I smiled and continued.
“Please, don't say that. How could I possibly fail to tell you about something as important as this, Palace Lord?”
—Kui?
Geumryeong. Be quiet.
The Palace Lord nodded, looking thoroughly pleased.
“In any case, you both have my congratulations on your marriage.”
“Thank you.”
The two of us expressed our thanks to her.
“Until now, no Divine Maiden with the Ice Crystal Eyes has ever married. But you aren't a disciple of the North Sea Ice Palace, so that presents no problem.”
Having said that, the Palace Lord went on.
“Incidentally, have you ever heard of an Ice Palace Wedding?”
“This is the first I've heard of it.”
The Ice Palace and a wedding? Those two things didn't go together at all, did they?
After all, the North Sea Ice Palace didn't officially recognize marriage among its disciples.
“It's an occasion that represents the longstanding friendship between the Ice Palace and Snow Wind Palace. The Palace Lords and Young Palace Lords of Snow Wind Palace hold their weddings here in the Ice Palace.”
“I had no idea there was such a thing.”
“I imagine you wouldn't. As I recall, the last Ice Palace Wedding was the wedding of the previous Snow Wind Palace Lord, the one who died.”
“…”
Ah… disaster had struck Snow Wind Palace before my master could marry. That would explain why that had been the last one.
“Now that the connection between the Ice Palace and Snow Wind Palace has been restored, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to hold another Ice Palace Wedding. What do you think?”
There was something I needed to ask before I could give her an answer either way.
“I'd like to know exactly what an Ice Palace Wedding involves.”
“It isn't anything terribly grand. It's simply one of the few festivals we have here at the Ice Palace. We use the marriage of a Snow Wind Palace Lord or Young Palace Lord as our excuse.”
“…”
“As you know, Young Palace Lord, the rules of the Ice Palace are quite restrictive and strict. It also gives everyone a little breathing room for a while, even if we have to use an occasion like this to do it.”
“Then doesn't that mean the Ice Palace is the only one who benefits?”
The Ice Palace Lord answered my question.
“If that's all you look at, yes. But everyone in the Ice Palace gives a gift to the people getting married, whether it's something large or small.”
Gifts?
“And from the moment you hold your wedding here in the Ice Palace, we formally recognize your marriage.”
I looked at Lady Seohyang.
This wasn't something I could decide on my own.
“What do you think?”
“I'll follow your wishes, Deputy Merchant Lord.”
I thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
“Very well. We'll do that.”
“A wise decision.”
The Ice Palace Lord pulled the bell cord, and Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin came in.
“You called for me?”
“The Young Palace Lord and the Divine Maiden have informed me that they're getting married.”
“Married?”
“Yes.”
At her words, Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin offered us her congratulations with due courtesy.
“You have my warmest congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
The Palace Lord nodded as she spoke.
“So we will need to prepare an Ice Palace Wedding. Make the arrangements in consultation with the other disciples. You can ask the Elders for their assistance.”
“Yes. I'll begin the preparations right away.”
“Good.”
Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin left the Palace Lord's quarters.
“You should go and get some rest as well.”
“There's something I'd like to discuss with you first.”
“What is it?”
“On our way here, we encountered some bandits in Liaoning.”
I explained what had happened.
“…And so I've now secured some land for them and arranged for them to farm there.”
“I see. So that's what happened.”
The Palace Lord tilted her head as she asked a question.
“I understand your thinking. But surely the Gwangjun Merchant Group and the Escort Bureau, whose Warriors were killed by the bandits, wouldn't have been pleased with that decision?”
“That's true. So I asked for their understanding, and they agreed to accept it for the greater good.”
I'd avenged their dead by killing the bandits who had attacked us. I had also rescued the people they'd taken hostage and recovered the stolen merchandise.
That had helped persuade them to some extent, too.
Most of the people I had brought with me this time were elderly people, women, and young children.
If I had simply left them there, it was as clear as day that they would either be massacred or carried off as slaves.
“I've spent a substantial amount of money securing farmland for them. If other bandits attack that land, we'll have a problem, won't we?”
“Of course. So what is it that you want?”
She gave me a knowing smile.
“If you're telling me all this, I suspect there's something you'd like me to do for you.”
“Yes. I thought it would be a good idea for the Ice Palace to use the crops grown on that land as its food supply. Wasn't the reason you suffered that food shortage before that you had nowhere to obtain food directly?”
The Ice Palace had prepared Elixirs to sell so it could buy food. But the dealer buying them had been acting on someone else's instructions and had switched them for fakes. That affair had nearly left the people of the palace to starve to death.
“I don't think we can guarantee that nothing like that will ever happen again. If you secure a place where you can buy the crops directly, wouldn't that give you a little more security?”
“That's true. But there's something you should understand.”
The Palace Lord went on.
“It isn't as though we've never considered establishing farms in Liaoning for tenants to work on behalf of the Ice Palace. But as you know, if the Murim Alliance uses it as a pretext to pick a quarrel with us, things become troublesome. That's why we've had no choice but to obtain food the way we do.”
I shook my head at her words.
“Palace Lord, I never said I would transfer ownership of that land to the Ice Palace. All I'm proposing is a regular arrangement to sell you food.”
“In that case, it would officially be your land, but to the bandits, it would look as though it belonged to the Ice Palace.”
“Exactly. And I'm not asking you to keep troops stationed there all the time. It would be enough if you went down and took a look around every now and then.”
“In other words, you want to borrow the Ice Palace's influence.”
She had put her finger on the heart of the matter.
I smiled and continued.
“Borrow your influence? That makes it sound so uncharitable. For a little effort, you'll be securing a reliable source of food. In return, I'll provide the crops at seventy percent of the price the Ice Palace currently pays.”
The Palace Lord took the long pipe away from her lips.
“So it won't be free.”
“What in this world is free? It cost me a considerable amount of money to buy that farmland, too.”
At my answer, the Palace Lord thought for a little while before nodding.
“That isn't a bad offer.”
It would benefit me because I could protect my land and the people farming it. It would benefit the North Sea Ice Palace because it would have a steady supply of food at a low price.
And if the North Sea Ice Palace's disciples came down often, public safety in the surrounding area would improve as well.
The one group the bandits of Liaoning would never lay a hand on was the North Sea Ice Palace's disciples.
From what I understood, the North Sea Ice Palace would hunt down anyone who crossed it to the bitter end and slaughter them.
And they didn't give those people an easy death, either. That made them all the more terrifying.
I had learned a lesson from that myself.
When you decided to fuck someone up, you had to make sure you did a thorough job of it.
“I'll accept your proposal.”
“Thank you.”
And so the plan I had come up with went ahead without a hitch.
Lady Seohyang and I were shown to our quarters.
Except that the two of us had been given just one room.
“There's… only one room?”
The disciple who had shown us there answered my question.
“Yes. Since you're getting married, we were specifically instructed to prepare a single room for you.”
“…”
“The Palace Lord said that if you asked about it, Young Palace Lord, I should ask whether there was perhaps some problem between the two of you.”
“A problem? No, nothing of the sort.”
“Then all is well. Please pull the bell cord if you need anything.”
The disciple left, and I let out a sigh.
I couldn't tell whether the Palace Lord was teasing us or being considerate. Somehow, though, I thought it was closer to the former.
I spoke to Lady Seohyang.
“You should take the bed, my lady.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Her eyes widened as she questioned me.
“You're going to sleep on this freezing stone floor?”
The floor of the Ice Palace was smooth, but as one might expect of the Ice Palace, it was also very cold.
“I can't allow that. Besides, we've slept in the same bed before. There's no need for you to go that far.”
Well, that was true.
“If you refuse, I might tell Attendant Palgap.”
That would be a little awkward.
Palgap could be quite firm about a point he knew was right. He would give me an earful, and I would never hear the end of it.
“All right. Then we'll sleep together.”
After washing and having dinner, we also went to pay our respects to a few people.
My older brother Jin-ho's mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law were here at the North Sea Ice Palace, after all.
Later, while I was reading a book, Lady Seohyang called to me.
“Aren't you going to bed?”
“Oh! It's gotten this late already?”
“Yes. It's time you got some sleep. Come and lie down.”
I nodded and went over to the bed.
“You haven't made a boundary down the middle with an extra quilt today.”
“You wouldn't cross it even without a boundary, so I wondered whether I really needed to make one. Would you like me to?”
“N-No, that's all right.”
I shook my head and lay down on the bed.
Fortunately, it was wider than I had expected.
Lady Seohyang lay down on my left. Once I saw that she was settled, I spoke.
“I'll put out the light.”
“All right.”
I swept my hand through the air, using my Internal Power to snuff out the candle. Everything around us went dark.
The bed might have been wide, but lying under the same quilt made my face turn red without my realizing it.
Not wanting Lady Seohyang to notice, I quietly pulled the quilt up over my face.
Then I heard Geumryeong's Voice Transmission.
—Kui? Ku?
What was I doing? It was dark. She couldn't even see me?
Ah…
***
At that same time, in one of the North Sea Ice Palace's meeting rooms…
Bing Hae-rin and the Elders of the North Sea Ice Palace were gathered there.
The table was covered with records concerning Ice Palace Weddings.
“I remember the Ice Palace Wedding back then being a truly splendid affair.”
“It was indeed.”
The Elders had spent many years in the North Sea Ice Palace, and they still remembered the occasion vividly.
“To be honest, I thought there would never be another Ice Palace Wedding. And now here we are, holding one again!”
“It really is a moving occasion.”
“And isn't the bridegroom Young Palace Lord Eun Seo-ho, of all people?”
“He's a benefactor of the North Sea Ice Palace. If it hadn't been for him, we would all have starved to death.”
They had not forgotten how he had resolved the affair of the switched Elixirs and saved the Ice Palace by sending them a vast quantity of food.
“That is why I believe we cannot afford to be careless in preparing this Ice Palace Wedding.”
Bing Hae-rin nodded at their words.
“I feel the same way. And it isn't only that incident. Young Palace Lord Eun Seo-ho has performed acts of kindness and chivalry for our palace in ways both large and small.”
She looked around at the Elders in the meeting room as she spoke.
“So we must make this Ice Palace Wedding even grander and more splendid than the last.”
“We will do our utmost.”
“Then let's discuss how we should prepare for this Ice Palace Wedding.”
“Yes.”
They began a lively discussion.
They worked out how much money was available to them and considered the most effective ways of using it.
Finally, they brought all of it together into a plan for conducting the Ice Palace Wedding.
“I'll take this to the Palace Lord for her approval.”
Bing Hae-rin took the plan and headed for the Palace Lord's quarters.
It was already late at night, but she knew very well that the Palace Lord would still be awake.
Insomnia was a side effect the Ice Palace's disciples experienced as their martial arts grew increasingly powerful.
“Palace Lord, it's Bing Hae-rin.”
“Come in.”
The door opened, and she entered.
“This is our plan for conducting the Ice Palace Wedding. Please review it.”
The Palace Lord took the plan and read through it.
“There seem to be too many lamps to light in the bridal chamber. They could use up too much of the air, and it might be overdoing the atmosphere, too. Reduce the number by half.”
“Yes.”
“I have nothing else to add. You may proceed as written.”
“Understood.”
Returning the plan, the Palace Lord asked her a question.
“Aren't you envious?”
“Pardon?”
“Of Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho and the Divine Maiden getting married. I'm asking whether seeing it makes you feel envious.”
“I'm not envious.”
“Disciples of the Ice Palace cannot marry. Sometimes I feel sorry that I brought you here because of that.”
“Please don't think that.”
Bing Hae-rin continued.
“I'm grateful to you for bringing me to the Ice Palace. If it hadn't been for this place, I couldn't even have dreamed of avenging my family at Snow Wind Palace.”
“…”
The Palace Lord looked at her without speaking for a moment, then brought up another subject.
“You haven't been going outside the North Sea lately.”
“I was planning to leave again soon. I'll take my leave now.”
Bing Hae-rin left the Palace Lord's quarters. The Palace Lord watched her retreating figure with the long pipe between her lips.
The Palace Lord still remembered.
The child she had found among the ruins of Snow Wind Palace had been gagged.
Someone seemed to have done it deliberately to keep her from making a sound. Thanks to that, she had survived.
When they brought her to the Ice Palace Inn, she cried with heartrending grief.
She had done nothing but cry for three days straight, and they had been worried about her. Yet on the fourth day, as though all that concern had been needless, she stopped crying altogether.
After becoming a disciple of the North Sea Ice Palace, she drove herself so relentlessly that other people called her merciless.
Now, the only thing sustaining her was her desire for revenge.
“Ah… I wish she would learn that there are so many reasons to go on living in this world besides revenge.”
.
.
.
Bing Hae-rin emerged from the Palace Lord's quarters.
Her gaze had grown somber.
In truth, she was envious of the two people who were getting married.
If she had been born into an ordinary family—or even if disaster simply hadn't befallen Snow Wind Palace—she would never have chosen to come to the Ice Palace. She would have married someone herself.
But there was no use thinking about that.
At present, revenge was the only driving force in her life.
She returned to the meeting room.
“What did she say?”
She answered the Elders' question.
“She told us to proceed with the plan, apart from one change.”
After explaining the change, Bing Hae-rin divided the work among the Elders.
“Then I'm counting on you all to make this an Ice Palace Wedding they will never forget.”
“Don't worry.”
“I'll give every bit of strength these old bones have to make this the finest Ice Palace Wedding there has ever been.”
Hearing that, Bing Hae-rin broke into a broad smile.
Eun Seo-ho had left her more than a little bewildered when they first met at the Ice Palace Inn. Now, though, the word that best described him was friend.
For some reason, she found herself looking forward to seeing the surprise on his face.
‘I never realized I had this side to me.’
It was a feeling she wasn't accustomed to, but it wasn't such a bad feeling at all.
–TL Notes–
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