Camellia 74

The boy’s face twisted in pain as an intense heat surged through him,. Startled, Seolyeong reached out without thinking and pressed his palm to the boy’s smooth forehead, then flinched.

“Yujae!”

He shoved the wave of confusion aside and pulled the boy into his arms. The child’s forehead burned like fire. When he touched the nape of his neck and the pit of his stomach, the heat was tightly coiled inside.

Seolyeong quickly shrugged off his outer robe and wrapped it around the boy’s small body. Thump, thump. His heart pounded wildly. He was furious at being so thoroughly deceived, but worry for the boy came first.

He needed treatment right away… but who could he turn to?

He had no idea. That was the problem. Seolyeong knew nothing about the power structure or relationships within the Cheonma Singyo Sect. Even if he’d stepped into Yeonhu as the bride, the sect hadn’t truly accepted him as one of their own. His ignorance was dragging him down.

“……”

In the silence, Seolyeong forced himself to think calmly.

The only one who had served as a link between the boy and himself was the zealot of Cheonsin, Si Pungjae. Did that mean he already knew this would happen? The thought that they’d all been playing him made his blood boil, but saving the boy came first.

Fine. He’d call for Si Pungjae. This wasn’t just a matter of returning to youth, leaving him in the body of a helpless child with a damaged danjeon, was bound to a weakness for the sect leader. If he asked just anyone for help, it might create a worse situation.

A fanatic who worshiped the Supreme One and would give up his liver and gall if asked, that was the safest choice.

Watching himself consider the situation from the sect leader’s perspective, Seolyeong found it ridiculous. After all the torment he’d been put through since arriving, and now this?

Still, this was what he had learned ‘righteousness’ to mean. Even if it made him look like a fool, he couldn’t ignore someone in need. Better to live as a lifelong idiot than become a clever bastard who turns away. That was the path of chivalry. The one Seolyeong always meant to follow.

Si Pungjae was sitting in a corner of Hyeonhyeondang, waiting for the banquet to end, when he heard the Yeonhwa Hall maids were looking for him. He found it odd. But when he read the letter they brought, he went pale and shot to his feet.

Yujae had come to me. You knew everything, didn’t you?

Yujae was Cheonsin’s true name. Si Pungjae rushed to the chamber and froze the moment he entered.

His lord was lying helpless on the large bed, cared for by the bride.

“No matter how many times I wipe him down, the fever won’t break.”

Seolyeong didn’t even look in his direction as he spoke.

His hand gripped a silk cloth soaked in cold water, never stopping. He couldn’t call for the maids to help. A sick child lying in the bride’s quarters, no matter how tightly mouths were shut, the gossip would leak. It was a scene practically begging for curiosity.

Si Pungjae spoke hesitantly.

“…Take him to the snowfield.”

He still hadn’t grasped the situation. Could Cheonsin have drunk Yangcheonju? And during the very visit of the Hanhoe delegation?

No. That couldn’t be. If he were so reckless, he would never have become sect leader, never managed a ten-thousand-strong sect.

Was he forced to drink it?

Absurd. Who could possibly coerce him?

Just as Si Pungjae cycled through one possibility after another, Seolyeong shot him a sharp glare.

“…Snowfield?”

Pungjae answered honestly, to the best of his knowledge.

“Every time he took Yangcheonju, he would suffer from a brief fever. During that period of high heat, burying himself in snow would help…”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

The shout rang out like a lion’s roar.

“You want to bury that fragile body in snow? Is that really the solution you’re suggesting?”

Si Pungjae responded calmly.

“It is the method the Supreme One chose. I am simply a servant carrying out his will.”

With a few light steps, he approached the bed and gently lifted the boy, who was swimming in Seolyeong’s oversized robe.

“Sogyoju-nim, please rest now.”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Si Pungjae bowed his head, but when Seolyeong stepped in front of him, his face stiffened.

“…Sogyoju-nim.”

“If you cool him down like that, it’ll destroy his body.”

“As I said, I only follow the Supreme One’s…”

“You want to leave the person you love out in the snow?”

The sudden question made Si Pungjae’s eyes tremble. Seolyeong pressed down on his shoulder and sat him back down, sliding the water basin to his side.

“I’ll bring in snow from outside. You use the cloth and wipe him down.”

To Seolyeong, the idea of leaving a sick person out in the snow to handle their fever alone made no sense. Even if it had been his preferred method before. As he was just about to step over the threshold, Si Pungjae as if justifying himself, murmured,

“…All our sect members love the sect leader.”

“But you, Pungjae, love him differently.”

Of course, Seolyeong had no duty or right to define Si Pungjae’s feelings. But hearing that insane talk about throwing a loved one into the snow made the words spill out anyway.

“If it were me, I’d never make someone I love rely on snow. I’d let him lean on me.”

Si Pungjae’s eyes always followed the sect leader with a burning intensity. When he smiled, Pungjae smiled too, even if it was a sneer or scorn. He seemed happy just to see that face.

Imitating someone’s expressions to gauge their feelings. That was unmistakably love. So natural it went unnoticed.

When Seolyeong left the room, Si Pungjae gently laid the boy down. The constant biting of his lips had drawn blood. Tiny drops soaked the bedding with faint red stains.

Gripping the silk cloth tight, Si Pungjae reached out in silence.

A memory replayed through his mind, something Yuwon had once whispered to him.

‘I love you, warrior. Just like you’ve always loved him…’

The confession had come so suddenly, it barely registered. He’d never given it real thought. He hadn’t had the space for it.

And he had no desire to think about whether Yuwon’s love was the same as the one the mad bride had thrown at him.

He simply, silently cared for Cheonsin.

That was always how Si Pungjae had been. His life revolved around the Supreme One, every gesture, every breath. Occasionally, he’d carry out tasks assigned to him, but most days he just followed behind, watching his every move.

Even the head of Okhaenggak, Mae Somyeong, found it tiresome. Si Pungjae never proved his worth, he just trailed after Cheonsin like a shadow. Naturally, some pavilion lords began to question why the Supreme One kept such a useless man close.

Especially now that it was Sahyeol Amje who had changed the title from Cheonma to Cheonsin, rejecting the demonic image and giving him a divine one. No doubt some of the leaders, Mae Somyeong included, were dissatisfied.

But to Si Pungjae, no name was more brilliant than Cheonsin.

Because he didn’t worship the Cheonma. He worshiped the man called Tang Yujae.

Only him. Only Tang Yujae, as his god.

“…I do not love the sect leader.”

He swallowed a fragment of emotion and continued with difficulty.

“I only revere you. So please… don’t become human.”

He recalled the unease he’d felt when the pavilion lords gossiped about the leader’s relationship with his bride. In their stories, Cheonsin was just a man. He had fallen in love with a beautiful face and was now letting that love slowly unravel the order of his life.

That wasn’t fitting for a god.

“I want you to stay divine forever.”

And he understood.

What he felt for Cheonsin wasn’t something as trivial as love.

He didn’t want to possess him. Didn’t want to be his everything. Didn’t even want everything he had.

He only wanted what he’d always had, to stay beside him, looking up from below.

That was all Si Pungjae ever asked for.