Chapter 131

The mansion had finally settled into a slower rhythm.

Afternoon light stretched longer across the wooden floors, the ancestral portraits now glowing softly instead of looming. Somewhere deeper in the house, wind chimes made faint, sleepy sounds like even the building itself was exhaling.

Jennie sat comfortably on the floor cushion, one arm supporting Ruby while the baby nursed peacefully, cheeks puffing slightly in that milk-drunk contentment only infants could achieve. Jennie’s expression was soft, almost absent-minded, as she occasionally brushed Ruby’s tiny hair down with her fingers.

Lisa, on the other hand, had fully entered what Jennie’s mother now silently labeled as “curiosity escalation mode.”

She was sitting cross-legged now, closer than before, no longer pacing-just intensely present.

And she had Ruby.

More specifically, she had Ruby’s cheeks.

Lisa gently squished one of Ruby’s soft cheeks with exaggerated affection.

“Aigoo…” Lisa whispered, leaning in and planting a soft kiss on it. “Why are you so unfairly cute? You didn’t even try.”

Ruby responded with a tiny, sleepy grunt.

Jennie chuckled. “Careful, she’s going to think that’s normal behavior.”

“It is normal behavior,” Lisa replied immediately, then kissed the other cheek. “In this household, apparently everything is normal except basic historical logic.”

Jennie’s mother sipped her tea like she had been waiting for this exact moment.

Lisa straightened slightly, still holding Ruby carefully, and turned serious again.

“Okay,” she said. “More questions.”

Jennie didn’t even sigh anymore. She just adjusted Ruby and nodded. “Go ahead.”

Jennie’s mother gave a small approving nod too, like a professor preparing for a final exam.

Lisa raised one finger.

“First-do Kim women ever actually fall in love outside this… pattern? Like completely different type, no resemblance, no ‘energy match,’ nothing?”

Jennie answered calmly, still gently rocking Ruby.

“It happens,” she said. “But rarely within documented lineage. Those relationships are usually the ones that never enter the family records.”

Lisa frowned. “So history is biased.”

Jennie’s mother nodded. “History is curated.”

Lisa absorbed that.

Then immediately moved on.

“Second-how did Kim women maintain wealth and power across generations without public scandal affecting them? There’s no way no one ever got curious.”

Jennie’s mother smiled faintly.

“We never needed to hide who we are,” she said. “Only how much we reveal.”

Lisa narrowed her eyes. “That sounds like a very elegant way of saying ‘we control the narrative.'”

Jennie’s mother nodded once. “Correct.”

Lisa exhaled.

“Third-are there other families like yours? Or is this… a one-line phenomenon?”

Jennie paused for a moment, thinking.

“There are similar bloodlines historically recorded,” she said carefully. “But none as consistent in traits or documented preferences as ours.”

Jennie’s mother added, “The Kim lineage is… unusually stable.”

Lisa blinked. “That feels like an understatement.”

Jennie gently pressed a kiss to Ruby’s forehead as the baby finished feeding and started drifting into sleep again.

Lisa softened for a moment watching them, then immediately snapped back into questioning mode.

“Fourth-why are mandu cheeks so dominant? Like I understand genetics but this feels like they are winning every generation without effort.”

Jennie smirked slightly. “Because they are.”

Jennie’s mother nodded. “It is a dominant maternal trait.”

Lisa pointed at the portraits upstairs. “So basically every Kim woman is born with mandu cheeks, and then every generation just doubles down on it by marrying people with… similar facial softness traits.”

Jennie shrugged. “Simplified version? Yes.”

Lisa leaned back slightly. “That is the most aesthetically consistent family I have ever seen.”

She looked down at Ruby again and gently tapped her cheek.

“And now she continues the legacy,” Lisa murmured, kissing Ruby again.

Ruby made a tiny sound in her sleep.

Jennie smiled softly at them.

Lisa took a breath.

“Fifth-do Kim women ever feel pressure because of the lineage? Like expectations, identity, all of that?”

The room shifted slightly at that question.

Not tense-just quieter.

Jennie’s mother set her teacup down more carefully this time.

“Yes,” she said honestly. “Every generation carries expectation. Not just of appearance, but of conduct, responsibility, and legacy.”

Jennie added softly, “That’s why we protect our private lives.”

Lisa nodded slowly, no teasing this time.

“Okay,” she said.

Then immediately continued.

“Sixth-why does everyone in your family look like they could either run a corporation or emotionally destroy someone in one sentence?”

Jennie snorted softly.

Jennie’s mother actually laughed.

“Training,” she said simply.

Lisa pointed at her. “That is not an answer.”

Jennie’s mother smiled. “It is the truth.”

Lisa shook her head.

“Seventh-be honest, do Kim women enjoy watching outsiders lose their minds in this mansion?”

Jennie looked at her calmly.

“…Maybe a little.”

Jennie’s mother didn’t even deny it. She just smiled.

Lisa groaned and leaned down to Ruby again.

“You hear that, baby?” she whispered, kissing Ruby’s cheek repeatedly again. “We are entertainment.”

Ruby, of course, remained peacefully asleep.

Lisa continued anyway.

“Eighth-if Ruby grows up, is she going to inherit the same ‘mandu cheeks and cat eyes’ package deal plus emotional superiority?”

Jennie gently adjusted Ruby’s blanket.

“She already has the cheeks,” Jennie said softly.

Lisa stared.

Then sighed dramatically.

“I knew it.”

Jennie smiled. “You said it yourself-she didn’t even try.”

Lisa leaned back, then looked at Jennie.

“Ninth-be honest. Did you ever think I would survive meeting your family?”

Jennie tilted her head.

“I thought you would panic,” she admitted. “But not leave.”

Lisa pointed at her. “That is not reassuring.”

Jennie smiled. “It’s accurate.”

Jennie’s mother nodded approvingly. “You adapted well.”

Lisa groaned.

“Tenth-last one for now,” she said, pointing between them. “Is there any possibility that future generations of Kim women will stop having identical emotional confusion when they bring partners home, or is that also a permanent trait?”

Jennie thought for a moment.

Then smiled.

“That one,” she said, “is probably genetic too.”

Lisa dropped her head into her hands for a second.

Then peeked through her fingers at Ruby, who was now fully asleep, cheeks round and peaceful.

“…I regret nothing,” Lisa muttered.

Jennie leaned closer and kissed her cheek.

“You survived the questioning phase,” she said.

Jennie’s mother stood, stretching slightly.

“And you did not run away,” she added. “That is also part of the tradition.”

Lisa looked up at both of them.

“…Do I get a certificate?”

Jennie smiled.

“You get tea,” she said.

Lisa sighed.

“Fine,” she said. Then immediately kissed Ruby’s cheeks again. “But I’m still investigating the mandu monopoly.”

And somewhere in the quiet ancestral mansion, surrounded by generations of cat-eyed women and one very sleepy baby continuing the legacy-

even the laughter felt like it had history behind it.