The World’s Strongest Daughter.

I cautiously backed away from the message floating before my eyes.

[ Make Min So-yeon the world’s strongest. *Failure results in world destruction ]
└ Do not let Min So-yeon discover your identity. *Failure results in ‘death’
└ Reveal your identity to your beloved wife ★RIGHT NOW★ Hurry up!

As if it had no particular meaning, the ‘Message’ moved closer as much as I stepped away.

After swallowing hard, I slowly reached out to touch the message, but like waving my hand through empty air, I couldn’t feel anything.

…What in the…

The message suddenly got modified.

First telling me not to reveal my identity, and now telling me to quickly reveal it.

Even the tone had changed as if someone had deliberately edited it.

At that moment.

[ └ Reveal your identity to Ju Yeon-hee.     ]

“Hah…”

There was a flash before my eyes, and suddenly, the message completely changed, as if reading my thoughts.

…How should I interpret this?

One thing’s certain: the ‘Message’ is trying to guide my actions.

Guidance, not coercion.

Unlike the previous content, there were no ‘penalties’ attached.

In that case, do I really need to follow this?

First saying it’s not recommended, then saying to do it immediately – isn’t that extremely suspicious?

If there’s no penalty, there’s no need to follow it.

Having grown cold to these sudden events, I slowly organized the situation.

First, there’s no major problem if my wife discovers my identity.

This means I just need to avoid being discovered by Min So-yeon, whom the ‘Message’ points to.

Then when would be a good time to reveal my identity to my wife?

I don’t plan to hide my identity forever.

There’s no need to hide since I’m clearly alive like this.

But timing is the issue.

Though I’m not a medical professional, I can tell my wife’s condition isn’t good.

Right now, my wife is like a heavily cracked glass cup.

Even if left alone, it could break at any time, and if hot water is poured in, it might shatter completely.

Meaning her condition could worsen beyond its current state.

But there are hopeful aspects too.

First, she showed interest in the meals I prepared.

I’ll need to confirm more while making lunch and dinner, but given her good response to breakfast, I think I can be hopeful.

Although I can only come on weekends since I need to take care of So-yeon, if I consistently care for her, she should recover someday.

When that day comes, it should be okay to reveal my identity.

Then how should I reveal it? Should I buy a nice ring? Or maybe…

Knock knock-

“Student Ji-hwan, Madam is asking for you?”

Huh?

Startled by the sudden summons, I hurriedly got up.

Bang- A housekeeper was smiling at me when I opened the door.

“…Madam is asking for me?”

When I cautiously asked, she patted my arm proudly while answering.

“Would you believe it? Madam finished all her breakfast! I’ve never… Anyway, Madam’s asking for you, so hurry up!”

She finished all her breakfast!

It was worth getting up at dawn to bake scones.

I rushed to the second floor in one go, checked my appearance before the door, and carefully knocked.

“Come in.”

…Huh?

Am I imagining things? Somehow, I felt a strange vitality in my wife’s voice.

…Is it the power of food?

While suppressing my excitement with silly thoughts, I reached for the doorknob, and
when I opened the door…

“Welcome.”

I met eyes with my wife, who was looking toward the door instead of staring out the window as usual.

“…You called for me?”

I was right about imagining the vitality.

My wife’s eyes were still dead.

I carefully closed the door and approached her. She pointed to the chair opposite her with a touch devoid of emotion, saying:

“…Sit.”

It was a command with a strange pressure, as if not giving any other choice.

Tensed by the strange atmosphere in the room, I swallowed hard and carefully moved forward.

Creeak-

Slightly settling into the creaking chair, I stole a glance at her sitting opposite me.

Unusually, the glass bottle she always held wasn’t visible, and she only wore a ring with a dark blue jewel on her right pinky finger.

…Was it always there?

Thinking nothing of it, I slightly shifted my gaze and, at that moment, made eye contact with her watching me.

Red eyes like they held bright blood, skin white as pale as death, and brown hair grown long, unlike before.

Beautiful. She’s beautiful.

Although we met again as strangers while she was in a poor state, she was still the most beautiful in my eyes.

“…Sir Ji-hwan…?”

Startled by Ju Yeon-hee’s call, I hurriedly turned my gaze and carefully answered.

“Y-you can call me casually.”

We were on casual terms until a few years ago, so the formal address felt somewhat awkward.

After staring at me indifferently for a while, she casually asked as if it didn’t matter.

“…How did you come to work here?”

“…Director Jeong Nan-do introduced me.”

That’s the truth.

Without him, I probably wouldn’t have found her.

“…How did you know him?”

“…So-yeon introduced me, and when he learned my family was poor, he offered help.”

Half truth, half lie.

“…Where did you learn to cook?”

“…I learned from the internet.”

A lie.

The only recipe I’ve recently learned from the internet is rose tteokbokki.

“…Is that so?”

Am I imagining things? Somehow, her gaze felt sharp.

Feeling guilty for no reason, I brought up Min So-yeon to change the topic,

“…So-yeon likes my cooking too, so I’m glad it suits your taste as well, Madam.”

“…So-yeon?”

The moment I mentioned Min So-yeon, my wife showed slight agitation.

Ah, is this it?

“Yes, since I live alone too, I prefer eating together rather than alone, so I sometimes cook for her.”

“…That child…”

Indeed, a mother is still a mother.

Her maternal instincts haven’t died completely – she seems concerned about her daughter.

Then wouldn’t she like to hear about Min So-yeon?

“…This time So-yeon…”

“What kind of relationship do you have with that child?”

She cut off my words and threw an unexpected question.

She was staring at me intently with unfocused eyes.

…Ah.

I belatedly realized my mistake.

Right now, I’m not Min Sung-jae, but Yoo Ji-hwan.

Min So-yeon’s partner and a housekeeper sent by Jeong Nan-do.

Of course, in Ju Yeon-hee’s eyes, I must look like a strange man freely entering and leaving her daughter’s house.

“…I apologize. I should have explained first… So-yeon and I are simply partners. I have someone else I like, so I have no feelings for So-yeon.”

Though that person is right in front of me.

After staring at me intently, she slightly relaxed her gaze and slowly spoke.

“…My husband used to say he wouldn’t accept a son-in-law weaker than me. So, please watch over her carefully…”

‘No man weaker than the Sword Empress can take So-yeon.’

Words I left behind when I was alive.

So her feelings for our daughter remained intact after all…!

I felt pathetic for thinking until now that my wife had abandoned our daughter.

“…Yes!”

As long as I’m watching with both eyes wide open, that will absolutely never happen.

Never!

After having this mostly one-sided conversation, I left the room to prepare lunch.

I brought up lunch, had more conversations, and then prepared dinner.

Most of it was just answering questions or talking about Min So-yeon, but looking back, we seemed to have quite a lot of conversation.

I saw great hope in my interview with my wife.

I thought her heart had completely died, but a corner of her chest still held intact her love for her husband and guilt about leaving her daughter to live alone.

…Although I still couldn’t understand keeping my dismembered corpse, when I accepted it as a sign of how much she loved me, it somehow seemed a bit more understandable…

Anyway, I felt she might recover sooner than I expected.

Time passed like that, and soon, it was time to return home.

“Thanks to student Ji-hwan, today was so easy!”

“Madam ate all her meals… Chairman Jeong really has an eye for people!”

“…Thank you for making work comfortable.”

While waiting for the car with the housekeepers sending me off…

Creeak- Creeak-

The sound of creaking wood came from inside the house.

“Hmm?”

We all turned around simultaneously and were startled.

“Madam?”

“Oh, my!”

Ju Yeon-hee appeared at the entrance.

Ignoring the housekeepers making a fuss, she approached me and spoke quietly.

“…Come again.”

Those words she casually threw, “Come again,” seeped warmly into my heart.

…If I’m not misunderstanding, she’s clearly asking me to come next time.

Someone just waiting to die until yesterday has promised me a next time.

“…Yes. I’ll definitely come next week as well.”

Right now, there couldn’t be anything happier for me.

***

Jeong Nan-do’s POV

“…Chairman, the person sent by the government has disappeared without a trace.”

“Aigh… It must be those cult bastards, but without solid evidence… Chairman, shouldn’t we do something…”

Ding ding- Ding ding-

Everyone fell silent at the sudden unfamiliar ringtone.

This ringtone…

I stood up from my seat and told everyone:

“Ah, it’s my phone. Please continue your discussion.”

Leaving the meeting behind, I took the phone Secretary Shin brought and moved to the inner room of the chairman’s office.

“Ah, Director Kong! How can we just sit still? We must strike those cultists…!”

Bang-

When I closed the door, the voices from the meeting room instantly quieted, and

Ding ding-

Only the ringtone could be heard.

“…Phew…”

Letting out a heavy sigh, I slightly lifted the constantly ringing phone.

Only one person would contact this phone.

A call like this means that the sharp-witted disciple of mine has noticed something.

Taking a deep breath, I cleared my throat and carefully answered the phone.

[It’s me.]

Various emotions crossed my mind at my disciple’s voice through the speaker.

“…Yes, what brings you to contact me…”

[I’ll give you one week.]

A sudden demand and threat.

Not something a disciple should do to their master.

“…I-I don’t know what you’re talking about… By the way, have you been well…”

[Yoo Ji-hwan.]

Ugh…

I slightly shrank at the name coming through the speaker.

“…Yeon-hee, I see the child I sent was quite good?”

[Bring me information before he comes next week.]

He… So she finally figured it out…

I knew she’d find out eventually, but I didn’t expect it to be this fast.

Though it’s somewhat pathetic, he wasn’t the type to have such a loose mouth, so she probably noticed some habit he wasn’t aware of.

In that case, giving him time isn’t a bad idea.

“…I’m sorry. Next week might be difficult…”

[One week.]

As her voice grew distant, as if about to hang up, I hurriedly spoke.

“W-wait! I brought him because he’s So-yeon’s partner…”

[So it was a lie after all.]

Oh no…

Having been discovered completely, I have no excuses left.

“…I-I’ll send it as soon as possible.”

[I’ll look forward to it.]

The call ended abruptly right after I said I’d send it quickly, and I wiped away my cold sweat.

…No gratitude, no appreciation.

I sighed deeply while putting the phone in my chest pocket.

Though I felt somewhat sorry for Yoo Ji-hwan, this was an unavoidable choice for me.

With war clouds gathering now, the ‘Sword Empress’s’ return took priority.

…I’ll have to delay as much as possible.

But it won’t be too late even if she returns when the Rescue Religion starts moving in earnest.

The Ju Yeon-hee I know is like a methodical hunter.

Given that she hasn’t moved immediately, she must need solid evidence.

Though I’m not sure how she’ll use that evidence…

Now that Yoo Ji-hwan has become the Rescue Religion’s target, he needs to be more free.