Flower Dream Chapter 9

“Ah, you little rascal!”

The squirrel, startled the moment Dan Yuha opened his mouth, grabbed one of the chestnuts in its embrace and scampered away. Watching its rapidly retreating back with a dumbfounded look, Yuha soon let out a soft, deflating laugh.

“I spaced out too much…”

What was meant to be just a brief drying had taken quite a while. Dan Yuha checked the sky once, then rose from his spot and began gathering his things. The mountain was a place where, however bright it might be, the sun would quickly set and darkness would fall.

The mountain by day and by night are completely different. Even a place he had climbed daily over the past few years and knew well was as unfamiliar as a first-trodden path once the light vanished. If he made a wrong turn and got lost, or happened upon a wild beast, an accident could occur.

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Yuha gave a small whistle and quickened his pace. Thinking that he would be able to meet the Third Prince after just two more nights, the road home did not feel unpleasant.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Hey!”

Dan Yuha, who had been checking his belongings one last time, flinched at the sharp cry that pierced his ears. He knew who it was without needing to turn around and confirm.

“Dan Yuha!”

When Dan Yuha did not answer, the one who had called him raised her voice, as if provoked. Letting out a short sigh, Yuha straightened up with an expressionless face. Thereupon, he saw a dazzling beauty with eyes the crimson of a fully bloomed peony. It was Hong Haehwa’s daughter, Hong Juyak.

“Why are you calling me?”

Turning his head, Dan Yuha asked as calmly as he could. Hong Juyak made him uncomfortable. It could not be helped. She would pick fights and rain down curses every time she ran into Yuha.

“What’s with that attitude?”

With her arms crossed and glaring at Dan Yuha, Hong Juyak raised one eyebrow, as if his composure at the sight of her grated on her nerves.

“What about it.”

Instead of being intimidated by Hong Juyak, Dan Yuha replied curtly. From the start, there was no way he could harbor any good feelings toward her, who had tormented him relentlessly since childhood.

“Why, you…!”

Momentarily inflamed, Hong Juyak twisted the corners of her eyes. Then she strode right up to him.

“Just a child of sinners, and you dare ignore me?”

“When did I.”

“You’re doing it right now!”

“Don’t yell. Lower your voice. What do you think you’re doing in front of everyone?”

Sensing the gazes fixed on himself and Juyak, Dan Yuha spoke as if telling her to stop. At present, all the tribespeople except the elderly and infirm were gathered near the enclave entrance to welcome the Third Prince.

“Hmph, if anyone gets in trouble, it’ll be you. It’s got nothing to do with me.”

Hong Juyak twisted her lips and sneered. Should a disturbance arise here, the one at a disadvantage would be Dan Yuha, not herself. After all, her mother and all the residents would take her side.

“You, listen. You must be getting pretty full of yourself since you were chosen as His Highness the Crown Prince’s perfumer…”

Leaning her upper body toward Dan Yuha, Hong Juyak poked his collarbone with her fingertip.

“Watch your conduct. Don’t go flailing about and sour His Highness’s mood.”

“What?”

“I’m saying that if my marriage prospects are ruined because of you, I won’t let it go. Understood?”

Hong Juyak growled a warning. Her sharp nails crumpled his collar as if they might bore holes into his skin.

“…Even if you don’t say anything, I intend to serve His Highness to the best of my ability. So don’t worry about pointless things.”

For a moment, Dan Yuha’s lips quivered as if he were at a loss for words, then he looked straight at Hong Juyak. And he answered, enunciating each word with force.

“Well, the thing is, your words just don’t inspire any trust.”

Having unconsciously averted her gaze, Hong Juyak gave a dry cough. The fact that she had been momentarily overpowered by Dan Yuha’s intensity made her blood boil.

“Ahem, ahem. In any case, if you pull some pointless trick and bring harm to the tribe, I won’t stand by. So don’t do anything to bring shame on yourself. If you do, my mother won’t let it slide, you know? No, perhaps His Highness the Crown Prince will kill you before that?”

“A trick?”

“There are those, you know. Fools who don’t know their place and try to seduce someone far above them.”

Hong Juyak sneered in a tone that suggested she was stating the obvious. Whether on the level of the tribe or out of self-interest, there were very many Fragrant People who approached divine beings of high status with impure intentions.

If one could only capture the heart of a divine being who held power—an imperial or high-ranking noble—one could rise in status and expand the tribe’s influence. So even knowing that if things went wrong, not only the individual but the entire tribe they belonged to would be endangered, people kept attempting it. For that, one had to be in a position, such as an attendant or guard, where one could assist the divine being up close.

She had simply jumped to the conclusion that, since Dan Yuha would be attending the Third Prince at his side, such a thing might just happen.

“Well, there probably won’t be any such thing from you… But who knows how the world turns? As the saying goes, you can fathom the depths of ten fathoms of water, but not the depths of a single fathom of the human heart.”

“…”

“Since, as a rule, divine beings and Fragrant People are drawn to each other like flowers and butterflies, it’s not entirely impossible that you might suddenly turn around and throw yourself at His Highness. Desiring to bear the seed of one with thick divine blood is an instinct us Flower People have, after all.”

Just as divine beings preferred deep-scented Fragrant People, Fragrant People also felt attraction to those with strong divine beast blood, such as Shin Ryuwon. Consequently, unexpected incidents often occurred during times when instinct grew stronger than reason—such as the heat cycle or the rut—or periods when the boundaries between worlds blurred, such as the first full moon of the year or the winter solstice.

It happened so frequently that divine beings and Fragrant People, unable to suppress their instinctive desires and momentary impulses, spent the night together that there were even those who deliberately aimed for those times to make advances or set about seducing someone they had their eye on.

“How am I to know that you, bewitched by His Highness the Crown Prince’s aura, won’t harbor irreverent feelings toward him?”

Having brought to mind the numerous incidents of the past, Hong Juyak looked Dan Yuha up and down. Then, with a scornful smile, she added:

“Though, of course, His Highness would have no interest in a male Scentless Person like you anyway.”

At the malice-filled mockery, Dan Yuha’s lips pressed firmly shut. In the society of Fragrant People, where the stronger one’s innate body scent, the better one was treated, a Scentless Person like him was an absolute weakling. If only he were a woman, his situation would at least be better than it was now, but Yuha was a male who would have difficulty carrying a child.

Someone who didn’t know better might ask what kind of bizarre nonsense this was, but unlike ordinary people, Fragrant People were born with a womb, both male and female. This was a trait that arose because, unlike divine beings who were born between divine beasts and humans, they were created by divine beasts, which were fundamentally hermaphroditic.

However, since male pregnancy went against the laws of nature, it came with many restrictions and high risks. Moreover, apart from True-scented People, males among Common-scented and Scentless People found it very difficult to conceive.

In particular, Scentless People were nearly infertile. Even male True-scented People, for whom pregnancy was relatively easier compared to the two, found it difficult to bear more than one child.

Given this situation, the value of female Fragrant People naturally grew greater than that of males. In an age where the number of divine beings was gradually dwindling and the blood of the divine beasts within them was rapidly thinning, this was a natural phenomenon.

From the standpoint of divine beings who needed to leave behind as many descendants as possible, they had no choice but to prefer females. For that reason, every tribe of Fragrant People formed a matriarchal society where the status of women was overwhelmingly higher than that of men. That was also why children took their mother’s surname rather than their father’s.

Instead, even among males, a True-scented Person—born perhaps once in several dozen births—was treated as precious regardless of gender. This was because a baby born between a divine being and a True-scented Person was far more likely to be born with strong divine blood than a child born between Common-scented or Scentless People.

Conversely, Scentless males were treated as useless beings. They had almost no body scent to attract divine beings, and even if they were fortunate enough to be chosen, problems with producing an heir often arose later.

Thus, unless a Scentless male had a special talent like Dan Yuha, most of them worked in menial jobs within the enclave that others shunned. As a result, they faced discrimination in many ways within the tribe.

“That’s enough.”

At the blatant ridicule, a surge of irritation momentarily welled up in Dan Yuha and his expression turned serious. It wasn’t as though being mocked and belittled by Hong Juyak was a one-day or two-day affair, but today, for some reason, he was particularly angered. It was because his nerves had sharpened with the thought that he would soon meet the Third Prince.

“What did I do? I was just giving advice out of concern?”

“Oh, really? Then let’s say it was. Thanks.”

Dan Yuha shook his head from side to side, as if he no longer wished to continue the conversation, and turned around. The very idea that someone of such a nasty disposition was a candidate for Crown Princess, the mere imagination that Hong Juyak might become the Third Prince’s consort, made his chest feel tight. It would be better if a Fragrant Person from another tribe became his mate.

“Stop! I’m not done talking yet!”

Seeing Dan Yuha turn his back on her, Hong Juyak raised her voice and reached out her hand.

“Urk!”

Dan Yuha grimaced at Hong Juyak’s action of roughly seizing his shoulder and yanking him back. Quickly steadying himself, he shook off her hand so as to absorb as little impact as possible. Then, with a cold expression, he stared at Juyak.

“Hong Juyak. I have nothing more to say to you. I need to do a final check on the fragrances before His Highness the Crown Prince arrives, so don’t hinder me any further.”

“Eeek!”

At the firm refusal, Hong Juyak’s face flushed and paled in quick succession, heated with fury. Just as she was about to yell something, Ju Cheongwoo appeared.