Camellia 86

It was definitely Seonwol-do’s aura.

There was no way Seolyeong could mistake the energy of the Flowing Water Transformation, the sword that had saved him in a moment of mortal peril. As he slowly laid the Murong clan head down on the ground, he reached behind himself and gently touched the hairpin.

“……”

A long silence followed.

Seolyeong pulled the pin free and gripped it in his palm. A soft glow radiated from Seonwol-do, and Seolyeong’s brows drew low.

“…You mutt.”

His eyes stung.

He was supposed to be basking in the joy of reunion, just like the Sect Leader said, but all he felt was betrayal. Not from the sword, but from that bastard Sahyeol Amje.

He rose to his feet slowly, turned, and faced his husband.

“There’s a merchant I met in Shingang. Said he was Deputy Leader of the Yeongryeongdan.”

The body of the pin trembled faintly. Seonwol-do had sensed its master’s fury and hoped that it wouldn’t be turned against Sahyeol Amje. Its soft vibration was almost pleading.

Seolyeong didn’t pause.

“I’m not stupid. I figured he was part of the sect. You all had it planned out, tricking me from the start. But…”

His eyes, always gleaming with that familiar lustre, now turned cold.

“Now that I have a little breathing room, something keeps bothering me. Just how many of your followers would dare mock the Gyo-mo by telling him to spread his legs? How many think it’s their place to lecture him about knowing his place?”

He could say with confidence, ‘Not a single one’.

The demonic sect members who rejected his title did so by claiming he wasn’t worthy of it. Not one of them ever dared to approach him sexually or hurl vile, degrading remarks like that so-called Deputy Leader. That kind of behavior didn’t stop at mocking Seolyeong, it insulted Sahyeol Amje himself.

Seolyeong asked in a voice thick with resentment.

“The one who told me to dig under the ironwood tree. That ridiculous hint, was that you, too?”

Tang Yujae didn’t understand why he was reacting so emotionally.

Seolyeong pressed him, voice low and tense.

“Was it you, husband?!”

“…And what right do you have to ask?”

Seolyeong was rendered speechless by the unexpected blow. His nose burned. His feet on the floor of Akbindang seemed to be whispering ‘Let’s run away!’ Cruel, cutting words spilled from his husband’s mouth.

“Do you think someone like you even has the right to question me?”

There wasn’t even anger in his voice, only genuine confusion. As if the very concept was foreign.

Seolyeong stopped breathing. Then, slowly, he lowered his head and let out a hollow laugh. Yujae, displeased, grabbed his chin and roughly forced it up.

“I said not to bow your head. Didn’t I make myself clear?”

“Ugh…”

That voice, stern and sharp, left Seolyeong reeling.

The Madu can command me however he wants. But I can’t even ask him a question. His red eyes began to well with tears.

“You… you don’t feel human at all…”

Even his eyelids were flushed now. He muttered the words under his breath, and at last, the tears fell. His breath hitched like a wounded animal’s.

“I’ve never met a person as cruel as you.”

Sahyeol Amje simply started at him. A tear touched the fingers holding his chil and evaporated instantly. The blood fiend’s tears were intensely too hot.

But unfortunately, Seolyeong’s dagger-like words didn’t pierce him at all. “Did this child really think calling him ‘inhuman’ was considered criticism?” Tang Yujae asked with cold disinterest,

“What kind of people are these ‘humans’ you claim to know?”

To Yujae, humans were weak creatures. Ones that needed to be trampled before they stopped acting foolish. Or creatures so blinded by love they made irrational decisions.

What kind of humans had Seolyeong known, that made him cling so tightly to the word?

Seolyeong choked back his sobs.

“Would you even understand if I tried to explain it? Even if I explained it a hundred or thousand times, you wouldn’t understand it.”

His beautiful, tear-stained face somehow left a strange impression. It was truly strange, he thought seeing his tear- stained face would be more tentertaining than a forced smile. But something about it bothered him.

Tang Yujae put a hand on the bride’s damp cheek to wipe the tears away.

“I hate you… so much.”

That was the end of it. Seolyeong no longer wanted to argue. All the resentment he’d been holding in came pouring out at once.

He shoved his husband’s wrist away and gently gathered the unconscious Gaju in his arms. With measured steps, he turned and walked out of Akbindang.

He had to keep moving. If he stopped, he’d collapse and sob on the floor. He’d already cried in front of him. That was enough. He refused to wail.

“…Bastard.”

As soon as he stepped outside, Seolyeong muttered through clenched teeth.

“There will come a day when you’ll regret this. You rotten bastard…”

His sniffles echoed faintly as he disappeared into the distance. Today, even his back looked unbearably lonely.

*

Tang Yujae soaked in a warm medicinal bath, taking his time in the indoor bathing hall. The Hanhoe leader was waiting in the office, but there was something he had to deal with first. Steam drifted slowly through the air.

Si Pungjae appeared in the doorway, looking wrecked. Ever since he’d delivered the news of the duel to the Mad Bride, he’d gone into voluntary penance.

Thud, the disloyal man immediately knelt down and muttered.

“…Please kill me, My Lord.”

Yujae didn’t even glance at him. It was all too familiar. Break a command, beg to die. Predictable and dull.

Eventually, he asked,

“Why did you make such uncharacteristic decision, Pungjae?”

Si Pungjae’s loyalty had always been absolute. Even if the whole world pointed swords at Yujae, he would’ve leapt in front of them without hesitation. His life was nothing compared to the god he worshipped.

“Your god asks you now, Pungjae,”

Tang Yujae raised his voice said in a stern tone, as if pointing out his lack of response.

“Why did you make such a foolish decision?”

He had disobeyed orders by letting the Mad Bride approach the dueling ground. That alone was enough to warrant death.

But Yujae didn’t bother pointing that out. Pungjae already knew.

The man, still staring at his master’s back, spoke at last, his voice shaking.

“The Cheonsin… once made a promise.”

It caught in his throat. The words wouldn’t come out smoothly.

“They said the heavens abandoned me… but you said you’d become my new heavens. One that wouldn’t talk about fate. Wouldn’t weigh it. Wouldn’t hand it out like a curse. You told me to not cling to my past.”

It was a story from when Pungjae had been nothing more than a boy in a pleasure house.

He hadn’t been discarded because he failed to please. No, he’d simply grown, his body had matured. That alone had been enough to get him buried alive in Mount Hwang with the others.

But he’d been the last in line.

So, by some miracle, he’d been able to keep one hand above ground, just enough to claw at the dirt. And the one who’d grasped that hand, who’d pulled him free, was Tang Yujae.

The one who recovered the corpses of the other boys, who gave them proper graves under the sun, was him, too.

When he’d seen his dearest friend among the dead, Pungjae had vomited until there was nothing left.

“I asked you then… ‘if I worshipped you as the heavens, would I finally be free of unfair fate?’ You told me, the heavens are meant to be level. They lean toward nothing. Just look up, and you’ll see.”

Under the hand that patted his back, he had cried until he couldn’t breathe. He’d handed coins to the hands of his friends, swearing he’d repay the benefactor who saved them.

Now, his face twisted in anguish. There was no other way to say it. He had disobeyed because he didn’t want the Mad Bride to fall for Sahyeol Amje. Because he didn’t want him to forget the line between the righteous path and this place.

“…But now, My Lord… my heavens are tilting. No matter how I look up, it’s not level anymore. That’s why, I was ready to die. Please. Punish this faithless wretch.”