Chapter 1597. Transmigrated to the Central Plains' Murim (2)
'Wh-What the hell is he talking about? What the hell is that supposed to mean?'
I could not understand what was happening.
I didn't know if my brain wasn't functioning properly because my soul hadn't fully settled into the body yet, or if the sudden pain and inexplicable weakness had left me in a daze, but my mind refused to work.
Of course, I could see and hear; information kept pouring in toward me from all directions, but processing it was an entirely different matter. Honestly, perhaps I just couldn't accept the situation because what just happened was simply too unbelievable.
'D-did I just... give birth?'
Naturally, I wiggled my fingers slightly. I needed to confirm that the body here really belonged to me.
'I-I really gave birth?'
I turned my head and saw several maids tightly holding my hands. They appeared to be this body's personal attendants. Their eyes were filled with tears, and they busied themselves with wiping away the sweat and tears from my face.
When I turned my head again, I spotted a midwife. An actual midwife. The kind of midwife anyone would recognize as someone one would bring in to assist with childbirth.
She had been doing something moments ago, but now, she was wrapping a baby in what looked like a swaddling cloth. The elderly midwife began speaking with a mixture of joy and unease. Judging by her expression, it seemed related to the purple eyes the people outside had been talking about.
"It's a boy... A boy."
The moment those words left her mouth, the maids burst into tears and gripped my hands even tighter.
"Young Miss... heung... you've suffered so much. You truly suffered so much..."
"Young Miss... did you hear that? You've worked so hard. Hng... hnghh..."
"Young Miss, are you alright?"
'Why are they all so strong?'
Perhaps it was because they practiced martial arts, but their grip strength was no joke. As I quietly examined their faces one by one, I got a closer look at their faces.
'They're all the same.'
They seemed far more relieved that their Young Miss had survived than excited about the birth of the child. In fact, it felt as though they were deliberately hiding their shock after seeing the baby's purple eye. I opened and closed my mouth experimentally, like testing a microphone, and immediately, everyone's attention focused on me.
"Y-Young Miss?"
"W-Water..." I mumbled.
"Bring water! Young Miss asked..."
"..."
Before long, I was gulping down lukewarm water. Meanwhile, loud shouts could still be heard from outside the room.
"Fine, then what is that wastrel son of the Jin Family doing right now?!"
"W-Well..."
"..."
"According to the reports we've received, he has gone into seclusion."
BANG!
"Those shameless bastards..."
"I don't know the full details, but... it seems he doesn't even know that Young Miss was pregnant. Hasn't Young Miss been staying in her room these past several months? If he learns that a child carrying the Jin Family's bloodline has been born..."
"Chief Steward Han, are you suggesting I marry my daughter off to that cursed member of the Jin Family? Even if the heavens were to split apart, I would never allow our family to be tied to the Jin Family!"
"Then... then what are we supposed to do? If word spreads that Young Miss gave birth out of wedlock, our family's reputation will be dragged through the mud.
"At the very least, forcing a marriage with that wastrel of the Jin Family... is the only way to preserve both Young Miss's honor and the family's reputation. There is... no other way..."
"..."
I could no longer hear any voices from outside. The man probably stormed off in anger or had left to discuss a new course of action. After all, the daughter of a prestigious family giving birth out of wedlock was bound to be a major scandal, even by the standards of aristocratic society.
Thanks to that, or perhaps not thanks to that, I began to understand my situation. At the same time, a small surge of anger toward Belial rose within me.
'That bastard... I bet he knew.'
He knew I would be possessing a woman in the middle of childbirth. The more I thought about it, the more it felt like he had deliberately kept that information from me. Sure, just as Belial had said, my host was the child of a prestigious family, but...
'For fuck's sake. Come on.'
If I had known I was going to possess a woman giving birth, I wouldn't have signed that contract. I wasn't even in a normal situation.
I didn't know if she had been re-enacting Romeo and Juliet with some wastrel from the Jin Family or if there were other circumstances involved, but she had clearly gotten herself involved with the eldest son of a rival household.
To make matters worse, the Jin Family's distinctive purple eyes were passed down to the child, making it nearly impossible to hide the fact that the baby carried the Jin Family's blood.
Considering how cruel noble society could be toward young ladies who had tarnished their family's honor, there was a good chance this body would end up abandoned rather than being supported by her family.
The only positive thing I could think of was that, at least, a life was saved. If this body had really died during childbirth, the baby would have been in real danger as well.
Before I knew it, the child was already in my arms. I saw a clear purple eye staring back at me. One of them was black, but I didn't think that meant much. If purple eyes were the cursed hereditary trait of the Jin Family's bloodline, then anyone could identify the child's origins at a mere glance.
The little thing squirmed nonstop, and I had to admit that he was pretty cute, but that was as far as my feelings went.
If he had been a child I had actually carried myself, I would have felt some overwhelming emotional connection, but I had never bonded with this baby. To me, he was just a small and adorable living creature in my arms.
More accurately, I didn't have the luxury of thinking about anything else.
'It’s not Commander Jin... is it?'
"..."
'Th-This little squirmer. Our little squirmer... isn't Commander Jin, is he?'
The baby's face looked strangely familiar. If wavelength compatibility really worked the way Belial had described it, Commander Jin had probably entered someone from the Jin Family, but there was a chance this little squirmer was him. Hadn't the baby also just survived a life-threatening situation?
Assuming Commander Jin and I had entered at roughly the same time, there was a real possibility that he was inside this child. Damn it, even for me, the thought that I had somehow given birth to Commander Jin was deeply disturbing.
Sure, making fun of him would be entertaining, but the confusion outweighed any amusement.
There was also the problem that one of our most important assets had potentially turned into a baby. Naturally, I locked eyes with the child. I blinked repeatedly, trying to talk to him in Morse code.
[You're not... Commander Jin... are you?]
"..."
[You're not Commander Jin, right?]
"..."
Thankfully, there was no response. Feeling as though I had overcome a major hurdle, I was relieved and immediately handed the baby over to one of the maids beside me as if I had no interest in it whatsoever. It was an instinctive move on my end.
'Ah... maybe that wasn't the right move?'
For a moment, I panicked. What kind of mother would look into her newborn child's eyes and then immediately hand the child over to someone else? No mother would consider her child unimportant, and if the child was the product of a love she had fought to protect, despite her family's opposition, then the child would be even more precious.
Assuming, of course, that the Jin Family's wastrel heir was someone worth loving.
If that were the case, she ought to hold the child tightly as if she would never let go of him, and she ought to be more protective than usual as well, as the family could end up harming the baby.
'Was I too indifferent? I was completely expressionless, wasn't I? There wasn't a single emotion on my face just now, was there?'
I didn't necessarily need to cry, but showing some emotional reaction was the normal response. Naturally, I discreetly observed the maids' reactions. I was worried that I had done something out of character, but strangely enough, they seemed to have accepted my behavior without question.
'What? Why are they acting like that?'
Even as the little squirmer was passed from one set of hands to another and eventually placed in a small cradle, nobody thought that my actions were odd or suspicious. If anything, they appeared more concerned about me than the baby.
Just then, a commotion erupted outside.
"Young Master! The Young Lady still requires rest..."
"..."
"Even if you’re the Young Master, you can’t just enter—"
"Move aside. Since when did I require your permission to visit my own sister?"
"The Young Lady has only just—"
"I told you to move. If you continue blocking my path, you will regret it."
"B-But..."
"I will not repeat myself."
The sounds of stumbling footsteps and hurried movement echoed from outside. Even the maids inside the room appeared flustered. They weren't preparing for combat or anything that dramatic, but they were clearly tense.
Judging from what I could hear, the figure forcing his way into the room was the family's Young Master and this body's older brother.
Realizing that he was part of the direct bloodline rather than a branch family almost made me smile, but there was no way I could let that show. For now, I could only maintain my expressionless face and prepare to receive the visitor.
I heard a sliding sound as the door opened, and a tall man entered my field of vision. He had pale skin and sharp features. He looked like a finely honed sword given human form. Yet somehow, despite that imposing appearance, he couldn't completely conceal the aura of a handsome rogue.
Perhaps it was my imagination, but he looked a little like me. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say he looked three percent like me. I had no idea whether matching soul wavelengths also resulted in similar appearances, but it definitely had some influence.
'The nose kind of looks like mine, too...'
In any case, the man who had barged in stood silently looking down at me. He seemed fully aware that forcing his way in like this was inappropriate, but it also seemed that his desire to see me outweighed everything else.
At first glance, his eyes appeared cold, but beneath the surface, I could see anger, affection, and pity. Countless emotions swirled together within him. After glancing down at the little squirmer, he turned away as though he had no interest in the child at all.
"Have you..." He trailed off before saying, "Have you reached the point where you won't even look at your own brother anymore?"
"..."
"Sigh..."
"..."
"As for the Jin Family's eldest son..." He trailed off again before saying, "People seem to believe that he has entered seclusion, but that isn't the truth."
"..."
"He thought you had abandoned him, and he apparently tried to hang himself. He survived by sheer luck," he said.
"..."
"So? Are you satisfied now? You've driven a stake through the family head's heart—no, through Father's heart. You went so far as to share a bed with that man from the Jin Family and brought disgrace upon our household, so has that blazing anger of yours finally cooled down?
"How many times have I told you? What happened to Mother... wasn't Father's fault," he said.
"..."
"I understand your anger and disappointment, but... shouldn't you let it go by now?" he asked.
"..."
"How can you not see that all of this is destroying you?"
"..."
"Say something," he said.
"..."
"Murong Hwa-Yeon," he called out.
'Mu...rong?'
"..."
'Hwa-Yeon?'
"..."
'Wait... did I end up in the Murong Clan?'
The luxurious furniture filling the room finally stood out to me.
