Chapter 18
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 18
The next morning.
Sa-eon was taken aback to realize he had slept soundly, free from any pain.
Last night had been the night of the full moon, the time when yin energy was at its strongest. Yet, he had slept deeply without a single minor nightmare.
Then, he noticed a small stone sitting on his desk.
“It is a ghost-repelling talisman left by Lady Cotton Ball.”
“Ghosts?”
Sa-eon asked back, his voice skeptical at the sudden mention of ghosts.
Jeok-yeong then recounted the conversation that had taken place between So-ya and Ga-yul.
“So, you’re saying Cotton Ball brought this to protect me?”
Sa-eon picked up the stone, a smirk playing on his lips.
Now that he knew the story behind it, this ordinary-looking pebble seemed remarkably smooth and pretty.
“Hmm. Seeing as I didn’t have any nightmares all night, it might actually be effective…”
More than anything, the fact that she had tried to protect him with that tiny body of hers felt endearing.
“Cute,” Sa-eon muttered, rubbing his hand over the corners of his mouth as they inadvertently curled upward.
“Since you received such a wonderful gift, why not offer something in return?”
“For once, you have a good idea.”
Sa-eon pondered what kind of gift would be appropriate for So-ya before speaking.
“Is there not a sword I was granted by His Majesty last winter? I have no use for it anyway, so if I gave her that…”
“Good heavens, Clan Head! The young tiger lords might be one thing, but young ladies her age do not like such things.”
“Tsk, how narrow-minded. Cast aside your prejudice that girls won’t like swords.”
“But that is a real blade! It’s heavy and sharp! What if Lady Cotton Ball gets hurt while playing with it? Ordinary beastkin don’t have thick hides like tigers!”
Sa-eon paused at those words. It was a valid point.
“Cotton Ball getting hurt? That absolutely cannot happen.”
Ugh… Sa-eon furrowed his brow, falling into deep agony.
* * *
The South of the Empire, the Land of the Vermilion Bird.
Ri-ri’s laughter rang out clearly.
Jeok Ah-yun watched Ri-ri playing excitedly with a gentle smile on his face. She seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood these past few days. Seeing her happy made Jeok Ah-yun feel better as well.
I’m glad. I was worried her heart might have been wounded by that incident.
It had been unintentional that Ri-ri found out about So-ya’s secret. Perhaps it had been a mistake to try and keep it hidden in the first place. Fortunately, Ri-ri had quickly shaken off her distress and returned to her bright self.
It was while he was enjoying this time with Ri-ri that Jeok Hwa-yu came to find him.
“Father, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
Jeok Ah-yun raised an eyebrow, expressing his displeasure at having his time with Ri-ri interrupted.
“Could we speak elsewhere?”
He was about to tell him to speak here, but his son’s expression was unusually grave. Thus, Jeok Ah-yun left Ri-ri behind and moved to a different location.
Jeok Hwa-yu hesitated, unable to open his mouth easily, before finally managing to speak.
“That child is dead.”
“…What?”
Jeok Ah-yun’s face instantly turned to stone.
For a brief moment, he stood there with a blank expression, failing to comprehend his son’s words. In the cold silence, it slowly dawned on him that the ‘child’ Hwa-yu was referring to was none other than So-ya.
“I intended to provide her with enough wealth and send her far away. Ri-ri finds it difficult when that girl is here.”
“…”
It was the truth. Jeok Hwa-yu truly hadn’t intended to kill her. He had simply planned to give her enough resources to live on and send her to a distant place.
“However, when the Three-Legged Crow arrived, the child was gone, and only bloodstains remained.”
“…”
Jeok Ah-yun’s face became void of expression as he pressed his lips into a thin line.
“This was found at the scene.”
Jeok Hwa-yu held out a small pouch to his father.
Jeok Ah-yun’s fingertips trembled slightly.
This pouch… was the one he had personally attached to the child’s jeogori on the morning of her sixth birthday.
[Father, will So-ya be able to do well? What if I fail? What if I can’t become a magnificent firebird like you and my brothers…]
[Don’t worry, So-ya. What does it matter if you fail? It doesn’t change the fact that you are my daughter.]
[But…]
[It’s alright to be a little slow. If you fail today, you can try again tomorrow. And if you fail again tomorrow, there is always the day after. So don’t be too nervous and just do your best.]
He remembered the child’s voice, filled with worry about failing her first beast transformation.
Contrary to her fears, the child had performed the transformation perfectly.
If only she had failed. If only he had never had to see her in that transformed state.
Would things have been different then?
Jeok Ah-yun carefully opened the blood-stained pouch. What he found inside was…
“Ah…”
A short gasp escaped Jeok Ah-yun’s lips.
It was a red feather.
Once, the child had picked up one of his fallen feathers from the floor and asked if she could have it. When he told her she could do as she pleased, she had smiled brightly, clutching it tightly in her hand as if it were the most precious thing in the world.
“…She kept this all this time?”
The thought that the child had taken this with her on her final journey away from the mansion made him feel incredibly strange.
He had loved his wife dearly, and he had also dearly loved the youngest daughter she had given her life to bring into the world. Even when everyone else looked at So-ya—who bore no resemblance to him—and suspected his wife of infidelity, he had refused to listen.
He had fed, clothed, and tucked the child in with his own hands, giving her the greatest love he could offer. He had held her so constantly, never letting her feet touch the ground, that her first steps had been later than those of her peers.
Then, the moment he discovered So-ya was not his daughter.
Jeok Ah-yun felt as though the world he believed in had collapsed. The child his wife had died to give birth to was not his.
The woman he loved had died giving birth to another man’s child after deceiving him?
It was horrific and wretched.
To turn away from the truth, he had ordered the child’s spirit core to be taken. He couldn’t bear to look at her when she showed not a single trait of the Vermilion Bird.
Even though he knew the child was innocent, he resented her.
If not for So-ya, if not for that girl… his wife would not have died. His family would not have been shattered.
So-ya, that child, was the root of all tragedy.
Jeok Ah-yun felt so much pain and misery that he regretted ever believing she was his and raising her in his arms.
For the three years following her exile to the Cold Palace, he had not been in his right mind for a single moment. Despite his title as the Sage of the South, he spent every night drinking, living like a madman.
It was only because his second son, Hwa-yu, had stepped up to lead the family in his stead that the clan had managed to endure.
Then, Ri-ri appeared.
She was the proof that he hadn't been wrong—that his wife had never been unfaithful. He was overjoyed to have that confirmed through Ri-ri. Jeok Ah-yun vowed to give the whole world to his poor biological daughter, who had wandered the world until the age of nine.
At that time, his attention was entirely focused on Ri-ri, so he hadn't given a thought to So-ya, who had been neglected for the three years he was out of his mind.
When he finally faced So-ya again after three years due to Ri-ri’s insistence, he was reminded of her existence. Yet, Jeok Ah-yun turned away from her once more.
Though he felt a pang of pity, he also felt resentment, and he ignored her even more as if to compensate Ri-ri. He believed he had to do so for Ri-ri’s sake.
However, that did not mean he wished for the child to die.
Hwa-yu said they couldn't even find her body.
Jeok Ah-yun slowly closed and opened his eyes, then gave a command in a low voice.
“Find the child.”
“But Father…!”
“Did you not say there was no body?”
“Even if she isn’t dead, she won’t live long. Because…”
Jeok Hwa-yu clenched his fists tightly, as if the words were too horrific to speak.
“Her spirit core was already severely damaged.”
When he had gone to find So-ya’s spirit core to return it to her three years ago, Jeok Hwa-yu had discovered that the core, which had been neglected for so long, was ruined.
A beastkin with a damaged spirit core cannot live long.
So, using the summer festival as an excuse to leave her outside the mansion, he had ordered the Three-Legged Crow to take the girl and go far away to care for her.
Until the day she finally drew her last breath.
“…”
Jeok Ah-yun stared silently at his son with unreadable eyes.
After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice sounding as if it were being forced through a door that would never open.
“…Then bring me her body at the very least. Only then will I be able to believe it. Her death.”