Camellia 169

The balance of power between the two friends had completely reversed. Day after day, Choseon wept over Yuwon. With the woman who had felt like the last ray of hope in Yeonhu Mountain now gone, he no longer felt any reason to remain. But since his friend’s wedding was soon, Choseon resolved to hold out a little longer. Without his experienced help, Seolyeong seemed unlikely to manage the preparations properly.

“You blind bastard. You really think jadeite suits you better than white jade?”

But no matter he tried to advice him by mobilizing all his keen insight dominated over Sacheon, the Camellia Prince remained unmoved.

“Hmph.”

He just repeated that someone as handsome as him looked good in anything and shoved the earring into his earlobe.

Irritated, Choseon scolded him again.

“Don’t tell me you don’t care how you look for your husband. Shouldn’t you at least try to look your best at your wedding?”

His tone had grown far rougher since Yuwon left. He lay at Seolyeong’s feet, head resting on his arm.

“It’s so noisy.” To be honest, Seolyeong wanted to throw him out and send him to Si Pungjae. But he knew if he did that, Choseon would whine even more, so he held back. Instead, he gave a smug little smirk and said smoothly,

“Sorry, but my husband would still say I’m lovely even if I rolled around in a dung pit.”

Choseon scoffed and muttered,

“He must be blind as a bat.”

The camellia, once groaning over unrequited love, now seemed obsessed with rubbing salt in his friend’s wounds. Living with the man said to have the worst personality in the entire martial world, he grinned all day long like an idiot. Even Choseon felt embarrassed on his behalf. What would Seolhyeon think if she knew?

After mentally roasting Seolyeong, Choseon asked, since the thought came to him,

“By the way… are you really not inviting Hyeon-ah?”

He asked it offhandedly, but his clear eyes held a trace of worry. The Camellia Prince, who had stuck by him for years, clearly doted on his only sister. Missing the one wedding in his life would surely leave a regret he’d carry forever.

“She’s an outsider now.”

But contrary to Choseon’s expectations, Seolyeong looked calm.

“I’m part of another family now. Hyeon-ah has to live her own life, separate from a brother like me. It’s better if I become meaningless to her.”

That was the path best for everyone. Seolyeong understood that he was now a traitor to the martial world. From the moment he began to pity Sahyeol Amje, he had already crossed a line he couldn’t return from. And he knew that if he stayed in his sister’s life, he’d only weigh her down. Imagining her torn between him and the martial world filled him with ache.

She had grown tall like a tree in summer sunlight. She had found a man, solid as a bamboo stalk, and was starting her own family. Damn it. The man was older than him, which burned him up, but Seolyeong intended to respect her decision. His sister was wiser, sharper, and far better at navigating the world than he was. He trusted her completely.

Reading the mood, Choseon cautiously spoke up.

“You’ll still go see her on the wedding day, right?”

But when no answer came, he looked more and more alarmed and pressed,

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to sneak in and sneak out or something.”

“…”

“You idiot! She only has you for family, and you’re worse than useless! How could you leave her alone on her wedding day, huh?”

“You’re going to burst my eardrum.”

Seolyeong rolled his eyes.

“She looks like me, so she’ll be even more beautiful than a fairy in that wedding dress. Of course I’ll go and take it all in. I was thinking… I might disguise myself a bit and stand quietly by her side. Do you even know what the elder of the Murong clan went through after being taken hostage?”

“Why would I?”

Choseon looked unimpressed. Seolyeong explained,

“He got dragged back home with their pride in shreds. They’ll be dying to tear me apart if they see me.”

“And he still won’t lay a finger on you.”

Who would dare raise a hand to Sahyeol Amje’s partner? If anything, they’d try to curry favor with polite smiles and empty talk. Just last year, those noble martial artists had trampled Seolyeong’s name without hesitation. Now, Choseon could already picture them bowing and scraping.

“Hey, Ahyeong. Just go confidently. Show the Murong bastards. The blood fiend they all looked down on became the partner of the strongest man in the world.”

Then Seolyeong burst out laughing and gave Choseon’s round forehead a light tap.

“Haha!”

“Even my breath must never touch Hyeon’s path in life.”

Choseon, who had no legitimate siblings due to being born out of wedlock, couldn’t quite grasp what Seolyeong meant. But from the way the air moved between them, he could more or less tell that Seolyeong wasn’t going to change his mind.

Choseon plopped down and rested his head on Seolyeong’s thigh.

“I still can’t believe you’re becoming someone else’s family.”

To Choseon, Seolyeong was family. There was even a time when he dreamed of marrying Seolhyeon just so they could become real family. And now Seolyeong was becoming someone’s partner before him. For some reason, it felt like he was being left alone in the world. Maybe because… the two of them had been soothing their loneliness together all this time.

Seolyeong picked up the ceremonial fan that would be used during the wedding and slowly began fanning him. Choseon’s soft hair fluttered gently. Recently, the sun had been harsh over the Yurigung, and those sensitive to heat were sweating buckets. Choseon was exactly that type, so Seolyeong kept fanning.

With his eyelids lowered in the cool breeze, Choseon spoke.

“I guess… your trace won’t show up in my life anymore. Murong boy”

The Camellia Prince smiled faintly but didn’t offer any comforting words to soothe Choseon’s unease. Just as Seolhyeon had her own life, Choseon would have his too. If they both kept clinging to the days when they only had each other, they might never be able to move on from that time. Watching the past of Sahyeol Amje, buried under long-held desires and turning into a vengeful spirit, Seolyeong came to realize that truth all over again.

That was why he could whisper with genuine sincerity.

“We’ve already left enough marks on each other’s paths. The road ahead won’t even be enough to fill with just your own steps.”

A voice as gentle as a father’s. Choseon suddenly threw his arms around the childhood friend he had always cherished. It was time to descend the mountain. “Yes. If you’re going to leave anyway, it should be with a smile. People are always saying goodbye to someone.”

Just as Choseon was forcing a smile while swallowing his sorrow, Seolyeong spoke again.

“Why don’t we leave just one last step in each other’s lives?”

As he gently swept Choseon’s hair, he continued.

“Walk next to me during the procession.”

The wedding ceremony of the Cheonma Divine Sect did not follow typical procedures. From the beginning, the bride had no relatives within the sect and was always alone, so skipping a few steps and proceeding simply didn’t cause any issues.

However, there was one unique rite in the sect: the pavilions lords would ward off misfortune for the bride and escort the palanquin to the groom. Which meant that, aside from the few pavilion leaders still in seclusion, most of the sect’s top authorities were bound to appear at the Yurigung.

And yet Seolyeong was asking an outsider to take on such an important role. Choseon blinked, startled. From what he’d heard from the attendants, he knew Seolyeong was making an unreasonable request.

But Seolyeong stuck to his stance.

“I don’t want to meet my groom surrounded by complete strangers. I heard I have to ride the palanquin from outside the palace gates all the way to the main ceremonial hall… That road will feel like a thousand miles. So be my escort and walk with me.”

“I… I can’t block misfortune for you, you lunatic…”

Born a bastard, abandoned by his clan without mercy, and left with a broken danjeon. How could someone like that take on such a huge role? Choseon’s voice trembled with emotion, and Seolyeong playfully asked “Why are you crying?”

“Do I look like such a hopeless case to you, that I wouldn’t even be able to ward off a little misfortune?”

He exaggeratedly puffed out his chest and wore a deliberately arrogant expression.

“I, the most beautiful under the heavens, will block all that bad luck for you. Even the misfortune you’ll face later in life. So just relax and stand by my side.”

“……”

“Remember from now on that your friend, Ahyeong, is a much stronger martial artist than you think.”

In the end, Choseon broke into tears. But unlike the time he was crushed by heartbreak, the tears this time came from gratitude. He was overwhelmed with joy because it felt like the man in front of him truly thought of him as a brother. Unbelievably, he has a brother in his life. Someone who had shared his haunting past and embraced him through it.

As Sacheon’s most beautiful courtesan grumbled through his tears for Seolyeong to quit acting so cool, the self-proclaimed most beautiful under the heavens replied in his usual confident tone.

“This body has a master. So quit coveting me.”

Choseon thought that Seolyeong, being exactly who he was, was both annoying and, in his own way, dazzling.