Chapter 592: The Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 592: The Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace (7)
How did I know? It all started with her smile.
There was nothing inherently wrong with her bright, innocent expression. And yet, for some reason, that smile felt unsettling.
Why? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It was a pure gut feeling.
If you were to ask if I really trusted something so flimsy, I would answer with a resounding yes.
Because…
‘My luck has always been absolute trash.’
In my life, a bad feeling has never once been wrong. That was reason enough to trust my instincts.
So, I had to find it. I had to find the reason why this girl from the North Sea, Yuri, felt so fishy—a reason to solidify my intuition.
[Is it true that you can break curses?]
The first thing she mentioned was the curse. From this, I could deduce that her objective was to cure 'severed meridians' or a 'curse.'
‘Though that might not be all of it.’
For now, that was the assumption I had to work with. If Yuri’s goal was truly this, several questions arose.
First.
‘Why would a royal from the Ice Palace come in person?’
Even if I could provide a cure, it was highly problematic for a member of the ruling bloodline from the lands beyond the Central Plains to come see me directly.
‘It would be one thing if she sent an envoy to confirm it first.’
She came all this way, a royal, based on unverified information? Would she make such a difficult choice, given the tense relationship between the Central Plains and the North Sea, without even a guarantee of safety?
It was hard to believe.
Of course, there was one thing that could make it possible: desperation. An urgency to be treated immediately. If that were the case, I could understand it to some extent…
But the second reason for my doubt was related to this.
‘She doesn’t look desperate.’
I didn’t sense a shred of that urgency from Yuri.
In that case, let’s consider other reasons. Did she say she wanted to see the Central Plains? That she desperately wanted to visit?
I recalled Yuri saying that and chuckled.
‘Yeah, right.’
She’d take such a massive risk for a reason like that? A woman with her head in the clouds might, but…
‘That’s not her.’
At first, I thought it might be possible. But seeing her now, I was certain. The Young Lady of the North Sea was no fool. She wasn't stupid, nor was she truly that innocent.
Let’s organize the facts.
‘Despite being a royal, she came to the Central Plains herself to verify if someone could provide a cure.’
The problem here was that she could control the curse she spoke of.
‘In other words, it’s not an emergency for her.’
It wasn’t a matter of life and death for her personally, yet it was important enough for a royal to come in person. This meant that while a cure was urgently needed…
‘The one who needs it isn’t her.’
And it had to be someone important enough to make a royal move.
“So…”
Amidst the rising tension, Yuri looked at me and spoke. “Is that truly the only reason you dared to speak the Palace Lord’s name?”
Her glare was intense. Her tone had changed drastically.
No. It wasn’t so much that it had changed…
“Is that how you actually speak?”
It was more like she had finally revealed her true self.
“...”
Hearing my question, Yuri furrowed her brow. Seeing this, I smiled.
“Now that the mask is off, you’re much easier on the eyes.”
“…You.”
“I was starting to feel a bit sick to my stomach, but I’m feeling better now.”
You could call it a sort of aversion to my own kind. There was definitely a bit of that feeling. The more I spoke, the sharper Yuri’s gaze became.
“I still… haven’t heard your answer.”
“So we’re dropping the formalities? Fine by me.”
“Why did you mention the Palace Lord?”
My reason for bringing him up was flimsy. That’s how Yuri saw it. And I thought so, too. After all, I had far too little information to judge the Ice Palace Lord’s condition based on just those two reasons.
Yes. ‘If it had only been those two things, that would be true.’
If those were my only reasons, I wouldn’t have been so certain either.
My gaze shifted. Behind Yuri, Woobeom was glaring at me. I looked at the person standing next to him. I pointed my finger at the man.
The man, suddenly singled out, flinched.
“That man is the third reason.”
“What?” Yuri questioned my abrupt accusation.
Yuri had two escorts. Woobeom had been making such a scene that my attention hadn't really gone to the other one, but there he was. Compared to the large-framed Woobeom, his build was much smaller and thinner.
That man was the third reason.
“How absurd. What reason could you possibly find in an esco—”
“Infiltration, escape. I’m not sure about assassination, but he’s a martial artist specializing in those areas, isn’t he?”
The man’s reaction to my words was telling. His physique gave it away. A martial artist’s body changes according to the arts they’ve trained in since childhood.
Swordsmen tend to have relatively balanced, light builds. Assassins are typically small and lean for that very reason. And close-combat fighters who train in external arts are generally large.
Of course, there are cases like mine where one fails to grow due to congenital issues.
‘But that’s a unique case, so we’ll set it aside.’
Even I possessed the characteristics of a close-combat fighter—though maybe not right now, since I just shed my old body.
Anyway, the characteristics of his build and his faint presence were the proof. The man was a martial artist specialized in stealth and infiltration.
As I pointed this out…
“Ha.”
Yuri let out a short, dry laugh. It sounded like a scoff.
“What’s the problem with that?”
She was right. It wasn’t a huge problem. What did it matter what kind of martial artist her escort was? As long as he did his job, that was all that mattered.
Besides… ‘Coming to the lands beyond the Central Plains, anything could happen.’
There was no telling what might occur. It would be natural to assume he was assigned to protect a royal in such a situation—a means of making a safe getaway if necessary.
However.
“Then why is he internally injured?”
“…!”
At my casually thrown words, Yuri’s eyes widened. She stared at me, her eyes as wide as saucers.
Yes, the man was suffering from internal injuries. And he was hurt quite badly; I could feel the slight disturbance in his breathing.
Most people who practice stealth arts train to endure torture. They should have a higher tolerance for pain than ordinary people. For such a person to be struggling that much…
‘It means he’s seriously injured.’
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say his insides were a complete mess. Seeing Yuri’s flustered expression, I continued.
“Internal injuries… well, they happen.”
It’s not uncommon for an escort to get hurt while protecting their charge. That in itself wasn’t strange. In fact, you could say he had fulfilled his duty.
“But if that were the case, he shouldn’t have come here, right?”
If that was what happened, his presence here was a problem. I shifted my gaze to Moyong Hi-ah.
“Was there a fight on the way here?”
“…Not that I recall.”
“Then that means there wasn’t one.”
I didn’t know how far Moyong Hi-ah had gone to meet Yuri. But if there were no battles after they met, it meant the incident had happened much earlier. And if a battle had occurred in the Central Plains…
“They would have turned back.”
The right move would have been to head straight back to the North Sea. To find out that there were people targeting you in the unfamiliar lands of the Central Plains… if they were just some common thugs, it might be different.
I narrowed my eyes at the man.
‘That escort is at the Fusion Realm.’
The man with the internal injuries was far stronger than the one named Woobeom. He was quite powerful for a mere escort. Well, since she was of the ruler’s bloodline, it was possible she had a high-level martial artist assigned to her.
Let’s set that aside for now.
‘An incident serious enough to injure a man like that. And in the Central Plains?’
If they had realized they were being hunted here, they would have tried to return to the North Sea unless they were complete idiots. But they didn’t.
Which means… ‘Those internal injuries weren’t sustained here.’
That was the most likely possibility. Then where? If not here, the answer was obvious.
“It means he was injured in the North Sea before coming to the Central Plains…”
They wouldn’t have assigned an already injured person as an escort in the first place. This meant a major incident had occurred in the North Sea.
“And the fact that you came to the Central Plains even after going through that…”
“...”
“Means the cure is that urgent. Or,” I tilted my head and looked at Yuri, “you needed to escape.”
“...”
Could it be that she had to flee to the Central Plains?
Grip.
At my words, Yuri clenched her fists. I didn’t miss it.
“On your way here from the North Sea, something major happened, but you didn’t abandon your plans. Am I right?”
“That’s…”
“Something big enough to happen to the daughter of the Ice Palace Lord. At first, I wondered if you’d fallen out of your father’s favor.”
That was one of my theories. I just dismissed it because other possibilities seemed more likely.
“Or, since you seem to have many siblings, maybe you’re all killing each other over power.”
Even among the noble clans, fights over the position of Lord were common. I didn’t think the North Sea would be any different.
“If not that, then maybe something else is targeting you.”
It might not be other royals, but an outside force. But what was important now was…
“The fact that you came to the Central Plains in such a situation.”
In the end, it all came down to this.
“And that you came seeking a cure for the curse.”
The fact that even in such circumstances, she came here asking for a cure for the curse. It was right to assume it was for someone other than herself.
Alright, let’s put it all together now.
A royal is left unprotected. She was attacked in her own land, yet she traveled to a foreign one. She comes all this way to find someone who can cure a disease afflicting a royal. And yet, she herself doesn’t seem to be the one in need.
So, what kind of situation would have to occur to endanger her position?
There were two answers.
One. “The Ice Palace Lord is trying to kill you.”
And two. “Or, the Ice Palace Lord is in a situation where he can’t protect you.”
“...”
I had been mulling over these possibilities. But since Yuri came to me seeking a cure… there was only one path for me to take.
“…So, that’s why you mentioned the Palace Lord.”
I brought up the Ice Palace Lord directly to gauge her reaction. After saying it, I saw her response and became certain.
“I was already half-sure anyway. This was just for confirmation.”
Something was wrong with the Ice Palace Lord’s body. It was likely the curse Yuri had mentioned. And some faction had taken advantage of that opening.
Thus, Yuri came here not only to escape, but also…
“You heard that I cured the severed meridians and came to the Central Plains. Isn’t that it?”
That was my theory. After I laid it all out for her, Yuri stared at me in silence for a moment. A short while later, she opened her mouth again.
“…That’s a reasonable deduction, but what if my reaction was a lie?”
Her reaction to the mention of the Ice Palace Lord could have been an act. Hearing Yuri’s words, I pointed at her finger.
“What?”
She followed my finger. I was pointing at the ring she was wearing.
“That ring.” Looking at it, I said, “No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like any common treasure.”
It seemed to be that treasure that was making the room so cold. And even…
‘That treasure was concealing the man’s internal injuries.’
It was obscuring the surroundings with an indiscernible cold energy. That was why it took me a while to notice the man’s internal injuries. The ring must have also been what she used to try and escape just before.
“You received that specifically to come here, didn’t you? The one who gave it to you was probably the Ice Palace Lord.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“A gut feeling.”
“What?”
Honestly, this part was a gut feeling. It just felt that way.
‘It’s possible that treasures like that are common in the North Sea.’
But I didn’t think so. If it was a treasure she’d had all along, I’d have nothing to say, but…
‘It’s just a feeling.’
I thought the only person who would give her a treasure of that caliber would be the Ice Palace Lord. Though I didn’t know exactly what kind of power the treasure held.
“...”
After hearing my final words, Yuri stared at me with a dumbfounded expression. After all my detailed explanations, she seemed to find it absurd that my final conclusion was based on a gut feeling.
But what could I do? It really was just a gut feeling.
Silence hung in the air for a while. No one spoke. I just stood there, watching Yuri.
An instant passed.
“Haa…”
A sigh, heavy with exhaustion, escaped Yuri’s lips.
“…The White Fox was wrong, so very wrong,” she said, brushing her hair back from her forehead tiredly. “He said you were like a cute puppy. You’re nothing less than a venomous snake.”
“…?”
At those words, I had to scowl.
What puppy…?