Camellia 96

The place Tang Yujae visited after his argument with his bride was the large guest hall prepared for the envoy.

Hanhoe’s delegation leader was staying on the top floor of a three-story building, and perhaps from the shock of losing the Heavenly Heart Ice Pill, she hadn’t been able to sleep a wink. If word got out that a man from the Inner Palace had resonated with the heavens of the North Sea, the Ice Palace Mistress’ wrath would undoubtedly fall on her.

It was in the middle of her deepening anxiety that it happened.

Click. The once-shut window opened, and a swath of pale blue silk fluttered gently.

She quickly sharpened her sight to peer through the fabric, only to let out a weary sigh.

“…Sect Leader?”

Her hand was already wrapped tightly around the hilt of her sword.

The handsome man who swept the curtain aside and jumped down from the window frame wore a gentle smile. Without his golden crown, Sahyeol Amje looked like a young noble out on a stroll.

Inside the dim room, he finally spoke.

“I promised I’d find a solution, didn’t I?”

Sahyeol Amje was someone who kept his word. The princess of the North Sea had long known he wasn’t the kind of man to talk out of both sides of his mouth.

He crossed the room in a few long strides and sat on the edge of the bed, palm open. Resting on it was a pill that looked exactly like the one that had been hanging from Biyu’s leather necklace.

“A pill that holds the will of the heavens, that’s what you need, right?”

His voice was perfectly relaxed.

“Take it, Princess. I drew out part of my inner strength and made this just for you.”

Biyu hesitated for a moment before parting her lips in disbelief.

“Are you… asking me to deceive the Ice Palace Mistress?”

Hanhoe’s delegation leader, Bing Biyu, was a martial artist. She quickly caught on to what the Sect Leader of the Cheonma Divine Sect was suggesting.

He was offering her this cold, radiant pill to carry around, pretending it was the Heavenly Heart Ice Pill of the North Sea.

Her gaze twisted with anger.

“In the North Sea, those who lie have their tongues torn out and fed to wild beasts. Why offer such an insulting proposal?”

Regardless of her personal regard for the sect leader, she had been born and raised a martial artist of the North Sea. The suggestion, so casually spoken and so far removed from the teachings she held sacred, could only feel offensive.

Sahyeol Amje, as if he understood, added softly,

“This pill won’t choose its master… but if there ever comes a day when you wish to grow stronger, just shut your eyes and swallow it. You’ll achieve greatness.”

A serpent’s tongue crept into the soul of the North Sea warrior.

But as expected, Biyu refused him without hesitation.

“I would rather confess to the Ice Palace Mistress and die with honor.”

At her firm rejection, Tang Yujae dropped the pill onto the side table with a soft clack. Then he looked straight at Biyu with the respect owed to a fellow warrior. Biyu returned the look, full of reproach.

“…I respect your North Sea integrity, Princess.”

There wasn’t a shred of falsehood in those words. The righteous nature of North Sea martial artists naturally shone more purely than any inner court warrior ever could. That was why Tang Yujae, hoping to preserve that unique virtue, made a decision she would never forgive him for.

He moved his Qi.

“When the day comes that this spell breaks… Biyu. Will you remember?”

Her eyes went wide as lanterns at the chill that swept through her mind. She tried to draw her sword, but her body, caught in his Qi, wouldn’t respond.

“My bride is someone like you. So don’t hate him on my behalf. When I’m gone, and he’s left alone, don’t make him the target of your anger. He’s a person just as pure as you.”

Spells that erase memory always dissolve when the caster dies. Tang Yujae left her those words in anticipation of his end. In truth, he knew well that Biyu wasn’t the kind to vent her rage on the innocent.

Once her consciousness completely faded, he tied the pill onto the leather necklace around her neck.

Snow wind, biting as midwinter, crept through the window into the room. Sahyeol Amje brushed aside her white hair, gently aglow in the dark, and quietly stepped over the sill to leave the guest hall.

As he soared across the sky, the imugi’s voice echoed in his ears.

–Do you really care about that child that much?

That night, when he erased Biyu’s memory, she hadn’t been the only one. Everyone who had witnessed his bride’s return from the brink had their memories taken, and the Imoogi took great pleasure in teasing him for it.

–There’s no way this isn’t love. I wouldn’t be surprised if a camellia raised on pure devotion blooms in the back garden soon.

Perhaps it was because ascension was drawing near, but the divine beast had been appearing more often lately, messing with his mood.

Back in his quarters, Tang Yujae coughed up blood laced with poison and roughly wiped his trembling lips. The backlash from wiping the memories of several top martial artists all at once still hadn’t worn off. That damned Hall Lord of Daeyeongak had been especially resistant, so he’d had to dig through his mind extra violently.

–…Call your bride. His energy will calm the chaos in your danjeon.

As Tang Yujae’s coughing didn’t stop, the imugi finally dropped its usual tone and offered quiet advice.

But Yujae ignored it entirely and collapsed into bed, half-sprawled. After nagging him a few more times, the imugi finally gave up and muttered in defeat.

–As expected you are just like that man… Blinded by love in the end.

The face of a cheeky brat flashed before his eyes, one who used to run from love like it was a curse, only to meet one rogue and completely change course. The one he had made the world’s greatest, then made the sect leader of the Cheonma Divine Sect… but never received love from in return.

So, on that deep blue night,

The imugi, thinking of the Cheonma as it listened to Yujae’s breathing, began to hum a lullaby.

The divine beast’s love for humans was one-sided. It loved humanity, but could never live among them. All it wanted now was to escape to the heavens as soon as possible.

Only in the celestial realm could it finally find peace.

***

After the Hanhoe’s delegation departed, the Yurigung fell into silence. The Eight Pavilion Lords who had come with the envoy also returned to their positions, and Yeonhu became as quiet as a barren plain.

Seolyeong, who had made Sahyeol Amje’s face stiffen with a passionate embrace from Peng Rang, was now under confinement in Yeohwa Hall as punishment. The Murong clan head disappeared, led away by the pale-faced physician who had returned to Mount Yeonhu.

“Ugh, I’m bored…”

Toying with Seonwol-do out of restlessness, Seolyeong suddenly threw the window open with a bang and muttered to himself. The scenery that once felt elegant was now nauseating from repetition.

“It would’ve been nice if there were flowers, at least…”

But all around him were frozen trees, and the mood grew heavier.

“…Right. I could use this time to write a letter.”

Having found a way to pass the time, Seolyeong hummed as he tugged the bell rope.

The maids, returning from a break in the nearby mountains, appeared in front of him looking well-fed and content. Delighted, he greeted them a little too warmly, then asked for paper, a brush, and ink.

But the moment he sat at the desk, ready to write, his mind went blank.

“Ah…”

The letter was meant for the Murong clan. The first person to receive the message would be Murong Wi. It was time to report the weaknesses of the demonic sect and other secrets he had promised to reveal.

‘Sukyeong Sacheon is where I was born and raised. You’ll have to carry this secret for the rest of your life. Do you understand, Ahyeong?’

But damn it all, just as he went to write that Sahyeol Amje really was a bloodline of the Tang family, the man’s brutal warning slammed through his brain and vanished.

If I don’t keep this secret… what will become of me? Shit. Am I going to get killed?

After squeezing his brain for over a ke, Seolyeong finally managed to start the letter.

Unfortunately, Brother, the Madu seems to love me far too much. I think he’s more captivated by me than I ever expected. What am I supposed to do now?