Chapter 410: Must Look Back More Often
After returning to their dwelling, Geom Mugeuk and Han Seol conveyed what had happened to the Drunken Demon and Lee Ahn.
Once Geom Mugeuk finished speaking, Han Seol said to Lee Ahn.
"We made a good decision to entrust the matter to the Young Cult Leader instead of handling it ourselves."
She had thought that she was being deceived by Geom Mugeuk, but this incident slightly changed her mind. Even if he was not a transcendent being, he clearly had something extraordinary about him.
Geom Mugeuk's gaze, filled with mischief, turned toward Lee Ahn.
"A subordinate who dumps work onto the leader?"
"At such times, pretending not to notice is what a good leader should do."
"Living as a leader is hard."
"It is the Young Cult Leader who has it hard. Other leaders all live easily."
Han Seol still found this kind of conversation unfamiliar. She firmly believed that such a casual relationship with subordinates would definitely bring serious side effects.
"Do you know who is the closest to Elder Seo?"
At Geom Mugeuk's question, Han Seol answered honestly.
"The closest person is the Palace Lord."
"Could you arrange a meeting with the Palace Lord for tomorrow?"
"Of course."
"But I will go alone to tomorrow's meeting."
"Why?"
Geom Mugeuk gave an unexpected reason.
"Because in the presence of one's child, a Palace Lord becomes a parent, not a leader."
Han Seol thought that Geom Mugeuk still did not know about her mother.
"I don't think you need to worry about that."
"There are always things about parents that children can never understand."
"How does the Young Cult Leader know a parent's heart? You have not even married yet."
This kind of question was not something that would stump Geom Mugeuk.
"When you have someone like my father as a parent, you end up studying hard about what parents are. What it means to be a parent!"
Geom Mugeuk noticed the Drunken Demon laughing at his words. Everyone else feared and was mindful of his father, but perhaps not as much as the Drunken Demon. Fortunately, he had cleared up the misunderstanding that his father might hate him.
Geom Mugeuk approached the Drunken Demon, who was drinking tea, and sniffed with his nose.
"Young Cult Leader, what are you doing?"
"I'm checking because tea and the Drunken Demon don't seem to match well. I thought maybe there is liquor in the teapot instead of tea."
With those words, Geom Mugeuk poured tea into an empty teacup and drank it.
"Somehow it feels intoxicating. Isn't this liquor that tastes like tea?"
"Tea, too, becomes pleasant after drinking it."
"But you are holding up well?"
"You know, there is nothing more mysterious than the human body. It is already adapting to the tea as if it never drank so much liquor."
"Not that. I mean you are holding back well the urge to just rush over and overturn everything."
After drinking the tea in one gulp, the Drunken Demon said.
"I can't endure for long."
Through the long, trailing hair, the Drunken Demon's gaze was colder than anything.
Lee Ahn and Han Seol could tell. The Drunken Demon was not holding back liquor, but holding back fury.
Geom Mugeuk, looking out the window, spoke in a low voice. This time, he spoke not as the Young Cult Leader but as a brother.
"Soon, we'll drag them out. This place is far too beautiful for evildoers to hide."
Everyone followed Geom Mugeuk’s gaze and looked out at the snowy white world outside the window for a moment.
Knowing what kind of person the Blood King was, Geom Mugeuk briefly imagined that pure white world being covered in blood.
But it was alright.
Soon, it would be covered in pure white snow again.
* * *
The Ice Palace Master treated me with refreshments.
"It is the first time sitting face-to-face with the successor of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult."
"It is an honor."
"Come, drink."
Without hesitation, I drank the tea, and the Ice Palace Master gave me a surprised look. It meant, how could a Young Cult Leader drink without even checking for poison?
"Before coming here, I investigated and studied about the Palace Lord."
"What kind of person did you find me to be?"
"A bright and clever person. Even after half a century passes and you fall into senility, you are not someone who would poison and serve tea to the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult."
The Ice Palace Master gave a faint smile, understanding that this was a compliment implying she looked like she was in her early thirties.
"I have also studied a bit about you."
"What kind of person am I?"
Staring straight at me, the Ice Palace Master answered.
"A person to whom an easy answer cannot be given."
"You have seen correctly. I am not an easy person."
Though I spoke as if joking, the Ice Palace Master did not laugh, as if she truly thought so.
"I heard there has been progress in the investigation?"
"Yes, so yesterday, I visited Elder Seo."
"Are you suspecting Elder Seo?"
I slowly sipped the tea, leaving a short pause.
"What do you think, Palace Lord?"
"Such a thing is out of the question."
"There are suspicious circumstances."
"Is that so?"
"And yet you remain calm?"
"Because it is an impossible matter."
The Ice Palace Master did not hide the fact that she trusted Seo Nak more than anyone.
"You have not yet properly answered my question."
It was also a prompt to speak my thoughts directly.
"I am suspicious."
"The reason?"
"It is simply a feeling."
If the forces behind this were to threaten the Palace Lord, it would have to be someone like Elder Seo.
"You mean there is no direct evidence."
Geom Mugeuk admitted it with a smile.
"Why would Elder Seo kill the Former Master Brewer?"
"I do not know either."
"He is not that kind of person."
Once again, she firmly stated it, but I could feel it. Hidden within that faith was a shade of distrust. If she truly believed in Seo Nak, she would have ordered the investigation stopped immediately.
There was another reason she allowed me to stay at the Ice Palace and investigate the case.
'What is it that you truly desire?'
More than just finding the culprit who killed the Former Master Brewer, I sensed there was a secret deeply buried in the snow.
This time, I tested the Ice Palace Master's heart using the Northern Blood Gate.
"I believe the Northern Blood Gate is also involved in this matter."
Even when the Northern Blood Gate was mentioned, she showed no particular agitation.
"Did you expect this?"
"The second son from that side got entangled with you all."
"You know that he died, right?"
Of course, the Ice Palace Master knew.
"I heard he committed suicide after being shocked by the recent kidnapping."
"Do you believe that?"
Instead of answering, she drank her tea.
"What do you think about those who would even kill their own children for their desires?"
"I am of that kind too. I am a person for whom the Ice Palace is more important than a child."
Her reply was both self-deprecating and provocative.
"It seems I studied the Palace Lord incorrectly. From what I studied, the Palace Lord is someone who cherishes her daughter more than anyone."
The Ice Palace Master stared intently at me, as if asking how I knew that.
At the very least, I was certain about one thing. About how much you love your daughter.
Though you have never properly expressed it and even seem unaware of your own feelings.
"Well, it is fine nonetheless."
I had brought someone who would resonate and communicate well, no matter the situation.
"My father would be the same."
Indeed, the Ice Palace Master gave a faint smile. She must also know well what kind of person the Heavenly Demon of the era was.
And what I truly wanted to say was this.
"Both my father and the Palace Lord are mistaken."
The Ice Palace Master looked slightly surprised at the unexpected words. She would not have expected that I would even say the Heavenly Demon was mistaken.
"In what way?"
I said first to her the words I had always wanted to tell my father.
"When you sacrifice everything for the organization and finally look back, only to find no one left — I want to tell you not to live such a life."
"!"
"You run forward, believing you are running for those behind you. But when you finally look back and say, 'How could you all do this to me?' — that kind of life. You must look back. Much more often, much more than you think is enough. Because, cruelly, seven or eight times out of ten, you won't even realize whether you’ve looked back or not. They too need to look back at those behind them."
I respectfully bowed to her and stood up.
"I just wanted to say that it is time for you to look back at your daughter. Fortunately, it still seems like she is standing behind you."
* * *
The next day, I visited the Ice Palace Master again.
"What is the matter today?"
"I worried that I might have been too rude yesterday, so I came to see you again."
"You told me to talk to my daughter, but here you are again."
Fortunately, she did not seem angry about yesterday’s events. Matters concerning her daughter must also be a significant issue for her.
"You have not called your daughter yet, have you?"
The Ice Palace Master could not answer. If people could look back just because someone told them to, they would have lived their lives looking back from the be ginning.
"I know that such things don't happen easily just because you mention it once."
"So? You plan to keep coming until it happens?"
"That is my intention."
"And the reason?"
Though part of it was for the sake of the two, there was another reason as well.
It was because of Seo Nak. He was surely keeping watch on me meeting the Ice Palace Master.
Meeting yesterday, again today, and again tomorrow?
Considering his obsessive personality, I guessed that he would pursue a kind of perfection or order even in human relationships.
The Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, who clearly expressed suspicion toward him, meeting the Ice Palace Master every day? It would certainly shake his sense of order.
I had to find out quickly what role he played in this matter. Was he merely a good elder with obsessive tendencies, or was he their agent, or even the main body itself?
"Is there any other reason? I simply hope the Young Palace Master turns out well. If it weren't for the Young Palace Master, I wouldn't even have been able to come here. Nor would I have had the chance to meet the Palace Lord so often. Since you have studied me, you must know well. That I really enjoy associating with juniors. I am even someone who dances with them."
No matter how hard you try to figure me out, it won't be easy. Because what you are convinced is false is actually my truth.
"Have you ever felt lost?"
What was he trying to say now? The Ice Palace Master shook her head, her expression clearly showing such feelings.
"I often feel that way. Even yesterday, when I left after meeting you, Palace Lord. Who am I to speak such things to you? In the first place, I had only followed the Drunken Demon to the Northern Sea to spend time together."
I bowed my head respectfully to her.
"I apologize for being so rude yesterday."
She gazed at me silently for a moment before asking.
"You said you are abstaining from alcohol?"
"Yes, it's abstinence for loyalty."
"When does it end?"
I understood that she meant to suggest we share a drink together.
"It won't be long."
Of course, I added the decisive words.
"If the Palace Lord trusts me."
* * *
Seo Nak made his move on the evening of the third day when Geom Mugeuk visited the Palace Master’s Hall consecutively.
"Welcome, Elder."
"I just dropped by on my way."
From the time when the Ice Palace Master had been the Young Palace Master until now, Seo Nak had always been courteous to her.
Seo Nak quickly revealed the purpose of his visit.
"I heard that you have been meeting the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult frequently."
"He visited me three days in a row."
Seo Nak asked carefully.
"A Young Cult Leader wouldn’t act without purpose. What do you think his intention is?"
By using the word 'intention', he revealed his feelings toward Geom Mugeuk.
"He told me to get along well with my daughter."
Seo Nak waited for the next words. Surely, that couldn't be all—such was his thought.
"For the past three days, that was mostly what we talked about."
Seo Nak could not believe it.
'The Palace Lord is deceiving me?'
Of course, such a thought naturally arose. Geom Mugeuk, who had dealt with him, was far too seasoned for his age. Every word he casually poked with carried thorns and bones.
And yet, he had visited three days just to tell her to get along with Han Seol? It was hard to believe.
"As you well know, the demonic cultists are not trustworthy."
"I don't trust them either."
Then why did you let them in?
Suppressing the words that reached his throat, Seo Nak said.
"Whatever the Young Cult Leader's true intention may be, it would be best to send him away as soon as possible."
And he added with emphasis.
"For the sake of the Ice Palace."
Then the Ice Palace Master spoke in a low voice.
"You say once again it is for the sake of the Ice Palace."
Seo Nak flinched and tried to ask what she meant, but the Ice Palace Master spoke a step faster.
"You are right. It is indeed not good for demonic cultists to stay long in the palace. Tell the Young Cult Leader to resolve this matter within a time limit."
Although she obediently agreed with his opinion, Seo Nak realized that something was different about the Ice Palace Master. Something was subtly off.
The Ice Palace Master had always stood at the distance and place she herself determined. And at this moment, he sensed it. That she was standing just slightly askew from her original position.
"This is all for the sake of the Ice Palace."
Leaving those words behind, Seo Nak descended from the Palace Master’s Hall. As he went down the stairs, he recalled the words the Ice Palace Master had said earlier.
—You say once again it is for the sake of the Ice Palace.
Again? What previous occasion was she referring to? It was a phrase he said habitually, so he could not tell when exactly he had said it.
As he came down from the Palace Master’s Hall like that, Seo Nak encountered Geom Mugeuk at the entrance.
"Elder Seo?"
"Young Cult Leader."
The two greeted each other face-to-face.
"Are you on your way back from seeing the Palace Lord?"
"Yes. And you?"
Though it would have been better not to show this encounter, Seo Nak remained composed.
"I am also here to see the Palace Lord. If I had come just a little earlier, we could have met together. What a shame."
"I hear you have been visiting quite often these days."
"Opportunities to learn from the Palace Lord's profound insights are rare."
"Then have a good talk."
"I plan to visit the Northern Blood Gate after seeing the Palace Lord."
When the Northern Blood Gate was mentioned, Seo Nak's footsteps, which were about to turn, stopped.
"Why the Northern Blood Gate?"
"They must be deeply grieving after losing their child. I intend to offer my condolences."
"You are truly considerate, Young Cult Leader."
Seo Nak did not believe the words about offering condolences.
He did not feel good. Geom Mugeuk was wandering here and there, disturbing his surroundings.
"Then, I will see you again."
As Geom Mugeuk bowed slightly and offered a fist salute, Seo Nak noticed it. A letter poking out from Geom Mugeuk's breast.
'Could it be? The letter that supposedly says the Former Master Brewer gave him the Fragrant Snow Ice Liquor?'
Geom Mugeuk saw it. The face that always smiled kindly, no matter the situation, stiffening for the first time.
His order was beginning to collapse.