Flower Dream Chapter 21

“…! Ugh!”

Dan Yuha couldn’t suppress the sudden pain shooting up from his wrist and let out a groan filled with agony. But there was no time to dwell on the pain. His pale pink eyes shook dizzily. As he subtly lowered his gaze, he came face to face with golden eyes gleaming fiercely in the darkness.

“I, I, ah!”

As soon as he confirmed the Third Prince was awake, Dan Yuha hurriedly opened his mouth. However, a force yanked his body and he lost his balance, tumbling straight toward Shin Ryuwon.

I’m going to crash…!

Feeling his upper body tilt forward with no time to react, Dan Yuha shut his eyes tight as if bracing for the imminent impact. With one hand firmly caught by Shin Ryuwon, he could do nothing but fall.

Just then, a solid arm wrapped around Dan Yuha’s waist as if snatching him up, and his body spun around.

“…?”

Instead of the expected pain, Dan Yuha’s eyes flew open in surprise at the feeling of soft bedding against his back. Simultaneously, a heavy weight pressed down on his chest and legs. A cascade of fine hair, spilling like the curtain of night, gently tickled Yuha’s cheek.

“Your Highness…?”

Suddenly pinned beneath Shin Ryuwon, Dan Yuha stammered in confusion.

“I apologize. I was t-trying to grind the incense, and, well, since there was no answer…”

Dan Yuha’s voice, rambling as he explained the situation, gradually grew smaller. Though his actions had a reasonable motive of their own, from Shin Ryuwon’s perspective, it was a situation where he’d opened his eyes to find a stranger who had entered his room without permission. On top of that, the stranger had even touched his forehead.

Yuha had intended to wipe away the sweat, but since he’d been caught daring to touch Ryuwon’s face, there was no room for excuses. Entering the bedchamber without leave might be overlooked, but the matter of touching the imperial visage of a prince was hard to simply ignore. In the worst case, he might even be punished.

“P-please, just once, show mercy…”

Dan Yuha, growing desperate, hurriedly pleaded for forgiveness. But then he sensed something strange and trailed off. Shin Ryuwon’s atmosphere was peculiar.

“Your Highness the Prince…?”

Why is he saying nothing? Only then realizing Shin Ryuwon had been steeped in silence the whole time, Dan Yuha cautiously lifted his head. He then saw vertically slit pupils staring down at him serenely.

“Are you… alright?”

Dan Yuha asked carefully. Unlike when he’d seen them at the pavilion in the rear garden, the golden eyes, closer to a beast’s than a human’s, were unfocused. As if he was still wandering in a dream…

“Your Highness…? Ah!”

As Dan Yuha called out to Ryuwon once more, a warm heat touched the corner of his eye, and he swallowed a gasp. His whole body tensed up at the unexpected contact.

As if gauging the identity of the intruder trapped in his arms, Shin Ryuwon slowly fondled the soft skin he felt at his fingertips. A hazy gaze leisurely swept over Yuha.

“Uh, well…”

Dan Yuha, not knowing what to do, his lips fluttered. The warmth roaming around his eye made his eyelashes tremble finely. His entire attention was focused on the fingers teasing his delicate skin. But he couldn’t turn his head to avoid the touch, nor could he push Ryuwon’s body away.

In the end, all Dan Yuha could do was accept the prince’s touch, frozen like prey caught by a wild beast. He bit down on his lip, desperately trying to ignore the body heat cupping his cheek. If he didn’t, his heart, which had been pounding violently for a while now, felt as if it would leap right out of his mouth.

Just then, a thick thumb flicked the eyelashes that had been trembling finely like an aspen leaf. Dan Yuha flinched his shoulders reflexively and, without realizing it, ended up clutching Shin Ryuwon’s sleeve. At that, the hand caressing his eye stopped abruptly.

Has he come to his senses?

Dan Yuha observed Shin Ryuwon with a faint hope. He wanted to escape his arms now. Otherwise, he felt his heart wouldn’t survive.

But as if mocking Dan Yuha’s hope, the golden pupils remained terribly clouded. The hazy gaze briefly touched upon Yuha’s hand gripping his sleeve before falling away. Shin Ryuwon narrowed his brow, tilted his head, and then bowed his torso. At that, the distance between the two narrowed even further.

As their faces drew close enough to feel each other’s breath, the pale pink eyes trembled chaotically like a flower fluttering in the wind. Dan Yuha stiffened rigidly, forgetting even to breathe.

Shin Ryuwon, who had been silently staring at Dan Yuha, suddenly lowered his head. Soon, he buried his nose in the pure white neck exposed between the collars.

“What, hng!”

Dan Yuha, startled by the unexpected action, jerked his waist up. As the sharp tip of his nose rubbed against the nape of his neck and the hot breath seeped into his skin, a chilling shudder ran down his spine.

Sssss.

Shin Ryuwon, his face buried between Dan Yuha’s neck and shoulder, inhaled deeply. A fresh grass scent, a fragrant floral aroma, and a slightly bitter herbal note filled his senses in turn. His sensitive sense of smell even detected the faintest, delicate scent of skin hidden among the various fragrances.

A sudden heat blazed up from within at the subtle body scent, reminiscent of elegant and splendid peony blossoms. As if savoring the bodily aroma that tickled his nose, Shin Ryuwon closed and opened his eyes. Then he slowly raised his body. As his consciousness, which had been submerged beneath the surface, rose up, his vision, once hazy as if clouded by fog, became clear.

“…The Perfumer?”

Only then recognizing Dan Yuha, Shin Ryuwon furrowed his brows.

“Your Highness? Have you come to your senses?”

Dan Yuha brightened as the low, husky voice pierced his ears. Facing the golden eyes where focus had returned, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

“This… what is this situation?”

Shin Ryuwon, looking back and forth between himself and Dan Yuha with a perplexed expression, realized how close their distance was and hurriedly pulled his body away.

“Well, that is, I came to replace the incense… but since Your Highness was sleeping, I changed it with a new one… and before I left, I meant to wipe your sweat, but I overstepped, I’m so sorry!”

Dan Yuha, having barely escaped Shin Ryuwon’s arms, shakily raised his upper body and explained the circumstances.

“…I was asleep?”

Shin Ryuwon, having perfectly understood Dan Yuha’s somewhat rambling explanation, frowned.

“Yes, after calling out several times with no answer, I grew worried and entered the chamber…”

“Ha.”

At the continued words, Shin Ryuwon let out a deflated sound. He couldn’t believe that not only had he failed to hear someone calling him, but he had been so deep in sleep that he hadn’t even sensed their presence until they approached this close.

“I am truly sorry for entering without permission. I did wrong. Please, be merciful…”

“Calm yourself. I do not intend to punish you.”

Shin Ryuwon stopped Dan Yuha, who was kneeling before him begging for forgiveness.

“While I cannot say entering my bedchamber without leave was a good thing, it is the first day, and… it is partly my fault for not waking, so I will not make an issue of it. So, ease your expression now.”

“Is… is that true?”

At the more lenient treatment than expected, Dan Yuha’s head shot up. His face showed uncertainty over whether he had heard correctly.

“Yes. This happened because the sleep-inducing incense you made was effective, so how could I be angry? I should give you a reward, not a punishment.”

“…Pardon?”

Shin Ryuwon lightly patted Dan Yuha’s anxious shoulder with his hand. Then he offered a faint smile.

“Like the herbal tea, you have exceeded expectations. Thanks to you, I was able to sleep deeply for the first time in a very long while.”

“Ah…”

An exclamation escaped through slightly parted lips. Dan Yuha, who had momentarily lost his gaze to Shin Ryuwon’s smile, quickly cast his eyes down and murmured.

“I-I’m glad it was effective. I heard that Your Highness has been suffering from severe insomnia lately…”

“Mm, indeed.”

Shin Ryuwon nodded, tracing the memories before he fell asleep. When he had entered the bedroom, what greeted him was a refreshing and cool fragrance. He had been quite pleased with the thick woody scent, enough to create the illusion of entering a forest, faintly mixed with a soft and sweet floral aroma. He had lain down in a good mood, but to think he fell asleep just like that.

“It’s been several years since I last slept so deeply that I didn’t even know someone had come. To not even sense a presence…”

Shin Ryuwon couldn’t believe what had happened to him. And with good reason, as over the past few months, he hadn’t been able to sleep even a single hour a day. The perfumers belonging to the imperial palace and the court physicians had worked tirelessly in both body and mind to cure his insomnia, but so far there had been no significant results.

For a newcomer who had just earned the title of master to solve a difficult problem that the most outstanding minds in the empire couldn’t, it was truly astonishing.

“That is, um, likely because fatigue had accumulated for a long time. When the body reaches its limit, it falls into a deeper sleep than usual to recover.”

“I see.”

“The effect of bathing in the water of the sacred spring yesterday to purify the toxins built up in your body would also play a part…”

Dan Yuha tried hard not to get too excited about the fact that his sleep incense was effective on the prince, pressing his lips together firmly. Because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to contain his joy and felt like he might unconsciously break into a wide grin, going “Heh.”