Chapter 98
The Terminally Ill Baby’s Physician Doesn’t Hide That She’s a Genius
“Ahh, what a fine night.”
The wind whistled sharply. Heukbiwon (Black Rain One) let the breeze wash over his face and chuckled, clearly in good spirits.
In front of the building where Biyu was sleeping, two figures stood guard — Heukbihu (Black Rain Lord) and Heukbiwon.
The gusts that circled the building were not natural wind.
“A perfect night to lose yourself in your sword, eh, little brother?”
“Spare me your pointless sentimentality.”
Heukbihu’s voice was cold, distant — he clearly had no interest in conversation. He’d been that way lately, his tone and demeanor sharp with irritation.
“What’s this? You sulking because I keep trying to hold my niece? Seriously sulking?”
“……”
“Our little chick says she doesn’t like daddies who are petty and narrow-minded!”
“……Shut up.”
Though they bantered lightly, both men were utterly alert — their senses honed like drawn blades.
“……That niece of ours,” Heukbiwon said, shrugging playfully, his tone easy, as if they were just out for a stroll. “She’s even more impressive today, don’t you think?”
He grinned mischievously. “What a shame, though. It’ll be tough for an unqualified father like you to protect her. If you ever want to hand over the job, I’ll take it~.”
Heukbihu shot him a glare sharp enough to cut steel, but Heukbiwon only winked, amused.
“Standing by anytime,” he added — and that, at least, was sincere.
Heukbihu’s tone could’ve flayed flesh.
“That is something that will never happen.”
“Yeah? Then let’s drop the topic for now and…”
Heukbiwon rolled his shoulders and tilted his neck side to side, loosening his muscles.
“How about a bet? Let’s see who can cut down more of them.”
His eyes were on the empty road before the building. Empty to the ordinary eye — but his senses told him otherwise.
There were many presences lurking nearby.
Heukbihu had many enemies.
Even after losing his memory, countless people still coveted his abilities — and many others had decided that if they couldn’t have him, they’d rather see him dead.
“Your sins run deep, brother,” Heukbiwon said lightly.
Deep enough that they’d chased him all the way to this remote, miserable village — far from the city, stricken by plague, littered with corpses.
A perfect place to kill someone and erase the evidence.
Heukbihu smirked faintly.
“…You mean the sins that aren’t even mine?”
He sounded annoyed, but Heukbiwon didn’t reply — because shadows cloaked in black were emerging before them.
They’d both expected this.
Today’s attackers had come for Heukbihu — and seeing what happened today, they could both guess what would follow.
Soon enough, others would come for the child as well.
“Die, Heukbihu!”
“We’ve waited long enough for this day!”
The one who sent the assassins was vicious indeed.
He had deliberately sent men with old grudges against Heukbihu — grudges the man himself could no longer remember.
And mixed among them were professional killers.
Not that it made any difference.
Whish! Slash!
The wind howled and danced wildly. What had once been a friendly breeze became a raging demon.
Heukbihu wiped a speck of blood from his cheek.
Boom!
A faint rumble echoed beside him. When he turned, he saw several men twitching and convulsing on the ground, their bodies limp.
“Well, not bad. Either that, or I’m getting rusty~”
Heukbiwon had a thin scratch across his cheek, the only sign of the fight. His eyes glimmered with dangerous amusement.
“If you’re going to lose control, do it outside the village.”
“So cold~ to your own brother.”
Their eyes turned toward the last remaining assassin.
“Let’s finish the cleanup first, then talk,” Heukbiwon said with a grin. He kicked off the ground — lightning flashed — and the assassin’s scream was cut short.
“Ugh, I’m getting old. Time’s cruel.”
Thirty minutes later, the two men sat on the roof of the building. Heukbiwon lay sprawled out, pretending to cry.
“My whole body aches.”
Heukbihu snorted.
“You mean you ache because there was no one left to kill.”
“Oh my, how cruel of you to think that way about your brother~.”
Heukbiwon grinned lazily.
“Though… you might not be wrong.”
He dropped his hands from his face, brought his wrists together like a blooming flower, and posed dramatically.
Heukbihu didn’t even glance his way.
“Tch. I can already tell — our little chick is going to have a lot of midnight visitors in the future.”
They had disposed of all the assassins neatly.
They’d expected something like this from the very moment they left the territory.
“But none of this is the child’s fault.”
Heukbiwon looked up at the sky instead of at his brother.
“Hey, you’ve been acting kinda awkward around the kid lately. Don’t be like that~.”
He had a sharp eye for people — and he’d noticed long ago.
“Our little chick gets lonely easily.”
Biyu really was a child who couldn’t stand loneliness — though she liked to pretend otherwise.
Thinking about it made his chest ache.
After all, he had played a part in that loneliness.
‘Brother-in-law, Brother Soyo will be fine. Don’t worry. I’m a genius, remember?’
He should never have forgotten how much he owed Baek Arin, Biyu’s mother.
“So what, you hate the kid now? Avoiding her? I could always adopt her, you know.”
Heukbiwon spoke playfully, but there was an edge beneath the jest.
“When you were the one who cast her away so cruelly.”
His words cut through the wind, and Heukbihu froze where he was, halfway through wiping the scent of blood from the air.
Then he sank down, staring blankly at the roof below.
Grinding his teeth, he muttered:
“…I didn’t abandon her.”
“What?”
Heukbiwon blinked in surprise.
His brother’s eyes burned as he bit out the words.
“I never abandoned the child. Never, brother.”
Heukbiwon was struck speechless. His usual sly grin was nowhere to be seen.
Heukbihu didn’t care. He rubbed his hands hard over his beautiful face, distorting it.
“I never abandoned her…”
When he finally raised his head again—
What expression could describe it? Like a man pushed to the edge of a cliff… or one who’d fallen straight into hell.
Without tears, Heukbihu spoke as if crying:
“But if, in the end, it looks like I did abandon her… what am I supposed to do now?”
His inhumanly beautiful face was twisted with guilt.
Heukbiwon sat up abruptly. His lips moved soundlessly several times before he finally spoke, serious now.
“You… do you remember everything?”
Heukbihu smiled faintly — a bitter, broken smile.
Who could he possibly blame?
“…I shouldn’t resent anyone. But still, I do.”
“……”
“You could’ve treated her better, at least. My wife… ‘Arin.’ She helped you so much.”
That was as close as a confession as he’d ever give.
Heukbiwon’s eyes widened. He bit his lip, looking nothing like his usual self — no trace of arrogance or ease.
“…Then start by apologizing.”
To the east of the Heuk family estate lived a wounded child.
A child who had survived without anyone’s help — desperately, miserably.
Every one of them was a sinner.
Heukbiwon had known it from the first moment he met Biyu.
That this was a debt he would spend a lifetime repaying.
“You start with an apology.”
Even if Heukbihu’s choices had been made to save the child, the result was still the same — she had grown up lonely and suffering.
Asking her to understand that would only be another act of cruelty.
“I’ll apologize too,” Heukbiwon said quietly. “But forgiveness… that’s up to her.”
At that, Heukbihu fell silent.
Arin…
The name of the woman he loved finally returned to him — sweet and agonizing.
“Brother, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Now that his memories had come back, there was something he absolutely had to say.
