Flower Dream Chapter 6

“Now I truly wish to wash… Is there more to report?”

“Yes? Uh, um, it’s nothing important, but…”

At the question clearly tinged with fatigue, Mun Sewon pulled himself from his stray thoughts and hesitated. When he had come to the detached hall, he had intended to submit various reports while he was at it, but once he entered, he wavered, feeling that they were not urgent enough to warrant disturbing Ryuwon’s rest.

“Adjutant Mun?”

Shin Ryuwon called Sewon as if urging him to continue, tilting his head to the side. At that, his black hair, as dark and sleekly glossy as ebony, cascaded softly down. The strands, faintly damp with sweat and glistening with moisture, sparkled as if holding the starlight of the night sky.

“It’s, it’s nothing much… The courier sent to the Honghwa Tribe’s enclave a while ago has returned. He reports that the Tribal Chief has accepted all of our demands.”

“I see.”

Contrary to Mun Sewon’s worries, Shin Ryuwon did not show irritation or dismiss it as a pointless report. He merely nodded indifferently.

“As I informed you previously, a total of eight—myself, Captain Hyeok and two of her guardsmen, Chief Eunuch Baek and Senior Court Lady Kim, the royal physician and his assistant—are set to attend Your Highness. The rest of the guards and courtiers will stand by outside the enclave in case of unforeseen circumstances.”

“Hm.”

“It would be so much simpler if we could just bring all the people we need…”

“Rules exist to be followed.”

Shin Ryuwon spoke in a detached tone. The enclaves, the places where the Fragrant People originated, were neutral zones recognized by all the nations of the continent and sacred areas where sanctuaries existed. Even as a direct-line imperial prince, he could not bring more than a certain number of attendants.

Instead, during his stay, the locals would act as temporary servants and attend him. This had naturally become established practice because it allowed for the benefit of divine beings and Fragrant People to interact and meet naturally in the process.

“Did the Tribal Chief not protest? With Hong Haehwa’s disposition, she would have tried by any means to slip the Fragrant Person who is the candidate for Crown Princess into the retinue…”

Shin Ryuwon trailed off, groping through old memories. Since his first heat cycle, he would visit enclaves to spend time during periods when the blood of the divine beast grew especially unstable, such as the first full moon of the year, the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the winter solstice.

In particular, because the sanctuary of an enclave was the place on earth where the divine power of the divine beasts was most abundant, and also the birthplace of each Fragrant People tribe’s progenitor—where even the energy of nature harmonized—it was an ideal space for purifying a body and mind clouded by divine fever.

Since the Honghwa Tribe’s enclave was the closest place with a dragon-related sanctuary to the imperial palace, Shin Ryuwon had consistently visited two or three times a year until he departed on his expedition.

Through that, he had come to know the personality of the Tribal Chief, Hong Haehwa, to some degree. As Shin Ryuwon understood her, she was a capable operator who had once raised the tribe back up after it had fallen to the bottom. She was also an ambitious schemer with the aspiration to restore the Honghwa Tribe’s former glory.

As befitted a leader heading a tribe, she was careful in her own way about her conduct and speech, but Ryuwon’s sharp senses easily saw through Hong Haehwa’s desires. Even so, she had the talent for toeing the line just enough so as not to displease him. Her intuition was quite keen as well.

Since the chiefs of other tribes were just as eager to make their Fragrant People into Shin Ryuwon’s consort, he tolerated minor discourtesies such as them bringing their children or nephews and nieces before him to be remembered. After all, divine beings and Fragrant People were bound to be in a mutually beneficial relationship.

However, this time the situation was somewhat complicated. With the Empress showing such enthusiasm as to issue orders to the Flower Person and Wood Person tribes within the Empire to recommend candidates for Crown Princess and to forewarn the royal selection decree, it was necessary to take measures to warn the chiefs in advance before visiting the enclaves, so that they would not act rashly and cause needless trouble.

Otherwise, there would certainly be those whose eyes were blinded by greed and would commit mistakes. For that reason, Mun Sewon had closely investigated each tribe through his subordinate scribes and informants. Moreover, they had even received the aid of the Eastern Depot, the intelligence agency directly under the Emperor.

“Surprisingly, they backed off without a fuss, I’m told. That person knows that Your Highness shows severe rejection to the body scent of Fragrant People, after all. I believe they judged it would be troublesome if their greed pushed them to insist and thereby incurred your wrath.”

“Indeed, they’ve always been a person frighteningly quick on the uptake.”

Shin Ryuwon gave a short, knowing chuckle. He keenly felt that he had returned to the world of politics. At that, he grew rapidly weary. The mere thought of dealing with the people who would throw themselves at him over the coming months to win his favor was already exhausting.

“And it seems our designation of who would attend you was effective.”

“Designation?”

“Yes. It turns out the Honghwa Tribe has a male Scentless Person who placed first in both the perfumer and pharmacist examinations this year.”

“Really? To pass both exams at the top… He has quite the talent.”

“I thought it would be best to state clearly what we wanted to prevent the Tribal Chief from resorting to tricks in her selection of personnel. So I instructed the courier to request that this Flower Person attend Your Highness.”

“Well done.”

“As it turns out, that artisan’s father was the perfumer who had been regularly supplying incense and the like to our Crown Prince’s palace until a few years ago. I recall that Your Highness was quite fond of the sleeping incense and such that he made. It seems he has inherited his parent’s skills well.”

“I was?”

“Yes, the name is ‘Jeok Hyangrim’… Do you not remember? He was the dedicated perfumer who always attended whenever Your Highness visited the Honghwa Tribe’s enclave…”

“Ah.”

Only then did Shin Ryuwon let out a faint exclamation. Upon hearing Mun Sewon’s explanation, he seemed to know who it was.

“Now that I hear the name, I remember. The sleeping incense and medicinal tea that person made were quite effective. So when I heard the news that he had died of illness, I was truly saddened. On my next visit to the enclave, I belatedly paid my condolences.”

Shin Ryuwon stroked his chin, lost in recollection. The day he had offered words of comfort to the boy weeping alone before the grave came back to life in his memory. However, even the conversation he had shared with that child did not all come back clearly in full.

But just one thing—the moment those pale pink eyes, brimming with tears like a flower drenched in a downpour, had softly folded at his words—remained vividly in his mind as clearly as if it were yesterday. It was to a degree that made him wonder how he could have forgotten it entirely until now.

“That his son has already grown enough to take the examinations… I feel rather strange.”

“He is at an age just on the cusp of his coming-of-age ceremony.”

“Is that so, has so much time passed…”

Shin Ryuwon murmured in a low voice. The image of the boy scampering after Jeok Hyangrim, and the face of the young lad sobbing grievously in threadbare mourning clothes, surfaced alternately.

How has he grown?

Feeling a curiosity and longing for reasons unknown, he cast his gaze at the sky where the dawn light was beginning to seep through. The visit to the enclave, which he had only dreaded, became just the slightest bit anticipated.

∞ ∞ ∞

Tap, tap.

Dan Yuha struck the ground with his staff as he climbed the steep mountain path. It was to drive away any snakes or moles that might be hiding underground. Pressing onward in that manner, he would pause his steps now and then whenever he spotted something.

“Chestnuts.”

Seeing the fallen chestnut burrs from the tree, Yuha’s eyes sparkled. He pressed the prickly husks firmly with both feet and pried them apart left and right, letting the fresh chestnuts roll out. Once he added the chestnuts to his bag, already filled with wild grapes and hardy kiwis, his shoulders grew heavy.

“Umm, where is it…”

Having acquired wild fruits and chestnuts but failing to find the medicinal herb he actually wanted, Dan Yuha swept his staff through the underbrush here and there, meticulously inspecting beneath trees and rocks.

“Found it.”

At last spotting the herb he had been searching for, Dan Yuha smiled brightly. Hastily taking out his hand hoe, he moved his hands gently so as not to wound the roots. Having succeeded in digging up the herb in pristine condition, Yuha carefully slipped it into his bag so that his precious gathering would not be crushed by the wild fruits.

“…! Aralia shoots.”

As he descended the mountain path with a satisfied face, Dan Yuha stopped again, this time at the sight of aralia shoots. He then took out a short blade with an excited expression. Aralia was an extremely useful plant, as different parts could be used as medicine and also as cooking ingredients.

“Shall I scrape off some bark too…”

Yuha picked the young leaves by hand, cut the stems with a thud of his knife, and, after a moment’s deliberation, scraped the bark off with a rasping sound. Only after wrestling with the aralia for a long while could he finally straighten his back.

“I’m lucky today.”

Clutching the bag, which was now heavier than before, to his chest, Dan Yuha hummed a tune as he moved toward the valley stream. The enclave where he lived had several wells, but they were all far from Yuha’s house, which was situated on the outskirts. So it was easier to wash up at the stream and then return home. There was also no risk of running into the villagers needlessly and getting his feelings hurt.