Chapter 410: One Must Look Back More Often

TL: FoodieMonster007

Returning to their residence, Geom Mugeuk and Han Seol recounted the events of their meeting with Seo Nak to the Drunken Demon and Lee Ahn.

As Geom Mugeuk finished speaking, Han Seol addressed Lee Ahn. "It was a good decision to leave it to the Young Cult Leader instead of handling it ourselves."

She had thought Geom Mugeuk was deceiving them, but this incident had slightly changed her mind. Even if he wasn't a transcendent being, he certainly possessed extraordinary qualities.

Geom Mugeuk's playful gaze turned towards Lee Ahn. "A subordinate who pushes work onto their leader?"

"A good leader knows when to pretend not to notice."

"It's difficult, even for a leader, to suppress killing intent."

"The Young Cult Leader lives a difficult life, unlike other leaders who live easily."

Han Seol still found such conversations unfamiliar. She was certain that such a casual relationship with a subordinate would inevitably lead to significant side effects.

"Do you know who is closest to Elder Seo?" Geom Mugeuk asked.

Han Seol answered honestly. "The closest person to him is the Empress."

"Could you arrange a meeting with the Empress for tomorrow?"

"Certainly."

"However, I will go alone tomorrow."

"Why?"

Geom Mugeuk offered an unexpected reason. "Because in the presence of her child, she becomes a parent, not an Empress."

Han Seol believed Geom Mugeuk was still unaware of the Empress's relationship with her child.

"I don't think you need to worry about that."

"Because there are parental feelings that children can never truly know."

"How does the Young Cult Leader know a parent's heart? You aren't even married yet."

Geom Mugeuk was not one to be at a loss for words in response to such a question.

"When you have a father like mine as a parent, you naturally study parenthood diligently. What exactly is a parent!"

Geom Mugeuk saw the Drunken Demon chuckle at his words. Everyone feared and worried about his father, but perhaps not as much as the Drunken Demon. At least the misunderstanding that his father disliked him had been cleared, which was a relief.

Geom Mugeuk approached the Drunken Demon, who was drinking tea, and sniffed around him.

"Young Cult Leader, what are you doing?"

"I'm checking because tea doesn't quite suit the Drunken Demon. I'm wondering if there's alcohol in the teapot instead of tea." Geom Mugeuk poured tea into an empty teacup and drank it. "I feel a bit tipsy. Isn't this tea-flavored alcohol?"

"Drinking tea has become quite enjoyable."

"Still, you're holding back well, aren't you?"

"Don't you know? There's nothing as mysterious as the human body. My body is already adapting to tea as if I've never drunk so much alcohol."

"Not that. I mean, you're holding back well from just going and overturning everything."

The Drunken Demon drained his tea and said, "Yeah, but I can't hold on much longer."

Through his disheveled hair, the Drunken Demon's gaze was utterly cold.

Lee Ahn and Han Seol understood. The Drunken Demon wasn't holding back from alcohol, he was suppressing his rage.

Geom Mugeuk gazed out the window and spoke softly, "I'll drag them out soon. This place is too beautiful for villains to hide."

At that moment, he addressed the Drunken Demon as a brother, not as a Demon Supreme.

Everyone followed Geom Mugeuk's gaze, briefly looking out at the pristine white world beyond the window.

Knowing what kind of person the Blood King was, Geom Mugeuk briefly imagined that white world being covered in blood.

Still, I believe that everything will be fine.

Because that world would soon be covered again by pristine white snow.

The Ice Empress served me refreshments.

"It's my first time sitting with the successor of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult."

"It's an honor."

"Go on, drink."

When I drank the tea without hesitation, the Ice Empress gave me a surprised look. It was as if she was wondering why a Young Cult Leader would drink without checking for poison.

"Before you came, I studied you, even the unusual aspects."

"What kind of person am I?"

Staring intently at me, the Ice Empress replied, "That isn't a question that can be easily answered."

"You've observed well. I am not an easy person."

I said it like a joke, but the Ice Empress did not smile, as if she truly believed it.

"There's progress in the investigation?"

"Yes, that's why I visited Elder Seo yesterday."

"Are you suspecting Elder Seo?"

I slowly drank my tea, pausing for a moment. "What do you think, Empress?"

"That's preposterous."

"There are suspicious circumstances."

"Is that so?"

"Yet you remain calm?"

"Because it's impossible." The Ice Empress made no secret of trusting Seo Nak more than anyone else. "You still haven't properly answered my question."

It was a direct demand for my thoughts.

"I am suspicious."

"The reason?"

"It's just a feeling."

Because if the forces behind this were to threaten the Empress, they would need someone of Elder Seo's caliber.

"So, you have no direct evidence."

Geom Mugeuk acknowledged with a smile.

"Why would Elder Seo kill the Brewmaster?"

"I don't know either."

"He is not that kind of person."

She reiterated her conviction, but I sensed a hidden distrust within that belief. If she truly trusted Seo Nak, she would have halted the investigation immediately.

There was another reason she allowed me to stay in the Ice Palace and investigate the incident.

What is it you truly desire?

I sensed a secret hidden deep within her eyes, something more than just finding the culprit who killed the Brewmaster.

This time, I probed the Ice Empress's thoughts by mentioning the Northern Blood Sect.

"I believe the Northern Blood Sect is also involved in this matter."

Despite the mention of the Northern Blood Sect, she showed no particular agitation. "Did you expect that?"

"Because their second brother was entangled with you all."

"You know he died, don't you?"

Naturally, the Ice Empress knew. "They say he committed suicide due to the shock of being abducted this time."

"Do you believe that?"

She drank her tea instead of answering.

"What do you think of those who would even kill their own children for their desires?"

"I am also that kind of person. Someone for whom the Ice Palace is more important than my own child."

Her reply was both self-deprecating and provocative.

"It seems the information I got about the Empress was incorrect. The Empress I read about cherishes her daughter more than anyone else."

The Ice Empress stared intently at me, her gaze asking how I knew that.

I may not know other things, but I know for certain how much you love your daughter. Even if you haven't properly expressed it until now, and even if you seem unaware of your own feelings.

"Well, that's fine."

I brought up someone who was effective and well-received in any situation.

"Because my father is the same."

Indeed, the Ice Empress smiled faintly. She would know well what kind of person the Heavenly Demon of this era was.

And this was what I wanted to say.

"Both my father and you are mistaken."

At my unexpected words, the Ice Empress showed a hint of surprise. She likely hadn't expected me to say that not only she, but even the Heavenly Demon, was mistaken.

"In what way?"

I first said to her what I had always wanted to say to my father.

"I want to tell you not to live a life where, after sacrificing everything for your organization, you look back and find no one there."

"!"

"You lived your life running for those behind you. You only looked forward and ran. How could you do this? I'm talking about a life of such lament. You must look back. Far more often, far more than you think is enough. Cruelly, seven or eight times out of ten, you won't even realize you've looked back. Because they, too, must look behind them."

I bowed respectfully to her and rose from my seat.

"I want to tell you that it's time to look back at your daughter. Fortunately, it seems she's still standing behind you."

The next day, I visited the Ice Empress again.

"What brings you here today?"

"I came again today, wondering if I had been too rude yesterday."

"I told you to talk to my daughter, yet you've returned."

Fortunately, she didn't seem angry about yesterday's events. Her daughter's well-being was likely an important matter to her as well.

"You haven't called your daughter yet, have you?"

The Ice Empress could not answer. If she were someone who could immediately look back just because she was told to, she would have been living that way from the start.

"I know that such things don't happen easily with just one word."

"So? Does that mean you'll keep coming until it happens?"

"That is my intention."

"What is your reason for this?"

While I had their well-being in mind, there was also another reason. It was because of Seo Nak. He would be watching my meetings with the Ice Empress.

I met her yesterday, I met her today. What if I meet her again tomorrow?

Considering his obsessive personality, I suspect he sought a certain perfection and order even in human relationships.

The Demonic Cult's Young Cult Leader, who has clearly shown signs of suspecting him, meeting the Ice Empress every day? This would undoubtedly disrupt his order.

I needed to quickly find out what role he played in this matter. Was he merely a good-natured Elder with an obsession, or was he their pawn, or even the mastermind himself?

"What other reason could there be? I wish for the Princess's well-being. If it weren't for the Princess this time, I wouldn't even be here. I wouldn't be meeting the Empress so often either. Since you've studied me, you must know that I truly enjoy associating with prodigies. I'm even someone who dances with them."

No matter how hard you try to understand me, it won't be easy. Not as long as what you are certain is a lie is my truth.

"Have you ever felt lost?"

"……" The Ice Empress shook her head, her expression clearly showing her bewilderment. What is he trying to say now?

"I often do. It was like that yesterday, after I left the Empress. Who was I, to speak so presumptuously to the Empress? I had originally followed the Drunken Demon to the North Sea just to spend time with him." I bowed respectfully to her. "I apologize for my presumptuousness yesterday."

After silently gazing at me for a moment, she asked, "Did you say you were abstaining from alcohol?"

"Yes, an abstinence of loyalty."

"When does it end?"

I understood that she meant to invite me for a drink.

"Not far off," I said. Of course, I added a crucial remark, "If the Empress trusts me."

Seo Nak made his move that evening, the same day Geom Mugeuk had visited the Empress's palace for the third consecutive day.

"Welcome, Elder."

"I stopped by on my way."

From the time the Ice Empress was a Princess until now, Seo Nak had always been respectful towards her.

Seo Nak immediately stated the purpose of his visit. "I heard that you've been meeting frequently with the Demonic Cult's Young Cult Leader."

"He has visited me for three consecutive days."

Seo Nak cautiously inquired, "A Young Cult Leader wouldn't just make such moves without a hidden agenda. What did you perceive his true intentions to be?"

He used the phrase 'true intentions,' revealing his feelings about Geom Mugeuk.

"He told me to get along well with my daughter."

Seo Nak waited for her next words, thinking surely that couldn't be all.

"For three days, that was mostly what we talked about."

Seo Nak couldn't believe it.

Is the Empress deceiving me?

Such a thought was inevitable. Geom Mugeuk, in his dealings with him, had been remarkably shrewd for his age. Every probing word he uttered contained thorns and barbs.

Still, he had visited for three days just to tell her to get along with Han Seol? It was hard to believe.

"As you well know, Demonic Cultists are untrustworthy individuals."

"I don't trust them either."

If you don't trust them, why did you summon them?

Swallowing the words that had risen to his throat, Seo Nak said, "Regardless of the Young Cult Leader's true intentions, it would be best to send him away as soon as possible…" He then added with emphasis, "For the sake of the Ice Palace."

The Ice Empress then spoke softly, "You're saying 'for the sake of the Ice Palace' again."

Seo Nak flinched, about to ask what she meant, when the Ice Empress spoke first.

"You are right. It's not good for Demonic Cultists to stay long in the palace. I will tell the Young Cult Leader to resolve this incident within a set timeframe."

Although she readily agreed to his suggestion, Seo Nak noticed that the Ice Empress was different from usual. She was subtly, strangely different.

The Ice Empress had always stood at the distance and position she had set for herself. At that moment, he felt she was standing ever so slightly askew from her usual place.

"Yes. This is all for the good of the Ice Palace."

Seo Nak left those words behind and descended from the Empress's palace. As he walked down the stairs, he recalled the Ice Empress's words, 'You're saying 'for the sake of the Ice Palace' again.'

Again? Which time was she referring to?

It was a phrase he used habitually, so he couldn't pinpoint which instance she was referring to.

As he descended from the Empress's palace, Seo Nak encountered Geom Mugeuk at the entrance.

"Elder Seo?"

"Young Cult Leader."

The two exchanged greetings, facing each other.

"Are you leaving after seeing the Empress?"

"Indeed. And you?" Though he had revealed a side he didn't necessarily need to show, Seo Nak remained calm.

"I also came to see the Empress. If I had arrived a little earlier, we could have met her together. What a pity."

"I hear you've been visiting her frequently these days."

"Because opportunities to learn from the Empress's profound insights are rare."

"Then let's talk for a bit before you go."

"After seeing the Empress, I plan to go to the Northern Blood Sect."

At the mention of the Northern Blood Sect, Seo Nak, who had been turning away, halted his steps.

"Why the Northern Blood Sect?"

"They've lost their child, so their grief must be immense. I should go and offer my condolences."

"The Young Cult Leader is truly compassionate."

Seo Nak did not believe he was going to offer condolences.

He felt uneasy. Geom Mugeuk was moving about, disrupting his surroundings.

"Then I'll see you again next time."

As Geom Mugeuk bowed his upper body in a clasped hands greeting, Seo Nak saw a letter protruding from Geom Mugeuk's shirt pocket.

Could it be? Is that the letter that stated the Brewmaster gave me the Fragrant Snow Ice Wine?

Geom Mugeuk watched as the face that had always smiled kindly, regardless of the situation, hardened for the first time.

His order is starting to crumble.