Chapter 48
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 48
At that question, Ga-yul and Ah-rang both turned to look at So-ya at the same time.
“Yes, you’re cute! You’re so, so cute, So-ya!”
Ah-rang exclaimed, grabbing So-ya’s hands.
“Your soft, downy feathers are cute! Your fluttering wings are cute! Even your pointy little tail feathers are cute! Oh, and your beak! It’s yellow like a forsythia! It’s just too cute!”
“Stop telling someone else’s sister she’s cute! She’s my sister!”
Ga-yul huffed, pulling So-ya away from Ah-rang before turning to So-ya with a warning look.
“Cotton Ball. You’re too cute when you transform, so you have to be careful. Otherwise, a mean tiger like her might kidnap you.”
However, So-ya still couldn’t understand what they were talking about.
“Are you… Are you sure you’re seeing me correctly?”
They think my beast form is cute? Really?
Not pathetic and hideous?
“You’re teasing me and playing a prank right now, aren’t you? That’s it, isn’t it?”
“Wh-what? Cotton Ball, are you… are you mad?”
Ga-yul thought So-ya was angry. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and her face and voice were stiff and frozen.
“I-I’m not teasing you or playing a prank. So don’t be mad…”
It was then.
Drip. Plop.
Large tears welled up in So-ya’s eyes before they finally spilled over, streaming down her cheeks. Ga-yul flinched in surprise and asked, “Hieeeek! Cotton Ball? Are you so mad that you’re crying?”
“…That’s impossible. It’s all a lie.”
“Co-Cotton Ball…?”
“That’s what those people said. They said I was just a pathetic baby bird with shabby white down…”
Her voice trembled as she spoke aloud the stinging words the people of the Vermilion Bird Clan had hurled at her for so long.
“They said my beast form was hideous, and that if I ever showed my face, they’d cut my wings off…”
That was why So-ya hadn’t even dared to attempt a beast transformation, even after recovering her spirit core. She didn’t want to show the people of the White Tiger Palace—the ones who had shown her that such a kind and warm world existed—a form so hideous they would want to tear her wings off.
Just like that day when she lost everything in an instant, she didn’t want to lose her world again.
“What? Who are those people! I’ll go teach them a lesson!”
“M-me too! On the name of the great White Tiger Clan, I’ll give them a piece of my mind!”
“Whine… Grrr, grrr!”
But these people were telling her that her beast form was cute. They said her shabby white down, which looked like dandelion fluff, was soft and adorable. They didn’t avoid her or call her dirty or hideous. They said she was so small and cute they wanted to take her home.
It was a completely different story from everything So-ya had heard until now.
“Really… I’m not hideous? Truly, am I cute?”
“Of course! You’re the cutest beastkin I know!”
“Th-that’s right, Cotton Ball! So don’t cry…”
“Grrr! Grrr, grrr!”
She was confused, and it was still hard to believe. But…
[It’s not you who’s wrong; it’s them.]
That was what Sa-eon had said. That they were the ones in the wrong. Her strongest shield in the world, her ‘real family,’ had told her so.
So, can I believe these words? Can I believe them when they say I’m cute and not hideous at all?
‘I want to believe.’
A sudden hope bloomed, filling So-ya’s chest with warmth. She wanted to believe the words of these people who were flustered by her tears and trying to comfort her. The words of these people who were getting angry on her behalf over her past. The words of these people who had taught her such warm emotions.
‘…I want to believe.’
A surge of emotion brought a fresh sting of tears to her eyes.
“So-ya…!”
“Cotton Ball…!”
“Whine…!”
“Hic, sniff, uugh…”
Despite the tears, So-ya bit her lower lip hard and rubbed her eyes vigorously. She didn’t want to cry anymore because of the wounds those cruel people had inflicted on her.
“Everyone, hic, thank you. I’m not going to cry anymore.”
So-ya sniffled, her nose bright red, and gave them a beaming smile.
*
So-ya had the happiest day of her life that day.
Acting as the Mountain Lord, So-ya wore a tiger mask and danced in circles around the bonfire with the other children. Whenever So-ya performed a clumsy dance move, everyone followed along, waving their arms and legs. Seol-yo, in his large wolf form, squeezed in among them and mimicked So-ya’s dance, looking so ridiculous that everyone burst into laughter.
They huddled together to eat delicious grilled food and made wishes together before the dying embers. She finally understood why the young beastkin of the Western Land looked forward to the Mountain Lord Festival more than any other event.
After the festival ended, Sa-eon entrusted the White Tiger Sword to So-ya.
[I appoint So-ya, daughter of the Baek Clan, as the Sword Keeper of the White Tiger Divine Sword.]
A divine object left behind by a divine beast was not something a mere human could own; the clan merely looked after it. The one who guarded such an object was called a ‘Keeper,’ and Sa-eon, the Clan Head, had appointed So-ya as the ‘Sword Keeper’ of the White Tiger Sword.
She worried if she was fit for such a heavy responsibility, but…
‘I’m a baby bird who can do anything now. So I’ll do a great job with the task Sa-eon gave me.’
So-ya thought bravely. And starting from that day, another change occurred in So-ya…
“You’re amazing, Young Lady!”
“Wow, how can she fly so high with those tiny wings?”
The people of the White Tiger Palace shouted in admiration as they watched So-ya fly. Since birds were a rare sight in the Western Land, everyone found So-ya’s flight fascinating.
Though she was shy, So-ya didn’t dislike their reactions, so she made a point of showing them her beast form once a day. And whenever So-ya fluttered her small wings and took flight, the same exclamations of wonder followed.
Until now, beast transformation had been something terrifying, fearful, and hideous to So-ya. But not anymore. Thanks to her transformation, she had been able to protect her brother. Sa-eon had praised her, calling her the bravest and most courageous little cotton ball in the world. Moreover, the people of the White Tiger Palace even loved her beast form, calling it cute.
Whether she was waddling on her two thin legs, fluttering about with her tiny wings, or pecking at grains with her bright yellow beak—they told her it was all cute and wonderful.
And above all…
‘My spirit core has become more stable.’
So-ya could feel her spirit core adapting to her body and stabilizing every time she transformed. It almost made her feel regretful for having been so afraid of transforming all this time.
“Rawr!”
“Kyarrr!”
Ga-yul and Ah-rang, also in their tiger forms, hopped around busily below, but they couldn’t reach So-ya.
“Rawr! (That’s cheating, Cotton Ball! How can you just fly away when we’re playing tag!)”
Ga-yul, who had even climbed up a tree to catch So-ya but ultimately failed, huffed in frustration.
“Chirp, chirrup! (But Brother Yul, you ran away to the top of a tree last time too! You did that because you knew I couldn’t climb trees! That was mean!)”
“Grrr… (Th-that’s…)”
Left with no rebuttal, Ga-yul hung his head and merely shook the tree branch. So-ya covered her beak with a wing and let out a trilling laugh.
Chirp, chirp, chirruppp—
The sound of her laughter, which Yeon-jeong and San-ho had marveled at for being so adorable, rang out clearly into the autumn sky.
Just then, Ga-hyeon walked over from the distance.
Poof!
Seeing him, So-ya released her transformation and approached him.
“Brother Hyeon! Is your arm okay?”
Ga-hyeon’s left arm was wrapped tightly in bandages. It was a wound he had received while protecting So-ya from Hondon that day.
“Yeah, I’m fine. A wound like this is nothing.”
Ga-hyeon answered with a smile, but So-ya’s eyes were full of worry as she inspected his arm. Meanwhile, Seol-yo, who had been running around the garden with them, tilted his head and watched the scene intently.
*
The Mountain Lord Festival came to an end, and the tigers of the Western Land returned home one by one. One night, when a particularly quiet darkness settled over the once-bustling White Tiger Palace, So-ya met a certain giant presence in her dreams.
Enveloped in a red light, its form was indistinguishable, but So-ya could feel that it was a very vast and pure being.
—It is upsetting, little bird. To think that old tiger beat me to it.
The voice had a very warm and cozy resonance.
“Do you know me…?”
—Of course. I have been with you for a very long time.
“I want to know who you are.”
—I am sorry, little bird. I cannot tell you my name until you find me. So, please find me soon.
The giant presence vanished along with those cryptic words.
‘What was that dream?’
The memory of the dream was too vivid to dismiss as just an ordinary one.
‘It said it’s been with me for a long time. But I was always alone until I came to the White Tiger Palace.’
It was while So-ya was sitting on the dirt in the garden, thinking about the dream from the night before.
“Whine, whimper…”
So-ya looked up at the weak cry and jumped to her feet in surprise. Seol-yo was limping toward her.
“Seol-yo!”
So-ya ran to Seol-yo and checked his limping front leg. There was a wound, as if he had been pricked by a thorn bush.
“Oh my goodness…! Seol-yo, are you okay? How did you get hurt like this?” So-ya asked, her voice full of distress.
“Whine…”
Seol-yo looked up at So-ya, blinking his large eyes. So-ya’s eyebrows drooped in pity.
“Oh no, what should I do? It must have hurt so much.”
“Whine, whimper…”
Seol-yo rubbed his head against So-ya.
“You must have been in so much pain, yet you didn’t even cry. You’re so brave, Seol-yo. Good boy.”
So-ya was stroking Seol-yo’s head, mimicking the way Yeon-jeong had spoken to her when she was hurt, when suddenly—
Zap!
A spark flew from So-ya’s fingertips.
“Huh?”
Startled, So-ya jumped back. Seol-yo’s body was enveloped in a blindingly white light, and then…
Slide—
The black fur covering Seol-yo’s body slowly peeled away. And in the place where the black hide had fallen…
“…!”
There stood a handsome boy about So-ya’s age, with black hair and gray eyes.
“Seol-yo turned into a person…?”
So-ya muttered in a disbelieving voice, her eyes wide with shock.