The Young Palace Lord's Wedding
The road back to the Ice Palace felt impossibly long to me.
Unlike the trip to the Heavenly Sect, Cheon Yura had joined us this time, and there was an odd current passing between her and my second brother.
Even with both my past lives combined, I had no experience with romance, but even I could tell those two were no mere friends.
They would burst into fits of laughter over the smallest thing, and it was almost painful to watch.
So I decided to spend the journey thinking about how to infuse a technique with internal energy.
First, I gathered the cases I had seen around me where people had used internal energy to show a technique.
My eldest brother's Cold White Divine Sword, my second brother's Ice Armor Technique and Glacier Fist Art, and Cheon Yura's Heavenly Demon Sword Art.
The ways they wielded internal energy were all different.
Some influenced the surrounding environment, some strengthened the body, and some were poured into weapons; all three examples I had seen used internal energy in different ways.
If strengthening the body with internal energy is the easiest direction, I should start with that.
From that day on, as I traveled to the Ice Palace, I began channeling internal energy through my body.
At first, the change was so slight I could hardly feel it, but after continuing for several days, I began to get the hang of it.
It felt as though, unlike when I circulated energy normally, I was drawing power up from the ice dantian in my lower abdomen and letting it flow into the part of my body I wanted to strengthen.
After that, that area became more sensitive, and it felt as if more strength was gathering there.
Once I had the basic feel for it, it became second nature.
After walking for several more days like that, the Ice Palace finally came into view.
My second brother was excited too, and he pointed it out to Cheon Yura.
"That over there is the Ice Palace."
"Oh. That white building is the Ice Palace?"
We quickened our pace and entered the North Sea.
The familiar scenery filled me with a strange sense of calm.
Is this what it means to feel at home?
As soon as we entered the Ice Palace, Father somehow knew we were back and came running out to greet us.
"You're finally back! Neither of you ran into trouble, did you?"
"Nothing happened to us. More importantly, I heard Brother is getting married?"
Just then, I saw my eldest brother walking toward us from a distance.
"Yes. He says he wants to pass the palace lord's work over to me almost entirely now and retire."
My eldest brother smiled faintly as he spoke.
"Young Sect Leader of the Heavenly Sect, welcome. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Han Yugeom, Young Palace Lord of the Ice Palace."
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Cheon Yura, Young Sect Leader of the Heavenly Sect. Congratulations on your marriage."
"Thank you for the congratulations. Congratulations to you as well, Young Sect Leader."
I didn't understand what my eldest brother meant, but Cheon Yura seemed to understand, and her face turned slightly red.
My second brother was grinning from ear to ear too.
Is he congratulating her on becoming the Young Sect Leader? But she became the Young Sect Leader quite a while ago, didn't she?
I had my doubts, but I let it go.
Not long after, Mother, having heard the news, also came out and welcomed us.
After that warm reunion was over, I returned to my room, exhausted from the long journey.
The room was unchanged from when I had left for the Heavenly Sect, and somehow that made it all the more welcome.
Once we arrived at the Ice Palace, I spent several days doing nothing but playing around, but my body grew restless in the end, and I found myself climbing the old cliff face again and swimming across the lake.
Seeing that, my second brother dragged Cheon Yura over to watch me and teased me, saying the North Sea Divine Dragon had appeared again.
And then, at last, the day of my eldest brother's wedding arrived.
When the wedding day came, guests poured in by the score, incomparable to the ceremony for the appointment of the new Young Palace Lord.
Now and then, I caught sight of faces I had seen that day, but there were even more people I didn't know.
Once again, I was dragged from place to place greeting people.
Then, far off in the distance, I spotted a familiar face. It was Cheon Muhyeok.
"It's been a while, Yugang. Where is the palace lord?"
"Father went to the groom's waiting room for a moment."
"Thank you for telling me. You're training hard, aren't you?"
"Of course!"
Cheon Muhyeok smiled and headed for the groom's waiting room I had pointed out.
I was greeting other guests as well when, off in the distance, my second brother was being called away by Father.
In the end, that left me dealing with the guests all by myself.
They're all so busy, so what on earth are they doing off somewhere?
As I busily handled the guests, someone suddenly popped up behind me.
"It's been a while, little one."
It was the man who had given me advice at the ice lake on the day of the Young Palace Lord's appointment ceremony.
"You listened carefully to my advice? Your build has improved tremendously."
"Thanks to you, I've been able to work hard not only on swordsmanship but on physical training too. Thank you for telling me."
"I'm quite curious to see how much you've grown."
The man laughed heartily and pulled a letter from his robes, handing it to me.
I asked, puzzled, "Should I pass this along to Father?"
"No. This is for you. You can read it now if you like."
Putting aside the matter of who the man was, I became curious about the letter's contents and opened it.
It was an announcement for a martial arts competition.
A competition for the younger generation?
The notice said the following:
Anyone under the age of eighteen was eligible to participate.
The rules of the competition were as follows:
There were no restrictions on weapons, but targeting the opponent's vital points or attempting to take their life was forbidden.
Victory would be decided by the other side's surrender or declaration of defeat, or by a referee's ruling.
Hosted by the Martial Alliance
The fact that it was hosted by the Martial Alliance made me a little curious.
As far as I knew, the Martial Alliance was a sort of patrol force that protected justice among the martial world of the Central Plains.
Because of that, sects on the fringes like the Heavenly Sect and the Ice Palace did not belong to the Martial Alliance, and I wondered whether that meant relations between us were bad.
More than that, I seemed to remember that the Heavenly Sect and the Ice Palace had been hostile to the Martial Alliance in my past life, which made me hesitate even more.
So after some thought, I asked the question that had been bothering me.
"I understand the Ice Palace isn't part of the Martial Alliance, so is it still all right for us to take part?"
"I see you don't know the Martial Alliance very well. The Martial Alliance is, in a way, a group for all martial artists. Of course, you can join the alliance and think about its direction together, or lend it your strength, but just because you haven't joined doesn't mean you'll be treated as an enemy. The purpose of this tournament is to let the young talents mingle and grow. After all, if you train only within your own environment, your growth can stall, and your view of the world can become narrow."
"I see... so that's why the participation condition is everyone under eighteen?"
"That's right. I think it would also be a good experience for you to participate and measure your own skill. I'm curious myself about the strength of the North Sea Divine Dragon."
The man gave my back a hearty slap, laughing loudly. At the nickname North Sea Divine Dragon, I felt embarrassed.
"But who are you, anyway, to be telling me about a tournament like this?"
"Ah, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I!"
The man seemed to think for a moment, then wore a mischievous expression as if he found the whole thing amusing.
"If you're curious about who I am, come to this tournament. Then you'll naturally find out."
At his words, I had the feeling he must be someone connected to the Martial Alliance.
But I didn't know the outside world beyond the Ice Palace very well, so I couldn't guess who he was.
Well, he's not bringing an invitation, just an announcement, so he probably isn't anyone terribly important. More than that, he oddly reminds me of Lord Gwonma.
While I was thinking that, the man had already vanished.
What an elusive person.
I went back to greeting the guests.
And then, finally, the wedding began.
I hurried to my seat beside my second brother.
He was beaming from ear to ear, even though he was the one getting married, not me.
I wanted to ask what was going on, but I kept my mouth shut when the emcee announced the start of the ceremony.
"Then, beginning now, we will commence the wedding of Han Yugeom of the Ice Palace and the lady who will become his wife, A-yeong!"
I later learned that my brother's wife was a commoner without a family name, so after the marriage she would become Han A-yeong, taking my brother's surname.
There seemed to be a few guests who were displeased at the fact that he was marrying a commoner, but our family didn't pay it any mind at all.
As soon as he appeared, Yugeom-brother scattered tiny ice particles around him with his internal energy as he stepped forward.
It was truly a magnificent sight.
Ice blossoms carried on the wind danced as though blessing the marriage.
My sister-in-law appeared as well, beautiful amid the falling ice blossoms.
Just like that, the atmosphere of the wedding deepened and ripened.
Looking at my brother's face, he seemed truly happy.
Will I ever be able to have a wedding like that someday?
Across both my lives, I still had no experience with dating, so I wasn't confident.
I had certainly thought that, in this life, I wouldn't lose to anyone in looks, but Cheon Yura's words from the Heavenly Sect still echoed in my ears.
Is a face like my second brother's more handsome in this world? Is it the burly, muscular men who are popular?
By the time I was lost in those thoughts, the wedding was nearly over.
Then Father suddenly stood up from his seat and drew everyone's attention.
"Time passes so quickly, for the Young Palace Lord to be marrying already. But good news isn't limited to the Young Palace Lord's wedding!"
At Father's words, I looked around wondering what in the world was going on, only to see that everyone else looked just as stunned.
Then my second brother rose to his feet.
"Our second son, Yubyeok, has also decided to become engaged!"
At the news of my second brother's engagement, my gaze naturally turned to Cheon Muhyeok.
Don't tell me...
"The bride-to-be is none other than—"
Cheon Muhyeok rose with a smile.
Beside him, Cheon Yura also stood quietly.
"Lady Cheon Yura, the Young Sect Leader of the Heavenly Sect! Everyone, please congratulate them!"
The guests who had come to watch the wedding couldn't make sense of what was happening, but everyone soon began applauding and offering their congratulations.
My second brother and Cheon Yura?!
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇