Chapter 33
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 33
“Am—am I heavy?”
So-ya gasped in surprise.
“Please put me down! I want to get down!”
“Whine! Yip, yip!”
Seeing So-ya flailing, Seol-yo tugged at the hem of Sa-eon’s trousers from below, as if demanding he set her down immediately.
Sa-eon let out a short, amused snort.
“I’m just teasing, Cotton Ball. You’re not heavy at all; you’re light as a feather. I’m actually worried you might blow away if I breathe too hard. So, hurry up and gain some weight.”
“N-no, if I get any heavier…!”
Gurgle.
A loud growl erupted from So-ya’s stomach.
Flush!
So-ya’s face turned bright red. She quickly covered her face with her palms.
Of all the moments for her stomach to make such a noise, she was utterly mortified.
“This won’t do. Let’s go put some meat on those bones, Cotton Ball.”
Sa-eon chuckled as he started walking, but stopped when he noticed Seol-yo trotting along faithfully behind him.
He leaned down toward Seol-yo, poked the creature’s forehead with a finger, and spoke in a nonchalant tone.
“I’m going to fatten up this Cotton Ball before I bring her back, so stay out of sight and behave yourself.”
As if understanding his words perfectly, Seol-yo nodded and quietly vanished into the shadows.
* * *
Eun Si-yo, looking down from the window, gripped the windowsill tightly.
At the end of her gaze was So-ya, being carried away in Sa-eon’s arms.
‘Why…?’
Last night, the White Tiger Palace had been turned upside down because that girl had gone missing.
Everyone in the palace—even Lord Sa-eon, who had just returned from a trip—had been frantic with worry that something might have happened to her.
‘She’s not even a tiger. What is she to them?’
Originally, that scent pouch had been prepared for the Mountain Lord Festival to keep the girls from other branch families in check.
The plan was to make the mountain beasts aggressive, thereby sabotaging the other children’s performances.
In truth, Si-yo hadn’t paid much attention to So-ya when she first learned of her existence.
She assumed a tiny, naive girl who wasn’t even a tiger could never be her rival.
However, seeing the people of the White Tiger Clan fussing over the girl made her start to worry.
So, when she heard the girl was going up Mt. Horim, she had gifted her the scent pouch.
Yet, So-ya had returned perfectly fine.
And she had returned on Ga-hyeon’s back!
To make matters worse, that incident had only brought So-ya closer to the White Tiger Young Lords.
Ga-hyeon, who had drawn a firm line with Si-yo by insisting on proper titles, had apparently told So-ya to call him "Orabeoni."
The mere fact that the person he had rushed out to find—leaving their tea time behind—was that girl had already made Si-yo anxious. Now, after this series of events, she was feeling a profound sense of crisis.
“What if Lord Sa-eon really decides to adopt her into the family register?”
Si-yo muttered, gnawing on her fingernails.
“If I lose the West End Room to that girl… then I…”
“It seems things aren’t going quite as planned, Young Lady.”
Startled by the voice behind her, Eun Si-yo spun around.
A man wearing a black mask stood behind her, having approached without making a sound.
“You…!”
He was the man who had approached her at the Eunho Clan a few days ago, offering his help.
“What happened? You said that as long as I had that scent pouch, you could get rid of anyone! I did exactly what you said, but the situation has only gotten worse!”
Si-yo demanded in a sharp voice.
“It seems a variable has emerged.”
“Everyone in the White Tiger Palace is looking out for that girl. If she gets adopted into the White Tiger Clan at this rate…”
“Do not worry too much. That will not happen.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I know that wench’s weakness.”
Si-yo paused, her interest piqued.
“That girl’s weakness?”
* * *
So-ya had lunch with Sa-eon.
Her stomach was now bulging because Sa-eon had kept feeding her one thing after another.
“I was very worried when I heard you were left alone on the mountain yesterday while I was away.”
Sa-eon, who had been watching So-ya eat with his chin resting on his hand, smiled lopsidedly and pulled out a handkerchief.
“I heard everything from Hyeon. It must have been very frightening, so thank you for coming back bravely, Cotton Ball.”
He spoke softly as he wiped the corners of So-ya’s mouth with the handkerchief.
Thank you for coming back bravely.
It was the first time she had ever heard such words.
Could someone be grateful for something so small?
Especially when she had only managed to return by being carried on a Young Lord’s back.
So-ya didn’t know how to respond, so she just fidgeted with her fingers before finally managing an answer.
“Thank you as well, Lord Sa-eon. For worrying about me. And I’m sorry for causing you concern.”
“The one who should be sorry isn’t you, it’s me. I brought you here and failed to protect you properly.”
“O-oh, no! You’ve already protected me so much, Lord Sa-eon!”
“I have?”
“Yes! Like the day I first came to the White Tiger Palace, and the day I was sick…”
So-ya began counting the moments Sa-eon had helped her on her fingers.
“See? You’ve protected me this many times! So please don’t say you’re sorry. I’m the one who has so much more to be grateful for.”
At that, Sa-eon burst into a fit of chuckles.
“If we’re going by that logic, Cotton Ball, you protected the White Tiger Palace from those terrifying ghosts. Let’s see. You protected me, that old fox Ho Jeok-yeong, Hyeon, Yul, and…”
Sa-eon counted the people of the palace one by one, then tilted his head with an exaggerated gesture.
“Oh dear. Ten fingers aren’t enough.”
“Uh, well, that’s…”
“See, Cotton Ball? It looks like I have much more to be grateful for, doesn’t it?”
Sa-eon said, pointing to So-ya’s folded fingers and then to his own hands, which were now fists because all ten fingers had been counted.
“Yes…”
So-ya felt like something was a bit off, but she found herself nodding along to Sa-eon’s logic.
Seeing her still-puzzled expression, Sa-eon chuckled again and ruffled her hair.
“Thank you, Cotton Ball. For protecting the White Tiger Palace.”
“…”
The corners of So-ya’s mouth curled up shyly.
Something still felt strange, but she felt good nonetheless.
As they were eating dessert after the meal, Jeok Yeong arrived and took Sa-eon away.
So-ya waved goodbye to Sa-eon, who looked pained as he was dragged off, and then headed toward her room.
She walked down the hallway with quick, short steps, lost in thought.
‘Since Lady Ah-rang and Lady Sa-hye said they don’t want to be adopted, Lady Si-yo will probably become family with Lord Sa-eon and the Young Masters.’
So-ya hadn’t told anyone about the scent pouch Si-yo had given her yet.
She didn’t want to cause trouble because of herself.
She liked the people of the White Tiger Palace who had treated her so warmly, and because of that, she wanted to protect the palace.
She hoped that no one in the White Tiger Palace would face difficulties because of her.
‘I don’t want to be a troublesome, annoying child again. Besides, I’ll be leaving soon anyway…’
Just then, So-ya stopped as she spotted a figure walking toward her from the opposite direction.
The girl with silver hair was none other than Eun Si-yo.
So-ya and Si-yo’s eyes met.
So-ya reflexively clenched her fists inside her sleeves.
After a brief silence, it was Si-yo who spoke first.
“Hello, So-ya. I was actually just on my way to see you, so it’s good we met like this.”
She approached So-ya with a bright smile.
“…I had something to tell you as well, Lady Si-yo. About that scent pouch you gave me.”
So-ya stood tall as she spoke.
She intended to tell Si-yo everything.
That she didn’t covet her position. That Si-yo didn’t need to do such scary things to her. That she would be leaving this place soon anyway.
“Ah.”
Si-yo let out a soft exclamation of surprise, then her eyes curved into a thin smile.
“You’re more perceptive than I thought, So-ya. I didn’t realize.”
“Did you really intend to hurt me?”
“Yes. Is there a problem with that?”
The immediate confirmation made So-ya freeze.
Unlike her face, which was still smiling sweetly, a clear hostility radiated from Si-yo.
It was then.
Si-yo suddenly leaned toward So-ya’s ear and whispered in a voice that had turned ice-cold.
“You’re a sinner, aren’t you?”
“…!”
“A sinner who stole and ruined someone else’s life.”
In an instant, So-ya’s heart plummeted.