Camellia 61

Seolyeong had just escaped again, dodging the attendants on his way to Choseon. Lately, those girls couldn’t seem to leave him alone, always pushing fragrance bottles at him whenever they saw him. “Let us loosen your back, Sogyoju-nim,” they’d say.

They only came to his chambers three times a day, around the hours of jinshi¹, mishi, and yushi, so once those passed, he finally had some freedom to move. That’s why Seolyeong spent his time lazing around in the guest quarters with Choseon, only returning to Yeonhwa Hall well past midnight.

He let down his loosely tied hair and dropped flat onto the sandalwood bed. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, then muttered under his breath.

“I wish he’d deal with his lust somewhere else…”

He meant that bastard, Sahyeol Amje, his husband. He had every intention of turning him down if he ever came to bed, but things weren’t going as planned. The sect leader claimed he’d summoned a blood fiend to restore his health, so there was no point explaining anything. A man once called indestructible and immune to all poisons now lay dying, blue blotches blooming across his body from the yin energy. His pride had to be in tatters. He’d be desperate to see any kind of improvement.

But Seolyeong couldn’t sleep with him. No matter what.

He dragged the silk blanket over his head and muttered again.

“…I like women.”

He used to say that back when Murong Jeongui clung to him with that obsessive look in his eyes.

“I like women. How could I ever sleep with a man…”

That was the truth. Seolyeong liked women. He was a virgin who’d never even thought about marriage or romance, but at least he knew that much about himself. He’d never once felt the urge to share a bed with a big brute of a man. Not once.

Of course, since he’d agreed to be the bride and come up the mountain, he was willing to play along a little, act a little sweet. But if the man wanted anything beyond that, things would get very awkward very fast.

As he rubbed at his aching eyes under the soft covers, trying to shake the frustration.

“You could if you wanted to”

Seolyeong was startled by the sudden voice, he jolted up with a gasp and flung the blanket aside. He snapped his head toward the sound and spotted a handsome man perched on the window sill.

He found himself moving his lips without meaning to.

But no words came out. He was too stunned to see his groom after so long.

Black robes rippled in the night breeze. So did his pitch-black hair. His sculpted face looked blank, expressionless. Seolyeong didn’t even have time to think about running.

The man leapt down from the sill and spoke.

“Sleeping with another man isn’t all that hard.”

Seolyeong flinched back on the bed as the man stepped closer. There was something dangerous about his presence. Something oppressive was tightening around his limbs, it had to be the sect leader’s energy restraining him.

“Even the Namgung clan does it, don’t they? All those pretty boys gifted to the heir.”

Seolyeong couldn’t make sense of what he was hearing. He struggled with all his strength to escape the bed, but the man subdued him easily. As he writhed, the sect leader dragged him to the center of the mattress. He climbed on top of him, their eyes locking.

“The leader of the orthodox alliance was a spectacular failure as a father. Namgung Woonpyeong’s precious heir, turned out to be a damn sadist. He toys with boys until he’s bored, then buries them alive in Mount Hwang. You knew that?”

The boy who had been dug up from Mount Hwang, pulled free by his pale little hand sticking out of the dirt, was Si Pungjae. And the one who pulled him up, Tang Yujae, became his god.

“G-get off… I, I’m not one of those…”

“Then spread your legs and accept me, Ahyeong. In honor of your love for the upright Namgung clan.”

“I said get off!”

Hearing his old nickname in the bastard’s mouth made Seolyeong sick. He twisted his torso away, but the sect leader grabbed his throat with one hand.

“Kgh…!”

There was no mercy in his grip. He pressed down so hard Seolyeong’s face turned red. He couldn’t breathe.

Tang Yujae watched his struggling bride with a detached gaze, then loosened his grip without warning.

Cough! Seolyeong wheezed as saliva dribbled from the corner of his mouth. His throat burned. His bloodshot eyes snapped toward Tang Yujae.

“…Don’t tell me you’re blaming the whole clan for the crimes of one man?”

The beauty who once called himself a lowly bride in a meek voice had vanished. All that remained was a blood fiend with fierce eyes glaring at his husband.

“I don’t particularly like the Namgung clan either. But I won’t condemn the whole family just because of one person. Just like how I don’t think everyone here is a butcher just because you massacred thousands.”

Truth be told, Seolyeong hated Namgung Woonpyeong. That bastard once slashed his cheek just for admiring him as a kid, etched the word ‘wicked’ into his face. If Murong Wi hadn’t secretly applied some elixir on him, he would’ve had a permanent scar.

Remembering that moment in Hapbi, Seolyeong nodded faintly as if something had just clicked.

“Now that I think of it, the alliance leader gave me a little ‘gift’, just like you. So you, praised as the Supreme One who transcended man, are still human, aren’t you? You think just like the rest of us. Ugh…!”

Tang Yujae moved again. Seolyeong’s throat was back in his grip, and he instinctively opened his mouth wide, desperate for air.

“Ugh… gah…!”

“Do you really think you’re an orthodox man?”

Some feeling brushed through the mind of the one who had long surpassed humanity. He couldn’t define it. Couldn’t explain it. It was just… messy.

“Hm?”

Of course, he hadn’t asked to hear an answer. If he had, he wouldn’t be choking him.

Seolyeong’s vision blurred. The world faded out of focus.

Ptoey. He spat in his face without thinking. God or not, what did it matter? All that power and this was how he used it? To hurt people?

Seolyeong felt disgusted. If he was going to die, he’d die with his pride.

Tang Yujae’s eyes went wide as the spit hit his face. He let go, stunned, and Seolyeong screamed with everything he had.

“I was born in the orthodox world, damn it! That makes me orthodox! Just because I’m a blood fiend doesn’t mean I can’t want to live that way!”

His chest burned. His eyes were red with fury.

And his mouth, once careful and polite, spit out the crude speech of his youth.

“Do I need your permission to feel what I feel? Who the hell are you?”

Silence fell.

Seolyeong knew it then. He would die in this luxurious bed.

‘Sorry, Brother Awi. I left home with my head held high. Now I’m going to return as a corpse. No, wait. That bastard Madu would never send my body back to Yonyeong…’

He regretted not leaving Seolhyeon a message, but maybe it was better this way. Dying without a word might help her move on. Just as those thoughts swirled through his head,

“What…!”

Seolyeong jerked forward, panicked. Tang Yujae had sunk his nails into his own neck. A deep cut opened, blood streaming down. He didn’t care whether Seolyeong pushed at his shoulder or grabbed his wrist.

His red eyes trembled. The sweet, iron-heavy scent of blood filled the air. But it wasn’t the smell that shocked Seolyeong.

It was the color. Dark blood, like ink into it soaked the sect leader’s fingers. The only reason it even looked like this was because his Qi had settled a little since earlier, but Seolyeong had no way of knowing that.

Tang Yujae grabbed Seolyeong’s slack jaw.

“Once you understand your true nature, you’ll change your mind.”

He didn’t even understand why he felt compelled to break Seolyeong. Even he found it odd. But he didn’t need a reason. When something pissed him off, he just dealt with it.

Seolyeong, sensing danger, thrashed wildly. As he shouted, begging him to stop, Tang Yujae shoved the bloodied fingers into his mouth. The bride finally broke. He started sobbing.

To keep him from biting off his tongue, Tang Yujae restrained his jaw with invisible force and slowly moved his fingers. He rubbed them all over, forcing Seolyeong to taste the blood. He didn’t show an ounce of pity.

1. Jinshi (辰時): 7 AM to 9 AM Mishi (未時): 1 PM to 3 PM Yushi (酉時): 5 PM to 7 PM ↩︎