The Flower That Was Bloomed by a Cloud

[mfrancis5]

But is dowun not intending the best for the people? He seems really capable, and so is the queen in comparison to the last rulers... I guess dowun’s clan has their own goals in mind too so they are harder to control.

 

[HotGirlShi]

[deleted] this comment was a glitch lol

 

[HotGirlShi]

@mfrancis5 No, he does not intend the best for the people. He only intends the best for his clan. His goal is to raise his clan back to the power they had. However, if he had a choice between his clan and the people, I highly doubt he will choose the people. . . and it's sad bc like you said, he is so capable of protecting them.

 

[BlobfishBeautySchool]

Thank you for translating this! Great story. Riveting characters. Unique art style.

 

[macroblitz]

This is too depressing

 

[Shiny_pikachu]

Honestly im scared that this will be a sad ending as foreshadowed in the puppet show in the beginning that now that she has everything she may meet a tragic end
Honestly i just want her to let it out and cry once and i just want her to be happy
Its a beautiful story

 

[lblaniii]

Seriously, the story telling is phenomenal. Masterpiece truly

 

[L_Nikto]

Now thing will be more interesting. Heroine will search her own strength and people. It's good. Bcs if she remaind same she can't stand with Dowun like equal and be proper empress, just a tool. I really want to see both of their development. Her like really empress and him like a human. And i want to see development of their relationship. Now they both use each other (from the beginning actually). So it's not just romantic relationship, but it's not completely using relationship. It's more complicated and i want to see how they grow up together and be happy. I want to see also their love story but not right now. Also I don't want the end where she end up with bodyguard

 

[Qwertypjm]

I feel bad for them tbh.. This story is good, can't wait for the next translation..

 

[sunriseberry]

Call Dowun whatever you want, but at least he's not a cheater. Honglyon is foolish and selfish, crossing all boundaries with the bodyguard.

Dowun has his faults but he kept his words, he has yet to abandon her, while she's punishing him for something they both mutually agreed on. he's still dirtying his hands ensuring her safety, while she's romancing with the bodyguard, completely oblivious to her surroundings and forgetting her actual duties. I can't sympathize with her anymore.

 

[lovingsushiroll]

@sunriseberry true.

Spoiler

he stayed true to his words and respected her. people always pointing fingers to dowun because he only used her as a tool for his clan. while they're also forgetting that the one who asked for his hand first was the fl. she used him for getting where she is right now, that's why she's still alive. they both used each other for their own interest. and after her interest finally achieved, she wanted more from dowun, but salty because dowun couldn't give it to her. that's why she's fooling around with the bodyguard who's emotionally available for her. i dont really care if she likes the bodyguard genuinely or not. but, since part of the agreement with dowun is to be in a marriage, then even if she don't like dowun anymore, she should still respect him. at least, give some face to the one who helped you get all these power and status, do your affairs in places no eyes would see. it's so disrespectful of her to do that. and also not a good example as a queen. especially in her case, where people knew she could be where she is right now because of dowun and engaged to him.

tbh, i'm really anxious that dowun would be thrown under the bus by the fl because of the bodyguard. see, now we know dowun's bro is still salty af and kept jayang as part of his hidden agenda. i'm afraid that dowun's brother would also do something to the bodygurad and put the blame to dowun. then, the fl, being emotional and in love with the bodyguard, would execute dowun without even investigating the truth. then dowun died. since her most powerful ally is now dead, dowun's bro would bring jayang to the palace and usurp the throne. dowun's bro would execute fl because he's actually still salty to fl, despite saying that he has forgiven her. happy ending for jayang, dowun's bro and dowun's clan.

this is just what i fear the most. because seeing the way of fl now, she acts based on her feelings, that i believe she would bite back the hand that feeds her in a heartbeat if it's something related to the bodyguard. and also because i'm aware that this is a tragedy romance. from the beginning it's been foreshadowed someone will die because of someone else. don't know exactly who, but definitely one of the main leads. it will be one hell of a tragedy.

 

[lovingsushiroll]

@cinic

Spoiler

i do genuinely think the only reason he chose the fl over the other princess purely because of politics. the fl had nothing and insecure at that time, so then she would have more drive and thirst to achieve her goals. like for example, a child in ancient time who became the sole survivor of village ransacking by bandits, where everyone's dead, no food, water or means of transportation, would do everything he could to make sure he survives, including eating his own family's flesh (this is actually one of background stories of another manhua). he could see this kind of thirst in fl who had nothing. if he approached the other princess, it would be easier to reach his goal indeed, but at the same time, it is hard to motivate and influence someone who has already had everything. and i don't think jayang would agree to overthrow her brother just for dowun's clan even though they got married, because they were pretty close siblings. and it won't be an equal position between them because only dowun that got benefitted from the marriage, which is a place for his clan in the royalty. while for jayang, if she married dowun, it would be just like getting a pretty smart boy as a husband, which she can find in any other clans. she could just easily abandon dowun the second she met someone more charming than him. dowun wasn't the only pretty smart boy in the kingdom i believe. so, with the other princess, dowun doesn't have a secure footing. while with the fl, beside she's having the thirst for being something, he got equal and secure position because they have the "i help you, you help me" relationship. so, they were the only perfect option for each other at that time. and if i'm not wrong, dowun mentioned about this before in the earlier chapter, about the fl having stronger motivation than the other princess.

i don't think it would be based on romantic reasoning at all. but, it is true he had developed some feelings for her after the time skip. it just he doesn't really know what to do with the new feelings he's experiencing. and yes, i agree. the fl is a huge hypocrite. dowun is cold, calculating and distant, but it doesn't mean he's a bad person. to fl and his bro he might be, but to his clan, he's a great leader, because he could bring his clan to the way it is atm, though their clan is not fully secure yet. just a matter of different perspective. he's someone who is capable of making difficult decisions and actually bear the responsibility of it. he silently accepted the resentment his brother had for him, while at the same time being wary and alerted of his brother intentions to come back. unlike fl, who kept pointing fingers at dowun for his past actions to his brother, while she also did the same. s h a m e l e s s. and no. don't say things like "dowun made her do that!" no, he didn't. he merely stated what kind of things would happen if she defended the bro. and her decision to stay silent was all on her own.

 

[sunriseberry]

@spchntrt

tbh, i'm really anxious that dowun would be thrown under the bus by the fl because of the bodyguard ----

It would be the ultimate betrayal, but sadly it's something I see her doing. Honglyon is ruled and blinded by emotions, was always seeking love and affection, and currently the bodyguard is filling the void that dowun created, blocking her visions, he knows what to say and react, he's a complete opportunist. none of his actions are selfless or altruistic as some might claim. Would she betray the one who kept her safe all those years, teaches how to read, basically gave her the power she has now? Absolutely! She's that foolish. Honglyon should envision the future she would've if she had never approached dowun.

that's why she's fooling around with the bodyguard who's emotionally available for her. i dont really care if she likes the bodyguard genuinely or not.

It's hard to decipher honglyon's feelings and whether it's a genuine love or not. She's desperately seeking emotional 'safety' and devotion, that false sense of goodness (reminding her of the younger self) and the bodyguard is providing her that. They even tried to paint dowun as immoral and corrupt, while ironically failing to see that their 'relationship' is notoriously inappropriate in all senses of the word.


since the author spent the last 30 chapters on 'developing' the balant cheating between them, it's highly unlikely that dowun would get his long awaited arc. giving the recent chapters, they're going with the usual generic psychotic villain and eventually him being dead such a waste

 

[Bloop1234]

Thank you for this update 💜

 

[HotGirlShi]

I need you all to stop attempting to excuse Dowun please. He was wrong. No matter the circumstance or his goal. He should not have treated the people who loved him like that. He should not have manipulated the mc nor have tossed away his brother like that. Stop excusing him. He was completely wrong, periodt. And if you all still like him despite his wrongs and there hasn’t been any character improvement yet then that’s concerning. There are no excuses for him. You do not treat the people who loves you as tools for the sake of a goal ma’am/sir.
Don’t blame the mc for getting over Dowun and falling for the bodyguard please. No one wants to be with a man like that. The man hasn’t even tried to self-improve himself. In fact, the man doesn’t even care. He’ll do anything for the sake of his goal. And you all are telling me that the mc is SELFISH? HE is the one being selfish tf? DOWUN is the one not thinking about anyone but HIS goal. HE was the one who casually threw away his brother for the sake of HIS goal. He didn’t care about how his brother will feel like he didn’t care about how the mc will feel. And you are telling me that the mc is the one being selfish? This isn’t selfish to you? HE was the one being selfish since the beginning. Get it right. The mc hasn’t been selfish for a long time and has been sacrificing for Dowun. Now she is finally breaking free from Dowun and doing things her way which Dowun has did whatever he wanted since the fkin beginning. And you calling her selfish when Dowun was the one being selfish since the beginning? Seriously? Are we reading the same webtoon? Do y’all even understand his character or just don’t give a fuck?
Want the mc to show respect for him? Earn it. Everything that he has done has only been for the sake of his clan which he would go through any lengths to achieve and that is concerning. Did you all just want the mc to continue being a puppet on the throne for Dowun to exert his power through?
Also just to clarify, she is not “cheating” on Dowun... Read and understand the fking webtoon. Dowun and the mc are in a contract marriage without any love. The mc AND Dowun is free to fall in love with anyone they want but they have to respect each other and not commit any act that will betray the marriage, which the mc has not done. Unless you are saying the mc should have stayed in love with Dowun with her feelings being treated as shit or just want her to be a lifeless puppet with the inability to love. Basically a human without any warm emotions, like Dowun. You want the mc to be as cold as Dowun.

 

[ray_______]

@HotGirlShi

PERIOD SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK 😤

 

[-Gia-]

@HotGirlShi

I completely agree with you. I thought I was the only one seeing the grand scheme of things and how logically flowing the series has been (in regards to the MC's shift in goals and feelings

Spoiler

from Dowun to Baekwhatever/the body guard). Like everyone seems to have forgotten the major thing about Hong Lyon and Dowun's relationship: that it's contractual. Dowun even explicitly agreed to not having bitter feelings if Hong Lyon had another romantic interest.

Seeing how Dowun has developed though, it does seem as though he's

Spoiler

developed some sort of caring feelings for Hong Lyon (such as when he was searching for her endlessly all night)

, but we also have in mind his end goal.

Im not gonna lie, I would be very pleasantly surprised if the plot takes a turn and

Spoiler

Dowun is shown more in a positive light in Hong Lyon's eyes

through a series of events that permit these feelings to change for the better. As of right now though, I do not support any development between the two especially from all the negative psychological/emotional damage he's done to her already. I like his character very much as he's unique and is one of the most interesting characters in the series, but it baffles me that people love him and defend him to the point of ignoring every bad thing he's done to Hong Lyon and wanting to force them together (even claiming she's having an affair/is cheating on him with the bodyguard.... like hello??? Did you not read the dialog stating multiple times that their relationship is contractual through marriage with NO emotional commitment? It's literally an arranged political marriage). But because his character is so apparently "hot, dark, goth (??... not my words, I saw this from the comments), difficult, cold, etc." all logic gets thrown out the window. I do get the reasoning of, "well she wouldn't be where she is if it wasn't for him," but it does not make it okay for him to do all the cold things he did to her, to the point of her almost losing her true self.

I will admit that I havent liked many of Hong Lyon's recent actions as it makes the beginning basis of this series almost pointless (such as her becoming more competent and able in this kind of political environment... for her to not use any of this gained knowledge to further herself, which I hope will change soon). Yes, people are not perfect, but as

Spoiler

Her MAJESTY

, she should've known the risks more clearly and weighed the outcomes better. The lack in self-awareness for her actions is kind of baffling. Same goes for the bodyguard. I enjoy their snips of interaction but it's just agonizing sometimes seeing how they act without fully taking into consideration their current situation. Like the, "oh once this happens, everything will be cleared up and the rumors will die of course," kind of logic is really foolish.

Anyhow, great series! Complex and unique (

Edit: I was putting up spoiler tags on some things I said in the beginning then realize the whole thing is pretty much spoiler so I gave up lol

 

[lovingsushiroll]

@sunriseberry

Spoiler

thank you for replying.

none of his actions are selfless or altruistic as some might claim.

i do not know about this, it's debatable. i genuinely find him as a nice basic guy. i'm not sure if he has any ulterior motives beside love, but it would be interesting if it's like that.

and i don't understand why people are so mad with dowun treated his relationship with fl the way it is, because from the start is was a transactional deal. people got so butt-hurted when dowun didn't reciprocate her feelings. why? just bcause she liked him? does he even aware of love or ever had any experience with love/emotions? because this guy's eq is non-existent. it's unfair to judge him so harshly on his decisions to survive but never give him credits where it's due, while the fl getting praised for doing inappropriate things and repeatedly made immature decisions.

now dowun's developing feelings for her is his karma i guess. and i love it because it is what makes the story interesting. it shows that, at least to me, even a guy like him would fall into something he saw as a weakness in the first place. hmm, this is just my speculation, but i think when the backstory of dowun is shown, a lot of people would say the author whitewashed him to make the readers feel sympathy to him. while perhaps, that is what actually the author written about him from beginning, not to whitewash him. i see a lot of comments about typical dowun kind of guys in other stories that get more hate after their backstory on. people just love hating anything.

@HotGirlShi

Spoiler

Also just to clarify, she is not “cheating” on Dowun...

dear maam/sir, you might be right that there is no physical affair yet, but emotional affairs? absolutely. and i'm not saying she can't do that, because "fall in love with each other" is not part of the mutual deal. she can fall in love with anyone, but by god, do it in a safer way. if you haven't noticed yet, the palace isn't a safe place. there're eyes everywhere and people talk all the time. beside, this ambiguous relationship with the bodyguard could be a liability for her in the future.

not commit any act that will betray the marriage, which the mc has not done.

yet. isn't engagement part of marriage, too? if she can emotionally cheat him now, albeit he knows about it, what do you think will happen when they got married? it's the same if you have a fiancee and he/she cheat on you emotionally with other people? won't you feel betrayed? but then again, she's free to do that, because feelings are not part of the mutual agreement.

doing things her way which Dowun has did whatever he wanted since the fkin beginning.

Everything that he has done has only been for the sake of his clan which he would go through any lengths to achieve and that is concerning.

And you all are telling me that the mc is SELFISH? HE is the one being selfish tf?

did she really never done anything she wanted at all? wasn't she the one who asked for dowun's help? isn't that shows her selfish part to be something? nobody forced her to do that. her situation forced her to do so, because she knew well she could never survive if she still stayed the same useless princess like before. god knows what her other siblings would do to her if she's still stupid when the king died. and why is dowun not allowed to do things for his own survival, but it's okay for honglyon to ask for help? why it is okay for honglyon to cheat on him and make alliance with dowun's bro to go against him? why? because fl is more pitiable? because dowun is not some sad, sappy emotional guy, so everything he did is invalid? both of them are selfish in their own way. they did anything they wanted for their own selfish desires.

The mc hasn’t been selfish for a long time and has been sacrificing for Dowun.

lol. this is so glorifying the fl. nobody sacrificed anything for anyone. she obeyed what dowun taught her because she knew it was the only way for her to stay alive in the palace at that time. now she's a somebody, she's being a bitch about how dowun taught her to be. why then she did not complain at that time when she was still a nobody? because she fucking realised that the things dowun taught her would help her regain favours with the king, the government and her people. that's why she finally gained a new liveable palace, right? both of them did what they need to do to secure their own position.

You do not treat the people who loves you as tools for the sake of a goal ma’am/sir.

in regards to this, i'd argue dowun didn't know that honglyon 'loved' him before making her part of the plan. how would he know that she will like him? is that his fault too that she fell in love with him? could he even aware of such thing? he's smart alright, but his eq is low. he's a fucking moron in terms of romantic relationship. and this is not an excuse, he was just written that way. i don't think he would choose her if he knew she was in love with him, because he always saw emotions as a weakness at that time. and looking her situation back then, she would fall in love with anyone who gave her a little bit of kindness, though it might be just some common sense kindness, like what the bodyguard did. you could literally switch dowun with his bro and she would fall in love with him, too. and it is part of their mutual agreement to be in political marriage, which in return dowun would teach her about things beneficial for her to survive the palace. why just because she loved him, he needs to reciprocate her feelings? i think it's fair of him to treat his relationship with her like a business deal, because it was a business deal from the very start, one they both agreed on. love is not necessary in political marriage, that's why it's called political. now, he's developing feelings for her and she doesn't like him anymore. it's his karma and a lesson of life for him.

if we wanna talk about GOAL here, i think the main purpose of living, no matter ancient age or modern age, would still be the same, which is to survive. the way you want to survive is your prerogative. but this was the way they both chose it. and you said "You do not treat the people who loves you as tools for the sake of a goal". what about honglyon then? didn't she also use dowun as a tool for her own gain even if he was someone she claimed "loved" back then? if she found it was immoral to use your loved one as a tool, then why she didn't quit her mentorship with dowun back when she realised her feelings? huh... makes you wonder about it. i won't talk about his bro situation, because @fineokden and @cinic had made an excellent explanation for that, which i agree with.

I need you all to stop attempting to excuse Dowun please.

Stop excusing him.

Do y’all even understand his character or just don’t give a fuck?

first of all, nobody is making excuses for him. we're just stating things as it is, just with different glasses you have on. i think everyone that you deemed as 'excusing dowun' is fully aware of what kind of a character dowun is and what kind of things he's capable of doing and have done. and don't tell us to stop thinking the way we think just because you disagreed. we are independent thinkers, not just someone who follows the mainstream idea.

Want the mc to show respect for him?

HELL YEAH. if a guy taught me how to become something much better than what i used to be before, of course i would respect him. he's her mentor, and you couldn't discredit the things he's done for her, that would subsequently benefit BOTH OF THEM. it doesn't mean she should like him, but respect? definitely. that's what we call being grateful. he's harsh to her, but at the end of the day, she could read because of him. how do you think a royal who's illiterate and no backing would survive in the palace? she should remember who she really was before meeting dowun.

All in all, she made her bed, so go fucking lie in it. The way i see Honglyon acted right now is just like this: "fuck you dowun, i don't need you anymore because i'm a fucking queen and also smart now. so, i'm gonna do whatever the fuck i want without ever considering those around me or the very person who helped me become a queen". so yeah, she's like this. she hasn't done her part of the mutual deal yet, because the marriage isn't happening yet. but she has all the benefits now, so she dared to trash dowun because she's not a useless princess anymore. i don't know what this is called other than being ungrateful and bordering with betrayal.

@-Gia-

Spoiler

But because his character is so apparently "hot, dark, goth

lol, some delusional people you got there. i favor him because i found him to be interesting and more complex than other characters in the stories. i'm curious of his backstory. my guess would be the typical basic cold ml backstory, but still want to know about it.

as Her MAJESTY, she should've known the risks more clearly and weighed the outcomes better. The lack in self-awareness for her actions is kind of baffling. Same goes for the bodyguard. I enjoy their snips of interaction but it's just agonizing sometimes seeing how they act without fully taking into consideration their current situation. Like the, "oh once this happens, everything will be cleared up and the rumors will die of course," kind of logic is really foolish.

I will admit that I havent liked many of Hong Lyon's recent actions as it makes the beginning basis of this series almost pointless (such as her becoming more competent and able in this kind of political environment...

agree with this. like i stated in my previous posts, i don't fucking care about her love situation. she can do whatever she wants but please do it safely. it's kinda disappointing to see she acts the way she is right now, like all her lessons to survive in the palace's just gone with the wind. i thought she would end up amazing, but now..... and tbh, her recent actions are leaning towards betrayal route. i could definitely see her betray dowun in a heartbeat if it's related to the bodyguard. it's just the way she's written atm.

 

[HotGirlShi]

@spchntrt

Spoiler

but emotional affairs

if she can emotionally cheat him now

Emotions...? Not trying to be rude, but do you understand what a contract is? There are no emotions in a contract... They not even emotionally connected, wdym? The contract wasn't made based on love-it's a contract bruh. No emotions involved but a political contract. If you know they are free to do that, why are you complaining about it? Lol, Dowun is the one who proposed that idea anyway. There is no problem with this. It's his fault he couldn't comply with the contract he made. That's foolish to blame the mc. Tf?

did she really never done anything she wanted at all

Yes, she never did. She even sacrificed the placement of her mother's tombstone for Dowun's goal. And no she wasn't the one who asked for Dowun's help. Dowun was the one who proposed to help when she was at her most vulnerable moment. He knew to take advantage bc he is just that smart and manipulative. I don't think you remember the events of the webtoon correctly. You may need to reread. Or more like, you are just interpreting it the way you want to see it. Bc either you are just forgetting what happened or just twisting the events like....

why it is okay for honglyon to cheat on him and make alliance with dowun's bro to go against him?

OMFG she is not cheating. I thought you said you understand that? I think you do understand that but you just don't want to acknowledge bc you keep bringing it up like it's a problem. Yes, she should go against Dowun bc as I said, that man is ready to take any lengths for the sake of his goal to regain his clan's authority and fame. Removing anyone he thinks is a potential threat mercilessly, even involve innocent people, such as the bodyguard. A cold man like that who can even throw away his own brother casually for the sake of a goal needs to be thrown out. No matter how logical, smart, and conniving that man is, without a heart, anyone without a heart, is extremely dangerous and will hurt many people.

I'd argue dowun didn't know that honglyon 'loved' him before making her part of the plan.

What does this mean? Why does it have to be before the plan? It don't matter when. He just shouldn't have manipulated her, but yeah he knew she was in love with him before the plan.... he is smart and she was obvious... That's why he is anxious today bc he feels the mc being taken away by the bodyguard. Also, why are you only talking about the mc like the mc was the only one who loved him lol. Did you disregard his baby brother? The brother incident was the most obvious about who he is as a person. Are you just purposely ignoring it bc it doesn't help you with your argument?

first of all, nobody is making excuses for him.

You are making excuses for him and you don't even realize it... or more like you are reluctant to admit. The whole point of you responding like this is to defend Dowun. Trying to convince me that what he is doing is understanding when it is not. He is certainly logical and smart as hell, but he is missing a heart. Therefore, I can not sympathize with him. The stuff he has done is lacking a heart and it's horrible.

he's her mentor, and you couldn't discredit the things he's done for her, that would subsequently benefit BOTH OF THEM.

*Sigh* He did not do this stuff for her but for himself because he only thought of her as a puppet. That was her whole purpose. Also, she was respecting him... what do you mean? She let him manage everything which is what HE wanted to do. Don't make it seem like he is helping her because that was his goal to do in the first place. All she wanted was to handle things concerning her. The girl can't do that? As long as it's not affecting his authority then it's cool. Dowun is trying to do too much. He thinks he should be in charge of everything, including her life. No one can live like that. She has no one she is emotionally connected to but her bodyguard, At least let her have that. He doesn't need to do anything. It's plainly obvious that the bodyguard and his clan were not going to go against Dowun with his personality, but Dowun doesn't care bc he is part of the Baek and he simply doesn't like the mc liking him. Dowun was the one that provoked all this stuff to happen bc he keeps trying to kill him when he did nothing.

All in all, she made her bed, so go fucking lie in it.

This comment of yours just explained everything. Wow. Just wow... this comment really resembled Dowun. Cold af like damn... no wonder you like Dowun. Yes, this is the result of her decision to comply with Dowun but it does not mean that someone should continue living their life that miserable. The girl did not know any better at that time, but Dowun did. You already know he received a better education than her obviously bc of how she has been neglected. So Dowun knew to take advantage of her at her worst time. That dude was raised as a beautiful smart demon.

Yeah, I see that you all are reading this how you want to read it instead of how it is. You all who are thinking the same way as this person are in denial. The author isn't "trying to paint him" as a horrible person. That is how he was created in the first place. That was the author's goal. I am also sure that the author's goal is to give him a magnificent character improvement (at least I hope bc he does seem like the type to be firm with his belief/actions). He is going to realize a lot of things that he has done and regret them but something has to happen to him for this to happen, which is a revolt against him. Dowun is very smart and calculating. He always makes the correct choice but it also doesn't mean that it's right. However, these choices of his lacked a heart that hurt a lot of people, especially the ones who loved him. This will hurt him in the long-run, which is happening now. This is called karma. You guys should not be against the mc's decision to collaborate with his brother against him bc he is the one that caused this to happen. You all may say the heart is burdensome and will be in the way of his goal, but we all need a heart bc everything that we have done will always turn back against us. In order for your heart to not be in the way, you have to balance your heart and your mind. We should not be in favor of Dowun's actions, but if you still want to be and don't care, I can't do anything about it. All I can say is that Dowun is wrong and he deserves everything coming to him. You do not view people as disposable tools, especially your loved ones. He is lacking a heart.

 

[Agavadon]

@HotGirlShi tnks u just spared me lot of effort