Chapter 7 

So-hwa, usually small and timid-looking, suddenly shouted so loudly that even Sa-yeol wondered where that bravery came from.
The servant blocking the path flinched and stepped back in shock.

If she had been born in another era, she would’ve become a general.
Sa-yeol thought.

Today So-hwa was just a servant girl in peaceful times.
but if she had lived during the wars centuries ago,
Someone would have surely recognized her talent and taught her martial arts.

Then again… she doesn’t need someone else to teach her.
Sa-yeol mused, watching So-hwa’s small but fearless back.

This body she now inhabited carried the blood of the Ice Palace.
And she herself had once been taught ice arts directly by the former Palace Lord.

It may be better to have at least one disciple rather than let all this knowledge fade away.

The problem was… she did not fully remember the Ice Palace’s advanced techniques.
But she wasn’t worried. Long ago, she herself had become a top master without proper instruction—
People had even called her techniques ghost arts.

Now that she was in a living body, her memories of wandering as a spirit were blurry.
But this was not the time to dwell on the past.

Her only loyal servant was standing up for her.
Sa-yeol should support her from behind.

***

“Your servant is quite arrogant,” Hongryun snapped.

“You—you…!”

“I told you. I am your elder.”

“Since when?!”

“Since birth.”

Sa-yeol said shamelessly.
Then she flicked Hongryun’s forehead with a finger.

Pok.

Hongryun’s eyes widened as if struck by lightning.
She looked stunned that Sa-yeol had touched her at all.

“M-Mother will hear about this…!”

“She just passed by. Hurry and go tattletale to her.”

Hongryun’s face turned beet red.
Sa-yeol’s comment sounded like a jab at the last time she tattled.

Sa-yeol blinked slowly at the speechless child.

“You may be young, but it seems you at least know shame… little liar.”

She leaned down and whispered as she walked past:

“Run away while you still can… before I eat you.”

Hongryun turned pale, whirled around, and fled screaming.
Her attendants glared at Sa-yeol, but to her, they were less significant than pebbles on the road.

***

“A-Are you alright, miss?” So-hwa asked timidly.

“What would be wrong?”

For someone who had just roared bravely, So-hwa now sounded worried.
Sa-yeol remembered—So-hwa was still just a child.

“I am fine.”

“You’ve grown so bold… Since when did you become like this?”

“Since I died and came back.”

“…Please stop saying scary things.”

“Sometimes I really do feel like something is possessing me.”

So-hwa blinked rapidly, deep in thought. Then she asked suddenly:

“You mean… a ghost (鬼)?”

“That’s right. Clever girl.”

So-hwa glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby.
then boldly walked in front of Sa-yeol and stared at her face intensely.
Her narrowed eyes were serious.

Sa-yeol bent down slightly to make it easier for her to look.

“Hmm… yes, it’s really my lady.”

“How do you know so quickly?”

“I’ve served you for years. I can tell.”

So-hwa smiled brightly and returned behind her.

As they walked toward the room, Sa-yeol thought:

Even I don’t know what I am now…

Was she really Namgung’s ghost?
Or was this reincarnation, like the Buddhists claimed?

Either way, she found it amusing.
Her memories as a wandering spirit were faint but still there.

***

Meanwhile,

“Mother! Mother!”

Hongryun burst into her mother’s quarters, screaming.
The maids quickly opened the door.

Lady Seo disliked unruly behavior.
but she adored her youngest daughter.
When Hongryun was frightened, she always ran into her mother’s arms.

“What is it, Hongryun?”

Lady Seo wrapped her in her skirt, worried.

Hongryun’s face looked strange—frightened, but also furious.

“It was a ghost!”

“What did you say?”

“Sa-yeol! She—she’s definitely possessed by a ghost!”

“A ghost?”

“She said she would eat me!!”

Lady Seo involuntarily shivered.
The memory of Sa-yeol standing in the dark corridor,
with those foreign, eerie eyes glowing—
It flashed through her mind.

But still… to call her a ghost?

“That’s nonsense. Ghosts don’t exist anymore.”

Lady Seo stroked her daughter’s hair kindly.

Since the Blood Palace closed and the Heavenly Demon vanished,
even naturally formed ghosts had become almost nonexistent—
nothing more than old legends now.

“Still… you seem very upset. She must have behaved badly.”

Lady Seo handed Hongryun to an older maid.
The maid comforted the child and ordered younger maids to bring snacks.

“I should go speak with that child again.”

Previously she had scolded Sa-yeol in front of Hongryun for touching her belongings.
But normally, Lady Seo preferred quiet discipline.

She needed to handle this discreetly.

While maids carried Hongryun to her resting chamber,
Lady Seo gathered several attendants and headed toward Sa-yeol’s quarters.

Her old attendant whispered:

“Shall I send the punishment maids ahead?”

“That’s wise. I was too emotional last time.”

Lady Seo smiled.
The girl may have been acting strange due to the household chaos.
but once put back in her place, she would return to normal soon—
Lady Seo believed so.

But when Lady Seo reached the room—

She immediately realized she was wrong.

A dangerous atmosphere hit her first.

“I see. An uninvited guest arrived first…”

“M-Madam, p-please help us…!”

The punishment maids—those trained in martial skills—
were sprawled all over the floor.
Their hair was tangled and pulled.
Their faces were streaked with tears.

All of them were being held by the hair
in Sa-yeol’s pale hands.

“What… what is this…?”

Lady Seo’s face turned white.

Sa-yeol laughed as if delighted.
shaking the women by their hair.

Their screams rose and fell as if forming a rhythm.

“I was simply teaching them manners.”

“Y-You’ve truly gone mad…!”

“You only just realized? I thought you already knew.”

Thud.

“Ahh—!”

“Ugh—!”

Sa-yeol dropped the maids to the ground.
They scrambled backward like frogs escaping a predator.

Sa-yeol clapped excitedly like a child.

“If they can’t recognize their superior,
this is what happens.”

Ssshh.

Her black robe brushed across the floor as she stepped closer.
Lady Seo stared at her pale face and glowing eyes—
eyes like a foreigner’s
or like a ghost’s.

As if the girl before her
had lived far, far longer than she appeared.

“A superior?
You call yourself that after attacking my servants?!”

“They came to the wrong room.”

Sa-yeol stepped closer to her.