Chapter 2
Jeok Heerin
My head burned, my breathing ragged.
I had burned through every last drop of my remaining inner energy.
I should have died too—
Huh?
Strangely enough, my eyes opened.
My head throbbed violently, pounding as if it might split apart. My body creaked and ached like a poorly fitted hinge.
Pain was proof that I was alive.
I… didn’t die?
Still lying down, I hurriedly scanned my surroundings.
Cold air that stabbed straight into my lungs.
Faded pillars and a worn-out bed inside a residence.
A faint smell of mold, barely masked by cheap incense.
Everything felt unfamiliar.
I tried to move my arm to sit up, then froze.
My wrist was thin and bony, and the place where burn scars should have been was completely clean.
This wasn’t my hand.
Something was wrong.
Every inch of this body felt unfamiliar, awkward, as if something foreign had filled it from head to toe.
Even breathing felt strange. Every sensation running through me felt uncomfortable, like wearing someone else’s clothes.
When I forced myself upright, flaxen-colored hair spilled down over the bed.
A different color from my own.
A sense of dread washed over me.
“Young lady?”
A woman who looked like a maid noticed me and widened her eyes.
…Young lady?
That unfamiliar form of address sent a chill down my spine.
At that moment, a heavy pain struck, and fragments of memory flooded in.
They were not my memories.
“A sorcerer of the Demonic Cult prophesied that by borrowing the womb of the Jeok family of the Snowy Mountains, the next Heavenly Demon would be born.”
The speaker was a woman presumed to be the head of the Jeok family of the Snowy Mountains.
“I’m sorry, but to protect the family, Heerin… we must send you there.”
Jeok Heerin.
The name of a woman who had lived imprisoned since the age of twelve because of that prophecy.
To avoid a clash with the Demonic Cult, which had finally tracked down the Jeok family’s hidden retreat, the family head decided to send her daughter away as a bride for “peace.”
In truth, it was no peace treaty—it was offering her daughter up to be used as they pleased.
With her martial arts crippled to prevent escape, Jeok Heerin was transferred to the Yeomhwa Clan (焰火世家) in Mount Tianshan.
The moment she arrived, the Yeomhwa Clan branded her arm with a sugungsa—a red mark used to verify chastity.
She was hidden deep within the clan’s residence until the wedding, treated as nothing more than a tool to produce an heir.
At that point, the wave of memories abruptly stopped.
My breath caught in my chest.
When I finally managed to breathe again, the maid hurried back to my side, flustered.
“Young lady, I’ll call a physician. Please wait.”
The maid rushed out.
I steadied my breathing, then picked up the cloudy bronze mirror sitting atop the old dressing table.
A stranger’s face stared back at me.
Pale hair, clear and vivid eyes.
Beautiful—but the pallor made the face look fragile, and the eyes were as cold as ice from the Northern Sea.
She was around my original age, yet looked nothing like me.
The Snowy Mountain Jeok family.
The Demonic Cult.
The Yeomhwa Clan.
The memories left in this body dragged me toward a single conclusion.
I had become her—Jeok Heerin.
I didn’t know why this had happened.
But one thing was certain: I was alive.
If being alive meant gaining a chance to take revenge on those who killed Baek-ah, then the reason didn’t matter.
I hurriedly checked my dantian.
As expected, there was no inner energy.
Even this body’s martial arts had been crippled.
It was disappointing—but still better than being dead.
Just then, I sensed someone outside the residence.
“Miss Jeok.”
A man’s voice I didn’t recognize.
“This is Yeom Horyeong. May I come in?”
Yeom Horyeong?
According to information I’d gathered in the past, that was the name of the second son of the Yeomhwa Clan’s head.
Fifteen years old—one year younger than Baek-ah, wasn’t he?
Since this was the Yeomhwa Clan, his presence wasn’t strange.
Click.
The door opened.
Huh?
The person who entered was not a fifteen-year-old boy.
He was a well-built man about six cheok tall, wearing a long robe, with refined features. His calm demeanor made him seem more like a scholar than a martial artist.
That man is really Yeom Horyeong?
No matter how I looked at him, he appeared to be at least twenty-five or twenty-six.
“Are you feeling all right?”
Yeom Horyeong approached with a concerned expression. His voice was smooth—far too mature to belong to a boy.
Startled, I tried to get up, but he gestured for me to stay seated.
“…You’re not fifteen, are you?”
I asked hoarsely.
Yeom Horyeong sighed awkwardly.
“Did you have an old dream? I’m twenty-five now…”
My eyes widened.
Ten years passed while I was dead?!
It felt like no time had passed at all, yet a decade had vanished in an instant.
Losing my disciple Baek-ah—and losing the home we were meant to return to—had all become events of ten years ago.
Even I, who rarely startled easily, was shocked.
It was inexplicable enough that I’d become Jeok Heerin—but that so much time had passed?
As I struggled to recover, Yeom Horyeong sat beside me.
“You fell into the lake and were on the brink of death. It’s understandable that you’re confused.”
He smiled gently.
“Did you dream of when you first arrived here? I was fifteen back then.”
He casually reached for my left wrist.
Before I could resist, he rolled up my sleeve.
His fingertips brushed the inside of my wrist.
The coldness of his touch made my entire body recoil instinctively.
I didn’t know this man—but my body did.
It told me clearly: he is dangerous.
His words were kind, but something felt off.
Then his gaze fell on the inside of my wrist. His eyes curved softly.
“I’m relieved. There doesn’t seem to be any problem with your body.”
He was clearly checking the red mark.
Disgust rose up.
“Let go.”
When I slapped his hand away, he released me without resistance.
“My apologies. I was worried someone might have touched you. With the wedding approaching, misunderstandings would be troublesome.”
“…Someone?”
“The man who rescued you from the lake.”
Red eyes flashed through my mind—seen deep underwater.
I had thought that was just before I lost consciousness as Cheongrin.
But perhaps it was the first memory of this body.
“Though perhaps he was the one who put you in danger.”
Yeom Horyeong muttered to himself, then leaned in and whispered carefully.
“I was worried when you didn’t come that day. I had prepared everything…”
My mind turned icy.
On the surface he seemed gentle—but this body was screaming a warning not to trust him.
“Young master.”
I pushed him away.
A slight crease formed between Yeom Horyeong’s brows.
“I’m sorry… I don’t remember anything. Nothing at all.”
“…What?”
Rule 35 of the Heavenly Intelligence Hall.
When infiltrating enemy territory under a false identity and suspicion arises, feign amnesia.
It was an effective tactic in real operations.
Especially after an accident.
If he thinks I know nothing, he’ll lower his guard.
And the more relaxed the opponent, the easier it would be to extract information.
“…Do you know who I am?”
I lowered my voice, putting on a confused expression.
“Don’t tell me you’ve even forgotten that you’re Jeok Heerin?”
Fine cracks appeared on Yeom Horyeong’s once-gentle face.
“I know that’s my name.”
“This is terrible…!”
He sighed in despair.
“Miss Jeok. You’re engaged to my elder brother—but in truth, you and I—”
He was cut off.
The maid and physician entered the chamber.
❖ ❖ ❖
The physician diagnosed my condition as shock-induced amnesia.
Since I answered every question with “I don’t know,” he had little choice but to believe it.
With no visible injuries or illness, the decision was made to observe me for a few days while administering herbal medicine.
Yeom Horyeong said he would return later and left with the physician.
Night had fallen.
After drinking the medicine the maid brought, I lay down.
Only then was I truly alone.
Now I could organize my thoughts.
I was inside the body of Jeok Heerin, the Yeomhwa Clan’s prospective bride.
The martial world I knew was ten years in the past.
And now I was effectively imprisoned—unable even to search for Baek-ah’s remains.
Still, I couldn’t afford to do nothing.
I needed information.
Fortunately, memories from my days working in the Heavenly Intelligence Hall remained.
And there are agents from the Hall inside the Yeomhwa Clan as well.
Late at night, when everyone had fallen asleep, I quietly slipped out.
Perhaps because Jeok Heerin had lived quietly confined, there were no guards.
I approached the wall connected to the outer boundary.
A small pile of stones lay there.
I carved a coded message into it.
Urgent need for information on the current state of the Demonic Cult and the Yeomhwa Clan.
After leaving behind the small but certain trace, I straightened—
And saw a stranger crossing the threshold of my residence, silhouetted against the pale light of dawn.
