[Chapter 210]
[Life is Like Walking on a Blade's Edge (2)]
With Noh Yuseong's birth.
Jung Ha-yang's desire for a child grew even stronger.
Yuseong is really cute.
Will that child look more like Eun-ha as he grows up?
Of course, Noh Yuseong was Han Seo-hyeon's child, and also her and Lee Yu-jung's child.
The three had promised to take care of each other's children as their own.
Even without making that promise, Jung Ha-yang's maternal instincts had surged the moment she saw Noh Yuseong.
Nevertheless, Jung Ha-yang wanted to give birth to a child that looked just like her.
Eun-ha and Seo-hyeon unnie seem to have gotten much closer.
There were many reasons she wanted to have a child.
The biggest reason was that children are cute, and she wanted to see a child that resembled her and Eun-ha.
She was jealous seeing Eun-ha taking such good care of the pregnant Han Seo-hyeon.
And the two of them looked so good taking care of Noh Yuseong.
For these and other complex reasons, Jung Ha-yang kept burning with the desire to have a child.
As a result, Eun-ha was suffering.
And so─
"─Congratulations. You're pregnant."
"Really? Am I really pregnant? I didn't feel any morning sickness or anything, is it certain?"
"...You see the gestational sac here? Looking at it, you seem to be about 6 weeks pregnant. Morning sickness varies by individual, and you might start experiencing it soon."
"Wow..."
Finally, at last.
Jung Ha-yang was able to hear the result she had been hoping for.
She had checked with a test in the morning and stopped by the obstetrics clinic just in case, and she really was pregnant.
"I'm really pregnant..."
She caressed her belly.
It felt miraculous that there was a new life inside.
A smile didn't leave her lips.
☆
Jung Ha-yang was pregnant.
Eun-ha was delighted to hear the news.
"I thought Kang had been staying by Ha-yang's side lately... So that's why?"
"Kang!"
"Good, you did well. Keep watching over the kids well from now on too."
Jung Ha-yang said she was coming to the clan hall after visiting the obstetrics clinic.
Eun-ha patted Kang's head while waiting for her to arrive.
It was a praiseworthy creature.
Kang not only sensed his wives' pregnancies as if appointing itself a guardian deity, but also stayed by Noh Yuseong's side constantly, protecting him.
"Peep peep peep papa papa pupu!"
"Lalala♪"
"Yes, thank you too."
Buldak and Lala were there too.
Eun-ha patted their heads and got up from his seat.
He decided to go to the next room.
He wanted to tell Noh Yuseong too.
"Yuseong, daddy's here."
"Be quiet, the baby's sleeping."
"Ah, Seo-hyeon. Did you hear?"
"That Ha-yang is pregnant? She's been envying me all this time, now she won't have to envy me so much."
"Huh?"
"That taking care of a child is work too... Yuseong's dad wouldn't know."
"I'm always grateful."
"Just with words."
"Should I massage your shoulders?"
"No thanks."
Noh Yuseong was sleeping soundly.
Eun-ha had no choice but to turn to Han Seo-hyeon.
He went behind her and massaged her shoulders.
"Yuseong will have a younger sibling now too."
"That makes me a bit worried."
"About what?"
"That your heart will leave Yuseong and go to Ha-yang's child. He should receive a lot of parental love when young, but if younger siblings keep coming, he'll be pushed down in priority."
"I'll have to try not to do that. But I don't think that will happen? Yuseong is the first child..."
"Then the children between the oldest and youngest will be pitiful. Do well."
"I will. You keep me in check."
"Just trust me."
The two laughed brightly.
Just then, hearing the sound of their laughter, Noh Yuseong burst into tears.
"Sorry, did we wake you?"
"Abubu!"
Eun-ha picked up Yuseong.
Noh Yuseong threw a tantrum.
Nevertheless, Eun-ha skillfully soothed and comforted the child.
"Abubu. Pa, pa."
"Yes, it's daddy."
Now he knew how to walk a bit, and could call daddy and mommy to some extent.
He smiled watching Noh Yuseong play by pulling on the reincarnation necklace.
"Yuseong, you have a younger sibling coming?"
"Pa?"
"Papa?"
"...Buldak, you go over there."
"Pupu..."
"Puu."
Eun-ha pushed Buldak away with his shoulder.
Buldak flew to Han Seo-hyeon's shoulder, looking sulky.
Soon Eun-ha put Noh Yuseong down in the cradle.
"Ha-yang must be here by now. I'll go out to greet her."
"Okay, don't forget to tell Ha-yang thank you. It'll get harder when her belly starts showing."
"Of course."
Eun-ha left Han Seo-hyeon's office.
He went down to the first floor.
Just then, Jung Ha-yang came running.
"Eun-ha!"
As soon as Jung Ha-yang saw Eun-ha, she ran to him.
Eun-ha caught her as she jumped into his arms.
"Be careful with your body from now on. Did you get an ultrasound picture from the hospital?"
"Yes! Look at this, they say this is the gestational sac. It's so tiny, right?"
"Such a tiny baby inside an already small person's belly."
"What?"
Jung Ha-yang glared with her eyes.
Eun-ha liked even that.
He patted her bottom.
Jung Ha-yang eventually softened her expression.
"I wish it would be born soon."
"Your belly hasn't even swollen yet."
"That's why. How long do I have to wait? Will the baby be a boy or a girl? Yuseong was a boy, so I hope it's a girl. Right?"
"I just hope it's born healthy."
"When it's born, you have to name it. Got it?"
"I'll think of a good one."
Jung Ha-yang chattered with a happy face.
Soon clan members gathered and heard the happy news.
They congratulated Jung Ha-yang on her pregnancy.
It was then.
"Eun-ha."
"What?"
While clan members were blessing Jung Ha-yang.
Han Chang-jin quietly approached.
Eun-ha sensed it wasn't a trivial matter.
He asked back without taking his eyes off Jung Ha-yang.
"I have something to tell you."
"...It's about that matter."
"Yes. I'm sorry to bring such dark news when something happy has happened."
"No. Let's go up to the office first."
Han Chang-jin's tone was unusual.
Eun-ha waved to Jung Ha-yang and went up to the office with Han Chang-jin.
Meanwhile, Lee Yu-jung was also at the place blessing Jung Ha-yang.
"How nice..."
While blessing Jung Ha-yang.
Lee Yu-jung rubbed her own belly for no reason.
☆
Pandora Clan Hall, Eun-ha's office.
Eun-ha sat across from Han Chang-jin and listened to the story.
"I see, so that's what happened..."
Lee Cheon-seo had betrayed them.
After hearing the circumstances, Eun-ha let out a deep sigh.
"That Lee Cheon-seo... I was letting it slide that he was acquainted with people from other clans, but... He ended up crossing the line in the end."
"Samra Clan strongly enticed him. If Samra Group is coming out openly like this, their situation must not be good."
"Hah..."
Lee Cheon-seo's movements were being watched.
Hadn't he made connections with Samra Clan even before Pandora Clan was founded?
Since then, Lee Cheon-seo had been meeting with people from other clans whenever he had the chance, putting his foot in various places.
Yes, I had to allow up to that point.
It's not bad to go where the conditions are good if called.
Eun-ha tolerated that.
He couldn't hold onto those whose hearts had left Pandora Clan with his selfishness.
So after subjugating Magoo, he had been waiting for Lee Cheon-seo to leave the clan on good terms.
He already knew Lee Cheon-seo's heart had left long ago.
However─
"─But this is not okay."
Leaking clan secrets.
Trying to persuade new clan members.
Lee Cheon-seo wasn't trying to leave quietly, but was trying to take Pandora Clan's talent and information with him.
It went against business ethics, and leaking confidential information was a violation to begin with.
"How many guys fell for Lee Cheon-seo's tongue?"
"We're still figuring it out... But it seems over half of the new members who joined last year and this year."
"So at least 10 people?"
Eun-ha tapped the armrest.
Then he recalled the faces of the clan members whose names Han Chang-jin listed.
His memory was hazy.
It couldn't be helped.
Pandora Clan's size had greatly expanded as it became an S-rank clan.
Currently, just over 100 clan members had joined the clan.
Problems arise when there are many people.
Not only does it escape my control, but mudfish like Lee Cheon-seo also muddy the waters below...
Eun-ha blamed himself.
Although he had entrusted it to the sub-lords, they couldn't deeply grasp the clan members' lives either.
As a result, they ended up tolerating it.
Above all, Lee Cheon-seo was now an 8-year executive.
They probably couldn't have imagined he would betray them like this and take clan members away.
"What are you going to do?"
"..."
Han Chang-jin asked.
Eun-ha didn't answer.
He had a lot to think about.
What would be good to do at a time like this?
Should he quietly expel Lee Cheon-seo?
Or─
Eun-ha finished thinking.
He broke the silence and opened his mouth.
"Traitors must be cut off."
"..."
Although he had changed a lot.
His knife-like temperament hadn't changed.
He had just been suppressing it usually.
Eun-ha's eyes flashed.
Just like a cold blade.
"Life is like walking on a blade's edge? That Cheon-seo guy said that?"
"..."
"He knows well. I raised him well."
Lee Cheon-seo's words were right.
People don't know when they'll die.
People living in a world full of infrastructure don't know because they're steeped in safety.
How dangerous life is.
Every day is a continuation of survival.
People barely sustain a day while walking on a cold blade's edge.
Lee Cheon-seo's metaphor was appropriate.
Therefore─
─If he knew that, he should have stayed quiet.
Eun-ha regretted Lee Cheon-seo's gambling-like adventure.
If he knew he was on a blade's edge, he should have left quietly, why is he stirring up the wrong clan?
"Chang-jin hyung."
"Yeah, Eun-ha."
"Find a dungeon soon."
"...Understood."
While there might be room for rehabilitation for the new members.
There was only one fate to be given to Lee Cheon-seo and clan members already tainted by his character.
"As quietly as possible, without anyone knowing. Got it?"
8 years after graduating from the academy.
Rising to this position, relationships could no longer be maintained with pure friendship.
Eun-ha felt bitter about that, and decided to sharpen his blade.
☆
Without anyone knowing, quietly.
Eun-ha didn't want to inform the clan members about the purge he was about to carry out.
But he wasn't magnanimous enough to forgive Lee Cheon-seo either.
I have to do it without the kids knowing as much as possible.
There's no need to make the kids sad unnecessarily.
He can't tell Han Seo-hyeon either.
Even more so to Jung Ha-yang who just got pregnant.
He didn't want to tell Lee Yu-jung either.
He could predict their reactions.
Surely they would feel guilty as if it were their own fault.
And he could also predict the reactions of other clan members.
There were two types.
Either agree with me, or oppose.
It would be one of the two.
Eun-ha gave a bitter smile.
He understood why clan lords kept separate clan members who took on dirty work.
I feel like drinking today.
Eun-ah too.
Han Seo-hyeon, Jung Ha-yang, and Lee Yu-jung too.
They didn't like cigarettes.
So Eun-ha hadn't put cigarettes to his mouth in this life.
With Noh Yuseong born too, he couldn't smoke even more.
Now he didn't even want to smoke.
So when his heart felt stuffy, he would drink alcohol.
"Why aren't you going home and what are you doing here?"
"What about you, why are you here?"
Who should I tell this feeling to?
He couldn't tell anyone.
He had to keep it to himself.
Eun-ha went to the bar in the clan hall to relieve his stuffy heart.
No one would come at this hour.
He came thinking he could drink quietly.
But there was someone who came to the bar first.
It was Jin Seo-na.
"Are you going to have a drink too? Why?"
"I just felt like drinking today. What about you?"
"Sit here next to me first. I was feeling awkward drinking alone anyway."
Jin Seo-na gestured with her chin resting on her hand.
Eun-ha sat in the seat next to her.
It seemed she had been drinking even before Eun-ha came.
Jin Seo-na's face was red.
"This is delicious. Try it."
"It's not bad. Give me the same as her please."
"You mean Blue Moon? Understood."
Jin Seo-na handed over her glass.
It was a cocktail with a mysterious color.
A drink that looked just like it contained clear sea water.
Eun-ha tasted it and ordered the same drink from the bartender.
After a while, the bartender placed the cocktail and left the seat.
"Cheers."
"So why are you drinking? What about dinner?"
"I'm making do with sausages. Ah, I'm not giving you this."
"Why are you suddenly drinking alone?"
"You're not one to talk?"
Why did they come to drink alone?
They didn't tell each other the reason and sipped their drinks.
After some time passed, Jin Seo-na drooped her triangular ears.
She opened her mouth.
"Just... Earlier when congratulating Ha-yang on her pregnancy, I felt envious."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I just felt envious."
"..."
"It's a good thing that my friend is happy, but I was right there unable to purely congratulate her. So, I came here because I looked really pathetic."
Am I really selfish?
Jin Seo-na spoke self-deprecatingly.
Eun-ha was about to touch her head but withdrew his hand.
Because he saw the ring on Jin Seo-na's left ring finger.
Not just Cheon-seo...
Our relationships have changed a lot.
The flow of time was cruel.
Even friends who used to play together without hesitation now cared about social gazes and considered interests.
There was a lot more measuring of each other.
That must be what it means to become an adult.
Things you freely enjoyed when young are gradually put down.
Eun-ha spoke as brightly as possible.
"If you're envious, why don't you get married too?"
"How can that be up to me? Marriage is about matching values, right? You need to be in the right situation and prepared for it."
"So it's not the right time now?"
"I'm not sure."
Jin Seo-na slumped over the table.
She muttered while poking her glass with her finger.
"I'm a direct descendant of KK Pharmaceuticals, an idol of Ains... Don't you think my background is quite complicated?"
"...I'm sorry. It's because of me that you became a direct descendant of KK Pharmaceuticals and a representative of Ains."
"Yeah, feel really sorry."
"..."
"I'm kidding. In the end, it was my choice, why would I blame you?"
"Do you regret it? The choice you made."
"Hmm... a little. But I think I'd make the same choice even if I went back to that time."
"..."
"I made a resolution when I was in elementary school. I decided I wouldn't give my heart to someone who doesn't give their heart to me. That I'd selfishly take care of only my people."
"That's similar to me."
"Whose fault is that..."
"So?"
"So even if I went back in time, I would have become a direct descendant of KK Pharmaceuticals. The same goes for becoming the representative of the Former Ain Association... Because that's what helps you guys who didn't give up on me until the end during my hardest times."
So listen well, Noh Eun-ha.
Be grateful to this noona.
Jin Seo-na poked Eun-ha.
"Alright, thank you."
"So what's your issue?"
"Not telling."
"How stingy, how can you do that?"
"You didn't tell me either."
"...Fine, let's just drink."
"You're paying?"
"The Clan Lord pays for things like this."
"Alright, but drink moderately."
Eun-ha gave a bitter smile.
They drank together, reminiscing about old times.
☆
Pandora Clan's structure became firmly established after the Uijeongbu recapture battle.
There are currently eight generations.
At this time, Pandora Clan members were classified into three tiers:
1st generation – Pandora Clan founding members
2nd generation – Direct juniors of founding members
3rd generation – Clan members including Ilya
The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generations lived almost without hierarchy as they had similar periods of hardship.
Sub-lords and executives were all positioned here.
These were known as Pandora Clan's main force.
4th generation – Unremarkable generation
5th generation – On Tae-hee and Son Ga-yeon's generation
The 4th and 5th generations were clan members who joined after the Mana Church's half-soul ceremony terror incident, before the Uijeongbu recapture battle.
The 3rd generation had so many outstanding people, and Son Ga-yeon stood out in the 5th generation, so the 4th generation didn't stand out much.
But the 4th generation hadn't caused any particular problems up to now.
They could be called the exception group of Pandora Clan, which is known as the second most problematic after Blaze Clan.
Anyway, these two generations revered the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generations as senior generations.
After experiencing the Uijeongbu recapture battle, they led the 6th and 7th generation clan members.
6th generation – 036&36 promising rookie generation
7th generation – Seon Mi-ye's generation
8th generation – This year's newest generation
There wasn't much to say about the 6th, 7th, and 8th generations.
They were still low-ranking members who hadn't made great contributions to Pandora Clan yet.
As an exception, Seon Mi-ye, who was Noh Eun-ae's friend and also the daughter of Twelve Seat
In any case─
"─
"Eun-hyeok hyung! Hello!"
As the clan's hierarchy became divided.
From the 6th, 7th, and 8th generations' perspective, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generations seemed like distant seniors.
They almost deified the 1st generation clan members in particular.
The influence of the Eun-ha religion was strong.
And the impression of clan members fighting alongside
"Shall we? But hmm... there are a lot of people. If we have 1:1 matches, many people will have to wait, so should we go around the dungeon in the basement instead?"
"Ah, that sounds good too! I'll quickly write a participation application and come back!"
In that sense.
The 6th, 7th, and 8th generation clan members were grateful to Choi Eun-hyeok who approached them with a friendly face.
There were a few 1st generation members they felt close to, but among them, Choi Eun-hyeok was the most popular.
"If anything happens, tell me! I'll put in a good word with the others for you."
Choi Eun-hyeok also didn't dislike the clan members who followed him well.
Above all, he who became a sub-lord from this year was more devoted to leading new clan members.
☆
A few days later, the Northern Gyeonggi Development Conference began.