She hoped the belongings he had left behind would still be there—items like a brazier, firewood, and other basic supplies.

‘At least until this blizzard stops, no one will come there. Especially not to the mountain.’

Determined, Yul-hye stomped through the deep snow, her feet sinking with each step as she made her way towards the mountain.

The herbalist’s hut wasn’t far, located about halfway up the slope near the edge of the mountain. She just needed to reach it.

‘So cold… I feel like I’m going to freeze to death…’

By now, Yul-hye’s hair had turned completely white from the accumulating snow. It wasn’t just her hair—her face and body were coated in a thick layer of snow. The cold had seeped so deeply into her that she could barely move her fingers anymore.

Her only thought was to reach the hut as quickly as possible, light the brazier, and warm her frozen body.

‘Just a little further.’

The familiar path came into view. Though buried under snow, she recognized it immediately. She was almost there.

‘The hut.’

In the distance, the old herbalist’s hut appeared, its roof blanketed in white snow. A wave of relief washed over Yul-hye at the sight.

Just a hundred steps. That was all that separated her from shelter.

Dragging her legs, which sank deeply into the snow with every step, she forced herself forward, determination driving her through the freezing cold.

Then, suddenly, a dark figure swooped down in front of her.

“Kyahhh!”

Yul-hye screamed, stumbling backward in terror as the shadow loomed before her, blocking her path.

‘A… a tiger….’

Yul-hye had seen tiger pelts before, but she had never come face to face with a live tiger—until now.

In this region of Gangseo Province, tigers were a frequent sight, especially in winter. Tiger hunters often set up base camps in the mountains to track and hunt them during the colder months.

However, since she had never ventured into the winter mountains before, Yul-hye had never encountered one herself—until this moment.

‘What do I do…?’

If she had even a stick in hand, she might have tried to use it defensively. But she was completely unarmed, with nothing that could serve as a weapon.

Throwing a snowball? Pointless.

Running? Impossible. She wouldn’t make it five steps before the tiger caught and killed her.

‘The hut is right there…’

It was so close—just a few steps away—but it might as well have been miles.

If she could somehow reach the hut and shut the door, she might be able to wait the tiger out. But with the massive beast blocking her path, she was frozen, unsure of her next move.

She remembered hearing stories of starving predators coming down from the mountains in winter, driven by desperation when food was scarce. This tiger must have come down for the same reason, his hunger making him even more dangerous.

‘At least this….’

Yul-hye pulled the hairpin from her hair. It was a small, delicate pin, barely the length of her hand, but it was all she had. No matter how futile, she resolved to use it.

The tiger growled low in its throat, its muscles coiling as it advanced. Its jaws opened wide, and then it lunged.

“Aahhh!”

Yul-hye screamed, swinging the hairpin with every ounce of strength she could muster.

But as she swung, her foot slipped on the snow. She lost her balance and swayed precariously before falling backwards into the snow.

“Ahhh!”

The tiger’s jaws snapped shut, narrowly missing her. But Yul-hye’s body tumbled backward, falling down a steep slope, rolling uncontrollably.

She hadn’t realized, hidden beneath the thick snow, that what she thought was solid ground was actually the edge of a sharply sloping mountainside.

As she plummeted down the incline, snow and ice scraping against her, Yul-hye’s strength gave out. Her vision blurred, and she finally lost consciousness.

The last thing she saw before everything went dark was the tiger, bounding down the slope after her.

***

“Lucky.”

Ah-shin muttered as he looked down at the unconscious Yul-hye.

“She could’ve ended up as a tiger’s meal, but luck’s on her side.”

The tiger that had nearly attacked Yul-hye now lay skinned, its pelt being loaded onto a horse by the soldiers.

Just as the beast had been about to pounce, Ah-shin had thrown his sword with lethal precision, striking the tiger’s head. Even then, the creature hadn’t died instantly, forcing him to finish it by slashing open its belly with his blade.

“Is she alive?”

Ah-shin asked, crouching beside Yul-hye.

He touched her hand and frowned. Her fingers were as cold as ice, and her breathing was faint. If left in this state, she would undoubtedly die.

“Should I just leave her here? Insolent thing.”

Conflicting thoughts raced through his mind. Part of him wanted to let her freeze to death, to rid himself of her defiance once and for all. Another part of him itched to bring her back – to punish her personally and make sure she learned the consequences of her actions.

In the end, Ah-shin made his decision—he placed Yul-hye’s frozen body onto his horse.

“Let’s head back.”

Ah-shin’s instincts had been almost entirely accurate.

For some reason, he had felt an inexplicable urge to climb the mountain. Initially, he had planned to continue searching the pits, but his gaze kept drifting toward the small mountain near Jung Do-yoon’s house.

Trusting his gut, he decided to ascend the mountain. There, he came across fresh footprints in the snow, leading him further up the slope. Not long after, he found Yul-hye collapsed at the bottom of a steep incline—with a tiger poised to strike her.

Without hesitation, Ah-shin killed the beast.

Had he arrived even a moment later, the scene would have been entirely different. Instead of a collapsed Yul-hye, he would have found her torn to pieces, her defiance ended in the jaws of the tiger.

“Today is a lucky hunting day.”

One tiger in the daytime, another at night, and an insolent girl on top of it all.

It was, without question, an impressive haul—one of the most rewarding hunts Ah-shin had experienced in quite some time.

As he mounted his horse, his expression betrayed a rare sense of satisfaction, a faint smirk playing at the corners of his lips.