Childhood Friend of the Zenith - Chapter 592

If you’re asking where I figured it out from, it started with her smile.

On the surface, there was nothing wrong with her bright and cheerful smile.
But for some reason, it felt unsettling.

Why was that? I didn’t know.
It was purely instinct.

If you asked me whether I trusted something as vague as a gut feeling, I would answer confidently: yes.
Because…

“I’ve always had terrible luck.”

In my life, bad premonitions had never once missed the mark.
That’s why I’d learned to trust my instincts.

So, I needed to figure it out.

Why did this woman from the Northern Sea, Yuri, make me feel so uneasy?
I needed to find something to validate my instincts.

When she first spoke, she asked about lifting the curse.
From that, it was clear her goal was to address the blocked meridians syndrome or the so-called curse.

“It might not be, but...”

I had to approach it from that angle for now.

If Yuri’s true purpose was indeed tied to that, a few questions naturally arose.

The First Question:

Why did someone of the Ice Palace’s bloodline come here in person?

Even if I was said to be capable of treating it, for a direct descendant of the Ice Palace to come meet me personally was problematic.

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to send someone to confirm first?”

Coming here based on unverified information?
Taking such a risk given the already delicate relationship between Zhongyuan and the Northern Sea?
It wasn’t something I could easily believe.

Of course, there’s one scenario where it might be possible: desperation.

The urgent need for immediate treatment.
In that case, I could somewhat understand.

This led to my second doubt, which was closely related to the first.

The Second Question:

“She’s different.”

Yuri didn’t carry the air of desperation.

If not urgency, then what other reason could there be?
Was she just curious about Zhongyuan?
Did she really want to visit so badly?

Remembering how she’d claimed she wanted to explore Zhongyuan, I couldn’t help but smirk.

“Yeah, right.”

Would she really take such risks just because of curiosity?
A woman who saw the world as a flower garden might, but...

“She’s not that type.”

Initially, I thought she might be.
But after seeing her behavior now, I was certain.

The princess of the Northern Sea wasn’t a fool.
She wasn’t naïve, nor was she as carefree as she seemed.

Organizing My Thoughts:

“Despite being of the bloodline, she came to Zhongyuan herself to confirm someone who could treat it.”

Here’s the issue:
She claimed the curse could already be controlled.

“In other words, it’s not an urgent condition.”

It wasn’t immediately life-threatening, yet she still came all this way.
This meant the matter was of grave importance to the bloodline.

Someone so important that the bloodline itself was moved.

“Then…”

Amid the rising tension, Yuri spoke, her gaze fixed on me.

“Are you saying you brought up the Palace Lord for such a trivial reason?”

Her glare was sharp, and her tone had shifted dramatically.

No, it hadn’t just shifted—it was as if...

“That’s her real tone, isn’t it?”

She’d finally dropped the act and revealed her true self.

“...”

Hearing my question, Yuri furrowed her brows.
Seeing that, I laughed.

“Now that the mask is off, you’re much more tolerable to look at.”

“…You.”

“My stomach was turning earlier, but now I feel a bit better.”

Call it a kind of kinship-based disdain.
That’s the only way I could describe it.

As the conversation continued, Yuri’s gaze grew sharper.

“I still haven’t received an answer.”

“Are you dropping the formalities now? Fine, I’ll drop mine too.”

“Why did you bring up the Palace Lord?”

It was a valid question.
To Yuri, my reason seemed insufficient.

To me, it felt the same.

I didn’t have enough information to definitively assess the Palace Lord’s condition.

But…

“If those were the only two reasons, I wouldn’t have been so certain.”

I shifted my gaze.

Behind Yuri, I looked at Ubeom, glaring at me, and then at the figure next to him.
Pointing my finger at the person, I spoke.

“That’s the third reason.”

“What?”

Yuri’s confusion was evident as I singled someone out.
Her escort wasn’t just Ubeom—there was another.

The second escort hadn’t drawn much attention, overshadowed by Ubeom’s antics.
Compared to Ubeom’s large build, the other person was much smaller and leaner.

“That one right there is the third reason.”

“What are you talking about?”

Yuri’s confusion deepened, but I continued.

“Stealth, infiltration, or maybe assassination—I’m not sure exactly. But that one’s from the covert arts.”

My words caused an exaggerated reaction from the man in question.

His physique was telling.
A martial artist’s body changes based on their training and style.

Swordsmen often have balanced, light builds.
Assassins tend to be smaller and leaner for agility.
Meanwhile, those who specialize in external techniques generally have larger builds due to the physical demands.

Of course, there are exceptions, like me, who didn’t grow tall due to innate limitations.

“But let’s not dwell on that.”

Even with my smaller frame, I still bore some traits of those trained in external techniques.
At least before my recent transformation.

Anyway, his body type and faint presence were the evidence.
He was a martial artist specialized in stealth and infiltration.

When I pointed this out, Yuri let out a short laugh.

“Hah.”

It sounded almost mocking.

“And why does that matter?”

She had a point.

It wasn’t inherently an issue.
What did it matter if her escort was from the covert arts?

If he did his job as an escort, that’s all that should matter.
And given they were traveling to Zhongyuan, where anything could happen, it made sense to bring someone skilled in escape.

However…

“Why is he injured?”

“…!”

At my casual remark, Yuri’s eyes widened.
She stared at me as if I’d just struck a nerve.

That’s right. The man was injured internally.

From his disrupted breathing, I could tell his internal injuries weren’t minor.

Most assassins endure rigorous training to withstand torture and pain.
For someone like that to be struggling, it meant...

“He’s severely injured.”

Looking at Yuri’s now alarmed expression, I continued.

“Injuries happen, sure. Escorts get hurt protecting their charges all the time. That’s nothing unusual.”

But…

“If that’s the case, then he shouldn’t have come here.”

That’s the real problem.

I shifted my gaze to Moyong Hee-ah.

“Was there a battle on the way here?”

“…Not to my knowledge,” she replied.

“So, there wasn’t one.”

I wasn’t sure how far Moyong Hee-ah had gone to meet Yuri.
But if there had been no battles after their meeting, then the injuries had to have occurred before that.

If there had been a fight in Zhongyuan…

“They would’ve turned back.”

Returning to the Northern Sea would’ve been the logical choice.

If someone had targeted them here in Zhongyuan, they wouldn’t have risked staying.

I narrowed my eyes as I observed the man.

“That escort is at the Hwagyeong level.”

He was far stronger than Ubeom, the larger, more attention-grabbing escort.
For someone serving as an escort, his strength was remarkable.

Of course, it made sense. A descendant of the Ice Palace might be assigned powerful guards.
For now, I set that aside.

“But for someone of that caliber to sustain injuries—here in Zhongyuan?”

If they realized they were in such a state, anyone with common sense would have returned to the Northern Sea.
But they hadn’t.

Which meant...

“Those internal injuries weren’t sustained here.”

That seemed the most likely explanation.
So where were they sustained?
If not here, the answer was obvious.

“They got injured back in the Northern Sea...”

It wasn’t likely they had taken along someone already wounded to serve as an escort.
This meant something significant must have happened in the Northern Sea.

“For them to still come to Zhongyuan despite that...”

“...”

“It means the treatment was urgent. Or...”

I turned my gaze toward Yuri.

“They needed to flee.”

“...”

Perhaps the situation back home had forced them to seek refuge in Zhongyuan.

Crunch.

Yuri clenched her fists tightly at my words, and I didn’t miss the gesture.

“Despite the major event that occurred on the way here, you didn’t abandon your schedule, did you?”

“That’s...”

“And it was significant enough to involve the daughter of the Ice Palace Lord. At first, I thought maybe you had fallen out of favor with your father.”

This was one of the possibilities I’d considered, though I dismissed it as less likely.

“Or maybe, since you seem to have a lot of siblings, it’s a matter of internal power struggles.”

Even in noble families, struggles over the headship were common. The Northern Sea wouldn’t be any different.

“If not that, perhaps an external force is targeting you.”

Not another member of the bloodline, but an outside entity.

But the real issue was this:

“Despite all that, you still came to Zhongyuan.”

This fact was paramount.

“And what’s more, you claim to be seeking a cure for the curse.”

Even under such circumstances, she had come all the way here to request treatment for the curse.

Let’s summarize.

Her bloodline couldn’t protect her.
She came under attack in her own land but still traveled abroad.

And now she’s searching for someone who can treat a condition affecting the bloodline.
Yet she herself doesn’t appear to require it.

So what kind of situation would place her position in such jeopardy?

There were two answers.

One:

“The Ice Palace Lord is trying to kill you.”

Or two:

“The Ice Palace Lord is in no position to protect you.”

“...”

Whatever the case, Yuri was here, asking me about the cure.
That left me with only one approach.

“So that’s why you brought up the Palace Lord.”

By directly mentioning the Ice Palace Lord, I observed her reaction to confirm my suspicions.

As I spoke, I watched Yuri closely and felt certain.

“It was already half a certainty—I just needed to confirm it.”

The Ice Palace Lord was in trouble.
Likely, it had to do with the curse Yuri had mentioned.

Some external force must have taken advantage of that vulnerability.
So Yuri had come here, both to flee and to seek me out after hearing rumors of my success with Moyong Hee-ah.

“Isn’t that it?”

That was my guess.

As I laid out my reasoning, Yuri remained silent, her expression unreadable.
Finally, after a moment of silence, she spoke.

“…That’s plausible. But what if my reaction to the Palace Lord was a lie?”

She suggested that her reaction could have been fabricated.
Hearing this, I pointed at her hand.

“What?”

She followed my gesture and looked at the ring she was wearing.

“That ring.”

I said as I looked directly at her.

“It doesn’t look like just any ordinary artifact.”

Even now, the cold air filling the room seemed to be coming from that artifact.

More importantly...

“That artifact is masking the man’s internal injuries.”

The subtle cold emanating from it obscured the surrounding aura, delaying my realization about the man’s condition.
It was likely the same artifact she had used during their escape.

“You didn’t have that before coming here, did you? I’d guess the Ice Palace Lord gave it to you.”

“And how can you be so sure of that?”

“Just a feeling.”

“What?”

It was, honestly, just a gut feeling.
It felt like the kind of thing only the Ice Palace Lord would give her.

“Artifacts like that might be common in the Northern Sea.”
But it didn’t seem likely.

If it had been something she always possessed, I wouldn’t have made a point of it.

“It’s just a hunch.”

I figured only the Ice Palace Lord would hand over such an artifact, though I couldn’t say for sure what its exact properties were.

“...”

Yuri stared at me with an expression of disbelief.

After I had carefully laid out my reasoning, the fact that I ended with ‘just a feeling’ seemed to baffle her.

But what could I do?
It really was just a gut feeling.

For a while, silence filled the room.
No one spoke.
I simply continued to watch Yuri.

Eventually, she let out a heavy sigh, one filled with exhaustion.

“..White Fox was far from the truth”

Yuri tossed her hair back, annoyance written all over her face. "She said you looked like a cute puppy, but you look more like a poisonous snake."

“…?”

Her words made me frown deeply.

A puppy? Where on earth did that come from?