Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 195

195. Sea of Stars

Un-hyun was speechless.

He didn’t know how to respond in this situation.

But the silence didn’t last long.

“Why did you tell me everything, Vice Palace Lord?”

“Who knows? Maybe I wanted to ease my conscience. Or perhaps it’s because I never want to become like someone else.”

A self-deprecating smile appeared on her lips as she spoke.

However, Un-hyun said,

“That’s not true.”

Looking at the Vice Palace Lord, Un-hyun continued,

“You are not someone who avoids responsibility. That’s why you told me everything. Even if I were to be angry, you would bear it all alone.”

Un-hyun’s eyes were shining.

“So, I trust your choice. A person who wants to fulfill their responsibility deserves respect.”

Suddenly, Un-hyun smiled.

“Or maybe it’s just shallow flattery to win the favor of a beautiful woman. Haha.”

It was a joke.

But the Vice Palace Lord didn’t laugh.

Swish.

The Vice Palace Lord’s hair gently fluttered in the North Sea wind.

Her eyes, looking at Un-hyun, shone more beautifully than the stars in the night sky.

“I see. So that’s how it is.”

The Vice Palace Lord said quietly.

“But those are really sweet words. So sweet that I can hardly believe them.”

Her voice carried a deep resonance.

Thanks to that, Un-hyun became restless.

He hadn’t imagined the Vice Palace Lord would react like this.

It was at that moment, when Un-hyun didn’t know what to do.

“Go into the Ice Emperor’s training chamber.”

The Vice Palace Lord said quietly.

“There is a Myriad Year Ice Crystal there. It’s a divine object that has been protecting this land since ancient times. You might be able to find out the real secret of the Setting Sun Sword there.”

The Vice Palace Lord could clearly see Un-hyun’s eyes sparkle instantly.

“Ah, but the training chamber…”

Watching someone else’s training is forbidden in the Jianghu [martial arts world] martial world.

It would be even more so in the Ice Emperor of the North Sea’s training chamber.

It was natural for Un-hyun to hesitate.

“It’s okay. If you ask the Ice Emperor, he will probably allow it. You are the Blue Wolf, after all.”

Although it felt uncomfortable to forcibly peek into someone else’s secrets, Un-hyun decided to talk to the Ice Emperor first.

The disappearance of the Setting Sun Sword Saint was still an important issue for Un-hyun.

“I understand. I’ll do as you say.”

Un-hyun expressed his gratitude to the Vice Palace Lord.

Then, something suddenly came to mind.

“Ah, and this sword…”

Un-hyun glanced down at the Myeong Sword hanging at his waist.

“Is there any legend or story associated with this sword?”

“Legend or story?”

The Vice Palace Lord also looked at Un-hyun’s Myeong Sword.

But soon, she shook her head.

“I don’t know? I’ve never heard of such a story. Was there something strange about it?”

“No, it’s nothing like that.”

Un-hyun tilted his head.

“But it feels unique somehow. It also feels strangely familiar…”

Feeling familiar with a sword he was seeing for the first time, it sounded strange even to himself.

As Un-hyun trailed off, the Vice Palace Lord shook her head.

“I don’t know. When the Ice Emperor gave it to me, he only said that it was a sword that had been passed down in the Ice Palace for generations.”

“The Ice Emperor gave it to you?”

Un-hyun’s eyes widened.

“Yes. I received it when I was a very young child.”

“No, to give something so precious…”

Un-hyun was utterly bewildered.

If the Ice Emperor gave it to the young Vice Palace Lord, how could its significance be small?

Even if it was a toy sword, it would still be precious.

“It’s okay.”

The Vice Palace Lord said calmly.

“It’s too much for me. I wouldn’t dare say it suits the Blue Wolf, but it’s also my own way of apologizing.”

‘Ah.’

Un-hyun realized it then.

She had given him the Myeong Sword after the Ice Queen had revealed Un-hyun’s identity.

The Vice Palace Lord, feeling responsible for being careless, had given Un-hyun the most precious sword to her.

It was her own way of apologizing and taking responsibility.

“No way.”

Un-hyun said with a firm expression.

“Then I can’t accept it even more. I…”

“No, please accept it.”

The Vice Palace Lord said with a quiet smile.

“And when you see that sword, please think of me. That’s enough for me.”

It was by no means a sweet whisper.

Rather, it sounded like the last words of someone who had given up everything.

So, Un-hyun couldn’t say anything more.

It was at that moment.

Swish.

Un-hyun turned around.

He felt someone’s presence.

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone is coming this way.”

Un-hyun replied, looking into the darkness.

If it were Dok-go-rang, he would know more details, but Un-hyun wasn’t very good at this kind of thing.

“First, let’s avoid this place…”

“It’s okay.”

The Vice Palace Lord said quietly.

“It must be someone who is coming to see me.”

“…Ah, I see.”

Un-hyun was inwardly embarrassed.

It was because he realized that he was greatly disappointed by her words.

Of course, there was no reason for the Vice Palace Lord to only meet with Un-hyun.

But why was the fact that this moment wasn’t just for the two of them so disappointing?

Step.

A person appeared from the darkness.

He also didn’t seem to have expected anyone else to be there, as his expression wasn’t good.

Un-hyun was puzzled.

‘Who is it?’

He was a young man with a strong impression.

He wore splendid clothes embroidered with silver thread, and nobility overflowed from every step he took.

Swish.

The young man was the first to pay his respects.

“It is an honor to meet the successor of the Sword Saint.”

He said in fluent Southern language.

His attitude was very polite, but his eyes were shining challengingly.

“I am the First Palace Lord of the Ice Palace.”

‘The First Palace Lord!’

Un-hyun remembered him then.

He was definitely someone who had been at the banquet.

Moreover, if he was the First Palace Lord, wasn’t he practically the crown prince in the Imperial Palace?

“Nice to meet you. I am Un-hyun.”

Un-hyun also paid his respects politely.

But the First Palace Lord’s gaze was still sharp.

Un-hyun also roughly guessed the reason.

‘He must be in a political rivalry with the Third Palace Lord.’

If so, it was natural for him to be uncomfortable with Un-hyun.

But the First Palace Lord wasn’t just uncomfortable.

“Would you mind leaving us alone for a while, as I have something to discuss with the Third Palace Lord?”

Un-hyun’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

The owner of this place isn’t the First Palace Lord.

Even if the two were siblings, perhaps half-siblings, it wasn’t something to say directly to a guest like Un-hyun.

It was clearly an eviction order filled with emotion.

Swish.

Un-hyun turned to the Vice Palace Lord.

“Are you okay with this?”

Un-hyun asked, feeling uneasy about leaving the two alone.

If the Vice Palace Lord wanted, he was willing to stay, even if he had to force himself.

However, the Vice Palace Lord said in a calm voice.

“Yes, it’s okay.”

Un-hyun couldn’t help but feel a little sad.

The moment a triumphant smile appeared on the First Palace Lord’s face, the Vice Palace Lord’s voice continued.

“As long as you remember my name, I’ll be okay.”

Un-hyun didn’t know what that meant.

But at that moment, the First Palace Lord’s handsome face was being brutally distorted.

Although Un-hyun didn’t see it.

“So, go now.”

“…I understand.”

Since even the Vice Palace Lord said so, there was no longer any justification for him to be here.

Un-hyun sighed quietly and paid his respects to the Vice Palace Lord.

And quietly turned around.

Step.

The Vice Palace Lord didn’t say anything until Un-hyun disappeared into the darkness.

And the First Palace Lord was also silently glaring in the direction Un-hyun had disappeared.

How long had they been standing there?

Tring.

The First Palace Lord turned his head at the sound of a soft pipa [a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument].

The Third Palace Lord, sitting on a rock, was playing the pipa while looking at the North Sea.

“…You called me to show me this?”

The First Palace Lord spat out the words.

“Who knows?”

The Third Palace Lord said, still looking at the North Sea.

“If you think so, then that’s probably it.”

It was a nonchalant tone, but the First Palace Lord didn’t think so.

There was no way the clever Third Palace Lord would have started this without any thought.

The First Palace Lord gritted his teeth.

“You’re not satisfied with just being the Ice Queen, after all.”

Tring.

A soft melody flowed out.

With a light smile, the Third Palace Lord said.

“The Ice Queen? What’s the point of a position where one’s life can be taken away at any time according to the Ice Emperor’s will?”

“Even if I promise that my Ice Queen will only be you?”

“Hehe.”

A small laugh escaped from between her red lips.

“Isn’t that something an older brother shouldn’t say to his younger sister?”

The Third Palace Lord and the First Palace Lord had different mothers.

It wasn’t just the Ice Queen for the Ice Emperor.

Still, the two were still half-siblings.

“Ha!”

The First Palace Lord let out a sneer.

“You already suspect that you’re not Father’s biological daughter, don’t you?”

That rumor had been circulating in the Ice Palace for a long time.

It was that the Third Palace Lord wasn’t the Ice Emperor’s biological daughter.

How much had the young her cried and wandered because of that rumor?

“Is that so?”

With a slender smile, the Third Palace Lord said.

“But I’m not foolish enough to sincerely believe such nonsense.”

As with all rumors, there was no evidence.

Rather, according to official records, the Ice Queen had never even left the Ice Palace when she was pregnant with the Third Palace Lord.

But the rumor was still alive, haunting the Ice Palace like a ghost.

The reason was only one.

“If it’s the Ice Queen, it’s different.”

The First Palace Lord said with a cold gaze.

“She’s a woman who can deceive the North Sea, no, the entire world.”

A woman who had once mediated the reconciliation between the Sword Saint and the Ice Emperor and calmed the bloodshed of the North Sea.

The best in the North Sea, the Ice Queen of the Ice Palace, and sometimes the hidden power who is said to move even the Ice Emperor at will.

So, the suspicion didn’t disappear.

Just as there was no evidence that it was true, there was no way to prove that it wasn’t.

“Even so, the Ice Emperor is the only Father to me.”

The only person who gave the young her faith was the Ice Emperor.

The Ice Emperor had never said a word of doubt, and without the slightest hesitation, he had given her the position of Vice Palace Lord.

That was the only comfort that supported the Third Palace Lord.

Even though she was shaken from time to time by her mother, the Ice Queen.

“So, unfortunately, I can’t be your Ice Queen, Older Brother.”

Tring.

As if telling her heart, the unwavering melody of the pipa fluttered on the night wind of the North Sea.

“You will regret it.”

The First Palace Lord said, gritting his teeth.

A sneer appeared on the Third Palace Lord’s lips.

“You sound like you’re going to kill me. Older Brother.”

“Who knows? But I can say one thing for sure.”

The First Palace Lord said with a blazing gaze.

“If the one who knows your name isn’t me, he will surely die.”

Gritting his teeth.

“Watching the death of the one you have chosen. That is your destiny.”

“Hehe.”

The Third Palace Lord laughed.

Tring.

The melody of the pipa stopped.

Turning to the First Palace Lord, the Third Palace Lord said.

“If that happens, I will gladly embrace death as well. Together with the one I have chosen, the one who knows my name.”

The Third Palace Lord’s eyes were cold.

Not a single piece of warmth could be found in her eyes.

Swish.

The Third Palace Lord’s hair fluttered in the night wind of the North Sea.

“There’s a pleasant breeze blowing today.”

The Third Palace Lord swept her hair up and turned her head towards the North Sea.

The vast North Sea, sparkling under the blue moonlight, was like an endlessly 펼쳐진 [unfolded] sea of stars.

“I want to be alone, so please go back.”

It was a quiet but firm eviction order.

Before even hearing a reply, the Third Palace Lord had already placed her hand on the strings of the pipa.

Tring.

The silver plectrum sparkled beautifully at her fingertips.

“If you were trying to make me angry.”

The First Palace Lord said, gritting his teeth.

His eyes were blazing like a fire in the darkness.

“You have succeeded. To an excessive degree.”

But the Third Palace Lord didn’t say anything.

The First Palace Lord turned his body.

Swish.

The sound of the North Sea waves was heard between the night wind, and the Third Palace Lord’s pipa flowed with melody.

But the First Palace Lord couldn’t hear anything.

Step, step.

The First Palace Lord’s face, taking steps into the darkness, was brutally distorted.