Waking from my morning drowsiness, I stepped outside for a moment.
Mount Song’s dawn air was exceptionally clear and refreshing.
The crowing of roosters, the barking of dogs, the sound of fires being lit in kitchens, laughter bursting from the markets, and the groans of those soaked in liquor all mingled to fill the temple air.
I let out a long yawn.
“Haaaaa— Gahk!”
Just as I opened my mouth wide, something unfamiliar tumbled right into it.
I spat it out roughly with a *“ptui”*, and a cute little light-green caterpillar, soaked and wet, stuck to the ground.
There was only one person who would pull a stunt like this.
Dang Soran was sitting on a low wall nearby, her legs crossed and swinging as she looked at me.
She looked thoroughly irritated from the morning.
-..-
I started to say something, but let out a sigh and gave up.
Just skip the walk. Go back and sleep. It’s obvious it’ll get annoying.
“Wha— Why are you ignoring me!”
“Ugh. On second thought, I feel even more tired...”
-Smack!
But it was already too late. She moved like lightning and grabbed my arm.
A martial artist’s footwork was indeed different.
“Come on, let’s talk for a bit.”
“How can you talk about conversation after shoving a caterpillar in someone’s mouth? No thanks. Go away.”
“I-I didn’t put it there! It fell from the tree and just happened to go in.”
I glanced up for a moment.
With the trees densely blocking the sky, it wasn’t impossible if coincidences piled up. Of course, it was far more likely that wasn’t the case.
“Yeah? Just a moment. Let’s chat. Or else I’ll just scream?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll scream and wake everyone up? They’ll all know from my performance yesterday that you and I are close. Come on. Ah—!”
-Grasp!
I grabbed Dang Soran’s nape and covered her mouth.
“What are you doing!”
With my hand over her mouth, her eyes curved into half-moons.
I could feel her soft hair. A sweet scent wafted over.
Damn it, really.
I sighed and said,
“Do we have time for that right now? Bystanders like us are one thing, but shouldn’t you, Lady Dang, be preparing for the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly?”
“I’m going to win anyway, so what preparation? It’s still way too early to focus.”
Where on earth did that confidence come from...
Didn’t you lose to Cheongwol last time? Forgot already?
I gave up and finally asked her.
“So? What’s this about.”
“Young Master, didn’t I win so coolly yesterday? No praise?”
“What am I supposed to say to praise you, Lady Dang.”
“Eek! Fr-friends can praise each other too!”
“Who congratulates friends? Praise is what superiors give to inferiors, right?”
“You gonna keep nitpicking?”
“...No. You were truly impressive. Yesterday’s Lady Dang shone brightly.”
-..-
But Dang Soran didn’t look pleased at my words.
If anything, she looked even sadder.
“I congratulated you, so why the long face?”
In a drooping voice, she asked.
“...Do you say things like that to Lady Ga Yeong every day too?”
“Huh?”
Dang Soran pulled my arm, leading me behind the inn.
Mount Song’s ridges were clearly visible, but it was a secluded spot with no sign of people.
“Young Master. Be honest. Why are you doing this?”
“Huh?”
“You’re fooling us right now. You’re not really going to marry Lady Ga Yeong, are you?”
That sharp point caught me off guard, and I missed my chance to respond.
As if that was mine hint, Dang Soran pressed harder.
“Why are you doing this? What’s the situation? If there’s something I can help with, I will.”
“Wh-what situation? We’re just getting together because we like each other.”
“No! I know you two aren’t in love. I know. Because... because I know the look you get when you gaze at something precious.”
Her words stirred a strange emotion in me.
I asked,
“...How would you know that, Lady Dang?”
“How wouldn’t I? You’re making that face right now.”
Her bold declaration made me chuckle dryly and avert my gaze.
I licked my lips, but no good response came to mind.
...Or do I have some special look I don’t even know about?
She was so confident that even I started doubting myself.
“You look at me even more preciously, so how can you say you and Lady Ga Yeong are in love?”
“...It’s a misunderstanding. I look at my wife more preciously, not you...”
“Ugh... I-I-No! And you poured your desires onto me. Who does that... that stuff with someone they hate?”
-..-
“And it doesn’t make sense. You and Lady Ga Yeong? That fatty?”
“Wha— Lady Dang. I won’t stand for you insulting Ga Yeong.”
At that, Dang Soran flew into an even bigger rage.
“What if you don’t? And I didn’t make it up. Fatty. Ugly. Pig.”
With Jang Cheolyu, Ga Yeong, and the others from Mount Emei staying at the same inn, I tensed up, worried someone might hear.
“St-stop saying that...! Ga Yeong is so kind!”
“Still doesn’t change that she’s fat and ugly— Mmph!”
I covered her mouth again.
Dang Soran’s eyes curved again.
Then, as if mischief struck once more, she suddenly opened her mouth.
Her moist tongue licked my palm.
-..-
-..-
Even as our eyes met, Dang Soran didn’t stop.
Her tongue playfully and noisily tickled my palm with mischief.
Strangely, it stirred some lust for a moment, but I came to my senses.
-Swish!
“Eek!”
I wiped my wet hand across Dang Soran’s face.
Dang Soran crouched down and started wiping her face with her sleeve like a cat.
“Sheesh...!”
After wiping off the saliva, Dang Soran punched my thigh.
-Thud!
A sharp pain like being struck by lightning shot through my body, but I gritted my teeth and hid it.
I shot back with irritation.
“That’s why I said no to talking—I knew you’d come harass and hit me!”
“If you don’t like me acting like this, just be nicer to me, Young Master?”
“I’m going.”
-Smack!
This time, Dang Soran grabbed my ankle.
Her grip was so strong I couldn’t shake it off.
“Young Master, and I haven’t even told you the real reason I came yet.”
Dang Soran stood up, her expression turning serious as she looked at me.
I realized this time it wasn’t a joke and waited for her words.
“...The Namgung Clan Leader came to see me yesterday.”
“Young Master Namgung Yosin?”
“Yes. And he... asked me to tell him about you. Said he wants to meet you. Apologized profusely for not performing well this time.”
-..-
“...What should I do? Should I tell the Clan Leader about you?”
“No.”
The answer came almost reflexively.
Things were already tangled enough, so I didn’t want to get more involved.
What could I even do if we met?
Besides, if I got entangled with the protagonist too, I’d be dragged right to the center of Blood Path.
That’s what I’d avoided my whole life.
Sponsoring was just sponsorship—putting back the money the Namgung Family lost due to my butterfly effect where it belonged.
I’d always wished this world would follow the original story’s flow.
The only thing I tried to change was preventing Cheongwol from falling.
“No, please don’t say anything.”
So I answered more firmly.
With thousands of lives hanging on my choices, maybe I was just scared.
Dang Soran nodded.
“Got it.”
****
The Dragon-Phoenix Assembly was in full heat.
Round of 64.
Sixty-four participants each facing their opponents.
Cheongwol was waiting for her turn.
She hadn’t spoken a word to her senior brothers or her master.
pent-up frustration and irritation bubbled within her.
Was it because I hadn’t played since finding a partner?
Because I hadn’t had a single chance to face Han Seojin yesterday?
Dokgo Jinmuk’s voice kept echoing in her head.
His words promising to make everything come true.
-..-
If she joined Young Heaven’s group, Han Seojin would never look at her with that gaze again.
...But if his warm gaze wouldn’t turn to her anyway, then shouldn’t she at least take his cold one?
It was growing more unjust by the day to let Ga Yeong take him.
That weakling, over me?
Why should I yield him?
If she could have him, what use were norms and rules?
Those fences were just selfish defenses set by the weak anyway.
“...Ugh.”
Cheongwol clutched her head and shook it.
What kind of thoughts were these?
Stop it. This isn’t right.
“Next! Cheongwol of the Emei Sect!”
Lost in thought, her turn had come before she knew it.
As Cheongwol’s name rang out, cheers erupted across the arena.
Everyone anticipated her after the martial prowess she’d shown on the first day.
Behind her, Soun was repeating yesterday’s scolding.
“Wol-ah...! This is a match. Don’t forget... And I always cheer for you, so good results this time too...”
-..-
Cheongwol slowly ascended the arena stage.
The cheers grew even louder.
It was strange. The cheers from all these people meant nothing to her.
Some loved hearing them, but not Cheongwol.
They sounded more like painful noise assaulting her ears.
Cheongwol closed her eyes on the stage for a moment and opened her senses.
The scent of Pursuit Fragrance.
She located Han Seojin and looked his way.
-..-
A pang of pain stabbed her heart again.
Han Seojin stood with Ga Yeong.
Next to Ga Yeong was another village youth, Jang Cheolyu, their shoulders touching.
-..-
Cheongwol couldn’t understand what infuriated her so much.
It was just that, but rage shot to the top of her head.
If it were me, I’d never do that.
She knows nothing of purity. Just a slut who throws her body around?
Doesn’t she know what fortune she’s received right now?
She doesn’t even know how much I crave what’s left of it, treating that chance so cheaply?
A chance worth billions of gold, and she treats it so carelessly?
Having Han Seojin by her side while pressing shoulders with another man.
Can’t Han Seojin see that ugly sight?
“Baekdam of Mount Hua Sect!”
While Cheongwol kept staring at Han Seojin, her opponent climbed up.
Her opponent was Baekdam of Mount Hua Sect, a member of the Hidden Dragon Society.
They said he was Mount Hua’s top late disciple.
Twenty-three years old.
A first-rate master too.
“Second disciple of Mount Hua Sect, Baekdam. Finally facing you, Lady Cheongwol. May it be a good match.”
Why? It was so hard to tear her eyes away.
Maybe because her tangled thoughts needed sorting.
Han Seojin was looking at Cheongwol, then turned to chat with Ga Yeong.
Another pang in her chest.
“Lady, what are you looking at? Look this way. If you’re not focused... you’ll get hurt. This isn’t like yesterday’s opponent.”
Seeing Han Seojin look at Ga Yeong stirred desire in her.
Right, but she had a promise.
Win them all here, and play.
Then, Han Seojin would...
...Han Seojin...
-..-
...What does one playtime even mean?
Han Seojin would still embrace that Ga Yeong.
-Flutter! Shiver...
At that thought, Cheongwol’s killing intent burst outward.
Her robes fluttered in response.
The crowd held their breath in shock, and Baekdam gripped his wooden sword.
Cheongwol slowly turned to face Baekdam.
“...Second disciple of Emei Sect, Cheongwol.”
Her words were polite, but she desperately needed an outlet for her anger right now.
Like the beasts she’d slaughtered.
Like the unorthodox scum she’d massacred in the past.
The announcer, sensing the mood, shouted loudly.
“Begin!!”
And in that instant, Cheongwol’s awareness snapped.
.
.
“Stop! Stop!!”
Cheongwol came to her senses belatedly.
Her master Soun was holding her wrist and waist from behind.
“Ugh...”
Before her eyes, a nameless middle-aged man in Mount Hua robes was blocking her sword.
Behind him, Baekdam lay collapsed, clutching his leg.
Had the match already ended?
But her breathing was remarkably calm for having done something.
“Cheongwol, stop! It’s over, I said!”
“Ah.”
The man before her spoke too.
“Calm down. It’s finished.”
Cheongwol slowly lowered her sword, and only then did Soun relax and release her.
Out of habit from using real swords more than wooden ones, Cheongwol tried to sheathe the wooden sword.
At that small motion, Soun swallowed hard.
Cheongwol bowed her head.
“I’m sorry.”
The Mount Hua warrior replied.
“No need. You’re young and it’s your first tournament, so excitement is understandable. It’s fine.”
Soun apologized as well.
“Senior, my apologies.”
“I said it’s fine. But look what you did to our Baekdam. Emei truly has a Thousand-Year Flower blooming.”
Cheongwol even asked Baekdam behind him.
“Are... you alright?”
Baekdam, sweating coldly, smiled but laced his words with resentment.
“My leg... it’s broken. Haha. I was lacking, but Lady, this was too much.”
-..-
She could read the now-silent arena’s atmosphere.
Ah.
Only then did she realize the aftermath of what she’d done.
-Swish!
Cheongwol reflexively looked toward Han Seojin.
The subtle shock on his face.
In a way, it could be called fear.
Exactly the expression he made when saying he hated martial artists.
“...Ah.”
At that look, Cheongwol’s mood sank once more.
Could the distance between them feel this vast?
What have I just done?
She squeezed her eyes shut and let out another groan.
“...Aah.”