Vol. 1 Chapter 1.3

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In daily life, human conversation appears to flow completely naturally on the surface. However, if one dissects the countless non-verbal cues hidden within a single exchange, it becomes clear that communication is never truly simple.

The same applies to exchanges as mundane as saying, “Hello, good morning.” The speaker sends an initial signal through their facial expression and vocal tone, and the recipient decodes it, mirroring the energy in their response.Only after exchanging words that align perfectly with our mutual expectations do we truly begin a peaceful morning.

In that regard, the look on Peng Dong-hu’s face right now was a masterpiece.

“W-What did you just say?”

A piece of trash? Born as the second young master of the prestigious Peng Clan, it was a slur he hadn’t heard once in his entire life. The fact that those words had come from none other than Hwangbo Yeon’s mouth left him utterly flustered.

When hit with a shock like this, a person’s first instinct is always to doubt their own ears.

“What did you just…”

“Want me to repeat it?”

“What?”

“You heard me, you pathetic dipshit.”

The exact moment his doubt solidified into certainty, a roaring wave of fury engulfed Peng Dong-hu. His face flushed a violent explosive red, and his voice trembled instantly.

“Have you completely lost your mind from being bedridden for so long?!”

Staring up at his fiercely distorted face, Yeon threw his own cheap sneer right back at him. She had no intention of stopping here. In fact, she fully intended to rile him up a bit more.

Flinging his wrist away as if she had just touched something deeply contaminated, Yeon scoffed.

“The only one who’s lost his mind here is you, you perverted freak. Why did you even bother coming here when you should be loitering around your usual brothels?”

For a split second, a flash of pure panic darted through Peng Dong-hu’s eyes. It was the look of a man wondering, How on earth do you know about that? But try as he might, there was no way for him to figure out the truth.

“Where do you get off spewing such utter nonsense!”

“Whether it’s nonsense or not is something we can investigate very thoroughly, very slowly.”

As Yeon delivered the line with effortless nonchalance, Peng Dong-hu’s eyes narrowed into slits. The eerie realization that something entirely outside his calculations was happening began to sink in. Sensing that he might try to tuck his tail and retreat, Yeon quickly added fuel to the fire.

“You must have had a grand old time playing me for a fool until now, huh? You pathetic little clown.”

“You…! How dare you use that vulgar tongue with me!”

Peng Dong-hu whipped his hand high into the air. Yet, even as his raised hand trembled with volatile rage, his eyes instinctively flickered toward the perimeter. No matter how furious he was, this was still the territory of the Hwangbo Clan.

Gazing up at his hesitating figure, Yeon spat out a challenge.

“Do it.”

“…What?”

“Do it. Exactly what you were about to do.”

“Are you seriously trying to push me to the edge?!”

“Shut up and make up your mind. Are you going to swing or not?”

Crash!

Ultimately, Peng Dong-hu’s hand brought itself down, completely shattering an innocent side table. Because he had neglected his training for so long, a fracturing pain shot through his palm but he desperately forced his expression to lock down. He glared at Yeon, twisting his face into the most menacing expression he could muster.

But Yeon merely let out a sharp amused chuckle.

In her past life, she had endured grueling training and raw practical combat day in and day out under her father. Unlike the original Hwangbo Yeon, violence was not an object of fear to her. If anything, violence had always been her closest ally.

“Why break a perfectly good table? Did you think that would make me shake in my boots?”

“…It seems you won’t shed a tear until you’re staring at your own coffin.”

Yeon locked her gaze directly onto Peng Dong-hu as he spouted whatever cliché threats his brain could scramble together.

“We’ll see exactly who ends up in a coffin soon enough. Step outside. I’m going to murder you, you perverted bastard.”

Rising to her feet without a shred of hesitation, Yeon marched straight toward the exit. The moment she flung the doors open, she caught sight of So-jin, who was practically trembling with terror.

“A-Ah… Young Miss…”

She had clearly overheard the chaos from outside. Turning to the deathly pale maid, Yeon spoke with terrifying composure.

“Tell my father, So-jin. The engagement is officially off.”

Borrowing Hwangbo Yeon’s memories, Yeon marched straight toward the clan’s training grounds. There were a couple of specific reasons why she had chosen to move the venue.

First, she wanted this matter handled thoroughly which meant she needed an audience to witness it. And second…

Hwangbo Yeon was nothing more than a white elephant to this clan.

Despite being the sole heir, the original Hwangbo Yeon had effectively been a ghost within her own family. Had it not been for her father, Hwangbo Jeong-gun, who doted on her unconditionally, she wouldn’t have even received the bare minimum respect matching her status. That was precisely why the retainers’ reactions upon seeing her wake up had been so lukewarm.

As Yeon dug deeper, she realized Hwangbo Yeon hadn’t been oblivious to this either. Deep within her heart there had always been a desperate yearning to stand tall as a proud competent successor. The tragedy was that her intense desire had never been able to overcome her inherently faint-hearted nature.

Possessing a temperament that was the polar opposite, Yeon wanted nothing more than to shatter that weakness once and for all. It was the unfulfilled wish of Hwangbo Yeon, a girl who could no longer be considered a complete stranger to her.

When they reached the training grounds, Peng Dong-hu, still utterly failing to grasp the reality of his situation, sneered at her.

“I don’t know what kind of delusional game you’re playing but you can’t undo this now. Why don’t you apologize while I’m still being nice? Don’t make a choice you’ll regret.”

Ignoring him completely, Yeon tapped her boots against the dirt floor, thoroughly checking her condition. She clenched and unclenched her fists, twisting her torso from side to side to gauge her range of motion.

Hwangbo Yeon’s physical body was in remarkably good shape. In fact ‘good’ was a massive understatement. It didn’t fall short in the slightest compared to Yeon’s original body which had been subjected to a lifetime of brutal, unrelenting training. Given that Hwangbo Yeon had been resting in bed for so long, one could argue this body was actually in much better condition.

Suddenly, a wave of sorrow washed over her.

To think Hwangbo Yeon lived such a powerless life when she was blessed with such incredible natural genetics.

No matter how perfect the physique, it amounts to nothing more than a wet paper bag if the mentality is weak. It was the exact phrase her past-life father had drilled into her ears until they practically bled.

Only now, after arriving in this world, did Yeon truly comprehend the real meaning behind the words she thought she had already understood.

Just as she was caught in these complex emotions, a crowd came rushing onto the grounds. It was the retainers of the Hwangbo Clan, led by her father, Hwangbo Jeong-gun.

“Yeon-ah! What in the world is going on here?!”

“Father, how could you ever accept a piece of trash like him as my fiancé?”

“Y-Yeon-ah?!”

It was only natural for him to be shocked, but the words had already left her mouth. And from Yeon’s perspective, she had already heavily censored her language. Hearing his daughter speak like that, Hwangbo Jeong-gun’s massive eyes looked as though they might pop right out of their sockets.

Sensing the tense atmosphere, So-jin quickly stepped forward to intervene.

“Clan Head, the truth of the matter is…”