By Zephyria 
Eumbyeol Hall was situated in the most secluded area of the Ice Palace.
Located at the northeastern edge, far from the dignified main palace, Eumbyeol Hall looked impoverished just by glancing at it. Icicles hung from the eaves like bars, and frost clung heavily to the doorframes, as if eyeing the interior for any chance to seep in.
Eumbyeol Hall
The plaque, with its characters carved into old wood by a sword, was somewhat clumsy. However, Mu-gyeong recognized that handwriting well.
The rounded strokes that weren’t sharp, and the pure handwriting without a single jagged edge—as if the writer had never experienced the hardships of the world—belonged to Ho-yeon.
On the clothesline in the backyard, quilted clothes hung in a row. Though the living conditions were poor, it seemed they had paid considerable attention to the children’s protection against the cold. Mu-gyeong passed under the rounded plaque and stood before the door of the residence.
“I hate this. I don’t want you touching me like this.”
Cradled in Mu-gyeong’s arms, Ho-yeon muttered his dislike several times. Leading the way, Soho opened the door with a beaming smile, oblivious to the complaints.
“My Lord, Uncle, please come inside.”
Standing with his back to the door to block the way, Soho smiled so widely that his cheeks puffed up. In his heart, Ho-yeon wanted to violently push Mu-gyeong away and shower him with abuse, calling him a reckless Demon Sect Leader, but he couldn’t show such a rough side in front of the children. Thus, he merely poured out words of denial, loud enough only for Mu-gyeong to hear.
As Mu-gyeong stepped into Eumbyeol Hall, a faint impression flickered across his expressionless face. It was because a girl and two boys rushed out toward them instantly.
One child wailed, asking if he was sick while looking at Ho-yeon in Mu-gyeong’s arms; another sobbed sorrowfully, asking where he had been and why he had only just returned. Only the girl, who seemed the most mature among them, resolutely held back her tears.
“What a tear-jerking reunion.”
At the overly calm tone, blue will-o’-the-wisps seemed to flicker in Ho-yeon’s eyes.
“Put me down. The children think I’m sick.”
“Aren’t you sick, though?”
Who was the one who made me sick…! It was excessively unfair, but since he couldn’t fight in front of the children, Ho-yeon only breathed heavily in frustration.
“Just go back to the Demon Sect.”
The order to leave was now Ho-yeon’s turn to give. Ho-yeon was at least more confident here than when he had been a mere dependent in the Demon Sect. Though he had suffered for a long time trapped in a cave, the North Sea was the land where he was born and raised.
The anger that had nowhere to go—because he couldn’t personally purge the forces of the previous Palace Master who had caused pain to him and his dependents—had gradually dissipated while he lived here caring for the children.
This place was Ho-yeon’s sanctuary. He did not want to let Mu-gyeong into a place that was no different from his most private inner sanctum. However, without a word of response, Mu-gyeong laid Ho-yeon down on the largest bed available. Because his posture shifted, Ho-yeon struggled to suppress a groan that threatened to leak out.
The youngest, who had been sobbing loudly, trotted over, grabbed Ho-yeon’s collar with one hand, and put the other hand in his mouth, sucking on it. Ho-yeon tried to sit up to embrace the youngest, who was squeezing out every tear and snot, but Mu-gyeong pressed down on his chest.
His hand was so large that it completely covered Ho-yeon’s chest. It seemed as though he wasn’t using much strength, but to the one being pressed, it felt as if a nail were being driven in. Moreover, the area where his nipple was felt a tingling sensation.
“Take your hand off.”
Ho-yeon glared at him, putting all his strength into his drooping eyes. Then, because of the youngest who looked up with puzzled, teary eyes, he couldn’t say more and simply bit his lip.
“Uncle, may I introduce the children of our Eumbyeol Hall to the Lord?”
Hidden by Mu-gyeong’s body and unable to see Ho-yeon’s reaction, Soho chattered excitedly. Telling him to move quickly, Ho-yeon gripped Mu-gyeong’s forearm with the hand that wasn’t being held by the youngest.
Twitch. At the insignificant strength of the grip, the muscles in Mu-gyeong’s forearm stiffened. At that, Ho-yeon observed Mu-gyeong with wariness, fearing he might use force to suppress him further.
The trust that had filled his gaze when looking at this young master of the Demonic Shadow Martial House, and the affectionate look he couldn’t hide even after learning he was the Sect Leader, were nowhere to be found.
Cheon Mu-gyeong spoke while taking Ho-yeon’s hostility-filled gaze head-on.
“Eat first.”
“Once you leave.”
“Then I suppose you’ll have to starve.”
Mu-gyeong released his hold on the flabbergasted Ho-yeon and turned to look down at Soho.
Soho, who had confidently said he would introduce the children, gulped. Facing the Lord directly, his whole body froze and his breath hitched. The sudden surge of fear reminded him of the moment he encountered an avalanche while climbing the Eternal Snow Mountains, driven by hunger to dig up anything edible. The pressure emanating from Mu-gyeong was that formidable.
The Ice Palace, the center of the North Sea, was garrisoned with numerous experts. Soho was oblivious and quite bold, so he was never intimidated even in front of masters of sound-based attacks. But no matter how oblivious one is, how could they not be afraid when a tiger is right before their eyes?
Instinctively, Soho guessed that the Lord before him was the most superior among all the experts he had ever seen.
“Soho, you don’t have to introduce them.”
Ho-yeon, who had managed to sit up and lean his back against the bed wall, spoke while holding the youngest.
“He’s someone who will be leaving soon.”
Ho-yeon seemed determined to brainwash them, given how many times he repeated that the man would be leaving soon.
“Still…”
Soho was instead intimidated by Ho-yeon’s cold tone.
“I suppose the Ice Palace teaches children to treat guests poorly.”
At the indifferent tone, Ho-yeon listed the names without any inflection.
“Ha-dong, Geum-hyeon, Hee-un.”
Having quickly introduced the children from the youngest up, Ho-yeon omitted Soho’s introduction as if he were already known. His expression was full of the hope that now that the introductions were done, the man would please leave.
“My Lord, I am Soho. I am the second oldest after Sister Hee-un. Ah, Uncle Ho-yeon isn’t our biological uncle; we call him Uncle because he told us to. At first, I tried to call him ‘Brother,’ but he adamantly refused, saying he wasn’t at an age to be called that without a conscience.”
As expected, the oblivious Soho seemed frightened of Mu-gyeong for a moment, but soon began to chatter away in great detail.
“We were very worried.”
Hee-un, who had finally held back her tears, spoke softly.
“Seeing how much weight you’ve lost, you must have suffered greatly, right?”
The children did not know that Ho-yeon had been taken as a hostage to the Demon Sect. They only knew that he had gone somewhere for a while by the Palace Master’s order.
“Suffered? Not at all. I just became like this because the food in a foreign land didn’t suit my taste, so I was picky.”
Mu-gyeong gazed blankly at Ho-yeon, who was smiling with a softness that seemed to melt.
Because he couldn’t digest a lot of food at once, he usually ate in small portions, but he had eaten reasonably well, so it wasn’t that the food of the Demon Sect didn’t suit his taste. The only things Ho-yeon clearly disliked were fasting pills and animal heads. He had simply withered away moment by moment because he couldn’t eat properly while traveling from the Demon Sect through the lands of foreign tribes.
“Tell them to bring porridge.”
Mu-gyeong acted as if he were giving an order to Soho. His commanding tone was so natural that for a moment, Soho almost prostrated himself to accept the order.
“Don’t give orders to my children.”
Unless his courage had truly grown to an absurd degree. Mu-gyeong fixed his black eyes on Ho-yeon. At a glance, it was an impassive gaze, but to Ho-yeon, it felt as if he were contemplating how to crush and burn this place.
Though he had snapped at him repeatedly out of anger, Ho-yeon also knew he shouldn’t cross the line too far.
“My children aren’t your followers.”
It was a small voice, as if crawling. At the word ‘followers,’ Hee-un glanced at Mu-gyeong. Unlike Soho, who had gone to get the porridge, Hee-un was quite quick-witted.
According to rumors, the Demon Sect had demanded that the Ice Palace hand over someone with an extreme yin constitution. Because of that, Ho-yeon had headed toward the Demon Sect by the Palace Master’s order. However, Hee-un had regarded it as mere rumor. This was because Ho-yeon did not have an extreme yin constitution.
And yet, followers…
“But why is that person here?”
Hee-un asked while half-forcibly taking the youngest, who refused to leave Ho-yeon’s arms. Since the man was clearly no ordinary person, Hee-un was very cautious.
“He’s someone who acted as my hands and feet for a while because I wasn’t feeling well. He’ll be leaving soon.”
He repeated that the man would be leaving soon so many times that it seemed he was trying to indoctrinate them.