Chapter 16 – Blossoming

Chapter 16 – Blossoming

Where on earth did it go wrong?

Tang Jae-shin looked at Tang San-ho, who grabbed his shoulder, with bewildered eyes. Seeing that he could fully feel the weight of another person and the burning pain, it did not seem to be a dream.

After the three previous pre-emptive attacks ended, Tang Jae-shin began his attack, resolving not to show any mercy. Blaming himself for having let his guard down, he engaged in the duel seriously. However… nothing changed. As if proving that what he had felt during the three pre-emptive attacks was not an illusion, Tang San-ho calmly defeated him.

Arrogance.

That was the losing move. He had not even thought about understanding the enemy in the first place. Nor did he think that everything he knew would be completely denied.

It was not simply because the opponent was the Dark Flower. Even if, by some chance, the Young Clan Leader's words that the Young Master's skills had improved by leaps and bounds were true, nothing should have changed. Because time was fair to everyone.

However, the reality he faced was far from fair.

‘…It's only been a year.’

Tang Jae-shin was three years older than the Young Master, Tang San-ho. Since he had grown up playing with hidden weapons and consuming poison since his early childhood, which he could barely remember, even by a simple calculation, it meant he had trained for over ten years more than the Young Master. Even if they had started from the same place, a ten-year gap was large. How much more so when the subject was Tang San-ho?

‘This makes no sense…’

However, seeing Tang San-ho, who had surpassed him as if ten years of time were nothing, Tang Jae-shin fell into despair. It was not simply because he had lost the duel. If he had surpassed him with just a single year, then in the future, what on earth…

"Brother."

At Tang San-ho's low voice, Tang Jae-shin snapped out of it.

"Brother, you…"

Was the hand grabbing his shoulder always this firm?

Tang Jae-shin raised his lowered gaze and met the eyes looking at him. Unlike his own, which shook with a mixture of all sorts of emotions, those eyes were extremely calm. Looking at those pupils, which resembled a peaceful lake, only then did Tang Jae-shin realize what emotion he was feeling.

This was despair.

Something that an ordinary person who witnessed overwhelming talent could feel.

His despair was not the shame of losing in front of everyone, nor was it embarrassment toward the opponent he had ignored, or anxiety about the position he would be in. It was the despair felt by a human facing an insurmountable wall. A painful disappointment in his own limits.

"You truly do not know. Because I have not possessed many things in my life, once I grasp something in my hand, I never let it go."

No emotion could be read from the face of the Young Master, who had brought him to despair. A voice that had cooled down like never before continued.

"So you must be careful in the future. You must not touch anything in my hands. What I can do… and what I cannot do. I, too, am still in the process of learning."

The voice, so cold that it felt eerie, did not boast of victory triumphantly. It was just very calm…

‘…It's a… warning.’

Tang Jae-shin closed his eyes tightly.

He lost.

The one covered in dust and sitting slumped was himself.

In a defeat that no one could dispute, a silence where not even a single breath could be heard filled the training ground.

"……"

They had seen it with their own eyes, but it was unbelievable, and though they had expected it, it surpassed that expectation by far. It was the moment when the Young Master of the Sichuan Tang Clan, who had borne the Heavenly Punishment, proudly grasped victory and finally proved himself.

Amidst the long silence, a small voice that broke the quietness leaked out.

"The Dark Flower…"

Bloomed.

Although it was an unfinished sentence, no one present there was curious about the words that would follow.

For they, too, had witnessed a single blooming flower.

***

"Wow! Young Master! I really, wow! Heavens!"

The first person to run to the annex after the duel ended was Tang Yu-hwa.

Seeing her jump up and down, unable to hide her excited demeanor at all…

"Did you win a lot?"

"Of course! A ton! How much was all that… Wait, what?"

I asked because I remembered what Yu-hwa had let slip before entering the training ground: 'I bet on you, Young Master.' Sure enough. Yu-hwa, who jumped in surprise, blushed and, seemingly thinking it was already too late, approached and whispered.

"…You'll keep it a secret, right? If the elders find out, I'll be in big trouble. Instead, I'll buy you lots of delicious food, okay?"

Pretending not to know was not a difficult thing, but.

"Yeah. But you should practice lying more."

Finding it admirable that she thought she would not get caught when her emotions were so clearly displayed on her face, I added a piece of advice that sounded like a joke.

When Yu-hwa, who had succeeded in her Sports ToX betting, returned with a very satisfied face, I pressed around my tired eyes and slumped back in my chair.

‘…I'm a bit tired.’

The duel with Tang Jae-shin just now took on a different aspect from what I had expected.

When the three pre-emptive attacks ended and Tang Jae-shin's first hidden weapon was shot toward me.

What I felt at that moment was complete hostility.

However, since the tangible flying dagger was sharper than intangible emotion, I used my footwork as I always did and quickly moved out of the attack's trajectory. As I instinctively avoided the incoming flying dagger, I could also avoid the subsequent attacks without difficulty.

I became bewildered because it was not difficult.

‘I had no intention of losing, but I thought our skills would be comparable.’

Once the duel actually began, compared to the attacks Tang Hae-soo used to launch, Tang Jae-shin's hidden weapon technique felt almost boring. Since I had only one sparring partner all this time, there had been no opportunity to judge my skills objectively.

I did not even need to hold the things I had prepared for a more certain victory. The gap between his arrogance and his actual skill decided the outcome.

It was the picture I had prepared, and the scene I had expected.

However, when I actually saw Tang Jae-shin sitting slumped before me. When I saw the futility in his eyes and the swirling of countless tangled emotions.

‘Am I still not fully rid of my modern habits? Why is my heart so uncomfortable…’

A thin, low sigh leaked through my slightly parted lips.

The clear hostility had vanished long ago, and seeing someone who was simply in despair in front of me, I could not help the discomfort in my heart. Was this what I wanted?

Just then, I felt a presence lingering outside the door.

Realizing who the presence belonged to, I rubbed my face and raised my slumped body.

"…What are you doing not coming in?"

As I spoke to the presence hesitating at the doorway, a startled rattling sound was heard at the same time.

At the laughter that slipped out of me involuntarily, the silhouette outside peeked its head in.

"…I was in the middle of coming in, you know?"

"Were you having fun?"

The crown of brown hair that had peeked up over the training ground wall turned away sharply as he spoke.

"Of course. Since you weren't here, Young Master, I even overslept lazily."

"Uh-huh, you look refreshed."

As I play along, pretending not to know, Sawol's expression changed a couple of times. A small laugh burst out of me at the sight. Children really had no talent for lying… At this rate, I wondered if I was the problem for being so skillful at lying.

Sawol, who was about to say something while inhaling, only mouthed his words before eventually pouting his lips.

"…You didn't get hurt anywhere, did you? It's not for any other reason, but if you get hurt, Young Master, I have to attend to you. That's why I told you to just pretend not to know. You really don't know anything."

He poured out his words in a rush without explaining what it was I did not know, which was also rather funny. Was that worry or a scolding? Listening quietly to the diverse emotional changes as varied as Sawol's expressions, I felt my fatigue fade a bit, so I cleared my mind.

"Oh, Sawol. I had something to ask you."

"What is it?"

"About this annex. Even if it's in a corner, I think there are too few people coming and going. The size isn't that small, but you sweep and wipe it all alone every day… Should I ask to increase the number of maids or servants?"

At that, Sawol tilted his head and asked.

"Would you be okay with that?"

"Me? Am I okay?"

"Yes. Because you disliked other people coming into the annex, Young Master…"

An unexpected reply came back. Until now, I thought they had just assigned a single servant of my age because I had no power. Sawol, seemingly finding the question from my mouth even more puzzling, carefully continued.

"Hmm… There were a few more in the past, but one day, you sent them all away, Young Master. Since then, only I remained. Because you told us not to let anyone in if possible at that time, even now, everyone rarely comes to the annex."

‘Was I sensitive because my health was bad? Since someone coming in and out when I was sick would naturally bother me.’

"Is that so? Was I very sick back then, by any chance?"

"It wasn't that… Hmm, should I say you were just a bit dark back then? You didn't come outside all day and kept the door locked. Skipping meals, you kept asking only for ink and paper, as if writing a ton of things."

The more I heard, the more puzzling it became, and my curiosity grew, but Sawol said he also did not know what I did inside.

He added that just as I had suddenly locked the door one day, I suddenly opened the door and came out another day. However, he also added that all that massive amount of paper had disappeared from the cleanly organized room.

‘Timing-wise, not long after that happened, I entered this body. Could it be related to this body's death? If so, I should look into it a bit more…’

I touched my lips, organizing the information. For now, vague thoughts connected like branches.

Just then, Sawol, who had been answering my questions while retracing his memories of the distant past for a while, suddenly looked at me and spoke.

"But, I like how it is now. There is no one giving me dirty looks or scolding me."

Seeing his firm voice, I did not want to press further, so I agreed.

"Alright, then. As long as it isn't hard on you, do that. I'm not that fastidious, so you can cut down on the cleaning…"

Before my words could even finish, Sawol shook his head resolutely.

"That won't do. If other people see, how embarrassed would I be? A cleanly managed annex is like my pride."

"But really, how many people are there to see… Uh, no. Cleanliness is good. Work hard."

I was about to ask if it was not unnecessary trouble, but because Sawol glared at me midway, my attempts to dissuade him turned into support. Somehow, sweeping, wiping, and scurrying around every day seemed to show a great sense of professionalism.

‘He cleaned like this, and yet he didn't find anything? Then did the original owner hide it separately?’

I calmly organized the rest of the information and decided to look around the surroundings a bit more.

Leaving me, who was deep in thought, next to him like a piece of furniture, Sawol again arranged the teaware that had not even been touched and dusted off invisible dust with a hawk's eye.

It was truly fussy beyond measure.

***

However, it took exactly half a day for that fussiness to turn into Sawol's proud satisfaction.

The next morning, when I got up sleepily as usual, what unfolded before my eyes was…

"…Wh-what is all this?"

A massive amount of gifts piled up like a hill.

And people standing in line holding those gifts.

Just then, Sawol ran in, looked outside, and with a proud face, said they were guests who had been waiting in front of the annex since before I woke up, and that it was indeed a good thing he cleaned. I blankly fixed my gaze on the most unbelievable guest outside and muttered.

"Still, that is… I really didn't expect that."

At the very front of the crowd stood a warrior in a green robe alongside a gift as tall as himself.

It was none other than Tang Jae-shin.