Camellia Side Story 5

The martial arts of the Great Madu, Sahyeol Amje, were astonishing and brilliant beyond imagination. Everyone in the market square had their eyes drawn to the petals that had begun to bloom out of nowhere. Children gathered in small groups raised their heads and pointed at the sky.

Pink petals spread out elegantly, covering the clear blue sky. A few drifting petals landed gently on the shoulder of a woman in silk robes, and light laughter burst out from all around. A peddler selling trinkets laughed heartily and shouted as he let go of a pair of earrings.

“Well now! It’s been ages since I’ve seen such a sight! Looks like Wonsi Cheonjon has gone senile!”

His jest brought a wave of raucous laughter through the crowd. Faces filled with fear, wondering what on earth was happening, also appeared here and there, but the eighty-year-old peddler soothed them with ease.

“Oh, I tell you. Looks like another extraordinary master is putting on a show. I once saw something like this a long time ago, too.”

He spoke of Hwaryun, the former sect leader of the old demonic sect who used to make flowers bloom even in the dead of winter for Namgung Seonju. From the subtle flow of Qi around the old man, Seolyeong could tell that he was a martial artist who had once known the Jungwon of the past. Those stories of long ago had not vanished to some far, unreachable place.

The old man slowly stretched out his hand, as if trying to grasp the falling petals, and smiled faintly.

“When the cold season passes, spring flowers are bound to come.”

There was something lingering in his eyes, stained with regret. How full of the stench of blood had the Jungwon been in those days, when the old demonic sect fell? How soaked in grief? Seolyeong had been sent to the man called Samasa, the Madu, precisely to avoid a repetition of that tragedy.

Turning his head resolutely, Seolyeong looked at his husband’s profile.

The words he wanted to say were piled up like a mountain, but he couldn’t figure out where to begin.

Just then, Sahyeol Amje took Seolyeong’s hand in his. He was always frighteningly perceptive.

“Wouldn’t it be sad to miss your brother’s congratulations on your one and only wedding day?”

Once, Sahyeol Amje’s hand had been as cold as ice, but not anymore. Just as Yeonhu Mountain had changed from frozen snow to a land of blossoms, his entire body, once frozen stiff, had found warmth again.

“There should be camellias blooming at the Murong estate right about now, Ahyeong.”

It was a gift from the Madu for the two camellias of the martial world. A gentle spring breeze, moving more tenderly than ever, made Seolyeong’s eyes sting. He barely managed to open his mouth.

“…Then, don’t tell me this bridal journey…”

“Why not just enjoy the sights with your husband for once? I heard the little lord of the Murong clan is throwing an enormous ceremony.”

“……”

“Don’t you want to see your one and only little sister in her wedding finery?”

Murong Wi, it seemed, had no hesitation in raising his wife’s public standing across the entire orthodox martial world.

After revealing the full extent of his martial ability, he had forcibly seized the clan headship from his father. Once he officially took the position after the ceremony, the Five Noble Clans would likely shift once more.

“…You could have given me some warning.”

“What if I died from the shock”, Seolyeong muttered, gripping his husband’s hand tightly. The indifferent look that had once filled Sahyeol Amje’s eyes was nowhere to be seen. On the contrary, every time he was with Seolyeong, his features softened so much he seemed like a fool in love. If Yuwon had seen him smiling like this, she might have burst into tears thinking she’d reunited with her little brother from long ago.

A man who had lived only for the past now met the eyes of a bride as radiant as a flower.

“You like to act mature, so if I’d asked, wouldn’t you have pretended it was fine and avoided it? You’ve never been good at asking for what you want.”

“That’s not true.”

“Even your stubbornness is just so like you, Ahyeong.”

As a boy, Seolyeong had been forced to grow used to letting go. Hoping for something or waiting for a good future, such things had never suited him. He was a blood fiend, and the one responsible for turning the Murong clan’s youngest son into a madman.

Even if he’d never intended it, that was the life he had lived. His respect for the monks who followed the Buddhist path had stemmed from that. In truth, Seolyeong had always wanted to break free from everything that bound him.

Why is it that you always see right through that heart of mine?

So overwhelmed with emotion, Seolyeong found himself unable to speak.

Instead, Tang Yujae whispered in a soft tone,

“I know, because I have a younger sister too.”

She had left to walk the path of a healer, to take on her brother’s sins as her own. She might never come looking for Tang Yujae again in her lifetime. When they said goodbye, he had understood. There would never again be a day when he carried Yuwon on his back and ran away.

“If you want to leave someone’s life, you have to say goodbye properly first.”

So he had decided to give his wife that same chance. So that the blood fiend siblings, who had only ever had each other, could part without regret, without lingering attachments.

But whether he would take that chance or not was entirely up to Seolyeong. Staring at the peach trees blooming in the distance, his voice came only after a long delay.

“She… has never lived her life bound to me.”

That’s why she was strong. That’s why she was graceful. That’s why she was beautiful. Objectively speaking, Murong Wi wasn’t a bad groom aside from being old, but Seolhyeon’s character far outshone his, which made it all the more dissatisfying as her brother.

“So I’ll be the only one to say goodbye. Hyeon would hate a sentimental scene even more than she hates men who look like slabs of pork fat.”

As Seolyeong chuckled, Seonwol-do, which had transformed into a necklace, glittered brightly with him.

“But since the wedding’s today, I’ll at least stay for a meal. It’s the Murong clan’s big day, surely they’ll have all sorts of rare dishes laid out?”

“You’re a ghost. You don’t even need to eat human food.”

“Ahh, husband… Why must you say such hurtful things? A ghost?”

“Then should I call you a demon?”

“That’s you, husband! Who’s the one they call the Great Madu?”

Puffed up in righteous indignation, Seolyeong huffed and puffed. Tang Yujae couldn’t help bursting into laughter. Seeing that bright grin spread across his husband’s face, Seolyeong had to stop breathing for a moment.

Because this was a side of Sahyeol Amje–no, of Tang Yujae, that no one else had ever seen. And it pierced his heart.

With a face brighter than the blooming peach blossoms, Tang Yujae said,

“It doesn’t matter to me what you are.”

“……”

“No matter what form, no matter what you are… You’re beautiful to me just as you are, Ahyeong.”

It was only natural that his bride’s face flushed as red as a camellia.

At that moment, Seolyeong understood. Even if he truly inherited the blood fiends’ savagery and fell to become the martial world’s enemy, or was denounced as a traitor to the Murong clan, even then, this man would not cast him aside.

Just as Tang Yujae was simply Tang Yujae to Seolyeong, Seolyeong was simply Seolyeong to him. Being a blood fiend meant nothing.

A blessed energy wrapped around Seolyeong’s body, shattering the illusion spell Yujae had cast. Having stepped one pace out of the net that had bound him, Seolyeong had gained a new enlightenment. Seeing his bride smile brightly, Tang Yujae bloomed the surrounding flowers even more splendidly.

“I adore you, husband! This wife truly adores you! So when are we going to Haedong, hmm? I want to hurry and bond with the falcons!”

As Seolyeong leapt into his arms, he caught him with ease, just as he always had. Their display of affection, unfolding right in the middle of the market, prompted the peddler from earlier to throw out another playful remark. Had Seolyeong not been present, that old man’s neck might have been forfeit long ago. But fortunately, from now on, and always, Seolyeong would remain at Tang Yujae’s side.

The soul of the most beautiful man under heaven, who had achieved an unprecedented transformation, now belonged to the Great Madu.

— The Camellia of the Demonic Sect Bloom with Pure Love, Epilogue —

End.