Seungho returned to the manor at the peak of the midday heat. Angry and irritated, he waded through the crowd, occasionally glancing at the wooden stalls of medicinal plants and flowers.

Seungho spent the whole morning searching for the famous red camellia, the name of which even the wise elders had broken their tongues over.

The noise of the crowd, the neighing of horses, and the mingled odors of sweat and rotten fish almost drove him crazy. Such forays into the city were already painful to him, and the heat did nothing to alleviate them.

Seungho had already reached the edge of the street when his gaze lingered on a man in a sky-blue cloak who was walking leisurely forward, looking at the small birds perched on the edge of the roofs of the houses.

Not even the loud neighing of a horse that had broken out of a wagon and was speeding down the busy street could distract the mysterious cloaked man.

Without realizing why, Seungho lunged forward and grabbed the man's arm, pulling him away from the road, and the horse sped past, nearly hitting them both.

"You should watch out, you idiot."