Chapter 45

Myeong Sa-hyun, the deputy leader of the Third Squad, always started his day earlier than most.

There was a reason for that.

The very first thing he did upon waking was to prepare a pot of hot tea.

The water was boiling fiercely—too hot to sip—but that didn’t matter.

By the time she woke and began her morning training, it would have cooled to just the right temperature.

After carefully arranging the tea and some snacks on a small tray, he smiled to himself with quiet satisfaction and muttered, “Perfect, just like me.”

For Myeong Sa-hyun, preparing tea and a modest snack to leave at Dang Ye-eun’s training ground was the daily ritual that marked the start of his day.

He had never once heard her say thank you.

But he understood.

The fact that she never refused it meant she was slowly opening her heart.

The reason she couldn’t say thank you was because she was afraid to admit that her heart was thawing.

He believed, without a doubt, that one day her frozen heart would melt like the warm tea.

He didn’t worry about when that day would come.

Waiting a few years for the person you want to spend your life with was no hardship at all.

One morning, after leaving the tea and snacks at her training spot and returning to the dormitory, a male squad member approached him.

“Deputy Leader, do you know Do Hee-young from the Fifth Squad?”

“Hm? Do Hee-young from the Fifth? The shy, cute one? Yeah, I know her. Never really talked much, though. Why do you ask?”

The squad member grinned slyly and handed him a note.

“She asked me to give this to you. She was too embarrassed to deliver it herself and ran off right after.”

“Huh?”

Curious, Myeong Sa-hyun unfolded the note and read it, then chuckled softly.

It was a confession—she had been secretly admiring him for some time and wanted him to meet her near the western forest.

“What’s this? A confession of love?”

“Isn’t it? This is quite the predicament.”

The squad member cheered teasingly.

“Ohhh! Deputy Leader, are you betraying the squad leader now?”

“Not a chance. I feel sorry for Do Hee-young, but I’ll have to let her down gently.”

With that, Myeong Sa-hyun set off.

This wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with something like this.

In the past, even knowing he had feelings for Dang Ye-eun, some women had tried to get close to him.

But after word spread that he was a one-woman man, a devoted sunflower always facing the same girl, such incidents had become rare.

Still, receiving a confession after so long wasn’t unpleasant.

Though he did feel a bit sorry for Do Hee-young, who was about to be rejected.

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Dang Ye-eun, leader of the Thirteenth Third Squad, washed up quickly and headed to the training ground for her morning practice.

As usual, she found a simple tray waiting for her, holding tea and snacks.

Sipping the tea, now perfectly warm, and nibbling on the modest treats, she silently thanked him.

Thanked him for his sincere, unwavering care.

For the warmth she had never once received from her own family.

Suddenly, a voice she could never forget echoed in her mind.

“You shouldn’t have been born!”

That was the phrase her mother had repeated most often throughout her childhood.

No matter how hard she tried to be a good child or how outstanding her martial skills became, her mother never stopped showering her with hateful looks and words.

It was inevitable.

Her mother blamed her for everything.

For all the misfortune that had befallen her.

Her mother was the third wife of Dang Jeong-hoo, the current head of the Sa-cheon Dang clan.

And she was a woman driven by ambition.

Though only the third wife, she had grand designs.

She was determined to make her own son the next clan head.

And she had the means to do it.

Her family was one of the most prestigious in Sa-cheon, and she herself was both beautiful and capable.

She was confident that if she bore a son, she could use her influence to secure his position as the next clan leader.

But there was one thing even her background, beauty, and skills couldn’t fix.

She couldn’t conceive a child.

Despite marrying the clan head and receiving more opportunities than the other wives thanks to her beauty, she remained childless.

Doctors who examined her found nothing physically wrong.

And since other wives bore children, it wasn’t the clan head’s problem either.

This only deepened her frustration.

Doctors advised her to relax, but she couldn’t.

She tried every remedy—medicines, charms from fortune tellers, folk cures.

Yet five years passed with no child.

Meanwhile, the other wives’ children grew up.

Even a wife who came after her had a child.

Her husband, the clan head, felt pity and tried to treat her kindly, but her obsession with having a child only grew, and he grew weary of her.

Then, in the sixth year of their marriage, she suddenly became pregnant.

No one knew why.

She had tried everything, so no one could say what worked.

Maybe it was because she finally began to let go.

Whatever the reason, it revived her fading hope.

Doctors confirmed she was carrying twins.

Her only wish was simple: that at least one of the two would be a boy.

If that happened, she was determined to do whatever it took to make him the next clan head.

When the twins were born, she thought her wish had come true.

Or rather, she realized it had.

The twins were fraternal—a boy and a girl.

But the problem was that the boy was stillborn.

The chance she had fought so hard for slipped away in an instant.

Realizing her dream had been crushed just steps from fulfillment, she was furious.

More despairing than when she had no children at all.

And she directed that despair at her newborn daughter.

When she tried to throw the infant away, the clan head barely managed to intervene.

He had to separate mother and daughter.

And it was a wise decision.

She constantly harbored hatred for her daughter and even tried to kill her.

She was already eager to try for another child.

But…

The clan head, exhausted by her obsession, refused to give her any more chances.

Her ambition to become the mother of the next clan head was completely shattered.

All that remained was hatred.

Hatred for the other wives who had sons, for their children, for her husband who no longer sought her out, and most of all, for the daughter she blamed for everything.

Thus, Dang Ye-eun’s childhood was marked by memories of a mother who hated and cursed her.

And the Dang clan was no place warm enough for a daughter abandoned by her mother to grow up with a healthy heart.

She always tried to be a good, outstanding child.

Because she instinctively knew that if she didn’t, she would be ignored and forgotten.

She wanted attention.

She wanted love.

She wanted the affection that other children received simply because they were children.

But within the walls of the Dang clan, no matter how talented she was, that was impossible.

From the outside, the Dang clan looked like a family bound by blood, but inside, it was a brutal world where only the strong survived.

Dang Ye-eun gave up on assassination and poison techniques to focus on swordsmanship not only because wielding a sword felt more freeing, but also because she realized that no matter how skilled she was in assassination or poison, it wouldn’t matter.

So when she was told to go to the front lines one day, she wasn’t surprised.

She expected it.

She was the perfect candidate to be discarded—bearing the title of direct descendant but holding less status than collateral branches.

She didn’t care if she died on the front lines.

She had no reason to keep living.

Nor did she believe she was worth much.

But once she arrived at the front, her life changed completely.

She already knew she was quite pretty.

After all, she resembled her mother, once called the most beautiful woman in Sa-cheon.

But she had never been grateful for that resemblance.

Every time she looked in the mirror, she felt as if her own face was cursing her.

That was how it had been.

But here, at the front, everyone praised and admired her looks.

A reaction she had never experienced in the Dang clan.

The same went for her swordsmanship.

Before coming here, she had reached the peak of her skill, but aside from a formal compliment from her father, the clan head, no one had cared.

In the Sa-cheon Dang clan, only assassination and poison techniques were valued.

There were skilled swordsmen, but they were all hired mercenaries from outside.

Here, it was different.

What mattered wasn’t what you had learned, but how deeply you had mastered it, and how effectively you could fight the Mindless.

That was what counted most.

Having already reached her peak in her twenties, it was only natural that she was respected as the top prosecutor.

But all of this felt utterly foreign to her.

She didn’t believe she was someone worthy of such treatment.

And so, she was afraid.

Afraid that one day, people would see her true self—the part of her that should never have been born, the part that deserved nothing but hatred.

Because of that fear, she never let anyone in.

She simply played the role of the strong, cold, and unyielding Dang Ga Geom Bong—the image everyone expected of her.

And she vowed to live that way forever.

She did.

She really did…

Until one morning, as she sipped the warm tea left for her at the training hall, a thought quietly crept in.

Maybe, just maybe, this person isn’t Dang Ga Geom Bong. Maybe he could truly love Dang Yeo Eun—the girl who deserved to be hated.

She was afraid she was mistaking the warmth of the tea for the warmth in her heart, but still, she wanted to believe it at least once.

That there really was someone in this world who loved her for who she was.

So, as she drank her tea thinking of Myeong Sa Hyun that day, Dang Yeo Eun suddenly found herself wondering:

“Maybe it’s okay to finally tell him how grateful I am. To say I’ve always been thankful.”

Expressing her feelings in words terrified her, but for the one person who had looked at her without change for years, maybe she could find the courage.

With that thought, after finishing her training, she headed back to the dormitory, determined.

It might just be another empty promise, but she would try.

She would tell him.

But as she walked toward the dorm, steeling herself, she froze in shock.

There stood Myeong Sa Hyun, his face grim, right in front of the dorm.

“V-Vice Captain?”

She had promised herself she’d speak to him, but wasn’t this too soon?

Her mouth went dry, and she couldn’t find the words.

Then, with an unusually stern expression, Myeong Sa Hyun spoke.

“Captain, I need to talk to you. Come with me.”

Flustered, she nodded without thinking.

“Uh? Y-Yeah, okay.”

He led her into the forest, clearly heading somewhere secluded.

Her heart pounded harder and harder.

Now that she thought about it, it was probably better to talk where no one else could hear.

Myeong Sa Hyun’s unusual demeanor was strange, but it also made her hopeful.

Maybe, just maybe, today he would…

As they ventured deeper into the woods, Myeong Sa Hyun suddenly stopped.

Startled, she asked, “W-Why? Vice Captain, why stop here…?”

But when she looked at his face, she couldn’t say another word.

It was twisted in pain.

With great effort, he managed to say, “No… Captain, if you follow me…”

“W-Why? Vice Captain, what’s wrong?”

His face instantly hardened again as he said coldly, “It’s nothing. Come with me, Captain.”

At that moment, a terrifying thought struck her like lightning.

She shuddered uncontrollably.

She had imagined something so dreadful, something she never wanted to think about.

With a stunned expression, she called out to him.

“Vice Captain?”

But he remained rigid, saying, “Hurry. There’s somewhere we must go.”

Tears suddenly streamed down her face.

This wasn’t the Myeong Sa Hyun she knew.

In a daze, she whispered, “No… This can’t be. Sa Hyun, please…”

Then, gripping her arm roughly, he said mechanically, “Hurry. There’s somewhere we must go.”

She shook her head blankly.

The Myeong Sa Hyun she knew wouldn’t just focus on his own business while she was crying.

He wouldn’t treat her so harshly.

She had to accept it now.

This wasn’t Myeong Sa Hyun.

Realizing he had been possessed, Dang Yeo Eun grabbed his arm and shook him desperately.

“Sa Hyun! Snap out of it! No! You can come back! You can! Please, come back!”

His face twisted painfully again.

With a pained expression and desperate eyes, he said with difficulty, “Kill me… before I hurt you…”

Her strength drained away.

Kill him?

She had only just begun to trust someone.

She couldn’t imagine life without him.

And now, he was asking her to kill him.

It felt like her heart was being torn out.

Finally, she broke down in tears, shaking her head.

“No. No! Don’t say that. Don’t leave my side, please!”

Then, with a distorted scream, Myeong Sa Hyun drew his sword.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Clang!

“Sa Hyun!”

Despite his terrifying expression and raised sword, Dang Yeo Eun couldn’t defend herself.

She couldn’t bring herself to point a blade at him.

All she could do was cry out his name like a child.

“Sa Hyun! Sa Hyun!”

Then, with a final, forceful strike, Myeong Sa Hyun brought the sword down.

Thud!

“Gahk!!”

Dang Yeo Eun’s eyes went blank.

The sword had pierced not her, but Myeong Sa Hyun’s own heart.

“Sa Hyuuuun!”

She screamed his name and rushed forward, holding his collapsing body weakly.

“No! No! Nooo!”

Myeong Sa Hyun, with the sword still lodged in his heart, smiled faintly for the first time in a long while.

With bloodied hands, he gently touched her cheek and whispered,

“I’m sorry… I love you…”

Then his hand fell limply.

“Nooooooo!”

As Dang Yeo Eun wailed, clutching Myeong Sa Hyun, the thirteen squad members who had rushed over at the sound stood frozen nearby.

No one could say a word.

The cheerful, easygoing man who had won the hearts of many on the front lines—and who had been the first true salvation in Dang Yeo Eun’s life—had just taken his last breath.

By cruel coincidence, his death came around the same time the body of Ma Yeogyeong was discovered.