Published at 27th of August 2026 7:14 pm

Chapter CH.1110: The World of Ascension (40)

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"......."

Our eyes met, and for a brief moment, I froze. Personally, I had been trying to avoid any chance of that happening.

There was my father to consider. And besides, if I ended up facing my mother in this era, I could already foresee nothing but trouble.

If possible.

Since I was trying to leave this place, I wanted to avoid creating any unnecessary complications.

And yet.

I never expected to run into her.

I never thought I’d end up meeting my mother in a place like this.

Her hair wasn’t entirely white—it had a faint tinge of crimson. And her eyes... they were the same ones I had seen back in Mangye.

She was smiling gently, but there was something about her—an elusive charm that made her presence feel oddly captivating.

I swallowed hard.

Why.

Why was my mother here?

How did I not sense her?

Just like last time, I hadn’t felt her presence at all. Because of that, I had unknowingly allowed her to get this close.

"Hello?"

She looked at me and spoke. Hearing her voice, I hesitated.

What was I supposed to say? How was I supposed to react?

After a brief moment of thought, I forced myself to maintain a neutral expression and replied.

"......Hello."

I tried to sound as calm as possible, but my mother’s smile only deepened.

"We met before, didn’t we?"

"Yes."

"It’s good to see you again. Are you happy to see me too?"

"Yes. Well, I suppose—"

"What are you doing here? Not sleeping? Aren’t you hungry?"

"......."

Before I could even finish my sentence, she moved on to another topic.

What was this? Why did it feel like my energy was being drained just from talking to her?

We hadn’t even exchanged that many words, but for some reason, I already felt exhausted.

"I’m a little hungry."

"Ah... I see."

She rubbed her stomach as if to emphasize her words.

For some reason, I couldn’t help but see Wi Seol-ah overlapping with her.

Even back when we met at the supply wagon... She had been constantly eating something, just like this.

Was my mother always like this?

I couldn’t quite remember. I didn’t have that many memories of her to begin with.

Even if I did, I wouldn’t have remembered something as trivial as her eating habits.

And then—

"I'm hungry."

"......?"

She repeated herself. The same exact words.

What was I supposed to do about that?

I narrowed my eyes slightly and looked at her.

As if waiting for my reaction, she cautiously spoke again.

"......Do you have anything to eat?"

This time, she was noticeably more careful.

To be precise, she glanced around as if checking her surroundings, as if she was afraid someone would overhear her.

Almost like a child worried about getting scolded.

"......Is someone chasing you?"

"Huh? No?"

She flinched at my question, her reaction almost too obvious.

She might have said no, but everything about her response screamed yes.

If someone really is chasing her...

The culprit was obvious.

Father?

He was the one who had locked her in that carriage. If she was afraid of someone, it was most likely him.

Which meant—

She snuck out.

My mother had left without anyone knowing.

And if that was the case—

That’s not good, is it?

If she got caught, things would get complicated.

Hmm.

I thought it over for a moment before speaking again.

"I don’t have anything to eat."

I wasn’t the type to carry food around, and rummaging through someone else’s house for something to eat would be ridiculous.

"Oh... really?"

She looked genuinely disappointed.

What? Was it really that big of a deal?

"There’s nothing...?"

"Yes, nothing. So I think you should just quietly go ba—"

"Then do you want to go look for something together?"

"......What?"

Just a second ago, she had been looking dejected. Now, her eyes suddenly sparkled with excitement. And then—

Grab!

"Let’s do that!"

Before I could react, she grabbed my wrist.

Oh no. This was bad.

"Let’s go!"

She suddenly tried to drag me along.

Of course, if I resisted, I shouldn’t have been pulled along so easily—

Grip—!

Wait...?

But... she was strong. Stronger than I expected.

Her grip was firm—too firm.

What the hell?

This was troubling. At the very least, this was beyond the level of someone at Hwagyeong.

Which meant—

She still has her strength?

This suggested that she wasn’t just some clueless woman.

I had assumed that the mother I saw now was different from the one I had seen in Mangye.

I had thought she wouldn’t have her strength anymore.

I don’t know if she has all of it...

But at the very least, I could tell she wasn’t completely powerless.

"Hmm?"

Noticing that I wasn’t budging, my mother looked momentarily flustered.

Then, as if finding it fascinating, she stared at me.

"What’s this?"

"That’s what I’d like to ask."

"Uh... what’s going on?"

She still seemed confused, as if she couldn’t quite understand what was happening.

Was she really surprised that I wasn’t being dragged along by her strength?

I wasn’t sure.

But regardless—

"I’m not going. Let go."

I had no idea where she was planning to go.

But I couldn’t get more involved. I had no interest in provoking my father or anyone else.

That was my firm decision as I tried to pull away.

"Why not? It seems like it’d be fun."

"......Huh?"

Another voice joined in.

I turned, almost dreading what I’d see.

And there she was—Hyun Soyeon.

Her face was damp from training, and she was staring blankly at us.

Damn.

I narrowed my eyes.

Had I been too focused on my mother to notice her approaching?

No...

Even if I had suppressed my senses, I should have noticed her getting this close.

This...

‘Is it my mother's influence?’

My mother, whose presence I couldn’t easily sense. Moreover, being near her seemed to dull my own senses.

Had this always been an issue?

Would I even know?

I had no way of knowing. I had never experienced it before. It could be that my mother’s very existence felt alien, which might be why I was having this reaction.

I’ll leave it for now.

I decided to put the issue with my senses aside and focused my attention on Hyun Soyeon, who stood in front of me.

"Why?"

She looked at me as if wondering why I was staring.

"If you're speaking so loudly, it's odd not to hear you, don’t you think?"

"......."

"Don’t tell me you were trying to speak quietly?"

It was true—my mother’s voice had been loud.

Did Hyun Soyeon hear that? This could get tricky.

"......I wasn’t trying to keep it secret."

"Eh? Ah."

I apologized right away, as eavesdropping on someone’s training was incredibly rude.

"It’s fine. It wasn’t like I was doing anything impressive,"

Hyun Soyeon responded nonchalantly, as if it didn’t bother her.

Then, she pulled out a cloth from her pocket and casually wiped her face.

"This is fine now. So, about that—are you going to do it?"

"......What do you mean?"

"You said you were hungry. Are you going to eat?"

Suddenly, food? I narrowed my eyes, confused by what she was saying. Hyun Soyeon sighed in exasperation as if she was the one who was frustrated.

"I’m hungry too. I was thinking of causing a bit of trouble, but it’s better to do it together than alone, right?"

"......You’re going to cause trouble?"

"Do you want to?"

"No, I—"

"Alright. Then I’ll forgive you for eavesdropping on my training."

"......."

I was dumbfounded. Her bold statement left me speechless for a moment.

"You said it didn’t matter before."

"I did, but thinking about it now, it seems a little useful. How about it? I’ll forgive you, so let’s do it? Then."

Hyun Soyeon smiled brightly and pointed toward my mother, who was looking at me with eager eyes.

"My mother will keep quiet about this too."

"......."

Ah, right.

She didn’t know that my mother had snuck in.

Damn.

Things were getting more tangled by the second. It felt like I was about to sigh from how complicated this had become.

"How about it?"

Hyun Soyeon smiled as if she knew exactly what was going on, her words dripping with mischief.

That’s when I realized.

She has the same face as Namgung Bi-ah,

But she was completely different on the inside. The realization settled in my mind.

"......What exactly are you trying to do?"

Even I could tell my tone sounded uneasy.

**********

Later that night, we all moved together.

Naturally, the guards from the Namgung family were on watch, but Hyun Soyeon moved through them without a care in the world.

"I’ve memorized their patrol routes. If we go this way, they won’t notice us."

She boldly stated that she had memorized the routes of the guards. How strange and confident she sounded.

"Ah, but be careful. I heard the guards fainted earlier today, so they’ve become a bit more vigilant."

"......."

I froze inside. Anyone could tell that this was because of the chaos I had caused when trying to break in.

"Here... like this."

Hyun Soyeon led the way through narrow alleyways. Where was she taking us? She confidently told me to trust her and quickly darted through one corner after another.

"How long is this going to take? I’m hungry."

"Shh. If you speak loudly, I won’t give you food."

"......Ugh."

My mother, who had been whining, was silenced by a few words from Hyun Soyeon.

After a short while, we came to a stop.

"Here."

She led us into a building that had a gap where someone had slipped in unnoticed.

It really didn’t feel like there were any guards nearby, just like she said.

"There are more places to guard, so they probably didn’t keep this place as tightly watched. It’s easy to get in here."

I glanced around after hearing her explanation. This place was...

...Connected to the kitchen near the warehouse?

It seemed to be somewhere used by the Namgung family’s servants. I could smell some cooking utensils and faint spices in the air.

Without hesitation, Hyun Soyeon entered the place she had broken into. Her actions were so familiar, as if she had done this a hundred times before.

Then, she quickly lit a torch and started lighting the wall with its flame.

At that moment—

"Ugh."

"Huh?"

"Wait."

As soon as the light flickered on, I met the gaze of a person inside.

It was Namgung Hyung, chewing on a carrot.

What the hell...

Why was he here...?

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