Chapter 195. Comfort

The sunlight that had reached deep into the room grew shorter. Only a hand’s span away from the window, the light was slowly fading.

Watching time slip away, So-hwa awkwardly placed her hovering hand on Haerak’s shoulder.

This whole position had been absurd from the start, and though it bothered her, something told her she shouldn’t disturb it.

Tang So-hwa was a little surprised to discover that she actually had such an instinct.

She waited for the Main Blood Hall Lord to collect himself, but he showed no sign of pulling away.

So-hwa, after a moment, gently pressed against his shoulder to nudge him back.

Tak.

The Main Blood Hall Lord covered the back of her hand with his own, then drew it upward, placing it on the back of his neck.

“…What are you doing?”

“Comfort. Are you not good at this sort of thing?”

It was hard to tell if his words were teasing or sincere.

Still, judging from experience—since more than half of what he said was usually teasing—she assumed this, too, was a jest.

“…Do you really think I’d be any good at that?”

At her dry reply, the Main Blood Hall Lord gave a small laugh.

“Then we’re alike. I don’t know how to comfort anyone either.”

So-hwa didn’t answer. Instead, she used her other hand to push at his shoulder again.

As she started to rise, Haerak’s arm slipped around her waist and pulled her back down.

Just as she was about to rebuke him sharply for crossing the line, Haerak spoke first.

“I’m crying right now.”

He buried his face against her shoulder, and a faint sniffle followed.

“It’s uncomfortable for both of us, so let’s just stay like this for a while. Wouldn’t forcing yourself to offer awkward comfort be harder on you, too? Once I calm down, I’ll get up on my own, so please wait.”

The expression slowly faded from So-hwa’s face as she stared straight ahead.

She was wearing only what could barely be called inner garments—thin fabric, and her left shoulder, where Haerak’s face now rested, had been torn earlier by a dagger. Her bare skin was exposed beneath the thin robe.

Through the loosened collar, the warmth of the Main Blood Hall Lord’s body pressed closer.

His dry cheek brushed against her collarbone, then the bridge of his nose grazed along the curve of her neck.

So-hwa closed her eyes with an unreadable expression.

The Tang Clan of Sichuan was a family of long-standing lineage. She was of an age to marry, and her clan was one that avoided even the smallest scandal.

She had learned many things as a daughter of such a family—among them, matters concerning the continuation of bloodlines.

And since she had returned to an ambiguous age, she had been taught those lessons twice.

So she was not ignorant of the ways between man and woman.

She felt the hand that had been supporting the back of her head slide downward. Heat spread along the hollow of her spine.

So-hwa knew perfectly well what kind of atmosphere Haerak was trying to create.

Her eyelids rose slowly, revealing black irises gleaming faintly in the dim light. Perhaps because no light reached them, her eyes looked almost entirely dark.

Seureuk.

So-hwa’s hand, which had been resting on Haerak’s shoulder, moved downward slowly.

Her fingers curled slightly as they passed over his chest.

Then stopped before the bare skin exposed between the parted front of his robes—

and struck forward swiftly.

Tak!

But her fist never reached his solar plexus—it was caught in the Main Blood Hall Lord’s hand.

Holding her wrist, Haerak finally pulled back, his gaze meeting hers with an expression of pure disbelief.

“…You really hit me for real?”

So-hwa answered in a cold voice.

“You said you were crying, yet your face is clean.”

Haerak flinched, then scowled brazenly.

“Extreme Yang bodies dissipate moisture quickly.”

“If you had leaked your internal energy, do you think I wouldn’t have noticed?”

“……”

So-hwa shook off the hand that held hers and stood.

She smoothed her clothing and said,

“I consider myself indebted to you. I intend to repay you more than you expect. However……”

Straightening slowly, So-hwa spoke in a frosty tone.

“I will not give my body.”

“What?”

The Main Blood Hall Lord looked up at her with a blank, puzzled expression. But Tang So-hwa didn’t answer.

She went to the closet to change into fresh clothes. As she was about to leave the room, the quiet Main Blood Hall Lord spoke.

“Put them on here. I’ll step out.”

Agreeing, So-hwa closed the door again.

Yet, contrary to his words, Haerak didn’t leave—he remained seated on the floor.

So-hwa’s thin brows rose.

“Didn’t you say you’d leave?”

“I’ll go soon.”

“……”

“I don’t think we’ll see each other for a while, so I wanted to look at you longer.”

Haerak said this with an odd little laugh.

“I’m afraid I’ll forget the face of someone so contradictory.”

“Contradictory?”

“You act like you know everything, yet you really don’t, and then you go and cause problems. It’s exhausting.”

It could have been offensive, but she had received his help more than once, so she couldn’t deny it.

So-hwa swallowed her shame and replied.

“I appreciate what you did for me. I’m sorry for making things more complicated than expected.”

“There you go again.”

He snorted and ran a hand along his jaw.

“Even when you act as if you understand nothing, you still manage to judge the situation correctly, which is frustrating.”

“……”

“I say that to tease you, yet you take shame and turn it into making the other person seem petty…”

His gaze slowly dropped to the woman’s disordered collar.

“I thought you didn’t treat me like a man, but you accurately know when to keep your distance.”

Haerak blinked slowly and lifted his golden eyes.

A short silence passed.

He tilted his lips and said,

“Not bad. It seems you have some awareness of me being a man. Maybe something will change after I return.”

A faint crease appeared between So-hwa’s brows.

“Where are you planning to go?”

Haerak nodded once.

“No, I mean, where are you going?”

When So-hwa asked again, Haerak gave a teasing half-smile.

“Why are you curious about that?”

“If you’re returning to the Central Plains, come with me. The passages in the North Sea should all be blocked; once I find Cold Iron, I’ll send you ahead.”

“Appreciate the offer, but I’ll pass.”

Haerak rose and declined.

“All the Four Directions Hall fellows know my face. I don’t want to get tangled up and ruin the reputation I spent three years building.”

“How will you return, then?”

“There are passages along the border where the Central Plains meet the North Sea or the Great Desert.”

“Wouldn’t that take time? The Blood Demon might be coming. What if you encounter him?”

Haerak murmured to himself.

“That means I must hurry.”

So-hwa noticed something strange.

“Our conversation keeps sidestepping. Are you hiding something from me?”

“You always manage to guess right despite knowing nothing. Now that contradiction is starting to scare me.”

So-hwa fixed her gaze on the Main Blood Hall Lord’s face, trying to read the meaning behind his cryptic words.

Watching his expression closely, she spoke again.

“Come with me.”

A strange feeling stirred in her chest.

She couldn’t explain it, but something felt wrong.

“I’ll distract the Four Directions Hall and open the passage first. Let’s return to the island together.”

But the Main Blood Hall Lord only curved his eyes faintly, offering no reply.

“Before that… can I ask you a favor?”

Haerak, now standing before her, lifted his head and glanced around the room.

“Doyu put a lot of effort into this place for you.”

The sudden change of subject made So-hwa wait silently for him to get to the point. Fortunately, he didn’t take long.

“The ones in the Platinum Pavilion are all from the Main Blood Hall. Every one of them carries the Blood Demon’s Gu poison.”

Haerak’s tone turned apologetic.

“They’re pitiful souls who’ve longed for freedom for years. If it’s possible…”

“I understand.”

So-hwa caught his meaning and nodded slightly.

“When I return to the Central Plains, I’ll remove the Gu poison from every member of the Main Blood Hall.”

It wasn’t even a difficult task.

After all, she had already resolved to sever every Blood Sect member from the Blood Demon’s influence. Haerak’s request hardly felt like a request at all.

“There’s one more thing.”

So-hwa tensed at those words.

This, she sensed, was his true request.

“Go on.”

But what came next was something completely unexpected.

“So-hwa… isn’t your name beautiful?”

Tang So-hwa frowned openly, as if asking what nonsense he was spouting.

But the Main Blood Hall Lord’s eccentricity didn’t stop there.

He lifted his hand and pressed his fingers gently against both her cheeks.

“You’re named after a smiling flower, so live up to your name. Smile often, let others handle the boring and dangerous work, and only do things that are joyful and easy.”

Haerak withdrew his hand, having forced a smile onto her face.

But this time, it was So-hwa who caught his hand.

Her voice, as cold as her expression, slipped past her crimson lips.

“Where are you going?”

So-hwa could tell something was wrong.

The Main Blood Hall Lord was known for his erratic speech and reckless temperament, but he had never spoken without context before.

Something in between—some vital part of the conversation—was missing.

It bothered her. But he didn’t answer.

“I can’t tell you right now, but I’ll explain when I return.”

Withdrawing his hand, Haerak added softly,

“Take care of yourself.”

Before she could reach for him again, his presence vanished—leaving behind only a faint warmth where he had stood.

So-hwa lowered her gaze, sensing something foreign in her hand.

A familiar weight.

It was the flying dagger with the worn handle.

She turned toward the window and pushed it wider open.

But the warmth had already faded, swallowed by the cold winds of the North Sea.

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