Chapter 130
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 130
After sending all the maidservants out of the room, Ri-ri sat alone before the mirror, gnawing anxiously on her lower lip.
She was in a state of utter confusion. How was So-ya, who was supposed to be dead, still alive? And of all things, how had she reappeared as the daughter of the White Tiger Clan?
But what bothered Ri-ri even more was…
[So-ya…]
The way her father had treated that girl.
Had he not looked at her as if she were his own long-lost daughter?
Jeok Ah-yun’s attitude filled Ri-ri with a profound sense of unease.
“No. There’s no need to be anxious. That girl is a fake. A fake who tried to steal Ri-ri’s place and was driven out.”
Ri-ri muttered to herself as if trying to provide her own reassurance.
“Even if she shows up again like this, she won’t be able to take anything away—”
She flinched.
Catching sight of a pale, blurry shape in the mirror, Ri-ri spun around in a fright.
“W-who’s there?!”
A man dressed in black rags was standing behind her.
“Who—who are you?!”
Cowering instinctively at the sinister aura radiating from the man, Ri-ri screamed.
“G-get out this instant, or I’ll call for help!”
“How cold. And here I thought you’d be happy to see me after all this time.”
“Wh-what…?”
As Ri-ri stood there bewildered, the man bared his yellowed teeth in a grin.
“Hello there, Cuckoo.”
“H-how do you know that name…!”
Cuckoo.
As that long-forgotten name spilled from the stranger’s lips, Ri-ri’s face turned deathly pale.
“How? Because I’m the one who gave you ‘that power.’”
The man spoke as he pulled down the black rags covering his head.
Ri-ri’s eyes trembled violently. Although the man’s face was unfamiliar…
“Don’t tell me… a Peril Beast…!”
In the distant Northern Land, there existed non-human entities that lived by jumping from one human shell to another. Beings reborn through the power of evil—Peril Beasts.
And Ri-ri had encountered one of them a long time ago.
“I see you haven’t forgotten me entirely.”
Do-cheol scanned Ri-ri’s appearance.
“It seems you’ve been living the high life with the power I gave you.”
“S-so what! I’m doing just fine, so why did you come here? Are you here to take that power back now?”
“I need your help, Cuckoo.”
Do-cheol made his proposal in a mock-benevolent voice to the wary Ri-ri.
“If you help me, I will help you become the Yellow Dragon’s Bride.”
Ri-ri flinched. Her eyes wavered visibly.
“I—I can become the Yellow Dragon’s Bride without your help!”
However, Ri-ri soon raised her voice and shouted back.
“Brother Hwa-yu said he would make Ri-ri the Yellow Dragon’s Bride! So get out of my sight this instant!”
At this, a mysterious smile played across Do-cheol’s face.
“Aren’t you barely holding on right now by refusing to undergo Beast Transformation?”
“…”
Ri-ri’s mouth clamped shut.
“If you keep holding out like that, your true identity will eventually be revealed. Isn’t that right, Cuckoo?”
Though they could no longer be found in the South, beastkin of the ‘Cuckoo’ race once lived there. They had their supernatural abilities sealed and were exiled from the Southern Land for the crime of preying on small bird beastkin.
Ri-ri was one of those exiled Cuckoo beastkin.
A beastkin without a supernatural ability was weaker than others and struggled to survive. Thus, Ri-ri and the other Cuckoos had barely scraped by, stealing food from the streets.
Ri-ri had been utterly dissatisfied with such a life. There were so many magnificent birds in the South; why did she have to be born a Cuckoo and suffer like this?
It was on the very day her fate changed—the day she met Do-cheol.
Ri-ri had been hiding in an alleyway, stuffing her face with stolen food because she didn't want to share it with her kin. Suddenly, a man draped in black rags stood before her.
[What! I have nothing to give you! This is all Ri-ri’s!]
Ri-ri had clutched her food, glaring at the man with eyes full of suspicion. But the man seemed uninterested in her food, staring only into her eyes.
[You have the perfect eyes to become a Seed of Evil.]
The man muttered something incomprehensible, then grinned and asked:
[How about it? Shall we make a deal?]
[…?]
[If you show the potential to become a Seed of Evil, I shall give you something very good.]
[Something good?]
At the time, Ri-ri was young and uneducated, so she didn't understand what a 'deal' meant. The phrase 'Seed of Evil' was even more baffling. However, the only words that stuck in her ears were 'something good.'
[It seems your supernatural ability has been sealed. If you strike a deal with me, I will not only break that seal but make the power even stronger.]
Do-cheol had whispered to her in a seductive voice.
[I will give you a power so great it can deceive even the strongest beastkin of the South. With it, you will be able to enjoy a life of abundance.]
[A life of abundance?]
[Yes. A life where you don't have to starve or steal from others.]
At those words, Ri-ri had swallowed hard and asked:
[Wh-what do I have to do?]
And that night, a great fire broke out where the Cuckoo tribe lived in hiding. Not a single Cuckoo survived the massacre.
Except for one: Ri-ri.
The tribal ability Ri-ri regained that night was ‘Brood Parasitism.’
Originally, the ‘Brood Parasitism’ of a Cuckoo beastkin was an ability that allowed them to pick up a feather from a fake parent and change their appearance to look like their offspring. However, enhanced to the extreme by the power of evil, it had transformed into something wicked and cruel—a power that even attacked the fake parents' real offspring.
That power, which harmed other lives, resembled an evil art more than a supernatural ability.
[He’d better not be lying. I won’t let that rag-man get away with it.]
Despite her doubts, Ri-ri had searched for the most beautiful feather she could find. Then, by chance, she found a shimmering red feather.
The moment she activated her ability while holding it, Ri-ri’s dull gray hair and eyes turned crimson.
At first, she didn't even know it was a Vermilion Bird’s feather. But as soon as she set foot in the Southern Land, people approached her and spoke to her with kindness.
And on the day she crossed the threshold of the Vermilion Bird Mansion…
The Clan Head had suddenly burst into tears upon seeing her, claiming she was his lost daughter, and everyone in the Vermilion Bird Clan had welcomed her with joy.
Just as the Peril Beast had said, Ri-ri’s life changed in an instant. From a wretched life wandering foreign lands after being exiled, she had become the precious youngest lady of the noble Vermilion Bird Clan!
Everyone loved Ri-ri, and everyone blessed her existence.
Ri-ri didn't know what had happened to the real daughter of the house. She had likely died somewhere. Hadn't the Peril Beast who awakened her ability told her so?
He said that the moment ‘Brood Parasitism’ was manifested, the ‘real offspring’ would suffer a cracked Spirit Core and die.
And that was the reason Ri-ri was so certain So-ya was a ‘fake.’ Because that girl had remained alive during the months Ri-ri spent in the Vermilion Bird Clan.
In any case, there was no way the real daughter of this house would ever reappear.
But there was one major problem. The effect of the supernatural ability was temporary.
By nature, ‘Brood Parasitism’ only lasted until the cuckoo chick grew up. Therefore, after undergoing the First Growth, one would return to their original form.
But Ri-ri loved her current life far too much. So, she deliberately refused to undergo her First Growth, locking away the power of her Spirit Core and rejecting Beast Transformation.
However, just as Do-cheol had said moments ago, she was reaching her limit. At this rate, her Spirit Core would crack and she would die, or her true form would be exposed.
Reading Ri-ri’s anxiety perfectly, Do-cheol gave a sinister laugh.
“Do you want to go back to the days of wandering the streets? You’d be lucky if you were only kicked out. What if you’re severely punished for deceiving the clan?”
“Th-that won’t happen!”
Ri-ri denied it, her voice thick with terror.
“F-Father and my brothers love me so much! My family would never abandon me!”
“Is that so?”
“…”
Ri-ri couldn't answer further. She couldn't help but remember her father’s behavior today. That unsettling sight of him paying more attention to So-ya than to her.
“…So, what is it you want?”
Ri-ri finally gave the reaction Do-cheol wanted. At her question, the corners of Do-cheol’s mouth curled upward.
* * *
Seol-yo was peering around the darkening garden.
The commotion that had broken out at the White Tiger Clan earlier that day had finally settled down once Sa-eon arrived.
But that wasn't what mattered to Seol-yo. While he had been away from the palace following Ga-ya, So-ya had cried far too much. He wanted to comfort her.
He remembered how he had once picked flowers from Mt. Horim for her. However, this place was different from the White Tiger Palace or Mt. Horim, and the flowers So-ya usually liked were nowhere to be seen.
As Seol-yo spent a long time poking around the Imperial Palace garden, he spotted something dark and writhing within the deep shadows in the distance.
What is that?
Just as Seol-yo was about to take a step toward it—