Chapter 128
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 128
So-ya, who had absentmindedly looked up, suddenly froze.
‘That person is…’
The man across from her also spotted So-ya. With a short gasp, he stopped in his tracks, then began walking toward her with a face twisted in agony.
So-ya stared blankly as the man approached.
With the sound of crunching footsteps, the man came to a halt before her and slowly lowered his knees to the ground.
“…!”
So-ya’s eyes widened in an instant as she watched San-yu bow his large frame before her.
“So-ya…”
“P-please, don’t do this. I…”
“I’m sorry.”
So-ya, who had been startled and tried to stop him, froze at the desperate voice that escaped his lips.
“I promised you I would return soon… but I am so very late.”
“….”
She remembered it being when she was six years old.
A spring from eight years ago.
She had followed him all the way to the Imperial Palace to see him off as he left for the front lines.
[Brother, you must come back healthy. Promise me, okay?]
And here, at this very palace, she had shared her final tearful goodbye with him.
[Of course, So-ya. Your brother will come back to see you very soon, so you have to stay healthy and well too.]
At the time, So-ya was too young and too small.
She didn't know how long a time "soon" actually was.
So, she simply waited.
She waited for him to return.
But the tragedy that arrived swifter than his return eventually made it impossible for her to wait for him any longer.
“I came back too late. I didn't even know you were hurting all alone for all that time because I was so late.”
“….”
“You’ve grown up so wonderfully, yet I couldn't even keep a single promise to return soon.”
“….”
“I’m sorry, So-ya.”
“….”
“I’m sorry. Your brother is truly sorry.”
“….”
“I’m so… so sorry….”
“….”
Between his repeated apologies, a pained sob was embedded in every syllable.
To the young So-ya, he had been the greatest person in the world after her father.
Seeing such a great man huddling his body and weeping before her felt incredibly strange to So-ya.
“I….”
So-ya swallowed a thin, trembling breath and slowly opened her mouth.
She intended to tell him that she didn't mind and that he should stand up. But the moment she spoke…
Drop, drop. Plop—
“Huh…?”
So-ya blinked in confusion.
Tears were falling in heavy drops.
“Wh-what? That’s strange. Why is this happening?”
Startled, So-ya tried to wipe her eyes with the edge of her sleeve.
But the moment she rubbed them.
Stream—
Even more tears poured down her cheeks.
“Ah…. Why won't the tears… stop….”
Her vision blurred.
No matter how much she wiped, the tears simply wouldn't stop.
“Why, hic, why do they keep, uugh, the tears….”
Hiccup. Her words were constantly cut short by the sound of her swallowing her sobs.
Her chest throbbed with pain.
The moment she realized she was crying because her heart ached.
Only then did So-ya understand.
[So, I really hope you don't trouble your heart over the past because of me.]
She hadn't said those words because she was kind-hearted enough to understand and forgive them.
It was simply because she was no longer that nine-year-old child who waited for them to come back for her.
Because even without them, she now had a real family who was the most precious thing in the world to her.
Because she thought the wounds of her childhood could no longer leave even the slightest trace on her.
That was why she had calmly and maturely drawn a line with him, but perhaps she wasn't actually okay.
She thought she had let out all her sorrow while crying her eyes out in her father’s arms on the day she woke from the past shown by the Vermilion Bird and underwent her First Growth, but perhaps that wasn't the case either.
Perhaps she wasn't okay at all.
Perhaps she hadn't forgotten those wounds for even a single moment.
Perhaps, all along, she had wanted to hear those words: I’m sorry.
Regardless of having carved them out of her heart, she must have wanted to be comforted for her sorrow-stained childhood in some way.
“Ugh, hic, waaaah….”
San-yu’s expression twisted in agony at the sound of her sorrowful, sobbing wails.
In the meantime, his face was also drenched with emotion, just like So-ya’s.
Even as he looked at So-ya with sorrowful eyes, San-yu did not dare reach out toward her eyes.
He didn't dare, for he had no right to comfort her….
“…So-ya. I know the wounds you received won't disappear with just these words.”
He forced out his voice, which was painfully choked with emotion.
“That day, when I saw you in the Northern Land… you were the prettiest and most lovely baby bird I have ever known.”
“…!”
At those words, So-ya bit her lower lip hard and looked at him.
“You are neither unsightly nor shabby. Just let all those wicked words wash away. If you can't, I’ll go and punish all those wicked birds who dared to spread such lies.”
Through her blurred vision, she saw the face of the man weeping sorrowfully with a devastated, wet face.
“My sister, whom I yearned to meet again for countless days, is the loveliest baby bird in the world.”
The loveliest baby bird in the world….
Perhaps those were the words her six-year-old self had wanted to hear most from her family….
“I’m sorry I couldn't tell you that sooner.”
The man who was once her brother spoke with his eyes curved sadly, even as his throat was so tight from the constant flow of tears that his voice kept cracking.
“I’m sorry I’m saying it so late. I’m truly, truly sorry. So-ya….”
“Hic, ugh, why, are you, so, late, hic, ugh…. Why did you come so late, why…. I, hic, waited so long… waaaaaah!”
So-ya finally burst into loud, wailing sobs.
Just like a six-year-old child.
* * *
Ga-ya hummed a tune as he walked.
His steps were incredibly light.
Behind him, Seol-yo and Su-ri followed with quick, short steps.
An hour ago, upon returning to his quarters, Ga-ya had suddenly announced he had somewhere to go. He had specifically ordered Seol-yo and Su-ri to escort him and was now on his way back from outside the palace.
“But are you really going to use that precious thing to make a hair ornament for the Young Lady?”
Su-ri, who was following behind, asked tentatively.
He had wondered what the First Young Master was up to, only to find him entrusting a gemstone bestowed by the Emperor to a craftsman outside the palace.
“Yes. I’m going to give Som-som a surprise gift. She’ll definitely love it. Because Som-som likes me.”
Ga-ya smiled broadly, thinking of the gemstone he was scheduled to pick up in three days.
Su-ri was greatly surprised by such a choice from Ga-ya, who usually had a strong desire for material possessions.
“But that gemstone belongs to you, Young Master.”
“Hmph, don't be stupid. It’s not mine; it’s Som-som’s.”
Ga-ya replied with a snort, as if Su-ri were asking something incredibly obvious.
“The one who led the war to victory wasn't those idiots who were sitting before His Majesty with proud faces earlier, but our Som-som.”
Though it was a truth no one knew, it was all thanks to So-ya that Hyeon Ra-baek was defeated and the demonic beasts lost their power.
If it hadn't been for So-ya, the war would still be dragging on sluggishly without an end.
As someone who loved being the center of attention, Ga-ya couldn't understand why his father and sister kept the matter a secret, but regardless, it was only right that the Emperor’s gift went to So-ya.
“Pardon? The Young Lady did?”
“I’m right, aren't I, Just Seol-yo?”
When Su-ri tilted his head in confusion, Ga-ya turned back to Seol-yo and grinned.
“Pardon? Yes, that’s right.”
Seol-yo nodded his head vigorously.
“Why have you been calling me ‘Just Seol-yo’ for a while now?”
“There’s a reason.”
Just as So-ya’s visit to the Northern Land was a secret, Seol-yo following her was also a secret.
Having secrets was quite frustrating.
“Aha, I see.”
Despite Ga-ya’s indifferent response, Su-ri continued to chatter with many questions.
“But why did you tell us to follow you when we aren't even doing anything?”
“If a man as magnificent as I wanders the streets alone, bothersome things tend to cling to me.”
Ga-ya explained in a bored voice, as if reciting a perfectly natural fact.
Having arrived at the pavilion, Ga-ya caught a scent in the air.
So-ya’s scent was carried on the breeze blowing from the backyard of the pavilion.
He was about to go find his sister immediately when his brow suddenly twitched.
The salty tang mixed in was unmistakably the scent of tears….
But if that had been all, his face wouldn't have contorted so fiercely.
Mixed in the blowing air was the scent of someone he didn't particularly like.
Jeok San-yu. That unlucky winged beast had made his sister cry.