Chapter 277: Daoist Yin-Yang Manual[R-18] (107)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 277: Daoist Yin-Yang Manual[R-18] (107)
Our party was about to head straight for Cheonghae, but Ju Yeon-hwa unexpectedly came down with a sudden cold.
She lay with her hot forehead buried in the blankets, her body curled up as she tried to stifle her coughs.
“Cough… cough… I’m sorry, Young Master Jin…”
I placed a hand on her damp forehead and gently brushed her hair back.
“Not at all. You can’t possibly travel in this condition.”
Ju Yeon-hwa looked at me with apologetic eyes. Her golden pupils were hazy with fever, and tears welled at their corners.
“Still… I’m worried I’m being a burden…”
“A burden? Don’t be ridiculous. When you’re sick, you should rest. It’s only natural.”
Just then, Hong Seo-rin quietly entered the room.
In her hands was a bowl of medicinal herbs.
“I’ve prepared some medicine. You should feel a little better after drinking this.”
Ju Yeon-hwa gave a small nod and tried to sit up, but she was too weak to keep her balance. I slid an arm behind her back and gently supported her.
“Slowly now.”
As her body touched my hand, I felt a heat far more intense than I’d expected. I had a gut feeling this was no ordinary cold.
“Sister, her fever… it’s not normal.”
Hong Seo-rin immediately placed her hand on Ju Yeon-hwa’s forehead.
Her brow furrowed slightly.
“You’re right. This doesn’t seem like a simple cold…”
After drinking the medicine, Ju Yeon-hwa lay back down quietly in the blankets and murmured in a faint voice.
“Cough… I’m so sorry to both of you… for my sake…”
“Not at all, Your Highness. I should have been more careful…”
Hong Seo-rin lowered her head, gently taking Ju Yeon-hwa’s hand in her own as she knelt.
Her expression was filled with deep self-reproach. A moment later, she looked up at me and spoke quietly.
“Seo-yun, while I was out getting the medicine, I asked the Haomun branch to find any nearby healers. But…”
She hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook her head.
“The Cheongseong Sect recently hired all the healers in this area to treat a large number of their people. They took every last one from the nearby cities and villages.”
“So… you’re saying there are no available healers in the region right now.”
“That’s right. So I’m going to head to the Cheongseong Sect myself.”
Hearing this, I looked up and said, “Wouldn’t it be better if I went? You still haven’t fully recovered from your fatigue, Sister.”
Hong Seo-rin quietly shook her head.
“You only just recovered yesterday yourself. It’s my turn to make a move.”
Her tone was firm. I considered it for a moment, then nodded.
“…Understood. I’ll take full responsibility for Her Highness’s care until you return.”
Hong Seo-rin left immediately, and the room fell silent. The only sounds that filled the stillness were the wind whistling outside the window and the sound of Ju Yeon-hwa’s breathing. I checked on her condition and re-soaked the cloth on her forehead.
“Young Master… Jin…”
Her voice was still weak, but her eyes seemed clearer than before. It seemed the medicine Hong Seo-rin had given her was starting to take effect.
“Yes, Your Highness. What is it?”
“Water… I’d like some water…”
“Please wait a moment. I’ll bring it right away.”
As I turned to get the water, her hand caught my sleeve.
“…Don’t go.”
Her eyes were filled with anxiety. She looked like a small child, afraid of being left alone.
“It’s alright, Your Highness. I’m only getting water. I’ll be right back.”
She gave a faint nod, and I quickly returned with a cup of water. Ju Yeon-hwa managed to sit up and drink. As her throat moved, a faint light seemed to shine through her pale skin.
“Thank you…”
After finishing the water, she lay back down. Her gaze remained on me.
“Young Master Jin… aren’t you going to rest?”
“I’m fine. Your Highness’s condition is more important.”
Ju Yeon-hwa smiled faintly.
“Thank you… truly.”
In the silence that followed, Ju Yeon-hwa’s gaze slowly drifted up to mine, as if she were studying my reaction.
Her lips parted very slowly, as if in hesitation.
“…Young Master Jin.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
She lowered her eyes, letting out a careful breath.
Her voice was impossibly small and trembling, but it held a strange heat.
“Could you… perhaps… w-wipe my body…? I’ve been sweating so much… I feel sticky…”
At her words, I narrowed my eyes and looked at her.
“…Are you sure? You still have a high fever, Your Highness.”
She gave a small nod.
“I’m fine… I think it might actually help it go down. And… if it’s you, then it’s okay.”
“Understood. Please wait a moment.”
I slowly rose from my seat and left the room. At the end of the hall, next to the medicine pot, I carefully gathered a clean towel and a ceramic bowl filled with warm water.
*
The moment Jin Seo-yun left the room, Ju Yeon-hwa’s face flushed with embarrassment, and she pulled the blanket over her head.
‘Did I… did I just ask a man I’m not related to… to wipe my body…?’
Her heart pounded. The heat rising to her ears wasn’t just from the fever.
‘What do I do… I… I was the one who said it first…’
She curled into a small ball under the covers. But when she closed her eyes, her mind involuntarily began to imagine what was about to happen.
‘If… if Young Master Jin touches me… will it feel like this…?’
His fingertips slowly tracing over her collarbone, along the line of her neck to her shoulder, and then…
‘No… what am I thinking…?’
But her mind was already conjuring scenes beyond that.
A hand slipping beneath the blanket. Herself, holding her breath. And what if he, as if by accident, pushed his hand deeper, under her clothes…
“Hah…”
A small moan escaped Ju Yeon-hwa’s lips. Startled by her own voice, she clamped a hand over her mouth.
‘No… I have to calm down… before Young Master Jin comes back…!’
But the sweat beading on her forehead, the heat in her chest, and the sensations gathering beneath the blanket were not so easily subdued.
Just then, the door opened quietly.
“Pardon the intrusion.”
Jin Seo-yun entered, holding the bowl of water and a clean towel. He still looked as calm and unbothered as ever, but…
Ju Yeon-hwa froze as if her whole body had turned to ice.
‘…Did he hear me?’
She subtly turned her head to study his expression, but he simply set the water down and said quietly, “It seems your fever has gotten higher.”
“Ah… yes…”
Hearing Jin Seo-yun’s voice, she felt a thud not in her heart, but in the pit of her stomach.
Jin Seo-yun soaked the towel in the water, then carefully took hold of the edge of her blanket with one hand.
“First… your upper body. Is that alright?”
“Yes… y-yes… you may…”
She quietly nodded her head.
“Your Highness, I will now remove your clothes.”
At his words, Ju Yeon-hwa’s eyes instinctively widened slightly.
It felt as if her heart had stopped cold.
“…Yes…”
A small voice. But the moment that single word fell, her breathing had already become twice as ragged as before.
Jin Seo-yun slowly began to untie the strings of her top.
‘Don’t tremble… calm down… he’s just… wiping me down…’
She repeated the words to herself. But the sweat clinging to the skin beneath her undergarments, and the flesh hidden within, felt warm and sensitive, as if waiting for someone’s touch.
When the strap of her undergarment slipped slightly down her shoulder, she flinched in spite of herself.
“My apologies. Is it too cold?”
“N-no… I was just… a little startled…”
She forced a smile as she answered, but the corner of her lip was trembling minutely.
He acted as if nothing was amiss, lifting the towel and beginning to slowly wipe her damp skin.
“From your neck, to your collarbone… and down to your ribs, I will wipe you with the wet towel.”
“…Yesss…”
She answered again, but a strange tremor shot through her lower abdomen. Beneath the blanket, her legs, which had been quietly rubbing together, clamped shut even tighter without her realizing.
‘No… I think I’m really losing it…’
Ju Yeon-hwa squeezed her eyes shut. With every slow glide of the wet towel along the line of her neck, a chilling sensation spread from her skin to the very depths of her body.
The contrast between the cool water and his warm fingertips was strangely stimulating a place that had nothing to do with her cold.
Jin Seo-yun’s touch.
It was careful, yet held a strange intensity.
Like a hunter, waiting for her to break.
“Your Highness, your shoulders are very tense. Would it be alright if I… gave you a light massage as well?”
‘A massage… not a massage…’
At that single word, Ju Yeon-hwa’s shoulders stiffened.
An image flashed reflexively through her mind.
The moment Hong Seo-rin had lain on Jin Seo-yun’s bed, using a massage as an excuse to fall into his arms. And what followed was a physical union that could no longer be called a massage.
“Is something… wrong?”
Jin Seo-yun’s voice cut through her thoughts. Startled, Ju Yeon-hwa quickly shook her head.
“N-no! I was just… thinking about something else for a moment…”
Her words trailed off. Jin Seo-yun’s hand stopped, and he quietly looked down at her face.
“Are you really alright? Your face… it seems to have gotten a little redder.”
“It must be the fever.”
The words came out in a rush. But she knew it herself. This wasn’t just a fever.
As the hand that started at her nape now reached below her collarbone, she unknowingly held her breath.
And then Jin Seo-yun’s hand began to carefully, yet without hesitation, pull down the strap of her undergarment completely.
Ju Yeon-hwa reflexively lifted an arm to cover her chest. But just before her fingertips made contact, she hesitated and stopped.
Her arm froze in mid-air as she swallowed hard.
“It’s alright. If you do not wish it, Your Highness, I will stop here.”
“…No!”
The word burst out of her almost instinctively. Ju Yeon-hwa, flustered, bit her lip and lowered her head.
“…Just… please continue.”
Jin Seo-yun’s gaze deepened. He looked at her face for a moment, then nodded and lowered her undergarment more slowly, more carefully.
In that instant, her breasts were completely exposed. Two perfectly sized, firm peaks, and the pale nipples at their centers, standing erect as if reacting to the cool air.
Ju Yeon-hwa’s face flushed red as she squeezed her eyes shut. It was the first time she had ever revealed her breasts so nakedly in front of a man, especially… him.
His gaze flowed over her chest. That silent, piercing gaze felt hotter and heavier than any touch.
“Your Highness…”
His voice paused for a moment.
“You are truly… beautiful.”