Chapter 31. The Beneficial Side Effect of the Flower Tea
Cheong and Gahwa hurried to the blacksmith’s forge run by Palcho.
“Sir!”
Gahwa threw open the door and entered without hesitation.
The forge was eerily empty—either it wasn’t open for business yet, or it was a day off.
Tools that the blacksmiths used were scattered here and there in the dim, unlit room.
Seen like this, the forge that usually seemed impressive now looked rather shabby.
“Sir! I brought the royal physician!”
With no one responding, Gahwa stormed through the forge, loudly calling for Palcho.
Cheong followed behind her, stifling her laughter.
It definitely wasn’t because the situation was funny.
It was all because of the flower tea she’d had at Haewon’s palace.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
She couldn’t stop laughing at random moments, regardless of the mood or context. It was exhausting.
Thankfully, Gahwa was too preoccupied to notice right now.
If she had been paying attention, she probably would’ve thought Cheong had gone mad from all the snickering.
But that wasn’t the real issue right now.
‘What happened?’
Along with her urgent declaration that something had gone wrong, Gahwa had handed Cheong a letter.
In it, a slanted, wobbly handwriting had requested Cheong to come to the forge immediately because something serious had happened.
Even without a signature, it was obvious that Palcho was the sender.
After all, Cheong had asked him to make acupuncture needles using the golden flower.
So whatever the problem was, it was almost certainly related to that.
‘Don’t tell me the blacksmiths refused to make the needles?’
Given how much the residents of the Dragon Palace hated humans, it wasn’t out of the question.
As Cheong followed closely behind Gahwa, still deep in thought—
“This way.”
“Ah!”
A section of the wall suddenly popped open, making Gahwa yelp in surprise as Paljae appeared.
It turned out that what she thought was a wall had been a hidden door.
From inside, a faint glow of light spilled out.
“Father is waiting for you.”
Unlike usual, Paljae’s voice was low and subdued.
Cheong entered the room with Gahwa.
There, Palcho was waiting.
He sat hunched over, resting his hand on his forehead with a hulking body that seemed to shrink inward.
“Father, the royal physician is here.”
At Paljae’s words, Palcho slowly lifted his head, lowering his thick, veiny arms.
“Oh no! Sir, what happened to your face?”
Palcho’s eyes were red, like he’d been crying.
Cheong was surprised as well.
Palcho rose from his seat and silently approached Cheong—then bowed deeply, his head nearly touching the floor.
“The golden flower you entrusted to me… has been stolen.”
Paljae bowed his head in shame as well, unable to meet her eyes.
Gahwa’s eyes widened in shock.
Cheong was equally stunned—no, horrified.
The golden flower, infused with Haewon’s divine power, was essential for treating his chronic illness and continuing her work as royal physician.
As long as she had needles crafted from that divine flower, there was no disease she couldn’t treat.
But now Palcho was saying that precious item had been stolen.
As the silence dragged on, all eyes turned to Cheong.
“…So what now?”
Cheong had meant to ask seriously and solemnly, but instead, a cheerful tone escaped her lips—accompanied by a bright smile.
The reaction didn’t match the situation at all. Gahwa, Palcho, and Paljae all looked at her in disbelief.
‘Ugh, this damn tea…’
Flustered, Cheong quickly spoke again.
“The culprit…”
“W-We’re still searching for them!”
Palcho jumped in nervously, cutting her off.
Of course he would be desperate. Even without knowing the exact source, anyone could tell the golden flower was immensely valuable just from its intricate form.
“So you’re saying you have no idea who took it.”
Cheong tried to express disappointment, but once again, her voice was too bright and upbeat.
With a sparkling smile, no less.
Palcho stared at her glowing expression and turned pale with horror.
“I—I sincerely apologize!”
Palcho bowed his red head even deeper.
His round, blushing crown looked like a ripe octopus.
Well… a literal octopus, actually.
Unaware of Cheong’s stray thoughts, Palcho bowed low and pleaded loudly.
“I know you must be furious, but I swear I’ll find the thief no matter what. Please forgive us!”
“Haha, I’m not that angry.”
Cheong said with a bright smile, still under the effects of the tea.
Even Paljae bowed now.
“If we can’t retrieve the golden flower, we’ll make the needles ourselves! Right, Father?”
Paljae nudged his father with a glance.
‘How angry must she be to smile like that after losing such a treasure? Help me out here!’
‘You’re right. If we repay her kindness like this, our entire Pal clan will be shamed.’
Palcho nodded grimly and declared,
“We’ll make you as many silver-plated needles as you want.”
“Silver-plated?”
Cheong was just surprised by the generous offer—but the problem was, she said it while grinning again.
To Palcho and Paljae, her beaming smile was utterly terrifying.
‘Father, she’s obviously furious that we’re offering silver instead of the original golden flower.’
‘Right, that was thoughtless of me.’
Palcho swallowed hard and exchanged a look with his son before bowing even deeper.
“We’ll make the needles out of solid silver instead!”
“Really?”
“Yes. A-And if that’s not enough…”
“No, that’s more than enough.”
Cheong grabbed Palcho’s hands and smiled brightly.
Having him voluntarily offer to craft an unlimited number of silver needles gave her great relief.
While she was still upset about losing the golden flower infused with divine energy, as royal physician, she needed a large supply of needles anyway.
Used needles required extensive sterilization to be reused.
So Palcho’s offer to create silver needles was actually a great deal for her.
“Thank you so much.”
“N-No, not at all.”
Despite her gratitude, Palcho couldn’t shake the strange feeling he’d been trapped in something—though he chalked it up to coincidence.
“Hahahaha! What a sight that must’ve been.”
Byeoljubu leaned back and laughed heartily.
He had just received word from his spy that the golden flower Cheong entrusted to Palcho had been completely stolen.
“They must be turning the place upside down right now trying to find the culprit.”
Byeoljubu grinned, lips curling into a twisted, cunning smile.
“They’ll be running around in circles.”
After all, both the flower and the thief had long since left the Dragon Palace.
No—more accurately, they no longer existed at all.
It was Byeoljubu who had ordered the theft of the golden flower from Palcho.
A needle made from gold infused with divine power…
The moment he heard about it, Byeoljubu instantly realized where the miraculous acupuncture needles had come from.
The flower’s center had been neatly cut, clearly by human hands.
And the only one in the Dragon Palace who could’ve gifted such a thing was Haewon.
Haewon was the only one who possessed such divine treasures, and he would’ve given it to Cheong—hoping she could cure his chronic illness.
“That can’t be allowed.”
If Cheong received a steady supply of such powerful gold needles, not only would Byeoljubu lose influence, but he might even be ousted from his position as royal advisor.
The fact that Cheong had cured facial paralysis with just a few needles was proof enough.
It was the divine power within them that made it possible.
Without that power, her so-called Eastern medicine would be nothing but quackery.
So Byeoljubu had ordered the flower stolen.
“What do you plan to do about that woman?”
His aide asked about Cheong’s fate.
Byeoljubu tapped his lips with a finger, lost in thought.
His instinct was to expel her from the Royal Medical Office immediately—but with Haewon backing her, that was impossible.
So the only option was to make her leave on her own.
“Summon her to the medical office tomorrow.”
“Pardon? You mean…”
“Well, she’s officially the royal physician. She should contribute to the department’s work, shouldn’t she?”
