Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 35

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 35
Hmm…….
There was something about his face that suggested a complicated past.
Someone he wanted to kill?
Every student’s gaze snapped toward Eun Hyeon.
Maeng Ryeong Ji looked quite startled too.
Myeong Seong’s face twisted sharply.
“What’s your name?”
“Eun Hyeon, sir.”
“Your sect?”
“……Huashan.”
“Ah.”
Muk Jin Ha’s eyes widened slightly, as if intrigued.
He drew his mouth up in a thin smile, as if pleased.
“Boys with eyes like that tend to learn the most. By the time you graduate from the Martial Academy, you’ll be more than capable of killing your enemy.”
“…….”
“Every garden needs a beast prowling through it to keep the other flowers on their toes. Choose someone. Is there a student here you’d like to face in combat?”
The students froze at his words.
Eun Hyeon’s enemy probably wasn’t present in this room.
But the mere mention of an enemy by Muk Jin Ha sent a chill through his gaze.
As he swept those eyes across the assembled students, a palpable tension descended over the hall.
“Hitch…….”
So Un flinched and drew back.
Knowing Eun Hyeon’s nature, she doubted he’d challenge anyone who looked weaker than himself.
But since most students knew little about him, they were unnerved by the name Huashan and the aura surrounding him.
Sure enough, without hesitation he walked in a straight line toward one person.
“I request a match with Myeong Seong.”
Myeong Seong’s expression had already been poor from the moment Eun Hyeon’s gaze fell upon him.
At the formal request for combat, his face flushed red and purple.
He’d only heard a brief account of what happened at Huashan, but Myeong Seong clearly wanted to avoid a direct confrontation with Eun Hyeon.
To have Eun Hyeon challenge him so openly, in front of all these students, must have been deeply embarrassing.
“I, I…….”
“How dull.”
But before Myeong Seong could say anything, Muk Jin Ha waved him off dismissively.
“What’s the point of disciples from the same sect fighting each other? It defeats the purpose of this lecture. You two can settle it afterward.”
Matches between students who practiced with each other constantly would serve as no lesson for a Life and Death Duel.
“Isn’t there someone you’ve wanted to break—not necessarily a family enemy, but someone you couldn’t resist crushing if you threw yourself at them with killing intent?”
Muk Jin Ha looked around at all the students as he spoke.
If they were looking for someone with genuine animosity, Eun Hyeon’s feelings toward Myeong Seong seemed the closest fit.
I waited curiously to see if anyone else would raise their hand.
Maeng Ryeong Ji stepped forward.
Ah, the source of light was darkest right beneath the lamp.
“There…….”
“Namgung Min?”
But it wasn’t Maeng Ryeong Ji who was choosing.
Namgung Min had raised her hand first, before Maeng Ryeong Ji even spoke.
Namgung Min had someone she absolutely wanted to crush?
Not everyone beneath her heel?
‘Is it Paeng Jung Geol from the same Five Great Clans? Or Myeong Seong, the Nine Sects’ rising star?’
I found myself staring at Namgung Min with sparkling interest.
“Oh! Who is it?”
“……I request a match with Seol Su Ryeo.”
Astonishingly, she glared at me as she spoke, meeting my eyes directly.
“……Me?”
I uttered something stupid and pointed at myself with my finger.
“Namgung versus the Ice Palace?”
“Who do you think is stronger?”
“Still has to be Namgung, doesn’t it?”
The Combat Arena erupted in whispers.
“Our newcomer must not have seen Miss Seol charging at our Master during the entrance ceremony. She was beyond even a late-stage assessment!”
“No, I saw her. But Namgung So Un didn’t have any Inner Power back then, did she?”
“That’s right—she’s a direct descendant of the Namgung Clan, but…….”
“I’ve heard even the Sword Dragon couldn’t be compared to the other students.”
They probably knew that warriors with keen hearing could pick up every word—both I and Namgung Min would certainly catch it.
Still, they couldn’t contain their excitement and whispered among themselves.
‘Why are they doing this to me?!’
Not that I hadn’t been curious about which student in our cohort was the strongest, though it would be a lie to claim complete indifference.
Watching the other children spar, I wanted to gauge the distance between them and myself.
But I had no desire whatsoever to face Namgung Min first in a Life and Death Duel.
“Sister, please teach her a proper lesson!”
Namgung A Young, who seemed not to care much for me, flushed crimson and cheered for Namgung Min.
“Perfect! Seol Su Ryeo! Freeze all those flower-like fools solid and leave them helpless!”
“……I can’t freeze people.”
For some reason, Maeng Ryeong Ji was utterly convinced I would win.
She threw punches into the empty air, more excited than anyone else.
Do I really have to do this?
I’d always known that once I took up martial arts and chose to live as a warrior, I’d eventually face unavoidable combat.
But this match had no principle worth defending, no accord to uphold through victory.
“The daughter of the Changcheon Sword King and the daughter of the North Pole Star Emperor……. This promises to be quite an interesting bout. A pity there aren’t more spectators.”
Still, it seemed I had no right to refuse.
“Right. When you see a sapling beginning to grow, you must stamp it out early. That is the way of the Namgung Clan.”
“Master, surely you don’t mean——”
“If you lose here to student Seol Su Ryeo and suffer humiliation, the Changcheon Sword King will be absolutely delighted.”
Muk Jin Ha went even further, deliberately needling Namgung Min.
Already resentful of being called the Changcheon Sword King’s daughter, Namgung Min lost her composure.
“Unlike student Namgung Min, student Seol Su Ryeo seems to harbor no particular emotion about this.”
We’d only met four days ago—it would be strange if I felt anything at all.
“I have long heard tales of the Namgung Clan’s renown, and I have wished for some time to test myself against you.”
“During the Jeongma Great War, the Changcheon Sword King made a critical blunder, and the strategists of the Martial Alliance decided that the North Pole Star Emperor had to throw himself into certain death.”
Was Muk Jin Ha really inflaming Namgung Min’s anger so that she’d attack me to the death?
But the Jeongma Great War was over twenty years ago.
Whether the truth of it was unclear or whether my father had ultimately survived unscathed was secondary.
Even if I were angry, that anger belonged to the Changcheon Sword King—not to Namgung Min, who hadn’t even been born when it happened. What did she have to do with it?
“This is the first I’ve heard of such a matter. It seems my father has not dwelt upon it.”
I spoke calmly, yet somehow Namgung Min’s eyes burned all the brighter.
Whoosh—!
Namgung Min drew her sword.
The blade cut through the air, and a wave of Qi Wind swept toward me.
“Gasp!”
“Just how much Inner Power does she have?”
If I couldn’t evade, I’d have to fight.
I drew my own blade.
Hmm, against Namgung Min, even using the Ice Art offered no guarantee of victory.
If I lost without using it, Muk Jin Ha would mark me down for certain.
“Master, you needn’t elaborate further—I will face this match with the resolve to risk my life.”
So I spoke with deliberate force, raising the stakes.
“Ahhhhh!”
The spectators grew intensely excited, as if they were witnessing a true clash between enemies.
Muk Jin Ha, no longer showing any reluctance, declared the match open.
“Excellent. There’s no finer opponent to be found. Since you’ve come first, the winner will receive a Merit Token. Begin.”
What?
He should have mentioned that from the start.
* * *
Crash!
Namgung Min drew her full Inner Power from her dantian and unleashed it, pressing me hard.
‘Damn—she’s completely serious.’
I’d thought that even if she talked about killing, a classroom match couldn’t get too rough.
But Namgung Min fixed her eyes wide open and wielded her sword with the grim resolve to run me through.
Clang! Clang!
Steel struck steel again and again.
A sharp, heavy weight transmitted through the blade.
Not malice, exactly—but her momentum carried something far more complex: a tangle of emotions I couldn’t quite name.
‘What did I even do?’
At the North Pole Ice Palace, perhaps because I’m the Palace Master’s daughter, everyone tends to be gentle-natured, lovers of peace.
I’d never seen a look like this directed at me before.
In my past life, there were always people who expressed inferiority complexes—or rather, competitive impulses—whenever test results came out.
Was this something similar?
Namgung Min probably assumed she’d always be the best at the Martial Academy.
Perhaps she was bothered by not being the first to claim the Antidote in the Long Corridor.
“It seems even Seol is no match for a Namgung.”
“So the Namgung Clan really is different…”
And yet, truly—the Namgung Clan was different.
As befitted the direct descendants of the family that held the highest seat among the Five Great Clans, she’d been building her Inner Power by drinking spiritual elixirs like water.
“No, wait—”
Just then, someone cried out.
“That’s not retreat! The martial arts of the North Pole Ice Palace begin from absolute defense—enduring a relentless blizzard with unwavering composure!”
…Wait, what?
The Ice Art isn’t particularly a defensive technique.
“That is the very essence of the Ice Palace’s martial way—Seol is about to unleash her decisive move!”
“Ooh?”
“That’s how it works…?”
I hadn’t even deployed the Ice Art yet, so this was complete nonsense—but there was no chance to correct the misunderstanding.
Whoosh!
Namgung Min swung her sword with an outburst of fury, and a torrent of blue sword qi erupted.
One of the moves from the Changung Muae Sword Technique I’d glimpsed while fighting Paeng Jung Geol.
At that time, without Inner Power, I hadn’t properly registered it—but visually, it was absolutely overwhelming.
“Gasp!”
“The sword aura is so vivid…!”
The children watching from the stands gasped in admiration.
My own heart was racing.
Until now, I’d been deflecting, letting the blade slip past.
But this time I lowered my stance, bracing myself to meet it head-on.
Would she pour in such enormous Inner Power that her offense would crush even my defense, snapping my blade?
If so, I was fortunate I’d acquired a second sword.
Or perhaps she was feinting total commitment, planning to exploit an opening.
Having accepted this duel, I’d steeled myself for some degree of injury.
But wanting to avoid it if possible, I consciously made every effort to show no gaps.
Ah—Father had said during matches, you mustn’t think of other things; you must enter the State of No-Self!
Too many thoughts, that’s the problem.
I parried the dense cascade of blue strikes methodically,
waiting for the final blow to come.
“Hah…”
Then, a moment later.
Namgung Min was breathing hard, her right arm—still gripping her sword—suddenly going limp.
What? Why did she break off the technique?
…
Wait?
Surely that wasn’t all?
Surviving as the Doomed Young Master of the North Pole Ice Palace (Serialized)
Author │ Sahyang Noru
Publisher │ Kim Joo Hyung
Published by │ Jaeple Media, Inc.
Marketing │ Han Jae Hyeok
Address │ 401, Ace Tech Tower 8, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Sahyang Noru 2026
※This work is published by Jaeple Media, Inc. under contract with the copyright holder. No part of this content may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil liability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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