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Secret Garden – 2 She had been too honest. I should have softened my words a bit. As she observed the visibly bewildered Dokmuhoo, Hangwaerin realized her mistake. To rectify the situation, Hangwaerin tried to tone down her previous statement. “Quick first childbirth?” It's about Yoonho and her. Her heart races even when their eyes meet. Having a first child would be quick. Still, it'd be nice to enjoy it a bit longer. No, that's too late. I should have a child soon. She spoke bashfully, but even after her repeated attempts, Dokmuhoo remained unmoved. Then she realized. 'This isn't the right answer either!' She had messed up. A cold silence as harsh as winter's chill settled between the two. What do I do now? Hangwaerin pondered how to speak about the heated nights she shared with Kang Yoonho, nights so intense they rendered her insensible, and the idea of having a child. Then she came upon a suitable phrase. “My dream is to be a devoted wife and mother.” Of course, by now, it was too late. “You are more amusing than I expected.” Dokmuhoo’s remark pierced Hangwaerin's heart painfully. Had she just blurted out such nonsense in front of the grand elder of the family, renowned as a master of Tang's martial arts? In a flash, Hangwaerin wanted to flee. 'I need to fix this!' She wished to become Dokmuhoo’s disciple. No, she had to become one. Desperately, Hangwaerin racked her brain. “I didn't choose to be like this.” Finally, Hangwaerin decided to share more of her story. “It wasn’t a choice?” “It was all because of that bastard Tang Geumho's trickery.” Just saying the name made her blood boil. Though she had personally ended him, it was a name she wanted to kill again as she uttered it with fury. “I’ve heard the story in brief.” “I grew up as the bastard child treated like a leper, without a father. I couldn’t even dream of dating, never mind marrying, and lived shut away in a secluded room. Then I met Yoonho one day.” Despite the rage that had been swelling in her, a smile briefly appeared on Hangwaerin's face. “You mean your fiancé, right?” “Yes, even someone like me, he treated me normally. Loved me. When everyone told him he must give up, he alone risked his life to save me. He pulled me from the abyss and promised to marry me.” “Even knowing your physical condition?” “I told him to give up on me. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? To say not to marry until my thirties. People would scoff, calling it madness. But do you know what Yoonho said?” Hangwaerin’s face was already filled with affection. “What did he say?” “He said he would wait for me. Like a fool.” Just remembering that moment made her heart tremble. She was overwhelmed with a desire to run to him right away. Hangwaerin placed her hand over her fluttering heart. “Amazing.” A flash of surprise passed over Dokmuhoo’s face as well. “How could I not love such a man? You ask what I want to become if I become your disciple, Dokmuhoo? I want to be a devoted wife and mother.” Hangwaerin answered confidently. A woman who has never lived a normal life. Hangwaerin wanted to live her life for the man who had loved her. “Do you not have any dreams as a martial artist?” “People elevate me as a unique individual within the Tang family, calling me an unparalleled martial artist, but I don’t wish to become a grand martial figure. Dokmuhoo, you may not approve of it, but I just want to be happy with Yoonho. I want to wake up in Yoonho's embrace.” Perhaps she should have presented herself differently. Claiming she wanted to inherit Dokmuhoo’s legacy, live for the Tang family, or become a magnificent martial artist. But she didn’t want to deceive someone who might become her mentor in that way. Therefore, Hangwaerin confessed honestly. About her love for a man, about her own dreams. Even if the response to her confession was not as she had hoped, it didn’t matter. Her feelings would remain unchanged. Dokmuhoo silently watched Hangwaerin for a moment before finally speaking. “I have some special tea. Would you like some?” “Yes.” A small smile played on both Hangwaerin's and Dokmuhoo's faces. —— “I have also heard about your fiancé. Rather than being intimidated before the family head and elders, he subdued their will and saved you.” Dokmuhoo savored the fragrance of the tea as he spoke. “Yes, I heard it as well.” What a fool. It's become the talk of the whole town. What are you going to do? Hangwaerin, thinking of her fiancé's proud demeanor, shyly nodded. “He spoke so well that many martial artists felt their hearts tremble at his resolute presence.” “Yoonho makes hearts tremble even when he’s just silent.” They often said he was a splendid man, possibly due to his resemblance to his father. Dokmuhoo laughed at Hangwaerin’s evasive manner as she subtly boasted about her fiancé. “Puhuhu. I think I've heard a similar story.” Dokmuhoo was aware of a similar story, about an unparalleled talent and a loved one. A very old story. “I…” “I had someone too—a man who made my heart tremble just by thinking of or being near him.” Tang Ok-ran gazed absentmindedly at her reflection in her teacup. Even past seventy, her face still youthful. In those days without a single wrinkle, there was a man who gently patted her shoulder while she drank tea. “……” “When I was young, the martial world was even more chaotic than now. Right and wrong, orthodoxy and opposition, battled fiercely, and countless martial artists perished between them. As a martial artist of the Tang family, I couldn’t stand idly by.” “The Great War of the Sects…” It was a story from about half a century ago. Hangwaerin had heard of it as well. “I thought we must win, we must survive. And I knew the way.” Dokmuhoo lifted a hand. Tang Ok-ran was a master of poison arts. Poisonous energy rose from her hand like a mist. The poison, though taking form and rising thickly into the air and seemingly capable of destroying everything around it, caused no harm before it was reabsorbed by her. “Unparalleled talent?!” Hangwaerin immediately recognized the identity of the poison rising before her eyes. “You could consider me a half-unparalleled talent. Having delved into poison arts, I became drawn to the idea of an unparalleled talent. In those days, people spoke of barbarians of the Tang family and such, making it easy to cross forbidden lines.” “Did you become an unparalleled talent of your own accord?” Dokmuhoo nodded at Hangwaerin’s inquiry. “Thanks to it, we won. The Tang family, while not the greatest under the heavens, became known as the rulers of Sichuan. I survived and returned to Chengdu. Standing outside my home was my fiancé.” Dokmuhoo recalled the face of her husband from her younger days. “I heard stories as a child about you, Dokmuhoo. How you returned and got married.” After the great battle, Dokmuhoo lived happily for a long time. Hangwaerin remembered this tale from the martial world. “I thought only happiness awaited me—until I discovered my infertility.” Dokmuhoo looked at the night sky, her expression filled with sorrow that even age could not mask. “……” “I thought I had come back with everything, only to become a woman unable to bear a single child for the one I loved—a hopelessly inept woman, at that.” Hangwaerin was well aware of the many side effects involved in becoming an unparalleled talent. “The world called me Dokmuhoo, but I, until my husband’s death, was nothing more than a damnable ‘Dokmuhuo’—meaning ‘no posterity’ in my heart.” For a woman, infertility was akin to a disability. In an era where a noble family's daughter being rejected due to infertility was seen as reasonable, people nodded in understanding. “I devoted decades to poison arts, hoping to find a solution. I read through all of Tang’s books. While I achieved considerable success in poison arts, it was already after losing my husband.” “……” Hangwaerin could offer no words, profoundly respecting the pain that might have been hers. “Child.” The unparalleled talent, who had endured an era full of sorrow, called upon a new unparalleled talent. “Yes.” “Would you like to become my disciple?” She would have refused for any other reason. Even if it were a request from Tang's family head, she would have declined. If it had been for the family, to become a famous martial artist, or to witness the height of poison arts, she would have turned on her heel right away. Hangwaerin's sincere desire to love moved Dokmuhoo’s heart. “If I learn from you, will it help me meet Yoonho sooner?” “If your love remains unchanged.” “I am confident in that.” “I will teach you everything I know.” Dokmuhoo extended her hand to Hangwaerin, hoping she wouldn't suffer the same pain. “I shall pay my respects to my master.” Hangwaerin rose and paid her respects to her new master. It was a moment when the bond was forged between an unparalleled talent who had never before taken a disciple, and a new unparalleled talent who had never had a mentor. ——— “Are you here, Master?” At a pavilion beautifully interwoven with a pond and flowers in the Tang family estate, Dokmuhoo appeared before the family head, who was gazing at the pond alone. “Dokmuhoo, feel free to speak.” “How could I possibly speak casually to the family head?” Dokmuhoo bowed as she replied. No one in the Sichuan Tang family disregarded the authority of the family head, not even the elders. “Though I am the family head, it is uncomfortable to have my aunt, who has watched over me since I was young, speak formally to me.” Tang Baekho showed a hint of discomfort at his aunt’s formal manner, a woman who even used to play with him as a child. “Well then, so be it. I went to see the child as you asked.” Dokmuhoo nodded to the family head and relayed the result of the request that he had made over the past few days. “Did she meet your expectations?” Tang Baekho had not expected Dokmuhoo to take on a disciple. There was no precedent for his aunt accepting a disciple. He simply hoped that Hangwaerin would catch Dokmuhoo’s eye and learn a thing or two. “I decided to accept her as my disciple.” “……!” Not even the family head expected this answer. “No need to be too surprised. After all, the root of her circumstances traces back to my own mistakes.” Dokmuhoo approached Tang Baekho with a complex expression, gazing at the garden’s pond as she spoke. “How can you say such things? That rascal Tang Geumho only sought to emulate your martial arts, Dokmuhoo.” “I should have retired earlier. With an incomplete unparalleled talent wandering around, those obsessed with poison would undoubtedly covet it.” Dokmuhoo Tang Ok-ran was not a perfect unparalleled talent, yet not a failure either. She had perfected her poison arts and accepted the experiments of becoming a half-unparalleled talent. For those secretly studying unparalleled talents within the Tang family, Dokmuhoo was both a goal to achieve and an object of greedy aspiration. “I will ensure that never happens within the Tang family again.” “Yes, I trust you as the family head. And about that child…” Dokmuhoo spoke to the family head with a look of mild disbelief. “Is something the matter with Hangwaerin?” “The technique she uses innately, not as a martial art, is stronger than when I first earned the title of Dokmuhoo.” Although Dokmuhoo had leisurely subdued Hangwaerin in the garden, in truth, she was continually amazed. Had she not mastered the achievements in poison arts, she would have been the one subdued. It was an unbelievable accomplishment for someone so young. “She’s the child who faced the demonic cultists and traitors alone.” “We will witness a martial artist in the Tang family like never before.” “Please take good care of Hangwaerin. She is not only the Tang family’s unparalleled talent… but also my daughter-in-law.” Tang Baekho bowed to his aunt, not as the family head, but as a humble father. “No need to worry. Your daughter-in-law is filled with incredible enthusiasm and determination to achieve her goals.” Dokmuhoo nodded, a fond story she could share with her disciple’s father-in-law coming to mind. “Goals?” “By the end of her thirties, she aims to have given birth to five children.” At Hangwaerin’s unexpected statement, not only Dokmuhoo but even the family head was left speechless. ——— Hangwaerin moved her residence to the secret garden, where Dokmuhoo had secluded herself. Like a fledgling learning to fly from its mother, Hangwaerin began to learn, step by step, from the very basics. Dokmuhoo's teachings were strict, yet they were not harsh. Time flew by; the cold winter when her beloved had departed passed, and spring finally arrived at the Sichuan Tang family estate. “News from the Dasuh Pavilion has arrived!!!” “I, Tang Pae, have returned!” “Forget about you! Quick! Quick! The third volume of the Tang Family Saga!!!” It was also in the spring when the party, including Tang Pae, who had traveled to Yichang with Kang Yoonho, returned to the Sichuan Tang family, stirring up new excitement.