Knock. Knock.

At the sound from outside, Woon Seorin set down the documents she had been reading.

“Come in.”

Creeeak.

The door swung open. Four figures entered — the Four Black Dragons, the ones who had brought Seo Woojin all the way to Zhejiang.

“We greet the Military Advisor.”

Woon Seorin nodded and gestured toward the reception table.

“Please, sit. Ah — I’m afraid all I have is Longjing tea. That’s alright, isn’t it?”

Bae Seokjin answered on behalf of the group.

“Perfectly fine.”

Woon Seorin gathered the tea set herself and took a seat across from them. The Four Black Dragons looked slightly uncomfortable watching her pour for them personally, but none of them moved to stop her. They already knew her well enough.

Only after pouring her own cup did she speak.

“How has the Young Lord been faring?”

Strictly speaking, the title of Young Lord wasn’t quite accurate. Even if he was the Dark Alliance Lord’s biological son, succession was a separate matter entirely. But Woon Seorin was using it deliberately.

Most of what Gok Cheonmu had said at the meeting was nonsense — but not all of it. The Young Lord had spent over twenty years living among the Murim Alliance. Bluntly put, he could easily be acting as a spy on the Murim Alliance Lord’s orders. She intended to watch him closely, but she couldn’t be certain of anything yet. Calling him Young Lord was her way of minimizing any room for criticism.

“He hasn’t moved from his quarters. He’s been resting.”

Woon Seorin’s brows furrowed at Bae Seokjin’s answer.

“Still?”

It had been seven days since Seo Woojin’s return. In that entire time, the only occasions he had shown his face were to pay his respects at the Dark Alliance Lord’s memorial tablet and to exchange brief greetings with the heads of the Seven Families. In a sense, this was unfamiliar territory for him — so she had let him rest, partly to recover from the journey, partly to observe him.

‘Even so — seven full days without a single move? If he had any orders from the Murim Alliance, he should have been acting on them by now.’

Woon Seorin looked up at the Four Black Dragons.

“Ah, sorry. I haven’t met the Young Lord myself yet, so I figured it would help to get some sense of who he is. Your journey fatigue should be well behind you — I hope you don’t mind if I pry a little.”

Bae Seokjin shook his head.

“Not at all. Please ask freely.”

“Thank you. First — was there anything unusual about bringing him back?”

The four exchanged a brief glance.

Woon Seorin caught it immediately.

“Something happened. The report only mentioned a near-confrontation with Murim Alliance warriors. Nothing else.”

Yoo Geonwoo let out a quiet sigh at her cool tone.

“Hah. It wasn’t that we meant to hide it — we felt it needed to be said in person……”

Woon Seorin nodded.

“Fine. Then let me hear it ‘in person.'”

The phrasing made it sound as though she intended to determine the severity of punishment after hearing them out. Yoo Geonwoo glanced at Bae Seokjin and Song Biryeong — both of whom were pointedly looking elsewhere. You spoke up first, you deal with it.

He grumbled inwardly and slowly began to speak. Seo Woojin’s sudden erratic behavior. The chase. He reported everything.

“……Fortunately we brought the Young Lord back safely. But something has been nagging at me.”

After hearing it all, Woon Seorin’s eyes grew heavier.

“His intent.”

Yoo Geonwoo nodded at her brief words.

“Exactly. To be precise — it’s unclear who he was actually running from. Whether it was the Murim Alliance warriors who appeared out of nowhere. Or…… whether it was us.”

Woon Seorin’s gaze shifted to Song Biryeong.

“You were part of the chase. What do you think, Biryeong?”

Song Biryeong shook her head with a bright, almost childlike smile.

“Hmm. All I could think about was how handsome our Young Lord is. And honestly — how well he’d suit our little Rin.”

“Biryeong.”

Song Biryeong clicked her tongue at Woon Seorin’s icy tone and scratched her cheek.

“Still no sense of humor. Hmm…… What actually surprised me — his martial arts were better than I expected. And it seemed like he’d planned his escape route in advance.”

Yoo Geonwoo immediately pushed back.

“What are you talking about? We caught up to him right in front of a cliff. You’re saying he deliberately ran toward a cliff?”

“That’s exactly why I won the bet — because you say things like that. Do you know why I struck first? There wasn’t a shred of hesitation in his eyes. If anything, there was a flash of excitement. Like the edge of that cliff was exactly where he was headed.”

“Huh. Really? Hmm. With a lightness technique that good, he probably could survive a fall from that height……”

“There is something else.”

Bae Seokjin, who had been quiet until now, spoke up. Woon Seorin’s gaze went straight to him.

“What is it?”

“Five days. The Young Lord stayed hidden for five days — far longer than we anticipated. And…… it was almost as though he was trying to deny his own identity.”

Something dropped in Woon Seorin’s chest.

She didn’t know exactly what it was yet — but unease was quietly spreading through her. And before she could identify it——

Bang!

The door burst open.

“Th-there’s a problem!!”

“Do you have any idea where you——!!”

Before Bae Seokjin could finish his reprimand, the subordinate dropped the bombshell.

“Th-the Young Lord……!! He’s gone!!”

The unease within Woon Seorin only continued to grow.

Seven days.

It had taken a full seven days.

For whatever reason, the Dark Alliance people hadn’t demanded anything from him right away. That had given him the time to quietly study the compound from the inside. How many eyes were watching around his quarters. When they rotated shifts. And where the security was weakest.

Perhaps because they were convinced they already had him secured, the surveillance wasn’t particularly tight.

And so today, seven days later — he had managed to escape.

Seo Woojin pulled his bamboo hat down low and swept his gaze across his surroundings.

‘Stay calm, Woojin. Getting out of the compound is a good start. But it won’t be long before they notice I’m gone.’

Young women who appeared to be handmaidens had been stopping by his room every two hours. Every time they asked if he needed anything — but surveillance was clearly their real purpose.

‘Heading straight out of Hangzhou right now is too risky. They’re not fools — they’ll sweep the city perimeter first. In that case, it’s better to……’

He moved on.

Night had begun to settle in, and yet the streets seemed to have grown more crowded, not less.

‘If I blend into a crowd this size, I’ll be much harder to find. I’ll find a spot, lay low, and wait for my opening. If they can’t track me down, they’ll widen their search — which means the local perimeter will thin out. That’s when I move.’

As he steadied himself, the scenery around him began to register more clearly.

‘Still — Hangzhou really is something. And…… the people here look happy.’

It wasn’t mere indulgence. There was an ease about them — a sense of comfort that went deeper than that.

And for reasons he couldn’t quite name, something about that picture felt off to him.

Seo Woojin shook his head firmly and cleared his mind.

‘What matters right now is getting out of Hangzhou. If my estimate is right — three days. Three days of lying completely low, and the perimeter will loosen.’

Hiding was what he was second most confident in, right after his lightness technique. He had slipped past his grandfather’s eyes — who was forever forcing him through training — and sneaked down to the village at the foot of the mountain more times than he could count.

He was in the middle of scouting for a place to hole up when——

‘What’s that……?’

A woman at the edge of his vision vanished in an instant.

‘A trick of the eye? No. I definitely saw her.’

He hesitated.

This was Dark Path territory. Dark Alliance eyes would be everywhere. If he got caught up in something, they’d find him in no time. His plan to lie low was falling apart before it even started.

But his hesitation didn’t last long.

Seo Woojin moved immediately toward where the woman had disappeared.

An alley swathed in pitch darkness — a stark contrast to the glittering street behind him. He stepped right in.

‘The air has changed. Just a few steps. It feels like sinking into a swamp. My breathing is tight and my legs feel heavy.’

Killing intent.

He could feel killing intent.

‘Compared to Grandfather’s — it’s nothing. But the malice woven into it is something else entirely.’

Step. Step.

With each footfall, he sharpened every sense he had.

It didn’t take long.

“Mmph! Mmmph!!”

A muffled cry.

Whoosh!

Seo Woojin kicked off the ground and shot forward.

Shhhhk!

The moment he rounded the corner, a sword came slashing down at him.

Clang! CLAAANG!

He drew in a single motion, deflected the blade, and spun his body.

Swoosh! Thud!

“Ugh!!”

His foot drove into the man’s gut. He followed the staggering figure and slashed again.

CLAAANG! CRACK! Clatter!

“Wh — wha……?”

The man barely managed to raise his sword — but it shattered to pieces.

While he was still reeling, Seo Woojin’s foot came down.

CRACK!

Thud.

Struck squarely in the head, he crumpled face-first into the ground.

Seo Woojin took him down without breaking a sweat and turned.

Five or six men stared at him, visibly shaken.

And in the middle of them — a woman, bound and halfway stuffed into a large sack.

“Who — who the hell are you?!”

Click.

Grandfather’s words were never wrong.

Truly despicable. Truly vile. A pack of grown men abducting a defenseless woman.

He had no interest in exchanging words with trash like these.

Whoooooosh!

A burst of pressure swept outward from Seo Woojin.

“Wh — urk……!”

“Gh — ghhk! Can’t……breathe……!”

The men began to tremble. Then——

Clatter.

Every weapon hit the ground.

Thud. Thud.

Their knees buckled. Foreheads pressed to the earth.

“We’re — we’re sorry……. Please……”

“S-spare us……”

Seo Woojin — the one who had unleashed the pressure — was the confused one now.

At that moment, he sensed a presence from behind. He yanked his foot back and spun at the waist, sword flashing——

Grab.

The blade didn’t reach its mark.

A familiar face. Bae Seokjin had caught the hand holding the sword.

“……”

His gaze swept past Seo Woojin to what lay behind him.

“Take them all into custody.”

Shhk!

The Dark Alliance warriors he had brought with him moved instantly, binding the men groveling on the ground. The woman was freed and escorted away.

Only then did Bae Seokjin’s gaze settle on Seo Woojin.

“Found you.”

Seo Woojin watched him with an expressionless face.

‘Did those men react that way because of him? No — more importantly, they found me faster than I expected. Did they anticipate I’d try to disappear into the city from the start?’

He scanned the area. He couldn’t see them — but he could sense presences lurking in the shadows. Dark Alliance warriors.

He looked down at the hand Bae Seokjin had wrapped around his wrist.

‘A surprise attack won’t work. Every direction is covered.’

He asked a pointless question to buy time.

“What will happen to those men?”

“I can’t say for certain, but they’re likely the ones who’ve been causing trouble in Hangzhou recently. We’ll interrogate them and root out the rest. Thanks to you, my lord, we caught them with ease.”

Empty flattery.

Seo Woojin shook off his hand and sheathed his sword. He stalled a little longer, turning over his options — but there was simply no way out.

He offered an awkward smile and scratched the back of his head.

“Well, this is embarrassing. Putting everyone through all that trouble — I just couldn’t resist having a look at the streets. Hahaha.”

“There is someone who wishes to see you.”

He tried to play the fool to soften their guard. Bae Seokjin got straight to the point anyway.

“Oh? Who would——”

“If you would follow me.”

Seo Woojin blinked blankly.

‘What’s going on…… Am I not in trouble?’

He had no choice but to nod, though his expression said otherwise.

“I — I suppose so.”

And just like that, his brief escape came to an anticlimactic end.

When he returned to his quarters, Military Advisor Woon Seorin was waiting.

‘I thought so when we first met, but she really is beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone prettier — not even Cheonga from the village back home.’

Woon Seorin rose and folded her hands in a formal greeting.

“I greet the Young Lord.”

Seo Woojin gave an awkward laugh and scratched his head.

“Ha, haha. Right. Good to meet you.”

Something sharp flickered briefly in Woon Seorin’s eyes — but Seo Woojin didn’t catch it. He settled into the seat across from her and tried to look casual.

“I was told you wished to see me……”

Woon Seorin poured tea and spoke.

“You stepped out for a bit, it seems.”

“Ah. Yes. Well.”

“Had you let us know in advance, the Black Dragon Guard could have escorted you.”

“I didn’t want to be a bother.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes……”

Something in her gaze made him shrink without meaning to, his voice dropping.

‘What is it. Is she suspicious of me? She doesn’t seem particularly friendly……’

The weight of her stare continued.

Just as it was beginning to feel suffocating——

“Come to think of it — you haven’t met your grandfather yet, have you?”

“……?”

“I’ll arrange a meeting soon. He is the head of one of the Seven Families — even you, as the Young Lord, should show proper courtesy.”

Seo Woojin gave a small internal start.

‘Head of one of the Seven Families? Wait. The Seven Families are the backbone of the Dark Alliance. Someone who leads one of those clans is no ordinary man. And the real Young Lord is his grandson?’

He studied Woon Seorin’s expression, searching for the intent behind the question. But her face was perfectly composed — completely unreadable.

No reason to cause a scene right now. He nodded along.

“Understood. I’ll do that.”

Thud.

Woon Seorin set her teacup down hard.

And fixed him with a stare cold enough to freeze.

“You. You’re not the Young Lord.”

“……!!”

Seo Woojin’s body went rigid.

‘She knows.’

His eyes swept rapidly across the room — then stopped just as quickly.

“There is no Seo clan among the Seven Families of the Dark Path.”

“Ah……”

He had walked straight into the most transparent of traps.

Seo Woojin scrambled to salvage it.

“Ah — s-sorry. I left for the Murim Alliance when I was so young that I……”

But that kind of excuse would never work on Woon Seorin.

“Coming to the Dark Alliance for the first time in twenty years and knowing nothing about it — that doesn’t hold up. So. Who are you?”

“……”

A matter of life and death.

He half expected enemies to come pouring in at any moment.

“Well. That’s fine for now. We can find out who you are in time.”

But the words that came out of her mouth were nothing like what he had braced for.

“Whether this was chance or fate, I don’t know. But either way — I need you.”

“……?”

“More precisely — you need to become the Dark Alliance Lord.”

What on earth was this woman saying?

“Allow me to make it official.” Woon Seorin’s voice was composed. Certain. “Will you become the Dark Alliance Lord — alongside me?”

Her voice was beautiful.

In that moment, it sent a chill straight through him.

(End of Chapter 3)