I hadn’t read the novel till the end.

Originally, the genre of martial arts itself was unfamiliar and difficult for me. While reading, I became emotionally invested in the character Moyong Sowol who had to die. I read it with interest to see how people would change after her death.

I remembered thinking a lot about what words I should leave to my parents to console them after I died.

So although I don’t remember the content exactly, I at least remembered the confrontation between Moyong Do and Hyuk Dojin, and the new external forces that appeared after the midpoint of the story.

Among those memories, the one who drove Hyuk Dojin to the end and stabbed his heart was not the powerful Moyong Do or any other character, but Namgoong Seolbyeok.

This man looked so fragile that he seemed like he would hesitate to kill even an ant, yet he would kill Hyuk Dojin in the future. I quietly looked at his unwavering eyes and tilted my head.

“Are you angry that I suddenly called you?”

“…”

He didn’t say anything. A face without any answer or reaction. I stared blankly at his lips that didn’t seem like they would open, then slowly approached him.

One step, then another step.

Finally, when the distance to the chair he was sitting on narrowed to about three steps, his sealed lips opened.

“Snow Woman…”

I widened my eyes at the quiet voice.

Namgoong Seolbyeok said softly,

“…They often said you resembled Snow Woman. Your white skin and hair, and a beauty that seems out of this world. People who saw you immediately compared your precarious appearance to snow that would soon disappear.”

He drew a thin smile on his lips that seemed like they would shatter like fragile glass at any moment.

“I didn’t notice it when I saw you at the conference hall yesterday, but seeing you up close like this, I can’t help but feel the truth of those words.”

A solemn and low voice. However, the end of his voice was never blunt. Moreover, when his smile was reflected on his face, I could understand why countless women in the novel couldn’t help but fall for him.

They said he had a beauty that even made men fall for him. I realized that description wasn’t an exaggeration at all. I quietly faced his gaze that was staring intently at me, then took a step back. Keeping my distance, I spoke calmly.

“I’m sorry if you were displeased that I called you here without notice. But I had no choice because there was something I wanted to hear from you.”

“The land I’m standing on is the territory of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Wherever you call me there, it’s up to you. There’s no need to apologize.”

He slowly turned his head and quietly looked out the window. His skin, illuminated by the sunlight, was shining white.

Compared to Hyuk Dojin, who was slightly tanned from training, this man felt like a completely different race.

A deep silence filled the room. When it felt like we were sizing each other up, wondering who would speak first, his mouth opened softly.

“Did you capture all of them?”

I closed my eyes and quietly answered.

“You knew.”

“Since there was no other reason for you to suddenly call me here, I made a guess.”

His gaze turned back to me. His clear, unwavering eyes met mine.

“What will you do? Will you charge me with a crime, shatter the talks with the Righteous Sect, and wage war? Or will you behead all the members of the Righteous Sect who participated in this meeting, not just me who planned this?”

His tilted head seemed to be asking which side I would choose. I slowly shook my head at his actions. Then I met his questioning gaze.

Namgoong Seolbyeok was a unique character. While the other characters in the novel were also unique, Namgoong Seolbyeok was the one who remained most in my memory among them.

He had talent in swordsmanship comparable to Moyong Do and Hyuk Dojin, and his family, the Namgoong Clan, was also renowned for their swordsmanship.

He was like a created human who never revealed his emotions. He seemed to have no greed or will to live. To the extent that if someone offered to kill him, he would stick out his neck and tell them to hurry up and kill him.

The reason why he showed such an attitude wasn’t mentioned in the part of the novel I read.

But perhaps it was because I knew that content. This man didn’t look very good to me.

I stared intently at Namgoong Seolbyeok and spoke slowly.

“Unfortunately, it’s neither of those.”

His eyebrows lifted. His eyes seemed to be asking, then what?

“You may wish for someone to kill you, but that won’t be me. And I won’t kill you over this incident. If I wanted to charge you with a crime and kill you, I wouldn’t meet you separately like this, but officially protest and arrest all the members of the Righteous Sect. But look.”

I spread my hands and shrugged my shoulders.

“We’re here like this.”

“Are you sympathizing with me because we’re from the same Righteous Sect?”

“No. I don’t sympathize. How could I sympathize with those who tried to take my life? Besides, there’s a flaw in your words.”

“A flaw?”

I smiled slightly at him as he narrowed his brows.

“I’m no longer a person of the Righteous Sect. I’m a member of the Demon Cult.”

“…”

“It seems meaningless to keep talking, so let’s cut to the chase and get to the point.”

Meeting his gaze that was staring intently at me, I spoke in a low voice.

“Spread false information.”

“False… information?”

“Yes. You couldn’t have orchestrated this whole incident alone. There’s no justification for you trying to kill me. You don’t have the will to do so either. Wishing to die means you have no will to live. Conversely, that also means you have no will to kill me.”

He looked at me without saying anything. When I tilted my head as if asking how about it to his unwavering gaze, Namgoong Seolbyeok’s mouth opened slowly.

“If I refuse, what will you do? Kill me?”

“No. Even if you reject my proposal, you won’t suffer any harm. I have no intention of making this matter public or raising complaints to the Murim Alliance. I’ll bury it like this.”

“I can’t understand. Why? It’s not anything else, but I tried to kill you. You can’t just smile and let it go once you know that.”

I shrugged my shoulders at his gaze that looked at me as if he couldn’t understand. Casting my gaze out the window he was looking at, I spoke slowly.

“The reason someone wants to die is really simple. People think too much and try to understand them, but they can’t understand. Sometimes it’s because the breeze blowing in is so refreshing, and other times it’s because their heart aches at the desolation of the cicadas that have stopped crying. Such trivial things become a reason to die.”

I lowered my head and looked at Namgoong Seolbyeok. His murky eyes trembled slightly.

“If you accept my proposal, I’ll give you what you want.”

“What I want…”

Yes, what you desire is not gold or treasures. Just like when I wanted to live, there’s only one thing you wish for.

“I’ll kill you with my own hands.”

* * *

The meetings were no longer held. The Murim Alliance side tried to continue the conversations, and the Demon Cult side also tried to respond nimbly to their proposals, but the meetings didn’t take place as opinions diverged internally.

In the end, the Murim Alliance used up all five days they had originally planned to stay.

All they did here was waste time, spouting useless words.

The Murim Alliance had to pack their bags without gaining anything, not even a verbal agreement. After the time filled with many overlapping incidents passed and the Murim Alliance was leaving the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Namgoong Seolbyeok left a letter saying he would follow my words.

Hyuk Dojin returned two days after the Murim Alliance left. Returning exactly one week later, he smiled at me with delight and also got angry.

He said he would increase my guard from now on, asking how I could stay silent despite such an incident happening, and I had to dissuade him.

Instead, I asked him to tell me more.

I wanted to become stronger. I wanted to protect myself and my loved ones even when he wasn’t around. Not just hiding behind him.

Training, honing, meditating. Time passed monotonously like that.

* * *

After finishing breakfast, Hyuk Dojin was changing clothes to go take care of work. I quietly watched him change, then approached him closely. When I suddenly approached, he looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Wife?”

“Stay still for a moment.”

I sent the maids away and fiddled with his clothes. Whenever my fingers brushed against Hyuk Dojin’s skin, I could feel him flinch.

Then, when I slightly raised my head and looked up at him, I could feel Hyuk Dojin’s gaze looking down at me.

If I smiled slightly like this…

“Wife.”

He hugged my waist and kissed me. After a brief kiss, he smiled with a pleasant expression and spoke in a languid voice.

“Are you resting today?”

I giggled at his recent behavior of often trying to be lazy and shook my head.

“No. We have to work. I have to train.”

When I shrugged and straightened his clothes again, a regretful sigh was heard from above. I quietly arranged his clothes, and as I was putting the sash handed by the maid around his waist, a crying sound came from outside the room.

“…Waaaaah!”

A baby’s cry? Although it was a distant sound, it wasn’t inaudible.

When Hyuk Dojin raised his head, the maids bowed deeply with startled expressions. This was the Young Cult Leader’s pavilion. The only baby’s cry that should be heard here was from a child born between the Young Cult Leader and his wife. However, to hear another baby’s cry in such a place…

Hyuk Dojin said, ‘A moment,’ and passed by me to open the door. Then he grabbed the maids who were hurriedly moving as if running away in the corridor.

The maids bent their knees urgently at Hyuk Dojin’s call, but only one maid still had her back turned.

The other maids pulled at her clothes. Only then did the maid turn around and slowly bend her knees.

“…A baby?”

In her arms was a baby wrapped in a blanket. I blankly looked at the child, then glanced at Hyuk Dojin. He also turned his gaze away from the child and looked at me.

I stared at him intently and spoke softly.

“…Were you the baby’s father?”

The sound of the maids gasping for breath was heard, and Hyuk Dojin stiffened.

It was a joke.