Camellia 130

With a gentle smile, Seolyeong shielded Namgung Wook from Sahyeol Amje’s view. He made sure the clueless young man was completely blocked from his husband’s line of sight, then spoke in a soft, warm tone “Your refusal to turn a blind eye to your father’s misdeeds strikes me like a true man of righteousness. And if your heart ever waver on your lonely path, please remember this voice.”

But Sahyeol Amje scoffed openly, mocking him like he was some grandiose advisor descending from on high. So Seolyeong had no choice but to quickly send Namgung Wook on his way.

With disappointment still written across his face, the Namgung clan’s black sheep gave Tang Yujae a few lingering glances before finally leaving, leaving behind one last spirited declaration.

“…This may be shameful to admit, but I do not yet have the right to balance the scales of Jungwon. There are too many roads I haven’t walked, too many days I haven’t lived. But if the day comes when I am granted that right, I will show you. Even if it isn’t perfectly level, I will forge a scale where neither side crushes the other.”

Seolyeong admired the conviction of a true martial artist in his words, but he didn’t show how impressed he was. He figured gushing praise like “Doesn’t his future look brilliant?” would only earn him some cold comment from Yujae. Instead, he kept his admiration private and quietly returned to his husband’s side.

“But to think he figured out your identity by the scent of your Qi. That’s quite the intuition.”

Maybe it ran in the family. Seolyeong murmured to himself, remembering how Namgung Wook’s relative, Namgung Shin, had also shown a sharp eye. That woman had once deduced the Sect Leader’s identity from nothing but his thumb.

“If you’re done here, don’t lose your way on the road to Sipman Daesan.”

Yujae whispered softly as he moved with light steps, almost like the air itself offered no resistance. Rather than draw attention with any flashy movement through the crowded market, he walked with clear, efficient steps that folded the path beneath him.

Seolyeong hurried to keep up, unable to hide his puzzled expression.

“…You’re not stopping by to see the physician?”

He couldn’t understand why Yujae had suddenly decided to head straight for Sipman Daesan.

“If Pungjae is going to the Geukmunggak, then she’ll return alone to Yeonhu. Wouldn’t it be better to escort her back to the sect? Leaving a woman alone in a winter mountain with no leaves left on the trees… it doesn’t sit right with me.”

She was a physician, not a warrior. She hadn’t learned martial arts to protect herself. He sincerely hoped nothing would happen, but the world was filled with cowardly men who preyed on women like her. It made him uneasy.

Yujae’s expression flattened. The faint smile he had worn disappeared, and his voice dropped low.

“If Pungjae leaves, then she has to find her own life. She mustn’t keep any more ties to the Cheonma Divine Sect.”

By then, the two had reached the edge of the market, where the crowd had thinned noticeably.

Seolyeong looked at his husband’s profile with discomfort. As someone who also had a sibling, he could vaguely grasp the Sect Leader’s mindset, why he was trying to sever his sister’s ties to the sect.

“I understand it’s for her safety. But…”

He infused Qi into his heels and spoke quietly.

He had no right to assume what kind of life the Tang siblings had lived, or what sort of relationship had formed between them as a result. That would be overstepping. But this much he knew for certain:

The woman who saved lives with her hands used to look at her own brother with eyes full of hatred.

“If you leave her like this… it really will be too late to fix it.”

And that was why Seolyeong had never imagined they were siblings in the first place.

His delicate features showed sadness. While he understood that Yujae might be provoking his sister’s resentment on purpose, but his heart couldn’t grasp it. If things ended this way, neither of them would ever truly move past it.

Blocking Sahyeol Amje’s path, Seolyeong took a breath and said,

“Please take what I’m about to say seriously, Sect Leader.”

Yujae didn’t object to his interference. He found it bothersome, but not unpleasant. In fact, he felt a strange satisfaction watching those burning eyes fixed on him with worry, full of nothing but concern for him alone.

They stepped off the paved main road and onto uneven dirt. With fewer eyes watching now, they could easily leap onto a roof and use gyeonggong.

Glancing at the nearby tiled roofs, Yujae spoke.

“I plan to stay hidden and watch until she safely descends from Mount Hwang. So don’t worry.”

“Ah. So you’ve already been keeping an eye on her?”

The man gave a vague nod, then took Seolyeong’s hand and shot up onto a turquoise-tiled rooftop in a single bound.

Far off in the distance, Yuwon was seeing Pungjae off. She had filled his arms with bundles of medicine, and as she did, she finally let go of all the love she hadn’t been able to express before.

Seolyeong murmured quietly.

“I still worry. It’s always the invisible wounds that ravage a person more than the ones you can see…”

“Between guilt and hatred, which do you think weighs heavier on the mind and body?”

Yujae’s voice came the moment Seolyeong finished speaking. With their fingers interlaced and his hot palm pressed against his own, the sensation of stepping through the sky felt strangely pleasant. Yujae shielded Seolyeong’s cheek from the cold wind and picked up speed. Yet even then, his voice remained steady.

“If she never escapes the guilt of surviving off someone else’s sacrifice, or the guilt of walking away from someone she left behind, she’ll spend the rest of her life consumed by it. She’s too soft-hearted, always turning her anger inward.”

He spoke casually. Seolyeong quietly arranged the words he heard and tried to make sense of what the Sect Leader meant.

“So the more she hates me, the easier her life will become. At least she won’t feel guilty over my death, or tormented by being the only Tang who survived that bloodshed. Seems like a good time to forget the Tang clan and start over.”

He added it as if joking, but Seolyeong didn’t respond. Yujae raised one eyebrow and glanced at him, just as Seolyeong spoke with with resentment.

“You should’ve done that to me too.”

He tried to pull his hand away, but it wouldn’t budge.

“You should’ve made me hate you too. Why did you make me fall in love with you…”

His voice trembled with pent-up pain.

Cruel man. The most selfish and inconsiderate man under heaven. Seolyeong bit his lip, waiting for a reply, and felt his heart shatter like glass.

“I didn’t know you were so starved for affection.”

It took him a while to ask.

“And if you had?”

“If you had known… would you have kept your distance?”

Sahyeol Amje paused for a moment before twisting the knife.

“Maybe.”

It chilled Seolyeong more than any blade had, more than any cold steel shoved into his danjeon. That one word pierced through his chest like frost.

“You were never someone who needed that kind of care.”

He couldn’t breathe. Seolyeong turned pale as a sheet, and Yujae didn’t bother to comfort him.

Instead, he yanked him in close, their bodies locking midair.

“Come on, choose.”

Seolyeong’s eyes shook as he landed in Yujae’s arms. The man holding him spoke gently, as if they were floating down a river.

“Should I give you more reasons to hate me, or should I let you go on loving me?”

What Seolyeong said earlier had been true. Tang Yujae had failed to control it. What started as a game he thought he could walk away from had spiraled too far, until love had crept in without warning. Now that the words had been spoken aloud, he had no choice but to draw a line.

Seolyeong turned his head, avoiding his gaze. His chin was caught by a hand still lacking in warmth. Yujae’s fingers brushed down his cheek and he spoke again, gently.

“Not that it matters. You’ll be leaving Yeonhu before the month’s over, anyway.”