Chapter 151
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 151
This was the first life Yi-rim remembered.
In that life, he was not the Son of Heaven, the Lord of the Earth, as he was now. Though he had been the only legitimate heir to the Imperial family, the death of his mother had left him listless. He was merely a powerless prince who had been pushed aside in the struggle for the throne.
And the So-ya of that time was the treasured only daughter of the Jeok clan. With hair as brilliant as a flame, she had already successfully completed her First Growth and lived enveloped in the love of her family.
A war against demonic beasts had broken out because of Hyeon Ra-baek, who had conspired with the Evil. As the war dragged on, the lives of the Empire’s citizens slowly withered away.
Eventually, this hardship turned into resentment toward the Imperial family.
In the tenth year of the war, the Imperial Court invoked an ancient oracle. Under the pretext of searching for the Bride of the Yellow Dragon, they summoned the young girls of every noble clan to the Imperial Palace.
So-ya was one of them.
The day he first encountered her was utterly ordinary.
Walking through the Imperial Palace garden, Yi-rim raised his head at the sound of rustling grass.
A small girl, appearing to be about ten years old, was walking toward him from the opposite direction.
Hair as red and shimmering as a blaze… Is she a daughter of the Vermilion Bird clan?
Yi-rim thought of it idly as he passed her by. He had no intention of taking an interest in her.
At the time, as the legitimate daughter of the Vermilion Bird clan, So-ya was the most likely candidate to become the next Bride of the Yellow Dragon. There was nothing to be gained for a mere prince like him to become entangled with her.
And so, their first encounter passed without incident.
He expected it to remain that way.
However, the world did not move according to his wishes.
In the Imperial Palace garden stood a massive, three-hundred-year-old zelkova tree. It was Yi-rim’s long-standing habit to climb into the quiet canopy and pass the time reading.
Then, one day, a small bird invaded his sanctuary.
His gaze shifted instinctively toward a trilling song, and there he found a tiny bird flitting between the branches, chirping away.
Yi-rim stopped reading, his entire attention captured by the little bird’s flight.
The bird, which had been dancing and singing to its heart's content, suddenly noticed Yi-rim watching and started in surprise. Looking around bashfully, the little bird spotted a hollow in the tree and scurried inside to hide.
“Peep!”
But almost immediately, a pained cry rang out.
As Yi-rim approached cautiously, he saw that the little bird’s wing had been scratched by a protruding thorn, and it was bleeding.
“Peep, peep…”
Tears began to well in its tiny, bead-like black eyes.
“Oh dear. Are you alright?”
“Pee-eep…”
“I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m sorry.”
He apologized and gently reached out his hand.
The bird stared at his fingertips warily for a moment before fluttering down to land on his palm.
He flinched.
The small, weightless presence of the bird made his palm go stiff instinctively. Yi-rim carefully brought the bird closer to his chest to examine the wound.
It doesn’t look like a very deep scratch…
Despite the thought, he didn't let it show and spoke softly.
“That must have hurt.”
“Peep!”
The little bird nodded.
A beastkin.
He had been unsure, but seeing it understand his words so clearly, it was definitely a beastkin.
“I’ll apply some medicine, so could you lift your wing?”
“Pee-eep…”
The bird made a fuss, acting more hurt than it was, as it tentatively lifted its wing.
Amused by the cute, trivial display, Yi-rim let out a small chuckle and took out some ointment to treat the wound. Every time his ointment-covered fingertip brushed against her, the way her wings twitched was quite memorable.
Red feathers…
Based on the color of those feathers alone, Yi-rim felt he knew who this little bird beastkin was.
“I heard the direct descendants of the Vermilion Bird were all quite large.”
“T-That’s only because I’ve only gone through my First Growth!”
So-ya, who had only been making bird sounds until then, spoke up indignantly. Hearing her speak clearly in the human tongue rather than chirping, it seemed her claim of completing her First Growth wasn't a lie.
Beastkin in their early childhood are unable to speak human languages.
“Once I finish my Second Growth, the power of the Vermilion Bird will bloom, and I’ll become huge just like my father and brothers!”
“I see.”
Yi-rim nodded indifferently.
At his reaction, which suggested he didn't believe her at all, So-ya launched into a passionate speech about how magnificently she had completed her First Growth.
Normally, Yi-rim was the type who hated having his contemplations interrupted. Yet, strangely, he found the sound of So-ya’s chirping voice quite pleasant that day.
Without him even realizing it, a faint smile played on his lips.
Then, at some point, So-ya’s voice grew quiet.
Turning his head slightly, he found the little bird fast asleep on the branch, her eyes blinking shut.
Do birds usually sleep so uncomfortably on branches?
To Yi-rim’s eyes, the posture looked incredibly precarious.
What if she falls?
After a moment of worry, he carefully picked her up. The little bird’s body was so small and light it felt as though she might blow away with a single breath.
Yi-rim settled her on his lap and picked up his book again.
Flip, rustle—
Silence returned to the zelkova tree, save for the soft sound of pages turning.
*
So-ya continued to visit Yi-rim’s zelkova tree often after that, and the two gradually grew closer.
“Look at this, Your Highness! Looking at the shape, it must belong to a man. See, there’s a tiger here.”
Then one day, So-ya showed him a silver hairpin she said she had found in the tree hollow. He had spent ages in this tree and never noticed it because it was wrapped in blue cloth; as she babbled on about it, he found her quite adorable.
“Here, it’s a gift for you.”
When So-ya beamed and handed the object to him, Yi-rim’s face instantly flushed hot.
“W-Why…”
His face turned as red as a ripe persimmon, and he stammered, unlike his usual self.
“Do… Do you know what it means when a woman gives a man a silver hairpin?”
“What does it mean?”
So-ya tilted her head with an innocent expression.
Yi-rim, who was only a twelve-year-old boy at the time, did not know how to respond in such a situation.
“…I don’t know either.”
And so, he snapped his head away as if he were angry. So-ya was puzzled by his unusual behavior, but seeing that he seemed troubled, she didn't press further.
Instead, she offered with a small laugh.
“Don’t be angry, Your Highness. I’ll pin it in for you.”
“No. There’s no need—”
Rustle—
Before he could finish his sentence, her hand reached out and gently brushed through his platinum-blonde hair.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ll make it look really pretty.”
Yi-rim reflexively held his breath.
“Back at home, my father, my brothers, and I used to play by combing each other’s hair like this.”
So-ya continued to chatter like a chirping bird, but he could hardly hear her. His ears felt muffled, and his breath kept catching in his throat.
How long do I have to keep holding my breath?
The question suddenly occurred to him. Acting this awkward and stiff felt unlike him.
Just as he tried to let out a breath as naturally as possible—
Brush—
The tips of her fingers grazed the nape of his neck.
Yi-rim had to swallow his breath again. At the same time, a surge of heat rushed to his neck.
That was the day Yi-rim first felt a strange fluttering in his heart because of So-ya.
Thump, thump, thump, thump…
It was a sensation he had never felt before, something utterly foreign and strange.
He didn't know then. That he was slowly opening his heart to her.
The times he spent with So-ya were all vivid, but there were a few moments that remained particularly clear in his memory.
The day he first felt the weight of the little bird.
The day he first felt that pounding heartbeat.
The day he learned that the pecking of a tiny bird’s beak could be so ticklish.
The day he first thought someone’s smiling face was truly beautiful…
And that day was one of those exceptionally vivid ones.
It was the day he first faced the terror that she might leave him.
While sharing idle conversation with So-ya as usual, he noticed that something was wrong with her physical condition.
At some point, dark circles had begun to form under her eyes. Sometimes, in the middle of a cheerful conversation, she would suddenly go blank and stop speaking. Her fingertips would tremble, or she would huddle into herself from a sudden chill.
Her health was deteriorating day by day.
The symptoms were subtle, but he was certain.
Because long ago… his mother had been the same…
The moment he realized it, a sudden, sharp fear gripped him.