Chapter 13

TL: pineapples

ED: sid

****

“Young Miss, you’ve been playing with that for the past few weeks now”

I’m not playing with it. It’s just that this thing won’t listen to me.

“You have to sleep now. You can play with that tomorrow.”

Really, I’m not playing with it. But I laid down on the mattress obediently.

“Got it. Nanny, sleep well.”

“Sweet dreams, Young Miss.”

Seoyoung quietly left after turning off the lights.

I dove under the sheets.  Waiting until the footsteps receded, I suddenly sat up.  I flicked at the twig which was near the bed with my finger.

“Baekha, are you really not going to listen to me?”

I had named the branch Baekha and had been experimenting with it for the last month. Even though I didn’t know anything else about it, the results confirmed one thing.

This thing was a pervert.

Though unbelievable, it was the truth. I was even sure that this thing was not just a pervert, but a sadistic pervert. From the very beginning, the old grandpa’s advice to let go if you wanted to stop giving it energy wasn’t feasible.

Once I started feeding it power, I couldn’t let go of the branch. Like it had stuck to me like glue. The branch took my energy to its heart’s content until I begged it to stop. I yelled at it and threatened to burn it up, but none of my methods worked. It only listened when I begged.

It looked like the branch enjoyed it when I begged. This thing even blocked off where I slept. I was sure that I had left it at my feet before I went to bed. But I wondered how it ended up on my pillow when I woke up. This was an obvious provocation and the challenge to authority was clear.

I glared at Baekha. Do you think of me, your owner, as nothing?

What did the old grandpa say? Don’t pamper it.

Since I practiced everyday, my powers had increased. So I resolved to discipline this guy right

now.

“Fine, if you like stuffing your face like that, I’ll feed you until you throw up.”

Grabbing Baekha, I began to feed it energy. As the cold energy entered violently, the branches turned white. At the same time, the ambient temperature dropped significantly. Time passed.

The usual amount of energy I normally gave it had been exceeded long ago. Nevertheless, this pervert continued to be obstinate. A cold sweat began to flow from my forehead. I felt empty like I had a small hole somewhere in my lower stomach. I soon became dizzy and thought that I would faint.

‘Oh?’

It was then. The energy which had been flowing in like a sponge absorbing water gradually stopped. Then the energy began to pour out.

‘Hehe, you must be full?’

Concentrating, I pushed out all the remaining I had.

When the Baekha vomited the energy out, I absorbed it again and forced it back inside him. After a long tussle, I felt something for sure. It was the fact that Baekha had submitted to me.

If it had endured a bit longer, I would have lost. But I won.

“Hmmph! If you don’t listen to me, I’ll beat you up… huk, huk!”

A white fog exited my lips. My dantian was empty and I couldn’t even speak. My hands and feet were cold and my sweat turned into small beads of ice and fell down.

“I’m.. not tired… I’m just a little…sleepy.”

I dropped my head. In the rapidly blurring view, I saw a flower at the end of Baekha.

The flowers were in full bloom.

* * * *

Baekha’s flowers had bloomed beautifully. A moment later, an ice flower that gave out a transparent light, fell.

“Woo-.”

I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

I figured out that once Baekha absorbed a lot of cold energy, a flower would bloom. But that wasn’t the end.

If I kept feeding more cold energy to Baekha, an ice flower would form above the regular flower. Neatly separated as well.

The ice flowers gave off a transparent and ecstatic glow, like diamonds.

It was cold enough that I could feel the cold when I went near it, but it did not melt when I touched it by hand. And as to how hard it was… I hit it with a stone, but it didn’t scratch it.

These were the 10,000 Flowers that the grandpa had mentioned. It’s true that they were worth more than any treasure.

I love you, nameless grandpa. I hope you live a long life.

So whenever I had a chance, I made ice flowers and kept them.

The more energy it was fed, the more ice flowers bloomed. So my dantian was often empty these days.Whenever my dantian was empty, I felt dizzy and cold. But at the same time I felt proud when I thought about the future.

“Hehehe.”

“Young Miss?”

I must have laughed evilly. Seoyoung looked at me curiously. I wiped that expression off my face and put a bag full of ice flowers in my arms.

“Where is the sogyoju?”

Not long ago, I had to persistently ask Seoryoung why my eyes had changed color and why I had powers.

Eventually, Seo-ryeong told me the truth, beseeching me to not tell anyone.Aku Ryun had fed me some live-saving oil.

‘How ridiculous’ I thought when I heard it. The life-saving oil was a magical treasure that only the sogyoju was only allowed to have.

The reason why Aku Ryun was able to quickly rise to his ultra-high rank and escape the magyo was all thanks to the transformation caused by the life-saving oil. TL note: I assume the MC is referring to what is supposed to happen in the novel

Why did he do this then?

Why did he let me, daughter of his enemy, live? Even giving up such an important thing.

Carrying an unbearable debt, my stomach felt heavy. A heavy breath left my mouth.

“Sogyoju is in closed-door training.”

“Again? He went into closed-door training again?”

“It’s not that he went into seclusion again. It’s more like he doesn’t come out anymore.”

This was all because he had given me live-saving oil. Since he missed out on a very important medicine, he had to train hard.

Clicking my tongue silently, I casually asked.

“I have a question. How does he eat in there? Does someone bring meals for him?”

“No. He eats those food pills.”

Those pills were like raw food. It was like giving raw rice to a growing child.

In fact, the original work began when Aku Ryun was twenty, so his past was only mentioned in passing. So it was a shock to me since I didn’t know what he had been through.

‘Isn’t this abuse?’

The reason why he was so obsessed with training was to build up his strength, but his position as a sogyoju was also a big reason.

If he didn’t meet the expectations set for him, it’s likely that he would be removed. Right now he was trying hard. Trying to survive until he could escape.

“Who guards the closed-door training area?”

“Nobody.”

“Why? What if you come out in the middle?”

“That’s part of the training, too: enduring the desire to quit. There isn’t a soldier that starts closed-door training half heartedly.”

“Then anybody could enter?”

“It’s possible, but there haven’t been any incidents regarding that. Since it interferes with training…”

Seoyoung’s expression, who had been answering steadily, quickly changed.

“Bu…but… why are you asking me that?”

Not saying anything, I giggled.

* * * *

“Young Miss, you really can’t do this. If you get caught…”

“I’m just going in for a moment, who’s going to catch me? There’s no one watching.”

The closed-door training hall was a cave in a bamboo forest behind Cheonma Palace. It was dark even during broad daylight. Maybe because it was gloomy, but I didn’t bump into anyone on my way here.

I reached out my hand out to the door with the word “gold” inscribed on it.

“Give me the bag.”

“… are you really leaving as soon as possible?”

“Yup, I’m only giving him this and leaving. Don’t worry.”

“Please leave quickly. Don’t go too deep inside because of your curiosity.”

The closed-door training center uses part of a huge underground cave that spans a mountain and the inside was tangled like a spider’s web. I heard that since there was an incident in the past when someone went missing after entering a cave to explore, clear boundaries were set inside the cave.

But thankfully, I wasn’t curious at all about what was inside the cave.

“I’ll be out quickly. If you are that worried, do you want to come inside as well?”

“Low-class people like me are not allowed to enter the training camp. That’s why I’m worried. If not, why would I be like this?”

“You don’t trust me?”

“Ye…no.”

“What is that fifty-fifty answer?”

When I glared at her, Seoyoung gave me the bag with a prickly expression.

Kkiiig-.

The hinges rustled, and cried out with a chilling sound. As I entered the cave with a frown, the smell of moss permeated my nose. I could hear the sound of water dripping from somewhere.

It was not as dark as I thought it would be because of the torches, but it was stuffy and humid. I had been here only for a second, but I felt like I was suffocating. It was like I was trapped in a small box.

How many months does Aku Ryun last in a place like this where I don’t even want to stay for a second?

“How awful.”

I inched into the cave. Even though I only took a few steps in, I felt claustrophobic. I barged straight ahead without looking back in case I chickened out and wanted to go back.

How long did I walk?

“Who’s there?”