Chapter 9

***

There was a commotion around me.

Though my mind spun and my entire body was in agony, I couldn’t even moan in pain.

“This is crazy! How did she hit her in this spot, even a trained assassin would have a hard time hitting that place with her tiny body here?!”

“Oh, how could this be…. her whole body is covered in bruises.”

No wonder I was cold. Someone must have stripped off my bloodstained clothes and my red bruises must have been visible. I wanted to cover myself from shame, but I couldn’t even lift a hand.

“Get it together! Is this the time to do that? Quickly take a look at Young Miss’ injuries.”

“Yes, I understand…”

A large hand grabbed my wrist.

“This…won’t do! If it continues like this, she’s going to fall into magic shock!”

“You! Are you insane? What powers does the Young Miss have to go into magic shock?”

“How can I know? But I’m sure Young Miss’ body has abilities! See for yourself if you don’t believe me!”

“Give me her wrist… no?! How did this happen? Where did she get so much power from?”

The voices of strangers awakened my faint consciousness.

I don’t have any abilities. I didn’t even train in martial arts, so how did I gain powers? Idiots.

“Quiet.”

I heard Cheonma’s voice.

The shouting that was coming and going was suddenly cut off.

“The bruises…”

Cheonma’s words stopped. I felt a warm hand stroking my skin. Feeling a throbbing sensation, I could tell the hand was touching my bruises.

“How old are the bruises?”

“Some of the bruises are very old and are starting to heal but there are some that have appeared quite recently. There’s also evidence that she went through a long period of exposure to ice… and I’m sure it’s not just for a day or two.”

“Oh! Maybe the Young Miss was acting weirdly because she was exposed to the ice magic?”

“That’s right! Now I understand! We didn’t realise it back then… damn it!”

I heard Cheonma’s voice again.

“Explain what happened to the child.”

“Well… I think it was around two years ago, she started to enjoy sunflowers. She sat still in direct sunlight. Even in the middle of summer, she was wearing winter clothes. Just in case, we had the Young Miss’ body  checked out for any health problems, but I didn’t expect any of this because he said that nothing was wrong.”

“Who checked her?”

“Sogyoju did so.”

“Summon him. Then…”

Suddenly, the air became so heavy that I felt a chill on my back.

“Cut the remaining limbs of Bing Eun-seol.”

After hearing those words, I lost consciousness.

——————————————————————————————–

“You summoned me, Master”

Cheonma steadily looked down upon the prostrating Aku Ryun.

As soon as Aku Ryun finished his closed-doors training, he visited him and said:

“Young Miss is in danger”

Cheonma didn’t even ask what he meant. But that was the only reason why he went to see the child.

The child’s palace had changed a lot since the last time he visited. The old lively and bright atmosphere had disappeared. It now gave off a gloomy, secretive vibe. Even The servants had been changed.

That day he remembered some of the faces guarding the child’s room. They were from Bing Eun-seol’s palace.

Cheonma raised his finger and put it on his lips.

“Shh…”

“…!”

Once the servants saw Cheonma, they fell to the floor. The roar of ice magic from inside the room could be heard.

“Idiot girl! Why can you only talk like that?  If I had known you were going to be an idiot like this, I would have never given birth to you!”

“Why hit! Why hit! Hate you! Hate! Hate!”

“Ah, Young Miss, what’s happening! Madam, the Young Miss’ condition is strange! The medical staff! Please call the medical staff!”

Hearing the nanny’s voice, his heart fell.

He lost his composure for a moment and almost lost control of his dark magic.

Once he regained his composure, he realized that he had been choking the servant. Cheonma threw the servant inside the room and opened a path for himself.

Inside the room was a mess. Bing Eun-seol, who was so thorough in self-management, looked like a madwoman and at her feet his child was on the floor, bleeding.

At that moment, Cheonma had to use all his patience to not lose his reason completely. If he let go of his reason, he would have lost control of his dark arts. That would be dangerous to the child.

The child would have died if he had been a little late. And it was Aku Ryun who had told him about this.

How did he know? No, since when did he know?

Cheonma opened his mouth.

“I know you have a honest and pure power that will not let you inherit dark arts”

Aku Ryun raised his head.

Ever since he was born, he had possessed white magic. At first he didn’t even know what it was. He just thought it was a power to make his body lighter and faster. Then he began to train properly after he was kidnapped by Magyo.

Realizing martial arts and abilities were real, he developed his strength very carefully. But he was surprised that Chunma already knew about his situation. What was more surprising to Aku Ryun was that Cheonma knew about this and didn’t kill him.

Cheonma continued.

“Save the child.”

The child needed white magic. Not the evil powers of Cheonma. It would only be poisonous to the child if he treated her with his dark magic.

“Save the child. Then I will ignore what happened here.”

If he saved the child, Cheonma would lay to rest the sins he committed: hiding his white magic and hiding the fact that the child was being abused.

On the other hand, he would be held accountable if he failed to save the child.

Honestly, Aku Ryun didn’t care if Cheonma revealed his secret. He had always expected that much and prepared a contingency plan.

But…

“Sowwy don’t. No ouchie (Sorry, don’t do it. I’m fine, I’m not hurt.)”

Aku Ryun began to reminisce about those times during closed-door training. Everyday, the child had smiled beautifully at him. Remembering that, he couldn’t concentrate.

Let alone her being hurt, he was looking at the stupid kid that was reassuring him that she was fine.

Thinking he was the only one trapped in hell, he felt so disgusted with himself for ignoring such a child.

Should he tell them the truth? No, it’s not good to be involved with the child anymore.

He had wasted time by worrying uselessly. He shouldn’t have done that…

Aku Ryun closed his eyes and then opened them.

“We need to open her blood channels. Give me permission use the life-saving oil”

TL: 공청석유 which literally translates to public oil. Will localize this to a life-saving oil.

Legends said that one drop of the life-saving oil would cause a transformation and a rebound in circulation.

If a child who was going through magic backlash took this oil, the blood vessels would be pierced. If the child did well, she could encounter a transformation.

If they helped her body absorb energy well, the child would become the youngest master in Murim’s history in about a month.

Of course, just because you have powers, it doesn’t mean you will be good at martial arts.

The problem was that the life-saving oil was a magic treasure for magyos.

It was not necessary for Chunma, who had crossed the line of needing it long ago, but it was necessary for Aku Ryun.

If left alone, it would have been lying unused in his possession, instead it was used for the child.

Cheonma gently raised his mouth for the first time.

“I give permission.”

Aku Ryun lowered his head.

“Thank you”

Now the debt with Chun Lihua was cleared.

——————————————————————————————–

It was so cold that I trembled. I wanted to bring a blanket and cover myself, but I couldn’t move.

Warm hands touched my cold face. From that, I felt that I could live.

I rubbed my cheeks against the hands.

Then, the hands, which seemed to pause there for a while, were removed from my face.

‘No!’

I held on to the hands desperately. Without this, I felt like I was going to freeze to death. I clasped on the fingers tightly and opened my heavy eyelids. Everything looked hazy. I blinked several times, but my vision did not brighten. Cold tears trickled down my temple. It was so cold that I was shaking, but someone covered my eyes with their hands.

“Go to sleep.”

It was Cheonma’s voice. I burst into tears.

“Dadda…Dadda… cold”

My teeth chattered so I couldn’t speak properly.

Cheonma said in a subdued voice.

“Hold on a little. Ryun is getting ready now, so you won’t be sick when you wake up.”

What is he preparing?

I like that kind of thing. Cheonma wasn’t one to lie. As he said, it won’t hurt if I go to sleep and wake up.

“Dadda. I’m scared… hold hand until sleepie”

Behaving like a spoiled child, I grabbed onto his pinky.

“You can’t.”

He easily removed his pinky from my grasp.

“Dadda…”

I started crying again. Why won’t he give me his hand?

“My fault… don’t hate me. Please.”

I was crying like a fountain, but Cheonma wiped away my tears.

“You have done nothing wrong. I don’t even hate you. It’s just that my hands are too dirty for you to touch.”