The Poison Flower's Obsession
Dang Ye-ran, the Poison Flower.
She was a direct descendant of the Dang Clan's leader, born and raised within its walls. If I recalled correctly, she was exactly twenty years old.
I had seen her earlier, but she was undeniably a beauty—elegant, yet radiating a healthy, vibrant energy.
She was the polar opposite of Cheon Ui-jin's sister, Mu-hui.
But regardless of the contrast, she took after her mother, Pi Yeon-jin, and was exceptionally beautiful. Even Ui-jin, who had grown up looking at his own stunning sister, had stared at her blankly for a moment.
The problem was...
Why is she here?
What reason did she have to hide and watch us?
Do-hyeong did not remove his hand from his sword, even after realizing the intruder was Dang Ye-ran.
His expression remained stony, his guard fully raised.
If anything, he drew his refined aura even tighter, lowering the temperature around him as he braced for conflict.
"State your business," Do-hyeong said, his voice laced with frost.
Dang Ye-ran offered an awkward smile. "Ahahaha... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spy on you. I just... ended up hiding before I knew it."
"State your business," Do-hyeong repeated, demanding an explanation.
"Well... you see..." Dang Ye-ran pursed her lips, looking troubled. "I have some business with one of your companions."
"Companions?"
"Yes, that's right. Him." Dang Ye-ran shifted her gaze to me and took a step forward.
In that instant—
Scree!
Do-hyeong drew his sword halfway from its scabbard.
Is he insane?
I gasped inwardly. She wasn't just anyone; she was the precious daughter of the Dang Clan. And he was drawing his sword on her?
I had to admire Do-hyeong's sheer audacity.
"Do not come any closer," Do-hyeong warned.
"Oh my." Dang Ye-ran raised both hands and stepped back. Genuine fluster showed on her face.
"Ah... did I forget to introduce myself? I am—"
Thinking he didn't know who she was, she tried to introduce herself, but—
"I know who you are, Lady Poison Flower," Do-hyeong said flatly.
"...Ah, yes. I see." Dang Ye-ran looked awkward again. His response meant he was acting this way despite knowing exactly who she was.
"Hmm. Then what should I... Huh?" Dang Ye-ran, lost in thought, suddenly widened her eyes as she spotted something.
"Oh?"
Without hesitation, she marched forward. Do-hyeong frowned, his hand moving to draw his sword completely.
Shring.
But before he could—
Grab!
"...!"
Dang Ye-ran snatched Do-hyeong's hand.
Was it an attack? Just as I was debating whether to draw my own sword, she spoke.
"This... this is a sword from Cheolgang, isn't it?"
"...What?" Do-hyeong muttered.
Dang Ye-ran's eyes sparkled as she began examining Do-hyeong's sword.
"It's even Silver-grade! The edge is a bit chipped, but I can tell it's been well-maintained. The core structure shows a lot of effort went into it. Oh my... who forged this? It couldn't be the Lord of the Valley. Was it Uncle Tae? No, if it's this style..."
She examined the sword from every angle as if possessed. It looked like she might snatch it away at any second.
Her sudden madness left both Do-hyeong and me utterly frozen.
"Lady Poison Flower...?" I called out tentatively.
"What kind of iron did they use? It doesn't feel like ordinary iron. An alloy? Well, of course, it's hard to get a Silver-grade rating with just plain iron. I knew I should have tried mixing other materials... Ah."
She cut herself off mid-ramble, suddenly realizing what she was doing.
She quickly stepped back, flashing a bright, innocent smile.
"I'm so sorry. I lose my mind whenever I see things like this."
"..."
No kidding. You really did lose it.
"Ah. If possible, could you show me your swords later too...?"
"...What do you think you are doing?" Do-hyeong, deciding he had had enough, tried to draw his sword completely, but—
"...?"
He froze. His scabbard was empty.
Do-hyeong slowly looked up at Dang Ye-ran.
"Sorry about this, too," she said, still smiling, holding Do-hyeong's sword in her hands.
When had she taken it? Neither of us had noticed. I wondered what she planned to do with it, but—
"Here." Dang Ye-ran stepped forward gently and handed the sword back to Do-hyeong.
"I really didn't hide out of malice. Won't you please believe me?"
"..."
Do-hyeong took the sword and slid it back into his sheath. Was that display just to prove she meant no harm?
"Lady Poison Flower—"
"Oh, and I don't really like being called the Poison Flower... so please call me by my name if you can."
"...Lady Dang," Do-hyeong corrected himself immediately. I'd noticed this before, but Do-hyeong was surprisingly compliant when asked politely.
"Thank you."
"What is your business with us?"
"Ah, it's not actually with all three of you." Dang Ye-ran turned her head to look at me. "Young Master Bang Seong-yeon? My business is with you."
"Me?" I pointed a finger at myself.
"Yes!" she replied with a bright smile.
My face contorted. Why were both mother and daughter targeting me like this?
Ah, dammit.
I was already exhausted. I had known I was her target the moment she appeared. It was impossible to miss, given how her eyes had been glued to me the entire time.
This is uncomfortable.
Extremely uncomfortable, especially given the current circumstances.
"Young Master Bang, could we speak for a moment? In private, if possible."
I clicked my tongue inwardly. "At this time of night? Just the two of us? You're quite bold."
"If you don't like the night, daytime is fine too. Though I do prefer the night."
Her choice of words was remarkably provocative. It felt entirely intentional, which only made it worse.
Dang Ye-ran smiled, determined not to back down. Ah, this woman was going to be a handful.
So she's not just some naive noble lady.
The vibe she gave off was completely different. I hadn't met many people like her, but characters with this kind of intense personality were always the hardest to deal with.
What should I do? Should I just ignore her and walk away? I could, but...
Hmm.
After a brief hesitation, I made up my mind.
"Young Master Cheon. Senior. Would it be alright if I stayed behind to talk for a bit?"
"Will you be okay?" Ui-jin asked.
"Yes. I'll catch up shortly."
Do-hyeong nodded at my words. Cheon Ui-jin looked a bit disappointed, likely because our sparring session was cut short, but he didn't try to stop me.
As the two turned to leave, Do-hyeong placed a hand on my shoulder and whispered, "Be careful."
I nodded. Careful? Of course I would be. If there was one thing I excelled at, it was caution. And when dealing with the Dang Clan, one could never be too careful.
Once Cheon Ui-jin and Do-hyeong disappeared into the night, I was left alone with Dang Ye-ran.
I stared at her, wondering what on earth she wanted to say.
"I heard my mother's first love was your father?" she asked point-blank.
"Holy shit."
The sudden verbal missile caught me completely off guard, and the curse slipped out before I could stop it. Startled by my own reaction, I quickly slapped a hand over my mouth.
"Oh my?" Dang Ye-ran's eyes widened at my profanity.
"...I apologize. I was just so shocked."
"No, it's fine. That was fun."
"What was...?"
"It's the first time a guy my age has cursed right to my face."
"And you find that fun?"
"Of course. Usually, people are too afraid of dying to do that."
"...Should I apologize again?" I asked. If she wanted, I was willing to get down on my knees.
"Hahaha, no, really. It was fun." Dang Ye-ran laughed merrily.
No matter how I looked at it, her personality was bizarre. Dang Jun and Dang Gyeong-ak were cold, chilling individuals, so why was this woman so cheerful?
"Ah, I just brought it up to break the ice, but your reaction was truly entertaining, Young Master."
"People don't usually call that 'breaking the ice.'"
More like breaking the mood, or breaking my mind. Nothing positive was going to come out of this conversation.
The real problem, though...
"...But is that actually true?"
...was that I was secretly curious about it myself. Was Lady Pi's first love really my father, just as Dang Ye-ran said?
Dang Ye-ran tilted her head. "You didn't know?"
"No."
How could I? I had never cared about my father's past romantic exploits. Or maybe I had heard about it before but had just tuned it out as useless noise.
"My mother used to say one thing all the time," she said.
"...What was it?" I asked, genuinely curious.
Dang Ye-ran quoted her mother cheerfully:
"There are plenty of men in the world, but even if your heart is ripped out, never associate with a man of the Bang family. And if you ever do run into one, kill him before you get involved."
"..."
I shouldn't have asked. I instantly regretted it.
Despite delivering such a bloodthirsty warning, Dang Ye-ran's expression remained completely nonchalant.
"Isn't my mother just adorable?" she asked.
"...In what way?"
"It's cute how she still hasn't gotten over her first love."
"No, wait..."
I didn't even know where to begin correcting her. But if I had to pick one thing—
"Why are you so sure he was her first love?"
Why was she so convinced that Pi Yeon-jin's first love was my father? There was absolutely no mention of a "first love" in that warning.
Dang Ye-ran looked at me as if I was the one being dense. "If she still remembers him that vividly, of course he was her first love. Have you never had a first love, Young Master?"
"..."
Her logic was so absurdly confident that I was temporarily left speechless.
"Ah... I see."
I simply nodded. It was the safest option.
"She told me that meeting a Bang would ruin my life, and that if I ever saw one, I shouldn't even look in their direction, let alone get involved."
I rubbed my face with my hand. What on earth did my father do to her? How badly did he mess up for her to be this traumatized?
Suppressing my exasperation, I asked, "...Right. So, what business do you have with this member of the Bang family whom you were warned never to associate with?"
Why go out of her way to violate her mother's strict orders just to see me?
"Oh, I don't really care about things like that."
"You don't need to explain."
She seemed to notice the slight edge in my voice, but that wasn't what mattered. The real question was why she had sought me out. That was far more important to me.
When I pressed her to get to the point, Dang Ye-ran hesitated. "Ah, well... you see..."
What's with her?
Her attitude shifted instantly. She had been speaking so freely just a moment ago, but now she looked incredibly shy. The color was rising in her neck and ears.
What was with this reaction? She was shrinking back, looking for all the world like a girl about to confess her love. Her face was flushed, her cheeks rosy with excitement, and her pretty eyes shone with a strange affection.
...What is she doing?
Why was she suddenly acting like this? I took a cautious step back.
Was she really about to confess to me? Given what she had just told me about her mother, my mind was in a state of utter confusion. My brain felt like it was short-circuiting.
Then, Dang Ye-ran spoke.
"...M-Ma..."
Ma?
"Please let me... s-see Man-wol...!"
"...?"
It was an incredibly bizarre request to make with such a bashful expression. All my previous worries vanished in an instant, replaced by a look of sheer disgust on my face.
"...What?"
"Man-wol... You brought Man-wol with you, didn't you? I know all about it...!"
"Wait..."
I had brought it, yes, but why was she bringing that up now?
"Please, just let me see it once... It's really my lifelong wish! I'll do whatever you want in return!"
"Wow."
That was a highly dangerous offer. And looking at her eyes, she was dead serious. It made even less sense.
"So, you're acting like this just to see a broken sword...?"
"A broken sword...?"
Dang Ye-ran's expression shifted instantly.
"How can you call that masterpiece a 'broken sword'?"
"Huh?"
She looked genuinely angry now. The way her eyes narrowed sharply gave me a brief, chilling glimpse of the Poison King's face in her features.
"It is a Special-grade sword, the kind that Cheolgang only produces once a decade! And above all, it is a masterpiece forged by my grandfather himself!"
"...Ah. Right..."
A Special-grade sword from Cheolgang. That actually surprised me. I knew it was impressive since it belonged to Yoo Chun-gil, but a Special-grade?
So it was a Special-grade.
I knew it was rare since it was made of Cold Iron, but I hadn't expected it to be classified as Special-grade.
Aren't there only a handful of people in the world who own one of those?
A masterpiece among masterpieces forged by the Dang Clan.
As far as public knowledge went, the only ones known were the Muryang Sword bestowed upon the current Martial Alliance Leader, the Plum Blossom Justice Sword held by the Sect Leader of Mount Hua, and the sword currently wielded by the Sect Leader of Wudang. Yet, Man-wol was also a Special-grade weapon.
That rusty, shattered sword...?
No wonder the old ghost had thrown such a fit. I probably would have done the same. But that was beside the point.
"Please, is there any way? I absolutely must see it." Dang Ye-ran was practically begging now, reaching out to grab the hem of my pants.
"Whoa, what are you doing?!"
"Please!"
"Hey...! Let go! You're pulling my pants down, woman! Just go ask your father for permission!"
"He obviously wouldn't let me, which is why I'm asking you! You're Senior Yoo's successor! That means you're the owner of the sword now, aren't you, Young Master Bang?!"
I clutched my waistband tightly. This was driving me insane. I had not anticipated this situation at all.
"Why do you want to see it so badly anyway?"
I couldn't understand why a lady of the Dang Clan would be so obsessed with a sword.
"Well, that's because..." Dang Ye-ran started to explain, but I cut her off.
"Is it because your hobby is blacksmithing? If that's the case, you don't really—Ah."
I clamped my mouth shut. I had slipped up.
"Huh?" Dang Ye-ran blinked blankly, her grip on my pants loosening.
And then—
"...Oh?"
The desperation vanished from her eyes, replaced by a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.
I bit my lip.
I screwed up.
As always, my big mouth was my own worst enemy.