Chapter 169
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 169
Sa-eon and Cheong-ha walked together along the moonlit night path.
The crunch of their footsteps and the rhythmic chirping of insects echoed through the cool night air. As they walked, soaking in the tranquil atmosphere of the night, Sa-eon’s voice suddenly broke the silence.
“I’m sorry for putting your name on the family register without your permission.”
Cheong-ha slowed to a stop and turned her head toward him.
“I know I should have asked for your consent first…”
Sa-eon continued, his voice sounding as if his throat were constricted.
“But once you came back, I started feeling impatient.”
“What’s there to be impatient about? I’m going to be here from now on,” Cheong-ha replied with a gentle laugh.
But Sa-eon did not laugh with her.
Rather, he couldn't.
“Sa-eon?”
“Where is this ‘here’ you’re talking about?”
“What do you mean? Obviously…”
“I keep getting greedy,” Sa-eon said, gazing down at her. “I should be happy enough just having you back. But I keep wishing that the ‘here’ you speak of wasn't the White Tiger Palace, but right by my side… I can’t stop feeling that way.”
Having revealed the true feelings he had kept buried deep inside, he offered a bitter smile and asked, “Does saying this make you feel burdened?”
“…”
Cheong-ha remained silent for a moment, staring intently at his face.
Whoosh—
A sudden night breeze ruffled his hair. His white strands fluttered in the wind, glowing brilliantly under the moonlight. Watching the sight, Cheong-ha’s eyes flickered to the metal ornament holding up half of his snow-white hair.
Ever since she had arrived here, he had been wearing that silver hairpin.
“…”
Without a word, Cheong-ha took a large step toward him.
Sa-eon instinctively held his breath at the sudden proximity.
Slide—
Cheong-ha reached up and toyed with the hairpin tucked into his hair.
“Did you know, Sa-eon? I bought this hairpin on a whim because the tiger engraved on it looked just like the most handsome tiger I know.”
“…”
Her fingers, which had been tracing the handsome tiger on the pin, slowly slid down to cup Sa-eon’s cheek. She looked into his eyes and grinned.
“It’s finally with its rightful owner.”
“…”
At the gentle touch caressing his face, Sa-eon’s fingertips twitched in the air as if he were suppressing an urge. He eventually clenched his hands into tight fists, the thick veins on the backs of his hands bulging prominently.
“I’m always going to be here now… by your side,” Cheong-ha said in a soothing voice, as if to reassure him. “Just like the gift I prepared for you finally found its way to you after all this time…”
But Cheong-ha couldn't finish her sentence.
Unable to hold back any longer, Sa-eon pulled her into a fierce embrace.
“Sa-eon…?”
“…”
Cheong-ha called his name softly, but Sa-eon said nothing, simply holding her tight. He let his head drop onto her shoulder. The thumping of his heart resonated so loudly that Cheong-ha could hear it against her ear.
His uncharacteristic behavior caused a flush of heat to rise to her face. Suddenly, a memory overlapped with the present, bringing a certain voice to mind.
[I haven't been able to say this to you once in all these years.]
Five years ago, right here.
[I love you, my wife. I am telling you this far too late.]
That had been his confession, whispered playfully as he pulled her into his arms. That day, Sa-eon had whispered those words with a gentle smile. She remembered how her heart had vibrated at the sound of his clear laughter. She also remembered feeling somewhat embarrassed, thinking she was the only one whose heart was fluttering while he seemed so composed.
But the Sa-eon of today seemed to lack that composure. Just as he had said, he even seemed a bit desperate.
Well, it made sense. It had already been five years. It was a long enough time for a nine-year-old little cotton ball to grow into a fourteen-year-old.
Grip—
Cheong-ha clutched the fabric of Sa-eon’s robe. Feeling his clothes crumple in her hands, Sa-eon looked down into her face. In their meeting gazes, a heat that had been suppressed for years began to flare.
Eventually, their two shadows merged into one, and once again, only the sound of the insects enveloped them.
*
The next morning.
‘I wonder if Mother and Father had a good time last night.’
So-ya woke up rubbing her eyes, arriving at the breakfast table with high expectations. She wanted to see her father’s happy expression after spending time with her mother, just as she had.
However, Sa-eon and Cheong-ha were nowhere to be seen.
“The Clan Head and Madam have not woken up yet.”
“Father is sleeping in?”
So-ya tilted her head at the news delivered by Jeok-a. This was a first in all the years she had lived at the White Tiger Palace.
“Geez, Father and Mother. They’re adults, and they’re still oversleeping.”
Ga-yul’s grumbling voice drifted from beside her.
“Yul, Father has been busy ever since he returned from the Imperial Palace. He’s just tired.”
“That’s right, Youngest Tiger. Drop the prejudice that adults don’t sleep in.”
Unlike the puzzled So-ya and the grumbling Ga-yul, Ga-ya and Ga-hyeon spoke up while quietly eating their meal.
‘Well, I guess I sleep in when I’m tired after playing a lot, too.’
So-ya nodded, accepting her brothers’ reasoning. Ga-hyeon, as gentle as ever, deboned some fish and placed it on So-ya’s rice bowl.
“Try this, So-ya. The fish is very tender.”
“Wow, thank you!”
So-ya’s attention quickly shifted as she began to eat happily.
And later that afternoon, when So-ya met Cheong-ha again, her mother—who seemed to be smiling even more than usual—was wearing a gold hair ornament engraved with a blue dragon.
*
Summer was fast approaching.
In the center of the southern part of the continent, where red soil stretched as far as the eye could see, stood the Vermilion Bird Main Palace of the Heavenly Ancient Mansion. It could be reached by climbing three thousand stone steps.
The southern mansion, famous for its simple and quiet charm, was currently being rebuilt after it had been devastated by a fire the previous spring. The Clan Head had been severely injured in that incident, and a gloomy, desolate energy hung over the estate.
It wasn't just because of the fire. The karma of the sins the family had committed over the years weighed heavily on the mansion.
There had never been a swapped child to begin with. There had only been a pitiful baby bird waiting for her father in the freezing Cold Palace of the Vermilion Bird mansion.
Upon learning the truth, the Clan Head, Jeok Ah-yun, had finally lost his mind, and the second young lord, Jeok Hwa-yu, had locked himself away in the sunless Cold Palace.
Then there was the first young lord, Jeok San-yu, who had returned after fighting a long war. Carrying the full weight of the family’s karma on his shoulders, he was searching for a way to rise again. He planned to complete the succession of the clan headship before this summer passed.
Someone had to shoulder this karma and move forward.
“…Yes, I must move forward. For So-ya’s sake.”
San-yu’s heart still ached whenever he thought of So-ya. After returning to the mansion, the child’s absence felt even larger. In his memories, before he had left for the war, that child had always been with him.
[San-yu Orabeoni!]
[Ahaha, look at this, Orabeoni! So-ya made this…]
Everywhere he stepped, the echoes of the child’s laughter seemed to linger.
[A war? Do you really have to go?]
[You must come back healthy. Promise me, okay?]
A lonely smile touched San-yu’s face as he recalled the six-year-old So-ya, who had insisted he make a pinky promise with her tiny finger.
Step.
San-yu stopped in his tracks as he sensed a familiar presence approaching from a distance.
“We have a guest.”
San-yu smiled broadly as he looked toward the western sky. The guest who had come to the Vermilion Bird Main Palace was none other than Ga-ya.
“It has been a long time, Young Lord Ga-ya,” San-yu greeted him warmly.
“Hand it over.”
However, Ga-ya simply held out his hand with a blunt expression. San-yu chuckled at the same crooked attitude that had never changed.
“And what are you trying to extort from me this time?”
“Som-som’s present.”
With a look of utter dissatisfaction, Ga-ya pulled an invitation from his robes.
“Som-som is having a birthday party soon.”