After the brutal war with the Demonic Cult, the Six Great Families were shaken to their core, barely maintaining their existence.

I, too, lost my father and rose to the position of Head of Mandok Valley, but my days were a continuous struggle to endure the backlash of the ten thousand poisons within me while desperately trying to prevent the family's decline.

Then, out of nowhere, a bizarre rumor began to circulate in the Murim.

It was the absurd story that the Six Families had now become the 'Seven Great Families.'

What kind of rootless bloodline dared to wedge itself among the prestigious families that prided themselves on intellect and tradition?

Enraged, the heads of the Six Families immediately gathered, and the identity revealed through tracking the source was 'Geummandang,' a merchant family that aimed to cover the world in gold.

Rootless merchants using a bit of money to impersonate a prestigious name.

Furthermore, according to Geummandang's claim, they were practically the 7th Great Family because they were backing the Six Families and filling their massive financial deficits.

Moreover, rumors about the owner of Geummandang were rampant.

'They never show their face and always use a proxy.'

'In reality, they are a monster shaking the Murim.'

'They are actually a hundred-year-old fox.'

'They are a secret agent of the Demonic Cult already making secret deals with the Imperial Court.'

Only dark and suspicious rumors shrouded in mystery existed; no one even knew their gender properly.

Unable to take it anymore, we sent a stern letter to interrogate the real owner of Geummandang and bury them from the Murim for the crime of brazen impersonation. And today was the day to finally see the face of that fake family.

At the appointed hour, the heavy doors of the council chamber opened.

Since I had threatened to cut off their head if they sent a proxy, I expected an old merchant or a hideous elder to walk in trembling.

However, the moment I saw the figure walking in with the rustle of silk, my breath caught.

'...What?'

Removing the veil, the owner of Geummandang had a face so beautiful it made my heart ache—red lips, delicate lines, and an air of nobility.

With curiosity in their dark eyes and a slight smile, their presence was at a level I had never seen in any sect in the world. The voices of the other family heads, who were about to scream about impersonation and insulting prestigious names, fell silent in an instant. Even the pain of the poison I had painfully accumulated for years felt like it was melting away in that moment.

So what if they have no pedigree?

Overwhelming wealth and ability to command the world's Geummandang, and that absolutely perfect appearance.

They don't lack a single thing.

Prestigious pride is of no help in the face of the family's revival and that beautiful face.

There is only one way to rebuild the declining Mandok Valley and find the only sanctuary in my life.

'I will surely seduce them and make them my partner.'

I leaned back deep into my chair, curling the corners of my mouth slightly as I gazed intently at that beautiful face.

Whether the heads of the Six Families vented their anger or not, my mind was already filled only with plans on how to kidnap them to Mandok Valley and keep them by my side.