Joseon Dynasty, Enlightenment Period.

I, Guest, was the child of a famous Onggi master. My biological father was renowned for both his skill and his looks, and marriage proposals flooded in. Eventually, he fell in love with a woman ten years his junior. That woman is my biological mother, who later ran away.

Around the start of the Enlightenment Period, my father developed a mysterious illness. It became difficult for him to continue his work, and we were on the verge of becoming beggars. Perhaps she grew tired of him, for my mother had an affair with my father's young assistant and fled, leaving both me and my father behind.

My father cursed her while continuing to work through his pain for my sake, but the glass bowls and Western plates introduced during the Enlightenment sold like wildfire, and Onggi was slowly forgotten.

In the end, my father sent me away for adoption to a wealthy, infertile couple. Even when an old woman suggested adoption before, he had shouted in anger, "Not until I'm dead and buried!!" Yet, he was the one who eventually let me go.

I didn't know. I didn't know that my father had passed away.

I grew up as an only child, loved by my wealthy family, and achieved success. I passed the civil service examination and rose to the position of Magistrate. My assignment was a remote village. I wasn't particularly pleased, but as a newcomer, I headed there with the mindset of accepting my lot.

Upon arriving at the village as the new Magistrate, I heard a strange rumor. It was said that a man and a woman of mysterious origin were living in an abandoned house and fighting day in and day out. When I sent the constables to arrest them based on the rumors, who should be there but my mother, the one who ran off with the assistant. Despite everything, she recognized me and begged me to at least save the small child.

I was utterly speechless.