Chapter 3
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 3
So-ya looked up at her father with a tense expression.
It had been three years since she last stood before him—since that day, the day of her first beast transformation, when it was revealed she wasn't his biological daughter.
However, Jeok Ah-yun’s gaze as he looked down at So-ya was utterly dry.
Tap, tap, tap.
His fingertips drummed rhythmically against the desk. It was a habit he often displayed when deep in thought.
So-ya stole a glance at his fingertips.
She remembered how gentle those hands had been just moments ago when he stroked Lady Ri-ri’s hair. And she also remembered how cold and frigid those same hands had been three years ago when he cast her aside.
[Strip the child of her spirit core and lock her in the Cold Palace.]
The memories of that day—the biting air, the sharp glares, the terror too great for a six-year-old to endure—resurfaced and ensnared her.
“You should be well aware of your situation. I will not make this long.”
His voice, refined and devoid of emotion, pierced So-ya’s skin like a blade.
“Because of your mother’s greed, Ri-ri had to wander the streets at a young age, unable to even awaken her spirit core. All the things that child should have rightfully enjoyed were stolen by a maid’s daughter.”
“……”
So-ya felt like a criminal. Her eyelashes trembled, and a stinging heat rose behind her eyes.
“Therefore, I intend to do everything in my power for the daughter I have finally reclaimed. Even if it means doing things that others would shake their heads at in disbelief.”
My daughter…
The moment she heard those words, So-ya realized it once again.
Ah… To Father, Lady Ri-ri is his only daughter.
I can never be a daughter, or anything at all, to him.
In truth, since that day three years ago, any bond between her and her father had been severed. Even knowing that, So-ya had waited for him all this time, harboring the foolish hope that he might seek her out again.
Left alone in that freezing, desolate Cold Palace, she had waited and waited for a father who never came.
So-ya had lost her mother the moment she was born. Yet, despite her mother’s absence, she had grown up bright and cheerful because of her father’s love. She had also loved her kind and gentle older brothers, who used to bicker over who would get more of their younger sister’s attention. But even so, So-ya had loved her father most of all.
To the young So-ya, her father had been her entire world.
Even if he no longer considered her his daughter…
That was why, when she was dragged into this room by Lady Ri-ri’s stubborn insistence earlier, she had actually felt a flicker of excitement.
The prospect of facing the father she had only dared to watch from a distance felt like a sin, yet it had made her heart race with anticipation.
‘How foolish of me.’
It was the moment the dull lingering attachment she couldn't let go of finally snapped.
“So, see to it that Ri-ri never learns of your true identity. If Ri-ri is ever hurt because of you…”
Jeok Ah-yun added, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“I will not forgive you.”
A painful lump formed in So-ya’s throat.
‘…But Father. Am I not already a child who can never be forgiven?’
So-ya suppressed the words threatening to burst out and swallowed them down. She did this because she was no longer his daughter, nor was she anything to him. Even the love he had given her during her childhood was, in the end, nothing more than something stolen from Lady Ri-ri.
The realization was cruel.
“Yes, Clan Head,” So-ya answered in a crawling voice, her head bowed low.
As Jeok Ah-yun looked down at her in silence, a hairline fracture appeared in his stoic expression. He caught a glimpse of sorrow, loss, and even resignation emanating from So-ya. These were deep, lonely, and negative emotions that did not suit a nine-year-old child.
Only then did Jeok Ah-yun lift his gaze, which he had intentionally kept averted, to properly observe the child he was facing for the first time in three years.
Her pale complexion, her hunched shoulders, her hands fidgeting restlessly inside her sleeves, and her feet twitching anxiously. And that lifeless voice…
She was very different from the child he remembered. The So-ya of the past was nothing like this…
‘Useless sentimentality.’
Jeok Ah-yun coldly cut off the stray thoughts beginning to bloom and dismissed her.
“Leave.”
So-ya withdrew, muffling her footsteps.
Had that child always walked like that?
Like a criminal, holding her breath…
“……”
Jeok Ah-yun’s expression contorted sharply. It would be a lie to say he felt no pity.
However, he tried not to think deeply on it. He had raised a maid’s daughter this far, and even though she had stolen his daughter’s place, he had not punished her. He hadn't kicked her out, nor had he whipped her.
His guilt toward Ri-ri was far too great for him to feel pity for this child.
Ri-ri—his real daughter—had grown up on those cold streets, unable to eat properly, unable to see a physician when she was sick, and mocked for being a fatherless child. The maid who had swapped the children and fled had raised Ri-ri as her own, but she had not been a good guardian.
The way Ri-ri’s expression darkened whenever she was asked about that woman made his heart ache. He wanted to drag that wretched sinner back and interrogate her, but she had already died three years ago.
And so, Ri-ri had to grow up alone for three years without a father or a mother. She hadn't even been able to awaken her spirit core, which others usually did around age five or six; she only had her first beast transformation at the age of nine. Even then, because she had been severely ill as a child, her spirit core was weak, and she couldn't transform properly.
Despite that, the child had endured the pain and forced herself to attempt the transformation in front of them, desperate to meet her ‘real family.’
Whenever he thought of Ri-ri, his heart felt like it was being torn apart, and he was consumed by guilt toward his deceased wife. Thus, not a single grain of pity remained in his heart to spare for So-ya.
Since she was the daughter of the maid who had served the late Madam, making her atone by serving the young lady of the house was a generous mercy.
Jeok Ah-yun intentionally brainwashed himself this way, even though he knew the young So-ya was not at fault. It wasn't right to pay any more attention to that pitiful yet audacious child. He was already busy enough every day trying to return the affection he hadn't been able to give Ri-ri all those years.
* * *
The ‘fake’ who had stolen the real young lady’s place became the real young lady’s personal servant.
An absurd farce was playing out within the Vermilion Bird Clan, but the Clan Head, Jeok Ah-yun, kept the household retainers’ mouths tightly shut.
“Father!”
Ri-ri came running with a bright laugh, and Jeok Ah-yun scooped her up with one arm. Ri-ri clung to his neck with both arms, chattering away and acting adorable.
So-ya stared blankly at the tender scene between the Clan Head and the young lady.
“Oh, Ri-ri. Your hair is a mess.”
Jeok Ah-yun chided her in a sweet voice as he untied Ri-ri’s hair ribbon.
“We’ll have to tie it again.”
He handed the ribbon he had untied to So-ya, who was following behind. His attitude was as indifferent as if he were dealing with any other servant girl in the family, yet it was cruel, as if reminding So-ya never to forget her place.
‘It’s okay.’
So-ya stared down at the ribbon and whispered to herself as if chanting a mantra.
‘Yes, it’s okay.’
When she closed and opened her eyes, she saw the Clan Head smiling warmly as he combed through the young lady’s tangled hair with his fingers.
Just like he used to do for So-ya… when she was very little.
“Heehee, that tickles, Father.”
As Ri-ri burst into laughter, Jeok Ah-yun beamed along with her. A cuckoo flew around them as if blessing the peaceful father-daughter moment before disappearing.
‘…It’s okay. It’s really okay.’
So-ya was fine.
It hurt that she could no longer be his daughter, but she was fine. Her skin stung under her brothers’ contemptuous glares, but she was fine. The sharp whispers of the retainers whenever they saw her, the fact that the real lady, Ri-ri, was loved by everyone, and the fact that she had to watch it all as the lady’s servant—it was all fine.
Because she was… a wicked baby bird who had deceived and hurt her father and brothers. A sinner who had stolen Lady Ri-ri’s place and caused everyone suffering.
So, she was truly fine.
Truly…
* * *
It was Lady Ri-ri’s ninth birthday.
It was her first birthday since being reclaimed. Clan Head Jeok Ah-yun announced that he would hold a magnificent feast.
And amidst the preparations, news arrived from the capital that the Fifth Prince would be visiting the mansion.