In Soeun Yu’s dream-
“Your name is Namgung Cheolbin… is that correct?”
Soeun Yu took a cautious step toward Namgung Cheolbin, who stood by the railing gazing at the night sky.
It was an unusually bright crescent moonlit night.
“You are Jiun of Mount Hua’s Sword Flower style, are you not? Is there a reason you’re still awake at this hour?”
“I suppose it’s because I sweated a lot today, making it hard to fall asleep.”
Earlier that day, the two had participated together in a preliminary match of the Nine Dragons Seven Flowers Tournament.
Could it be due to the banquet held after the conclusion of the Nine Dragons Seven Flowers Tournament?
A faint flush of intoxication was visible on Namgung Cheolbin’s face.
Though Soeun Yu, as a Taoist priestess, had abstained from drinking during the banquet—
“I’m a bit worried about you walking back to the Mount Hua quarters on such a dark night.”
“Hmm? Are these words coming from the person who lost to me earlier today?”
“It seems I spoke out of turn. Please forgive me.”
“Hmm… it’s fine. Besides, I wasn’t planning on returning anyway.”
“…Pardon?”
As Namgung Cheolbin turned to her with a look of bewilderment, she blushed, clearly embarrassed.
“P-please don’t look at me like that…”
Avoiding his troubling gaze, Soeun lightly nudged his side with her petite fist.
Was it due to the strange atmosphere created by the moonlight? Soeun’s blushing appearance was captivating enough to entrance any man.
And at that moment, Namgung Cheolbin was not the emotionless returnee but an energetic young man.
“Cough, cough. If I have been disrespectful, I apologize.”
“No, no! And… um…”
Bowing her head slightly, Soeun spoke.
Namgung Cheolbin’s rosy complexion and faint alcohol aroma changed the mood near the railing.
“I meant what I said earlier…”
A nineteen-year-old boy and a seventeen-year-old girl.
Both were young and inexperienced.
“It’s such a bright moon tonight. Shall we admire it together?”
“Yes, I’d like that.”
Namgung Cheolbin gently grasped the edge of Soeun’s robe, pulling her closer.
The girl complied, and soon they stood side by side, maintaining a subtle distance, watching the night sky.
Stealing a glance, Soeun looked over at Namgung Cheolbin out of the corner of her eye.
His jet-black hair shone with vitality, and his azure eyes twinkled as if lit by the night.
He had an extraordinarily spirited gaze, which she had noticed during their duel earlier in the day.
“You’re handsome…”
“What? Did you just say something?”
“Oh, nothing…! Just talking to myself!”
“Hmm, is that so.”
Soeun, captivated by his charm, was pulled back to reality by his words.
Still gazing at her silently, Namgung Cheolbin spoke without emotion.
“How beautiful…”
“What did you just say…?”
“That… was a humble poem to gift to you. Please forgive me if it offended.”
“No, no! There’s no need for such an apology…!”
The awkward silence continued.
Though Namgung Cheolbin had mustered the courage to murmur his feelings, much like Soeun, he had no experience with romance.
While he was racking his brains over the uncomfortable atmosphere, Soeun spoke again.
“Um… and…”
She came closer, stepping half a pace toward him.
“I… enjoyed it…”
Despite first meeting through the Nine Dragons Seven Flowers Tournament, even as they stood nearly shoulder to shoulder, the unfamiliarity between them lingered.
However, the fluttering hearts amidst that awkwardness sent a new excitement rippling through the young couple.
“Your Star Palace Swordless Love style… it was impressive earlier…”
“Your Plum Blossom Sword techniques were also beautiful.”
“It was the best swordsmanship I’ve ever seen. Is this how the Namgung family always fights…?”
“Haha, it’s an exaggeration. Your Huashan swordsmanship was the best I’ve ever faced.”
Their continuous praise echoed, each word carefully chosen.
Namgung Cheolbin and Soeun grew more fond of each other with each passing exchange.
Then, suddenly.
“So… why didn’t you use the Emperor Sword Form earlier?”
“Moreover…”
“If you had used Namgung’s ultimate skill, the Emperor Sword Form, you would have almost certainly won.”
Namgung Cheolbin’s answer revealed the depth of his character.
“It is the Namgung family tradition to use the Emperor Sword Form only for upholding justice.”
“Ah…!”
These words completely captured her heart.
“Namgung junior, I apologize ahead of time. I’m sorry.”
Whoosh!
“Y-Yu junior? You’re too close… eep!”
Chirp!
“Hng…! Haa…!”
“Hmmm…”
“Hnn… Actually, when I first saw you in the dueling arena, I fell for you at first sight.”
“…My lady appears in my dreams.”
That night, though she hadn’t touched alcohol, Soeun’s lips carried the scent of deep intoxication.
As Soeun enjoyed this rare happy dream—
– Abandon love!
Suddenly, a loud shout echoed through her dream.
Whoosh!
She pushed back the blanket covering her and bolted upright.
It was the unpleasant outcry that had been bothering her every night recently.
“Haa, haa…”
Beads of cold sweat gathered on the nape of her neck and forehead.
Thud!
“…! Su-a!”
In the sudden movement, Namgong Su-a, lying beside her, was flung against a wall.
Quickly approaching, Soeun examined her stepdaughter. Apparently exhausted from the Seven Flowers tournament, she remained sound asleep.
“Mmmnya… Ah, Daddy…”
“Phew… good, she didn’t wake up.”
After carefully tucking Su-a back into bed, Soeun noticed her own damp bed area from excessive sweating in her dreams.
Not just her bedding, but her entire body was soaked.
“Ugh…”
Once again, due to Su-a burying her face between her breasts while sleeping, her chest area had become stickily wet with a mix of sweat and tears.
And perhaps reminiscing about their first kiss from her dream, a tingling sensation lingered between her thighs.
“I need to wash…”
She muttered, fatigued, as she picked up a nearby washbasin intended for morning cleansing.
Plop.
Perhaps disoriented from her dream, a searing thirst drove her to directly sip the water from the washbasin.
Gulp, gulp.
Though not much different than drinking water, it wasn’t something the normally meticulous and proper Soeun would typically do.
“Groan…”
After rising, Soeun roughly wiped only the extremely sweaty parts, then donning just a light outer garment over her undergarments, she left her room.
She was looking for a river to bathe in.
Moreover, having been harassed again by that strange voice, she felt stifled.
Though, upon stepping outside—
Rumble.
“What is this…? There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky earlier…”
The sky was ominously dark, as if ready to unleash thunder and lightning any moment.
Not the night sky, but the sky of storm clouds.
“How strange…”
Despite the eerie weather phenomenon, Soeun didn’t stop walking.
Possibly due to her lack of composure.
Mostly, because she just wanted to walk.
After all, there are days like that, aren’t there?
Days when you just want to walk mindlessly to clear your head.
Today felt like one of those days.
So, Soeun continued on her way.
“Eh…?”
She then encountered someone she had never imagined seeing here.
“You, why are you here…?”
It was a pure coincidence.
If Yuwha hadn’t summoned lightning, if Soeun hadn’t woken up with her clothes damp from a dream, if the nightmare hadn’t troubled her mind…
Any one of these reasons absent, and this encounter would never have happened.
However, as they say, the twists and turns of life are unpredictable.
“I was out for a midnight stroll due to melancholy; is there a problem?”
“No. What could I possibly have to discuss with ‘you’?”
“Well then, I’ll take my leave. You seem to be out for a walk too; please return safely.”
“Yes, I will.”
But, it was right at the moment she had been deeply disturbed, her heart tangled with worry.
And right at the moment her sweat-soaked body had been irritating her, filling her with irritation.
And…
“Alright, please go.”
“It’s cold tonight. You should also return before it’s too late.”
“Yes, I will.”
Thud, thud.
Splash, crunch.
“Hmm? Why is that, my lady?”
Of all times, right after she had dreamed about him.
Thump, thump.
Soeun’s heart beat irregularly.
She was holding onto the edge of Byul Rak’s robe, just as he had pulled her toward him during their first kiss, but the situation was entirely different now.
“…Master.”
First, though she had successfully stopped Byul Rak, he was not inching closer to her in the slightest.
She had merely stopped him, barely.
“Why are you suddenly using titles you haven’t used before?”
“Master, Master.”
“Speak, why is your voice trembling so?”
Unable to comprehend her own actions, Soeun had no answers.
Could it be due to the dream she had right after seeing him?
Or is it perhaps due to her lower abdomen’s irritation upon seeing him.
“…Upon seeing?”
Soeun’s gaze landed on the dark stain across Byul Rak’s chest.
More precisely, the red mark soaking into his chest.
It was the blood left behind by Yuwha moments ago.
“Y-That blood… what is it…?”
“Ah, this?”
“Could it be… you’ve done it again…?”
Looking up at the dark clouds in the sky, memories of days when her husband caused chaos came flooding back.
Whenever he did something outrageous, the skies used to darken ominously, and thunder and lightning would strike.
“Y-YOU…!”
A tear formed at the corner of Soeun’s eyes. It grew larger, then began to flow endlessly.
“Ffff… F-fuuff…!”
She resented him.
Everything that had led to the ruin of her home was because of him.
That she had ended up in her current situation, that her daughter was growing increasingly unstable—it was all because of him.
And yet there he was again with the appearance of someone who had gotten into trouble somewhere.
“Ffff… Haa, Hfff…!”
She felt sorrow.
Her pitiful feelings towards herself for still having lingering feelings for such a pathetic man grew even stronger.
Leaning against Byul Rak’s robe with her head bowed deeply, Soeun sobbed and spoke.
“Please… just stop already…!”
“What do you mean?”
“What made you change this way? Didn’t you used to be thoughtful… weren’t you good at making jokes, and didn’t you value life the most… weren’t you the most handsome man in the world who held firmly to the family tradition during duels…?”
“…”
Thud.
Soeun grabbed onto Byul Rak’s left hand with both of hers.
It was a desperate and heart-wrenching gesture.
“Ffff… Haa… Hmmmm…!”
Her legs were losing strength; her knees bent involuntarily.
“Just… just…”
It was humiliating.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if you could love me…?”
Isn’t it easy for a husband to love his wife? She has always done so, hasn’t she? Why are you not capable of the same…?”
It was mortifying.
“Am I not pretty? You’ve told me I am graceful, someone I could only dream of in my wildest dreams – told me I was the most beautiful flower in the world…”
Lifting her face despite its disheveled state due to tears was.
“What about my body? Didn’t you say you were worried about it wearing out for others to see? You said it had become more stimulating after having a child; though you pretended to be embarrassed on the surface, you secretly enjoyed it…!”
Her face burned hot.
Why was she clinging to this man?
“You liked my breasts, didn’t you? You used to squeeze them occasionally, didn’t you? Saying that they were too big to fit in one hand but felt soft and comforting when gently massaged…!”
Why, what sin had she committed?
Tuck.
How could she have humbled herself to the point of placing his hand on her breast, doing something so embarrassing and disgraceful, clinging and pleading with him?
“Fuuf… How… How can love change like this…?”
Thud!
What made her heart ache even more than that was this:
“Stop. What’s this inappropriate behavior?”
The action of rejecting her offer to fondle her breasts as if he viewed her as not even a woman.
It made her feel sorry for herself for abandoning her life as a Taoist to live as a woman.
“Hnnnn… Nnng….”
Thud. Plop.
Ultimately, her knees touched the cold, hard ground.
The cold seeping into her bare skin seemed to mock her.
As if the heavens themselves were laughing at how everything in her life—both as a Taoist and as a woman—had failed.
“I’m so exhausted…”
So pitiful beyond compare.
Yu So-eun rested her forehead on Byul Rak’s knee.
Even though earlier she had forced herself to keep her head up, now she couldn’t bring herself to do so any longer.
“Just… can’t you love me, please?”
Because she feared exposing her wretched state.
Insulted as the wife of the Swordsage by martial artists.
Viewed as nothing more than a useless burden by her family.
And her only source of solace, her daughter, was increasingly distressed.
“If I am content with just that, won’t that be enough? I don’t care what else you do; all I ask is that you love me…”
Yu So-eun leaned against Byul Rak’s knee.
Strangely, even the coldest, hardest knee of the man who had brought her such downfall brought her some comfort.
“I’m just asking for that; nothing more…”
And though he didn’t even rest his hand on her head, his rigid knee provided solace.
