Red Rakshasa, Dan Seowol.

When she first heard the report that her disciple was living with a man, she thought something had gone terribly wrong.

The Heavenly Killing Star.

Her own disciple, raised and trained with her own hands.

This was a girl who had never even made friends, let alone mingled with men. And now someone was saying she was living with one?

It would have to be a male praying mantis who thought he could survive mating to even dare speak to her. So then—what kind of man had managed to steal her disciple’s heart?

Surely her disciple hadn’t been the one to suggest they live together. That meant the man had seduced her. But Dan Seowol couldn’t even begin to imagine her disciple being seduced.

She was caught in an utterly baffling situation she couldn’t make sense of, but as reports from the head of the Salmak branch in Chilgok County kept coming in, she had no choice but to believe it.

Her disciple was in love.

She had quietly cheered in the headquarters of Salmak when she first received the news.

And now, after all that time had passed—she was regretting that she hadn’t taught her disciple more about male-female relationships.

“Ha! Seriously! Wow...! I’ve never seen anyone this green before! You have something others would kill for, and yet—! Ha! Yukiko was so flabbergasted, I nearly shattered my Clear-Mirror Heart Technique! As expected of the overwhelming talent of the Heavenly Killing Star, able to break even ninjutsu!”

Number 6 assassin made a stunned face at Cheon So-hee’s words, only to hurriedly correct her expression after realizing what she’d said.

“What are you talking about?”

Dan Seowol let out a deep sigh inside as she watched her disciple’s confused reaction.

Her disciple surely didn’t believe babies were delivered by storks when men and women kissed and held hands. She wasn’t that ignorant of sex.

She had °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° been educated. She had also seen things herself on missions.

The problem was love.

Knowing the mechanics of marriage and childbirth didn’t mean she understood what it meant to fall in love.

She had been entirely indifferent to matters of passion between men and women.

A girl weighed down with endless worries—whether she’d lose her mind today or tomorrow—wasn’t likely to have room for love or interest in romance.

Dan Seowol had understood her situation. That’s why she had never considered teaching her anything beyond martial arts.

But in the end, growing up in the closed world of Salmak—surrounded by assassination missions, training, meditation, and more missions—had led to this pitiful result.

Dan Seowol chose her words carefully as she looked at her disciple.

“If the man in front of you is truly the one person you must never lose... then giving him the one thing a woman can only give once in her life is one way to show it.”

She spoke calmly, like a proper teacher should.

“I gave him my first kiss.”

Cheon So-hee replied proudly, as if boasting about her own decision.

Dan Seowol found the sight oddly adorable, like a baby bird bragging about its first flap of the wings.

For a girl with hardly a speck of cuteness in her, this was unexpected.

“A kiss does hold value, yes. But if you parted ways without a promise to meet again... it might not be enough.”

Even giving a kiss would’ve taken a great deal of courage. A kiss didn’t just mean affection—it meant she was treating him as her destined one, her fiancé.

But this was the man who had made even the Heavenly Killing Star fall in love.

To Dan Seowol, the final parting had lacked proper closure.

“It’s not enough?”

“A woman’s first experience is a once-in-a-lifetime, priceless treasure. Some worthless men may treat it lightly, but a man like the one you described... he would have taken it seriously.”

Even the first experience of an average woman held immeasurable value—let alone someone like her disciple, whose beauty was beyond comparison. And she was the only Heavenly Killing Star in the world.

A childhood friend, reunited by chance in the vast Central Plains, with both of them being the Fate-Reverser and the Heavenly Killing Star... It sounded like a fate decided by the heavens.

Even if she was her disciple, Dan Seowol couldn’t help but think that a man like that should’ve been tied down more securely, one way or another.

“Oppa made a promise to me... Is that not enough?”

Cheon So-hee said this in a voice filled with unshakable trust, but her eyes trembled faintly with doubt.

“Hmph! Even if he made a promise, I’ve heard that when a man sees a flower right in front of him, he wants to pick it! If someone like Number 5 fell for him, he might already be squeezing and smooching some other woman’s big ol’ body!”

Number 6 pouted and made exaggerated kissing sounds.

I want to slap those lips off her face—Cheon So-hee clenched her jaw, scowling as she held in her anger, and replied to Number 6 with certainty.

“Oppa would never do that.”

That he would date another woman after leaving her?

No way.

He was surely writing with all his heart, thinking of her, for the day they would meet again.

“Ugh! The bond between you two is just too strong! Yukiko is so jealous! Nin-nin!”

Number 6 knew when to tease and when to admit defeat.

“Heh. Getting this angry over someone insulting your beloved... Are you sure you’re my disciple? Still, seeing as it really does look like fate from the heavens... If you’re that sure of him, then he’ll wait for you.”

“Yeah. I know he will.”

It was already done.

There was no point in stoking further anxiety—it wouldn’t help her disciple’s training.

Dan Seowol gave a small smile as she watched Cheon So-hee quietly settle her heart.

--------------

Assassins must never lose their composure. In any situation.

The Nine Palaces Mind-Lost Formation.

It was Salmak’s pride—a mechanical formation designed not for killing intruders, like others, but for training assassins.

Unlike other formations that confused or killed, the Nine Palaces Mind-Lost Formation targeted the assassin’s most vulnerable thoughts, prodding them with illusion and breaking their calm.

Even a highly skilled assassin could be gravely wounded if caught off guard.

Even for the Heavenly Killing Star, this formation was no easy task.

Cheon So-hee was inside the Nine Palaces Mind-Lost Formation, enshrouded in delusion.

— Even if he made a promise, I’ve heard that when a man sees a flower right in front of him, he wants to pick it! If someone like Number 5 fell for him, he might already be squeezing and smooching some other woman’s big ol’ body!

Oppa would never do that.

Cheon So-hee believed it. But inside a formation that attacked the mind, even her firm belief was beginning to waver.

“Do you really think the women around him will just leave him alone?”

Right. Oppa wouldn’t be the one to waver.

But would the other women?

Cheon So-hee recalled the women who had hovered around Yun-ho after the storyteller’s performance.

Annoying women. Women who didn’t stir killing intent, but still inexplicably irritated her.

“Will Yun-ho oppa truly be yours forever?”

The fear fanned by the formation started to creep in.

If she could just stay by his side, she could prevent it. But she couldn’t even knock out any suspicious woman near him anymore.

“What if you can’t have him? Wouldn’t it be better to just kill them?”

“Kill them?”

“Yeah. Just kill them. Then you don’t have to worry, right?”

Kill. You want to kill. You’ll end up wanting to kill.

Sticky, murderous urges clung to her, even when she resisted. Malice and hostility stabbed at Cheon So-hee from all directions.

— Yeah. Kill them. Just kill them all.

The old Cheon So-hee would’ve been boiling with murderous intent by now.

“...No. I’m not thinking that.”

But today’s Cheon So-hee was different.

Even as the bloodlust began to rise from deep within, it quickly faded.

“How?”

The voice in the illusion asked in disbelief.

“Because I’m with Yun-ho oppa.”

In the very place where she would’ve once struggled desperately to keep her sanity, Cheon So-hee regained her composure with ease.

She could feel him in her heart.

My oppa. Kang Yun-ho was within her.

His presence crushed the killing instinct with a silent Don’t you dare touch my little sister.

She gently brushed her lips with her fingers.

The energy he had passed to her still lingered inside.

They were apart, but together.

With the comfort she felt from simply following behind his back, Cheon So-hee walked calmly through the illusion, her expression utterly serene.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

--------------

When Cheon So-hee emerged from the Nine Palaces Mind-Lost Formation, she saw Number 6, who had gone in with her master.

“Number 5! You’re slower than Yukiko! At this rate, this Yukiko will soon surpass the Heavenly Killing Star!”

Number 6 beamed triumphantly, though she couldn’t hide the fact that she was drenched in sweat—the formation had clearly been a tough one, even for her.

“Let’s go back to my room and eat. I’ll have them bring food. What will you have?”

“I, Yukiko, will have kimchi donburi!”

Dan Seowol nodded at Number 6, then turned to her disciple.

She wasn’t one to care much about food, but the gesture was one of consideration.

“I want rose tteokbokki.”

Dan Seowol blinked in surprise at the unexpected answer from her disciple.

“You’re placing your own order? That’s rare. Is that something you used to eat with that man?”

This child had always eaten whatever was put in front of her. If she was asking for something specifically, there was surely a reason—and likely that reason was someone in particular. Dan Seowol asked lightly.

“Yeah. He remembered it was something I liked when I was little.”

Cheon So-hee answered with a lifted corner of her mouth, as if proud to share it.

“Yukiko’s chest is tingling! I didn’t hear that part of the story yesterday!”

“There must be quite a few things you haven’t said yet. Let’s hear the rest while we eat.”

She was a quiet girl, not good with words. But if they pressed, there were sure to be more sweet stories buried inside.

Dan Seowol masked her anticipation behind a calm expression.

----

“Is something wrong?”

“It tastes good... but it doesn’t taste good.”

Cheon So-hee replied to her master’s worried question.

The food’s quality was fine. It should have been delicious. But something about it made it hard to swallow.

Cheon So-hee’s expression darkened with a strange melancholy.

“When you try to eat something you used to eat with your lover, but now you’re alone... of course it tastes wrong.”

“Ah...”

Cheon So-hee let out a quiet breath of admiration at how well her master understood.

Right—Oppa used to be there.

When she ate, he was always there, looking at her with warmth in his eyes.

Even when she tried to give him her egg in a grand gesture, he’d split it in half and give a piece back. That childhood friend wasn’t here now.

Without Oppa, even delicious food tasted bland.

“Fufufu! Maybe it’s just that you tried to eat three servings by yourself and got sick of it! Yukiko had no idea Number 5 could eat so well! It’s like you’ve mastered the Ninjutsu of Gluttony!”

“...Now that you mention it, you did eat it all.”

Dan Seowol spoke in a slightly surprised tone.

Even though they each ordered their own meals, they’d requested three portions of rose tteokbokki to share. And yet, while they were talking and eating, most of the food had disappeared—leaving only the sauce.

“...You don’t leave tteokbokki behind.”

Cheon So-hee quietly finished what was left.

The spicy yet creamy flavor, thick and rich, had been perfectly executed.

Despite the generous cream, the heat clung to the tongue just enough to be addictive.

It’s the kind of taste I want to share with Oppa.

She carefully sliced the egg in half—and then, purposely, left it uneaten.

“If you’re not eating that, Yukiko will take it!”

“Hey.”

“Your husband. There’s news.”

Dan Seowol smiled at the two squabbling girls and held out a sheet of paper—the message Cheon So-hee had been waiting for.

“Is it about Yun-ho oppa?”

Cheon So-hee stepped up in an instant, eyes wide with anticipation.

“You called him your husband and you’re not even denying it now.”

“...”

Cheon So-hee only bowed her head with a faint, shy expression. She didn’t bother denying her master’s words.

“Watching you blush like this, I really can’t tell anymore whether you’re the Heavenly Killing Star or some small-town maiden. I guess this is what people mean when they say raising a female disciple is a waste.”

Dan Seowol laughed hollowly with a sigh of mock defeat.

“Just tell me the news.”

“There are two good ones and one bad one. Which do you want to hear first?”

Dan Seowol held out three slips of paper.

“The bad one.”

“Then start with this.”

Bad news about Oppa...?

What if he was hurt? Even in the span of a breath, a thousand ominous thoughts raced through her mind.

As she unfolded the paper, Cheon So-hee felt a tension she hadn’t even experienced inside the Mind-Lost Formation.

But the bad news wasn’t about Kang Yun-ho.

It was about her.

Kang Yun-ho. Bookstore manager. Currently operating a shop called Daseogak with a woman named Tang Hwa-rin.

“...Oppa is... living with a woman?”