The Ice Palace Master’s Hall of the Northern Sea Ice Palace was at the top of a tower.
The tower, shaped as if an icicle were soaring toward the sky, was mysterious to behold.
At its entrance, Han Seol suddenly recalled Geom Mugeuk's words.
"I am a man who considers his subordinate's reasons more important than the organization."
She abruptly asked Chan, her subordinate who had followed her to the entrance.
"Do you have a reason too?"
Chan asked back, his expression questioning her meaning.
"What sort of reason do you mean?"
"A reason that I must understand."
First, he couldn't even understand the question.
"I do not."
Chan answered curtly, and Han Seol left him behind and entered the tower.
Chan stared at her departing figure with a strange expression.
The question she had never asked before instead brought a thought to his mind.
'Young Palace Master, has something come up that I need to understand?'
Han Seol walked up the ice steps.
Everything in sight looked like ice.
It was a structure built with the unique architecture of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, looking like ice but not being ice.
The light coming through the windows reflected in various colors, adding to the mystery.
Though she was ascending through that fantastical space, Han Seol's thoughts were extremely realistic.
'This is normal.
Why is the word 'understanding' even necessary between a leader and a subordinate? Even parents and children don't understand each other.'
At the top of the tower, her mother was waiting.
The Ice Palace Master, Han Seo-gyeong.
The iron woman, said to have a heart made of ice.
She was also known as the woman with the greatest martial talent among the recent generations of Ice Palace Masters.
Of course, since she had never revealed her martial arts to the outside world, no one knew the exact extent of her skill.
Thus, the strength of the Ice Palace lay in the secrecy and mystery of its unrevealed power.
"Palace Master."
To Han Seol, she was not 'Mom,' but 'Mother,' and not 'Mother,' but the Ice Palace Master.
It had been like that since childhood.
She had never held her in a warm embrace.
If she took one step closer, her mother would take two steps back.
She was raised strictly as the Young Palace Master, and to Han Seol, her mother was a strict Ice Palace Master.
If their faces hadn't resembled each other so much that anyone could tell they were mother and daughter, Han Seol might have suspected she was not her real mother.
The distance between them now was less than five steps, but it was impossible to know how deep the cliff between them was.
They were looking at each other from the edges of that cliff.
"The one who kidnapped the second son of the Northern Blood Sect was, as expected, a martial artist from the Demon Sect."
Even though this was an important report revealing that the Demon Sect had intervened in the affairs of the Northern Sea, the Ice Palace Master showed no great agitation.
"It was something a subordinate did on their own, and the Young Cult Master seemed to be covering for them."
The Ice Palace Master asked for the reason with her eyes, but Han Seol couldn't answer.
It was something she couldn't understand herself.
"He seemed to be a cherished subordinate."
Then, the Ice Palace Master spoke in a calm tone.
"Even so, we cannot let the blood of the Northern Blood Sect die at their hands."
The Northern Blood Sect had asked for help, and her mother was trying to grant their request.
Han Seol didn't know what kind of deal had been made between her mother and the Northern Blood Sect Master.
"For now, I have told the Young Cult Master to hand over his subordinate's whereabouts."
"If, as you say, it is a cherished subordinate, will he hand him over so easily?"
"I suppose not."
A look telling her to speak the answer she had in mind was directed at Han Seol again.
Does my mother, no, does the Palace Master know how suffocating it is at times like this?
It had been like this since she was young.
Her mother believed she had to find the answers herself.
That that was how she would become strong.
As if she believed it was the only correct answer.
'Mother, that answer is wrong.'
I had hoped for a mother's embrace where I could rest for a moment from the world's gaze, which urged me to find answers.
I had hoped my mother would be waiting at the end of this path with open arms.
And now, even that regret she once held had vanished from Han Seol.
"I will find a way."
As she was about to turn away after a polite bow, she spoke as if she had just remembered something.
"Oh, the reason the Young Cult Master came with the Drunken Demon was because of the deceased owner of the Hundred Wines Snow Courtyard."
"How did the Drunken Demon react to her death?"
"He seemed unable to believe that she took her own life."
"The Drunken Demon will not leave so easily, then."
The Ice Palace Master knew what kind of relationship the Drunken Demon and the owner of the Hundred Wines Snow Courtyard had.
"Then I will take my leave."
Once again, Han Seol bowed politely and turned away.
Though she was her daughter, her report was no different from that of any other subordinate.
One might have expected them to feel some regret about that, but neither of them showed any sign of it.
From behind, the Ice Palace Master called out.
"Young Palace Master."
Han Seol turned back again.
"The Young Cult Master is the one who achieved the three-party meeting. Do not underestimate him."
When her mother spoke so politely, it was to emphasize that something was truly important.
Han Seol hadn't yet felt that Geom Mugeuk was such a person, but she bowed her head politely.
"I will keep that in mind."
The Ice Palace Master watched the faint outline of Han Seol descending the tower's steps through the transparent ice floor.
*
Geom Mugeuk and the Drunken Demon stood on a snow-covered field.
After standing for a long while, the Drunken Demon suddenly spoke.
"This is it. The place where she first told me she liked me."
That was when he was still young, before he had become a Demon Sovereign.
"Why didn't you accept her feelings?"
The Drunken Demon turned his head to look at Geom Mugeuk.
"Back then, my life was already overwhelming with wine alone."
"What do you mean?"
"The contenders to become the Drunken Demon were all crazy about wine. On the other hand, I..."
"You didn't like wine as much as they did."
The Drunken Demon nodded obediently.
It was the first time he'd heard this.
He thought the Drunken Demon would have loved wine more than anyone from the very beginning.
Yes, sometimes life pushes us to unexpected places.
A person who couldn't kill a single ant becomes an assassin, and a person who got goosebumps just from looking at a blade becomes a famous swordsman.
And then, as if it had always been that way, they adapt all too well.
"You like wine now, don't you?"
At that, the Drunken Demon let out a chuckle.
"Like it? It's my entire life."
Geom Mugeuk laughed along with him.
"Her help was a big part of why I came to love wine like this. We were awkward at first, but gradually, we exchanged many stories about wine through letters. We talked about the stories she sent about wine, and all sorts of wine from the Central Plains."
Geom Mugeuk could feel it.
She had been the Drunken Demon's soulmate, connected through wine.
"When you think about it, her help was a big part of how I rose to this position and achieved mastery in my martial arts. Even though I knew she was such a person to be grateful for, I only came to see her now. I'm such a selfish bastard."
This was why the Drunken Demon was angry.
The sorrow of losing a soulmate and the rage at the reality that it could no longer be changed.
That's just how life is.
Geom Mugeuk was about to say this but stopped.
That wouldn't be what the Drunken Demon wanted to hear right now.
"You're a bad guy!"
The Drunken Demon nodded.
"Yes, I'm a bad guy."
As if it had been waiting for that confession, snow began to fall.
In the Central Plains, flower petals fall like rain, but here, it snows.
The Drunken Demon looked up at the sky.
"I am a bad guy!"
The Drunken Demon's cry echoed.
Geom Mugeuk looked up at the snowy sky with him.
"Where in the world is there a good Demon Sovereign? They're all bad guys. She would understand you too, brother. She must have been happy sending you wine. Maybe it was better that you communicated without ever meeting. If you had met, you would've just been a drunkard. You did well. That was probably better for her."
The Drunken Demon looked at Geom Mugeuk.
The kid probably didn't know how much of a comfort those words were.
Seeing his trembling gaze, Geom Mugeuk silently nodded once and moved on to the next step.
"Still, we have to catch whoever did it, right?"
Since the Drunken Demon was sure it wasn't suicide, there must be someone who drove her to her death.
"To investigate that case, we need to enter the Ice Palace."
In response to the Drunken Demon's worry, Geom Mugeuk had already formed a plan.
"The fact that the Northern Sea Ice Palace got involved in the Northern Blood Sect's affairs means they have a reason to grant their request."
"I suppose so."
"So, if we solve that problem for them, they'll let us investigate this matter."
The Drunken Demon understood Geom Mugeuk's intention.
He planned to make a deal: return the Northern Blood Sect Master's second son in exchange for permission to investigate this incident.
"What if she's already killed the guy?"
"If she wanted to kill him, she would have just killed him instead of kidnapping him in the first place. The fact that she kidnapped him must mean it's to save someone."
"Do you even know where she is now?"
As expected, the answer came without hesitation.
"If she's pulled something this important, she would have at least informed Go Wol of her whereabouts through Silver Moon, even if she told no one else. You can tell just by the fact that she wasn't discovered during the Northern Blood Sect's and the Ice Palace's search. She's probably at Silver Moon's Northern Sea Safehouse right now."
Geom Mugeuk knew better than anyone how meticulous Go Wol's work was.
Go Wol's safehouses were true safehouses.
"Don't you know your subordinate too well?"
"What do you think a heart is for? Let's go."
Geom Mugeuk and the Drunken Demon began to walk slowly through the increasingly heavy snowfall.
*
By the appointed time, no word had come from the Northern Blood Sect.
Lee Ahn hadn't expected the Northern Blood Sect Master to actually give up on his own son.
'They say the martial world is heartless.
This is truly going too far.'
If it were her, she would have given her life for her child.
Are you really going to be like this?
Though he had expected it, when it became a reality, Yang Jung's heart sank to the bottom.
His father had traded his son's life for the honor of the Northern Blood Sect.
'Kill me!'
He wanted to shout it proudly, but the words wouldn't come out.
He wanted to live.
"If you kill me, the Main Sect will surely take revenge."
He was still begging for his life in the wrong way.
On the other hand, Ju Gyu and Hwang Chu didn't display any useless pride.
"Please, spare us!"
The two of them still had their eyes squeezed shut.
Their desire to live was intense.
"Now, you two open your eyes. It's time for all of us to think about this together."
In the end, Ju Gyu and Hwang Chu also opened their eyes.
Since Lee Ahn had lit a lantern in the dark room, they could see her face.
The two were startled.
They had never dreamed that the woman who had captured them would be so beautiful.
'You crazy bitch! What are you?'
The words nearly escaped his lips; Ju Gyu truly couldn't understand.
With such beautiful looks, she could live a truly exciting life doing something other than kidnapping a member of the Northern Blood Sect.
"The threat didn't work. What should we do now?"
Lee Ahn came closer to them.
She was even more beautiful up close.
"Should I cut off a hand and send it?"
Ju Gyu, who was staring at her blankly, nodded absentmindedly before flinching in surprise.
"Whose hand are you talking about?"
At that, Yang Jung glared at him.
Whose hand would it be? His own, of course.
To ask when it was so obvious!
"It won't work! He's already given up on my life, so will sending a severed hand work?"
At some point, Yang Jung had hidden both his hands behind his back.
Lee Ahn threatened him.
"It could be a bluff, right? Thinking, 'He wouldn't really kill him, would he?'"
Lee Ahn whispered suggestively to Yang Jung.
"I'll cut off your left hand, the one you don't use for your sword."
As she gripped the hilt of her sword as if to cut him down immediately, Yang Jung screamed in terror.
"I told you, it won't work!"
Lee Ahn took her hand off the sword.
"Right? So what should we do? Should I really cut off your head and send it?"
The words coming from her pleasant, soft voice were all chilling.
"So? What do you get out of it?"
"At least I'll feel a little better."
As Yang Jung trembled in fear, unable to speak, Ju Gyu stepped in.
"Then they will kill everyone you're trying to save."
Lee Ahn stared at him intently and said.
"Can't be helped, can it? What? You really think I'll feel guilty for a reason like that? Even without me, you were going to kill those people miserably anyway, right? No? Did you really bring them here to help them make money?"
Naturally, they couldn't say anything.
"Now, I've given my answer, so you give yours. Or I'll just kill all of you, send you to the Northern Blood Sect, and disappear like smoke."
There was a reason Lee Ahn was threatening them.
She thought that if they threw out some answers, she might find a solution.
Even a clue would be good.
'What would the Young Master have done?'
She thought about it, but could only conclude that she still had a long way to go.
There must be a solution to this problem.
A clear answer that, when she looked back on this moment years later, would make her kick her blankets in frustration, thinking, 'I should have done that.'
But right now, she didn't know what to do.
It was as suffocating as having a blanket covering her face.
"Please release me! I will go and persuade the Sect Master."
Ju Gyu was desperately trying to save himself, at least.
It was something that wouldn't work even if they persuaded him together, but Yang Jung blocked his path.
"You think that will work?"
He ignored Ju Gyu's opinion and put forth a new plan.
"Kidnap my older brother. Then my father will surrender."
Lee Ahn was flabbergasted.
Like father, like son, these people! That was probably half-sincere.
The other half was likely for this reason.
"Your brother is probably swarming with masters right now. Are you telling me to get caught?"
Hit right on the mark, Yang Jung flinched.
"I merely stated my thoughts."
"Wrong answer. Now, the next correct answer?"
The three captives wracked their brains.
In truth, what Lee Ahn was going to try was already decided.
'I'll have to make them another offer and win them over.'
Because there were people she had to save.
But the moment she made a new offer, she would lose the upper hand to them.
These were people who didn't even blink an eye at the threat of their child's death.
'It was nice when I was just guarding the Young Master's side without having to think.'
It was then, while she was searching for an answer.
Someone knocked on the door from outside.
Lee Ahn, as well as the three men, were all startled.
Yang Jung looked back at the other two and smiled triumphantly.
Ju Gyu's and Hwang Chu's expressions also brightened.
'Yes! They're here to rescue us!'
'You're dead now!'
They smiled coldly.
Ju Gyu gestured with his eyes, telling them to keep their mouths shut and not act rashly.
She could kill them all before dealing with the rescue party outside.
But it was an unnecessary warning.
Yang Jung wanted to live just as much as Ju Gyu did.
Yang Jung didn't even breathe.
Lee Ahn drew her sword and asked quietly.
"Who is it?"
Then, from beyond the door, a very welcome voice was heard.
"The correct answer."