Chapter 158
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 158
Ri-ri, who had been crouching inside the underground prison, sprang to her feet when she saw Jeok Ah-yun approaching.
“A-Father…!”
Stepping into the prison cell, Jeok Ah-yun faltered for a moment.
One side of Ri-ri’s face was horribly distorted.
No, it wasn't just her face.
Half of her body was shriveled and withered like that of a crone.
How… Is this the price of her evil arts?
Feeling his gaze, Ri-ri instinctively shielded her face. She remembered the looks of horror from the people who had seen her recently.
Except for Hwa-yu, who had come to see her in a fit of rage, everyone else had looked at her withered half with revulsion, as if they were staring at a demonic beast.
However, Ah-yun only hesitated for a moment; he did not look away.
Gaining courage from this, Ri-ri asked tentatively, “Did you… come to take Ri-ri home…?”
“…”
“Ri-ri…”
Ri-ri bit her lower lip hard, her voice trembling on the verge of tears.
“Ri-ri was wrong. Ri-ri deceived Father and my brothers. I deceived everyone. And I tried to hurt that girl. It’s all Ri-ri’s fault.”
Sobbing as she confessed her sins, Ri-ri’s previous arrogance had completely vanished.
After Hwa-yu’s visit, she had waited and waited, but her father and brothers never returned. In this place where not a single ray of light entered, she couldn't even tell the passage of time; she could only wait.
Then, she had overheard the guards talking and learned she had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
I have to… live here forever?
It was too horrific, too terrifying.
But what scared her most was being alone in this cold, dark place with no one coming to find her.
Having lost the red hair and eyes she was once so proud of in an instant, Ri-ri now faced a future where her face was hideous and her family was on the verge of abandoning her.
Crouching and shivering in the cold, dark cell, the moment she saw Jeok Ah-yun, she realized he was the last lifeline that could pull her out of this abyss.
“I didn't want Father to be taken away from me, that’s why I did it. I won’t do it again. I won’t hurt that girl; I’ll get along with her. So Father, please, get Ri-ri out of here. Please…”
“…”
“Ugh, hmph, Father, please…”
Yet, despite Ri-ri’s weakened state as she wailed and begged for forgiveness, Jeok Ah-yun felt a strangely complete lack of sympathy.
With that face, she had tried to harm someone in a place he didn't know…
So-ya… his poor child… she had tried to kill her…
The moment that thought struck him, a wave of nausea surged again, and Jeok Ah-yun covered his mouth with one hand.
If So-ya, abandoned alone five years ago, had not met Baek Sa-eon…
Or if he hadn't discovered Ri-ri’s scheme at the Imperial Palace and she had succeeded…
If that had happened, I would have lived my whole life never knowing So-ya was my daughter… never knowing of her death, cherishing this girl as my own.
At that horrific hypothetical, Jeok Ah-yun reflexively took a step back, recoiling from Ri-ri.
“How can you abandon me just because of the color of my feathers!”
Finally, Ri-ri’s resentment burst forth through her tears.
“You said you’d do anything for me! You said I was the most precious daughter in the world! You did! How can you throw me away just because of a feather color!”
“…”
“A-Ah, Father… I-I was wrong. What I just said, I didn't mean it. Father. Father…”
Panting, Ri-ri snapped back to her senses and clung to his feet.
Just because of a feather color…
Ironically, those words made Jeok Ah-yun think of So-ya again.
A child who had been abandoned at a much younger age… for nothing more than the color of her feathers.
A child who, despite that, had never once resented him…
“Ri-ri said she was sorry. Please say something, Father…”
“…”
“Father…!”
“…”
Jeok Ah-yun’s lips parted, but no words came out.
“Fa—Kugh! Hack! Argh…!”
In the end, Ri-ri collapsed at Jeok Ah-yun’s feet, vomiting blood before losing consciousness.
*
When he emerged outside, the Emperor’s young eunuch was waiting for him.
“His Majesty is waiting for you.”
His clothes, which he hadn't changed in three days, smelled musty, and his disheveled appearance was hardly suitable for an audience with the Emperor.
“Let me tidy my attire…”
“His Majesty does not like to be kept waiting. He said that if the Jeok Clan Head said such a thing, you should not worry about it and told me not to let him wait any longer.”
“…I understand.”
Jeok Ah-yun followed the eunuch up to the pavilion where the Emperor waited.
Sitting before a refreshment table, Yi-rim narrowed his eyes coldly upon seeing him.
“Welcome, Clan Head Jeok.”
“Ah-yun of the Jeok Clan greets His Imperial Majesty.”
Jeok Ah-yun sat before him with hesitant movements.
“Did you meet your daughter?” Yi-rim asked, tilting the teapot.
Trickle—
The sound of tea hitting the cup echoed.
“She likely does not have much longer to live.”
“…”
“It is quite a pity. I had hoped your daughter would live a very, very long life.”
“…”
“And you as well, Clan Head Jeok.”
Yi-rim looked at Jeok Ah-yun with cold eyes as he held out the teacup.
“I hope you live a very, very long life as well.”
“Your Majesty…?”
“It is an imperial decree, so please, live a long, long life.”
Sensing an inexplicable chill in that gaze, Jeok Ah-yun bowed his head as he accepted the cup with both hands.
“Your Majesty’s grace… is immeasurable…”
He couldn't remember how that brief tea time with the Emperor passed.
After Yi-rim left first, Ah-yun slowly descended from the pavilion.
His steps onto the ground were heavy and unstable.
He realized that since the incident two days ago, he had eaten nothing except for the tea he had just consumed.
Yet, he felt no hunger, no desire for food.
Even though he hadn't slept for two days and had been wandering outside, he had no desire to go to bed.
Because his life felt so wretched and horrific.
Ah-yun simply wanted to let go of his life right then and there.
The Emperor’s words about wishing him a long life felt ominous.
Those words—denying death to a father who had abandoned his child—felt like a punishment handed down by someone who knew all of his sins.
Tight.
Jeok Ah-yun closed his eyes in agony before opening them again.
He had to go to So-ya. He had to go and speak to her.
He had to say something, anything.
But he knew.
He knew he didn't even have the right to seek the child out…
[You said you were sorry to me, didn't you? Then return my mother’s norigae, the one Ri-ri took from me.]
Suddenly, the words the child had said to him not long ago flashed through his mind.
[Don’t just say you’re sorry. If you are truly sorry, return that to me. If you do, I will accept your apology, Clan Head.]
Yes, that norigae…
He rushed to Ri-ri’s quarters and began ransacking the room.
Slide, thud!
Slide, thud!
The sound of drawers and wardrobes being violently opened and closed echoed into the hallway.
The maidservants, bewildered by the Clan Head’s erratic behavior upon his return after two days, could only hover anxiously, unsure of what to do.
But no matter how much he searched, he could not find his wife’s norigae.
Perhaps she hadn't brought it with her to the Imperial Palace.
Concluding this, he immediately flew toward the Southern Land.
When he arrived at the mansion, the household retainers asked why he had returned alone so suddenly.
Ignoring their greetings, he went straight to Ri-ri’s room.
“The norigae, the norigae…”
He muttered as he tore through Ri-ri’s chest of drawers, her vanity, and every corner of her wardrobe.
“I have to find the norigae… Only then will So-ya…”
But even here, his wife’s norigae was nowhere to be seen.
The room was filled only with expensive and extravagant jewels. He was momentarily taken aback by the sheer amount of ostentatious jewelry that did not suit the modest traditions of the Vermilion Bird Clan.
But that wasn't what was important right now.
“Why… why isn't it here… Why…”
Gradually, his voice began to crack with tears.
“Where… where on earth is it…?”
In truth, he knew.
Even if he found it and brought it to her now, So-ya would likely refuse to see him.
Nevertheless, it felt like the last thread of hope left to him, and he couldn't give up.
Finally, as he yanked open the bottom drawer of the vanity, he found a gray cuckoo feather inside.
“…A cuckoo.”
In an instant, his heart sank with a chilling dread.
It was undeniable proof that a cuckoo had been staying in this room.
In a room where no hope could be found, that was the only thing that remained.