Chapter 61
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 61
‘Is it because I drank the warm tea?’
So-ya was staring dizzily down at the teacup she held in both hands.
“So-ya, say ah—”
“Ahhh?”
At Ga-hyeon’s call, So-ya reflexively opened her mouth. Then…
Pop.
A sour-sweet tangerine wedge slipped right into her mouth.
“How is it?”
“It’s delicious!”
As the sweet and tangy scent burst on her tongue, So-ya’s eyes grew round, and she let out a cheer.
“Our So-ya needs to eat a lot so she can get over this cold quickly.”
Ga-hyeon smiled tenderly, continuing to peel tangerines and pop them into her mouth.
Every time her tiny mouth, small as a bird’s beak, moved, the sweet juice burst inside.
Her eyes crinkled into half-moons as she munched on the tangerines Ga-hyeon fed her. Then, as she happened to look down, she noticed his fingertips were stained yellow.
‘Ah…!’
A sudden realization dawned on her. So-ya looked at Ga-yul, who was stuck to her side, firmly tucking her blanket back in every time it slipped.
Then she looked at Seol-yo, who was dozing in front of the firewood in his large wolf form.
Ever since So-ya caught a cold, they had been coming into her room from morning until night whenever they had a spare moment to stay by her side.
‘I think my heart feels so warm because my brothers and Seol-yo are here with me.’
Feeling strangely reassured and cozy, So-ya thought to herself with a little giggle.
“Me too! I want some too! Ahhh—!”
Ga-yul opened his mouth beside her, demanding his share of the tangerines.
“Use your own hands for yours…”
“Chomp!”
He quickly snatched away the piece that was about to go into So-ya’s mouth.
“Baek Ga-yul, you’re not even sick, yet you’re stealing from your sister… Didn’t you only come here to play because you didn’t want to study, using nursing her as an excuse?”
“No! I was really worried about Cotton Ball…!”
Ga-yul, who had been protesting in an aggrieved voice while munching on the tangerine, suddenly faltered.
“Wait… huh?”
His head suddenly spun with a bout of dizziness.
“What’s wrong, Brother?”
“Sniff…?”
Ga-yul sniffled, looking bewildered.
“Brother, your face is red.”
“Baek Ga-yul, you…!”
“Oh my, Young Master! You have a fever!”
Yeon-jeong, who had just entered the room to tidy up, checked Ga-yul’s condition and cried out in shock.
Ga-yul was burning with a fever even hotter than So-ya’s.
“Eh? Me?”
Born naturally robust, Ga-yul had never been sick in his life. He was flustered by the dizzy, hazy sensation he was feeling for the first time.
“Could this be…?”
“Yeah, it looks like it…”
The people in the room exchanged meaningful glances.
“Hurry, call the physician!”
“Send someone to the Clan Head as well!”
“I’ll go get Father!”
So-ya also jumped up and went with Seol-yo to call Sa-eon.
The mansion suddenly became frantic.
Soon, people began to gather.
Everyone watched with anxious and worried faces as the physician felt Ga-yul’s pulse.
So-ya also waited for the result with a tense expression, clutching the hem of Sa-eon’s sleeve.
Before long, the physician shouted in an excited voice.
“It’s Growing Pains!”
“…!”
The stiff faces of the people instantly brightened.
“Congratulations, Clan Head. It seems the youngest Young Master is finally beginning his First Growth!”
* * *
Having entered his period of Growing Pains, Ga-yul was confined to his bedroom for the time being.
So-ya was worried about him, but she couldn't go to see him.
Everyone stopped the young lady from approaching the Young Master’s room, saying he might become a bit violent during the period of Growing Pains.
Thus, So-ya, who hadn't been able to see Ga-yul for the past few days, was currently peeking through the window of his room in her baby bird form, driven by her worry.
However, the wooden shutters were tightly closed, blocking her view of the inside.
‘Brother Yul, what if he’s in a lot of pain?’
During Growing Pains, one couldn't take medicine or receive care.
One simply had to endure and overcome it on their own.
[Don’t worry too much, So-ya. It’s something everyone goes through once. Yul will overcome it safely.]
Ga-hyeon, who had already completed his First Growth, told her it would be fine, but So-ya remained worried.
‘Still, I’d feel so much better if I could just see his face for a moment.’
So-ya hopped along the snow-covered windowsill, peeking here and there through the gaps in the shutters, before finally letting out a long sigh and plopping down.
The baby bird’s plump bottom sank deep into the pure white snow.
It was then, as So-ya looked down with a dejected face, her tail feathers twitching.
“Peep? (Father?)”
Spotting Sa-eon walking below, So-ya fluttered down toward him.
“Pwee-it! (Father!)”
Sa-eon looked up at So-ya’s call and held out his hand toward the air.
So-ya landed skillfully on Sa-eon’s palm and shook off the snowflakes clinging to her feathers with a flurry of wings.
“Little Cotton Ball. Why were you wandering around in the cold?”
Sa-eon asked, gently stroking the top of the baby bird’s head.
“Peep! (I went to see Brother Yul!)”
“Yul?”
“Pwee, peep… (But the shutters were closed tight…)”
So-ya spread her short wings and pointed toward Ga-yul’s room, explaining earnestly, before letting both wings droop.
“Pweeee… (What if Brother is hurting and having a hard time?)”
“Oh dear. Our little Cotton Ball has no energy.”
“Peep…”
So-ya let her head drop onto Sa-eon’s palm.
Seeing the baby bird, no larger than his fist, expressing all her emotions with that tiny body, Sa-eon smiled and spoke.
“Then, Cotton Ball, why don’t you protect him?”
“Peep?”
“Just like you protected the White Tiger Palace from the ghosts last autumn, why don’t you protect your brother this time too?”
“…!”
Understanding his meaning, So-ya’s expression brightened.
“Pyah? (Will it work?)”
“Of course. Shall we go pick up a pretty stone, or should we go pick some flowers?”
“Peep! Pyah, peep! (There are Nandina berries in front of the East Gate! I want to go pick some berries!)”
“Alright. Let’s go together, little Cotton Ball.”
Seeing So-ya instantly regain her energy, Sa-eon gave a short laugh and let the baby bird perch on his shoulder.
Then, he turned toward the East Gate of the White Tiger Palace.
Pwee, pwee, pweeee—
Sitting on Sa-eon’s shoulder as he walked through the snow, So-ya sang a little song.
Every time Sa-eon took a step on the snowy path, it made a crunch-crunch sound.
Though he was someone who could run to the front of the White Tiger Palace in a single bound, he deliberately walked slowly, knowing So-ya liked the sound of the crunching snow.
Every time the crunch-crunch sound of treading on snow rang out, So-ya’s bottom wiggled happily.
Before long, as they stepped outside the East Gate, a forest path greeted them with bare winter trees.
So-ya spotted the bright red Nandina berries and fluttered up.
“Pyah! (There they are!)”
Approaching the Nandina tree with flapping wings, So-ya, like a brave baby bird of the White Tiger Clan, pecked at a branch and snapped it off.
She was returning to Sa-eon with the slender branch of red berries in her beak when…
Whoosh—!
Suddenly, the sound of something cutting through the air followed by a sharp metallic ring echoed through the winter forest.
Clang—!
Startled, So-ya dropped the Nandina berries she was holding.
A woman of slender build, her head covered in navy cotton cloth, was leveling a long spear at Sa-eon.
Despite the sudden ambush, Sa-eon swiftly dodged and blocked with his scabbard, but the woman immediately followed up with another attack.
Clash!
Clash!
Clang!
The sword and spear collided, making a loud metallic din.
But something was a bit strange.
It almost looked as if Sa-eon was being pushed back by the woman.
‘This is no time for this! I have to help Father too!’
So-ya, who had been frozen in a daze, snapped out of it and flew toward Sa-eon.
“Pyahhh! (Daddy!)”
So-ya fluttered into the middle of the battlefield.
She intended to peck the hand of the woman holding the spear.
“Pwee! Pwee-it! (Get away from my daddy!)”
“Cotton Ball? You, it’s dangerous…!”
At So-ya’s intrusion, Sa-eon momentarily faltered and looked back at the baby bird.
Clatter!
Not missing that small opening, the woman’s spear thrust forward, and Sa-eon’s sword was sent flying.
Slide—
The tip of the woman’s spear came to rest at Sa-eon’s throat.
“Pyah!”
The baby bird stood in front of Sa-eon, spreading her short wings wide as if to protect him.
Then, with large teardrops hanging from her bead-like eyes, she chirped with a sob.
“Peep, peep-ah! (Don’t kill my daddy!)”