Camellia 76

Until Yujae opened his eyes, the mad bride and the zealot waited in a quiet, tense standoff.

Because of Si Pungjae’s burning stare, Seolyeong was starting to regret ever pointing out his feelings. He should’ve just kept his mouth shut and pretended not to notice. It seemed his judgment had slipped for a moment, likely because of the absurd comment about throwing a childlike body into a snowfield.

“…Huh?”

Seolyeong, seated beside the bed cooling the boy’s fever, suddenly opened his eyes wide. The moment Si Pungjae caught the change in the bride’s expression, he rushed over from the corner.

Seolyeong looked up at him.

“His body… it’s cold as ice.”

Si Pungjae examined his lord, then gently removed the bride’s hand from the pale forehead and answered,

“He’s about to wake. I’ll take over from here.”

The surge of yin energy was proof enough. Si Pungjae slipped a hand beneath the boy’s narrow waist as if to lift him, and Seolyeong shot him a crooked look.

“…Why the hell are you trying to carry off my husband? We’ve things to discuss, as a married couple, so please leave.”

The moment he heard the word couple, Si Pungjae reflexively thought of how to argue. They were bound only by formality, after all, not by any deeper meaning. But he didn’t dare say something so arrogant out loud.

Pretending not to hear the rebuke, Si Pungjae froze at the cold voice that followed.

“As the Sogyoju, I’m commanding you to leave.”

A clear accusation of disloyalty. Once Seolyeong invoked the authority of the sect, Pungjae could no longer push back. He stared down at his lord’s face, then reluctantly backed away.

“…I obey the order of the bride.”

One knee dropped to the floor. His expression was pale, like someone being stripped of something precious.

Once the sect leader’s fanatic left the room, Seolyeong returned his hand to the boy’s skin, now disturbingly cold. He slowly brushed the dark hair aside and gave him a faint, meaningful look. As if speaking his thoughts aloud, he murmured,

“Were we just playing house, my dear husband…?”

A day they had walked through the snow, hand in hand. The boy had threaded their fingers together, smiling gently at the warmth in Seolyeong’s palm. That boy, it turned out, was the sect leader of the Cheonma Singyo Sect.

The great demon of the martial world. Sahyeol Amje.

Betrayal aside, the whole thing was so absurd that Seolyeong couldn’t stop the dry laugh escaping him. His red eyes settled into stillness, and for a long moment, he watched.

When Yujae finally opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the bride, staring straight at him. His mind was sluggish even though his body had awoken.

“Was it fun for you?”

Yujae let out a long sigh. Hearing his own childish voice helped him piece things together.

He glanced down and saw how short his limbs had become.

‘…Did Tang Yuwon feed me Yangcheonju?’

Naturally, Yujae first suspected the only person who knew how to brew it.

But Yuwon had taken shelter elsewhere with a man in a skirt to escape the cold. Unless she had bribed someone who stayed behind, it didn’t make sense.

Yujae asked the only question that mattered.

“How did this happen?”

He remembered dragging the unruly bride back from the banquet and falling asleep with him in his arms. He should’ve taken him to Gwanju Hall with the rest of the maids, but the Eight Pavilion Lords had been coming and going there all day. So he’d chosen Yeonhwa Hall instead. Calling the maids over here wasn’t a problem anyway.

In hindsight, it was a smart choice. If his transformation had occurred in Gwanju Hall while meeting the pavilion lords, things would’ve turned disastrous. Especially that Daeyeonggak bastard, he would’ve knelt at the door and waited until he was granted audience.

“If my husband answers first, I’ll also speak honestly.”

Seolyeong cut him off bluntly. That righteous voice got on Yujae’s nerves. Waking up to deal with this kind of upright fool, what luck.

“Husband.”

“……”

“How much fun did you have, toying with me?”

“……”

“You disappeared in Sacheon just to mess with me, didn’t you? Will you forgive this foolish wife for daring to make his husband his disciple?”

Seolyeong dropped his shoulders as if exhausted. He added the last line out of sheer spite.

He’d genuinely grown fond of the boy Yujae. A child so small and fragile, it had made him curious what kind of man he’d grow into. He had even prepared lessons in advance, ready to teach.

But it was all a farce. Just a joke played on him.

Yujae answered, looking him straight in the eye.

“You had fun too. So what’s the problem?”

No explanations about his condition, no excuses. Just a response perfectly befitting a sect leader. A man who shook the martial world had no need for petty justifications.

Seolyeong wanted to spit at him. But he forced himself to swallow the urge. Whatever demon this sect leader truly was inside, he still wore the shell of that familiar child. One so small and pitiful that he couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity.

He asked bitterly,

“Why do you keep lying to me?”

And not even the kind of lies that were easy to ignore.

“I assumed the fearmongering about murdering yang-bodies was just a way to scare me. But pretending to be a child, what could you possibly gain from that?”

Yu jae replied flatly.

“Do I owe you honesty?”

He had a point. Seolyeong realized, once again, that his sense of betrayal had no real justification. Sahyeol Amje could lie to him, deceive him, play with him, all without being blamed. He was absolute.

And Seolyeong had been sold here for the sake of peace. Demanding spousal trust was foolish from the start.

Besides, he was hiding something too.

Before leaving his sect, he’d sworn an oath to Murong Wi. He’d find a cure for the Thousand-Year Poison, and uncover proof linking the sect leader to the Tang clan.

Lately, it seemed he’d let that mission fall by the wayside. And the reason for his foolish distraction… was that boy he’d met at the palace gate.

He lowered his gaze to the floor. How much of a gullible idiot must he have looked like?

In truth, it was just the kind of humiliation one could sleep off in a day or two. But having his feelings trampled by that boy hurt in a way he hadn’t expected.

As Seolyeong’s face darkened, Yujae said,

“From now on, your husband’s going to lie to you many more times. If you’re going to sulk like a child every time, you’d better leave Yeonhu now, before something worse happens.”

Brazen as ever.

Even so, Seolyeong slowly nodded as if in agreement. With a forced smile, he replied quietly,

“…Yes, husband. I must’ve been acting like a child. Please forgive me.”

The bitterness stayed behind his grin. He remembered wandering those mountains, searching for the boy’s body, and the thought carved straight through him.

He couldn’t leave someone like this, someone who cared so little for others’ feelings destroy peace in the martial world.

Seolyeong reminded himself why he came to Yeonhu in the first place. It was time to refocus on that mission.

A straight hand rose and passed in front of Yujae’s eyes.

“From now on, I won’t care what lies you feed me, husband. Just go back to sleep.”

The warmth of the cloth returned to his eyelids,,but then Yujae abruptly grabbed Seolyeong’s wrist and sat up.

He smacked the hand away, and Seolyeong’s face came into view.

His eyes were damp. His expression, one of someone barely holding back sorrow. Suddenly an impulse hit him.

“Ugh…!”

Caught off guard while trying to suppress his emotions, Seolyeong let out a single tear as Yujae yanked his hair. It was merely a tear shed in reaction to the yank, but that alone was enough to spark Yujae’s interest.

“Cry some more.”

His voice was laced with something close to delight.

“Hurry.”

Seolyeong stared at him, dumbfounded. He hadn’t even had time to finish calming his temper before Yujae twisted a lock of hair and said,

“I think your crying face looks like the most beautiful thing in the world.”