Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Flower Arranging Smiles
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"Ehehe."
Woo Ha-yeon giggled, propping her chin up with both hands. Wei Seongcheon, who had been sitting across from her concentrating on flower arranging, glanced up briefly.
Even as their eyes met, Woo Ha-yeon kept grinning like a fool, clearly delighted by something.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Because you look good like this, Junior Brother."
"You're quite the tease, Senior Sister. Or should I say eccentric?"
Wei Seongcheon muttered as he ran his hand over the trimmed stem. Just that simple motion sliced off the leaves and fine hairs attached to it as cleanly as if a knife had been used.
"I can't imagine what's so appealing about a brute like me fussing over delicate flowers."
"You're not exactly brutish, Junior Brother. You're way smaller than Sung-woo, aren't you?"
"Well, well. Compared to that bear Hwangbo Sung-woo, anyone who doesn't look tiny is rare, don't you think? And I'm not exactly short."
Wei Seongcheon flexed his arm as if to prove it. The muscles bulged taut and firm with elastic power. Woo Ha-yeon giggled and poked his bicep with her finger.
"That's true, but it's not that you look good because you're small."
"Then what makes it look good?"
"You've improved so much compared to last week. Doesn't that mean you've been working hard? You hated it at first, but now you're getting into it?"
Woo Ha-yeon glanced at the flowers Wei Seongcheon had prepared. The ones he'd handled last week weren't nearly as vibrant as today's.
They'd barely clung to life back then. But now? The change in just a week was both surprising and delightful.
"Not as good as you, Senior Sister."
"Of course not. If you caught up to me in a mere week, I wouldn't have the right to strut around as your senior."
"Couldn't empty your mind, either."
"Craving emptiness matters more than achieving perfect emptiness."
Woo Ha-yeon said this while stroking the vase in front of Wei Seongcheon.
"Last week's you and this week's you are different. Yes, definitely different."
"It's thanks to the advice from the Taiji Sword Lord."
"That doesn't diminish your training and enlightenment, though. Anyone can seek advice. But accepting it and awakening to it? Not everyone can."
Her hand moved upward from the vase. Woo Ha-yeon slightly adjusted the positions of the flowers Wei Seongcheon had placed. Just that minor tweak completely transformed the vase's atmosphere. She tittered.
"Honestly, your sense of aesthetics isn't that refined."
"I'm not used to it yet."
"More natural than artificial. You've managed to 'keep the flowers alive,' so arrange them to harmonize with each other."
"That advice could double as sword theory with a slight word change."
"Depends on how you think about it, doesn't it?"
Mount Hua's signature sword style, represented by Woo Ha-yeon's school, was the Plum Blossom Sword Technique. The sway of plum branches laden with blooming flowers. The fluttering petals mingled in that sway.
Mount Hua's sword was beautiful and delicate. Yet, as plum blossoms fade in ten days, even that transience was captured in their art.
"The Taiji Sword Lord said it."
Wei Seongcheon inserted a new flower into the center of the rearranged blooms. The vase's atmosphere shifted once more.
"Sword Phoenix Woo Ha-yeon."
"Junior Brother."
Woo Ha-yeon beamed. Wei Seongcheon shrugged with a smile in return.
"He said you've mastered Mount Hua's essence and inherited it perfectly. Within the next decade, you'll become the greatest swordsman in the sect's history. You're called Sword Phoenix now, but soon even 'phoenix' won't suffice to contain your sword."
"You're trying to embarrass me."
Woo Ha-yeon chuckled and shook her head.
"I'm grateful for such high praise from the world's greatest swordsman, the Taiji Sword Lord, but it's still embarrassing."
"You're not denying it, though."
"Excessive humility disrespects everyone who's acknowledged me. I'm proud of the title Sword Phoenix. I'm thankful to all who call me that, to my sect that taught me, and of course, to the Taiji Sword Lord who said it."
That's why she didn't deny it.
"If I challenged you to a spar, would you accept?"
"No."
Wei Seongcheon asked outright, and Woo Ha-yeon shook her head immediately.
"I like you, Junior Brother. So I don't want to spar."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Most people start avoiding me after sparring with me."
Woo Ha-yeon pouted and grumbled. Wei Seongcheon tilted his head, not quite understanding.
"Why avoid you? Because you win?"
"That's part of it, sure. But sparring has winners and losers—that's natural. Still... they avoid me unusually after sparring with me."
"So you don't like it... You're saying you're confident you'd definitely beat me in a spar?"
"Yeah."
Woo Ha-yeon smiled playfully. It wasn't unpleasant. Wei Seongcheon's judgment matched hers exactly.
Fight and lose.
Few students sensed this so clearly.
"I don't mind losing."
"That's what they all say. They don't mind losing, but they want to fight anyway."
"Well, that makes sense. It's different before and after stepping into the ring. If you don't want to, I won't push for a spar. Just know that."
Footsteps approached from beyond the closed door. Wei Seongcheon stretched languidly and continued.
"If you give me the chance, I'd love to spar with you anytime."
"I'll spar when you're at a level where you 'definitely' won't lose to me."
Woo Ha-yeon smiled, leaving some room. Yeah. Right now, it's a 'definite' loss.
Sword Phoenix Woo Ha-yeon.
She was unique in many ways. He hadn't felt such clear defeat the first time they met. But the more they talked, the stronger the sense of 'I can't win' grew.
He'd never seen her sword in action, but Wei Seongcheon could imagine it. He could even picture exactly 'how' he'd lose to her.
'I see.'
Slowly.
'That's why they avoid her.'
Very slowly. He'd be cornered. He'd enter the spar with faint hope. Hope that he might defeat Sword Phoenix Woo Ha-yeon.
But before he knew it, every path to victory would be sealed. No matter how he struggled, defeat was inevitable. In the end, his spirit would break before his sword.
"You're late."
The parlor door opened. Woo Ha-yeon and Wei Seongcheon had been alone here early on. Jeong Mi-ju strode in, eyebrows furrowed deeply, followed by Seo Baek carrying an armful of documents.
"That damn Black Serpent Alliance Leader."
Jeong Mi-ju spat immediately. Woo Ha-yeon already guessed why she was irritated. She quietly stood, moved behind the seated Jeong Mi-ju, and began massaging her shoulders.
"That dog of a Martial Alliance Leader."
Normally, Seo Baek would have corrected Jeong Mi-ju's crude language, but today he silently sat at an empty desk and sorted documents.
Jeong Mi-ju, calming her boiling rage under Woo Ha-yeon's massage, suddenly whipped her head around to glare at Wei Seongcheon. He stared back blankly while idly caressing the vase.
"What are you gawking at?"
"Why snap at me?"
"Don't you wonder why I'm pissed? Why just stare instead of asking?"
"I figured you'd curse me out if I asked."
"Ask anyway."
"What's got you so mad?"
"It's the money, you rotten punk!"
Jeong Mi-ju bellowed. In her towering fury, she raised both hands.
They reached for her hair to tear it out, but Woo Ha-yeon swiftly grabbed her wrists.
"Let go!"
"Your hair'll come out, Sis."
"Who cares! Argh!"
Here's what happened. The Black Serpent Alliance Leader and Martial Alliance Leader's visit to the Yicheon Festival expanded its scale beyond previous years, ballooning the budget exponentially. That's why the Pavilion Lord personally summoned Jeong Mi-ju to make the request.
"It's not enough to burden the Golden Name Escort Agency, right?"
"Of course not! What do you take the Golden Name Escort Agency for?!"
"Then why are you mad?"
"Who's happy about forking over more money?! Money's always precious, no matter how much you have!"
"Miser."
"Shut it!"
Jeong Mi-ju glared and snapped. She shook off her hands, still held by Woo Ha-yeon, while regulating her ragged breathing.
"I'm good now!"
Of course, the Golden Name Escort Agency wasn't being exploited one-sidedly. Sponsoring the Yicheon Academy brought them various benefits.
Still, money spent under the guise of investment always stung. Jeong Mi-ju sighed deeply and packed tobacco into her pipe.
"Junior Wei Seongcheon. Tell me straight."
Jeong Mi-ju glared at him.
"You really want to fight Jin-woo at the Yicheon Festival?"
"Yes."
"Confident you'll win?"
"Only one way to find out."
"You'll lose, I bet."
Woo Ha-yeon tilted her head as she spoke. She already knew about the deal between Wei Seongcheon and Jeong Mi-ju.
"Our Junior Brother is excellent, but Jin-woo's no slouch. Like you said, we'll see when you fight, but... I think you'll lose, Junior Brother."
"Can't even cheer me on, huh."
"Of course I'll cheer for you even if I think you'll lose."
"Whatever."
Jeong Mi-ju frowned, cutting off the exchange between Wei Seongcheon and Woo Ha-yeon.
"I'd love for you to knock Jin-woo's ego down a peg, but the outcome doesn't matter. What's important is this: I'm pissed about spending more than expected."
Smoke billowed long from Jeong Mi-ju's pipe.
"Because it hurts, I'll push my demands on the Yicheon Festival however I want. Congrats. You'll be grouped with Jin-woo at the Festival. That's it. Can't make you fight him from the first round, but if you don't drop out midway, you'll definitely face him."
"Thank you."
"You get it?"
Jeong Mi-ju's eyes sharpened.
"I'm not doing this out of kindness. You owe me for this."
"Right."
Jeong Mi-ju herself had never used the Golden Name Escort Agency's influence for personal gain while attending the academy, so she wouldn't normally grant such a favor. She agreed to Wei Seongcheon's request to build a connection with the 'latent dragon' and saddle him with a debt.
"You. What'll you do after graduation?"
"Probably succeed as Heavenly Flower Sect Leader."
"What then? You planning to keep things as quiet as the current Heavenly Flower Sect?"
"My father's still in his prime, so it'll be at least ten years before I take over. Four of those in the academy."
"Fine. Skip the distant future. Let's talk near future. What're you doing after this semester?"
"What can I do?"
Wei Seongcheon smiled faintly as he countered. From late December to early March was vacation. Most students left the academy then to enjoy their freedom.
"Come to the Golden Name Escort Agency with me."
"Sure."
"...Not saying no. You trying not to provoke me?"
"You'd drag me anyway if I said no."
"Damn right. If you weren't Heavenly Flower Sect's heir, I'd have pinned you as a top-grade escort already."
Escort agencies always needed manpower. Especially large ones like Golden Name handled massive volumes of high-value goods, so they constantly recruited skilled escorts.
Their pay was generous too, so many academy graduates not hired by the Martial Alliance or imperial palace ended up at big agencies like Golden Name.
"This winter'll be fun. Last years, I just shoveled snow off the Heavenly Flower Sect's training grounds."
"Fun? Heh! I like the positivity. Yeah, it'll be fun. No snow shoveling."
Jeong Mi-ju cackled. She'd been in a foul mood over the unexpected expense earlier. But thinking about how to exploit Wei Seongcheon over the two-month break lifted her spirits.
"You're heading to Gansu on Monday?"
"Yeah."
Schedules were tight with the Yicheon Festival looming. Monday after the two-day weekend meant departing straight for Gansu to subjugate beasts.
"Won't be back for at least a month."
Woo Ha-yeon murmured, gazing at the vase before Wei Seongcheon. It brimmed with flowers of various types and colors. She smirked at the sight.
Naturally, in harmony.
Wei Seongcheon had accepted those words instantly, and the decorated vase now looked different from before.