Chapter 253
“I intend to use that wish token now.”
So said Seo Mun-Hwarin as she entered my room, not in her usual martial attire, but dressed in something thinner.
Her outfit was strikingly provocative, leaving me momentarily speechless.
Seo Mun-Hwarin seemed no different, as a heavy silence wrapped around the room. Yet it was not an awkward quietude, but rather an atmosphere laden with tension, as though something were about to happen.
They say that when you lose your sight, your other senses become sharper. I don’t know if it was the same principle, but both Seo Mun-Hwarin and I began to feel our five senses heighten to the extreme in the absence of words.
A subtle fragrance lingered at the tip of my nose. It wasn’t from any flower, but likely from Seo Mun-Hwarin herself, whose body had undergone a near-rebirth.
The scent was unchanged from before my regression, yet the same—it brought both tension and a strange sense of comfort. Within it, I could hear faint breathing.
Her breathing was irregular, perhaps from nerves. That slight panting sound had to be Seo Mun-Hwarin’s.
It wasn’t as though she was close enough for me to hear her breath, but… I had reached the Flowering Stage, and my sharpened senses made it feel like it was right by my ear.
My mental guard began to loosen. Trying to regain my composure, I deliberately ignored the scent and sound. I shouldn't have. With those senses suppressed, my vision became even more focused.
Though it wasn’t martial attire, her clothes were loose and easy to move in. They looked like something meant for sleeping, highlighting comfort, yet… the fabric was far too thin to be called mere sleepwear.
The sun had set, and the world was dark. The red glow of the lantern inside was brighter than the pale moonlight seeping in through the window.
Seo Mun-Hwarin, standing relatively close to the light, had her silhouette faintly revealed through her clothes.
It wasn’t enough to show skin, but the shape of her body, previously hidden by loose garments, was now clearly outlined.
Of course, Tang Sowol’s poison sac or Seol Lihyang’s dense yin energy made them seem far more prominent in comparison. Still, looking at her now, Seo Mun-Hwarin wasn’t lacking either. At the very least, it was clear she was very much a woman.
“Ah.”
...It would probably hurt if she were hit with force.
The feel of Seo Mun-Hwarin’s ribcage flashed through my mind. So much had happened, but it hadn’t even been a full day, so the memory was vivid.
Snapping back to reality, I shook my head. Seo Mun-Hwarin, as if going through the same thought process, shook her head with a dazed expression.
Glancing down, I realized I was in a relaxed state myself, having loosened my clothes while lounging in the corner of the room.
I straightened the collar that had slipped down to my shoulders and opened my mouth.
“Where are you looking?”
“Ah, I wasn’t looking at anything! And you—what exactly were you looking at?!”
“I was obviously looking at you, Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin.”
“Ugh! You mean this one...?”
***
“What do you think when you look at this one?”
A light, seemingly innocent question. But seeing her solemn expression and the way she swallowed nervously, I realized it.
Seo Mun-Hwarin had made up her mind.
I shrugged, masking my internal unease, and replied.
“You look cold. It may be spring, but the weather hasn't fully warmed yet. I think you should wear something thicker. You're not young anymore, and you might catch something.”
Seo Mun-Hwarin flinched at the mention of her age but said nothing. Instead of reacting with her usual dramatic outburst, she quietly took a step closer.
Then, placing one hand gently on her chest, she spoke.
“Then, you can warm this one up.”
She closed the distance so I couldn’t simply laugh it off. There was nowhere left to retreat.
Letting out a short sigh, I asked,
“Huuh. Is that your wish, Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin?”
“And if it is, what will you do?”
“I’m sorry to say this, but… do you not have any other wishes?”
My roundabout refusal made Seo Mun-Hwarin flinch slightly.
Frozen in place for a moment, she slowly looked up at me.
“Eh…? Have I become repulsive to you?”
Just moments ago she had been confidently approaching, but now she was dejected.
Perhaps her courage, which she had mustered up for this, was depleted. Her voice grew smaller.
“You already have a fiancée, and now here I am throwing myself at you. And though not formal yet, Hyang is to become your concubine, too… I must seem ridiculous.”
“Well, yes.”
“Besides, as you just said, this one is not young. Do you remember? Originally, this one even considered taking you in as an adopted son.”
“That… did happen, yes.”
My tepid response, coupled with the earlier refusal, seemed to break her spirit. Shoulders drooping, she wore a heartbreakingly sorrowful expression.
“Yes. It’s only natural you'd be repulsed by this one. Sorry for everything. This one will leave now, so get some rest.”
After finally taking a step forward, Seo Mun-Hwarin turned and began to walk away, shoulders heavy.
Unlike Tang Sowol, who naturally occupied the space beside me, or Seol Lihyang, who gritted her teeth and forced her way in, Seo Mun-Hwarin gave up quickly. I could guess why.
She must have often wondered if she was even allowed to feel this way.
Using the wish token as an excuse, she had finally mustered the courage, but with my vague reaction, she resigned herself.
Foolish.
I sprang up and embraced Seo Mun-Hwarin from behind, lightly, just enough to wrap my arms around her small shoulders and the nape of her neck.
“Uheh…???”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“W-Well, anyone would make a sound like that if suddenly hugged like this!”
“No, I wasn’t talking about that.”
I slowly stepped back, pulling Seo Mun-Hwarin away from the door. Then I released her and turned her toward me, holding her by the shoulders.
“I meant—why would you say something as foolish as me being repulsed by you?”
“Hmm?”
Blinking, Seo Mun-Hwarin tilted her head slightly.
“But didn’t you say you couldn’t grant this one’s wish?”
“I did.”
“Does that not mean you refuse to hold this one?”
“You understood correctly.”
“Then it seems this one misunderstood nothing.”
Seo Mun-Hwarin had boldly misread things but firmly so. I shook my head.
“Who in the world says yes when someone comes at them out of nowhere like that? There’s a proper order to everything.”
“B-But didn’t you say so yourself?! That you’d grant this one any wish she desired! And yet now you take it back—was it because you hated the idea that much?!”
“What are you saying? There’s no way I could hate you, Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin. I was surprised, yes, but…”
Before my regression, Seo Mun-Hwarin had been my benefactor and teacher. But I also remember her words.
When I called her my teacher, she mumbled that it wasn’t so bad, even though a hint of disappointment laced her voice.
And in this life, Seo Mun-Hwarin sometimes failed to hide her emotions, letting them slip out.
There was no one around me as easy to read as Seo Mun-Hwarin. Of course I knew how she saw me.
I just hadn’t approached or acknowledged it first.
After all, I am engaged.
Even though I sensed that Tang Sowol wouldn’t mind if I included Seol Lihyang and even Seo Mun-Hwarin, I had yet to get her explicit approval.
“More than anything, I didn’t want you to feel forced to pursue me.”
“What kind of nonsense is that now?”
“It’s simple.”
Seo Mun-Hwarin had returned to the martial world in secret, seeking a new life and to reclaim her lost happiness.
And not long after, she was discovered—by me.
From then on, she’d been with me.
I don’t regret getting involved. I know too well how despondent she had become before my regression, how even her resignation was filled with sorrow.
So I think things are much better now.
However—
“Maybe… maybe your feelings for me are like a newborn chick imprinting on its mother. Perhaps there’s a better choice out there for you. That thought…”
“That, now that is the real nonsense.”
Her tone turned cold and firm, as if slightly angry.
Unlike earlier, Seo Mun-Hwarin now began pushing me back step by step. And with every step I retreated, she followed, until my heel caught the edge of the bed and I stopped.
But Seo Mun-Hwarin didn’t stop. She pushed me back onto the bed and climbed atop me.
Her eyes narrowed with determination. It wasn’t intimidating, but her sincerity was undeniable.
“It’s true that this one met you too soon. Almost everything this one has done since returning to the world has involved you. But I do not wear clothes like this and come in the dead of night to just anyone for that reason alone.”
“That’s…”
“That’s enough. Answer me again.”
Seo Mun-Hwarin looked straight at me.
Her transparent gaze revealed her affection clearly.
“This one’s wish is to rebuild the Seo Mun Clan with you. Will you grant it?”
Panting slightly, she posed the question sincerely.
I closed my mouth for a moment, and old memories began to flicker in my mind.
The time I had just joined the Black Lotus Sect and, shortly after, was demoted to Ironblood Hall.
Despite my stubbornness and rough demeanor, Seo Mun-Hwarin was the first to reach out to me.
Though I was more beast than man, having learned nothing, she taught me decency, how not to hate the world, and even shared her martial arts with me.
Even in her final moments, she only wanted to remain as a flower in my memory.
Though I couldn’t accept it then, her kindness and lessons were deeply etched in my heart.
And in this life, it was much the same.
I kept turning away with excuses, but deep down, the answer was always clear.
I want flowers to bloom once more on a tree long thought dead.
I want green shoots to sprout from the ashes.
I want Seo Mun-Hwarin to be happy, just as she desires.
And—
I hope that I can be the one to make that happen.
After gathering my thoughts, I spoke carefully.
“You can’t.”
The light in Seo Mun-Hwarin’s eyes vanished in an instant. I quickly wrapped my arms around her waist and continued.
“At least, not right now.”
“Does that mean later is okay?”
“Yes. I already have two prior commitments.”
“Oh.”
Then, as if realizing something, Seo Mun-Hwarin leaned in and whispered near my ear.
“Have you… with Sowol or Hyang…?”
“That hasn’t happened yet.”
“Th-Then it can’t be helped. In that case… how far can we go?”
“Hmm. A kiss, perhaps.”
Gulp.
Seo Mun-Hwarin swallowed once, then asked with a voice full of hopeful anticipation:
“Where will you let me kiss you…?”
“I’ll leave that up to your discretion, Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin.”
A sly smile formed on her lips.
And Seo Mun-Hwarin moved just a bit closer.