Flower Dream Chapter 10

“Shut it! Hong Juyak, why are you picking a fight with our Yuha again?”

In the blink of an eye, Ju Cheongwoo had rushed over to the two and was now glaring fiercely at Juyak.

“I-I was just talking a bit.”

Overwhelmed by his sharp, aggressive manner, Hong Juyak stammered involuntarily. Ju Cheongwoo, though a male Flower Person, was, like her, a True-scented Person, and thus quite favored by the tribal elders. Moreover, the Ju clan to which Cheongwoo belonged held considerable power within the Honghwa Tribe, so picking a fight with him here could become somewhat troublesome later.

“Talking, my foot. I told you not to torment Yuha, didn’t I? Tsk, tsk. With that kind of nasty temper, how did you ever become a candidate for Crown Princess?”

“What? Are you done talking now?”

“I’m done. What are you going to do about it?”

Ju Cheongwoo jutted his chin up and looked down at Hong Juyak as if she were beneath him. When dealing with her, someone who was tough on the weak and weak before the strong, standing firm without backing down was the most effective approach.

“Stop it.”

Dan Yuha restrained Ju Cheongwoo before the atmosphere between the two could grow any more serious. Cheongwoo, who had looked ready to lunge at Hong Juyak at any moment, grew docile the instant Yuha held him back, as if his fierce snarling moments before had been a lie.

“Hong Juyak, you stop it here too. Unless you intend to cause a commotion before His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Shut up! Once I become Crown Princess, the likes of you…!”

“Wouldn’t it be better to make those threats after His Highness actually chooses you?”

Hong Juyak, who had been flaring up in anger, faltered when Dan Yuha cut her off and pushed back strongly.

“You should know it too. That His Highness the Crown Prince is uncomfortable with the body scent of Fragrant People.”

“Hmph! That’s just because he hasn’t met the right Flower Person yet. I’m different. He’ll be enchanted in an instant once he catches my scent, won’t he?”

Instantly regaining her swagger, Hong Juyak raised the corners of her lips. Born a precious True-scented Person, she had been doted on and pampered by the tribespeople from childhood, which had made her, to put it nicely, highly self-confident, and to put it bluntly, exceedingly arrogant.

“It’s good that you’re full of confidence… but don’t act rashly. You might bite off more than you can chew.”

“What?”

“I’m saying this because I suddenly grew worried that you might release your body scent without permission at an audience with His Highness the Crown Prince. Now that I think about it, the one who should be wary of being drawn by the instincts of a Flower Person seems to be you, not me.”

“What?”

Consider that my thanks for the advice you gave me earlier. Dan Yuha, leaning his upper body gently toward Hong Juyak, murmured low enough that only she could hear. Then, meeting Juyak’s eyes, he smiled and curved the corners of his eyes.

“Pfft!”

“Why, you…!”

At the same moment Ju Cheongwoo burst out in a short laugh upon hearing Dan Yuha’s whisper, Hong Juyak’s face crumpled hard. She had only wanted to get a word in because she was displeased that he had been chosen to attend the Crown Prince, but somehow it felt as though she had given a measure and received a full bushel in return.

“Dan Yuha, you…!”

Just as Hong Juyak, feeling she had been thoroughly toyed with by Dan Yuha, opened her mouth with an angry expression, a cry announcing that the long-awaited guest had arrived rang out.

“A descendant of the Divine Dragon has just now arrived at the entrance to the enclave! Everyone, make yourselves presentable and prepare to greet him!”

“…Tsk. Count yourself lucky.”

Having missed her chance to further reproach Dan Yuha, Hong Juyak clicked her tongue with a resentful look. After that short, snapped remark, she spun around sharply and vanished.

∞ ∞ ∞

“…Your Highness, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“What is it.”

At the familiar voice heard from outside the carriage, Shin Ryuwon slowly opened his eyes. Perhaps because he had been unable to get a proper night’s sleep for days, his head felt heavy and his body was stiff and aching.

“The sotdae poles are coming into view. It seems you will have to disembark from the carriage soon.”

“Hm.”

Listening to Mun Sewon’s report, Shin Ryuwon rubbed the space between his brows and pressed firmly at his temples. In the meantime, the carriage came to a complete stop and the door opened.

“Are you alright?”

Mun Sewon carefully inquired while observing Shin Ryuwon, whose fatigue was clearly evident. He had hoped that Ryuwon might improve a little if he returned and rested, but his condition remained poor. It was because, during his stay at the imperial palace, he had been summoned daily by the Emperor and Empress, and had been occupied with receiving guests who called at the Crown Prince’s palace, leaving him unable to rest sufficiently.

Above all, the side effects of the suppressants and sedatives he had overused for a long time were a problem. Having shown a rejection response to the body scents of Fragrant People since childhood, Ryuwon had managed his heat cycles solely through medication from his very first manifestation until now. Since he had not found a Fragrant Person compatible with him, it could not be helped.

On top of that, after going on expeditions outside the empire and roaming battlefields to drive out enemies encroaching on the borders, he had also been steadily taking suppressants.

Managing the heat cycle using medicine was, in fact, extremely natural for a soldier, but Shin Ryuwon’s situation was a little different from others. Up until now, he had never, not even once, relieved his divine fever by any method other than suppressants. The result was exactly this sorry state.

Originally, for a divine being to calm the divine fever of the heat cycle, a Fragrant Person was necessary. During adolescence, when the intensity of the heat cycle was relatively low, taking in their body scent was sufficient, but after reaching adulthood, that alone was often not enough. The heat cycle was essentially like an animal’s mating season, so if scent alone could not calm it, one had to join bodies with a partner.

For that reason, the marriages of divine beings, such as the imperial family, tended to be earlier than those of ordinary people. It was typical to welcome a consort as soon as one underwent the coming-of-age ceremony.

Only then could one find stability in daily life without being swayed by the divine fever that arose at every turn. But Shin Ryuwon had not been able to do so. Having experienced his first heat cycle at the age of fifteen, he had reached twenty-three and, up until this very day, had never spent a night with anyone.

Worried for her son’s health, the Empress had sent countless Fragrant People into his bedchamber over the years, but not a single one had succeeded. On the contrary, incidents had occurred where his divine blood ran rampant because of an intense rejection response. Only after several such accidents did she stop sending people.

Under these circumstances, Shin Ryuwon relied solely on various medicines—sleeping incense, suppressants, and the like. With the divine fever that had not been properly relieved for the past eight years accumulating in his body, there was no way his condition could be good.

Were it anyone other than Ryuwon, they would likely have collapsed or fallen seriously ill long ago. The very fact that he had held out without major issues until now was also thanks to his divine blood, thicker than that of others.

It was truly paradoxical that the blood of the divine beast, which disturbed Shin Ryuwon’s sleep every night and tormented him every few months, had instead become the strength that allowed him to endure an abnormal situation.

However, no matter how robust one’s constitution might be, such a life could not possibly leave one unscathed. Shin Ryuwon’s insomnia grew worse by the day, and as he developed tolerance, he required increasingly stronger drugs.

The royal physician who had examined Shin Ryuwon cautiously offered his opinion that these seemed to be signals that he was reaching his limit. Though purifying what had accumulated in his body at the sanctuary this time might alleviate the insomnia afflicting Ryuwon, that too was only a stopgap. Unless the fundamental problem was resolved, the same thing would continue to repeat.

That was why the Empress was rushing his marriage, going so far as to speak of a royal selection decree against Shin Ryuwon’s own wishes.

“I am fine. My eyes are merely strained and I have a slight headache.”

“Shall I call the royal physician?”

“No, there is no need. Stop fussing and call Chief Eunuch Baek. I should check my attire once before disembarking.”

Shin Ryuwon stopped Mun Sewon, who seemed ready to fetch the royal physician at any moment, and examined his clothes. Having sat in the carriage for a long time, his hair and garments likely needed some tidying. For a member of the imperial family must never show a disheveled appearance before others.

Having straightened his attire with the help of Chief Eunuch Baek, Ryuwon stepped down from the carriage. As he subtly raised his head, he saw the sotdae poles marking the Honghwa Tribe’s enclave soaring high into the sky.

Shin Ryuwon cast his eyes upon the sotdae for a moment, then slowly moved his feet. In an enclave—a place where traces of divine beasts that had departed for the divine realm remained, and the place of origin for each Flower Person and Wood Person—even a noble imperial prince had to show proper courtesy. One such courtesy was to alight from one’s carriage or horse and pass through the sotdae on foot.

“Waah!”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

“Descendant of the Divine Dragon!”

As Shin Ryuwon revealed himself, cheers erupted from all sides. It was the commoners who had flocked before the enclave upon hearing that he was coming.

“Stand back!”

“If you approach any further, you shall be dealt with for blasphemy!”

Hyeok Ryeoa and dozens of guardsmen blocked the people from drawing near the Crown Prince beyond a set distance. At their fierce, intimidating manner, the crowd gathering around Ryuwon faltered, then soon fell quiet.

Shin Ryuwon lightly waved his hand toward the now-silenced people. At that, exclamations of admiration burst out here and there. Though it was but a simple wave of the hand, some wept with emotion while others offered prayers with their hands pressed together in reverence.

There was a reason the commoners were so fervent about Shin Ryuwon. A thousand years had passed since the world was divided, and the blood of the divine beasts was gradually thinning, with the number of divine beings decreasing as time went on.

As a consequence, within the span of a mere hundred years, well over ten nations had already either seen their lines extinguished, chosen to merge with other countries as their strength waned, or been forcibly subjugated. In that process, countless states had waged war to survive, plunging the continent into extreme chaos.

Decades ago, the one that quelled the long period of turmoil and became the absolute power was none other than the Shin Hwi Empire, and Shin Ryuwon was the Crown Prince touted as the next emperor of that very nation.

As if that were not enough, he was also a hero who, though still young, had already saved the empire from crisis multiple times. It was only natural that people revered Shin Ryuwon, who possessed thicker dragon’s blood than anyone and, unlike other imperial kinsmen, had proven his own strength on the battlefield.