If we met for the 400th time, I would have gotten drunk.
The palace of the Bukhae Ice Palace was located at the top of the tower.
The tower, which looked like a spire rising into the sky, was mystical just to look at.
At the entrance, Hanseol suddenly remembered what Geommugeuk had said.
-I am a person who values the reasons for my subordinates more than the organization.
She suddenly asked Chan, the attendant who had followed her to the entrance.
“Do you have a reason too?”
Chan asked back with a look on his face as if to ask what that meant.
“What is your reason?”
“Is there some kind of reason I should understand?”
First of all, I couldn’t understand this question.
“doesn’t exist.”
Chan answered briefly, and Hanseol left him behind and entered the tower.
Chan looked at her back with a strange expression. The question he had never asked made this thought pop into his mind.
‘Your Majesty, is there something I need to understand?’
Hanseol walked up the ice stairs. Everything she saw looked like ice. It was a building made with the unique architecture of the Bukhae Ice Palace, which was ice but not ice. The light coming in through the windows reflected in various colors, adding to the mysteriousness.
Although she was ascending that fantastical space, Hanseol was thinking extremely realistically.
‘This is normal. Why is the word ‘understanding’ necessary between a leader and his subordinates? Even parents and children don’t understand each other.’
At the top of the tower, his mother was waiting.
Ice Palace Master Han Seo-gyeong (寒曙景).
The Iron Lady, who is said to have a heart made of ice.
She was also known as the most talented woman among the Ice Palace Masters of recent generations. Of course, since she had never shown her martial arts skills to the public, no one knew exactly how skilled she was.
As such, the strength of the Ice Palace lay in its secrecy and mystery, its power not being revealed.
“Your Majesty.”
To Hanseol, she was not her mother but her mother, and not her mother but the Ice Palace Princess.
It was like that since I was little. She never hugged me warmly. When I took one step closer, my mother took two steps back. She was raised as a princess, and to Hanseol, she was a strict princess.
If the two people’s faces didn’t look so similar that anyone could tell they were mother and daughter, Hanseol might have suspected that she wasn’t her biological mother.
The distance between them was less than five steps, but they could not tell how deep the cliff was between them. They were looking at each other from the edge of the cliff.
“As expected, the person who kidnapped the second son of the Bukhyeolmun was a demonic cult warrior.”
Even though it was an important report revealing that the Demonic Cult was interfering with the affairs of the North Sea, the Ice Palace Lord was not greatly shaken.
“It was something that the subordinate did on his own, and the leader seemed to be covering it up.”
The Ice Palace Princess asked Hanseol the reason with her eyes, but she couldn’t answer. It was something she couldn’t understand.
“He seemed like a valuable person.”
Then the Ice Palace Master spoke in a calm tone.
“However, we cannot allow the blood relatives of the Bukhyeolmun to die by their hands.”
The North Blood Gate asked for help, and Mother was trying to grant their request.
Hanseol didn’t know what kind of transaction had taken place between her mother and the Bukhyeolmunju.
“First, I told the young sect leader to hand over the whereabouts of his subordinates.”
“If he is a subordinate you cherish as you say, would you hand him over so easily?”
“No, of course not.”
The gaze that told Hanseol to tell me the answer he thought of flew at him again.
Do you think your mother, or rather your majesty, knows how suffocating it is at times like this?
It was like that since I was little. My mother believed that I had to find the answer on my own. That way I would become stronger. Like someone who thought that was the right answer.
‘Mother, that answer is wrong.’
I wished that my mother would be the one who could give me a moment of respite from the gaze of the world that was urging me to find the answer. I wished that at the end of this road, my mother would be waiting with open arms.
And now, even the regrets that Hanseol had felt in the past had disappeared.
“I will find a way.”
He said this as if he remembered her as she was about to turn around and leave after greeting him politely.
“By the way, the reason the Sogyoju came with the horse was because of the deceased Wonju of Baekjuseolwon.”
“How did Chuma react to her death?”
“It seemed like he couldn’t believe that he had committed suicide.”
“It seems like the addiction won’t go away easily.”
The Ice Palace Lord knew what kind of relationship there was between the drunk horse and the original owner of the Baekjuseolwon.
“Then I will take my leave now.”
Hanseol bowed politely again and turned around. Even though she was his daughter, she was no different from what her subordinates reported.
It would have been understandable to feel regretful about that, but the two of them showed no sign of it at all.
The Ice Palace Princess called from behind.
“Your Majesty.”
Hanseol turned around again.
“The Little Leader is the one who brought about the Jeongsa-ma meeting. Don’t underestimate him.”
When a mother speaks like this, it is to emphasize that something is really important.
Hanseol still couldn’t tell that Geommugeuk was that kind of person, but she bowed her head respectfully.
“I will keep that in mind.”
The Ice Palace Master was looking at the faint outline of Hanseol turning and descending the stairs of the tower through the transparent ice floor.
* * *
A sword dance and a horse were standing on a snow-covered field.
After standing for a while, Chwima suddenly spoke.
“This is it. This is the place where Wonju first told me it was good.”
——————
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At that time, I was still young, before I became Amazon.
“Why didn’t you accept his heart?”
Chwima turned his head and looked at Geommugeuk.
“Back then, life was too much for me to handle even one drink.”
“What are you talking about?”
“My competitors who were trying to become a master were crazy about alcohol. On the other hand, I… … .”
“You don’t like alcohol as much as they do.”
Chwima nodded obediently.
It wasn’t true at first. From the beginning, it seems like Chwima liked alcohol more than anyone else.
Yes, sometimes life takes us to places we never thought possible. A person who couldn’t even kill an ant can become a savior, and someone who was so scared just by looking at a blade can become a famous swordsman.
And then, as if nothing had happened, he adapts so well.
“You like alcohol now, right?”
Then, Chwima chuckled.
“Do you just like it? It’s my whole life.”
The sword dance followed him and laughed.
“She was a big help in my liking for alcohol. At first, we were awkward with each other, but gradually we started exchanging letters about alcohol. We talked about the alcohol she sent us, and also about all kinds of alcohol from the Central Plains.”
The sword dance could feel it. She was a drunken friend of the drunken man.
“If you think about it, it was her help that got me to where I am today, and that my martial arts achievements were able to be accomplished. Even though I know that she was such a valuable person, I only came to see her now. How selfish of me.”
That’s why Chwima is angry. The sadness of losing his friend and the anger at the reality that there is no turning back now.
Life is like that.
Geommugeuk stopped himself from saying this. That wasn’t what Chwima wanted to hear right now.
“He’s a bad guy!”
Chwima nodded.
“Yeah, he’s a bad guy.”
As if it had been waiting for that confession, snow began to fall. In the central plains, it was raining flowers, but here it was snowing.
The horse looked up at the sky.
“I am a bad guy!”
The cries of the drunkard echoed and resounded.
The sword dance team looked up at the snowy sky together.
“Where in the world is there a good Amazon? They’re all bad guys. He would understand, hyung. He would have been happy to send you alcohol. Maybe it would have been better if we had just communicated without meeting each other. If we had met, hyung would have gotten drunk. Good job. That would have been better for him.”
Chwima looked at the sword dance. He wouldn’t know how much comfort this consolation was.
Looking at those trembling eyes, Geommugeuk nodded silently and moved on to the next step.
“Still, we have to catch him, right?”
Since I was sure that the drunkenness wasn’t suicide, someone had to have driven her to her death.
“To investigate that incident, we have to enter the Ice Palace.”
The sword dance was already planned out of concern for the horse.
“The fact that the North Sea Ice Palace has intervened in the affairs of the North Blood Gate means that there are circumstances that warrant granting their request.”
“I guess so.”
“Then if you solve that problem, they will allow you to investigate this matter as well.”
Chwima could understand the meaning of the sword dance. He was trying to make a deal by returning the second son of the Bukhyeolmunju and allowing him to investigate this incident.
“What if I already killed him?”
“If you wanted to kill me, you wouldn’t have kidnapped me in the first place. But if you kidnapped me, you must have done it to save someone.”
“Do you know where you are now?”
As expected, the answer came without hesitation.
“If he had done something this important, he would have told Go-wol about his whereabouts through Eun-wol, even if no one else knew. You can tell just by looking at the fact that he wasn’t found even after the search by Buk-hyeolmun and Bing-gung. I think he’s probably at Eun-wol’s Bukhae Anga right now.”
It was Geommu-geuk who knew better than anyone how meticulous Go-wol’s work was. Because Go-wol’s An-ga would be the real An-ga.
“Don’t you know your luggage too well?”
“How can a heart be a heart without a heart? Let’s go.”
The sword dance and the drunken horse began to walk slowly through the increasingly heavy snowfall.
* * *
“There was no contact from Bukhyeolmun until the appointed time.”
Ian never thought that the Bukhyeolmunju would give up his child.
‘They say he’s a tough guy. He really is going too far.’
If it were you, you would have given up your life for your child. Are you really going to do this?
As expected, when reality finally arrived, Yang Joong’s heart sank. The father had traded the honor of the Bukhyeolmun for his son’s life.
‘Kill him!’
I wanted to shout out loud, but the words wouldn’t come out. I wanted to live.
“If you kill me, the text will definitely take revenge.”
He was still pleading for his life in the wrong way.
On the other hand, Joo-gyu and Hwang-chu did not show any unnecessary pride.
“Please save me!”
The two of them still had their eyes tightly shut. Their desire to live was strong.
“Okay, you two open your eyes. Now is the time for us all to think about it together.”
Eventually, Joo-gyu and Hwang-chu also opened their eyes. Ian had turned on a light in the dark room, so they could see her face.
The two were shocked. They never dreamed that the woman who had captured them would be so beautiful.
‘You crazy bitch! What are you?’
Joo-gyu could not understand it at all, to the point where he almost blurted out these words. With such a beautiful appearance, she could really live an exciting life, aside from kidnapping the blood relatives of the Buk-hyeol-mun.
“The threats didn’t work. What should we do now?”
Ian came closer to them. He looked even more beautiful up close.
“Should I cut off your hand and send it to you?”
Joo-gyu, who had been staring blankly at her, nodded absentmindedly and then flinched in surprise.
“Whose hand is this?”
Then Yang Joong glared at him. Whose hand could it be? It must be his own. How dare you ask when you know so clearly!
“It won’t work! I’ve already given up my life, so how can you possibly cut off my hand and send it to me?”
Before he knew it, Yang Joong had hidden his hands behind his back. Ian scared him.
“It could be a bluff. I don’t think he’d kill me.”
Ian whispered to Yang Joong in a low voice.
“I’ll cut it with my left hand, which is not using the sword.”
Yang Joong shouted in fright as she grabbed the handle of the sword as if she was going to cut him right away.
“I told you it won’t work!”
Ian took his hand off the sword.
“Right? Then what should I do? Should I really cut off his head and send him?”
The words coming out of that soft, pleasant voice were all eerie.
“So? What do you get out of it?”
“At least I feel a little better.”
When Yang Joong was trembling with fear and couldn’t say anything, Joo Gyu stepped in his place.
“Then I will kill all the people you are trying to save.”
Ian looked at him intently and said.
“I can’t help it, right? What? Do you really think I’d feel guilty for that? Even if it weren’t for me, those people would have died miserably anyway, right? No? Did you really bring me here to make money?”
Of course, they said nothing.
“Okay, I’ve given you my answer, so give me yours. Or else I’ll just kill you all and send you to the Bukhyeolmun Gate, and I’ll disappear like smoke.”
There was a reason Ian scared them.
I thought that if I came up with some answers, I might be able to find a solution. Even just a clue would be nice.
‘What would the young master have done?’
I thought about it, but I just felt like I still had a long way to go.
Surely there must be a solution to this problem, so that when time passes and we look back on this moment, there will be a clear answer that will allow us to kick the covers off and say, “I should have done that.”
But now I didn’t know what to do. I just felt suffocated, like a blanket was covering my face.
“Let me go! I will go and persuade the lord.”
Joo-gyu tried his best to survive, at least for himself.
It was something that wouldn’t work even if they tried to persuade him together, but Yang Joong blocked his way.
“Will that work?”
He ignored Joo-gyu’s opinion and came up with a new plan.
“Bring my brother back. Then my father will surrender.”
Ian was dumbfounded. Father or son, these guys! Half of that must be true. The other half must be because of this.
“Your brother must be surrounded by masters right now. Are you telling me to catch him?”
Yang Joong flinched as he was hit on the nail on the head.
“I was just expressing my thoughts.”
“That’s wrong. Now, what’s the next correct answer?”
The three people who were captured racked their brains.
Actually, there was a set plan for what Ian was going to do.
‘I guess I’ll have to make another offer to persuade them.’
Because there were people who needed to be saved.
But the moment you make a new proposal, you’ll lose the initiative to those guys who won’t even blink at you if you tell them to kill their own children.
‘I just liked the times when I could just stand by the master’s side and guard him without thinking about anything.’
It was at that time that I was looking for an answer.
Someone knocked on the door from outside.
Ian and all three were shocked.
Yang Joong looked back at the other two people and smiled with a sense of repentance. Ju Gyu and Huang Qiu’s expressions also brightened.
‘All right! They’ve come to save us!’
‘You are now dead!’
They laughed coldly. Ju-gyu said with his eyes. Don’t act rashly and keep your mouth shut. They could have killed all of them and dealt with the rescue team outside.
But it was an unnecessary warning. Yang-joong wanted to live just as much as Joo-gyu. Yang-joong didn’t even breathe.
Ian asked softly, his sword drawn.
“Who are you?”
Then a very welcome voice was heard from beyond the door.
“That’s correct.”
