are we going…?”
The enforcer’s whole body trembled, tears shining in his eyes, yet Eun Sowol did not cry. He studied her coldly.
“Want to know?”
Eun Sowol’s spine went numb. Her instinct screamed: ask again and he will kill you.
Breaking into a cold sweat, she hesitated—and the man sneered:
“Clever child. Stay just like that. If you fuss or cause trouble, I’ll cut your throat.”
He turned on his heel. The lackey beside him clicked his tongue sympathetically at Eun Sowol.
“Tsk, tsk. Why stay with the target? Well, I suppose that’s your fate.”
They replaced the drape, and Eun Sowol felt their presence recede.
“…Hah! Huff, huff, huff…”
She gulped in air and clutched her own throat. Fear gripped her body, but she forced herself to calm down with deep breaths.
“…This isn’t the capital, right?”
When the drape lifted for that moment, she glimpsed woods rising like a mountain path. Dokgo‐wang had said he found his brother’s corpse in a remote mountain village far from the city—and it had been savagely mutilated. Seeing Jinmyeong sleeping so peacefully, it was as if he’d been ripped apart already.
“Uncle… where are you…?”
Eun Sowol hugged herself and trembled with fear.
“Damn it! Two kids, and nobody saw a thing?!”
Dang Jinak panted more raggedly than when drunk. Dok Go‐ryong’s whole aura was grim—veins standing out in his neck, teeth clenched, fists white-knuckled. If Dang Jinak was a raging tempest, Dok Go‐ryong was a thunderbolt ready to explode. He knew from hard experience that losing one’s cool would only make things worse.
He forced himself to breathe steadily and asked Yu Yeoyeon as calmly as possible:
“…No one at all saw the kids?”
“I’ll gather all the staff and check again. But is there any chance they left Chwiseonru on their own…?”
“No. They wouldn’t.”
An hour had passed since they realized the children were gone. The two searched every corner of Chwiseonru like hunters—but it was as if the children had vanished into thin air. From Eun Sowol’s personality and the traces they left, they hadn’t left the pavilion. So someone must have deliberately kidnapped them—most likely targeting Jinmyeong more than Eun Sowol. Yet the only person who might know Jinmyeong was here was Dang Jinak himself…
Suddenly a thought struck Dok Go‐ryong.
“Hey, you psycho—who’s Jin-hyuk?”
“Jin-hyuk? You mean Dang Jinhyuk? He’s my half-brother. Why?”
“They say Jinhyuk told your sister where the dog hole is and where you were. I reckon the kids weren’t lost—they were kidnapped.”
“What? Are you saying Jinhyuk kidnapped them?!”
“It makes no sense otherwise. And you’ve already gone through a similar incident.”
Dang Jinak’s lips trembled as he recalled their mother’s carriage accident—he couldn’t find words to deny it.
“He probably tried for your brother, but took my niece along too.”
The more he thought about it, the angrier Dok Go‐ryong became. Gritting his teeth, he leveled a deadly glare at Dang Jinak:
“If anything happens to those kids, I will kill you—and everyone involved in this—without mercy!”
“C-calm down! No matter what, Dang Jinhyuk doesn’t have the guts for that. Maybe Dang Jinyo, but not Jinhyuk…”
Dang Jinak faltered. Dang Jinhyuk was Dang Jinyo’s full brother. If Dang Jinyo were behind this…
“I’m going back to the main estate for a moment. It won’t take long—if you find my sibling, keep them safe!”
He shouted and lunged out, using light-body skill to vanish quickly. Dok Go‐ryong turned and noticed a beggar by the opposite wall.
Ting—clatter—
He dropped a coin into the beggar’s battered bowl and asked:
“One question—did you see anyone acting odd around Chwiseonru about an hour ago?”
“Tomorrow at last, the clan-head contest begins. After the Seven Prefectures, the power balance will shift. I trust you’ve made every preparation?”
“Yes, Young Lord. We’ve completed all your orders.”
“We’ve erased every trace so there can be no rumors.”
“No one else knows of our alliance except you two Young Lords and the Black Python Corps.”
Dang Jinyo curled his lips in a satisfied smile. As the second son of the Sacheon Dang Clan, he already commanded the Black Python Corps—one of their force divisions—and had strong backing from many elders. He was a leading candidate for clan head and was sparing no effort—securing allies, wooing undecided elders, and continuing his training.
But this was only the surface. He also moved in shadows where no one watched.
“However, Brother—did we really need to go this far?”
Dang Jinhyuk asked, concern in his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“About Jinmyeong. Even if you didn’t touch that child, Dang Jinak has no interest in the clan-head seat. He’s played the hooligan role well so far—why go to such lengths…?”
Jinyo’s gaze turned icy cold as Jinhyuk spoke, and his heart dropped.
Though revered in the clan as a paragon of virtue, Jinhyuk knew better than most how duplicitous and ruthless Dang Jinyo could be.
