Side Story 18
Translator: RaidenTL
Side Story 18
3. So-ya, Spring at Age Ten. Ga-hyeon’s Story
Sa-eon’s office.
Ga-hyeon had been summoned and now stood before Sa-eon’s desk, where the older man sat with a rather stiff expression.
“Hyeon.”
“Yes, Father,” Ga-hyeon replied in his usual gentle voice.
“Do you know why you’ve been called here?”
“……”
Sa-eon narrowed his eyes as Ga-hyeon blinked slowly, his face a mask of mild-mannered innocence.
“Jeok-yeong.”
“Yes, Clan Head.”
At Sa-eon’s call, Jeok-yeong brought over a stack of documents and spread them across the desk.
Ga-hyeon glanced down at them, his face remaining serene without a hint of agitation. He had already anticipated this situation—that his father would discover his handiwork and summon him like this.
“The ruin of the merchant group owned by the Eunho Clan—was that your doing?”
“Yes.”
Ga-hyeon did not deny it; he admitted it readily.
The furrow in Sa-eon’s brow deepened. “Why did you do such a thing?”
“Because the Eunho Clan made So-ya cry,” Ga-hyeon answered calmly, casting his eyes downward.
“As the Clan Head, I have already finished dispensing punishment for what the Eunho Clan did during the last Mountain Lord Festival. For you to take it upon yourself to retaliate further is an overstepping of my authority.”
“Yes, Father. I am aware. I will gracefully accept whatever punishment follows.”
“Gracefully accept…?”
Just as Sa-eon’s gaze turned sharp—
“Young Master…!”
Unable to watch any longer, Jeok-yeong cut in, raising his voice.
“Ha, haha! We all know you did this out of your deep brotherly affection for Lady Cotton Ball. I know it, and the Clan Head knows it too!”
“……”
“So, perhaps it would be best to apologize to the Clan Head and promise not to do it again…”
Jeok-yeong, breaking into a cold sweat, tried to persuade Ga-hyeon.
“No. I have committed a wrong, so I must naturally pay the price.”
However, Ga-hyeon requested punishment from Sa-eon once more.
“I am aware that when a member of the Baek Clan’s direct lineage oversteps the Clan Head’s authority, the most severe punishment is mandated. Please, punish me.”
“…Hyeon. You, surely.”
Sa-eon’s voice dropped an octave.
“Did you do this knowing you would be caught and punished by me?”
“Yes.”
Ga-hyeon nodded obediently.
Last autumn, a young girl from the Eunho Clan had dabbled in evil arts and attempted to harm So-ya and other girls. Because of that incident, the Eunho Clan was stripped of its status as a branch lineage, demoted in rank, and expelled from the Western Aristocratic Council.
The Silver Tiger Clan, which had once branched off from the White Tiger Clan—the masters of the West—had become a family of commoners overnight.
Because Eun Si-yo was young and the crime had ended in an attempt, they had stopped at demoting their status. Had So-ya actually been hurt, the clan would have found it difficult to avoid total annihilation.
But for Ga-hyeon, that wasn't enough.
Especially Eun Si-yo—the girl who had endangered So-ya by giving her a scent pouch filled with evil arts.
So-ya’s life had almost been in danger; shouldn't that girl’s life be in danger as well?
Because of her, So-ya had cried so much that day.
She had cried until those beautiful eyes were swollen and puffy.
She had wept so sorrowfully that his heart felt like it was being shredded just watching her.
Because of that girl’s deceptive tongue, So-ya had even tried to leave the White Tiger Palace.
Even now, the mere memory of that day made the blood drain from Ga-hyeon’s face.
So-ya, who had tried to leave silently in the middle of the night with nothing but a tiger doll packed in her bundle, looking for all the world like she was truly going away.
Even though she didn't actually want to leave.
Even though she loved the White Tiger Palace.
Even though she loved the people of the palace so much that she had summoned the courage to save them, even at the risk of being hated by everyone.
The Eunho Clan had been reduced to commoners, but they still had their merchant group.
Of course, the group had taken a hit when the family fell, but they still would have lived more comfortably than most commoners for the rest of their lives.
Ga-hyeon could not let that stand.
He planted people within the Eunho merchant group and sent Ho Jeok-a to manipulate their competitors.
He had known from the start that he wouldn't be able to hide it from his father. His father’s red fox aide was far too competent.
“I will accept the punishment. I was prepared for it.”
Despite his quiet plea for punishment, a faint stubbornness lingered in his voice.
“Hyeon.”
Sa-eon relaxed his stiff expression slightly, his voice softening as if coaxing the boy.
“Just as you cherish and treasure So-ya, so do I. I am her father. She is my daughter. That is why I handed down a severe punishment to them.”
“……”
“But So-ya wouldn't want you doing things like this.”
“I know.”
Ga-hyeon nodded and answered readily once again.
Kind-hearted So-ya would never understand why someone would scheme to ruin another person’s life.
“You know that, and yet you did it?”
“That’s why I did it behind her back, so she wouldn't find out.”
“What…?”
“Even if So-ya finds out and hates me out of disappointment, it doesn't matter. I only care that she doesn't cry. I simply ensured that those who made her cry can never appear before her again.”
“……”
Sa-eon was left speechless by his son’s brazen response.
In the end, Ga-hyeon was punished.
However, not a single trace of resentment appeared on Ga-hyeon’s face.
Watching his son’s retreating back as he closed the door, Sa-eon pressed a hand to his throbbing forehead.
“Clan Head, are you alright?” Jeok-yeong asked, glancing tentatively at Sa-eon.
“Well, what can I do? It’s a parent’s job to clean up after their child’s mistakes.”
Sa-eon shook his head with a heavy sigh.
“What shall we do about the Eunho Clan?”
“There’s nothing to be done about a merchant group that has already collapsed. If they fell to the schemes of a mere twelve-year-old, then it was also the incompetence of the merchant leader.”
“I agree, Clan Head. They might have collapsed eventually even without this.”
“Still, we can’t have people with a ten-year-old daughter sitting out on the streets. Arrange for them to have the minimum means to maintain a livelihood.”
“Yes, Clan Head.”
Jeok-yeong nodded and stepped out.
Left alone, Sa-eon rubbed his tired eyes and thought of his two sons.
Ga-hyeon and Ga-yul, who were polar opposites in personality, treated So-ya in ways that were just as different.
While Ga-yul was always playing pranks and running around noisily with her, saying he would always make her laugh, Ga-hyeon always watched her quietly from a step away.
He watched to see if she might trip over a stone.
He watched to see if pollen might get in her eyes and make her cry.
He watched to see if she might be startled by her energetic youngest brother’s antics.
He took meticulous care of those small, trivial things.
Sa-eon knew why Ga-hyeon acted with such particular sensitivity when it came to So-ya.
It was because of guilt. And regret.
Because Ga-hyeon believed So-ya had been hurt because of him—because of the walls he had built when she first arrived at the White Tiger Palace.
Therefore, he felt he had to do better, as much as she had been hurt.
At times, he was so overprotective of So-ya that Sa-eon wondered which of them was the father.
But still…
‘He doesn't care if So-ya hates him? As long as she doesn't cry?’
Sa-eon let out a hollow laugh as he recalled Ga-hyeon’s words.
‘He’d be devastated if So-ya actually hated him. Such a little thing, full of nothing but bravado.’
Though, of course, kind-hearted So-ya was incapable of hating anyone.
* * *
Meanwhile, Ga-hyeon’s face remained calm as he returned to his room.
Perhaps he had disappointed his father with this incident.
But…
‘I only did what had to be done.’
He hadn't threatened that girl’s life, as she had done to So-ya. He had merely stripped them of what they owned and threatened their livelihood.
So that they could never appear before So-ya again.
Reaching his room, Ga-hyeon rubbed his eyes with a weary face.
Jeok-a, glancing at him, asked cautiously, “Are you alright, Young Master?”
“Leave.”
Instead of an answer, Ga-hyeon issued a dismissal.
After sending Jeok-a away, Ga-hyeon, left alone in his room, discovered two pebbles sitting side-by-side on the windowsill.
In that moment, a surprisingly warm light flickered across Ga-hyeon’s habitually expressionless face.