Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 80

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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 80
Of course, it wasn’t Excalibur—just a sword I’d brought from Buk Hae.
“…….”
Jeok Sa accepted it with a picturesque smile, then carefully drew it from the scabbard.
Shing.
Whoosh! Whisk!
“Wow, it’s sharp and beautiful! Can I swing it around?”
“By all means.”
Even if he swung it, it posed no threat to me whatsoever, and I had another sword besides.
I gladly stepped back a few paces, giving him space to wield the blade.
Though unsanctioned martial contests were forbidden in Nakyang, pedestrians in the back streets barely spared a glance at a young gentleman waving a sword at empty air.
“The reflected light is different though—it’s not ordinary steel, is it?”
“No. It’s a Cold Iron Sword from Buk Hae.”
“Whoa…… the entire blade forged from Cold Iron? I don’t think you could find one for ten thousand gold pieces in the Central Plains.”
“Hehe, all the Bing Palace Residents carry Cold Iron Swords.”
He spent a long time praising how magnificent, beautiful, and extraordinary the sword was.
Though not a martial artist himself, he was a merchant of considerable standing, and he recognized the sword’s rarity.
‘So Cold Iron is that precious in the Central Plains?’
I hadn’t thought my pride in weaponry was that great.
But listening to him, my spirits lifted considerably.
“And the other sword is……?”
“Oh, that one I picked up by chance.”
He seemed eager to see Excalibur as well.
But I didn’t show it to him.
Even without channeling energy into it, the characters carved into the blade—”Yeok Cheon Haeng Do Man Ma Ji Jok”—were plainly visible.
Though Gwak Do Cheon had said few people knew much about this sword,
he must have meant that few knew it belonged to the Sect Leader.
If I showed it to a stranger I’d only just met today, wouldn’t I risk being mistaken for a Demonic Sect sympathizer?
Showing one blade was quite enough.
“Well, thanks. I got a good look at it.”
Jeok Sa smiled gently, lifting the corners of his mouth, and nodded.
After resting sufficiently, he took the lead in searching for the fruit vendor again.
We soon found our destination.
“Ah, the fruit shop is farther out than I expected.”
“It is.”
“Wow, you can get such a variety of fruit here in Nakyang!”
Apples, pears, pomegranates, quinces, dried persimmons, and tangerines—fruits I’d seen often in my past life—caught my eye.
They were somewhat smaller than the apples I’d eaten before,
but as I recalled tastes I’d forgotten for so long, my mouth began to water.
“How are these? Are they any good?”
“That one’s not spoiled, but the one next to it would be better.”
I pointed out fruits I recognized as I saw them,
and Jeok Sa picked out several promising specimens and placed them in a basket for me.
“Wrap all of these up for me!”
We gathered every type of fruit I recognized,
and on impulse also purchased a generous amount of nuts—walnuts, pine nuts, and the like.
“Hmm, it’s spring, so prices are rather high.”
“That’s all right! How much is it?”
“One hundred thirty coins.”
Likely because fruit was scarce for the reason Jeok Sa had mentioned earlier, the price was steep.
The fruit seller told me the price with some embarrassment,
but even having filled the basket so abundantly, it came to just over one hundred coins.
Thanks to Poong Seung, I had plenty of money, and here they accepted silver, which was all the better.
“Since we’re buying this much, why don’t you knock off ten coins for us?”
“Ah tsk…… you picked out all the best pieces! All right, I’ll make it exactly ten coins off.”
I was about to hand over the money without thinking, but Jeok Sa negotiated a discount for us.
‘Ah, merchants truly are different.’
“Can you carry all of this?”
“Yes? Of course, no problem.”
Jeok Sa offered to divide the fruit and carry some for me,
I’m a martial artist, after all—I can’t very well ask a sickly young master to carry something heavy.
“Would you like one?”
I declined the offer and instead took out an apple, handing it to him.
“…!”
Jeok Sa’s eyes went wide.
He’d already received the tanghuo and I’d knocked ten coins off the price, so it was only natural to give him something in return.
He grinned, crinkling the corners of his eyes, and bit into it eagerly.
“Delicious. Sweet.”
“I’m glad it suits your taste.”
I hadn’t tried one yet, but hearing him praise it made me look forward to it.
In any case, we’d managed to find the fruit vendor.
We loaded up on nuts and dumplings from the shop next door—quite the haul of snacks.
“The peonies outside the city walls are blooming beautifully right now. There are lots of street stalls around there too—would you like to go take a look if you’re free?”
He suggested it, noting that it was flower-viewing season and the stalls outside the walls had much more appetizing offerings.
It was rather appealing, truth be told.
“I’m afraid that won’t work—my free time is ending soon. Cheonmu Academy keeps us on a pretty tight schedule.”
Unfortunately, we were in the middle of a Mandu Mi-sik class period.
The free time I’d been granted was only about half an hour.
There was no way I could venture out of Nakyang and make it back in that span.
“Is that so? That’s a shame.”
When I told him I didn’t have that much leisure, Jeok Sa shrugged.
He’d seen sword competitions anyway, and it seemed he had no pressing business left, so we decided to part ways there.
“It was brief, but I enjoyed it. Thank you for the tanghuo!”
I waved, saying we should see each other again when the opportunity arose.
“Take care. Something tells me we’ll bump into each other again soon enough.”
Jeok Sa left behind words heavy with meaning.
Well, then.
If it’s meant to be, we’ll meet again.
* * *
“Ugh, what on earth did you two buy all that for?”
Unlike So Un, who’d laden herself with cooking tools and ingredients, or me with my bulk purchase of fruit, Gu Won’s hands were completely empty.
“You’re the only one walking around with empty hands.”
My dormitory classmates, not to mention the upperclassmen, all had their hands full of something.
Gu Won was always slipping out of the Academy anyway, so it probably didn’t bother her.
But the rest of them were all lamenting the lack of supplies.
“Hmm? Really? If I may use an inn as an analogy…”
“Take these.”
I seized the cooking tools So Un was holding and thrust them into Gu Won’s hands.
I also added about a third of the fruit.
“Ack!”
“No, really, I’m fine…”
“Just accept it. That’s what a head disciple does—puts the servants to work.”
“Fair point.”
Gu Won nodded.
Still grumbling, she accepted our burden.
Had I perhaps bought rather a lot?
On the way back to the Academy, the upperclassmen kept glancing sideways at me, as if they wanted to say something.
“If you have something to say, please speak.”
“Well… we were wondering if… ah, no, no, I apologize! My sincerest apologies, young lady!”
“It’s nothing!”
What was that?
“Tsk, pathetic bunch.”
Dang So Yeo clicked her tongue as she stepped up beside me and snatched away a few pomegranate seeds.
I stared at her face, wondering if she meant to continue our earlier conversation about Poison Channeling.
…
But she said nothing more.
And so the first Mandu Mi-sik class came to an end.
* * *
As we entered the Academy grounds, Maeng Ryeong Ji caught my eye—she was sparring with Dan Ri Hyang.
There was still some time before Paeng Jung Geol’s afternoon class, but she had come early to practice.
I tried to get closer for a better look, but the sparring match ended the moment I arrived.
Since Dan Ri Hyang couldn’t use her Internal Energy, it wasn’t a serious bout—just a casual exchange of sword and axe.
“Ryeong Ji, do you like Tanghuo?”
“……?”
“You’ve never tried it. What about tangerines?”
“Oh, tangerines.”
I handed them the souvenirs I’d brought back from my outing.
Maeng Ryeong Ji seemed most familiar with the tangerines among the fruits I’d purchased.
Since she ate them with such genuine pleasure, I gave her everything except for two I’d kept for myself to taste.
“Why don’t you come join us? Do you happen to like dumplings or Tanghuo?”
I also called over Dan Ri Hyang, who had been standing at an awkward distance, watching uncertainly.
“Oh…… is that alright? Thank you so much.”
Dan Ri Hyang chose pomegranate, just like Dang So Yeo had.
She squeezed her eyes shut and trembled slightly as she swallowed it.
Was it very sour?
“It’s really delicious…….”
Ah, so she was trembling because it was delicious.
Right—she probably hadn’t been outside much after entering the Academy either, so since then she’d likely eaten nothing but Grain-Avoidance Pills.
Even the blue mushroom hotpot that So Un had made scared her.
“You’re so generous, Young Lady. Are you planning to share all of this?”
But I couldn’t help but furrow my brow at what she said next.
She was looking up at me with eyes like she was gazing upon a Buddha.
“What? That doesn’t make sense. I’m only giving to the people I want to give to.”
I’d brought them to distribute moderately.
I’d handed some to Dan Ri Hyang and Jeong Ha Rin since they were my classmates at Inbon Hall, but I wasn’t quite that generous.
I needed to eat some myself until my next outing.
“If you brought this to the External Power class, everyone would ask for a taste. It’s like…… well, like leaving a gold nugget in a place with ten beggars.”
Now that I heard Gu Won’s warning, it made sense that Dan Ri Hyang had misunderstood.
The next class was Basic External Power, where all the new cadets gathered.
It would be pretty inconsiderate to leave food here without distributing it.
“I should take it up to the Dormitory instead.”
I thanked them both for pointing it out
and quickly wrapped the fruit in cloth, planning to dash up and back.
“There’s barely any time left before class starts…… ah, but you can make it there and back, can’t you, Young Lady?”
Dan Ri Hyang looked at me enviously.
Poor thing—her Internal Energy was still sealed, so she couldn’t use Lightness Skill.
Going up to the Dormitory and coming back down must have been quite a burden for her.
“True, now that I think about it, shouldn’t the Mountain Empty Poison be wearing off soon?”
All my close friends had found Antidotes and had nearly forgotten about it.
Natural detoxification takes about a month, right? We’re already near the end of the third month.
“There’s no hope for me.”
But Dan Ri Hyang’s Internal Energy showed no signs of moving at all, she said sadly,
shaking her head with a melancholy expression.
Surviving as a Young Lady of Buk Hae Bing Palace with a Limited Lifespan (Serialized)
Author │ Sa Hyang No Ru
Publisher │ Kim Joo Hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae Hyuk
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ⓒ Sa Hyang No Ru 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and 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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