𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗦, Go Won

𝟬𝟱𝟯. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗴-𝗴𝘂'𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝘆

Da-hye arrived just as Mu-deok was escaping. Da-hye looked at Dang-gu and Cho-yeon, they did not look to injured for the most part. Da-hye decided to go after Mu-deok for attempting to hurt her brother.

Da-hye saw Mu-deok use a spell to throw three mages to the ground, while she was distracted, Da-hye slashed her arm. But when, Mu-deok tried to fight back, Da-hye slashed her leg. Just as Da-hye was going to slash her again, Mu-deok jumped over Da-hye's head. Mu-deok started to lunge towards Da-hye but Da-hye quickly moved out of the way and ended up hitting her head on a tree.

That is when many of the Songrim and Jeongjingak mages arrived. Including her uncle. Gu hyo and Han Yeol helped Da-hye up.

Da-hye's uncle sent an arrow to hit Mu-deok but moved it when Jang Uk got in front of her. Did he really love her that much? Da-hye knew that Uk was the first to find out Mu-deok was Naksu and even after she ran wild, he was still defending and protecting her?  There was no way that he could save her, she would eventually petrify so why was he still trying?

Uk looked around at all the mages pointing the swords at Mu-deok. Then he looked back at Mu-deok. That is when Mu-deok stabbed Uk .Uk's body fell as he pulled Mu-deok down with him. Mu-deok only had a blank expression on her face.

Da-hye's eyes went wide. The sword that Mu-deok had stabbed him with had gone right through Uk's body. Just as Mu-deok was going to remove the sword, Uk stopped her and pulled her closer to him. That was his punishment for knowing Mu-deok was Naksu and still accepting her as his master and even falling in love with her. And Naksu's punishment was killing the man she loved the same way she killed other people.

Da-hye collapsed to the ground when the realization hit her. Uk would die. There was no way to save him. Dang-gu and Cho-yeon would not get married.  And despite all of this, Yul would have to go to Seoho Fortress. And the worst part of it all is she would have to see her brother's heart break. Why did this have to happen to her? Why now?

Gu Hyo tried to help her get back up again, but when he realized that she would not. That is when Da-hye noticed that Mu-deok was starting to realize what she had done. The only ones moving were her and Uk. Everyone was too shocked or too scared to move. They were all still processing what had happened.

Mu-deok started to sob as she realized that she had just stabbed the man she loved. Da-hye felt a tear run down her cheek. Everyone had always thought that Da-hye never liked Uk, but that was not true. Da-hye considered Uk to be one of her best friends. She loved him as much as she loved Yul.

The last thing Uk did before he died, was put Mu-deok and his hand together. He really did love her. And it was so sad that he had to die this way. That they both had to die this way. Uk's body fell to the ground. He was dead.

"Jang Uk!" Mu-deok sobbed.

Da-hye sobbed as she realized that Uk was really gone. That she would never see him again. That she would never ever be able to fight with him again. She would forever miss fighting with Uk over little things. Nothing would ever be the same anymore. Da-hye held on tightly to Gu Hyo as she cried. 

"Jang Uk!" Mu-deok sobbed, trying to wake him up, hoping it was not real. Hoping it was a dream.

Mu-deok's sobs completely broke Da-hye's heart.  Da-hye could not imagine what she was feeling after realizing that she had killed the man she loved. Or what Uk felt in his last moments before he died. Da-hye was so heartbroken and sad. Nothing was ever going to be the way it was before. This all had to happen on Dang-gu's wedding day too.  She did not notice that Gu Hyo was desperately trying to wipe the blood that was spilling from Da-hye's forehead.

While Mu-deok was distracted, the leader decided to send an arrow her way. But Mu-deok used her sword to slice through it. The upper left side of Mu-deok's face was starting to petrify. And then she made her escape.

"After her!" Many mages ran after Mu-deok.

"Da-hye." Gu Hyo said. "You are injured." Gu Hyo said as he pulled Da-hye up.

Han Yeol and Gu Hyo walked Da-hye back to Sejukwon. The first thing she saw was Cho-yeon crying over her father's dead body.

After Cheonbugwan mages saw that Mu-deok's petrified body had fallen to the bottom of lake Gyeonchondaeho, Master Heo had treated Da-hye's wound. Now she was sitting in the leader's room.

The only thing she knew was that Uk's dead body was in the secret room of Jeongjingak. And that his funeral might be held tomorrow. Da-hye was debating whether to tell the leader that she knew about Mu-deok being Naksu as well.

"I think Uk knew Mu-deok was Naksu." Dang-gu said. "Jin Mu is raiding Jeongjingak to find proof as we speak." Dang-gu told the leader.

Da-hye decided that she could not keep the secret any longer. "Uncle, I also knew that Mu-deok was Naksu." Da-hye said.

The leader looked at her coldly. "No, you did not." The leader said. "You are the twin sister of Songrim's heir. You did not know nothing."

• • •

Today was the day of Jang Uk's funeral. The Royal family decided that Uk should not be given a proper funeral because he knew of Naksu's identity.  Maidservant Kim came to Songrim crying to ask for the leader's help. But Songrim had no say in Jang Uk's funeral.

It was already dark when the burning of Jang Uk's body began. Two mages began setting the wood on fire.

"Young Master Jang....." Maidservant Kim sobbed.

However, this time Da-hye was not crying. Only one tear rolled down her cheek. She had already cried enough when she witnessed Uk's death. She would definitely miss him so much. It was so sad that he could not even receive a proper funeral. Young Lady Heo and Sun-i were here as well.

That was when a thought came across Da-hye's mind. She knew that it was Uk who got rid of the barrier in Jeongjingak created by the ice stone. What if he had the ice stone's power? But he would have already been brought back to life if he had it. Suddenly, the fire exploded and got bigger. 

The Crowd who was attending the burning of Uk's body gasped. "Get out of here!" Someone said. "Please, be careful."

"Young Master Jang." Maidservant Kim said as the fire started turning blue.

Did Uk really have the power of the ice stone? Was he really coming back to life? What was happening?

The blue fire was replaced by a lot of smoke. Da-hye closed her eyes because of the smoke. But when she opened her eyes again, there was a figure in the middle of the smoke. Was it Jang Uk? Did he really come back to life? When the smoke started to clear, Da-hye's eyes went wide when she saw Uk walking forward.

It was really him. He was alive.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲 😭. 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝟮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝟮𝟬 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴.