Chapter 164
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 164
The White Tiger Palace, which had been quiet for some time, regained its vitality thanks to the Clan Head, the young masters, and the young lady who had returned from the victory celebration banquet.
For the past few days, the faces of everyone in the palace had been glowing.
In truth, they were in the most excited state they had been in nearly ten years.
The first young master, the spitting image of the Clan Head, had returned after ending a long war!
Our brave little Cotton Ball, the young lady, had awakened the divine beast and resolved the crisis at the Imperial Palace!
And now, even the Madam was set to return from the Cheonghae Palace!
The people's fluttering excitement naturally rubbed off on So-ya.
So-ya, more than anyone else, was eagerly waiting for Cheong-ha’s return.
Tap, tap.
At the sound of something tapping on the wooden lattice, she walked to the window and swung it open.
“Jjaek-jjaek!”
“Pyu-rut, pyu-rut—”
Jjaek-jjaek chirped a song with his dainty yellow beak and thrust out his left foot.
A small slip of paper was tied to his ankle.
It was a letter from Cheong-ha.
“It must have been hard flying all the way to the Cheonghae Palace and back. Thank you.”
So-ya set out bowls of feed and water for Jjaek-jjaek and carefully untied the thin slip of paper from his ankle.
As she read the letter with an expectant face, her eyes suddenly grew round.
The news was that Cheong-ha—having returned the Clan Head's Seal to the true master of the Cheonghae Palace and finished the handover—would arrive at the White Tiger Palace in four days.
“Finally...!”
Unable to hide her joy, So-ya let out an exclamation with a flushed face, then immediately ran toward Sa-eon’s office to deliver the happy news.
“Father!”
When she opened the door and entered, she saw Sa-eon sitting at his desk.
“Cotton Ball, you’re here?”
Sa-eon, who had been reading documents, looked up with a delighted expression.
As soon as he returned, he had been buried under a mountain of work.
Not only was there a significant backlog of tasks from his absence, but representatives from the major clans of the Western Land, who hadn't been able to see him, were visiting one after another.
“Are you very busy today too?”
It was just as So-ya approached Sa-eon’s desk and peeked her head over.
“Oh my, so this is the rumored youngest lady.”
An unfamiliar woman cut in, acknowledging So-ya.
“Hello, Young Lady. I am Ju-ri of the Ban family, here as the representative of the Half-Moon Bear Clan.”
“Hello. I’m So-ya. So-ya of the Baek family.”
So-ya introduced herself to the woman who spoke to her in a friendly voice.
“There are matters of business that the adults need to discuss, so would the young lady mind coming back later? The Clan Head is quite busy right now.”
At those words, So-ya glanced at Sa-eon.
Her eyes were full of regret because she wanted to spend time with her father but couldn't.
“Sorry, Cotton Ball. Instead, let’s go for a walk together after dinner. I’ll finish all this work by then,” Sa-eon said in a soothing, tender voice, sensing her feelings.
“Okay.”
Though disappointed, So-ya nodded and withdrew.
And after dinner, just as he had promised, Sa-eon went for a walk with So-ya.
“I thought only good things would happen once we came back to the White Tiger Palace, but you’re just busy every single day, Father.”
“Is our Cotton Ball pouting because of that?”
Sa-eon chuckled as he noticed So-ya’s protruding lower lip.
“P-Pouting? No way!”
So-ya waved her hands in surprise.
“Absolutely, absolutely not! You’re the Lord of the Western Land, Father, so you have very, very important work to do. So it’s only natural that you’re busy...”
Pat—
So-ya, who had been rambling excuses, stopped talking and looked up at the warm hand resting on her head.
Sa-eon was smiling at her with a gentle face.
“Father?”
“Right. Our baby Cotton Ball isn't pouting.”
Sa-eon wasn't sure why, but So-ya seemed to think that pouting was something only little children did.
He wanted to tell her it was perfectly fine to pout as much as she wanted, but since she was so cute insisting she wasn't, he just played along.
It was while the father and daughter were enjoying their private time.
“Lord Sa-eon! So this is where you were!”
Sa-eon’s brow furrowed at the woman’s voice that appeared once again.
It was the woman from the Half-Moon Bear Clan he had seen in his office earlier that day.
“What is it?”
His voice was stiff, quite different from how he treated So-ya.
However, the woman replied with a smile, undeterred.
“There is a matter that requires urgent processing.”
“At this hour?”
“It’s regarding the mines in the northwestern region.”
“I believe that matter was concluded during the day.”
“Yes, but in the letter that arrived from our clan...”
Ultimately, Sa-eon had to head back to his office after letting out a short sigh and asking for So-ya’s understanding.
So-ya felt a slight sense of interference every time she tried to be with her father.
‘No, it’s probably just my imagination. There’s no way.’
So-ya stared blankly at the backs of Sa-eon and the woman before shaking her head to brush off the subtle feeling.
She shouldn't feel hurt by this. Her father was just busy working.
* * *
The following afternoon, So-ya was spending time with her brothers to avoid disturbing her father’s work.
It was a peaceful afternoon in the inner courtyard of the White Tiger Palace, with a gentle late spring breeze blowing.
So-ya and Ga-yul sat facing each other on the grass, chatting away.
“When Mom comes, I’m going to show her the prizes I won for winning the last Mountain Lord Festival! And I’m going to ask her to climb to the top of Mt. Horim with me!”
“I’m going to show Mom my room and sleep with her! Just like we did at the Cheonghae Palace! And I’m going to brush Mom’s hair beautifully too! I’ve practiced a lot with Lady Yeon-jeong and San-ho!”
Ga-hyeon, who had been reading a book while leaning against a tree trunk, looked up from his text at So-ya and Ga-yul.
A soft smile spread across his face as he watched his younger siblings talk as if they were in a competition.
Ga-ya, who was lying down in his large tiger form so So-ya could lean against him, let out a purring laugh.
“I’m going to ask Mom to teach me spear techniques. I heard from San-ho that no one in the White Tiger Palace could match Mom’s spear skills!”
“Then me too! I want to learn spear techniques from Mom with you, Brother!”
“Huh? But Cotton Ball, won't you need to grow a bit more to even hold a spear?”
“What are you talking about? Didn't you see the painted halberd in my room? I played at sparring with Seol-yo using the halberd Mom gave me, and I won.”
“That’s a toy...”
Just as Ga-yul was about to say that it wasn't a real painted halberd but a toy, a white shadow suddenly shot through the air above their heads.
“Father...?”
So-ya tilted her head, looking at the spot where the white shadow had flown past.
“He must be busy today too, seeing how urgently he’s flying.”
“Father can’t even play with us and just works all day... Being the Clan Head must be really hard. I feel bad for him.”
So-ya and Ga-yul muttered in pitying voices.
But then, Ga-ya, who had been yawning and flicking his tail as if uninterested in his father flying by, suddenly pricked up his ears and snapped his head up.
Ga-hyeon, who had been wearing a gentle smile, also slowly stood up and looked toward a certain direction.
Ga-yul, who had been chatting with So-ya, also scrunched his nose and looked up a beat later than his older brothers. Sensing something from their reactions, So-ya sat up from where she had been leaning against Ga-ya.
“Could it be...”
At the very moment Ga-ya muttered while staring in the direction Sa-eon had disappeared.
Thump!
With a loud sound, a massive white tiger landed in the inner courtyard of the palace.
The handsome tiger, with a body as large as a house and sleek fur, was none other than Sa-eon.
A woman with blue hair, who had been sitting on Sa-eon’s back, gracefully stood up while stroking the head of the tiger that had carried her.
Then, she gave the four of them a bright smile.
“My babies, have you been well?”
“Mom?”
“Mother!”
“Mommy!!”
“You’ve arrived, Mother.”
The children, who had looked dazed for a moment at Cheong-ha’s arrival being earlier than expected, swarmed her in an instant.
“Wow, my babies have all grown up.”
Cheong-ha greeted the children, hugging them one by one.
“My first baby, it’s been a long time. You’ve worked hard, haven't you?”
“I’m way past the age to be called a baby. Waaah.”
Ga-ya added playfully with a grin.
Ga-hyeon looked appalled.
“Have you lost your mind, Brother? Don't show Mother such an unsightly side. Mother might go back to the Eastern Land because of you.”
“Unsightly? That’s rude to your older brother. Mother, please tell him. Tell him your first baby isn't unsightly at all and is just cute.”
“Of course, you’re cute, my first baby. My second baby is cute too.”
Cheong-ha laughed at the bickering between the first and second sons and patted Ga-hyeon’s shoulder.
“Mom, Mom! Hug me too!”
“Me too, Mom!”
The children clinging to Cheong-ha chattered and competed to talk about themselves.
So-ya also raised her voice, trying her best to claim her mother’s attention amidst her brothers.
Meanwhile, Sa-eon released his beast transformation and approached Cheong-ha and the children, but the children’s attention was entirely focused on Cheong-ha.
“But how did you get here so fast? You weren't supposed to arrive for another three days.”
In fact, according to the schedule, Cheong-ha should have arrived in three days.
However, Sa-eon, who had been on high alert ever since he heard the news of her coming to the White Tiger Palace, had transformed into a giant tiger and gone to fetch her the moment her palanquin left the Eastern Land.
As the leader of the White Tigers, he was incredibly fast even in human form, but when he transformed, he was fast enough to cross from one end of the continent to the other in a single bound.
Thanks to that, Cheong-ha was able to arrive three days earlier than planned.
“I ran here quickly because I missed my babies.”
“I—I missed you too, Mom!”
“Me, me too! I missed you so much!”
“You have no idea how excited everyone was for your return, Mother.”
“I should have gone to fetch Mother before Father did.”
Everyone chimed in, not wanting to be outdone by Cheong-ha’s chuckling remark.
A bright smile also bloomed on Sa-eon’s face as he watched the scene.
* * *
The White Tiger Palace became busy with Cheong-ha’s return.
A grand dinner banquet was held to welcome the Madam back to the palace.
After dinner, the White Tiger family went for a walk together and shared stories of what had happened.
Everyone had so much they wanted to say that there wasn't a single moment of silence.
Eventually, as the night deepened, it was time to go inside.
“I want to sleep with Mom.”
So-ya said, tugging firmly on Cheong-ha’s sleeve.
“You promised at the Cheonghae Palace. That you’d sleep with me even after we returned to the White Tiger Palace.”
“Hmm, that’s right. I did promise to sleep with our youngest baby.”
Cheong-ha looked at Sa-eon with a smile.
“Alright, sleep in Cotton Ball’s room today.”
Sa-eon nodded with an awkward smile.
‘Huh? Why does Father’s expression look so sorrowful?’
It was just as So-ya was tilting her head in confusion.
“It’s so mean for Cotton Ball to hog Mom all to herself just because she’s a girl! That’s cheating!”
Ga-yul shouted with a sulky face.
“I want to spend more time with Mom too! This is unfair!”