〈 Chapter 591 〉 The Little Princess of the North Sea Ice Palace.
It hadn't taken long for Yuri to faint and come to her senses again.
At most, half a gak?
This was thanks to me controlling my strength.
I had struck her weakly, just enough to make her lose consciousness for a moment.
After all, that way she could wake up quickly and we could talk again.
"I showed you an unsightly side…."
Those were the words of Yuri, who had risen again.
Her disheveled hair and the slight traces of drool at the corner of her mouth were visible.
She seemed to have slept very well.
"Ung…."
Yuri stroked the top of her head.
It seemed some pain still remained.
After stroking it a few times, Yuri's gaze turned this way.
An indescribable grudge lingered in her eyes.
"I can't believe you actually hit me."
I know. I hadn't thought I'd really hit her either.
"I apologize."
I offered an apology without hesitation.
I had struck her out of the blue, but it had been an action that crossed a line.
"…"
Upon hearing my apology, Yuri moved her lips this way and that, making a peculiar expression.
I had laid hands on the bloodline of a ruler, no less, in the frontier martial world; it wouldn't have been strange for her to hold it against me.
"…If it turns out like this, you'll let my guard's mistake slide, right?"
Hearing Yuri's words, I had to laugh inwardly.
'She's more realistic than I thought.'
If she had held my hitting her against me here, she would have used the point that her guard had tried to draw his sword.
I hadn't expected her to come out so composed.
"Princess…! How could you say such a thing!"
Was it because of Yuri's words?
Ubeom began to fume, his face caked with blood.
Even before this, the eyes glaring at me the moment the princess fainted had been quite fierce.
Was it because I hadn't beaten him enough?
Even so, that bravado was worthy of some recognition.
"The great bloodline of the North Sea has suffered a terrible injustice…!"
The fellow shouted, veins bulging in his neck.
He had only been glaring when Yuri was unconscious.
And now that she's awake, he acts like this.
Should I just snap his neck right now?
I need to endure it, but he keeps making himself a nuisance.
'I was planning to deal with him quietly later.'
Why does he keep acting in such an irritating way?
He really gets on one's nerves.
For now, I decided to watch how far he would go.
However.
"How could I let this go so easily…."
"Ubeom."
The one who stopped him was none other than Yuri.
Having just woken up, her tangled hair—
Without even wiping away the drool marks, Yuri smiled.
"That's enough."
In that instant.
I could feel the air in the room subtly settle.
"You know what happens if you take it further than this, don't you?"
Though it was surely a refreshing smile and a gentle voice.
There was an indescribable weight to it somewhere.
"…"
Ubeom's pupils trembled.
Even more than when he had nearly died at my hands.
"Ubeom. Your answer?"
When Yuri asked him again.
"…I… apologize."
Ubeom opened his hesitant mouth and spat out an apology.
Upon hearing the apology, Yuri beamed and continued.
"No. That's not it, Ubeom."
"Yes?"
"You shouldn't be apologizing to me."
"…!"
Words with clear intent. Ubeom's face twisted slightly.
Even though she saw this clearly, Yuri was firm.
"Hurry."
"…"
At this, Ubeom's gaze turned this way.
Traces of blood flowing from his nose and mouth were abundant.
His eyes were still vicious, but.
"…I apologize."
Even so, he offered an apology.
It was an unexpected situation.
I hadn't expected that guy to act this way.
And moreover.
'And all because the Little Princess commanded it.'
In my view, that was the most unexpected thing.
'She just looked like a good-for-nothing fool.'
It seemed she had more to her than I thought.
'She really gets under my skin.'
Looking at Yuri like that, I recalled.
From the moment I first saw her.
Even now, after exchanging words a few times. It was a thought that kept circling in my head.
Something about her grated on me.
But because I couldn't figure out what it was, it bothered me even more.
Clap!
After forcing Ubeom to spit out an apology, Yuri clapped her hands abruptly.
"Well then, now that we've calmed down, shall we get to the main point!"
I wondered who decided we had calmed down, but.
I didn't bother arguing about it.
For now, I'll watch.
I judged that now was the time to do so.
'The main point.'
The situation had become a mess, so I had forgotten for a moment, but this matter was important to me as well.
The fact that the affairs of the North Sea were connected to me, for one.
Especially.
'…What feather?'
There were also strange rumors spreading about me in the North Sea region.
Even if I were called by a name, why did it have to be such an embarrassing one?
'Just which bastard.'
Spread such rumors? If I ever catch them.
I'll fold them into a star shape.
While I was grinding my teeth furiously.
Yuri's gaze turned this way.
"So… that is."
Eyes that still couldn't believe it.
"…You are the Crimson Fea…."
"Don't call me that."
"Yes."
When I spoke sharply, Yuri nodded her head.
"…So you are saying you are that person?"
"I don't know who 'that person' is. But I am indeed Ouyang Tian."
My desire to deny it was overwhelming, but I held it in.
If I denied it here, the conversation obviously wouldn't progress.
Even when I affirmed it, Yuri's face was full of doubt.
She really didn't seem to believe it.
Just what kind of story had she heard to make such an expression?
"…I understand."
"You don't look like you believe me at all, though."
"It's not as if wishing it weren't true would change anything."
"So in the end, you do wish it weren't true?"
"Lady Mi."
"Yes, Princess."
She's completely ignoring my nitpicking.
I had thought so since earlier, but no matter how I looked at it, this girl seemed to have quite the personality.
'Though it was bewildering when she cried after getting hit on the head.'
Just by seeing her handle the situation like this after passing out.
She didn't seem like your average, ordinary fool.
'Is that why?'
Is that why I felt this sense of disparity?
'No, it's a bit different from that.'
I stared at Yuri intently.
I wanted to get rid of this irritating feeling quickly.
"Could you please have the others wait outside?"
Yuri said with a smile.
Then Lady Mi sent a glance my way.
Seeing that, I immediately spoke to Dang So-yeol and Seong Yul.
"Step out for a moment."
"Yes."
Once the two exited the room, Yuri looked toward the back, where Ubeom was.
Then.
Hummm-!
Energy flowed out from Ubeom's body, enveloping the room.
It was astounding.
It also meant they intended to speak properly.
The atmosphere changed, and a brief silence passed.
"Allow me to introduce myself again."
Yuri performed a graceful gesture, bowing toward us.
She said "us," but exactly speaking, she said it while looking at me.
Because Yuri's gaze was solely on me.
Hurry up and introduce yourself. Was that the meaning?
"…I am Ouyang Tian of the Gu Clan."
"Tch."
"…?"
Did I hear wrong? I thought I heard someone click their tongue just now.
"…So it really was you?"
Perhaps because she heard a proper introduction, the last bit of hope she held seemed to vanish.
Seeing that, I asked.
"Just why are stories about me spreading in the North Sea?"
A distant land.
And how would the bloodline of a ruler know of me?
And with that dog-shit-like name, Crimson Feather or whatever, at that.
When I asked about this, Yuri hesitated and answered.
"That is… The White Fox…."
"White Fox?"
A fox?
What fox, all of a sudden?
I frowned at the out-of-context word.
"…Never mind. This isn't a very important story, is it?"
"It seems like an important story to me, though…."
"If you truly are that person… there is something I wish to ask first."
Yuri changed course to a different story, as if changing the subject.
I didn't press her further.
Setting aside the rumors, the fact that the North Sea personnel wanted to see me was the original main point.
Yuri looked at me and asked.
"Is it true that you truly lifted Heeya's curse?"
"…?"
I already knew the word "curse."
I expected it probably referred to the illness she had.
What was important here was the way Yuri addressed Murong Xiya.
'Heeya?'
At the rather intimate form of address, I looked at Murong Xiya.
Then Murong Xiya spoke as if flustered.
"…I didn't speak informally."
"Hm?"
As Murong Xiya let out a sigh, Yuri continued as if explaining.
"Come on, we're cousins anyway. And we're the same age, aren't we? So I suggested we could speak comfortably… but she wouldn't."
"You were the same age?"
"Yes."
Not only did they look alike, but they were the same age as well.
Moreover.
'Cousins.'
Murong Xiya's mother was a princess of the Ice Palace.
Yuri is also currently a princess of the Ice Palace.
It meant the previous Ice Palace Lord had stepped down and a new figure had taken the seat.
'If the Ice Emperor stepped down, who is it?'
It was probably one of the siblings of Murong Xiya's mother.
Of course, I couldn't know just by thinking.
I didn't know a single figure of the Ice Palace, after all.
'Let's put this aside for now.'
There was something far more important I had to ask.
"By curse, do you mean Meridian Severance?"
I asked about the word Yuri used, Murong Xiya's curse.
"Ah, is that what it's called here?"
"Don't you mean the cold qi inside the body?"
"That's right. We call that a curse."
"I don't quite understand."
A curse.
What was it called? Did I say the Curse of the Ice Crystal?
I think that was it.
It sounds rather brutal.
Moreover, it was actually quite dangerous.
In her past life, Murong Xiya had lost her life to that illness.
However.
"Aren't you people from the North Sea?"
Murong Xiya's problem had arisen from inheriting her mother's constitution.
Half of her was a Central Plains person.
Since the blood of the White Heaven Sword Lord was mixed in, it was said her body, unable to endure the cold qi of the North Sea, created the illness.
Why did they call it a curse even over there?
When I asked with that meaning, Yuri tilted her head.
"What does that have to do with it?"
"Hm?"
"No, rather, it's dangerous precisely because she is from the North Sea."
"…What do you mean."
"The curse… is a curse that anyone of the Ice Palace bloodline has. It is also a natural karmic burden for those who protect the Ice Crystal."
At Yuri's words, not only I but Murong Xiya's eyes also widened.
"…Everyone has Meridian Severance?"
An illness that anyone of the Ice Palace bloodline has?
Did that mean the bloodline was all born with an illness where cold qi dominated the body, gradually freezing them to death?
"But, then why."
Why were they alive? I was about to voice such doubt.
"Conversely, it is also an important source. Because it is a constitution one must have to use Ice Arts."
Hearing Yuri's words, I finally understood.
'So rather than curing the constitution, they use it as internal arts.'
The cold qi inside the body could be utilized using a specific internal art.
Did that mean their lives were maintained by it as well?
The moment I tried to understand it that way.
"That's absurd…!"
Murong Xiya suddenly raised her voice.
"I never heard such words from my mother."
Looking at Murong Xiya's reaction, I nodded.
That was also a question.
'If such a thing existed, why did Murong Xiya's mother…'
Did she not pass down the method to sustain life to her daughter?
Since she was also of the bloodline, she should have known the way to soothe the constitution.
"This is a power passed down only to direct bloodline. It cannot be carelessly recorded and transmitted anywhere."
Yuri explained this part, but Murong Xiya still looked like she couldn't understand.
"Moreover…."
Seeing this, Yuri spoke.
"…There is a reason it is called a curse."
"That is—!"
"So."
Yuri cut off what Murong Xiya was about to say.
Now was not the time for that.
Intervening in the middle, Murong Xiya looked at me with widened eyes.
Then she bit her lip and lowered her head.
She seemed to be barely holding back her emotions.
I shifted my gaze from Murong Xiya and looked at Yuri.
"What does that have to do with any of this?"
Meridian Severance—what did soothing this curse have to do with this matter?
When I asked.
"…As I said, this is a curse. All of the bloodline have it, and no one can escape it."
"And so?"
"However… I heard that you lifted it. Is it true?"
At the question of whether I had lifted the curse, I pondered briefly.
It was true that I had been able to eliminate Murong Xiya's cold qi.
But it wasn't something I could say I had fully cured.
However.
"More or less?"
At least, it was true that the cold qi inside her body could no longer be felt.
"…"
Hearing the answer, Yuri made a strange expression.
Then she looked at Murong Xiya.
"…Certainly, even when I first saw her, I couldn't feel any trace of the curse. Just how did you do it?"
"Does that matter? You said you had a way to control it, after all."
Murong Xiya hadn't known that.
And so she had nearly died.
That was also a question.
Looking at Murong Xiya's reaction, I nodded.
'If such a thing existed, why did Murong Xiya's mother…'
In the past life where I hadn't cured her, she had lost her life like that.
But would that be important to Yuri?
Since they had a way to control the cold qi anyway, it shouldn't matter.
Hearing my words, Yuri bit her lip.
It was the exact same expression Murong Xiya had made earlier.
"That is."
"And first."
Just as Yuri was about to speak.
I cut her off and asked something else.
"The fact that I can cure it. How did you know that?"
"…"
At the question, Yuri pressed her lips tightly shut.
The fact that I had cured Murong Xiya was information known only to a very small number of people.
What had been the reason I tried to cure Murong Xiya by keeping her close in secret?
I had done so because I wanted to hide it if possible; how did the Ice Palace know of this?
When I voiced such doubt, Yuri averted her gaze and spoke to me.
"…I received the information."
So there was a spy.
'Well.'
It wasn't strange.
Though it wasn't a hostile relationship, they were strictly speaking a foreign nation.
And at the same time, even if only half, she was of the bloodline.
It wasn't strange that they knew about Murong Xiya to some extent, but.
'The fact that they're stuck close by is disgusting.'
It was rather annoying that someone appearing to be in the inner circle was doing so.
'I'll have to find them and deal with them later.'
Ignorance would have been bliss.
Now that I knew, I didn't intend to let it slide.
However, I set this aside for now as well.
"Then, the reason you wanted to see me, was it for treatment?"
Right now, I needed to know the affairs of the Ice Palace clearly.
"Yes."
Yuri answered the question.
"If you… are truly capable of lifting 'our' curse, I wished to ask you for treatment."
"Hm."
Hearing her words, I stroked my chin.
I didn't answer Yuri's words.
The Curse of the Ice Crystal.
The term was strangely fitting, but it meant Murong Xiya's constitution.
Now that I was said to be able to cure it, a member of the bloodline had come from the distant Ice Palace to request treatment.
The words roughly seemed to match up.
'Strange.'
Something was strange.
Yuri's words.
The situation she had shown. Something was strange about it all.
Along with the strangeness, there was also a thought that came to mind.
It was still only a hunch.
It wasn't certainty.
I needed to confirm a bit more.
"You came all the way here to see me, to cure a constitution that can be controlled… is that it?"
"Yes. Even if it can be controlled, since it is the bloodline's curse… I truly wanted to receive treatment."
Plip.
Hearing Yuri's words, a water drop fell in my mind.
Ripples spread from the small impact.
"Hm."
I shifted my gaze slightly and looked at Murong Xiya.
Where had the Murong Xiya who had been swayed by emotions until just now gone; her face had gone cold.
At a glance, it looked like the expression of someone listening to a story.
But looking at her face, I could somehow be certain.
'You're thinking the same thing as me.'
That was my certainty.
The certainty that my thought was right.
"So…."
"Ice Palace Lord."
Startled.
Yuri flinched briefly at the words I abruptly uttered.
It was a fleeting moment, but I didn't miss it.
Yuri asked me with a smile. A belated effort to compose her expression.
It was already too late.
"What do you mean, suddenly—"
"The Ice Palace Lord must be in danger."
"…"
The smile vanished from her face.
Looking at her attitude, I understood what this sense of alienation that had grated on me from the beginning was.
"Very much so. Right?"
"…"
Saaaa.
Cold qi mixed into the air.
Yuri was looking at me with an expressionless face.
The foolish atmosphere and the bright, mischievous feeling had vanished as well.
She looked like an entirely different person.
It was as though ice had taken human form.
Such a Yuri spoke to me.
"You."
A completely changed tone and feeling.
Feeling that, I smiled.
Ah, I see.
The reason it had kept grating on me, I think I finally know.
'So that's why my stomach felt bloated. That was the problem.'
The reason I had felt irritated and annoyed, as if I had seen something I shouldn't have.
It was none other than this.
The sight of that woman hiding her true self and pretending to be someone else.
"What is your true identity?"
That was what I had found so unsightly.