Charm
What an absurd thing to bring up out of nowhere—an engagement, of all things.
Hong Chilsong had no idea why he had suddenly raised the subject, but Cheongwol shook her head in instant distaste.
It was only because she could not reveal that she had originally been a man that his words kept veering so far off course.
“I have a situation of my own, so I can’t possibly...”
“It’s not as if I’m telling you to truly get engaged.”
“Huh?”
When Cheongwol tilted her head, a faint smile crept across Hong Chilsong’s mouth.
“I may be overstepping, but in my eyes, you’ve got at least a little feeling for that friend of yours.”
At that, Cheongwol’s head dropped once more.
“...That can’t be.”
And yet Hong Chilsong only seemed to be adding misunderstanding upon misunderstanding. His smile faded, and he looked at Cheongwol with something close to pity.
“There’s an old saying that you shouldn’t even look at a tree you can’t climb, but if you don’t try at all, you’ll spend your whole life regretting it.”
“Elder...”
“Of course, it isn’t proper when you already have a betrothed. Still, if it was you who grew close to that friend first, then you’ve every right to speak your heart.”
Watching him play the role of an experienced elder with such believable ease, Cheongwol became certain.
This beggar.
He had no intention of listening to a single word she said.
“Besides, don’t you want to know? The look on your friend’s face when he finds out you’re engaged to someone else.”
Just a few days ago, she had been thrown into a woman’s body. She had still declared that she would go on living as a man, and now he was telling her to say she had a fiancé?
Her expression clouded with confusion, and Hong Chilsong urged her on from the side.
“Don’t worry about the aftermath. If that friend truly feels nothing for you, he won’t pry about who it is. Even if he does ask, you can always say it was nothing but a misunderstanding.”
Ridiculous.
If she followed Hong Chilsong’s advice, she would undoubtedly end up facing the contempt in Seomun Hwi’s eyes.
And if that happened, even remaining friends would become difficult.
Just as she was about to sigh and refuse his suggestion—
“On the other hand, if he does have feelings for you, then the advantage will be in your hands from that point on. Aren’t you truly curious? What sort of reaction your friend would have.”
“...”
Seomun Hwi.
The one who had been her friend ever since she had been a man.
Was she really supposed to see whether he might have feelings for her?
The result would be obvious before it even began, and at the end of it all, only the bitter thought that she should have expected exactly this would remain.
And yet why, of all times, did the memory of his gentle hand stroking her hair so softly beside her on the bed come to mind now?
Come to think of it, he had always been kind, even when she was a man, but after she became a woman, he had become almost unbearably unwilling to leave her side.
She had only assumed it was because they were reunited after so long.
Could it be...?
For an instant, it felt as though a heavy stone had dropped into her chest.
No. Absolutely not.
Regardless of gender, she was someone who could not give her heart to another until her revenge was complete.
Cheongwol fixed Hong Chilsong with a hardened face and spoke carefully.
“That won’t happen. But...”
If there was even the slightest chance, then she had to set things right before it was too late.
Even if it was for no one else’s sake, she could not allow him to be hurt.
“First, I’ll do as you say, Elder.”
---
What Seomun Hwi had been led to by Dang Sohye was none other than the training grounds.
She had said they should talk, so what business did they have here?
As he stood there in confusion, she turned around and smiled brightly.
“I heard the two of you spar here every day. I didn’t take you for the type. Young Clan Leader, you’re quite something.”
“...What exactly do you mean by that?”
“A decent excuse to be together without worrying about other people’s eyes, of course. Trading hands, getting close enough for your bodies to bump.”
Seomun Hwi frowned slightly and denied her words.
“It is not the sort of relationship you are imagining, Miss Dang.”
“Is that so? I must have misunderstood. You two spend all day together, from sunrise to sunset, so I naturally assumed she was a hidden beloved.”
As Dang Sohye kept tossing out taunting remarks, Seomun Hwi let out a thin sigh.
“If I have offended you, I apologize. As I mentioned before, she is a friend I have not seen in more than two years, so my joy may have been somewhat excessive.”
For a man who had shown only stiffness even before the gathered rising generation, he readily admitted fault and bowed his head.
Was it because he was afraid of harming the woman he loved, or because he was trying to fulfill the role of a betrothed at last?
Neither answer pleased her.
“...”
Dang Sohye’s cold gaze dropped onto Seomun Hwi’s head.
He was certainly a decent-looking man, but since his heart belonged to another woman, there was no need for her to be doing this.
Still, the fact remained that if she had not been the Tang Clan’s daughter, he would not have spared her even the briefest glance.
Her beauty might be fractionally below that vixen’s, but she had no shortage of qualities she could proudly display.
So what choice did she have?
Even if it caused trouble for the two of them, she would have to prove it herself.
She was not a woman who deserved to be treated this way.
Dang Sohye slowly slipped off the outer robe she had been wearing and looked straight at Seomun Hwi.
“Fine, then spar with me too. A match with no ulterior motive.”
So she was just as unpredictable as Cheongwol—perhaps more so, in both appearance and conduct.
“How could I possibly draw my sword against my betrothed...”
- Swish!
The moment Seomun Hwi began to refuse, before he could even finish the sentence, her Red Lotus Divine Palm flared to life.
It was a surprise strike, but since it had clearly been meant as the opening to a match, he managed to dodge it easily with a quick shift of his feet.
The problem came next.
Lotus blossoms spread through the air, one layer stacking upon the next as they rushed toward him.
Red Lotus Divine Palm.
It was one of the Tang Clan’s profound palm techniques, blooming in layers like red lotuses opening in succession.
He hastily twisted his shoulder at an angle, letting the first layer slide past, then lightly pushed away the second with the back of his hand.
“Miss Dang. Please, calm down first.”
He tried to stop her while she had taken a slight step back, but the hem of her sleeve instead rippled like water and gathered into a single point.
“Don’t try to deflect it this time. It’s better to block it.”
A third lotus, entirely different from the first two.
It was too late to evade, and too difficult to disperse as she had said, so he had no choice but to draw his sword.
- BOOM!
Even though it had only grazed his palm, the blade itself trembled violently.
The shock his sword had failed to absorb surged through his wrist and began to reverberate through his entire body.
“...”
Seomun Hwi looked from his shaking sword to Dang Sohye, who was already waiting for him with the next form prepared.
If it went this far, refusing to continue would be an insult to her as a martial artist.
He gathered his resolve, lifted his sword, and assumed his starting stance. Dang Sohye’s lips curved upward.
“So you’ve finally gained a little interest in sparring with me?”
Seomun Hwi narrowed his eyes and gave a slight nod.
“I have shown a pitiful side. From here on, I will devote myself fully so as not to disgrace Miss Dang’s honor.”
The moment he finished speaking, he felt a razor-edged force prickle over his entire body.
Dang Sohye swallowed hard as she looked at the source of that force.
...He didn’t have to take it that far.
---
“Haa... Hahh...”
Dang Sohye lay sprawled on the training-ground floor, gasping for breath.
She was still lovely, but her usually meticulous appearance had been thoroughly thrown into disarray.
She had clearly seen the two of them finish their spar, smiling as if nothing had happened, so what on earth had gone wrong here?
“Are you all right?”
This time, in contrast to before, it was Seomun Hwi looking down at Dang Sohye.
Dang Sohye managed to lift one heavy arm and point at him with her index finger.
“To your own beloved... huff... you really go easy...”
Her breathing was too ragged to make out clearly, but he more or less understood what she meant.
Seomun Hwi smiled and sat down heavily beside her.
“It is Cheongwol who goes easy on me.”
Dang Sohye’s eyes widened.
She had sparred with the foremost of the rising generation, and he was saying Cheongwol had held back?
That meant Cheongwol was several moves ahead of him in martial skill.
When she lifted her head to look at him in disbelief, Seomun Hwi gave a slight shake of his head, as though to drive the point home.
“I am not making it up. If Cheongwol were to truly unfold her martial arts, I am not sure I could last even ten exchanges.”
At that, Dang Sohye finally closed her eyes in resignation.
If her martial arts were that exceptional too, then there was nothing she could compare herself to.
Of course, the immense prestige of the Sichuan Tang Clan gave her some standing, but it would be far too shameless to bring that to bear here.
She had to prove that Dang Sohye herself was not lacking beside Cheongwol.
Only now, as her breathing gradually steadied, Dang Sohye let out a long exhale.
“...When you get right down to it, she’s the kind of woman anyone would end up liking. Miss Cheongwol, I mean.”
She had lost.
She had seen countless women of similarly distinguished families, but she had never once felt inferior to them.
And yet Cheongwol had made her feel this kind of wall between them.
For the first time in her life, defeat left a taste both strangely refreshing and bitter on her tongue.
“That is true. Anyone who speaks with Cheongwol would feel much the same.”
Seomun Hwi also agreed with a faint smile.
“...Of course, she will always remain a treasured friend to me.”
Even in a situation like this, he still tried to hide his affection to the end.
A little irritated, Dang Sohye mustered the last of her strength and threw herself at Seomun Hwi.
“Miss Dang!”
He could easily have shoved her away, but if he had, he would have sent the exhausted Dang Sohye sprawling to the ground.
Because of that, she was able to climb onto him without resistance.
Then, planting her palm on the solid breadth of his upper body, she lowered her head toward the startled man.
“Young Clan Leader. No, Seomun Hwi. Don’t provoke me too much. Cheongwol may be prettier in the face, but...”
Dang Sohye’s eyes curved seductively.
“As a woman, I’m several moves ahead of her.”