Childhood Friend of the Zenith - Chapter 621

The Heart of the Dragon Emperor.

The Palace Lord’s words left me swallowing nervously. Forcing my stiff neck to move, I looked back at the Ice Essence.

Its compressed cold radiated an almost palpable intensity, a perfectly spherical object seemingly sculpted by an impossibly precise artisan.

And it was massive—an enormous orb of ice, large enough to rival the size of a small building.

Calling it an egg was bizarre enough, but—

"That’s supposed to be a heart?"

And not just any heart.

"The heart of the Dragon Emperor?"

The Dragon Emperor .

From what I knew, the Dragon Emperor was likely the Blood Demon—a figure tied to a catastrophic history.

For the heart of such a being to be the Ice Essence and for it to exist here in the North Sea, far from Zhongyuan, what did it all mean?

"Even more…"

This was a space accessible only under specific conditions, guarded for generations by the bloodline of the Ice Palace.

It was incomprehensible.

I directed my gaze back to the Ice Essence and asked,

"…You’re saying that’s a heart?"

"Hmm."

The Palace Lord nodded at my question.

"You seem to already know about the Dragon Emperor, judging by your reaction."

Damn it.

I grimaced, realizing I’d let my thoughts slip. A rare mistake on my part.

"Don’t look so troubled. I don’t mind," the Palace Lord said nonchalantly.

"…"

"If you’re asking whether that is truly a heart, I would say that’s how I interpret it."

"…So this is just your belief?"

"Indeed. The Ice Palace’s records describe it as an egg, after all."

An egg.

The thought of what could be encased in such an enormous thing was enough to send a chill down my spine.

"Still, you believe it’s a heart. Why?"

I needed to understand why he thought this.

The Palace Lord stepped closer to the Ice Essence, his gaze fixed on it.

"Do you know when the North Sea’s endless winter began?" he asked.

"…Not exactly," I replied.

How would I? The North Sea had always been known as a cold region.

The specifics of its history weren’t something I had studied.

My ignorance must have been obvious, as the Palace Lord gave a faint smile.

"The North Sea has always been a cold land, but it wasn’t like this—a land where all four seasons are consumed by winter."

His words were strange to hear.

The North Sea I knew was a land of eternal snow and biting frost, regardless of the time of year.

"Once, spring was warm, summer was hot, and autumn was abundant, leading into a chilling winter. That was the North Sea of the past."

It was a place not so different from Zhongyuan.

That’s what the Palace Lord was telling me now.

But—

"That’s no longer the case."

All his descriptions were in the past tense, highlighting how drastically things had changed.

"Everything changed five hundred years ago, when the Ice Essence appeared in the North Sea."

"Five hundred years ago…"

That would have been around the time the Blood Demon wreaked havoc in Zhongyuan, when Shin Noya and his allies were waging war.

"At that time, a being who called himself the Dragon Emperor appeared in the North Sea and left two things behind."

Two things?

"Surely, the Dragon Emperor must have been the Blood Demon," I thought.

Based on what I knew, the Dragon Emperor described by the Palace Lord could only be the Blood Demon.

But still—

"The Dragon Emperor left something here? During that war?"

Why would he travel all the way to the North Sea during such chaos to leave anything behind?

Even if he did,

"Why? What was the purpose?"

The fragmented pieces of the story swirled in my mind. I needed more information to make sense of it all.

"Half was placed in the east, and half in the west. The Dragon Emperor stored what is now called the Ice Essence in these two locations."

Crack.

Frost fell from the Palace Lord’s cheek as he spoke.

"And he ordered the bloodline of the Ice Palace to guard it."

"Ordered?"

My brow furrowed.

"Are you saying you’ve been guarding the Ice Essence on his orders?"

"Indeed."

"…Why?"

Why would they follow such an order? The reasoning felt insufficient.

The Dragon Emperor left the Ice Essence.

Whether it was an egg or a heart was beside the point for now. I wanted to understand why the bloodline would guard it for so long.

"The reason…"

The Palace Lord paused before speaking again.

"Because we had to."

"What do you mean—"

"If we didn’t, the North Sea would be destroyed."

"…!?"

"That is the curse of our bloodline."

The North Sea would be destroyed if they didn’t protect it?

I listened closely as the Palace Lord continued.

"When the Dragon Emperor placed the Ice Essence in the North Sea, he spoke to the one guarding this land—our ancestor."

He took a deep breath.

[Guard and preserve it.]

[Until the ‘pureblood’ appears.]

At the mention of purebloods, I felt a slight tremor in my fingertips.

"His words became a shackle—a curse that bound us for centuries."

"I don’t understand. It was just words. How could they carry such power?"

"If it were just words, we could have refused."

Then…

"It wasn’t just words."

The Palace Lord raised a hand to touch his frost-covered cheek.

"The Dragon Emperor’s command came with a curse."

The frost-covered skin beneath his hand bristled with scales.

"A curse that slowly transforms the body into that of a dragon."

"…!"

It was familiar.

The same curse the Shadow King had spoken of—a curse that would turn the body into a dragon over generations, passing to one’s descendants until death.

The curse of the bloodline, they called it.

"The Blood Demon’s curse on the lineage of Yeonilcheon…"

Was it the same as what had been inflicted on the Palace Lord? Or was it something else?

"If the Ice Essence isn’t protected, you turn into a dragon. Is that it?"

The Palace Lord laughed bitterly at my question.

"If it were only that, it would have been far easier to bear. If it were that simple, it wouldn’t be so unbearably cold."

His laughter carried a heavy chill of despair.

"As I said before, the Ice Essence is the cause of the North Sea’s eternal winter."

The snow falling from the sky, the relentless frost blanketing the seasons—it was all because of the Ice Essence.

"But," he added,

"At the same time, it’s what protects the North Sea."

"…What?"

"To be precise, the Ice Essence beneath the palace is what shields the North Sea."

What was he saying?

The same Ice Essence that caused the eternal winter was also the force protecting the region?

Tap, tap.

My fingers drummed lightly against my waist.

Two Ice Essences.

One located here.
One situated in the Ice Palace.

If there were two, and one was actively suppressing something…

"Hmm."

"…Opposition?"

The Palace Lord reacted to my murmured thought.

"Interesting," he said with a faint smile.

So I was correct.

If one Ice Essence caused chaos while the other maintained balance, then—

"Are you saying one generates the extreme cold, and the other contains it?"

A dynamic of opposition, a delicate balance between the two.

That’s what the current state of the Ice Essences implied.

At my question, the Palace Lord nodded.

"Precisely."

"…Unbelievable," I thought to myself.

The situation was absurd—absolutely ridiculous. But I kept my thoughts to myself, refraining from any flippant remarks.

The Palace Lord wasn’t finished yet.

"One Ice Essence pulls in the cold." He gestured toward the one before us.

"That is the original."

"The original?"

"A personal observation," he said. "Shall I elaborate?"

"Please continue with what you were explaining first."

"Very well."

The detailed explanation could wait.

"I understand that the Ice Essence influences the North Sea’s weather," I said, acknowledging the broader context.

I didn’t bother questioning the mechanism. The process was likely too intricate to dissect at the moment. What mattered now was how this connected to me.

"So then, what exactly is this curse you mentioned?"

"As I said before, when the Dragon Emperor placed the Ice Essences, he cursed my ancestor," the Palace Lord said.

"A curse?"

"Yes. We call it the Curse of the Ice Essence."

The term triggered a memory.

Moyong Hee-ah’s illness.

A condition where frost invaded the body, freezing it from the inside. Yuri had brought me here precisely because of that curse.

And more importantly—

"The condition that has brought you to this state," I said.

The transformation.

A body barely human anymore, similar to the Shadow King’s, though visibly weaker.

The Shadow King had spoken of the immortality and strength granted by his draconic transformation. It was controlled through martial arts in his case, but the Palace Lord’s condition suggested it wasn’t always manageable.

"What kind of curse could cause this?" I asked.

What kind of effect compelled the bloodline to guard the Ice Essence and left the Palace Lord in such a state?

"When someone is born into the Ice Palace bloodline, they carry a seed within them."

"A seed?"

"Yes. A seed that can bloom at any moment."

A cryptic way of describing the illness, perhaps.

"So, by bloom, you mean it’s an affliction that can activate unpredictably?"

"Close. To be precise…"

The Palace Lord, who had been pointing at the Ice Essence, now gestured to himself.

"It blooms when one ascends to the position of Palace Lord."

"…!"

I widened my eyes in realization.

"Are you saying—?"

"The curse of the Ice Essence is exactly that. When one assumes the role of Palace Lord, the seed blooms, and the body begins to transform into that of a dragon."

"…"

I finally understood why the Palace Lord was in his current state.

The issue was—

"Is that the whole story?"

The answer seemed incomplete.

The seed bloomed, causing the body to transform. That was clear.

But—

"What’s the reason for the deterioration?"

The curse caused transformation, but how did that lead to weakness?

It didn’t add up.

"The Palace Lord of the Ice Palace should be a powerful figure."

Whether it was the current Palace Lord or a predecessor, records indicated they were formidable.

A past Palace Lord, for instance, had once fought the Sword Saint of Zhongyuan to a standstill—a legend in itself.

Even now, the weakened Palace Lord before me—

"Is still stronger than me."

By a significant margin, too.

So what caused this kind of degradation? It couldn’t simply be illness. That didn’t align with the explanations so far.

I mulled over everything I’d learned—from Zhongyuan to the North Sea—and pieced the fragments together.

Tap, tap, tap.

My fingers moved rhythmically as I thought.

"First."

When we anticipated the rebellion, the question arose:

"How could such a critical power center not foresee an uprising?"

Yuri’s answer had been:

[The bloodline must be preserved.]

The Ice Palace bloodline was indispensable. Yuri had insisted there was a reason they couldn’t betray it.

"Second."

The curse fully manifests when one becomes the Palace Lord.

The Palace Lord had said as much. That implied something inherent in the position itself.

The curse wasn’t just any curse; it was specifically tied to the Ice Essence.

And finally—

"Third."

The contradiction. The Ice Essence was the source of the extreme cold but also the force suppressing it.

And the Ice Essence containing the cold was located somewhere within the Ice Palace.

A handful of clues, and I needed to find the truth within them.

Tap.

My fingers stopped moving.

"The Ice Essence that suppresses the cold," I said, my voice steady.

"Is it maintained by the Palace Lord’s life force?"

"…!!"

The Palace Lord’s eyes widened, his expression betraying his astonishment.