Chapter 1

SLAP—!

A young girl with hands and feet frozen blue from the cold fell to the ground from a single hit.
Her hands were icy, but her cheek had swollen bright red.

“Sa-yeol, how dare you covet Hongryun’s belongings?”

Namgung Sa-yeol—
the illegitimate daughter, the disgrace of the Namgung family.

She lay on the floor for a moment, unable to grasp the situation, staring blankly at the ground.

A sharp voice stabbed down at her from above.

“We took in something that should have been thrown out on the street, and now you dare show greed!”

The memory of last night came back to her—
digging through snow with her bare hands to find a missing jade ring.

‘Search properly.’

A cold, mocking voice—Namgung Jeha, the second child.

The sixteen-year-old girl had lifted her head from kneeling in the snowy garden, searching for something.

‘Don’t even think about coming inside until you find Hongryun’s jade ring.’

She had only tried to return something the young lady had lost.

Sa-yeol slowly raised her head.
A woman with heavily painted eyes glared down at her as if she wanted to tear her apart.

It was Madam Seo—the mother of the three Namgung siblings.

Sa-yeol shook her head and forced her trembling voice out.

“N-No… that’s not… true…”

Her shaking, blue hands held out the white jade ring.
The same ring she had searched for all night in the snow.

“M-Miss Hongryun lost it, so… I found it yesterday and…”

Madam Seo looked down at Hongryun, who hid behind her skirt.
The precious youngest daughter of the Namgung family.
The girl shook her head with watery eyes.

“I—I thought I lost it, but a servant told me! She—she had the ring!”

Fear shone in the child’s eyes.
Terrified of her mother, she pushed the blame onto Sa-yeol for losing the ring herself.

“The eldest is away at the academy, so no one is left to defend you! How long must I tolerate a wretch like you!”

Madam Seo’s anger boiled over.
Sa-yeol’s small plea couldn’t reach her.

“A filthy thing like you daring to use the Namgung name—!
What good is it? Bring the whip! I’ll beat her properly!”

Servants, after hesitating, disappeared and soon returned with a long whip.

CRACK! CRACK—!

There was no childish “roll up your pants to punish your legs” kind of beating.
The whip rained down mercilessly.

Sa-yeol curled up, covering her head, her body trembling.

The whip reminded her of snow—
Each strike was stinging, burning, and making heat flare under her skin.
Her insides churned.
Something hot—like raging flames—roared within her.

“Ma’am! Ma’am, she’ll die!”

Her only servant, So-hwa, rushed in desperately.
Another sharp CRACK! sounded, but there was no pain this time.
So-hwa must have taken that blow instead.

“P-Please… no more…”

Not me—
Please don’t hurt So-hwa.

Her head felt dizzy.
Her entire body felt like fire.

Then her small, curled-up body collapsed onto the floor.

Only then did Madam Seo lower the whip.

“Tsk. You’ll be sent to the Jegal family soon anyway. Be grateful I stopped here.”

“Miss…!”

Madam Seo lifted Hongryun in her arms.
Hongryun stayed quiet, snuggling closer to avoid upsetting her mother.

After they left, the shabby room of the separate quarters was silent except for the cold wind blowing through it.

So-hwa, small and trembling, somehow dragged Sa-yeol to the bed.

Sa-yeol’s entire body was burning.
After being in the snow all night, her fever had already begun rising that morning.

“I-I’ll bring water right away!”

Ignoring the pain on her reddened hand from taking the whip earlier, So-hwa ran out.

A pale hand weakly reached toward her retreating figure.

“D-don’t… go…”

Just… stay beside me…

But Sa-yeol’s voice never reached her.

Her eyelids grew heavy against her will.
Before she fully drifted off, she heard a faint, nostalgic voice.

‘Sa-yeol, your brother will come bring you home.’

The voice of Namgung Dohwi—the only springlike warmth in her winterlike life.
A voice she would never hear again.

Her eyes closed silently, like snow melting without a sound.

***

Later that early afternoon…

Servants drawing water gossiped at the well.

“They say Miss Sa-yeol still hasn’t woken up?”

“She’s not a miss—she’s just trouble because of that marriage.”

“They say if a ghost latches on, you don’t wake up!”

“Hey! Don’t say stuff like that—do you want the Blood Palace to open its doors?”

While they talked carelessly about a girl who would soon be “gone,” a quiet servant carried her water silently.

Tall neck, proper posture, still baby-faced—
Her expression was filled with worry.

It was So-hwa.

Miss, please wake up soon…

She had grown up with Sa-yeol like a childhood friend.
Now she was the only one left who cared—like family.

Heavens are truly cruel…

Living unwanted in the detached quarters, and now…
marriage to a man older than her father.

It was not news someone burning with fever needed to hear.

***

So-hwa returned to the room.

“Miss.”

Her voice fell into the room out of habit.

Rustle.

She froze.
The bucket fell from her hands with a loud thud.

“Miss!”

Sa-yeol was sitting up in bed.

Tears filled So-hwa’s eyes.

“You finally woke up! I was so—!”

But mid-sentence, she noticed something wrong.

Sa-yeol wasn’t looking at her.
Her expression was lifeless, like a corpse.
Her eyes drifted emptily.

“Miss? Miss?!”

She called her repeatedly, but no answer came.

“I—I’ll bring a doctor!”

She ran to the main house—but their response was cold.

“So she woke up? Good. The marriage won’t be delayed, then.”

“…What?”

It was the tone one used for a broken object that somehow got repaired.

“Prepare her. Time is short.”

“…That is… what you have to say?”

Marrying someone right after waking from near death?

So-hwa returned with empty hands, took Sa-yeol’s cold hand, and cried helplessly.

“Miss… to be married off the moment you wake up… this can’t be right…!”

But Sa-yeol gave no response at all.
As if all her emotions had died.

Yet time, uncaring, continued to move.

***

The Wedding Day

Though they called it a “wedding,” there was no celebration at all.

So-hwa combed Sa-yeol’s white hair with a trembling hand, trying to sound cheerful.

“Miss, the weather is nice today…”

“…”

“If you go to the Jegal family today, maybe…”

Her voice cracked.
She swallowed tears.

She wanted to send Sa-yeol off with a smile, even if her heart ached.
But she could not say what she truly felt.

As she stood in silence, she heard a faint whisper.

“That one.”

“…Miss?”

For the first time since waking, Sa-yeol had spoken.

“W-What do you need?”

“That hairpin. I prefer that one.”

Her voice was low and calm, nothing like before.

A pale hand pointed at a hairpin among the few ornaments she owned.

“You… wanted this one?”

It was a long, old, golden hairpin decorated with red amber.

So-hwa carefully placed it into Sa-yeol’s hair.

Thunk, thunk.

Footsteps approached the room.
Men.

“The Jegal family is here.”

Slide—
The door opened without waiting for permission.

“The head of the Jegal family has come in person. Finish preparing quickly.”

So-hwa’s head snapped up in shock.

She had expected a representative—
not the groom himself.

Will Miss be happy there…? Even a little?

“Follow us.”

Servants led the way.
Sa-yeol followed like a ghost.
So-hwa trailed behind, clinging to a faint hope.

They reached the front gate.

A modest carriage.
A modest number of attendants.

And—

“I have come personally.”

Jegal Hwangho—
a man old enough to be her father, not her husband.

He looked at Sa-yeol like she was a pretty little animal.

“Come here.”

A face that saw her as something to play with.

So-hwa felt her remaining hope shatter.

Hwangho spread his arms as if expecting her to fall into them.

Sa-yeol stared blankly…

Then slowly walked toward him.

He looked pleased.

Easy to control.

But as she approached, Sa-yeol slowly lifted her hand.

The pale, butterfly-like hand reached up—
and pulled the hairpin from her hair.

No one noticed anything strange.

Until—

STAB—

“Ghk—!”

The hairpin pierced deep into Jegal Hwangho’s lower abdomen.
So deep the entire pin disappeared inside.

“G-guh… what… is this…?”

Blood poured out.
Hwangho collapsed instantly.

Everyone froze, unable to process what they were seeing.

Sa-yeol held the blood-soaked hairpin—

and smiled.

A wide, twisted, devil-like smile. it.