Inside the towering walls of the palace, tension boiled.
"A royal princess consorting with wandering martial outcasts?This is an insult to the throne!"
The conservative bloc's voice rang loud across the gilded chamber.
"If Miryeong is not recalled immediately, the royal family's dignity will collapse!"
The Emperor, silent for long moments, finally gave his decree.
Dispatch the Imperial Guard. Bring her back.
They moved at dusk.
Elite warriors, forged in secret halls of the palace—unseen, unheard.Not even the wind marked their passing.
The Imperial Guard had one mission:
Retrieve Princess Miryeong. By any means necessary.
But before they arrived, Miryeong already knew.
She felt it—the cold pulse in the air, the subtle shift in silence.
"They're close."
She turned, eyes calm.
"I'll meet them. Alone. I won't let Cheonwoohoe suffer because of me."
But Lee Dohyun blocked her path.
"No."
His voice was resolute.
"This isn't about bringing you back.They want a fight. A reason to call us traitors.You walk into their hands, we lose everything."
Miryeong hesitated.But Dohyun's eyes held a weight she couldn't shake.
"They don't want you.They want to break us."
The Imperial Guard arrived at Cheonwoohoe's gates under moonlight.
Their leader, clad in crimson-black, stepped forward.
"By order of His Majesty, we are here to escort Princess Miryeong back to the palace.Cooperate, or we will proceed by force."
Tension cracked through the air.Trainees froze.Masters stepped forward, uncertain.
Everyone in Murim knew:To defy the Imperial Guard was to defy the throne itself.
Lee Dohyun walked to the front.
Calm.
"Miryeong is with us.And she stays with us.Even if it's the Emperor himself—you will not take her."
The commander's smirk was cold.
"Then you're a traitor.And I don't leave traitors breathing."
The clash came swiftly—Like a lightning bolt tearing the sky.
The Imperial Guard struck fast, clean, lethal.Their martial arts were honed in shadow, beyond the reach of any sect.
Cheonwoohoe staggered.
The trainees, brave but young, struggled.
Even seasoned masters found themselves outmatched.
Dohyun, Wolhui, and Soyeon fought at the front,directing movements, intercepting critical blows.
But even they began to falter.
Watching her people fall, Miryeong clenched her fists.
"Enough."
She stepped forward.
"I'll go back.Just… stop."
All movement paused.
Her voice, broken yet proud, reached the battlefield.
But before she could move further—Dohyun grabbed her wrist.
"No."
His voice was low. Shaking.But not from fear.
"The moment we give you up, they'll want more.This doesn't end with you."
She looked into his eyes.
"You're not a bargaining piece, Miryeong.You're part of this place.And we protect our own."
Tears welled in her eyes.Not from weakness—but because someone finally said those words to her without condition.
The storm had begun.And Cheonwoohoe had chosen to stand its ground.
******
Chapter : The Rise of Feeling
The air was thick with steel and sweat.
The Imperial Guard pressed harder, their formation tightening like a noose.Their commander moved with ruthless precision—every strike meant to break through, to seize Miryeong.
Baek Wolhui watched for a single breath, then moved.
"Collapse their outer edge. Left flank only. They're too focused on center."
Her blade drew a wide arc—fast, sharp, disrupting rhythm.
Han Soyeon followed, her sword dancing with fluid grace.
"Watch their footwork. Disrupt their momentum—don't let them plant."
Her moves weren't loud. But they were exact.The Guard began to slow.
And still, it wasn't enough.
Cheonwoohoe's trainees began to tire.Their formation held—but barely.Even the instructors faltered under the elite force's pressure.
That's when Lee Dohyun turned to her.
"Miryeong.You know their tactics.Their doctrine, their signals, their blind spots."
He wasn't asking.
He was trusting.
Miryeong didn't hesitate.
"Then we use the palace's teachings…to break the palace itself."
She moved like a commander reborn.
"Reform the line. Shift to a dual-hook formation—trap their vanguard in a vice.Strike from the flanks once their center overextends."
Trainees moved.
Instructors followed.
And suddenly—the pressure eased.
The Guard, caught off-guard by a counter-tactic of their own making, began to falter.
Miryeong and Dohyun stood side by side, commanding.
They didn't speak often.They didn't need to.
As the Guard began to retreat, even for a breath—Miryeong turned to him.
"Dohyun…"
She hesitated.
"The way you protect me…it makes the thought of returning unbearable.I don't know how to exist in a world where you're not beside me."
The chaos around them blurred, muted.
He stepped closer.Took her hand.
"You don't have to."
"You matter to me, Miryeong.And whatever comes next—I'll stand in front of it."
The Imperial Guard pulled back, bloodied but not broken.
Their leader glanced back once—expression unreadable.
"This isn't over.The throne does not forget."
They vanished into the darkness they came from.
Cheonwoohoe stood—battered, but unbroken.
But everyone knew it:
This was only the beginning.
***
Chapter : A Palace of Schemes
In the shadowed depths of the imperial palace, the voices rose like blades unsheathed.
"The Princess's continued presence in the Murim is disgraceful.She must be recalled immediately!"
The conservatives pounded the table, their tones sharp.
Across the chamber, a voice replied—measured, but firm.
"Thanks to her, the throne's influence has reached further than ever.Cheonwoohoe is not a threat. They're a potential ally."
Laughter followed.
"Allies? The Murim exists to obey, not negotiate.We don't need allies—we command."
But not all were so blind.
"The Murim no longer bows.Cheonwoohoe is reshaping their world.If the Princess stands with them, then so does the throne."
Silence settled—deep, unresolved.
Back at Cheonwoohoe, Miryeong sat alone.
Her thoughts circled like storm winds.
"Am I endangering them just by staying?"
The palace called.Not with words—but with pressure.
"Maybe if I return, I can protect both sides.Maybe... leaving is the answer."
She stood, eyes distant.
But not everyone in the palace agreed.
In secret, the progressive faction sent word to Cheonwoohoe.
"Do not send her back.The conservatives will use her—twist her to seize more control.She is safer with you."
The message found Lee Dohyun and the inner circle.And with it—division.
"Working with palace reformists is dangerous," one master warned."It could pull us straight into their war."
Another spoke sharply.
"But without help, we can't protect her.If they come again... we won't hold."
The room filled with silence, heavy and unresolved.
That night, Miryeong found Dohyun alone by the fire.
"I need to talk to you."
He looked up.
"I know that voice.Tell me."
She hesitated.
Then—
"I'm going back.To the palace."
He froze.
"Why?"
"Because staying here will only make things worse.For you. For all of Cheonwoohoe."
He stood, voice low.
"You think they'll stop if you leave?You think they just want you?"
"I know they won't," she said. "But I can do more from inside.Maybe… I can buy time. Maybe I can make space—for us."
She reached for his hand.
"This isn't goodbye.It's a promise."
He stared into her eyes.So many things he wanted to say.But in the end—
"You'll always be with me.No matter where you are."
She packed quietly.
The members of Cheonwoohoe gathered—silent, solemn.
Baek Wolhui stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
"Wherever you are, you're one of us.And we'll come when you call."
Miryeong smiled. Bittersweet.
She looked at Dohyun one last time.
"I'll carry our time with me.That's what will keep me standing."
He nodded, voice almost a whisper.
"You're never alone. Not anymore."
Miryeong returned to the palace.
And Cheonwoohoe stood still,the echo of her absence deeper than words.
But even in her absence,a new fire began to rise.
They would endure.And one day, they would reunite—not as protector and protected,but as equals, facing the world together.