After the conversation with Hwa Ui, he didn’t come to see me again. Three days passed, but only the prepared medicine was delivered by someone else’s hands; Hwa Ui didn’t show his face.

Even when I asked Joo Hwarin or the other maidservants about Hwa Ui, they all said they didn’t know. It seemed that no one really knew what the reclusive elder was up to.

While I was wondering if I should apologize for angering him, as usual, Geum Baekcheon appeared with a dish.

It had become a quiet daily routine for me to have meals with Hyuk Dojin in my room. Today, I wondered what kind of dish it would be as I looked at it. Geum Baekcheon smiled and lifted the lid of the bowl.

Inside was a marvelous-looking dish with various vibrant colors.

At first glance, it resembled dumplings or buns, and I tilted my head at its peculiar appearance before looking at Geum Baekcheon. As always, in such cases, he provided an explanation.

“These are baozi.”

“Baozi?”

“It’s a method of seasoning and cooking various meats, wrapping them in flour dough, and then steaming them. Up to this point, it may not seem much different from other dumplings, but these baozi have a distinguishing feature.”

Geum Baekcheon leisurely picked up his chopsticks and sliced open the baozi’s belly. An overripe, wrinkled cucumber fell out from inside.

“The true essence of this baozi is this old cucumber. This cucumber, called nogak, doesn’t taste very good and gives off a strange odor when boiled. That’s why dishes using nogak generally don’t receive high praise.” (tl/n: nogak exists and is called ‘old cucumber’ in English.)

He put down his chopsticks and casually picked up the still-steaming baozi with his bare hands. Despite the apparent heat, he calmly held the baozi in his hand and spoke.

“However, while the baozi’s skin is hot, the filling inside is cold. That’s the very reason this baozi is called a delicacy.”

How can the skin be hot while the filling is cold? I didn’t quite understand, but if Geum Baekcheon said so, it must be true. No one could match his expertise when it came to cooking.

Even though it sounded like a labor-intensive dish, I slowly brought it to my mouth and took a light bite.

Just as he said, while the baozi’s skin felt slightly hot, the filling inside was incredibly cold. The moment my teeth felt the heat, the cold filling rushed in, dispelling the warmth and cooling my mouth.

Yet, with each chew, the warm dough continued to envelop my tongue…

“It has a peculiar taste.”

“That subtle flavor is the nogak. It’s more common to pickle and eat it with soy sauce, but occasionally pairing it with meat like this isn’t bad either.”

I nodded as I chewed the baozi in my mouth. The strange taste I felt with each bite was strangely familiar.

It was a flavor I felt like I had tasted somewhere before. After swallowing the half-eaten baozi, I pushed the plate towards Hyuk Dojin.

Hyuk Dojin, who had been eating a light noodle dish, stared blankly at the plate I offered before looking up at me. Meeting his gaze, I smiled faintly and said:

“Try it. It’s delicious.”

“But that dish was prepared for Sowol, so you should…”

“I can’t finish it all anyway. Let’s share.”

The portion was small, with only seven pieces. For me, even that was too much.

I could probably only manage three or four at most. Although that was a slight improvement from when I could only manage two dumplings, it was still my limit.

Hyuk Dojin pursed his lips as he looked at the baozi, then slowly moved his chopsticks to pick one up and put it straight into his mouth.

“How is it?”

“A rather decent dish. My chef has never prepared such a dish for me before, so I didn’t expect him to be quite skilled.”

“Is that so?”

I tilted my head, thinking that as the Young Cult Leader, he would be served more elaborate and delicious dishes… or was that not the case? As if reading my mind, Geum Baekcheon, who had been smiling meaningfully, continued speaking.

“He’s a rather picky eater, so he’s indifferent no matter what I serve him.”

“Really?”

He seemed incredibly simple, contrary to the expectation that he would have only eaten luxurious foods. Even the plain noodles he was currently eating didn’t appear to be prepared with any special cooking methods.

“That’s a dish he’s enjoyed since childhood, so he often eats it.”

“The noodles?”

I shifted my gaze from Geum Baekcheon to Hyuk Dojin. He was slurping the broth when he noticed my stare and slightly furrowed his brow, speaking in a slightly defensive tone.

“…Can’t I like it?”

His sullen expression was adorable, and I couldn’t help but smile lightly.

“No, it suits you well.”

“You mean the noodles suit me? Is that a compliment?”

“Yes, no matter what the noodles are.”

Hyuk Dojin slowly lowered his gaze to glance at his own bowl, then calmly nodded his head.

“They’re the best food.”

He seemed to really enjoy them. It was quite unexpected for someone who appeared to have only eaten high-end cuisine to have such simple tastes.

As I picked up my chopsticks to eat the remaining baozi, Hyuk Dojin’s voice rang out again.

“Sowol.”

I lifted my head, which had been lowered to put the baozi in my mouth. Hyuk Dojin smiled and gestured with his hand, as if telling me to go ahead and eat.

After putting the baozi in my mouth, I looked back at him. His lips parted slowly.

“There’s the wedding ceremony, you know.”

I nodded lightly. Come to think of it, I had forgotten. When it was previously mentioned that we would have a wedding ceremony, I had thought the process would progress quickly, but it had remained quiet.

With each passing day lacking any significant changes, I had even forgotten about the upcoming wedding.

Normally, a wedding ceremony requires extensive preparations and involves many troublesome tasks for the parties involved, such as preparing ceremonial attire, various procedures, and annoying processes.

However, my days had been so peaceful that I was simply amazed there hadn’t been any such complications.

After swallowing the baozi in my mouth, I spoke:

“What about the wedding ceremony? Is there a problem?”

“No, there is no problem. We have sent word to the Murim Alliance to coordinate the schedule. It should likely proceed within five days at the latest.”

Five days?

The schedule had crept up on me while I wasn’t paying attention, and I was surprised, furrowing my brow. I had thought we still had a few weeks left, given how quiet it had been, but only five days remained.

I stared blankly at Hyuk Dojin before speaking urgently:

“Isn’t that too soon?”

“I suppose the time is rather short.”

His nonchalant response, as if saying, ‘It looks like it might rain tomorrow,’ made me feel flustered.

Was it really okay to be this relaxed? This was a wedding ceremony, after all.

As I silently looked at him in bewilderment, Hyuk Dojin spoke leisurely.

“As I mentioned before, I have no intention of holding an extravagant ceremony that would require your attention. We’ll simply go through the basic formalities and invite only the core members.”

“But we still need to prepare something…”

“The preparations are already nearly complete. The ceremonial attire will be ready today, so you can try it on. And…”

As I was surprised to learn that everything had been progressing without my knowledge, Hyuk Dojin trailed off and rolled his eyes before looking at me.

“If there’s anything you’re particularly concerned about, it’s that the timeline is so tight that there won’t be enough time for the Moyong clan to send someone here.”

Hyuk Dojin put down his chopsticks and calmly continued speaking.

“You must miss your family, but I’m worried about rushing things too hastily.”

The Moyong clan. Aside from Moyong Do, they probably assumed I was already dead. Those who knew my situation better than anyone else.

My parents had already accepted that I would die here. So calling them would be meaningless.

“It’s alright.”

I shook my head lightly. Facing Hyuk Dojin’s questioning gaze, I spoke calmly.

“The urgent matters come first, don’t they? So you don’t need to worry about it.”

“But…”

“I’m not a child who would cry over not seeing my parents, and this was already something I had accepted. So there’s no need to worry.”

After all, the moment I stepped onto the carriage after bidding my final farewell, my fate had been sealed.

Moyong Do’s sorrowful smile, like a wilting hydrangea, was the last thing I left behind in the Moyong clan. Everything else had lost its meaning.

The old hairbrush that had become a mere keepsake, the faded silk shoes Moyong Do had gifted me – I had left them all behind.

Despite my reassurance, Hyuk Dojin continued to stare intently at me with concern before finally nodding his head.

“If you change your mind later, let me know. I’ll personally go and bring your family here.”

I smiled and nodded at his enthusiastic words. Only then did Hyuk Dojin relax his tense expression, accept the tea Geum Baekcheon served, and suddenly let out a short, ‘Ah!’

“Come to think of it, there’s something we need to confirm before the ceremonial attire arrives.”

“What is it?”

“The wedding ceremony rituals.”

Wedding ceremony rituals?

“In truth, the Demon Cult doesn’t particularly follow the ceremony rituals. From the beginning, it has been distant from such studies. However, since the Murim Alliance is influenced by the imperial family, they inevitably have to observe the wedding ceremony rituals. So, even if it’s just a formality, we need to send the ceremonial gifts.”

“…Ceremonial gifts?”

Muttering in confusion at the sudden mention, Hyuk Dojin nodded his head and reached out his hand. A bundle of papers on the side table naturally flew into his outstretched hand, as if pulled by an unseen force.

I watched with wide eyes at the incredible display of supernatural ability, but Hyuk Dojin remained perfectly calm, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, as he riffled through the papers and spoke.

“This is my first experience with the wedding ceremony rituals and wedding ceremonies as well, so I’m not sure if this is correct, but it seems the ceremonial gifts are quite important, so we should pay attention. I’ve at least made a list, so take a look?”

I received the papers Hyuk Dojin handed me, glanced at the cover page, and rolled my eyes. Hyuk Dojin nodded lightly, as if prompting me to read it, while tilting his teacup.

Although I had thought we only needed to follow the formalities and it wouldn’t be that difficult…

The scope of the ceremonial gifts listed on the paper mocked my assumptions, exceeding all imagination.

“500 taels of gold, 30 000 taels of silver, 100 bolts of silk, copies of the lost martial arts manuals from the Moyong clan, a treasured sword, and… what are all these?”

The sheer quantity was ridiculous. The amounts of silver and gold taels alone were enough to make one’s jaw drop, and even night wine was included.

Moreover, the lost martial arts manuals were one of the core inner cultivation techniques of the Moyong clan that Moyong Do had mentioned long ago.

The elders of the clan had often lamented their desire to have access to those manuals. And what about this precious sword and these elixirs…?

I hurriedly covered the paper and asked in bewilderment, to which Hyuk Dojin calmly replied with a tranquil expression.

“The ceremonial gifts.”

As he leisurely sipped his tea, I stared at him in disbelief, prompting Hyuk Dojin to ask with a puzzled look:

“Is it not enough?”

“…”

I was at a loss for words.

Tl/note: Nogak – overgrown/overripe/old cucumber. They are not ‘old’, but are a variety of cucumber that is able to mature on the vine, turning the skin into an orange/brown color, hence earning it the name which directly translated to ‘old yellow gourd’.

In traditional Chinese medicine, it is believed that old cucumbers have ‘yin’, or ‘cooling’, properties, that are perfect for hot summer days.