Flower Dream Chapter 13

“What?”

Ha Seokmun blinked at the somewhat random question. It was a query so unexpected one might wonder why he was suddenly asking such a thing. However, seeing Dan Yuha’s expression, more serious than usual, he soon realized that Yuha was asking because he genuinely wanted to know.

“Well, I guess there isn’t much difference between then and now?”

“…Really? Then, like, um, Mister, if you met me after several years, do you think you’d recognize me right away?”

“Hm? I’m not sure…”

“Come on, just try to imagine it, please?”

“Ahem, wouldn’t it depend on the person? The way I see it, it’d probably be split depending on whether someone has a good memory or not, whether they’re observant or not… But, you know, even childhood friends who grew up in the same village act all unfamiliar with each other, like ‘who are you?’, when they meet after a long time, right? On the other hand, even if you’ve only seen someone once or twice as a kid, you can easily recall them if something impressive happened.”

Sensing some kind of earnestness from Dan Yuha, Ha Seokmun tried his best to answer sincerely.

“Mm, you’re right. I guess I was being too conceited after all…”

Wilted like a dying flower, Dan Yuha’s shoulders drooped. He felt utterly pathetic for having expected so much all on his own and then being disappointed all on his own.

In truth, if he thought about it simply, the answer came easily. To Yuha, Ryuwon was a benefactor who had stopped him from giving up on life, but to Ryuwon, Yuha was nothing, like a nameless wildflower by the roadside.

Yes, it was an impossible wish from the very beginning. That the Imperial Prince would recognize him.

Perhaps if it were his father, that would be different, but there was no way His Highness the Imperial Prince would remember the son of an aromancer whom he had only seen a few times and spoken with just once.

In the end, the only one who had been counting the days until this meeting was Dan Yuha himself. The greeting they had exchanged a short while ago was simply the confirmation of that.

He didn’t even know why, having realized that, he was still clinging to some lingering attachment and asking Ha Seokmun strange questions. His chest tight, Dan Yuha repeatedly took long breaths in and out.

“You keep saying things that don’t make sense. What on earth is going on?”

Ha Seokmun tilted his head. Today, it was hard to follow the flow of the conversation.

“It’s nothing. I just did something foolish.”

“Eh?”

“Actually… when my father was still alive, I had the chance to see His Majesty the Imperial Prince up close a few times. We even spoke once. But earlier, he didn’t recognize me, so…”

“Hold on, so you’re upset because His Majesty didn’t acknowledge you? You’ve been moping around like this because of that?”

“…Yes.”

“Huh…”

Ha Seokmun stared at Dan Yuha with an astounded expression. Then, he smacked him on the back.

“Good grief, I was worried for nothing! I thought it was something I didn’t know about.”

“Ow, that hurts.”

“Hey, you rascal, the palace attendants alone who serve His Majesty the Imperial Prince number in the hundreds… and at his command, the imperial army, which would charge right now at the enemy, numbers in the hundreds of thousands! He probably sees at least dozens of faces almost every day, so wouldn’t it be stranger if he remembered you, who he only met a few times long ago? Don’t waste your nerves on pointless things. You’ll make yourself sick.”

“Alright, stop hitting me. That’s why I was reflecting on it myself.”

“Reflecting, my foot. The very fact that you’re asking me about it shows you still haven’t come to your senses.”

“But still…!”

Dan Yuha opened his mouth with an aggrieved expression, then closed it again. He knew no one would sympathize with what he was feeling.

‘I shall look forward to the day we meet again.’

He definitely said that… Dan Yuha pouted his lower lip at the wave of disappointment washing over him. If they hadn’t had that conversation that day, he wouldn’t have been so dismayed by the Third Imperial Prince’s attitude today.

Even after that day, Shin Ryuwon had visited the sacred city many times before leaving to subjugate the foreign tribes beyond the borders. But Yuha never had the opportunity to face him.

Having lost his sole guardian, Dan Yuha avoided meeting people as much as possible, using the three-year mourning period as an excuse. It was the only way a child with no power to protect himself could manage.

Fortunately, the tribespeople, including Hong Haehwa, treated Dan Yuha like a ghost. Normally, when someone as noble as an imperial descendant visited, all residents except the sick and elderly would be mobilized, but no one sought him out.

Nor did the Imperial Prince ever summon Yuha. Because of that, all Dan Yuha could do was steal glimpses of Shin Ryuwon from afar on the days he arrived at and departed from the sacred city.

In hindsight, the fact that the Imperial Prince hadn’t once looked for him in the past few years was already as good as a foregone conclusion. Had the Imperial Prince been concerned about the child he had comforted, he would have at least asked after him or summoned him separately when visiting the sacred city.

But Shin Ryuwon had not done so. Judging by that, it was clearly a whim from a lofty person moved by pity that had prompted him to speak to Dan Yuha that day. The promise to meet again next time was probably just a polite formality as well.

If that were the case, everything he had done up until now was no different from taking the empty words the Imperial Prince had given him, interpreting them in his own favor, attaching meaning to them, and putting on a one-man show all by himself.

“Ugh…”

Feeling his face flush, Dan Yuha rubbed his face dry. The more he dwelled on it, the more foolish he felt. Just then, an unfamiliar voice reached them.

“So here you were.”

“…! Senior Court Lady Kim.”

Startled by Senior Court Lady Kim’s appearance, Ha Seokmun and Dan Yuha scrambled to their feet.

“Do you have some task for us? Chief Eunuch Baek told us to wait here, so…”

“Ah, not right at this moment. I have simply brought you two a change of clothes.”

At Ha Seokmun’s question, Senior Court Lady Kim smiled benevolently. She then handed the bundles she was carrying to the two of them.

“This is…?”

Dan Yuha, having reflexively accepted the bundle, blinked. The fabric in his hands was incredibly soft.

“If you are to attend His Majesty, you must pay attention to your attire.”

“Pardon?”

“The attire and deportment of lowly ones such as ourselves are also subject to evaluation. For the duration of His Majesty’s stay in the sacred city, you are essentially just the same as palace attendants like myself. We mustn’t do anything to disgrace the one we serve, now should we?”

“Ah…”

Dan Yuha, having been called out on his clothing, let out a faint gasp. In embarrassment, his fair cheeks flushed pink. Ha Seokmun’s face also turned as red as a carrot.

“My apologies. I did dress as best I could… I suppose it was insufficient.”

Dan Yuha spoke in a sinking voice. He had worn the best of the clothes he owned, but it seemed they were not satisfactory in Senior Court Lady Kim’s eyes.

“Fufu, I am not reprimanding you, so don’t make that face. It would be absurd to demand the same standard as the imperial palace from someone living in the sacred city.”

Having chuckled softly, Senior Court Lady Kim explained the reason she was distributing the clothes to the two of them.

“When someone other than a palace attendant, such as yourselves, is to attend an imperial family member visiting another region like the sacred city, clothes are originally provided in this manner. Though the embroidery and colors differ, they are the same style of dress that the palace attendants wear.”

Hearing Senior Court Lady Kim’s words, Dan Yuha recalled an old memory. Now that he thought about it, his late father would also change into jade-colored clothes, finer than his usual attire, whenever he went to see the Imperial Prince.

“Now, then, His Majesty will soon finish his purification and emerge, so go change right now and come back out.”

Clap. Lightly clapping her hands, Senior Court Lady Kim ushered Dan Yuha and Ha Seokmun into the servants’ quarters.

“Chief Eunuch Baek.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Chief Eunuch Baek, who had been standing holding a towel, hurriedly opened the door leading to the open-air bath at the voice calling him. Immediately, a wave of sweltering heat rushed out.

Gulp.

Perceiving the mighty aura coiling within the humid air, Chief Eunuch Baek’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Even though it had been over twenty years since he became Shin Ryuwon’s personal eunuch, facing this raw divine power still made his spine prickle just the same. Regardless of familiarity, the divine blood inherent in his body was reacting to the energy of a predator stronger than himself.

“Hoo…”

Taking a short breath, Chief Eunuch Baek moved slowly. The closer he got to Shin Ryuwon, the more his skin stung and the nape of his neck went cold. A faint-hearted person might have wet themselves or fled screaming long ago. Anyone with even a single drop of the Divine Beast’s blood in their veins would instinctively feel terror at the force Shin Ryuwon was giving off right now.

No, even if they weren’t a Divine One, no one would be able to withstand being crushed by that energy.

Chief Eunuch Baek smiled, feeling both pride and fear toward his lord. As befitted one who had long guarded Shin Ryuwon’s side, he parted the hazy steam with unwavering steps.

“How are you feeling?”

Approaching Shin Ryuwon, who had stepped out of the open-air bath, Chief Eunuch Baek swiftly dried his body. The task of attending the Imperial Prince was now so familiar that he could do it with his eyes closed.

“It is certainly better than when I am at the imperial palace.”

Shin Ryuwon answered, letting out a languid breath. The open-air bath at Honghwa Pavilion was an outdoor hot spring connected to the lake at the center of the Honghwa Tribe’s sacred site. Thanks to that, he could wash away the poison accumulated within and quell the divine fever that heated his body, without having to go to the sacred site in person.