Chapter 45: Habits are Scary

TL: FoodieMonster007

The Flower Sword Supreme found me again the next night.

"You know the saying about trying three times. Let's have our final fight today."

I couldn't tell if the Flower Sword Supreme visited because she valued her promise to my father or because she enjoyed yesterday's duel.

"Very well."

I readily accepted the third duel.

"After we tied yesterday, I went back and slept all day. I couldn't sleep a wink when I lost on the first day, but I slept like a log after our tie. I don't think I've ever slept that well in my life."

"So you don't usually sleep well," I observed.

"That's right. I've never once slept deeply. Do you know what I even started thinking?"

"What was that?"

"Should I come and duel you every day just to get a good night's sleep?"

I laughed. The Flower Sword Supreme smiled and drew her sword.

We fought one round, then separated to rest. Whenever we had a question, we asked it right away.

"During the twenty-third attack, you dodged left. Why left? Wouldn't right have been faster?"

"Dodging left reduced your options. If I had dodged right, you would've had three choices. By dodging left, you only had two."

"It was because of my center of gravity."

"Exactly."

When masters at my and the Flower Sword Supreme's level fight, we can review the entire battle in our minds. It's like a game of Go, even after hundreds of moves.

When I asked a question, the Flower Sword Supreme shared her thoughts without hiding anything. I could tell just by listening if she was sincere. Father would scold me for claiming to know what's in a person's heart, but the Flower Sword Supreme answered with sincerity.

The Flower Sword Supreme also asked me questions. I answered just as candidly with my own thoughts. Just as I sensed her sincerity, she must have felt no falsehood in my answers. There's no loss in teaching. It's like when I teach Lee Ahn. You often learn more by teaching.

"I don't know when I've ever been this purely immersed in martial arts. Perhaps this is the first time."

Considering her age and position, the Flower Sword Supreme wouldn't say 'first time' lightly.

"Then imagine how it is for me."

"Well, shall we begin again?"

"……"

This time, as if by agreement, we leaped into the air to fight. The battle was, quite literally, an aerial one.

Whenever one of us was about to fall, the other would attack in a way that provided a foothold to leap back up. There were no surprise attacks. We helped each other stay airborne as we exchanged sword strikes.

Brilliant flashes of sword light embroidered the night sky. We flew until we spent all our energy, then descended to the training ground.

Only the sound of my breathing and her breathing filled the training ground. On the first day, we would have determined the winner by who caught their breath first. Now, we paid it no mind.

"Do you have any alcohol?"

The Flower Sword Supreme, who didn't drink, asked for alcohol.

"Yes, I do."

I went inside and brought out some alcohol.

"This is good alcohol."

"You know a lot about alcohol?" I asked.

"Just because I don't drink doesn't mean I don't know about it. Besides, I used to drink in the past."

We drank together. Drinking with the Flower Sword Supreme after a duel had a special atmosphere. She claimed to have quit drinking long ago, but she drank quite well. It made me wonder if she secretly drank alone.

"Second Young Lord, may I ask you something?"

"Yes," I said.

"What's the reason for this sudden change? You weren't always like this, were you? I haven't observed you that closely, but I still had a general idea of what kind of person you were."

"It wasn't a sudden change. I've been preparing for a long time."

"You lived while hiding your true self?"

"Something like that. If I'd revealed my true nature when I was too young, my brother would have killed me. I kept myself hidden until I could protect myself."

"Second Young Lord, you're truly a frightening person."

When the bottle we shared was empty, the Flower Sword Supreme spoke.

"Let's go one more time. For the last time."

I was startled. The Flower Sword Supreme's way of speaking had changed. She had always used honorifics but now spoke informally to me.

"This might sound strange, but being with you feels like being with a friend."

Perhaps the Flower Sword Supreme had sensed a facet of my past life. I constantly joked and acted foolishly in front of my father or Lee Ahn to avoid my past's darkness, hardships, and years, but I didn't do that in front of her. I was more serious than anyone during our duels.

We learn from masters and novices. The enlightenment from that gap is so powerful that we often neglect to learn from our equals. We devalue it with the saying, 'the same old greens with the same old rice'.

Today, however, I realized those same old greens with the same old rice could be the greatest feast.

We talked, then we fought. We fought while learning and gaining enlightenment. Now, we set down our cups and fought again. I can dare to say our fight was elegant. We had no killing intent, only the nobility of enjoying the duel.

Throughout this entire process, I never mentioned the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. I had even forgotten my intention to make her my ally.

We exchanged a final technique that collided powerfully and exploded in a brilliant flash.

"It may be disrespectful to say, but I feel as though I've forged a friendship with you through the sword," I said.

The Flower Sword Supreme agreed with my sentiment.

"I don't know what our relationship will become, but I'll remember today's duel with you forever."

The Flower Sword Supreme also considered this duel to be of great value.

"Yes, I'll never forget it for the rest of my life. Thank you for the great lesson."

"Did I really give you a lesson?"

Perhaps the Flower Sword Supreme thought she had received more.

However, I am certain I learned more. She may have learned a few things, but I absorbed everything.

I thought a great deal about the Soaring Sky Sword Art during the past three days of duels. The solid system of my complete mastery was shaken.

I could tell the wall of the tenth-star complete mastery had crumbled. My realm was now advancing toward the Twelfth Star complete mastery. My heart pounded at this new change, which had come after a long time.

We did not say farewell with words.

The Flower Sword Supreme drew the One Flower Sword and held it out. I responded with the Black Demon Sword.

"……"

Our duel ended with the clear farewell of sword striking sword.

The Flower Sword Supreme returned to her residence and drank alone.

Various emotions washed over the Flower Sword Supreme after her duel with Geom Mugeuk ended.

Three days had passed as if she were possessed.

The Flower Sword Supreme remembered the first day when she lost the duel. All sorts of thoughts had filled her mind. She had even considered putting on a mask, going back, and killing Geom Mugeuk.

The Flower Sword Supreme of that day and the Flower Sword Supreme of today were completely different. She was the same person, but her relationship with Geom Mugeuk had made her someone entirely different.

Just then, Sa Woojong's voice came from outside the thatched hut.

"It's Woojong."

Sa Woojong entered with a dish of side snacks. He placed them on the table and asked, "Is something troubling you?"

Sa Woojong had never seen her drink alcohol since he began serving her up close, yet today, she was suddenly drinking.

This is a bad sign.

Sa Woojong judged the situation.

The Flower Sword Supreme had moved so secretly that Sa Woojong knew nothing of the duels over the past three days.

The Flower Sword Supreme did not answer his question.

Sa Woojong felt a deep self-loathing at times like this. The Flower Sword Supreme had never shown him her true, open self. He had assumed she was an emotionally dry person, but why was she suddenly drinking?

"Is this perhaps related to the Second Young Lord?"

The Flower Sword Supreme glanced at Sa Woojong. Her cold gaze told him not to speak nonsense.

"It's nothing."

Sa Woojong quickly bowed his head.

"I spoke out of turn. I apologize."

Sa Woojong had a tailored prescription for her bad moods.

"Oh, I've brought a new one. He's waiting in the secret room…"

"That's enough!"

"Pardon?"

"From now on… stop bringing men."

"!"

Sa Woojong was utterly shocked. He wasn't shocked because she told him to stop bringing men. He was shocked because the Flower Sword Supreme had used formal speech with him. He felt as if he'd been struck on the head.

What is this? Why is she suddenly acting like this?

Sa Woojong had taken pride in the special treatment of her speaking informally only to him. He wondered if he had misheard, but he hadn't.

The Flower Sword Supreme sighed lightly.

"It's something I should have stopped long ago. No, it's something I should never have started in the first place."

The trouble began when Sa Woojong first brought a young man, and the Flower Sword Supreme gave in to a moment of lust.

Just once! Yes, just once. I can't even remember the last time I slept with a man. Let's just enjoy it once!

For a lust that had opened Pandora's box, 'just once' did not exist.

Once became twice, and twice became three times. The Flower Sword Supreme squeezed her eyes shut at Sa Woojong's words that the men did it willingly and that she was helping them with a large payment. Honestly, she stopped feeling guilty after a while.

Lust became a habit.

The habit was scarier than the lust. It wasn't even that enjoyable, yet she couldn't stop.

But now, it was time to stop. After her duel with Geom Mugeuk, the Flower Sword Supreme felt it was time to start something new, whether with Geom Mugeuk or not.

"Then I'll send him back for today. If you ever just say the word…"

"There will never be a next time. Do you understand?"

Sa Woojong lowered his head at her cold gaze.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You may leave. If you harm those young men to keep a secret, you'll die by my hand."

Until now, the Flower Sword Supreme had made sure to look after the young men. She checked if they were paid properly and sent away alive. This was to prevent Sa Woojong from killing them to keep the secret.

"That won't happen."

Sa Woojong hastily bowed his head and turned away. His expression was stiff. He had used the men to win her favor and believed this intimate secret had solidified his position as the perfect second-in-command.

But what was this unfamiliar coldness? This confidence? Sa Woojong had been certain he would naturally become the next Sword Supreme.

The Flower Sword Supreme's heart was wavering. No, it was turning away from him.

Sa Woojong knew the reason better than anyone. The one person who had shaken her recently.

Geom Mugeuk!

Someone waited in Sa Woojong's residence that night. The woman's name was Cheong Seon. She was a shaman and one of the five disciples of the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme.

Cheong Seon ran into Sa Woojong's arms as he entered the room. They had been dating for a year, and their passion was at its peak.

Cheong Seon nestled in Sa Woojong's arms and complained slightly.

"Can't you take that painting down?"

Her gaze fell on the painting on the wall. The woman in the painting was the Flower Sword Supreme.

"Are you jealous of a painting?"

"It's not jealousy. I know all about your loyalty, but do you really need a painting of that woman in your room?"

"I didn't become the second-in-command of the Northern Heaven Sword Sect for nothing."

"I know, I know, but it makes me feel bad every time I see it."

Cheong Seon led Sa Woojong to the bed.

"You know what? Today is the first time you've ever called for me first. I was always the one who came looking for you."

"Was it?"

"You're the most stoic person in our Cult."

"I've been busy."

"It's because of that old hag, the Sword Supreme."

"Watch your mouth."

"Sorry."

Cheong Seon pressed herself against Sa Woojong, and he embraced her fiercely, as always.

However, Sa Woojong's gaze remained fixed on the painting on the wall. The fervent heat in his eyes was not loyalty.

Cheong Seon did not know. In this very moment, her man was thinking of another woman, one much older than herself.

When the moans of pleasure subsided, words that would change their destiny flowed from Sa Woojong's lips. They were the very words that mark the beginning of the end in all relationships.

"…I have a favor to ask."