Camellia 35

His bride was both interesting and nerve wracking. If it had been just one or the other, he would have either doted on him like a beloved pet or killed him, like he had done with countless martial artists before.

Too valuable to kill, too bothersome to keep alive. That was what the bride meant to Tang Yujae.

Dawn was breaking. Even amid the silence, Seolyeong failed to read the mood. His soft lips kept babbling.

“Could we possibly have met before? And if so, what brought us together?”

“……”

“Oh. Answer me. Answer me! It’s so frustrating I might die here.”

Had he just stayed quiet, he might have been tolerable. But Seolyeong, loud and whiny, was gnawing away at himself. Tang Yujae didn’t even feel like laying a finger on his bride anymore.

“Ha, you’re really going to ignore me to the end…”

Seolyeong couldn’t stand it any longer, he grabbed Yujae’s face with both hands and turned it toward him.

He licked his lips when he saw the mark beneath his right eye up close. A dot in such an unusual spot left a strong impression. It gave his already handsome face a distinct allure.

Seolyeong was sure he had seen this man before. But who was he? His confusion grew, and a shiver ran down his spine.

Even if his mind didn’t remember, his body did. This man had once brutally attacked him and destroyed his danjeon.

After darting glances at Yujae, Seolyeong turned his face away and faked a cough, then looked up at the sky that had faded to a deep blue. He did so to shake off the unease. He felt that bathing beneath the open sky was luxury.

And then he opened his mouth without thinking.

“…It’s like my brain is fogged over. I can’t think straight. Every time I try to figure out who I am, or who you are… my head shuts it down. Like I’ve been cursed.”

His chest felt heavy, his limbs tingled, his eyelids itched, but he didn’t know if those were symptoms related to how he felt.

“My body moves, but it’s like I’ve become a jiangshi.”

He chuckled and glanced at Yujae.

Tang Yujae had a feeling that Seolyeong will soon remember him.

The Qi Si Pungjae had left in his acupuncture points was fading. If it wasn’t reapplied, Seolyeong would snap back to full awareness as if struck by lightning.

But before touching his pressure points, Yujae placed his hand on Seolyeong’s abdomen, the place where he had once torn him open.

He pressed down hard on the still-unhealed wound. Seolyeong winced in pain.

“Urgh, stop…!”

“Why are you always laughing.”

As if to crush the rising discomfort in himself, Yujae pressed harder, not stopping until the wound split open and bled.

Seolyeong shoved at his shoulders, but Yujae didn’t budge. He only drove his palm deeper, crushing the already damaged danjeon.

“So irritating…”

Eventually, Seolyeong went limp, his limbs dropping as he passed out. Fortunately, Yujae wouldn’t need to reapply acupuncture.

The water around his bride had turned dark red. The thick blood of a blood fiend didn’t lose its color even in blackened medicinal water.

Tang Yujae gently brushed his bride’s hair back from his face.

*

After escorting Seolyeong’s guest to the guest quarters, Yuwon returned to the medical hall and was working through her studies in the second-floor. She hadn’t had much time to read lately, and it left her uneasy.

Her teacher had always said, if she neglected her studies, the price would be paid not by her, but by her patients.

Recalling that familiar voice, Yuwon quietly flipped through a medical anatomy book imported from Pasa. But the calm didn’t last long.

Clack! The window burst open as a sharp wind swept in.

The three lanterns that had been softly flickering went out in succession. Yuwon, startled turned her head quickly, just in time to see a tall figure stepping over the windowsill.

“Hello, noona.”

She blinked in surprise.

“…Yujae?”

“Who else would come visit you at this hour?”

She told him to close the window and relit the lanterns. The pitch-dark room filled once more with warm, amber light.

Yujae slung the unconscious bride off his shoulder and dumped him unceremoniously onto the floor.

Yuwon shot to her feet in alarm.

“What…! Are you insane?!”

She rushed to check on Seolyeong’s condition, then glared at Tang Yujae.

Her brother had thrown Seolyeong down like trash. The stitched wound had reopened and was gushing blood.

His whole body was soaked, and the strong scent of cordyceps clung to him, it seemed he’d been assaulted in the bath.

Yuwon couldn’t comprehend how her brother could treat his own bride so harshly.

Yujae ordered,

“Fix him. I’m going to consummate the marriage soon.”

Then he followed with the one question Yuwon hated more than anything:

“When do you plan to leave the mountain?”

She felt bitter resentment toward her brother, who always seemed eager to drive her out of Yeonhu.

Whatever his true thoughts were, she began to wonder, was she no longer of any use to him?

“…Worry about your own life, not mine.”

She snapped coldly and headed downstairs.

She gathered the medicine and tools she needed, then returned to find Cheonsin still in the room, gazing silently at Seolyeong’s pale face from where he sat on the windowsill.

Yuwon set the items on a table and opened the wardrobe. She often slept here while studying, so fortunately, bedding was already stored inside.

As she turned back with an armful of blankets, she found Yujae standing right in front of her. Startled, she stumbled and fell into his chest.

Tang Yujae catched her effortlessly, and muttered a lewd joke.

“Save that kind of charm for Si Pungjae. It’s wasted on your brother.”

“…It’s because of talk like that that your followers all hate me, Yujae.”

Half of the Eight Pavillons Lords did, in fact. Only Si Pungjae knew that Yuwon and Tang Yujae were siblings.

Because Pungjae always treated her with respect, the other lords who resented Yuwon disliked him as well.

Being mistaken for her younger brother’s mistress was absurd to Yuwon.

The only comfort was knowing that no matter what rumors spread, Si Pungjae would never misunderstand. Yujae tapped her cheek.

“The more people who think you’re mine, the safer you’ll be.”

It was an arrogant response. Yuwon laughed dryly.

“That’s not safer. It’s miserable. The lords are already chomping at the bit to tear me apart, and you’re making life even harder for your own blood.”

“And yet, you’re still alive. Which means it’s working.”

“……”

“Listen carefully, noona. I don’t want Yeonhu to become your grave. If I die, those fanatics will come for you next. So before that happens, leave this place. Find your old teacher. Beg him to take you back. You already know love won’t save your life.”

Yuwon, silent for a long time, finally spoke in a weak voice.

“Why…do you keep talking like you’re going to die?”

Tang Yujae, who had grown up at a pace no one could keep up with, always carried both faces, that of the cold Sect Leader and the warm younger brother.

Sometimes he acted like he had never been Tang Yujae at all. And other times, as if he had always only been Tang Yujae.

“You said you wouldn’t die. You said I’d save you. So why do you keep saying things like this, over and over…”

“Sleep well, Ahwon.”

As her face twisted in sorrow, Yujae turned away, as if he couldn’t bear to answer.

Whether she accepted it or not, his death was already fated. Denying it wouldn’t change anything. All he hoped was that his fate wouldn’t drag hers down with it.

Yuwon could only watch in silence as he vanished over the window ledge.