Seolhwa blinked awake.

The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was the snake’s round head.

Looking up at her from above her brow, its small black pupils looked like beans, she thought.

Just then, the snake’s tail slapped—over Seolhwa’s eyes.

The tip of the tail tapped her forehead—tok, tok—and then the snake slid off somewhere and vanished.

Presently the door eased open and the murmur of two people talking drifted in.

“This surpasses mere suggestion. I’ve never seen the like. In some ways it resembles an Interdiction, but it isn’t a forcible seal.”

“Then what should we do?”

“For now, there’s nothing to be done. I’m a physician, not a martial artist. Forcing her to recall is unwise. She could tumble into deviation. You said she reacted to the clan’s name?”

“That’s right.”

“Then avoid speaking that name if you can. What matters is that she shatter that wall herself.”

“...For now... understood.”

A sigh and the talk ended.

The two who came farther into the room halted in surprise.

At some point, ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) Seolhwa had awakened and was sitting up on the bed.

‘One is the one I saw before I blacked out, and the other....’

Seolhwa turned her gaze to the one she was seeing for the first time.

He seemed blind, yet his movements weren’t hindered; there was a peculiar aura about him.

Her read was right.

One was Jegal Myeong, and the other was his close friend, the Hundred Medicines Master—the “Immortal Physician.”

Word among the masses called her a divine healer.

Jegal Myeong and the Immortal Physician, briefly startled to find Seolhwa awake, came to her side.

“When did you wake, my lord? You didn’t summon us.”

“Just now. How long was I out?”

“About two days. Ah—this is the Hundred Medicines Master. A physician.”

Seolhwa dipped her head.

“And I am Jegal Myeong. As you see, I serve you as my lord.”

Because Seolhwa had collapsed so suddenly, she hadn’t heard introductions; Jegal Myeong offered his belatedly.

“The one who came with me stepped out on business a moment. She’ll soon return.”

“Who is she?”

“The Hao Sect Lord. While you were absent, she has overseen the Sado Union’s work.”

I see.

Seolhwa murmured softly.

“May I examine you for a moment?”

When Seolhwa nodded, the Immortal Physician came closer and took her pulse.

Seolhwa felt that peculiar aura she’d sensed from the woman sweep through her entire body.

In the meantime, Jegal Myeong fetched a chair and sat by the bed.

“Is there anything you wish to know? I will answer truthfully to anything.”

“Is the Sado Union made of bandits?”

“No.”

At Jegal Myeong’s firm reply, Seolhwa felt inward relief.

So—not bandits.

I wasn’t a bandit.

“It is an alliance of Black Path forces in the Central Plains.”

“...”

“In truth, you could call it the leadership seat of the Black Path. It is what you, my lord, brought into being.”

Seolhwa’s lips parted slightly.

Not bandits, yet a reply worse than bandits had come back.

Black Path meant bad people, didn’t it?

And the head of those bad people was the Sado Union—and the head of the Sado Union was...

‘...Not great.’

Before I lost my memories—why did I live like that...?

“Though it is a coalition of Black Path forces, you may consider that, in practice, it suppresses their rampages. Because the Sado Union exists, the Central Plains are as peaceful as can be.”

At Jegal Myeong’s next words, Seolhwa’s expression brightened a shade.

‘Maybe it wasn’t such a rotten life.’

Watching that reaction up close, Jegal Myeong was quietly taken aback.

‘My lord never used to show emotions openly.’

The woman before him looked like an ordinary young woman.

Was this her original self?

“...Anything else you wish to ask?”

Seolhwa glanced once at the physician taking her pulse.

Then, faintly knitting her brows, she asked Jegal Myeong,

“You said—Namgoong...?”

The Immortal Physician and Jegal Myeong both started.

The force suppressing Seolhwa’s mind flared whenever the Namgoong Clan was involved.

A vast, unknown power that suppressed precisely the memories connected to the Namgoong Clan and nothing else.

By the Immortal Physician’s judgment, that power could not be broken from without; it was a shackle only Seolhwa herself could break.

Because of that, none of them had been able to broach the subject of the Namgoong Clan with her—yet here she was, asking so soon herself.

With a slightly flushed face, Jegal Myeong nodded.

“Yes. When I spoke that name, you lost consciousness.”

The Immortal Physician, still on Seolhwa’s pulse, spoke.

“Do not push yourself.”

From the instant she uttered “Namgoong,” Seolhwa’s blood channels had begun to roil.

She felt the headache surge over her again, but gritted through it and asked,

“Is that the memory I need to recall?”

Pain plain even at a glance—

Pitying her, yet answering squarely, Jegal Myeong said,

“It is.”

“What— is Namgoong?”

“The place you must return to. Your clan.”

“...My clan...?”

“For now, we should stop here.”

Tat— tat, tat.

The Immortal Physician pressed Seolhwa’s sleep acupoint and sent her under.

If they pushed it further, it felt like her Blood Channels might burst.

The physician laid the instantly slumbering Seolhwa back on the bed, then spoke to Jegal Myeong.

“You pushed her.”

“But she asked first. It is a trial she must pass through in the end.”

“That’s true. But there was no need to rush.”

“...Right.... I was impatient, it’s true. I’ll be more careful next time.”

Phew....

Jegal Myeong raked a hand through his hair.

Thinking there was no telling when she might remember made him anxious. He’d thought they had to make her recall—somehow, anything.

With a force this dangerous, impatience would only make it worse.

He looked down at Seolhwa, sleeping soundly.

She has lost her memories, yet remains formidable.

‘Yes. There’s no need to be hasty.’

If she is my lord, then before long she will surely regain her memories and, as always, sweep the Central Plains beneath her will.

Jegal Myeong’s eyes did not lie.

‘Trust... my lord.’

****

Step. Step.

It’s been a long time here, too.

Namgoong Mucheon walked on, slowly taking in the dearly missed vista of the Namgoong Clan’s estate.

“Alliance Lord...!”

“It has been too long, Alliance Lord!”

Everyone he met greeted the former Clan Head with delighted faces.

“Alliance Lord! How could you come without word...! I will send someone to the Clan Lord at once!”

Outer Hall Lord Namgoong Yeom came running, flustered.

As Outer Hall Lord, he was the one who greeted the clan’s guests first.

A return without notice was welcome, yet he looked sorry that he hadn’t provided the proper reception.

“Had you sent word, we would have come out to await you....”

“No need. My steps simply happened to carry me here. Do not inform Cheongun.”

“But...”

“It’s all right.”

Namgoong Mucheon patted Namgoong Yeom twice on the shoulder and headed for the Inner Hall.

There too, everyone he met started, then welcomed him, and Namgoong Mucheon accepted their greetings with a bright face as he made for the Clan Lord’s office.

So he arrived at the Clan Lord’s quarters of the Namgoong Clan.

“Ah! Clan— no, Alliance Lord?!”

Namgoong Hyeok, Lord of the Black Dragon Unit, who stood guard before the office, started and rushed out.

“It’s been a while, Hyeok.”

“What brings you here...! Did you not bring an escort?”

“No one could match my pace, so I came alone. I’ve not much time.”

“Ahh....”

Of course.

How many in the martial world could keep pace with the Sword Emperor’s stride?

An escort would be lucky if they didn’t simply become an ankle weight.

“Is Cheongun inside?”

“Yes. He is. He’s been at his desk without pause, even skipping meals.”

“Industrious.”

“Yes. He reminds me of you, Alliance Lord.”

“Haha, I only let the years gnaw away because my wits weren’t sharp. Un is clear-headed; he must have designs.”

Namgoong Mucheon clapped Namgoong Hyeok’s shoulder as well in encouragement, then crossed the Clan Lord’s threshold.

“Alliance Lord!”

Namgoong Mucheon looked back at Namgoong Hyeok.

Namgoong Hyeok’s lips worked as if he had something to say, but he bowed his head instead.

“No... Forgive me. Please, go in.”

He didn’t hear it in the end, but Namgoong Mucheon knew what the man had wanted to ask.

The young lady.

Our young lady.

Is there any word of Seolhwa?

Is she safe?

It wasn’t only Namgoong Hyeok.

Everyone he had met on the way to the Clan Lord’s quarters had both welcomed Namgoong Mucheon and hesitated over something.

No one managed to ask it in the end, but everyone in the Namgoong Clan missed Seolhwa and worried for her.

They wanted her to come back safely.

“...”

Namgoong Mucheon took in Namgoong Hyeok, then the view of the Namgoong Clan spreading beyond him, with a brief glance, and turned to go.

The corridor of the Clan Lord’s wing was unusually quiet today.

He had been without her for eight years—

And yet her presence felt greater than ever.