The Camellia of the Demonic Sect Bloom with Pure Love
by LiliumPrologue
In the Sect Leader’s garden, once filled only with frozen purple magnolias, bright red camellias had bloomed.
The first to notice the flowers was none other than his bride, Seolyeong. Twirling strands of dark, reddish hair under the sunlight, Seolyeong crouched like a street punk.
“Oh. It actually bloomed.”
It was a heartless blooming. He was dying of frustration, caught in a cold war for days now with the one person he had wanted to show the flowers to.
“You bloomed so prettily, without even knowing the heart of the one who planted you.”
Seolyeong sat in front of the camellias for a long time. In moments like this, someone would always appear from behind and speak a strangely tender word that didn’t suit them.
And somehow, it made him feel pitiful. This was why he hadn’t wanted to fall in love in the first place.
The one Seolyeong loved was a man notorious throughout Jungwon. And not in a good way, just mentioning his epithet made most people faint.
When Seolyeong realized how he felt about him, he thought he’d gone mad. Why would I love that bastard? But denial did nothing. Every time he saw that bastard who had once swept the martial world in a storm of blood, his heart thumped and his breath grew ragged.
“Hey. Camellia.”
Seolyeong suddenly spoke to the flower he had planted.
“Why is my husband so cruel to me?”
He’d grabbed Seolyeong by the hair the first time they met, so he already knew what kind of foul-tempered man he was. But as they slowly came to know each other, as they fell for each other, Seolyeong had started to feel something bloom inside him, something new. He was sure it wasn’t just his imagination.
“It’s just so upsetting…”
His voice trembled. That was when a soft breeze brushed past his cheek. A spring breeze, impossible to feel on this snowy mountain.
“What was that..?”
He stood up in confusion. Yeonhu Mountain was covered in snow as far as the eye could see. But at some point, warm wind had started to blow. Seolyeong looked around, feeling a sudden anticipation. His heart pounded like mad. Cold sweat formed in his palms, and his skin tingled.
The warmth began to melt the garden. The snow that had piled up thickly began to dissolve.
His throat tightened. His eyes stung, and he could feel tears gathering again.
Just like the process of spring following winter, the purple magnolias thawed. As the snow cleared, the garden bloomed even more brilliantly. Purple petals fluttered like a rain of flowers.
Seolyeong had seen something like this once before. Back then, it hadn’t been real. It was only an illusion someone had created.
Just as he lowered his gaze and caught a petal in his palm, feeling a flicker of warmth.
“I was cruel to you?”
A voice he’d longed to hear rang out.
Seolyeong turned his head quickly toward the sound. And of course, there he was, up in a tree. Honestly, that peach tree blooming with pink blossoms didn’t suit him at all. Someone like Seolyeong should’ve been sitting there, it would’ve looked way better.
Spreading his arms wide, Seolyeong said,
“…There’s no room for your bride up there, my husband. Please come down”
His tone was composed, but his expression wasn’t. Red-rimmed eyes and tear-soaked lashes pulled the man’s gaze to him. Seolyeong had cried so prettily once that he got comforted, and now he cried any time he was bored.
“Looking at you again, I think you look prettier when you smile.”
“……”
“I meant stop crying. Quiet.”
Seolyeong swallowed back his tears with a faint sound. He stared at the man with red, tearful eyes. Neither looked away. Finally releasing the lip he had been chewing, Seolyeong spoke again.
“Please come down and hold me.”
It was a desperate plea. More than ever, he needed his warmth. He wanted to press their skin together and breathe with him.
The man asked lazily,
“Don’t tell me you were crying because of me?”
“Then who else would I be crying over? Those fanatics following you around all day?”
The man Seolyeong loved was the Sect Leader of the Cheonma Divine Sect, Sahyeol Amje1. Enemy of the Nine Provinces and Eight Realms. The unmatched master who had turned the highest peak of the Sipman Daesan2, Suido Peak, into a snowy mountain in an instant.
Anyone in their right mind couldn’t possibly love him. But that cursed feeling surged from Seolyeong’s chest, and he realized he could never again belong to the martial world.
“Ahyeong.”
The Sect Leader let out a small laugh as he called Seolyeong’s childhood name. That usually cold face brightened, and Seolyeong’s heart was pummeled. When that expressionless man curled his eyes into a smile, it made Seolyeong’s heart overflow.
“Yes, my lord. I’m listening.”
At that, the man jumped down from the tree and approached him. One step. Two steps. Three steps. As the distance closed, Seolyeong’s cheeks flushed pink. Just one more step and they could hold each other.
But the Sect Leader didn’t move any closer.
“I’ll cast an illusion on you.”
The unexpected words left Seolyeong stunned.
“An illusion that will change your eye color permanently. No one will dare suspect your eyes were blood-red. And then you…”
A onimous feeling rose up. A chill ran down his back. He had to shut him up. Seolyeong lunged forward and grabbed his face, pressing a kiss to his lips.
He parted those cold lips, slid his tongue in, traced his teeth and palate, and moaned into the kiss. The Sect Leader’s saliva was sweet. Just one stroke of the tongue and heat ignited in his lower body.
The Sect Leader didn’t return the kiss, but he didn’t push him away either. He just stared at Seolyeong with an unreadable look.
Seolyeong finally pulled back with a groan.
His eyes, like rubies, had turned deep red. The typical sign of a blood fiend craving blood. Pale fingers stroked the back of the Sect Leader’s neck. Slowly, he traced the spot where he always sank his fangs, then pressed down hard with his nails.
Just as the Sect Leader supported the back of his head, as if giving permission to feed, Seolyeong let out a low growl and bit deep into his neck. He sank his fangs in without mercy and began to groan.
Blood poured from the two punctures his fangs made.
“Ah, my husband…”
As Seolyeong drove his fangs in deeper, the Sect Leader grabbed his hair.
“Urgh…! Sect Leader! You’re going to rip my scalp off! Aagh!”
Neck bent back as he complained, the Sect Leader ignored him and kept speaking.
“The illusions I use are nothing like reversed techniques. I can let you live like an ordinary person.”
Seolyeong had sensed it, something about this felt wrong. Sure enough, the Sect Leader was talking about leaving again.
“So before you love me any more, leave Yeonhu, Ahyeong.”
Seolyeong ignored him and pulled him into a hug. He spoke with a sigh.
“Your husband will die before the month is over.”
As the Sect Leader gently stroked his hair, he warned in a low voice.
“And when I die…”
A cold hand trailed down the back of Seolyeong’s neck and wrapped around his waist in a smooth, fluid motion.
“My followers will try to bury you with me.”
Seolyeong nodded without hesitation.
“I’ll live just to see that day.”
“…Hah.”
The Sect Leader stared in disbelief at his bride who never listened, then let out a hollow laugh. So ended the 280th failed attempt to drive him out of Yeonhu. At this point, he had no idea what excuse to try next.
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