Chapter 44
The next day.
From the morning, Hong Seol received a summons from Bing Yuhwa.
“D-did you… call me…?”
Hong Seol asked, lowering her eyes. She had just arrived at the door of the Medicine Hall.
She knew she had to go inside, but the steps of the timid child seemed glued to the threshold.
‘The Medicine Hall Mistress is just too scary!’
She tried to steady herself and lift her gaze, but she couldn’t help dropping her eyes immediately again.
Bing Yuhwa, seated at the center of the hall, exuded an aura like a tiger in a snowy field.
‘And on top of that, the Mistress dislikes me…’
It was because she came from a gravekeeper family.
And wearing the clothes of a lost child only made her more displeasing.
‘M-my role… was always like this…’
Hong Seol had simply forgotten because the warmth and affection she had received from the Namgung family had been so comforting.
It was her lot to be scolded and intimidated.
Her thick eyelashes drooped, heavy with tears.
“Haah.”
Bing Yuhwa let out a quiet sigh, seemingly sensing Hong Seol’s thoughts.
Startled, Hong Seol pressed her lips together to hold back her tears.
“Come closer.”
Though the tone was softer than yesterday, the little cat-like child did not fully grasp it.
Hong Seol, struggling to force strength into her trembling lips that threatened to cry, walked slowly toward her.
“You said you’re eight years old?”
“Y-yes? Ye-yes.”
The frightened child jumped at the seemingly simple question.
“Haah.”
Bing Yuhwa felt a throbbing ache in her head.
‘This child is exactly… like my younger self…’
Yuhwa had not been born in the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
A bitterly cold memory from her past flashed in her mind.
“I’ll be back soon. Count to one hundred while you wait here. If I haven’t returned by then, count another hundred, and then another hundred. By that time, I will be back.”
The little Yuhwa, knowing nothing, nodded and began folding her fingers.
“One… two…”
Her mother’s back gradually disappeared, and the drifting snow covered even her footprints.
“Ninety-nine, one hundred… again, one… two…”
Her fingers froze and turned red from the cold, and even after counting to a hundred, her mother did not return.
Fortunately, the Bing family of the Northern Sea Ice Palace took her in afterward…
‘I was just like this. Startled by even the smallest sound, watching carefully so I wouldn’t be abandoned…’
The little cat in front of her now mirrored that same image.
“I have a question for you.”
Hong Seol’s nervous eyes trembled.
“Is it true that you helped Mrs. Hong of the textile shop?”
“Y-yes? Ye-yes.”
Hong Seol nodded. It was true, but she could not understand why Bing Yuhwa was asking this.
“Why did you help her?”
Hong Seol’s expression showed confusion.
“Because it’s righteousness and justice…?”
At this, Bing Yuhwa sighed softly.
It seemed this child, too, had been guided by the sense of duty instilled by the Namgung family.
A spy would pretend even more, trying to do anything to please the adults.
Yuhwa asked again, wanting to give Hong Seol another chance to answer honestly.
“Truly, did you act out of righteousness and justice?”
“I-it’s actually! Because of me…”
Spoken in a voice barely bigger than an ant’s, Yuhwa looked at Hong Seol.
The child’s head was bowed, biting her cherry-like lips.
“When I heard the story of little girls without homes, it felt like my own story. You may have heard it before…”
The last words were barely audible, so Yuhwa had to strain her ears.
“I… was abandoned by my mother…”
The trembling child mirrored Yuhwa’s own childhood, leaving her momentarily speechless.
Moreover, the reason the child helped Mrs. Hong was the same as hers.
‘I, too, started helping the women of the weaving hall because I saw myself in them…’
After a brief pause, she spoke again.
“You suffer from the Yin-Yang Vein. If it’s okay, may I take a look at your body?”
“Eh?”
Hong Seol, who had been staring endlessly at the floor, lifted her small eyes.
“It’ll only take a moment. Extend your arm.”
Confused, Hong Seol cautiously stretched out her arm.
Yuhwa held it gently, careful not to hurt her.
‘So warm.’
With Yuhwa’s gentle, delicate touch, Hong Seol’s heart began to melt.
Her ability to open up so easily was thanks to the abundant love she had received from the Namgung family.
‘Indeed, the mother of the White, Black, and Red clans cannot be a bad person! She has such warm hands.’
Hong Seol silently apologized to herself for being so scared beforehand.
“I-I’m sorry for misunderstanding you.”
“What?”
Ah!
Startled, Hong Seol tried to cover her mouth. But Yuhwa was holding her arm to check her pulse, so she couldn’t move.
“What did you say? That you misunderstood me?”
“Y-yes? Actually…”
Hong Seol’s cheeks instantly flushed red, impossible to hide.
She buried her head in shame, her face like a ripe peach, making Yuhwa smile unintentionally.
It had been a long time since she had smiled.
“It’s fine. Most people are scared when they see me for the first time.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I come from the Northern Sea Ice Palace. You know where that is?”
“Very, very far north, always blizzards…”
Hong Seol recalled the martial sects she had learned about from Namgung Yegyeol of the Changcheon Daijoo.
“You’re right. That’s why people say my nature is as cold as the snowstorms of the mountains. Well… there’s some truth to it.”
“No!”
Hong Seol jumped up, shaking her head vigorously, startling Yuhwa.
“What?”
The child clenched her small fists and shouted,
“The Mistress of the Medicine Hall is never cold like a blizzard!”
Yuhwa was surprised.
Adults and children alike often feared her icy appearance and gaze.
She could feel that Hong Seol had been afraid of her too.
Yet the child spoke with such conviction.
It was like what her mother-in-law, Lady Wi, had once said to her.
Moreover, the child’s eyes looked as if she understood such words deeply.
“I… I heard a rumor. That you came all the way from the Northern Sea Ice Palace to protect the Master of the House because you love him… even….”
Even at the cost of your martial arts abilities.
The words stuck in Hong Seol’s throat; she could barely get them out.
‘How painful it must be to destroy your dantian and lose the ability to use your inner power forever!’
Hong Seol knew that pain better than anyone.
“No one who can make such a decision can have a cold heart. And….”
She composed herself and spoke with dignity.
“I heard from Mrs. Hong that you’ve been helping the women of the weaving hall for years, Mistress.”
Even using your personal wealth.
“So, I’ll tell anyone who says otherwise: The Mistress is not cold at all. She has the warmest heart of anyone here!”
Bing Yuhwa sat dumbfounded, forgetting even to check her pulse.
For the first time in a long while, the ice that had built up in her heart seemed to shatter.
She felt tears threatening to spill.
“…Thank you. Shall we check your pulse now?”
“Ah, y-yes!”
Flustered, Hong Seol sat back down and extended her arm.
Yuhwa’s fingers, tracing along her wrist, paused.
She had noticed two red spots in the shape of snowflakes.
