Flower Dream Chapter 22

Shin Ryuwon looked at Dan Yuha, who was barely suppressing his laughter, and opened his mouth as if to say something. Just then, a familiar voice came from outside. It was Chief Eunuch Baek.

“Your Highness the Prince.”

“…Chief Eunuch Baek?”

Shin Ryuwon, whose conversation had been unexpectedly interrupted, raised one eyebrow, but instead of showing irritation, he responded calmly.

“I apologize for disturbing your rest.”

“I was awake, so it’s fine. What brings you here at this hour?”

Shin Ryuwon swept his hair back and asked the reason for the visit. Unless he summoned them first, it was an unspoken rule that none of his close aides, including Chief Eunuch Baek, came near the bedchamber at night.

“Well, it’s just that Perfumer Dan went in to replace the incense quite some time ago, but he hasn’t come out yet. I was worried that something might have happened…”

“Nothing is wrong. The perfumer is still inside.”

Shin Ryuwon’s gaze turned toward Dan Yuha. He had startled like a rabbit that had sprung up in place at the presence Chief Eunuch Baek had given off, and had already climbed down from the bed.

At the warmth that had suddenly moved far away, Shin Ryuwon felt a vague sense of regret. Overtaken by a strange emptiness, he quietly clenched his fist. As if wanting to grasp the warmth that had fled from him.

“Ah, is that so?”

At Shin Ryuwon’s answer that he was with Dan Yuha, Chief Eunuch Baek’s voice brightened slightly. It seemed he had come because he was worried about Yuha.

“Yes, I had fallen into a deep sleep and didn’t even know the perfumer had come. So there was a brief commotion…”

“Pardon? Wait a moment, Your Highness. Wh-what do you mean? You were asleep without even knowing that Perfumer Dan had come?”

Startled by Shin Ryuwon’s explanation, Chief Eunuch Baek rarely stammered. Even just the shadow reflected on the door conveyed how shocked he was. If it weren’t for the aura seeping out, it seemed he would have entered the room right away.

“Is that really true?”

“That’s what I said. The sun hasn’t risen yet, so I should rest a bit more. The two of you may withdraw.”

Having given the dismissal order to both of them, Shin Ryuwon glanced sideways at Dan Yuha, who was busily gathering his box and lantern. After a very brief moment of hesitation over whether to say what he hadn’t been able to say earlier, he slowly parted his lips.

“Good work.”

“…Yes, Your Highness. Umm, thank you.”

Dan Yuha bowed deeply to Shin Ryuwon, who was praising him.

“What is there to thank me for?”

“For not getting angry at my rudeness and graciously forgiving me…”

“Didn’t I tell you just a moment ago? You did nothing wrong. If anything, I should be giving you a reward, not the other way around. Rather, I am grateful to you.”

“…No, I’m glad I could be of help to Your Highness. Then please rest comfortably.”

A faint blush rose on his face, suffused with light. The sincere praise felt unfamiliar yet pleasing, so Dan Yuha tightly pressed his lips, which kept trying to curl upward, and left the bedchamber.

∞ ∞ ∞

“I heard you succeeded in getting His Highness the Prince to sleep?”

“Oh, hello there…”

Dan Yuha, who had been sitting on the veranda of his quarters mending his clothes, let out a gasp at the sudden appearance of visitors. Appearing at the servants’ quarters without any notice were Mun Sewon and Hyeok Ryeoa.

“Good heavens! How in the world did you do it?”

Mun Sewon strode over and asked bluntly, looking as if he was about to step right up onto the veranda.

“Keep your distance, Deputy Commander Mun. You’re making Perfumer Dan uncomfortable.”

Hyeok Ryeoa, who had quickly followed him, grabbed the back of Mun Sewon’s collar and scolded him.

“Kack, hey, what did I do…!”

Mun Sewon, suddenly caught by Hyeok Ryeoa, protested in injustice, but then fell silent upon seeing Dan Yuha frozen in place with wide eyes, still holding his sewing posture. Even he thought he had been too forward just a moment ago.

“Ahem, alright, please let me go. I’m sorry for my rude behavior, Perfumer Dan. I was just so surprised to hear the news that I…”

Mun Sewon cleared his throat awkwardly. Only after apologizing to Dan Yuha was he able to escape Hyeok Ryeoa’s grasp.

“Thank you, Perfumer Dan.”

“Pardon?”

“Thanks to you, His Highness the Prince enjoyed a sound sleep for the first time in a very long while.”

“Oh no, it was just luck.”

Dan Yuha waved his hands toward Hyeok Ryeoa, who was politely expressing her gratitude. He had already received words of thanks one after another that morning from Chief Eunuch Baek, Senior Court Lady Kim, and the court physicians. But now even the Prince’s adjutant and captain of the guard had come to offer their thanks, making him feel not just proud but embarrassed.

“I didn’t really do anything that remarkable… Everyone is making such a big deal out of it that I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Ehh? What are you saying right now? Perfumer Dan, you solved in one go a problem that the entire royal palace hasn’t been able to solve for months! It’s a tremendous achievement!”

“Oh, um…”

“So you should be prouder of yourself, and you can even strut and act high and mighty with us! Right, Captain Hyeok?”

Mun Sewon kept praising Dan Yuha, who was feeling shy, and sought agreement from Hyeok Ryeoa.

“Deputy Commander Mun is right. Personally, I think this wasn’t luck but rather Perfumer Dan’s skill.”

“But it might have only worked yesterday…”

Dan Yuha murmured timidly. At first, he had been purely proud of having been helpful to Shin Ryuwon, but now that everyone was praising him, he gradually felt burdened. Yesterday had succeeded by chance, and he might fail tonight—he also worried about what he would do then.

“Come on, even just one good night’s sleep is what matters! So have some confidence!”

Mun Sewon, sensing what Dan Yuha was worried about, encouraged him.

“I also agree with Deputy Commander Mun. His Highness is born with true blood, so he tends to develop resistance to any medicine quickly. So even if Perfumer Dan’s sleeping incense doesn’t work tonight, it’s not your fault.”

Hyeok Ryeoa added. Having seen many people who initially showed signs of improvement in Shin Ryuwon’s insomnia but then failed one after another and became discouraged, she hoped Dan Yuha wouldn’t follow the same path.

“True blood?”

At the unfamiliar term, Dan Yuha tilted his head. He could roughly guess the meaning, but he wasn’t sure if his assumption was correct.

“Ah, yes. Recently in the imperial capital, people with dense divine blood like His Highness the Prince are sometimes called ‘true blood.’ Just as incense bearers are divided into true incense bearers, common incense bearers, and odorless bearers depending on the concentration and richness of their body scent, the argument that divine blood should also be classified as true blood, common blood, and bloodless is gaining traction.”

Fortunately, Hyeok Ryeoa quickly cleared up his curiosity. She explained about true blood using incense bearers as an example.

Feeling a sense of crisis over the gradual thinning of the divine beast’s blood, the divine people wanted to create a separate term for those with powerful divine blood like Shin Ryuwon. It was to emphasize the specialness of the divine people.

In fact, there were now many divine people whose divine blood had become so thin that they were no different from ordinary people. As their numbers gradually increased, the social order that had persisted for nearly a millennium began to waver. People who harbored antipathy toward the structure in which a small number of divine people ruled the continent began to appear.

Naturally, most of them were ‘common people’ who had never possessed divine blood in the first place. They overwhelmingly outnumbered those with special traits like divine people or incense bearers, yet the majority were ordinary people positioned lower in status.

Because of this, common people, even if they were talented and entered government service, often ended up in lower-ranking official positions. Of course, as times changed, several commoner families gained universal recognition and formed forces that even divine people couldn’t ignore. In the case of the empire, three families had even proudly secured their place among the current Twelve Great Houses.

Nevertheless, discrimination between divine people and common people still existed. As a result, resentment inevitably accumulated, whether consciously or not. In the past, since they couldn’t use divine power like divine people and were also inferior in physical abilities, they endured any dissatisfaction and let it pass, but that was no longer the case.

As the divine beast’s blood thinned and the divine people’s powers weakened, cracks had formed. Consequently, the number of common people who thought they were not much different from them surged rapidly. Riding this wave, a rebellion had even broken out in a certain country recently.

The ruling classes of each nation took this situation very seriously and sought ways to elevate the status of divine people once again. Thus, the title ‘true blood,’ referring to those with dense divine beast blood, was born.

“You can understand it as meaning that His Highness the Prince is that extraordinary. Currently, in the empire, the number of people qualified to be called true blood can be counted on one hand.”

“I see…”

“His Highness dislikes the term, saying it creates an invisible class system… but when explaining his unique constitution to others, it’s convenient, so I use it.”

Hyeok Ryeoa scratched the bridge of her nose with an embarrassed look, then spoke more earnestly than usual.

“Anyway, I hope you don’t feel too burdened. The reason we came to see you like this is simply to express our gratitude—there’s no other intention.”