Chapter 410: You Must Look Back More Often
Chapter 410: You Must Look Back More Often
Back at their quarters, Geom Mu-geuk and Han Seol recounted their meeting with Seo Nak to Drunken Demon and Lee An.
Once Geom Mu-geuk finished speaking, Han Seol turned to Lee An.
“Your suggestion that we leave this to the Young Cult Leader instead of handling it ourselves was a wise judgment.”
She had previously thought she was being toyed with by Geom Mu-geuk, but this incident had begun to change her mind. Even if he wasn't some transcendental being, he certainly possessed an extraordinary side.
Geom Mu-geuk directed a playful gaze toward Lee An.
“So, a subordinate dumping his chores on the leader now, are we?”
“In times like these, a wise leader knows how to look the other way,” Lee An replied smoothly.
“It’s a hard life, being a leader.”
“It’s only hard for you, Young Cult Leader. Other leaders have it quite easy.”
Han Seol still found this kind of banter foreign. She was convinced that such a casual relationship with subordinates would inevitably lead to significant side effects.
“Do you know who is closest to Elder Seo?” Geom Mu-geuk asked.
Han Seol answered honestly. “The person closest to him would be the Palace Master.”
“Could you arrange a meeting with her tomorrow?”
“I will.”
“However, I wish to go alone.”
“Why?”
Geom Mu-geuk gave an unexpected reason.
“Because in the presence of their child, a person becomes a parent, not a Palace Master.”
Han Seol assumed Mu-geuk was still unaware of the true nature of her relationship with her mother.
“I don’t think you need to worry about that.”
“There are things in a parent’s heart that a child can never truly know.”
“And how would the Young Cult Leader know the heart of a parent? You aren't even married yet.”
Geom Mu-geuk was not one to be caught off guard by such a question.
“When you have a man like my father as a parent, you end up studying the subject quite intensely. What exactly is a parent!”
Geom Mu-geuk noticed Drunken Demon chuckle at his words. Everyone feared and minded the Heavenly Demon, but perhaps no one more so than Drunken Demon. It was a relief, at least, that the misunderstanding about his father hating him had been cleared up.
Mu-geuk approached Drunken Demon, who was sipping tea, and gave a conspicuous sniff.
“Young Cult Leader, what are you doing?”
“I’m checking because the sight of you and tea is so mismatched. I half-expected to find liquor hidden in that teapot instead.”
With those words, Mu-geuk poured himself a cup from the pot and drank.
“I feel like I’m getting a bit tipsy. Is this alcohol that tastes like tea?”
“I’ve found that tea is quite nice once you get used to it,” Drunken Demon replied.
“Still, you’re holding back well, aren't you?”
“You know as well as I do, don't you? Nothing is as mysterious as the human body. It’s as if I never drank like that at all; my body is already adapting to the tea.”
“I didn't mean the alcohol. I meant you’re doing a good job holding back the urge to just go and flip everything over.”
Drunken Demon drained his cup before speaking.
“I can’t hold out for long.”
Through the strands of hair hanging over his face, Drunken Demon’s gaze was incomparably cold.
Lee An and Han Seol realized then—Drunken Demon wasn't enduring a lack of alcohol; he was enduring his rage.
Geom Mu-geuk looked out the window and spoke softly. In this moment, he addressed him as an older brother, not a Demon Lord.
“We’ll drag them out soon. This place is far too beautiful for villains to remain hidden.”
Following his gaze, they all stared out at the pure white world beyond the window for a moment.
Knowing the kind of man the Blood King was, Mu-geuk briefly imagined that white world being stained red with blood.
But even that would be fine.
It would soon be covered by fresh, white snow once again.
*
The Ice Palace Master received me with tea and refreshments.
“This is the first time I have sat down with the successor of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
“It is an honor.”
“Please, help yourself.”
When I drank the tea without hesitation, the Ice Palace Master gave me a look of surprise. It was a look that asked how the Young Cult Leader could drink without even checking for poison.
“I did my research and studied you before I came, Palace Master.”
“And what kind of person am I?”
“A brilliant and sharp woman. Even if you were to suffer from dementia fifty years from now, you are not the type of person who would poison the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.”
The Ice Palace Master offered a faint smile. She understood the compliment—that she looked like she was only in her twenties or thirties.
“I have done some study on you as well.”
“And what kind of person am I?”
She stared at me intently before answering.
“A person for whom an answer is not easily found.”
“You have a keen eye. I am not an easy man.”
I said it like a joke, but the Ice Palace Master did not laugh, as if she truly believed it.
“I heard there has been progress in the investigation?”
“Yes. That is why I visited Elder Seo yesterday.”
“Do you suspect Elder Seo?”
I took a slow sip of tea, letting a moment of silence pass.
“What do you think, Palace Master?”
“It is unthinkable.”
“There are suspicious circumstances.”
“Is that so?”
“You seem remarkably calm despite that.”
“Because it is impossible.”
The Ice Palace Master did not hide the fact that she trusted Seo Nak more than anyone.
“You still haven't properly answered my question.”
It was a demand to speak my mind directly.
“I suspect him.”
“Your reason?”
“It’s just a feeling. If a hidden power wanted to threaten you, it would have to be someone of Elder Seo’s stature.”
“So, you have no direct evidence.”
Geom Mu-geuk acknowledged this with a smile.
“Why would Elder Seo kill the Institute Head?”
“I wouldn't know.”
“He is not that kind of man.”
She asserted it once more, but I could feel it—a sliver of doubt hidden within that trust. If she truly believed in Seo Nak, she would have ordered the investigation stopped immediately.
There was another reason she allowed me to stay in the Ice Palace and investigate the case.
‘What is it you truly want?’
I felt there was a secret buried deep beneath the snow, something beyond just finding the culprit who killed the Institute Head.
This time, I tested her feelings regarding the North Blood Sect.
“I believe the North Blood Sect is also involved in this matter.”
Even at the mention of the North Blood Sect, she showed no particular agitation.
“Did you expect as much?”
“Their second son was entangled with your group, after all.”
“You know he is dead, I assume?”
Naturally, the Ice Palace Master knew.
“I heard he took his own life, traumatized by the kidnapping.”
“Do you believe that?”
She drank her tea instead of answering.
“What do you think of people who would kill even their own children for the sake of their desires?”
“I am one of those people. I am someone for whom the Ice Palace is more important than my child.”
It was a self-deprecating yet provocative answer.
“It seems I misstudied you, Palace Master. The woman I studied is someone who cherishes her daughter more than anyone.”
The Ice Palace Master stared at me, her eyes asking how I could possibly know that.
I know that one thing for certain, even if I know nothing else. I know how much you love your daughter.
Even if you haven't been able to express it properly until now, and even if you don't seem to realize your own feelings.
“Well, that’s fine.”
I brought up someone who served as a perfect example in any situation.
“My father is likely the same way.”
At that, the Ice Palace Master gave a thin smile. She, too, knew well what kind of man the current Heavenly Demon was.
And this was what I really wanted to say.
“Both my father and you, Palace Master... you are both mistaken.”
The Ice Palace Master looked slightly surprised by the unexpected remark. She probably hadn't expected me to say that both she and the Heavenly Demon were wrong.
“In what way?”
I said to her the words I had always wanted to say to my father.
“I want to tell you: do not live a life where, after sacrificing everything for the organization and finally looking back, you find no one there.”
“...!”
“A life spent running for the sake of those behind you. You ran looking only forward, only to cry out, ‘How could you all do this to me?’ That is the kind of life I mean. You must look back. You must look back much more, and much more often, than you think is enough. Cruelly enough, seven or eight times out of ten, they won't even realize you looked back. Because they, too, have to look behind themselves.”
I rose from my seat and gave her a polite bow.
“I believe it is time you looked back at your daughter. Fortunately, she still seems to be standing behind you.”
*
The next day, I visited the Ice Palace Master again.
“What is it today?”
“I was worried I was too rude yesterday, so I came to see you again.”
“You told me to talk to my daughter, and yet here you are again.”
Fortunately, she didn't seem angry about yesterday. Her daughter was likely a significant matter to her as well.
“You haven't called for her yet, have you?”
The Ice Palace Master couldn't answer. If she were the type of person who could look back just because someone told her to, she would have been doing it all along.
“I know that such things don't happen easily after just one mention.”
“So? Do you intend to keep coming until it happens?”
“That is my plan.”
“And your reason for this?”
While I did care for the two of them, there was another reason.
It was because of Seo Nak. He would be watching my meetings with the Ice Palace Master closely.
Meeting yesterday, meeting today... and what if I met her again tomorrow?
Given his obsessive personality, I surmised that he sought a certain perfection or order even in human relationships.
The Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, who had clearly shown signs of suspecting him, was meeting the Ice Palace Master every day? This would surely rattle his sense of order.
I had to quickly find out what role he played in all this. Was he just a kind-hearted elder with an obsessive streak, or was he their hands and feet—or perhaps the head itself?
“What other reason could there be? I simply wish for the Young Palace Master’s well-being. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't even be here. I wouldn't have had the chance to see you so often, either. Since you’ve studied me, you must know well that I truly enjoy mingling with the Rising Stars. I’m even the type of person who dances with them.”
No matter how hard she tried to figure me out, it wouldn't be easy. As long as the things she was certain were lies were actually my truths.
“Have you ever felt like you were losing your way?”
What is he trying to say now? The Ice Palace Master shook her head, her expression clearly reflecting that sentiment.
“I feel it often. I felt it even as I was leaving after seeing you yesterday. Who was I to speak so arrogantly to the Palace Master? I originally followed Drunken Demon to the North Sea just because I wanted to spend time with him.”
I bowed my head politely to her.
“I apologize for my arrogance yesterday.”
She gazed at me in silence for a moment before asking, “Did you say you were abstaining from alcohol?”
“Yes, a show of loyalty.”
“When does it end?”
I knew she was asking to have a drink together.
“Not long now.”
Of course, I added one decisive remark.
“If you trust me, Palace Master.”
*
It was the evening of the third consecutive day that Geom Mu-geuk visited the Palace Master’s hall when Seo Nak finally made his move.
“Welcome, Elder.”
“I was just passing by and decided to stop in.”
Seo Nak had always been respectful to the Ice Palace Master, from the time she was the Young Palace Master until now.
He immediately stated his business.
“I heard you have been meeting frequently with the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.”
“He has visited me three days in a row.”
Seo Nak asked cautiously, “A man of his position would not move without reason. What do you think his ulterior motive is?”
By using the term "ulterior motive," he revealed his true feelings toward Geom Mu-geuk.
“He told me to try and get along with my daughter.”
Seo Nak waited for more. He felt surely that couldn't be all.
“That is mostly what we talked about for the past three days.”
Seo Nak couldn't believe it.
‘Is the Palace Master deceiving me?’
The thought was inevitable. The Geom Mu-geuk he had dealt with was sophisticated beyond his years. Every casual remark he made was laced with thorns and hidden meanings.
And yet, he had visited for three days just to say she should get along with Han Seol? It was hard to swallow.
“As you well know, those of the Demonic Cult are not to be trusted.”
“I don't trust them either.”
Then why did you invite them here?
Swallowing the words that were at the tip of his tongue, Seo Nak spoke.
“Whatever his motive may be, I believe it would be best to send him away as soon as possible.”
He added with emphasis, “For the sake of the Ice Palace.”
At that, the Ice Palace Master spoke softly.
“There you go again, saying it is for the sake of the Ice Palace.”
Seo Nak flinched and was about to ask what she meant by that, but she spoke first.
“You are right. It is not good for demonic practitioners to stay in the palace for long. I will tell the Young Cult Leader to resolve this case within a set timeframe.”
Though she had readily agreed with him, Seo Nak noticed that she was different from usual. She was subtly, strangely different.
The Ice Palace Master had always stood at the distance and position he had defined. But in this moment, he felt she was standing just a hair's breadth away from her original spot.
“This is all for the good of the Ice Palace.”
With those final words, Seo Nak left the Palace Master’s hall. As he descended the stairs, he recalled what she had said.
—There you go again, saying it is for the sake of the Ice Palace.
Again? When had he said it before? It was a phrase he used like a habit, so he couldn't tell which specific instance she was referring to.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Seo Nak encountered Geom Mu-geuk at the entrance.
“Elder Seo?”
“Young Cult Leader.”
The two men exchanged greetings, facing each other.
“Are you on your way out after seeing the Palace Master?”
“I am. And you?”
Though he had shown a side of himself he’d rather not have, Seo Nak remained composed.
“I’ve also come to see the Palace Master. If I had arrived just a bit earlier, we could have seen her together. What a shame.”
“I heard you have been visiting her frequently of late.”
“Opportunities to learn from the Palace Master’s profound insight are rare, after all.”
“Then please, go on and have your talk.”
“I plan to head to the North Blood Sect after seeing her.”
At the mention of the North Blood Sect, Seo Nak, who had been turning away, froze.
“Why the North Blood Sect?”
“They have lost a son; their grief must be great. I should go and offer my condolences.”
“You are quite compassionate, Young Cult Leader.”
Seo Nak did not believe for a second that he was going there to offer condolences.
He felt uneasy. Geom Mu-geuk was moving here and there, disrupting everything around him.
“Well then, I shall see you again.”
As Geom Mu-geuk bowed his upper body in a fist salute, Seo Nak saw it—a letter protruding from the front of Mu-geuk’s robes.
‘Could it be? Is that the letter where the Institute Head wrote that he gave me the Fragrant Snow Ice Wine?’
Geom Mu-geuk saw it too. For the first time, the face that always wore a benevolent smile, no matter the situation, went rigid.
The order he had so carefully maintained was beginning to crumble.