Flower Dream Chapter 3

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

The Third Prince of the Empire, Shin Ryuwon. Dan Yuha chewed his lips as he recalled his voice, as vivid as if it were yesterday. Just thinking of the Prince made his heart pound and his face grow hot. Even though that day had been the first and last time he ever exchanged words with Shin Ryuwon.

“Has His Highness the Prince returned?”

“I’m told he came back to the imperial capital a few days ago. I heard that not long ago, he personally executed the Khan who had united the barbarian tribes of the grasslands. A festival celebrating his achievements and commemorating the removal of the threat to the nation is now underway in the imperial capital.”

Hong Haehwa recited the information written in the letter from the capital. The sender was the head of the Hong family, who led the clan members active in the capital.

As was the case for most fragrant people, the Honghwa clan had a dual governance structure: the head of the representative family managed those active in other regions like the imperial capital, while the clan leader governed the residents within their sacred domain, the small island, each overseeing the clan separately.

“I hear that during his time on the battlefield, he kept suppressing his divine fever with suppressants, and as a result, quite a lot of toxins have accumulated in his body.”

Hong Haehwa’s gaze fell upon the gold silk fabric placed on the desk. Inside it was an official document sent from the Imperial Household Department. Next to it, wrapped in black silk, was a royal decree sent from the Third Prince’s palace.

“His Highness’s purpose in visiting our small island is largely twofold.”

Having organized the information she had gathered in her head, Hong Haehwa slowly began to speak.

“One is that Her Majesty the Empress has issued a command that he visit the small islands of the clans whose members have been selected as candidates for Princess Consort, one by one, within this year. The other is to expel the fatigue and medicinal toxins accumulated during his campaign and to purify his body. This place is better for recuperation than the imperial palace.”

“Ah…”

Princess Consort. At those words, a faint sigh escaped through slightly parted lips. Dan Yuha bit his lips as if unsure what expression to wear now that Shin Ryuwon’s marriage had been mentioned.

“In our clan, ‘Hong Juyak’ has been chosen as a candidate for Princess Consort. There was an opinion that Ju Cheongwoo should also participate in the selection since the number of deep-scented people of an age match for His Highness the Prince is small, but… the direct imperial line tends to be reluctant toward male deep-scented people, in respect of the late emperor’s will, so it was rejected. Fortunately, Her Majesty the Empress has also taken a liking to our Juyak.”

At the news that followed, the pale pink eyes trembled violently. Yuha’s fingertips quivered upon learning that Hong Juyak might become the Prince’s mate.

Hong Juyak.

She was Hong Haehwa’s daughter, a female flower person with a body scent so strong that she was called the finest among the clan’s deep-scented people. Thanks to that, Juyak, who had grown up pampered and adored, possessed an extremely arrogant nature.

Moreover, perhaps influenced by her mother, she hated Dan Yuha to the point of loathing. Discussing just how much torment he had suffered at her hands would not be enough even with a full night.

“Juyak…?”

“Hoho, yes. If only that child becomes the Princess Consort, our clan will revive again.”

A smile spread across Hong Haehwa’s face. Though the world had changed much, the most valuable thing for a fragrant person was still to become the mate of a god-man. And among those, if one became the mate of the imperial family, the most noble bloodline of the divine beasts, that clan could enjoy numerous benefits.

This was evident from how the Cheongsong clan, which had produced the current Empress, and the Baekhwa clan, which had married off their flower people successively to the First and Second Princes, now wielded power that reached the sky. Thus, Hong Haehwa burned with the fervor to make her daughter Shin Ryuwon’s mate without fail.

This was only natural, as the Third Prince, Shin Ryuwon, was currently evaluated as the closest candidate to the next imperial throne. Born with thicker divine blood than others, he had displayed exceptional intelligence and formidable divine power since childhood.

As they say, the awl in the bag will poke out; unable to contain his innate abilities, the Prince achieved distinguished military merits in his first campaign at the age of fifteen. After that, he wandered the battlefields, elevating the name of the empire.

Having become a hero of the nation in this way, Shin Ryuwon received the concentrated affection of the Emperor and Empress above, and the fervent support of the people below. If Hong Juyak were to occupy the mate position of such a person, it would be more than enough to revive their weakened clan.

“Her Majesty the Empress is determined that this time, without fail, she will select the Princess Consort. Therefore, there must not be the slightest mistake in serving His Highness. If things go wrong, it won’t just be your head flying—we will all suffer harm.”

Hong Haehwa issued a sharp warning. As far as she was concerned, it didn’t matter whether Dan Yuha lived or died, but she had no desire for the clan to be endangered for nothing. Deep down, she also harbored a small wish that Yuha would incur the Prince’s wrath and die.

“Tch, if only the Prince’s adjutant hadn’t requested a scentless perfumer, there would have been no need to entrust you with this task…”

Glaring at Dan Yuha, Hong Haehwa clicked her tongue as if annoyed. Originally, she had intended to have clan members with promising futures, including Hong Juyak, who had been chosen as a Princess Consort candidate, attend to the Prince.

But a message sent by the Prince’s adjutant had completely derailed her plans. Mentioning Shin Ryuwon’s special constitution, he had requested active cooperation. Though it was phrased as a request, it was no different from an order.

‘As you are aware, clan leader, our Prince, His Highness, was born with stronger divine blood than others, and as a result, his five senses are extremely sensitive. Furthermore, he has never met a fragrant person compatible with him before.’

The messenger calmly explained the Prince’s situation. It was a widely known fact that the stronger the divine beast blood, the harder it was to find a compatible fragrant person.

Perhaps because of that, countless flower people and tree people had come forward to try to capture Shin Ryuwon’s heart, but all had failed. To this day, no one had ever perfectly calmed his divine fever.

Perhaps due to these repeated experiences of failure, at some point, Ryuwon began to show a strong rejection response to the body scents of fragrant people. While it was a natural phenomenon for a god-man to feel aversion to a scent incompatible with him, his case was severe, excessively so. The stronger the other person’s scent, the worse his symptoms became.

That was a rather strange thing. After all, fragrant people were classified into deep-scented people, common-scented people, and scentless people according to the concentration and richness of their innate scent, and it was established theory that the thicker the body scent, the greater its effect in calming the divine fever. For that reason, the majority of god-men preferred deep-scented people with strong body scents.

But Shin Ryuwon was the complete opposite. To him, who was uncomfortable with the scents of fragrant people to the point of near-mysophobia, the thick body scent of an incompatible deep-scented person was no different from torture. Far from benefiting, he only suffered harm, so his antipathy could only grow.

‘Therefore, the adjutant conveyed that all attendants assigned to the sacred sanctuary where His Highness the Prince will stay should be scentless people. Ones who have bonded and imprinted with a mate would be even better. This is also His Highness’s will.’

‘…Understood.’

Hong Haehwa nodded obediently. It wasn’t as if she was unaware of Shin Ryuwon’s peculiar constitution, and there was no need to argue with the messenger over such a matter. However, at the words that followed, her expression contorted sharply.

‘And we would like the number of attendants to be kept to a minimum, if possible.’

‘To what extent?’

‘The fewer, the better. His Highness dislikes anything fussy. We will prepare the guards and physicians on our side, so we only need someone to perform simple attendance. Two or three people should suffice.’

‘That few? Even so…’

‘That will be enough. If it seems more people are needed, we will make an additional request.’

‘Hmm, understood.’

‘Ah, that’s right. I’ve heard that the special-grade perfumer who passed this year’s state examination with top honors is a flower person of the Honghwa clan. He also has a pharmacist’s license, doesn’t he? According to our investigation, he is a scentless person… and he has experience attending to His Highness the Prince a few times in his childhood alongside his father. Was his name Dan Yuha?’

‘Why that child…’

‘Adjutant Mun mentioned that this flower person would be suitable to look after His Highness’s bedchamber and handle general attendance duties.’

‘Pardon? What does that…’

‘Is he not a talent capable of doing the work of both a perfumer and a pharmacist by himself? If he passed the examination hosted by the imperial family as the top candidate, his abilities are as good as verified.’

‘That is true, but… that fellow has only passed the exam; he has no notable experience yet. Entrusting this to an experienced and seasoned perfumer would be…’

‘Hmm, no. Recently, His Highness the Prince’s divine blood has been extremely unstable. While purifying his royal body here, depending on His Highness’s condition, the perfumer may need to stay by his side all night burning incense. For that, it would be better to have someone with both the stamina and skill to back it up. Or is there another scentless perfumer of a similar age?’

‘…There is not.’

‘Then let us simply go with this person. Including Dan Yuha, if you could attach about three people capable of miscellaneous tasks such as cooking and cleaning, that should suffice.’

Recalling the conversation she had with the messenger, deep furrows formed on Hong Haehwa’s brow. At any other time, she would have made all sorts of excuses to refuse, but even in her view, the only young and capable perfumer among the current clan members who could attend to the Prince without issue was Dan Yuha.

“Since things have turned out this way, consider it an opportunity to repay even a little of your parents’ sins.”

Parents’ sins. At those words, Dan Yuha’s shoulders flinched and trembled. It was something he had heard ad nauseam since childhood, but he couldn’t help the chill that gripped his chest every time he heard it.

“If, because of you, our Juyak fails to become Princess Consort, I will never forgive you.”

Hong Haehwa snarled in a low voice. Her crimson eyes, glaring at him, were filled with undisguised hostility.

“You must think I’m being narrow-minded, holding a grudge over old matters and taking it out on you. Yet anyone who lived through that time would sympathize with me.”

“…”

“Recalling how our clan was nearly annihilated because of your selfish, ungrateful parents… you ought to realize what great mercy I’ve shown simply by keeping you alive all this time.”

Hong Haehwa twisted her lips and sneered. Since ancient times, the Honghwa clan had been counted among the three great flower clans alongside the Baekhwa and Hwanghwa clans, yet for over a hundred years, they had failed to produce a single mate for a direct imperial descendant, causing their influence to decline sharply.