Black Winter
Read ch 79 as of 12/01/22 - rate 3.5 so far ** beautiful art, confusing plot. ** some bad translation (see ch 17) - 13yo FL is Seol Haesa who has lost her parents and lives with her kind maternal grandma and her awful uncle’s family. Her uncle’s family mistreat and abuse her. She gets on well with the other villagers. - One cold night under the full moon after picking herbs to sell, she sees a black cat with her missing hairpin. She follows it to an old abandoned Western style house but doesn’t enter, instead she turns away and returns to her own home. - FL is in trouble for coming back late and her uncle, aunt and 12yo cousin all get stuck into her. Fed up she repeats to her aunt the suggestion her aunt made to her mother to become a prostitute to make more money. Her uncle aims his bow at FL but her grandma arrives in time to intervene and tells FL to run away. FL is followed and threatened by her cousin but FL reminds her that the home they live in was built by her parents, and it’s uncle’s family who are living off them. - Unsure where to spend the night, the black cat appears before FL again and FL decides to go to the abandoned house. - She explores inside the house, going up the stairs and finds a strange man sleeping inside a large cloth covered space. He wakes up and only agrees to let her stay for a few days on the ground floor after much pleading. NB: the black cat is a rare black leopard called Heuksan and is Yuan Roshua’s familiar. - FL uncle is told about a foreigner willing to pay a high price for young commoner girls. FL is suggested as the next target. - Instead of FL, Hwaye is kidnapped by Valen. Muho tries to stop him but is badly injured instead. - Hwaye is taken by boat to an island far away called Donghwa Wall where there are many other young captives. It’s an island that’s for adult entertainment. Hwaye pretends to be FL and tries to escape many times but is imprisoned naked and punished. Once recovered she goes ballistic in front of foreign clients as she demands an older girl Canna return the ring from Muho to her. - Muha seeks comfort from a sleeping FL as he’s ignored by his family and isolated from his unconscious brother. - FL’s cousin sets fire to the separate outer cottage and blocks the doors where FL is sleeping. Grandma returns and finds no stored water to put out the fire. The strange man appears, walks in and out of the fire unscathed while carrying FL, then disappears into the night. Muha is discovered by the villagers that came later to help but sadly he dies. Haesa is blamed by Muha’s family for his death. Muho and his family move away to the capital. Cast of characters: - Hwaye, 13yo childhood friend of FL. She’s a wealthy commoner who lives with her paternal grandma. She loves to study and has learnt how to read. She wishes she was a noble so she can do what she likes and see whomever she chooses. Hwaye is actually the illegitimate daughter of a royal concubine who gave birth to Hwaye when she was 15yo. - 13yo Muho, childhood friend of FL, likes Hwaye and wants to marry her, studies the martial arts that his noble family are famous for. Under pressure from his grandpa who’s a Minister. Grows up to be a Captain and escort for the Crown Prince. - 8yo Muha, childhood friend of FL, younger brother to Muho, likes FL, studying to be civil servant for his noble family. - Han Yeora, owns accesssory shop. Best friend of FL’s mother. Treats FL like her own daughter. - Valen Sapinous. Manages France’s East Flower Wall / Donghwa Wall. He wants to save his twin sister Ruby who’s in a coma. His family practice incest to keep their blood pure. Ryeong is Valen’s servant who has feelings for Ruby as she was always kind to him. - Yuan Roshua. Strange man living in the abandoned Western house. He was a priest who became a demon after he killed the bishop / spiritual priest. His eyes are red because of a curse, but they were originally purple. His mother was Korean and his father was a foreigner. He doesn’t eat or sleep, and he heals very quickly. 10yrs pass: - FL is now 23yo. She’s been living on the ground floor of the old Western house and Yuan has been asleep this whole time. He wakes up when FL checks on him and says being near her helps him slowly recover his memories. - On the way back from checking on Hwaye’s grandma, FL is harassed by Qing soldiers. Muho turns up and intervenes. They catchup and Muho apologises for his misguided hatred 10yrs ago. - La Tez, family friend of Valen, has been a regular visitor of Hwaye (now Lily) and promises to take her back to visit her village. - Yuan recovers all his memories after he spent a night in prison while the new head administrator investigated him. FL with Muho’s help get him out and FL tells Yuan that she liked him. - FL finds out from her grandma that Yuan saved her from the fire. When she confronts Yuan about it, he says the cat told him to save her. He also says it was her cousin who started the fire. - Yuan tells FL to leave the house after he remembers killing her in their past life. As she returns to the village FL meets Hwaye who has returned for a few days. Yuan’s memories: - He and his sister Sarah lived in a French village where an epidemic was and their parents became infected. A spiritual priest and prophet called Emon came and claimed he could heal them but Yuan had to become a priest under him and his sister was sent away to a convent. His parents were better for a year but still died. Emon, now the cathedral’s bishop, said this was due to Yuan’s lack of priestly devotion. Yuan lived as if he was already dead. - Hesia (FL in past life) turned up at the village cathedral and prayed there every day. She had run away after killing the innkeeper’s wife in self defense who was trying to harm her with an axe, leaving her mother behind. She’s wanted for murder so was constantly on the run. Hesia was cared for at a convent by a nun called Sarah who told Hesia to go to the cathedral. Hesia suggested Yuan should leave with her. - Jared Scheffer (Muho in past life) was Yuan’s best friend and Sarah’s sweetheart, but had left the village to become a soldier. Years later he went to the convent to fetch Sarah (Hwaye in past life). They tried to convince Yuan to leave with them but he refused. - Jared and Sarah live in a different village and Jared is often away for training. Sarah falls pregnant during his last visit home. Jared is killed by his jealous aide Alace (La Tez in past life) at the end of a big battle. Alace covets Sarah and doesn’t tell her that Jared is dead. When she works it out for herself and a loyal soldier confirms his death, their child is stillborn from the shock. Sarah dies soon after. - Hesia faints in Yuan’s arms from a fever as she was about to leave the village on her own. He nurses her back to health. They have become fond of eachother and agree to leave together soon. - Yuan checks on Emon in the underground prayer room and learns Emon is a fake priest who only wanted to meet the conditions for an ancient ritual for everlasting life. Emon tries to kill Yuan but is killed instead. Villagers arrive and Yuan goes on the run. - Yuan is found and cared for by Hesia. The villagers know about Hesia too and surround the house. - In tears Yuan kills Hesia after she agreed so as not to be caught and horribly tortured. Yuan escapes from prison and was on the run until he got to the old Western house. - Emon cursed Yuan that he wouldn’t die and that those precious to him would be forced to reincarnate again and again with no end to their suffering. Back to the present: - Hwaye tells FL that she resents her but doesn’t blame her before walking away. FL realises what happened to Hwaye might be connected to her uncle and tries looking for her cousin. - Muho comes across Hwaye outside of her grandma’s house. They have an emotional reunion. Hwaye asks to meet again tomorrow as she wants to be alone right now. - Hwaye goes to the old Western house to seek shelter for the night and is surprised to meet Yuan there. Hwaye remembered her past life after she was kidnapped. She recognises Yuan as her brother. - As they catchup with eachother, Yuan tells Hwaye about the curse that is still in effect. He believes someone with purple eyes needs to stab him in the heart with silver for the curse to end. Hwaye tells Yuan about Valen who has purple eyes and has Emon’s notes on immortality. - Muho interrupts Hwaye and Yuan, who tells Hwaye to go and stay with Muho. Hwaye hides the fact she needs to take medicine. - FL confronts her cousin, who has been seeing a local fortune teller to help her to conceive a child. Her cousin is sorry for what happened 10yrs ago and tells FL that she was meant to be kidnapped instead of Hwaye. FL says she’ll never forgive her cousin. - FL is upset and goes to the old Western house. Yuan comforts her. - Yuan recalls the time he had sex with FL in her past life. He teases her for now, as FL doesn’t remember. - (ch 54-55 scrambled) FL takes Yuan back to her house to meet her grandma. They’re told the local authorities are kicking out foreigners after what happened to Hwaye 10yrs ago. FL’s grandma tells Yuan it would be better for him to stay with FL and they should get married. - FL sees Hwaye and apologises for what happened as she knows the truth now. Hwaye says she can’t forgive FL even though she knows it’s not FL’s fault. FL offers to go back in Hwaye’s place but is rejected. Hwaye says she doesn’t want anything from FL and there’s nothing FL can do for her. - Yuan was arrested and FL loudly claims he’s to be her husband. - After Yuan is released, FL wants to know where she stands with him. He pulls her close only to push her away. - ML knows that he’ll have to leave FL alone as he plans to die soon. Despite this he decides to be with her and embraces her. - Yuan takes FL on a boat and tells her that he loves her very much, then they kiss. - Hwaye meets with Yuan. He doesn’t want her to leave. If she stays, Valen will be forced to come and get her. - Yuan plans to meet Valen and convince him that Yuan’s blood is more suited for the experiment than Hwaye’s. Yuan will get Valen to kill him and the curse will be over. - Hwaye wants to go back for the sake of another girl called Daisy who’ll be killed if Hwaye doesn’t return. - Muho overheard Hwaye and jumps into a lake with her to make her change her mind about leaving. He sees the multiple scars on her back through her wet clothes and is furious. - Hwaye faints as a side effect of not taking her medicine, which all dissolved in her coat pocket in the lake. FL is at Muho’s place to see Hwaye and she sees him carrying Hwaye. FL also sees the scars after helping to change Hwaye. - Hwaye is unconscious for a few days. Ryeong sneaks in and feeds her the medicine. She wakes up to see a note from Ryeong about leaving the next morning. Hwaye has Muho keep her company in her room that night. He weeps and begs her not to go. But in the morning she’s gone. - Just as Hwaye and Ryeong are about to board the ship, Valen appears. Then Muho suddenly engages Ryeong in a sword fight. Muho wounds Ryeong and aims his sword at Valen. Yuan intervenes before Muho can kill Valen. Yuan and Valen make eye contact, with Yuan’s eyes changing to purple in that moment. Ryeong escapes with Valen who’s also badly injured. - Muho and Yuan get into a fist fight, with FL and Hwaye eventually stopping them. Hwaye stays with Muho, and FL goes home with Yuan. - Yuan orders Heuksan to find Valen and Ryeong, and take them back to the old Western house. - Using her skills as a herbalist, FL goes to the mountains to find medicinal herbs to help Hwaye in case she gets sick again. Yuan goes with her. They find shelter from the rain after FL sprains her ankle. - Hwaye tells Muho that her sickness developed after Valen experimented on her whenever she misbehaved. She now relies on Valen for the antidote that only he knows how to make. - Yuan visits Muho and overhears orders for Muho to go into battle. Yuan sees the past repeating itself with Muho dying while fighting. Hwaye will die next, then FL. - Yuan convinces Muho to help him kill Valen after Yuan’s talked to him at his house. Yuan plans to have Valen kill him there. - The curse will be transferred to Valen and the curse will end with Valen’s death. - Ryeong fainted after buying herbs for Valen. He wakes up 2 days later in Han Yeora’s house who calls him by name. She reveals that she’s his mother. - Han Yeora fell in love with a foreigner when she was a young woman, but he abandoned her while she was pregnant. She made a deal to sell her child for a lot of money if it was a boy to a wealthy foreign family (Valen’s family). - Yeora regretted making the deal and ran away with her son. She was helped by Jin Daran, FL’s mother who hid Yeora at an old empty house owned by her family. - Yeora is found by a member of the White Fang Clan whom she made the deal through. In the struggle to take away her baby, some hot oil is spilled on Ryeong’s face. That’s how Yeora recognised him from the scar on his face. Although Yeora later married and had a daughter, she never stopped thinking about Ryeong. - While treating him, Yeora saw how scarred his body was and knew he’d been mistreated, rather than cared for as she was promised. - Yuan receives a telepathic message from Heuksan that Valen has been found. Yuan bids a sad farewell to FL as she sleeps. - Valen arrives at the old Western house and is met by Yuan dressed in priest robes. Valen recognises Yuan’s face as similar to the drawing of the wanted priest in Valen’s research into the immortality curse. - Yuan shares details of how he became cursed which coincide with Valen’s knowledge of the curse. The 13yo purple eyed Oriental flower in Emon’s notes referred to Yuan who was meant to be the sacrifice for the curse after Emon waited 13yrs. Because Yuan killed Emon by accident, the curse was transferred to Yuan. - As further proof, Yuan cuts his hand and it heals right away. Yuan offers his blood to Valen in exchange for Valen killing him. - Valen stabs Yuan with the same silver candlestick that Yuan stabbed Emon with. Suddenly Ryeong appears and stabs Valen through the chest with his sword. Then Ryeong walks away. - FL had woken up and came to Yuan’s place to look for him. Muho tried to stop her, as asked by Yuan. - As FL holds Yuan, his eyes change back to purple. - Looking into Yuan’s eyes triggers FL to remember her past life with him. She’s overcome with grief. - Muho carries Yuan and takes FL out of the house that’s crumbling around them. Ryeong passes Hwaye who’d followed Muho and tells her that Valen’s dead. The old Western house finally collapses, falling into the ocean and taking Valen’s body with it. - The doctor treating Yuan confirms he’s alive. If he had been stabbed any deeper, he’d have died. Yuan remains unconscious while FL cares for him. - Hwaye’s grandma overhears FL talking about Hwaye being sick with the doctor. The grandma visits the unconscious Hwaye and cries by her bedside. FL finds a pouch outside and has the doctor check its contents. It’s confirmed to be the medicine Hwaye had described to Muho. Hwaye’s birth mother appears and offers to pay for the medicine as it’s very expensive. - Hwaye’s maternal grandpa is an Imperial Superintendent (a high ranking official of the Imperial Court). To prevent her family from being punished for breaking the law, Hwaye’s mother sent Hwaye to be raised by her paternal grandma.
Rental Onii-chan
** Soooo much tragedy and melodrama! Ending felt bit too rushed, and her actual brother is such an asshole for taking out his crap on his innocent and much younger sister. Needed a couple more chapters to round it out. Overall quite the tearjerker and Kanami is adorable.
The Beast Must Die
Ch 21 as of 16/11/21
The Specific Heat Capacity of Love