Upon returning to the Baekhwa Trading Company after finishing work,
there was something Gu Yangcheon planned to do immediately: naturally, finding Moyong Hee-ah.
“I was planning to eat,” he thought.
Although he had just come back from a task that killed his appetite,
meeting someone after a long time meant certain priorities needed addressing.
But.
“Vice Leader.”
“Yes, Madam.”
The atmosphere wasn’t quite right for that at the moment.
“If you have something to say, I’ll hear it first.”
Madam Mi’s cold words immediately shattered the atmosphere.
Although it was summer, it felt as though a blizzard had swept in.
“...”
Moyong Hee-ah, having heard this, remained silent for a moment before speaking to Madam Mi.
“I apologize. It was my negligence.”
No excuses.
It was a response befitting Moyong Hee-ah.
“Judging from the situation…”
Gu Yangcheon could tell—
she was being scolded for losing track of the young lady.
“Hm.”
While it was true that the runaway young lady was at fault,
failing to capture her was, to some extent, Moyong Hee-ah’s responsibility.
No matter how unjust the circumstances—
“Such is the role of the one in charge.”
When you take on responsibility for something, you must be prepared to endure criticism if things go wrong.
Since Moyong Hee-ah accepted this responsibility knowing that, there was nothing more Gu Yangcheon could say.
Tap-tap.
The sound of Madam Mi tapping on the desk.
Was she tapping it with her fingers?
As he listened, a thought crossed his mind.
“She has the same habit as my father.”
His father often did something similar when deep in thought.
It was quite the peculiar coincidence.
“I’ve received reports and grasped the situation.”
“Yes.”
“While it may have been an unforeseen circumstance, you are aware of the responsibilities tied to your position, correct?”
“I will accept any punishment.”
“Understood. Then…”
At that point, Gu Yangcheon withdrew his extended senses.
Eavesdropping any further felt like it would cross a line.
Leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, time passed.
Creak.
The door opened, and Moyong Hee-ah stepped out.
“Oh.”
She stopped in her tracks when she saw him.
“…What are you doing here?”
“Just had nothing else to do.”
It was such a lame response that even he found it embarrassing.
Moyong Hee-ah frowned slightly and asked:
“So, you heard everything, didn’t you?”
“…Heard what?”
His pitiful attempt at denial made Moyong Hee-ah stifle a small laugh.
“You’re still a terrible liar.”
“What? I didn’t lie about anything!”
“It’s fine. It’s better to be bad at lying… than to be good at it.”
It seemed she wasn’t going to believe anything he said.
Was it really that obvious? This was…
“Should I start wearing a mask all the time?”
The thought briefly crossed his mind.
As he tried to follow Moyong Hee-ah, she tilted her head at him.
“Aren’t you going to check in with the leader?”
“No need.”
It didn’t seem like the right time to meet.
If necessary, the leader would summon him—so he thought.
“Well, I think it would be better if you did.”
“What?”
“Never mind. You came to ask me to eat, didn’t you?”
As Gu Yangcheon tried to respond, Moyong Hee-ah seemed to figure out why he was here and started walking ahead.
“Fine. I’m starving after getting scolded anyway.”
He couldn’t quite see the connection between being scolded and being hungry.
Now wasn’t the time to argue, though.
If he did, he’d surely get scolded worse.
Even Gu Yangcheon, as dense as he could be,
could tell.
“She’s holding back her feelings right now.”
He could sense that much—that Moyong Hee-ah was suppressing her emotions.
Walking calmly, she suddenly turned her head to look at him.
“By the way, what do you want to eat?”
Without hesitation, he replied:
“Dumplings.”
“...”
As soon as she heard his response, Moyong Hee-ah’s expression turned sour.
What’s wrong with dumplings? What’s the big deal…?
******************
Despite his earlier words, in the end, Gu Yangcheon didn’t get to eat dumplings.
The inn he frequented wasn’t in a convenient location,
and Moyong Hee-ah had voiced strong objections.
It seemed she really had no desire to eat dumplings.
And so, they ended up at a restaurant located within the Baekhwa Trading Company.
The timing was around Hanjuksal, the quieter part of the day.
They were seated at the largest table, waiting for their food to arrive.
Trickle, trickle.
Moyong Hee-ah carefully poured water.
First, she placed a cup in front of Gu Yangcheon, then one in front of herself.
After filling Tang So-yeol’s cup last,
“Here,”
she handed the pitcher to Seong Yul.
It was her way of saying, “Serve yourself.”
Watching this, Gu Yangcheon clicked his tongue inwardly.
“She’s still so guarded.”
Even with the smallest gestures,
she maintained an invisible but solid wall against those she didn’t fully trust.
This was just like the Moyong Hee-ah he always knew.
Seong Yul didn’t seem to react to it.
In fact, it was safe to assume he didn’t care at all.
“So, who is this person?”
“Oh.”
Moyong Hee-ah turned to ask about Seong Yul.
Come to think of it, Gu Yangcheon realized he hadn’t introduced him.
“A friend?”
He answered carelessly, too lazy to give a detailed explanation.
“…Ah, I see.”
Hearing his response, Moyong Hee-ah glanced at Seong Yul,
and for some reason, there was a hint of pity in her gaze.
“What? Why are you looking at him like that?”
“Stay strong.”
She even offered a word of encouragement to Seong Yul.
“Stay strong? For what?”
“When’s the food coming? It feels like it’s taking forever today.”
“…You ordered it just before you poured the water. How could it possibly be ready already?”
Honestly, her impatience was absurd.
“Still, this time, your slave—oh, I mean, your friend—feels a bit different.”
“Did you just call him a slave—?”
“It’s hot. Summer, isn’t it?”
“...”
He decided to drop it.
It was undeniably summer,
and the heat felt unbearable, as if it might actually drive him mad.
Thinking that continuing the conversation would only be a losing battle,
Gu Yangcheon decided to cut to the chase.
“Explain what happened.”
He spoke with a slight edge in his voice, and finally, Moyong Hee-ah coughed awkwardly a few times.
The whole reason he had bothered to have this meal with her was to get an explanation.
“What should I explain?”
“The young lady.”
“Ah.”
Moyong Hee-ah hesitated slightly,
a low hum escaping her lips.
Seeing this, Gu Yangcheon remarked,
“If you’re not going to explain, then forget it.”
He said it so plainly that doubt flickered in her eyes.
“You’re not curious?”
“Of course I am.”
How could he not be?
He was undeniably curious.
“But even if you don’t tell me, there are plenty of other ways I can find out.”
“...”
Moyong Hee-ah let out a short sigh.
“Those methods… I’m sure they wouldn’t be peaceful, would they?”
“That depends on preference.”
He smiled as he spoke.
“Preference, huh?”
“Everyone sees things differently.”
“Most people don’t dress that up as a ‘preference,’ Sir.”
“Anyway, are you going to talk or not?”
Even if Moyong Hee-ah refused to explain,
Gu Yangcheon would eventually find out.
Madam Mi had already mentioned that this incident was connected to him,
so he felt a need to investigate further.
Someone as sharp as Moyong Hee-ah couldn’t possibly be unaware of that.
“But if she’s hesitating to talk…”
It must mean there was more to the story.
Not that it would make a difference.
“Even if I find out, I’m not backing down.”
With that thought, Gu Yangcheon looked directly at Moyong Hee-ah.
“...”
After a few moments of silent eye contact,
“What do you want to know?”
Finally, Moyong Hee-ah waved the metaphorical white flag.
Good. At least this saved him some unnecessary trouble.
“Sir.”
“Yeah?”
“Even if you hear it from me now, you’ll still get an explanation from Madam Mi later.”
“Probably.”
“Even so, you want to hear it now?”
She wasn’t wrong.
An explanation would come sooner or later.
But.
“It’s more important that I hear it from you first.”
“...”
More than any explanation he might hear later,
it was critical to understand her perspective first.
Of everyone involved,
Moyong Hee-ah was the one most likely to be on his side.
“…Honestly.”
Hearing his words, Moyong Hee-ah looked away slightly.
The faint redness in her ears didn’t escape his notice.
It seemed she understood the meaning behind his words.
“What do you want to ask?”
“Well, first…”
This was the question he had decided on before coming.
Why had the young lady come here?
How had the Baekhwa Trading Company, and not the Martial Alliance, been tasked with this matter?
But those weren’t the questions he needed answered right now.
What he needed to know was—
“Why did you lose her?”
“...”
Hearing this, Moyong Hee-ah’s eyes widened.
Yes, this was the first question he needed answered.
“You broke through the wall, didn’t you? Am I right?”
“Yes.”
“When did you break through?”
“A few months ago, not long after we parted ways, Sir.”
“I see.”
Moyong Hee-ah had reached the peak stage.
The congenital illness that had afflicted her for so long had been entirely dissolved through his efforts.
Afterwards, she had resumed her martial arts training, eventually breaking through the wall.
Considering the years she had spent unable to train,
she must have worked incredibly hard to reach this stage—it was certainly an achievement worth celebrating.
But now wasn’t the time for congratulations.
“The young lady was barely at the beginning stages of the first rank.”
“And the escorts around her weren’t weak, either.”
The personnel deployed by the trading company were competent,
and it wasn’t as though the young lady of the Northern Sea Palace would have come alone. Her escorts were undoubtedly skilled as well.
And yet, this first-ranked young lady managed to escape all their vigilance?
“That’s not something that happens under normal circumstances.”
“Mmm.”
“So how did it happen?”
His tone wasn’t accusing Moyong Hee-ah of incompetence.
Rather, the situation was so bizarre that it warranted questioning.
Especially…
“That sensation I felt from the young lady back then.”
The moment when light radiated from her body—
there had been an unusual energy mixed in with the light.
It felt as though she had been attempting something,
and that memory continued to gnaw at him.
With those thoughts, he pressed the question, and Moyong Hee-ah carefully began to speak.
“You’re right, Sir. It was a situation where she absolutely shouldn’t have been able to escape… We even arranged the personnel specifically to prevent that.”
“But?”
“There wasn’t anything particularly strange about the situation. We were walking in formation, with her surrounded. I was right by her side.”
From her description, it sounded like an airtight formation,
a situation where there shouldn’t have been any openings.
If it were someone else, perhaps there might have been a lapse in vigilance,
but not Moyong Hee-ah.
He knew her well enough to trust that.
“But then… at some point, when I turned to look beside me, the young lady was gone.”
Hearing this, Gu Yangcheon tilted his head in confusion.
“Gone?”
“Yes. She disappeared in an instant, without leaving any trace—not even a hint of her energy.”
“Hmmm.”
For her to vanish like that so suddenly…
It was clear that—
“She must have done something.”
Whatever it was she had planned, she had used it to make her escape.
But what was it? What method could she have used?
“A relic, perhaps?”
That seemed the most likely explanation.
“If that’s the case…”
Why had the young lady run away?
What reason could she possibly have for coming all the way to Zhongyuan, only to flee?
That question lingered in his mind,
but it wasn’t something he could ask Moyong Hee-ah.
After all, even she likely didn’t know the answer.
“Is that the last of your questions?”
Moyong Hee-ah’s words broke his train of thought.
“No, there’s one more.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t yet time to conclude the conversation.
The most important question still remained.
“The young lady’s face—it looked a lot like yours.”
“Ah…”
Moyong Hee-ah’s expression shifted slightly at the question,
and Gu Yangcheon didn’t miss it.
“Is that just a coincidence?”
It might have seemed like an odd question.
To suspect that something was amiss simply because two people resembled each other might have appeared absurd.
But even if Moyong Hee-ah was only half-related to the Northern Sea lineage,
her light blue eyes were undeniable proof of her connection.
The young lady of the Northern Sea Palace might not have an obvious connection to Moyong Hee-ah,
but they both shared the same Northern Sea heritage.
It wasn’t unusual for two people of the same lineage to resemble each other.
What was strange was just how much they resembled each other.
Glancing at Moyong Hee-ah’s eyes, Gu Yangcheon could tell—
“She…”
Even Moyong Hee-ah seemed unsettled.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Yes. When I first saw her, I was shocked.”
That was understandable.
Anyone would feel shaken if they encountered someone who looked that much like them.
“It wasn’t just me, though. The young lady… she didn’t seem surprised at all.”
“Mmm.”
This part was troubling.
Moyong Hee-ah was startled upon seeing the young lady,
but the young lady herself had remained entirely composed.
“She didn’t seem fazed when she saw my face. She just asked me a question.”
“A question?”
“Yes. If I recall correctly, she said…”
“‘So, you’ve finally broken free of the Ice Crystal’s curse?’”
“Ice Crystal’s curse?”
The words made Gu Yangcheon pause.
He had heard of the Ice Crystal before—a legendary artifact of the Northern Sea, said to contain immense, condensed cold energy.
But a curse tied to the Ice Crystal?
And she had directed that question at Moyong Hee-ah?
Tap-tap.
Gu Yangcheon’s fingers lightly tapped the table as he considered the implications.
“Could she be referring to your constitution?”
The congenital condition Moyong Hee-ah had suffered from—Jeolmaekjeung.
Could that be what the young lady was referencing?
“But how would she even know about that?”
The issue lay with the person who had brought it up.
The fact that she had not only mentioned the curse but also stated that it had been cured implied that she knew Moyong Hee-ah had received treatment.
Which meant—
“She didn’t come to Zhongyuan just for a casual visit.”
The young lady’s reason for coming to Zhongyuan seemed far heavier than anyone had anticipated.
As the layers of mystery deepened,
Gu Yangcheon felt a growing sense of unease.
Just as he was lost in thought,
“Excuse me.”
A voice interrupted them as someone approached their table.
“I bring a message from the leader.”
It was a staff member of the trading company.
Everyone turned to look at him, curiosity evident in their gazes.
With a calm voice, the staff member relayed the message.
“‘The young lady has regained consciousness.’ The leader asked me to inform you of this.”
Hearing this, Gu Yangcheon frowned slightly.
The message was clear:
The person at the center of this incident was awake, and they were being summoned.
The problem was…
“…The food hasn’t even arrived yet.”
Not a single bite of the meal they had ordered had been eaten.
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