Chapter 124
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 124
His hand, stretched toward the empty air, twitched in vain.
Only the hollow chill of the atmosphere lingered between his aimless fingertips.
“Cotton Ball, you shouldn’t have… it’s dangerous…”
“But Father, you’re hurt!”
At the sound of the voice coming from behind him, Jeok Ah-yun turned his head with a mechanical, jarring stiffness.
There stood So-ya, looking distressed as she held Baek Sa-eon’s hand.
And there was Baek Sa-eon, pulling the child into his arms with a faint, knowing smirk.
Seeing the two of them looking for all the world like a doting father and daughter, Jeok Ah-yun felt as if his mind had been bleached stark white.
[Father…!]
Father. That cry from a moment ago had not been directed at him.
The title of "Father," which had once belonged to him, and the worry embedded within it—all of it was directed at that man, not him.
Jeok Ah-yun stared at them blankly.
So-ya was at a loss, clutching Sa-eon’s singed palm.
To a man like him, the head of the Baek Clan and ruler of the West, a minor burn like that would hardly be considered an injury.
Yet, So-ya’s face was so full of concern she looked as if she might burst into tears at any second.
The moment he saw that—
Sting—
The place where Baek Sa-eon’s nails had grazed him, the wound on his shoulder, began to throb with pain.
In truth, by any objective measure, Jeok Ah-yun was the one who looked more battered.
He had been blindsided, grabbed by the collar, and attacked; besides, no beastkin could best a White Tiger in a physical brawl—not even the Dragon beastkin, who were said to be blessed by the Heavenly God.
Despite this, So-ya stood there with tearful eyes, looking as if she were the one in pain over that large man’s tiny scratch.
Then, suddenly, So-ya glanced his way.
Jeok Ah-yun froze under the weight of her gaze.
Soon, So-ya whispered something into Sa-eon’s ear.
Baek Sa-eon’s brow furrowed initially, but when So-ya gave him a beaming smile, he let out a short laugh and nodded along.
So-ya stood up from Sa-eon’s embrace and walked toward Jeok Ah-yun.
“…”
As the child drew closer, Jeok Ah-yun felt his mouth go strangely dry.
Before he knew it, So-ya had stopped in front of him.
Even with her standing right there, it didn't feel real.
The So-ya in his memories was a tiny child.
But the girl before him now was already fourteen, having grown into a mature young lady.
That vast gap in time, combined with the way she still carried the face of her childhood… it made Jeok Ah-yun’s heart ache with a sharp, piercing pang.
“Hello, Clan Head. It has been a long time.”
So-ya greeted him in a polite, composed voice.
‘Phew, what a relief. My voice didn’t shake.’
So-ya felt a sense of success.
Truthfully, she had been worried the entire time.
What if my voice trembles when I face this man again? What if I make a mistake? What if I freeze up like a fool?
She had worried incessantly, but perhaps because she had steeled herself so many times, or perhaps because of her father and brothers watching over her from behind, she was able to remain perfectly steady.
However, unlike the inwardly relieved So-ya, Jeok Ah-yun’s eyes shook with shock.
Clan Head…
Not Father, but Clan Head.
The So-ya who had just called that man "Father" was calling him "Clan Head."
‘Why…?’
The question rose to his throat, but he couldn't bring himself to ask why she addressed him that way.
He was the one who had treated the child like a stranger first.
After sending So-ya to the Cold Palace, they had met again three years later because of Ri-ri’s stubborn insistence on having the girl as her personal maid.
Back then, the child had only looked at him with her head bowed low, walking on eggshells.
And he was the one who had drawn a cold, sharp line with his frigid tone.
Even until the moment the child turned her back and left, calling him "Clan Head," he had never allowed her even the smallest opening.
Even when the child, having become Ri-ri’s maid, followed him and Ri-ri among the other servants.
Even when she stole glances at him with a face that looked as if she were constantly suppressing her sorrow.
She thought she was hiding it, but her gaze toward him was impossible to miss. Jeok Ah-yun had known, yet he had deliberately treated her with even more indifference, as if she were no different from any other servant.
At the time, he thought it was only natural.
That child was the one who had stolen Ri-ri’s place.
He felt he had to teach her where she stood.
So that she wouldn't harbor vain dreams of coveting Ri-ri’s position again.
But why?
Why did that title, "Clan Head"—which he had let slide past him so easily back then—make his heart throb with such pain now?
As Jeok Ah-yun struggled to find an answer through the suffocating ache in his chest, So-ya asked in a steady voice:
“You were looking for me, weren’t you, Clan Head? Do you have something to say to me?”
“So-ya. I…”
He looked as if he were about to say something, then squeezed his eyes shut before opening them to look at her again.
The uneasy sensation that had been rattling his heart since last night was growing steadily, but Jeok Ah-yun forced himself to ignore it as he spoke.
“You’ve grown up healthy. I am… truly glad. I thought… you were dead.”
Every word he uttered felt like a raw scrape against his throat.
Particularly at the part where he said he "thought she was dead," his eyes contorted in involuntary agony.
Yet, So-ya couldn't understand why he was reacting that way.
Pain. Misery. Relief. Affection…
The man who was no longer her father was looking at her with a face that seemed to be a chaotic mixture of all those emotions.
But this man…
‘He tried to kill me.’
She remembered Ri-ri’s voice asking to have her removed. And the black-masked Three-Legged Crow who had tried to kill her.
On the final day of that year’s Summer Festival, if she hadn't met Sa-eon, So-ya would have surely died on the spot.
Only the direct lineage of the Vermilion Bird could command the Three-Legged Crow.
Yet, Jeok Ah-yun was looking at her with an expression that could never belong to someone who had intended to kill her.
‘Was it the Young Master’s independent decision, unrelated to the Clan Head?’
At that time, Jeok Hwa-yu had been acting as the clan's representative for all matters. So, perhaps this man truly didn't know she had almost been killed.
‘But even so… why that expression? As if he actually missed me.’
So-ya stared at Jeok Ah-yun with blank eyes.
“How is it that you are with the Head of the Baek Clan…?”
His voice trailed off.
He felt a sense of urgency at the child’s expression, which showed no hint of surprise, emotion, or joy.
“No, that isn’t what’s important right now. So-ya. Come with your father.”
The unrefined words tumbled out of his mouth.
“Pardon…?”
So-ya, who had been listening quietly, asked back in bewilderment.
“After you disappeared like that, I’ve… thought of you constantly.”
“…?”
“I don’t know what has happened to you in the meantime, but I am so glad you have grown up safe and sound, So-ya. So, let us go together now. To our home. To our house in the warm Southern Land where you were born and raised. Let’s go together.”
Jeok Ah-yun poured out everything inside him without a moment’s pause.
So-ya was flustered for a moment, but she soon regained her composure and spoke calmly.
“I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying.”
“So-ya…”
“I am grateful that you raised me in the Vermilion Bird Mansion. You cherished me until I was six, and even when you realized I wasn't your biological child, you didn't cast me out immediately.”
“So-ya, that’s…”
“But we aren't family. So that title you just used isn't appropriate, Clan Head.”
“…!”
Thud—
Jeok Ah-yun felt as if he had heard the sound of something heavy falling and shattering.
“I don’t know why you’re asking me to go with you… but I have a family now. To leave my family and go with you, Clan Head… that is a very strange thing to suggest.”
The more So-ya spoke, the clearer her mind became.
It made all the time she had spent worrying about facing this man again feel pointless.
“If you’re troubled because of how harshly you treated me, you don’t have to be. Back then…”
Of course, bringing up those days with her own lips made her throat ache slightly. Still, So-ya continued resolutely.
“To be honest, I don’t really know why you hated me so much, but it’s okay. Thanks to you, Clan Head, I was able to meet my real family.”
“…”
Jeok Ah-yun’s lips parted weakly at her words.
“So, I truly hope you won’t trouble yourself over the past because of me.”
Then, So-ya drove the final nail in.
“I apologize on behalf of my father for the rudeness he showed you earlier. He isn't usually someone who resorts to force, but I think he was a bit upset today.”
So-ya clasped her hands and bowed politely.
“I offer this apology in his stead, so I hope you can find it in your heart to let it go, Clan Head. I will always be grateful for the grace you showed in raising me when I was young. Now, goodbye.”
With that, she turned away, leaving Jeok Ah-yun standing there, and headed toward Sa-eon.
Seeing So-ya returning to him, Sa-eon slightly opened his arms.
So-ya, who had been walking with such poise, saw this and broke into a bright smile, scurrying over to hang onto his arm.
Unlike the calm, mature way she had just spoken, she looked exactly like a child. Like a daughter…
Holding Sa-eon’s hand, So-ya left the area with the people of the White Tiger Clan.
While Jeok Ah-yun watched their retreating figures with a hollow face, Sa-eon suddenly glanced back.
The chilling, murderous intent swirling in those eyes made Jeok Ah-yun flinch involuntarily as a cold shiver ran through him.
He had known Baek Sa-eon had a foul temperament, but that gaze was excessive.
It was the look of someone staring at their parents' murderer.
After even the gathered crowd had dispersed.
Jeok Ah-yun realized too late.
That he hadn't said the most important things to the child.
Things he should have said five years ago, perhaps, when the child was still in the Vermilion Bird Mansion.
Because the meeting had been so sudden, he hadn't had the chance, and also…
The child had drawn the line so calmly, so composedly.
That they were no longer family.
That she would not go with him.
That she wished he would stop bringing up the past.
She hadn't given him even a brief window to offer a messy apology, speaking instead with such a steadfast voice.
And in the child’s appearance as she spoke… strangely, he was reminded of his deceased wife.
‘Why…?’
So-ya wasn't his wife’s biological daughter. The child his wife had given her life to bring into the world was Ri-ri.
“Father…!”
At that moment, Jeok Hwa-yu approached and took hold of him.
“Ah.”
Only then did Jeok Ah-yun snap out of it and look at his second son.
Jeok Hwa-yu also wore a face full of confusion.
And the moment he looked at Ri-ri, who was standing beside him with a pale face.
Startle.
Jeok Ah-yun felt a sudden chill crawl down his spine and gasped.
In Ri-ri’s face, not a single trace of his wife could be seen.