Inside the moving carriage, Seol Unhwi gazed out the window.
Seated across from him, Chief Seong carefully opened his mouth.
“Young Master.”
“Mm.”
“Is this... even possible?”
Without taking his eyes off the window, Seol Unhwi replied,
“What troubles you so much?”
“No... it’s just...”
Chief Seong studied him closely.
“From what I saw, those were absolutely not injuries that could heal in such a short time.”
“...”
“But right now, Young Master, you...”
Chief Seong shook his head.
“You look even healthier than before your fight with Seol Cheonhwa.”
A faint smirk formed on Seol Unhwi’s lips.
“Then you saw correctly.”
Chief Seong’s eyes widened.
“Did the Palace Lord perhaps give you Innate True Qi—”
“No.”
Seol Unhwi paused.
“He gave me something far more valuable.”
“What is it?”
“The future.”
“...Pardon?”
Chief Seong asked again.
Seol Unhwi spoke quietly, still looking outside.
“I received a treasure that exists only once in this world.”
Before Chief Seong could ask further—
“Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal.”
“Ugh—!”
The sudden words nearly made Chief Seong jump out of his seat.
“Wh... what did you say?”
“Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal.”
At Seol Unhwi’s calm repetition, Chief Seong could not close his mouth.
“...Is that... something a human can even consume?”
“Who could easily endure ten thousand years of essence? Even I would struggle.”
“Then...?”
“My father refined it.”
“...Ha...”
Chief Seong exhaled in disbelief.
“He gave it to me and left. Told me to say nothing and just consume it.”
“...”
“With something like that, how could I possibly rest?”
Seol Unhwi let out a bitter smile.
Chief Seong’s expression grew complicated.
He simply could not understand.
This... was difficult.
Seol Unhwi was undoubtedly extraordinary.
But to give him the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal?
When the Young Palace Lord, Seol Horyeong, already existed?
And yet, Seol Unhwi was not someone who would stand in opposition to Seol Horyeong.
After a moment’s hesitation, Chief Seong asked,
“You... aren’t, are you?”
He understood what that meant.
But Seol Unhwi did not answer.
“...Understood.”
Chief Seong nodded.
“No matter what happens, I follow you. You know that, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then that’s a relief—”
His words were cut off.
The carriage came to an abrupt halt.
Crunch—
Then, from the driver’s seat, Ju Soa’s voice rang out.
“Commander...? I think you should come out for a moment.”
Seol Unhwi and Chief Seong exchanged a glance.
Then they stepped outside.
And saw who stood blocking the carriage.
Chief Seong spoke in a low voice.
“Young Master... I already know you’re extraordinary, but... did you foresee this as well?”
Seol Unhwi shook his head.
He had not.
Silently, he stepped forward.
Toward the woman standing before the carriage.
Seol Unhwi cupped his fists.
“Seol Unhwi of the Mysterious Snow Palace greets the First Lady.”
First Lady Sa Okryeong.
The mother of Seol Horyeong—
and the daughter of Sa Cheonuk, the Sect Master of the Heavenly Snow Sect, their current destination.
She appeared to be in her mid-forties.
Yet she remained beautiful.
Cold eyes.
Perfect posture.
She spoke.
“Where are you going?”
“To where I must go.”
Sa Okryeong’s gaze shifted to the wagon behind the carriage.
Covered with a canopy.
“You’re transporting the corpses of martial artists from the Heavenly Snow Sect?”
Seol Unhwi’s expression turned cold.
Seol Jungcheon had three wives.
Through political marriage, all three were formally recognized as principal wives.
Among them, Sa Okryeong stood at the highest position.
Within the territory of the Snow Palace, there was not a single person who treated her lightly.
For good reason.
Her only son was the Young Palace Lord.
And her father was the Sect Master of the Heavenly Snow Sect.
And Seol Unhwi—
still remembered.
Those moments from the past when she had tormented him.
One of the causes that had driven him to flee the Snow Palace.
Of course, no matter how bitter that past was, he had no desire to drag it into the present.
He was not so idle as to settle every trivial grievance.
But—
Sa Okryeong spoke.
“Do not cross the line.”
He had not expected those words.
“The line...?”
Seol Unhwi slowly raised his head.
His eyes locked onto hers.
“First Lady.”
“Speak—”
“The one crossing the line... appears to be you.”
“...What did you say?”
Her gaze turned icy.
Seol Unhwi stepped forward.
One step.
Two.
He stopped directly before her.
At that moment—
Shing—!
It was not Seol Unhwi who moved—
but Chief Seong.
Not toward him—
but toward the woman standing behind Sa Okryeong.
Before anyone realized, Chief Seong’s sword was already at her throat.
Her eyes widened.
An Ice Guard Envoy.
Each of the three wives of the Snow Palace was assigned a guard.
Their cultivation was at least the Divine Transformation realm.
They were called Ice Guard Envoys.
The one protecting the First Lady—
the First Ice Guard Envoy.
Chief Seong had seen it.
Her hand moving toward the hilt of her sword.
“How insolent. How dare a mere Ice Guard Envoy draw a blade before a Polar Heir.”
His cold words were not only directed at the envoy—
but at Sa Okryeong as well.
Formally, within the hierarchy of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace,
below the Palace Lord stood the Polar Heirs.
The direct bloodline.
The wives, bound by marriage, stood below even the deputy palace positions.
Of course, that was only in form.
In reality, even Polar Heirs treated them with respect.
After all—they were the wives of the Palace Lord.
But this had to be made clear.
They were not blood.
And they were not sovereigns.
The color drained from Sa Okryeong’s face.
Seol Unhwi looked down at her.
“I experienced a similar situation half a year ago.”
“...”
“It was the Third Lady then.”
His voice was cold.
“I let it pass. Even though she had created those memories of torment in my childhood—I let it pass.”
“...”
“Because I still remembered that she once gave me a single wound medicine when I had nowhere to turn.”
Sa Okryeong’s eyes trembled.
“But what did you do?”
“That is—”
“You only gave orders.”
His voice grew colder.
“Do not enter the apothecary. Do not step onto the training grounds...”
He paused.
“There is more. Do you remember?”
She staggered back.
Killing intent filled his eyes.
“Do you think...”
He stepped forward.
“...that I cannot kill you?”
Sa Okryeong swallowed.
“My attachment to the Snow Palace is deep.”
Seol Unhwi spoke slowly.
“But you are not part of that ‘Snow Palace.’”
“...!”
“In my Snow Palace, there is only my father and the Polar Heirs.”
His killing intent thickened.
“If you cross the line—if you overreach—I kill. All of you.”
Her body began to tremble.
“It hasn’t even been a day since that fool Seol Cheonhwa died.”
“...You—”
“Would anything change if I placed you beside him in the grave?”
She swallowed hard.
“Today, my father made it public. That I am to be exiled to the Chaotic Heaven Region.”
Seol Unhwi let out a faint laugh.
“And yet, if I cause one more incident before I go... who would dare say anything?”
He raised his hand slightly.
Sa Okryeong collapsed where she stood.
Her legs had given out.
Because in her eyes—
Seol Unhwi was truly someone who would do it.
He lowered his hand.
Then clasped his hands behind his back and looked down at her.
“In the past, before my mother died, the Snow Palace attempted to dispatch physicians.”
Her face turned pale.
“But you blocked it beforehand. Is that correct?”
“N... no... that’s not...”
“My father never told me directly.”
Seol Unhwi looked up at the sky.
“But I have ears. And eyes.”
“...”
“Even when I did not wish to hear, I heard.”
Silence.
“Of course, even if they had come, nothing would have changed.”
He looked back at her.
“But the fact that it happened at all...”
His gaze froze like ice.
“...is enough to make a person angry.”
“...”
“I have no desire to drag past ties into the present.”
He inhaled deeply.
Exhaled.
“But I wanted you to understand that much.”
He looked at her.
“If I were to follow my heart—I would kill you.”
“...M... me? I am of the Snow Palace—”
Her words died.
“I would tear you apart into a thousand, ten thousand pieces—and kill you.”
His voice was cold beyond measure.
“I do not particularly enjoy killing. But you—I would like to.”
Everyone watched him.
Ju Soa.
Namgung Wonyang.
Chief Seong.
The Ice Guard Envoy.
And Sa Okryeong.
“But I will not.”
“...”
“If I do, my father will be disappointed. And my elder brother will truly grieve.”
He looked down at her.
“He may even stop eating and collapse entirely.”
“...”
“I know he is strong. But if his mother were to become like that...”
His voice trembled slightly.
“And if it were by the hands of the younger brother he trusted—”
He closed his eyes.
“The shock would be doubled.”
Silence lingered.
“As for the matter of the physicians.”
He opened his eyes.
“My father does not know that I know.”
“...”
“You should keep it that way. And ensure your envoy keeps silent as well. That much, you are capable of, aren’t you? You once silenced me as a child.”
He stepped back.
“So let us each do what we must.”
His voice was cold.
“This is where we end it. Between you and me. Understood?”
“...”
“Answer.”
“...Understood.”
Her voice trembled.
Seol Unhwi extended his hand.
She hesitated—
then took it.
Her body still # Nоvеlight # shaking.
He pulled her to her feet.
Then spoke quietly.
“If you believe...”
His hand came to rest on her shoulder.
“...that this Snow Palace belongs to you—”
His grip tightened.
She grabbed his wrist with both hands.
It did not move.
“Abandon that thought. Now.”
“...I...”
“You are merely the mother of my elder brother. This Snow Palace will never belong to you, nor to the Heavenly Snow Sect. Know your place.”
He released her.
Then continued,
“I will say this clearly. If you threaten the stability of the Snow Palace, disrupt its order, or use power for personal greed—”
His killing gaze pierced her.
“You will die. Without exception.”
“...Ah...”
“And if anyone attempts to stop me in that process—”
His voice fell like a blade.
“They will die as well.”
