Chapter 163
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 163
The day for So-ya to finally leave the Imperial Palace had arrived.
Feeling a lingering sense of regret, So-ya was taking one last brisk stroll through the Imperial Palace garden when she encountered a woman with blue hair walking toward her.
“Clan Head of the Blue Dragon Clan…!”
As So-ya greeted her with a bright, welcoming face, the woman stopped before her and leaned down slightly to meet her eyes, a playful smile on her lips.
“I’m Cheong Su-a. Please, just call me by my name.”
“Yes, Su-a. Then… please call me So-ya, too. I’m So-ya of the Baek Clan.”
So-ya spoke with a slight blush, captivated by Su-a’s low yet elegant voice.
She had felt it before, but the Clan Head of the Blue Dragon Clan was truly, truly cool!
‘If I go to the battlefield, will I become as cool as Su-a?’
So-ya looked at her with a fluttering heart, harboring a thought that would have surely horrified Sa-eon had he heard it.
“Very well, So-ya. Thank you for resolving the crisis at the palace the other day. Everyone here owes you their lives.”
Since that day, So-ya had felt the weight of people’s gazes whenever she walked through the palace, but being praised so directly for her contribution made her feel a bit shy.
“It wasn’t a debt. If you put it that way, everyone in the Taehwa Empire owes an even greater debt to you and the other generals, Su-a. You’ve all fought so fiercely on the battlefields.”
Cheong Su-a burst into laughter at So-ya’s words.
“My aunt was right about you.”
“Your aunt… do you mean my mother?”
“Yes. She often sent letters telling me all about you.”
“...!”
So-ya’s face lit up instantly.
“Wh-what did she say?”
In her excitement, So-ya looked exactly like any other child her age, a far cry from the magnificent and grand figure who had taken flight to save so many people.
“She said she had gained a very beautiful and lovely youngest daughter at the White Tiger Palace. And that you were a very clever baby bird who loved to read.”
This time, So-ya was truly embarrassed.
Of course, it wasn’t the first time she had been called beautiful or lovely. Her mother was someone who always showered her with such wonderful words.
But to think she had said those things to others as well… it was a bit bashful, but she didn’t dislike it.
“When I return to the Cheonghae Palace, I’ll have to tell her that her baby bird isn’t just beautiful and clever, but brave as well—that she saved everyone.”
Cheong Su-a spoke with a gentle smile.
“It must have been terrifying to see people turning into demonic beasts, yet you took flight so bravely and saved them all. Thank you, truly.”
“It was nothing,” So-ya replied with a giggle, following Su-a’s lead.
In truth, her tongue was itching to brag that she had even caught a real demonic beast before and wasn’t scared at all, and that her father always told her she was the bravest baby bird in the world. But she held it in. For some reason, she wanted to appear mature in front of Su-a.
“I have received permission from His Majesty. As soon as I return to the Cheonghae Palace, I will bring back the Clan Head’s Seal that was engraved upon my aunt’s spirit core.”
“...!”
So-ya’s eyes widened in surprise.
“My aunt will finally be able to return to the White Tiger Palace. She has suffered much because of me.”
“Thank you for sharing such good news,” So-ya replied with a beaming smile.
A serene smile also lingered on Su-a’s face as she watched her.
“Come visit the Cheonghae Palace with my aunt sometime.”
“Would that really be okay?”
When her mother was at the Cheonghae Palace, So-ya used to visit every year with her brothers, but she worried she might be a bother to Su-a now.
“The family of my family is my family, after all.”
So-ya let out a clear, ringing laugh at the phrase she felt she had heard somewhere before.
*
On her way back after saying goodbye to Su-a, So-ya felt her mood lift. Just moments ago, she had been sad to leave the palace, but the thought of her mother’s imminent return filled her with joy.
Retracing her steps, So-ya spotted an empty pavilion and glanced at it.
Until just a short while ago, it was where the members of the Vermilion Bird Clan had stayed.
She had heard that they left the palace in a hurry yesterday morning, as if some urgent matter had arisen. She hadn’t even been able to say a proper goodbye to San-yu. She had only heard a vague rumor that he had returned to their mansion ahead of the others due to clan business.
[Today isn’t the only day. You’ll play with your brother again next time, won’t you, So-ya?]
Recalling the flight she had shared with him—the happiest moment of her life—So-ya hoped that, just as he said, they would surely meet again.
And thinking of San-yu naturally brought two other people to mind.
Jeok A-yun, the Clan Head of the Vermilion Bird Clan, who had given her flesh and blood but failed to recognize her and cast her away.
And Jeok Hwa-yu, the brother who had once cared for her so specially, but with whom she now shared a relationship worse than that of strangers.
On the night Ri-ri’s evil arts turned people into demonic beasts, So-ya, who had spread her wings and taken flight to save her father, remembered the sight of Jeok A-yun’s face turning pale as he watched her.
She heard that his sobs, as he cried out her name all night long, had echoed throughout the palace…
Thanks to that, rumors had spread like wildfire. That the youngest daughter of the White Tiger Clan was actually the youngest daughter of the Vermilion Bird Clan, who had been swapped like a cuckoo’s egg.
Of course, even if Jeok A-yun hadn’t acted that way, everyone would have been able to deduce the truth from her red feathers and the voice of the Vermilion Bird Celestial Maiden that night.
However, to So-ya, who had long since cut them out of her heart, the news of him sobbing her name was not at all welcome.
She had actually expected him to come looking for her again. Even before he knew she was his biological daughter, he had sought her out to offer a messy apology.
Yet, Jeok A-yun, who had cried her name loudly enough for the whole palace to hear, did not come to see her.
‘Perhaps he remembers my words—telling him not to offer an apology just to make himself feel better.’
And so, after that day, he never appeared before So-ya again.
In contrast, she heard that Jeok Hwa-yu had lingered in front of the White Tiger Palace every day, despite her request for him to stop coming.
She had been debating whether she should go to him and tell him to stop for good…
Seeing that he had left so suddenly, perhaps he had finally realized she had no intention of forgiving him and had given up.
It was a relief. Even if she had erased them from her heart long ago, it was uncomfortable to keep having to say such harsh things.
As she had told Hwa-yu before, they had already come too far to exchange forgiveness.
She hoped they would never cross paths again for the rest of their lives. And even if they did, she hoped they would live as if the other didn’t exist.
With those thoughts, So-ya turned her gaze away from the empty pavilion.
She had heard that Ri-ri had been abandoned by them. She also heard that Ri-ri wouldn’t live long, as her body had withered as a price for using evil arts.
However, So-ya felt no sympathy or pity for Ri-ri, even though she had been cast aside just as So-ya once had been.
She was told that the Three-Legged Crow that had tried to kill her long ago was also Ri-ri’s doing. Including that, Ri-ri had tried to kill her three times.
Not stopping there, she had even resorted to evil arts just to become the Bride of the Yellow Dragon.
If So-ya hadn't used the power of the Vermilion Bird to manifest the Purification Flame, the entire palace would have turned into a living hell. Terrible things would have happened—people turned into demonic beasts, attacking their own families and friends without recognition.
Ri-ri had committed acts too wicked for any human, and she would pay the appropriate price.
Not sympathizing with the wicked was one of the lessons So-ya had received since she was very young.
[So-ya, it is not a bad thing to discern the wicked and expose their misdeeds. You must be able to say that what is wrong is wrong.]
[Especially as a direct descendant of the Vermilion Bird, you must protect the baby birds of the South. If you ignore or turn a blind eye to what is wrong, other innocent baby birds may suffer.]
It was a bit bitter to realize that the person who had given her such teachings was the very one who had abandoned her.
Just as So-ya was about to take one last look at the garden and turn away—
Flutter—
So-ya’s eyes widened as she reflexively looked up at a falling petal.
“Your Majesty?”
Yi-rim, who had been sitting on a tree branch, landed gracefully on the ground.
“I followed the scent of the flowers, and here you were.”
Standing before So-ya, Yi-rim reached out and brushed away a pink petal that had caught in her hair. He then offered her a bright smile.
“Hello, So-ya.”
So-ya looked at him with dazed eyes for a moment before her eyes crinkled into a lovely smile.
“I was sad because I thought I wouldn't be able to say a proper goodbye.”
Her only interaction with Yi-rim this morning had been a formal greeting alongside her father and brothers.
“I’m so happy we can say goodbye like this.”
At her greeting, the smile on Yi-rim’s face deepened.
So-ya caught a glimpse of the poignant smile lingering on his face and thought to herself.
She had heard that he had suppressed the petitions from the officials to bring her into the Imperial Palace. She knew that he had done so out of consideration for her.
[I want you to be bound by nothing. I will not let the walls of this palace dare to trap you.]
[So, fly away. Fly freely to wherever you wish to go.]
The reason she had hidden her power from the world was because she didn't want her fate to be decided by a path someone else had set. Even if that 'someone' was the heavens themselves, So-ya wanted to walk toward her future solely by her own will.
She was grateful to him for supporting her heart, yet at times, she felt as though he was intentionally keeping his distance. And whenever that happened, she strangely felt a profound loneliness emanating from him.
That was why she couldn't just ignore it and walk away.
“Your Majesty, you told me before. To fly away freely to wherever I wish to go.”
“I did.”
“But, Your Majesty… perhaps later, much later.”
So-ya clutched her skirt tightly and mustered the courage to ask him.
“When I find myself wanting to come to where you are… will it be okay if I fly to you then?”
Yi-rim looked startled for a moment, but soon answered with a tender smile.
“Anytime. As often as you like.”
*
The bustling banquets at the Imperial Palace came to an end, and the members of the White Tiger Clan finally returned to the western lands.
And at the tail end of that spring—
“My babies, have you been well?”
With a thunderous voice, Cheong-ha returned to the White Tiger Palace.