Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 45

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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 45
“What? It really worked?”
Maeng Ryeong-ji gasped in astonishment.
Well, would I teach her a secret technique if it didn’t work?
I waved the divination slip marked with “harmony” triumphantly.
Maeng Ryeong-ji followed my lead and swept her chest frantically.
Tsk—the point isn’t pounding your chest. The core is emptying the mind.
When you’re told not to think of an elephant, you only think about it more.
For just an instant, you truly mustn’t think of anything at all!
But before I could explain the proper incantation in detail, Maeng Ryeong-ji drew a slip with tremendous momentum.
“Oh no!”
Failure.
Unfortunately, the slip she’d drawn bore no characters at all.
“Why didn’t it work for me? I definitely emptied my mind.”
“You probably hadn’t trained enough yet.”
I patted her shoulder sympathetically.
Next, So-un also drew a slip.
“Wow, harmony!”
“What? Only I failed?”
Oh, she had good luck.
So-un was genuinely fortunate, it seemed.
She caught Gwak Do-cheon’s eye and received his praise, and when she nearly got robbed, she met me.
“How did you do it? So-un! The slip completely vanished from your mental visualization?”
“Um, I just drew without thinking about anything…”
“That’s exactly what I’m asking—how is ‘thinking about nothing’ even possible?”
The senior holding the container blew past the frustrated Maeng Ryeong-ji lightly and thrust the slips at the handful of remaining students.
Though only two slips remained, he carried an air of easy confidence.
“……”
Shortly after, the list of successful course registrants was finalized.
Yet the senior who’d made the slips ultimately failed to enroll in the Poison Reading Technique.
“This is… impossible!”
The second-to-last harmony slip was drawn by a senior from Yim’s dormitory.
The final slip fell into Gu Won-ui’s hands.
“Seol Su-ryeo, what trick did you pull?”
Taking advantage of the gap between Maeng Ryeong-ji and So-un, Gu Won-ui lowered his voice and asked me.
“What trick? There’s no trick.”
“Setting that aside, how did So-un manage it?”
Well, pure luck, obviously.
I conducted the slip drawing fairly and squarely by controlling my Materialistic Sensor.
Gu Won-ui spoke as if I’d employed some underhanded fraud.
The way he said it made me wonder if Won-ui himself had manipulated something.
‘Seriously? That senior’s confidence seemed suspicious too.’
What if the senior who’d made them had tried to cheat, only for Won-ui to intercept it?
“To use an inn as metaphor—it’s like a lodge manager at the Central Gate suspecting all the other lodge managers of being spies when they know nothing.”
“……!”
I offered the analogy in Won-ui’s own style.
Gu Won-ui couldn’t hide his momentary shock.
He really had rigged it after all!
In any case, we compiled the list of twenty names and submitted it to Dang So-yeo.
She showed not the slightest interest in who would attend her class.
“Come to the Central Gate whenever class is held.”
Even the hand she gestured dismissively was pale and translucent, her fingers slender in a way no martial artist’s hands should be.
Wow, she really was beautiful.
How could anyone be so ethereal?
Namgung A-yeong had her own appeal with that sly cat-like aura, but this ethereal type kept drawing my gaze.
‘Could this be a poison effect?’
I stared intently at Dang So-yeo’s doll-like face.
Glancing around, I wondered if she’d cast some illusion.
“……?”
So-un and Gu Won-ui seemed entirely unaffected.
The upperclassmen found my silver hair and blue eyes far more fascinating than anything else—they kept stealing glances at me instead.
Ah, so it was nothing more than me being bewitched by beauty?
“Yes, Master! I shall await it day and night with longing!”
* * *
Dang So-yeo’s beauty was considerable, but if one were to name the Academy’s First Beauty, she still fell short of Gwak Do-cheon.
How could even her voice be so lovely?
How could every feature—eyes, nose, mouth—radiate such refinement?
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Gwak Do-cheon, and I oversee the Quick Sword instruction.”
Even her character was flawless.
Unlike Dang So-yeo, who hadn’t introduced herself and whom we’d had to learn about through a senior’s words, Gwak Do-cheon smiled warmly and presented herself with grace.
Gu Won-ui, who had no interest in Quick Sword training, disappeared with Maeng Ryeong-ji, saying they were headed out hunting.
So-un and I arrived at the Bun-gwang Pavilion at the appointed time to meet the Academy’s First Beauty.
Hmm, “Academy’s First Beauty” might be too modest a title.
The First Beauty of Luoyang? Of Henan? And why on earth is her courtesy name “Capable Bright Sword”?
Could the true First Beauty of Henan possibly be even more stunning than this?
“I’m grateful to say that this year I’ve had quite a few students seeking instruction from me. In my heart, I’d wish to accept all who come—but my talents are limited, and I can only pour my full devotion into perhaps three or four disciples at a time. So I’ve taken the liberty of calling you here for a conversation. Would that be acceptable?”
Unlike Dang So-yeo, who had simply told us to sort it out among ourselves, Gwak Do-cheon met each student’s gaze with genuine sympathy written across her face.
The upperclassmen already had their designated instructors, so everyone present was a new student.
Due to Gwak Do-cheon’s reputation for warmth and attentiveness to her disciples, nearly twenty aspirants had gathered here.
With seven or eight sword classes to choose from, I understood she couldn’t monopolize all the students.
If I didn’t get in, would I have to go elsewhere? The thought was genuinely depressing.
“Will there be a martial test?”
“Or… does the Master just talk with us and then decide?”
Since the students had only ever known Dang So-yeo’s method, they tilted their heads in confusion.
“I’ll have a consultation with each person individually and observe your sword work as well. I’ll select those with clear room for growth under my instruction, those who genuinely need what I teach. If I suggest another class, please don’t take it as a sign that you lack talent.”
An in-depth interview, then?
The competition was already over five to one, and now this.
‘No, wait—So-un practically received a personal recommendation, so she’s guaranteed entry. Is there anyone from the Jeom-chang School among the new cohort? I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone, but if there is, that leaves only two or three spots?’
The effective competition ratio was closer to ten to one. Quite brutal.
And I wanted this class far more urgently than the Poison Reading Technique I’d been considering.
The Illusory Sword and Flowing Sword weren’t bad options either, but now that I’d laid eyes on Gwak Do-cheon again, I simply couldn’t look away.
Since this wasn’t random selection, I couldn’t even use my Materialistic Sensor trick.
‘What will she ask? Why I want to take the Quick Sword class? She’ll probably want to see me use a blade too. My technique is fairly quick, at least.’
There was nothing for it but to give my best effort.
I steeled my resolve and waited for my turn at the interview.
Unlike So-un, who was called first, I’d been assigned a slot somewhere in the middle-to-later portion, so I was told I could go do other things and return.
Instead, I sat on a rock in front of the Bun-gwang Pavilion and prepared a one-minute self-introduction, my reasons for applying, and answers to every foreseeable question.
After a while, my turn finally came.
“You helped So-un, didn’t you? And you found yourself a fine blade. I’m grateful.”
Gwak Do-cheon smiled softly, easing the tension of the interview.
Oh, relationship-building conversation! Perfect!
Though we’d only met once before, that alone gave me an advantage over students meeting her for the first time, didn’t it?
All that time I’d spent going in and out of the Administrative Hall on cleaning duties wasn’t wasted—I actively leaned into the impression of familiarity with her.
“You’re too kind, Master. It was only thanks to you sending me to the smithy that I was able to obtain such a fine blade. I don’t know how to repay such generosity.”
“Hmm? You obtained a blade too?”
“Yes, indeed! When I pulled the sword that was lodged in stone, the blacksmith recognized it as mine.”
“There must have been some price to it?”
“I’m on credit with him, and I’m working hard to pay it off.”
I hadn’t spread word about the debt.
But I saw no reason to keep it secret from Gwak Do-cheon, who’d given So-un special treatment to obtain her blade.
That’s right—I’d earned a perfect score from Yak-seon, so I needed to visit and settle the debt soon.
“That sword, you say?”
“Yes.”
Gwak Do-cheon’s eyes widened.
I realized then that I’d been so dazzled by her beauty that I’d forgotten her true nature: she was first and foremost a sword enthusiast.
Since her inquiry seemed genuine rather than perfunctory, I unsheathed Excalibur and handed it over, scabbard and all.
“When I tried to draw it, it wouldn’t budge at all…”
“What? For a mere novice such as myself to fail to recognize the Master’s prowess!”
“Haha, perhaps, as the blacksmith said, the blade itself has acknowledged you.”
That she’d attempted it herself was quite surprising.
He took my blade with considerable curiosity and drew it slightly from its sheath.
“……!”
“The inscriptions are a bit troublesome, aren’t they? It’s a sword I picked up from Tian Shan, so I suspect the markings were carved by Demonic Sect members. It would be better if it didn’t stand out, wouldn’t it?”
“……This is…….”
Because I hadn’t unleashed any martial power, the characters hadn’t darkened, but from this distance, one couldn’t help but see the eight characters etched into the blade.
At the lodge I’d hidden it hastily, just in case.
But since the martial instructors of the academy knew who’d brought this sword, I asked without hesitation.
Yet for some reason, Gwak Do-cheon’s eyes trembled violently.
“Su-ryeo.”
He set the sword down on the table.
Then he grasped my hand firmly.
“Yes, Master.”
“……Have you, by any chance, learned Demonic Arts?”
I’d spent all this time waiting for the interview, preparing anticipated questions.
But this wasn’t one of them.
Surviving as a Doomed Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace (serialized)
Author │ Musk Deer
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyeok
Address │ 401, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Acetech Tower 8)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
© Musk Deer 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder, and the content may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal 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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