Chapter 140: In the Days of Foolish Beasts
Chapter 140: In the Days of Foolish Beasts
The Drunken Demon’s face was flushed a deep red.
Whether it was from the alcohol, the glow of the sunset, or the shame he had kept buried for so many years, I couldn't tell.
“I think I need another drink.”
I had been about to stand up, but I sat back down.
I already knew why the relationship between the Blade Demon and the One Flower Sword Venerable had soured. I knew they had once been lovers and that their parting had been ugly. However, I never imagined the Drunken Demon had been caught in the middle of that breakup.
“For a long time, the Sword Venerable and I were close enough to share drinks and talk. One day, she asked me if I knew what kind of man the Blade Demon was. I asked her why she was curious. She told me he had painted a picture for her. When I asked to see it, it turned out to be a miindo—a portrait of a beauty. The moment I saw that painting, which depicted her even more beautifully than she was in person, I knew. Ah, the Blade Demon is in love with her. My intuition flared.”
This was them in their youth. The Blade Demon painting a picture for a woman! It was an image I truly couldn't fathom.
“Sure enough, from then on, the Blade Demon began to express his feelings for her constantly. He’d ask her to tea, or to go for walks. The Sword Venerable would tell me everything about her meetings with him. Do you know how I felt back then?”
“Did you feel bad?”
“Terrible.”
“Were you also in love with the Sword Venerable, Lord Drunken Demon?”
“It wasn't like that from the start. But because the Blade Demon liked her, I suddenly felt rushed. Until then, I thought she liked the Cult Leader. I assumed she wouldn't accept anyone else, but I was wrong. Her feelings for the Cult Leader were purely those of respect.”
I poured more liquor into the Drunken Demon’s cup. He stared blankly at the glass, lost in the past.
“One day, while we were drinking, I subtly hinted at my feelings for her. But…”
The Drunken Demon trailed off. I let out a sigh and finished for him.
“You were rejected.”
He nodded slowly.
“She told me her heart was leaning toward the Blade Demon.”
Suddenly, the Drunken Demon barked out a shout.
“Does that make sense? Does it?! That scrawny, ugly Blade Demon—who was way older than us, to boot! I was so miserable I couldn't sleep a wink. I was angry at myself for not confessing more carefully, and even angrier that she saw how flustered I was the moment I was rejected.”
The Drunken Demon didn't hold back, honestly recounting everything from that time.
“Thoughts like this tormented me: Did I even like her that much? Or did I only confess because the Blade Demon liked her and I didn't want to lose out? I told myself I was just making excuses because I was a pathetic loser who got rejected! I couldn't sleep for days.”
Considering the sly, scheming Drunken Demon of the present, this image of his younger, innocent self was hard to imagine.
“Wasn't that just the age of foolish beasts, when one is led by instinct?”
“You aren't like that, are you?”
I was, once.
“Damn it! Just thinking about it makes me want to die of embarrassment and irritation!”
The Drunken Demon stood up abruptly and paced back and forth across the pavilion. Eventually, he leaned against the railing and looked out over the lake, which had now grown dark.
“From that day on, my heart turned twisted. I didn't show it outwardly, but I wanted to tear those two apart by any means necessary. Yet, as time passed, the Sword Venerable’s affection for the Blade Demon only grew. Then, one day…”
The Drunken Demon lit the lantern attached to the pavilion pillar. Getting angry, talking, pacing, lighting a lamp—his complex emotions were evident in his every movement. As the lantern flickered to life, the surroundings brightened.
“I was walking down the hallway of a brothel when I heard the Blade Demon’s voice. He was drinking with warriors from the Southern Blade Sect. They must have been talking about the Sword Venerable, because the Southern Blade Sect warriors were pestering him with questions. 'How much do you like her? Have you kissed her? Did you sleep with her?' It was the kind of talk friends usually engage in when they gather, but I was absolutely livid. Those bastards!”
The Drunken Demon drained his cup. I drank with him. Perhaps because of the atmosphere, I didn't feel drunk despite the alcohol. I felt as if I were standing in that brothel hallway alongside the young Drunken Demon.
“I should have kicked the door down right then and flipped the table. 'You sons of bitches! Shut your mouths!'”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because I felt like the moment I broke that door, my life would be over too.”
We know now. We know that even if he had, it wouldn't have been such a big deal. Looking back, it would have just been remembered as a day of fighting and making a scene.
“The next day, when I met the Sword Venerable, I told her about what happened. I told her I saw the Blade Demon at a brothel. That fact alone would have upset her, but I added lies to it. I took the things the people with him were shouting and made it sound as if the Blade Demon had said them himself. I told her he was bragging about kissing her. I still vividly remember how my heart was racing like crazy as I said those words. 'Am I really doing something this petty? Am I really this kind of man?' My heart was pounding and my mind was filled with self-reproach, but my mouth was saying, ‘Men always bluster like that in front of courtesans.’ I didn't even know if there were courtesans in that room that day.”
Creeeeeak.
The pavilion railing was crushed under the Drunken Demon’s grip. I could feel the rage and regret in his drunken eyes. I finally understood where that hollow look in his eyes originated.
“A bit of time passed after that, and the Sword Venerable told me she had a huge fight with the Blade Demon and they broke up. From that day on, they fought every time they met.”
“Did you continue to drive a wedge between them after that?”
The Drunken Demon shook his head.
“There was no need. Once the relationship was twisted, it spiraled out of control. In fact, these days, I drive a wedge between them as much as I want. I even drink with the Sword Venerable just for the fun of badmouthing the Blade Demon together.”
“Have you ever thought about apologizing to them?”
“I have.”
“Then why haven't you?”
“If it had been for some grand reason, I might have apologized to her. But I couldn't bring myself to say I did it out of petty jealousy. Or perhaps… I still don't want the two of them to work out.”
The Drunken Demon looked at me and added, “I am a narrow-minded, petty man.”
“I know.”
“What?”
“Did you think I considered you a righteous and honest person? You’re sly, mean…”
“Stop!”
Hearing his own faults listed by someone else seemed to make his blood boil.
“What did I do that was so wrong?! If they were going to break up over a few words, they were going to break up anyway, right? Isn't that right? It’s true he went to a brothel, and it’s true he brought up the Sword Venerable first! Who told him to go there? Who told him to run into me there? Damn it!”
I realized then. It wasn't just the Blade Demon and the Sword Venerable who had been fighting all these years. Perhaps the Drunken Demon had been fighting the fiercest battle of all.
“You’re right. If they truly loved each other, they shouldn't have been shaken by that much. Even if you’d left them alone, they would have broken up for some other reason.”
“Right? Exactly!”
When I took his side, the Drunken Demon came over to me with a silly grin. Then, he suddenly let out a long sigh.
“When she told me they broke up… I wasn't happy at all.”
Now was the time to ask the question.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Didn't you keep asking? Why I approached you. During a drinking session not long ago, the Sword Venerable mentioned it. She said you wanted to make her and the Blade Demon your left and right wings.”
“Did you come to clip those wings? Or did you come to help them mend so we can all fly together?”
The Drunken Demon shook his head.
“I don't know myself. I saw the Blade Demon and the Sword Venerable getting along around you, and I just felt like I had to jump in too. I didn't expect to end up saying all this, though.”
“Do you feel relieved now that you’ve said it?”
“I’m already regretting it. Why on earth did I reveal such pathetic behavior with my own mouth? I must have been possessed. Possessed by that talk of ‘half-purity’ or whatever.”
He flopped down onto the floor. Staring blankly up at the pavilion ceiling, he spoke.
“Now, every time you look at me, you’re going to remember this.”
“I probably will. Good grief, my pathetic older brother.”
The Drunken Demon laughed at my words. The small chuckle grew into a loud laugh. After laughing heartily, he asked, “Are you going to tell them the truth?”
I shook my head.
“That isn't for me to decide.”
“I intend to never tell them as long as I live.”
“Then do that.”
“I really mean it.”
“Go ahead.”
The Drunken Demon sat up and stared at me.
“Don't you want the two of them to reconcile?”
“Would those two really be happier if they knew the truth?”
“!”
“Setting aside their hatred for you, they would only feel more bitter that their love failed for such a reason. The regret would be even greater because it can't be undone. And would they really start a new romance now? Is that even possible? In the end, all three of you would be more miserable than you are now.”
I believed this was a truth that should be buried forever. The Blade Demon might lose his temper and try to kill the Drunken Demon. Even if he succeeded, the Blade Demon would have to pay the price for it. And how would the Sword Venerable feel in the middle of that? After all, it all happened because the Drunken Demon loved her too.
“Consider that you had exactly one chance to reveal the truth, and you just used it on me.”
There was a huge difference between having said it and keeping it bottled up. This past, which clung to him like a ghost, wasn't something he could face alone.
“If you free yourself from the obsession that you must tell the truth, you might actually be better at helping them reconcile. From now on, try to get closer to the Blade Demon, and when you drink with the Sword Venerable, try giving him a compliment instead of badmouthing him. If you do that, an unexpected opportunity to bring them together might arise one day. Give them their wings now.”
“You should be the older brother.”
“No thanks. It’s more fun to tease my pathetic older brother if I’m the younger one.”
The Drunken Demon’s expression softened considerably. Having said everything, he looked as if a weight had been lifted.
“Make sure you keep one promise.”
“What is it?”
“Drink less, and eat some snacks with your liquor. Since things turned out this way, I have to make sure my pathetic brother lives a long life.”
I didn't know if the Drunken Demon’s fate would change starting today. Whether he would still die from a liver ailment or live a different life.
Perhaps, as his fate changed, he might even die sooner. But that was fine. Any death would be better than the end the Drunken Demon met from his alcoholism.
“Hyung, let’s have one last cup. I can't drink anymore. And… thanks for being honest.”
The look he gave me was one I had never seen before. I wondered if we could maintain this look toward each other until the very end.
“Little brother… thank you.”
The Drunken Demon clinked his cup against mine.
*
The next day, my father summoned me.
When I entered the Heavenly Demon Hall, I sensed the atmosphere was different than usual.
Chief Strategist Sama Myeong was there, and my brother, Geom Mu-yang, had also arrived.
After greeting my father and Sama Myeong, Geom Mu-yang spoke to me.
“You reek of alcohol. To smell of booze when meeting Father?”
“I overdrank a bit yesterday. With the person who loves alcohol most in the Cult.”
I intentionally mentioned the Drunken Demon. Geom Mu-yang tried his best to remain composed.
“Right, I heard you’ve been spending a lot of time with the Drunken Demon lately. Don't drink too much.”
Geom Mu-yang was likely in a foul mood. He probably wanted the Drunken Demon to cause trouble for me, but instead, it looked like we were getting along famously.
Nevertheless, he was struggling to hide his emotions. My brother truly became a different person in front of our father.
“Shouldn't you be more careful, Brother?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I heard you’ve been hanging around the Poison King lately. My vice is alcohol, but yours is poison. Be careful, Brother.”
Even in front of our father, a tense war of nerves unfolded. I didn't bother hiding it—not from my father, and not from my brother.
As seen in the case of the Drunken Demon, emotions that are hidden and suppressed eventually cause problems. It was better to fight and clash openly like this. If I wanted to fight a battle that would ultimately save my brother, this was the right way. If you show your anger outwardly, you trade insults; if you hide it inside, you send assassins.
My father watched our exchange with an unreadable gaze before nodding to Sama Myeong, giving him a signal.
Sama Myeong stepped forward.
“Today, both Young Masters will be given different missions.”
In Sama Myeong’s hands were two red envelopes.
Finally, the moment had come. The official test to determine the successor had begun.
“To ensure fairness, please choose whichever one you prefer.”
The moment I saw those envelopes, my heart raced.
I remembered this day from before my regression. The two missions given to us.
My brother had succeeded, and I had failed.
By ruining that mission, I had been completely removed from the line of succession.
Just like in the past, my brother gave me the first choice.
“You pick first. Don't regret choosing the wrong one later.”
“That probably won't happen.”
I slowly reached out and selected one of the two envelopes.