The Terminally-Ill Side-Character Inside of a Martial Arts Novel

He immediately retaliates for one joke I made yesterday. At my vicious gaze, Hyuk Dojin slowly turned his head.

I also looked down at the small child nestled in my arms again. As I lowered my gaze, the eyes looking up at me sparkled like brilliant amber.

Have I ever seen eyes like these in my life? Even in my previous life, there was no foreigner with such golden eyes.

“Kya! Hahaha!”

The child’s voice was bright as it kept laughing loudly for some reason. The maid, who had already been half-dead since the child clung to me, was on the verge of fainting.

Hyuk Dojin reached out to detach the child from me. As soon as Hyuk Dojin approached and reached out his hand, the child immediately turned its head and growled.

Hyuk Dojin looked at me as if he couldn’t understand what was happening. I also shook my head.

“Who are you?”

I asked the child. The golden eyes spun around and met mine. As if it had never growled before, the child’s bright smile bloomed.

“Kya!”

“…Can’t you speak?”

Usually, around the age of three, basic communication is possible, and at the age of five, conversation is possible. But this child…

“Huh?”

“What are you doing?”

Wondering if I saw it wrong just now, I lightly grabbed the child’s chubby cheeks and opened its mouth wide.

The child stared at me intently, then opened its mouth wide as well. Then, I noticed the sharp canines growing inside.

I blankly looked at the teeth, then slowly pushed my finger into its mouth. Then, like yesterday, the child grabbed my hand with its mouth and sucked on it.

“Uh, um…!”

Ignoring the maid’s gasping voice behind me, I raised my head. I softly spoke while looking at Hyuk Dojin, who was staring at me intently.

“Can you call Man Do?”

* * *

Man Do, who came to the room at my call, examined the condition of the child who wouldn’t leave my arms and nodded.

“…This is a wolf cub.”

“A wolf? This?”

Hyuk Dojin furrowed his brows as if dumbfounded by Man Do’s explanation. Man Do nodded briefly and rubbed his chin.

“Yes. And quite a spiritual being at that. Eight sharp canines and a rough tongue different from a human’s. These are not human characteristics. Moreover, aging 3-4 years overnight is not something that would happen to a human.”

Man Do continued his explanation, then let out a short sigh and stared intently at the child. He left the room for a moment, telling us to wait, and when he returned, he was holding a book in his hand.

He quickly flipped through the book in front of us and showed it to Hyuk Dojin.

“I’ve heard such stories before. The wolves that roam the Gobi Desert in the north of the Central Plains are large and strong enough to bite a leopard to death, and as divine beasts, they live for hundreds of years and wield sorcery.”

“But there’s no evidence that this child is a wolf, right? Just because its teeth and tongue are different, calling it such…”

“Although it’s not certain as it’s a story passed down like a legend, a wolf that gives birth to a child in human form raises that child in human hands. The child of a wolf that has lived for hundreds of years is considered a great spiritual medicine in itself, so to protect it from numerous demonic creatures, they entrust it to human hands. As evidence, isn’t it the case that this child, who was just a baby until yesterday, turned into a boy overnight?”

“…”

Hyuk Dojin let out a low groan and scratched his head. He narrowed his brows while looking down at the child still nestled in my arms.

Judging by his expression, he seemed to be pondering whether to believe it or not, and how to accept this situation. In fact, I felt the same way.

“But why is it clinging to me so blindly?”

“Wolves are creatures born from nature. So it’s natural for them to be attracted to pure energy. The pure energy flowing in Young Madam’s body becomes excellent food for the child. Considering that, it’s understandable that it’s wary when Young Cult Leader approaches.”

“You mean it reacts to the impure demonic energy.”

Man Do slowly nodded his head. He reached out his hand to the child. The child quietly looked at the approaching hand, then growled as if it was going to bite.

Man Do made a bitter smile and closed the book.

“According to legends or stories passed down orally, wolves are creatures that repay kindness. If raised well, it can be of help anytime, so it’s not bad to take care of it.”

“Martial Uncle. If a couple who just got married and are enjoying their newlywed life has a five-year-old child, what will others say?”

“Ahem…”

Man Do let out an embarrassed fake cough and turned his head. Hyuk Dojin sighed lowly and looked at the child. He seemed to be pondering what to do with it.

Regardless of whether Hyuk Dojin’s gaze was pouring down or not, the child was too busy rubbing its head against me to notice.

I sighed deeply while holding the child and quietly looking at it. There’s no choice.

“Let’s give it a name first.”

“…Are you saying we should raise it? When we don’t even know its identity?”

“We can’t just throw it away. For now…”

The child met my eyes that were staring at it and smiled brightly. I chuckled and nodded my head.

“Harang* seems good.” (tl/n: means ‘River Wolf’)

I let the child bite my finger as it tilted its head.

“From today, your name is Harang.”

* * *

Harang was quite clever. Although it couldn’t speak, it understood what I said well. Harang didn’t suddenly age or grow any further like the first time. It kept laughing the same way, lingering by my side, then disappeared somewhere.

According to the maids, even if they gave it food, it didn’t eat well and didn’t place much meaning on eating.

Man Do said Harang’s food was my pure energy… Although I thought it might eat it all up before I could absorb it, strangely, whenever Harang sucked in my energy and left, my slowly accumulating internal energy increased rapidly.

I thought it might be a coincidence, but it repeated several times, and in the end, I had no choice but to admit it. Whenever Harang ate my energy, my internal energy rose.

When I was training that I couldn’t do as soon as I woke up in the morning, the sound of footsteps breaking the silence tickled my ears.

I recently felt my five senses becoming sensitive. I was feeling things with my body that I couldn’t hear or feel before.

I slowly opened my eyes while organizing my meditation and breathing. As if waiting, someone carefully opened the door and revealed themselves inside.

It was a maid I was seeing for the first time. As soon as the maid saw me, she bowed her head deeply with a startled face.

“I-I’m sorry. I learned to enter as quietly as possible when you’re meditating, so I…”

I blankly looked at the maid rambling excuses and got up from my seat. Only then did the maid, who had been making excuses, come to her senses and shut her mouth tightly.

I approached the maid and reached out my hand to her. The maid silently handed me the letter she was holding, then stepped back.

I quietly looked at the maid, then unfolded the letter.

Inside was a letter sent by someone I never expected. As I shifted my eyes from the letter to the maid, her mouth opened.

“Miss Shin Yubin said she wants to discuss matters related to the Crimson Lotus Festival.”

Shin Yubin, the daughter of the Cliff Rivers Shin clan? I searched my memory and recalled having a conversation with her once at the banquet.

“Because you haven’t said anything since your wedding, Miss Shin Yubin is very worried. She’s concerned that you might have health problems that prevent you from holding the Crimson Lotus Festival.”

“Is that something for her to send me such a letter and express concern over?”

“Pardon?”

I handed the letter back while facing the maid, who was questioning with her eyes wide open.

“I’ve heard of the Crimson Lotus Festival. It’s a custom to congratulate a woman who married into the Hyuk family bloodline and at the same time recognize her as the leader’s family of the Demon Cult. But do I really need to pay attention to that?”

I sighed at the maid’s puzzled expression at my words. What’s the point of telling a maid who’s just conveying a message?

After signaling the maid, who was opening her mouth, to leave, I turned my body.

* * *

“It’s been quiet lately, but they’re clinging on again.”

Hyuk Dojin rubbed his chin and tilted his head at my story. He brought up the words related to the letter I received today while drying his wet hair.

“The Crimson Lotus Festival is, as you said, a custom, simply put, a ranking among the women of the Demon Cult.”

The Crimson Lotus Festival, a martial arts competition only for women.

The top 7 who performed well there and the new woman of the Hyuk family would engage in a martial arts competition, and that was the Crimson Lotus Festival.

It was a martial arts competition only for women, and at the same time, it could be hosted by the woman of the Hyuk family.

However, after the death of Geum Soso, there was no woman in the Hyuk family, so it was a festival hosted by the Holy Stream League.

Then Hyuk Dojin and I got married, and now that I became a member of the Hyuk family, it was my responsibility to host the Crimson Lotus Festival.

In other words, it meant that I also had to participate in the martial arts competition.

“The Crimson Lotus Festival is a quite meaningful martial arts competition. The person who wins there receives the title of the strongest woman in the Demon Cult and the right to have a martial arts match with the winner of the Yellow Dragon Festival.”

Joo Hwarin, who had been listening to the conversation on the side, added.

“The Yellow Dragon Festival is a martial arts competition only for men of the Demon Cult, different from the Crimson Lotus Festival. The person who wins there can take a position in the leadership of the Demon Cult regardless of their status. In fact, both Elder Hong Hwi and Elder Geum Seolyak are people who won the martial arts competition. The huge prize money is not even noticeable… It’s an open path to success for all members of the Demon Cult.”

In other words, it meant that it was not just a festival for the leaders of the Demon Cult, but a matter of interest to all members of the Demon Cult. And I had been delaying it, saying that I was sick, so they probably had enough justification.

As I kept silent with my arms crossed, Hyuk Dojin examined me and cautiously spoke.

“It’s also an option to just host it and not participate. Anyway, most of the women of the Hyuk family who attended the Crimson Lotus Festival only showed their faces and made a formal appearance…”

“No.”

I slowly shook my head from side to side. At Hyuk Dojin’s low questioning voice, I raised my head and faced him.

“There’s no need for that.”

“Wife?”

I couldn’t be dragged around forever. In the past, when I was determined to die, it didn’t matter either way, but now it was different.

Now that I had decided to live here for the rest of my life, if I hid my tail inside, they would only bark louder outside.

“Ranking…”

Somehow, that word made my heart flutter tremendously.