Chapter 223
Chapter 223
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 223
Chapter Title: Casual Visit to the Ice Palace
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"Next."
"Not interested."
"Anyone else?"
The endless demands for replacements.
The palace lord, who had confidently handpicked men and brought them one by one, was starting to lose her patience.
She figured it was understandable for the first few.
Marriage wasn't child's play, after all. A woman of the Heavenly Demon's caliber wouldn't settle for just anyone, and she hadn't expected her to take a liking to the handful she'd shown right away.
But as the rejections piled up, her thinking began to change.
It wasn't ten or twenty men—it was nearing a hundred now...
'Is this woman just toying with me?'
It was only natural for such thoughts to creep in.
She'd carefully selected about ten at first, only for them all to be dismissed. Then she'd picked another twenty, and another...
Later, exhausted, she'd even asked about her tastes outright, but the response was something else.
"That's all the information I have. I'd prefer if you just brought them as they are."
To reiterate, the Heavenly Demon's criteria could be met by any man from the Ice Palace.
Yet after parading dozens of suitable candidates before her, every single one got shot down...
-Crunch
Frankly, it felt like nothing more than an outright provocation.
If she was serious about finding a husband, she should at least state her preferences clearly.
Or just accept one of the ones presented.
After showing her nearly a hundred, and hearing "not what I'm looking for" every time—what was the point of all the effort on her end?
-Sigh
"...I just don't understand what you're doing here. Are you even trying to find a husband?"
"Well."
"Well...?"
"With no other leads, the Ice Palace is the only place I could come to right now."
"..."
Come to think of it, her words had been off from the start.
Rather than searching for her ideal match, she acted like someone had told her the man was here.
"But no matter how many I see, they're all dull gray. If it's supposed to be husband material, shouldn't he at least have as much color as that fortune teller?"
"...Fortune teller?"
"Oh, did I not mention? Some amusing fortune teller said my destined husband might be here. That's why I came."
...What was this now?
Not content with barging in rudely, the reason she'd demanded to see the men—her supposed husband candidates—was just because of some fortune teller?
"You dare toy with this palace over a mere fortune teller...!"
"Mere?"
-Whoosh
The surrounding air plunged into frigid stillness in an instant.
Even she, who had devoted her life to ice arts, felt her skin crawl from the chill.
-Shiver
'W-what is this...'
"Care to say that again? Your tongue was awfully loose just now."
With trembling eyes, she gazed at the Heavenly Demon before her and realized the atmosphere stemmed from her.
-Smirk
"The lord of the North Sea Ice Palace shouldn't fear a little cold, right?"
It was a feeble taunt.
Implying the Ice Palace's ice arts amounted to no more than this—a jab that wounded pride—but it only landed if the target measured up.
-Chatter
'T-the rumors were true...?'
How strong did one's martial arts have to be to pull this off while just sitting there? She couldn't even guess.
Objectively, she was plenty powerful herself. She rarely ventured out, but she was confident she could claim a spot among the Ten Great Masters.
Yet even she was made to shiver by killing intent unleashed from a seated position...
It only made sense if the opponent had mastered supreme yin arts surpassing her own realm.
But that didn't add up...
'This isn't martial arts.'
No trace of supreme yin arts lingered in the chill she felt.
To emit such bone-chilling cold without cultivating those arts...
How unfathomably profound a realm was that?
She wondered if it was even permitted for humans to reach.
-Shiver
-Clench!
"P-please spare me."
In the end, she chose to swallow her pride.
The gap between her and the Heavenly Demon was already vast, just from what she sensed.
And she'd blundered by provoking her temper. All she could do now was beg for her life.
No matter how vital pride was, it meant nothing compared to survival.
"Why would I kill you? I'm not so vicious as to take a life over a mere insult."
-Drip
Cold sweat trickled down.
Death loomed ever closer.
She didn't even know how to respond.
Then the Heavenly Demon gave her an opening.
"In that case, palace lord, let me ask one thing. If your one trusted friend—the only one—lied to you, what would you do?"
-Chatter
A choice presented on the brink of death.
She racked her brains for an answer that might satisfy the Heavenly Demon.
"I-I think they should be severely punished. To betray friendship... to shatter trust."
"Is that so?"
"Y-yes. Whoever it was, betraying your trust demands a heavy price. That sin must be paid with their life..."
-Thud!
-Roll
"Taking a life over one lie is too harsh, isn't it? For your only friend, you'd forgive that much."
"..."
"Well, the liquor was good. She said to take some, so I'll grab it myself."
With that, the Heavenly Demon straightened from her reclined position. No reply came.
As she gathered the bundle and headed for the exit...
-Creak
"Palace lord, you have a guest, so I was just— Palace lord?!"
"Hm."
"T-the palace lord has been assassinated!!!"
She was spotted by someone sent to fetch the lord, and their inner force-laced shout spread the news throughout the Ice Palace.
Obviously, this would lead to complications.
Escaping wasn't an issue, but if they tracked her back to the cult, it'd be even more troublesome...
"If I have to move, better to do it all at once and be done with it."
With that resolve from one person,
the palace—which had stood firm through centuries of brutal blizzards—collapsed in under ten minutes.
.
.
.
-Crunch crunch
-Gulp
"The more I drink, the better it tastes. I'll have to tell the strategist about this when I get back."
The woman dragged a bundle behind her, unperturbed by the fierce blizzard that erased footprints the moment they formed.
From the instant she'd arrived at the Ice Palace, her senses had confirmed no one with "color" was present. Her mischief had been mere diversion.
Who knew? Maybe one would turn up after all.
But no matter how many she saw, the world remained ash-gray.
-Gulp
No one with the vibrant hues of that fortune teller from months ago appeared.
If even one matched that tenth of his description, man or woman, she might have taken an interest. But even the palace lord she'd hoped for turned out disappointingly bland...
"Tch."
The more she poured down her throat, the more that day's glow danced before her eyes.
From the moment the strategist relayed his tale, an inexplicable pull had drawn her to meet him—and his presence exceeded expectations.
Through him, she'd first realized people could possess "color."
In a world drowned in gray, his was the sole brilliance.
His reading had carried extra weight for that reason.
A white-haired, long-haired youth, tall and sturdy.
-Snicker
As if scripted, he was the polar opposite.
So she'd come to the Ice Palace herself, but found little gain.
Save for the novelty of ice-floated liquor.
She'd pocketed what looked like ice crystals from the ruins; she could recreate it back at the cult.
'Well, such a man won't be confined to the Ice Palace alone.'
It didn't matter.
If her true husband matched the traits he described, so what?
Hadn't he said heavenly secrets could shift at any time?
Thus...
'I'll seize it with my own hands.'
True or false, it was irrelevant.
If she decided to claim that color, it became her future.
-Drip
No need to scrutinize those blue records in the sky.
If it turned out to be a lie, she'd exact a price.
* * *
"W-what do you mean? The Ice Palace fell to the Heavenly Demon? Did she bring an army or something?"
"A-alone, they say... Hold on..."
I felt my whole body trembling as I struggled to stay calm and reread the letter, piecing together the summary.
A few days ago, a woman claiming to be the Heavenly Demon Cult's leader—the Heavenly Demon—appeared at the North Sea Ice Palace with a bizarre demand. Enraged, the palace lord attacked her but was defeated and slain. Furious, the Ice Palace warriors charged en masse.
And the outcome...
-Chatter
"The Ice Palace... has been wiped out."
The palace lay in ruins, with scarcely a soul left alive.
I felt my vision whiten at the catastrophe I'd unleashed.
