Chapter 67
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: It's Cold
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Next morning.
Dokgo Cheonwi sat in his office with hollow eyes. Dark circles hung all the way down to his chin.
Last night had been a downright storm. Yeonhwa wouldn't let him go until she was fully satisfied, and the Sword Sovereign, burning with jealousy, had clung to him even more tenaciously than usual.
Was it because he'd absorbed all of both women's yin energy? He should have been exhausted, but strangely, an inexplicable vitality bubbled up inside him. A scorching heat rose from his dantian, overflowing beyond his control.
"Gr-Great Lord! This is bad!"
One of the eunuchs came rushing in, panting heavily.
"What's all the fuss this early in the morning?"
"R-Rumors... strange rumors are circulating!"
"What rumors?"
The eunuch glanced around before lowering his voice.
"They say that last night, Her Majesty the Empress wandered the annex palace... howling like a beast and catching one..."
"Pfft!"
Dokgo Cheonwi spat out the tea he'd been sipping.
Howling like a beast and catching one? Well, it wasn't entirely wrong. She'd caught the Sword Sovereign—that beast—and him, another beast. But the story had gotten twisted into a bizarre tale that the Empress went hunting in the annex every night.
"Stop it! Seal their lips right now! Her Majesty the Empress was just... taking a stroll! Got it?"
"Y-Yes! Understood!"
The eunuch fled like his life depended on it.
Dokgo Cheonwi pressed a hand to his forehead. Protecting the Empress's dignity was his duty as head of the Eunuch Bureau.
But the real problem lay elsewhere.
His own condition.
'Why... is my energy overflowing like this?'
Having taken in the yin energy of the Empress and the Sword Sovereign—two supreme experts—at the same time, Dokgo Cheonwi's yang energy was on the verge of rampaging. Even sitting still made his body itch, and every round thing in sight started looking tantalizing.
Tap. Tap.
He drummed his fingers on the desk and stood up.
If he didn't vent this surging energy somewhere, he'd go mad.
"Morning court... Right, I need to head to morning court."
Dokgo Cheonwi straightened his robes. But the look in his eyes wasn't that of the usual cool-headed head of the Eunuch Bureau. It was the gaze of a male driven purely by instinct—or rather, one where instinct had overtaken reason.
The corridors of the Imperial Palace leading to morning court bustled with activity.
Yet amid the hustle, a peculiar aura hung around one man in particular.
Dokgo Cheonwi.
Head of the Eunuch Bureau and the Emperor's closest confidant. The legendary stud who'd handled the Empire's two greatest women—the Empress and the Sword Sovereign—in a single night.
His steps were light, as if walking on clouds.
What would have laid a normal man low for days had instead been a tonic for him. Yang energy boiled in his dantian, racing fiercely through every vein in his body.
'Too much power... way too much.'
Dokgo Cheonwi clenched and unclenched his fists, unable to contain the excess vitality. Everything around him pulsed with life. The palace maids hurrying through the corridor, in particular, moved differently in his eyes.
Two maids carrying a tea set approached with quick steps from down the hall.
Each sway of their flowing skirts revealed enticing curves, their silhouettes visible through the thin fabric. Dokgo Cheonwi's eyes sharpened like a hawk's.
He put on a stern expression and blocked their path.
"Hold it."
"Eek! Gr-Great Lord?"
The maids startled, bowing deeply. The teacups rattled.
Dokgo Cheonwi adopted a grave tone, but his eyes gleamed with mischief as he circled behind one of them.
"I've had reports that uniform maintenance has been sloppy lately. Let me check..."
His hand shot out without hesitation.
His large palm seized the maid's firm rear in a firm grip.
"Hngh!"
A muffled cry escaped the maid's lips. But Dokgo Cheonwi paid no mind, squeezing harder. The soft yet springy sensation transmitted through his palm.
"Mm, looks shapely enough from the outside, and sure enough, it's packed solid. The fabric's stretched nice and tight."
"Gr-Great Lord! People are watching...!"
The maid's face flushed red as a ripe apple. Shame, confusion, and a hint of excitement mingled on her expression. She twisted away, but Dokgo Cheonwi had no intention of letting go. He gripped tighter, his fingers probing toward the sensitive spot beneath.
"What are you embarrassed about? I'm letting them watch. Isn't it the head of the Eunuch Bureau's duty to inspect the maids' welfare?"
"Ahh... S-Such a fine duty..."
The maid's face turned beet red as she scurried away. Her fellow maid, equally flushed, hurried after her.
Left in the corridor were Dokgo Cheonwi and the eunuchs trailing him.
The eunuchs stared fixedly at the walls as if by prior agreement, heads bowed, desperately shutting out sight and sound.
"My, the wallpaper patterns are so geometric."
"Right? That stain over there looks just like a landscape painting."
Eunuch A and Eunuch B chattered nonsense to escape reality. Dokgo Cheonwi let out a hollow chuckle and lightly smacked the backs of their heads.
"Let's go. No more pointless chatter."
"Yes! Understood!"
Dokgo Cheonwi resumed his dignified stride. But his mind still wrestled with how to handle the boiling yang energy.
If he went to court like this, he wouldn't hear a word the Emperor said—only see the maids fanning him nearby.
'Need to cool off first.'
He turned his steps toward the annex palace, hoping the cool breeze might help.
The annex palace garden lay serene.
But a chill killing intent lurked within that tranquility.
A lone woman stood by the pond.
Silver-white hair near enough to silver, skin so pale and translucent it seemed to erase all color from the world. The owner of ghostly pale beauty—the princess of the Northern Frost Palace, Snowflower.
She gazed blankly at the pond.
Or more precisely, she was freezing it.
Crackle, hiss.
Cold qi spread from her toes, rapidly overtaking the pond's surface. Rippling water turned to solid ice in an instant. Carp startled and fled to the depths below.
"Everyone... looks so happy. Everyone but me."
White breath escaped Snowflower's lips.
Her eyes were vacant. Last night, the palace's qi had been unusual. Faint vibrations from afar, and the maids' whispers since morning.
The news that Dokgo Cheonwi had spent the night with the Empress and the Sword Sovereign had already reached her sensitive senses.
'Not fair, big brother.'
She bit her lip. The cold qi pouring from her fingertips intensified. Frost settled white on the surrounding grass, which shattered to powder.
That was when it happened.
"Why's my princess sulking out here all alone?"
A familiar, sly voice from behind.
Snowflower's shoulders twitched. She didn't need to turn; she knew. The man radiating scorching heat from his entire body—Dokgo Cheonwi.
Dokgo Cheonwi approached and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. The warmth from his hands seemed to melt her icy body. But Snowflower feigned offense and slapped his hand away.
Smack.
"Go away."
"Oh? What's got my princess so prickly?"
"Hmph. You reek of other women."
Snowflower wrinkled her nose and glared. Her eyes narrowed.
"Her Majesty the Empress's perfume, and... even the sweat from that brutish sword-swinging woman. You've got a full bouquet, huh?"
Dokgo Cheonwi flinched. Her nose was uncanny. He chuckled nonchalantly and approached again.
"Aw, jealousy looks cute on you too. Scents like that? Occupational hazard—can't be helped."
"Occupational? Does your job involve overnight shifts in bed?"
"Haha, Eunuch Bureau work doesn't know day from night."
Dokgo Cheonwi brazenly retorted and snatched her hand.
In that instant, his brow furrowed.
"It's cold."
Snowflower's hand was ice-cold. Not just from the weather. The cold qi of her Nine Yin Severed Meridians, latent in her body, was flaring up again. Her emotions had stirred from jealousy, and the cold qi was slipping from her control, showing signs of rampage.
Dokgo Cheonwi's expression turned serious.
"Hands this cold. Has the chill returned?"
Only then did Snowflower let her pent-up emotions show. Tears welled in her eyes.
"Yes... because big brother hasn't come. My yang is deficient... my body's freezing over."
She buried her face in his chest. Fragile as she looked, the arms hugging him held strength enough to crush iron. A declaration of obsession—she'd never let go.
"It's cold... so cold... If big brother doesn't warm me, I might turn into an ice sculpture like this."
Dokgo Cheonwi chuckled.
This fox of a princess. Using her condition as an excuse for blatant seduction.
But he didn't mind. No—in fact, with his own yang energy seeking release, no cooler "refrigerant" could be more perfect.
"Should've said so sooner. Tonight, I'll be your personal heater, Princess."
Dokgo Cheonwi firmly encircled her waist.
"Actually, no need to wait till night. You look like you need urgent treatment right now."
Color returned to Snowflower's face. Snuggled in his arms, she flashed a victor's smile and glanced at the eunuchs.
"All of you, withdraw. You're in the way of the treatment."
The eunuchs bowed familiarly and ebbed away like the tide. Now, only the two remained in the garden.
Snowflower's bedchamber.
The moment he opened the door and stepped in, Dokgo Cheonwi let out a wry laugh.
"Whoa, it's like a freezer in here."
The room brimmed with cold qi. White breath puffed with every exhale, and thin ice coated the teacups on the table. A normal person would have frozen solid on entry.
But to Dokgo Cheonwi, this chill was welcome.
The rampaging yang energy in his body reacted to the cold touching his skin, cheering in delight.
"Gotta warm you up quick. Can't even sleep in this."
Dokgo Cheonwi shed his cumbersome official robes.
His chiseled, muscular torso emerged. Heat shimmered from his skin like rising steam. It was like opening a furnace lid.
Snowflower sat on the bed, gazing rapturously.
To her, Dokgo Cheonwi was her lifeline, her one true sun.
"Big brother..."
Snowflower approached in her thin nightgown and plastered herself against him.
The instant her icy skin met his scorching heat—
Sizzle—
It was like an auditory hallucination.
Extreme opposites collided, creating a bizarre stimulation. Snowflower's body shivered as she pulled his neck close.
"Haa... so warm..."