Chapter 79
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 79
“If I really was their daughter, if I was their family, then why…!”
It should have been the day of her first beast transformation, a day to be celebrated by everyone.
But on that very day, So-ya was abandoned by her father, had her spirit core stolen by her brother, and was exiled to the Cold Palace.
Those three years spent alone in that freezing, lightless place.
What was harder to bear than the bullying of the maidservants…
What was harder to bear than the agony of having her spirit core ripped away…
What was harder to bear than the cold, the pain, and the hunger…
Was the solitude and loneliness that seeped into her very bones, aching within her.
In that place, So-ya missed the father who had discarded her and longed for the brother who never came.
She spent three long years of waiting, her longing eventually turning into a hollow loneliness as she clung to their memory all by herself.
But in the end, her family turned their backs on her. Finally, at Ri-ri’s single request to "get rid of her," they abandoned her forever.
“Why did I have to go through all of that?”
—….
“If we were family…! If we were real family, why did those people…! Why on earth did they do that to me…!”
Hyeon-yi had told her once.
Real family cherished and protected one another, no matter what they looked like.
But they—the ones who shared her blood—did not.
They hated her terribly, treated her with cold indifference, persecuted her, and ultimately cast her aside.
It wasn't that she thought of them as family now.
But So-ya felt a profound sense of injustice.
She felt so incredibly sad, sorrowful, and wronged by those past years that could never be undone or compensated for.
[However, great power comes with great sacrifice. The heavens are sometimes cruel in their impartiality and justice.]
Suddenly, she remembered what Yi-rim had told her three years ago.
If being abandoned by her family was the price for awakening the divine beast—the price for possessing great power.
“It’s too cruel.”
Tears began to fall.
“It’s too sad and horrible.”
Hot tears streamed down her cheeks.
Even as So-ya wept, the scenes of the past continued to flicker before her eyes.
The Madam, who had seemed to be recovering for a moment, saw her condition worsen again.
—Even with the purification flame, it was impossible to save one whose death was already destined, but it was possible to extend her life for a short while.
The Madam survived the night the physician had called her limit and held on for ten more days before closing her eyes in the Clan Head’s arms.
Until her final breath, she wiped away tears, worried about leaving the young So-ya behind….
“…….”
So-ya closed and opened her eyes in agony.
Soon, the illusion shown by the flames flickered out, and red feathers drifted softly around her.
So-ya slowly raised both hands.
The purification flame blooming upon her palms surged outward as if to incinerate the entire world.
Then, So-ya’s eyes slid shut, and she collapsed.
“So-ya…!”
The memory faded into darkness at the sound of a voice calling her name in desperation.
* * *
So-ya suffered through growing pains.
Her head was burning with fever, and her entire body felt as though it were drifting, much like having a severe cold.
The first growing pains, arriving at an unexpected time, were truly agonizing.
So-ya was unconscious for most of it, but whenever she briefly regained her senses, her father was always by her side.
“Da… ddy….”
So-ya called for her father in a hoarse, cracked voice.
“Daddy, Daddy…. Don’t leave So-ya behind. I don’t want to be alone. It’s so cold and scary.”
She wept uncontrollably, calling for him incessantly.
“It’s okay, my little Cotton Ball. Daddy’s right here.”
Sa-eon comforted her, his face etched with deep distress.
“Daddy’s right here with you. Don’t cry.”
Every time his hand patted her shoulder, So-ya would hiccup and swallow her rising sobs, only to burst into sorrowful tears again and again.
Father, Father, Daddy….
So-ya is… So-ya is….
It’s so cold and scary….
Please don’t hate So-ya. I was wrong….
Next time… next time, So-ya will definitely succeed. I’ll succeed brilliantly….
So please….
“My little Cotton Ball did nothing wrong. Daddy doesn’t hate you.”
“Ugh, hic. But. Bu-ut….”
“I love you most in the world, my baby.”
That embrace, the sturdiest in the world, wrapped tightly around her.
“Daddy… Daddy loves our little Cotton Ball most in the world.”
“Sob, hic, waaaah….”
Even though her father looked so pained.
Even though she knew she shouldn't cry.
The sorrow kept welling up, and the tears wouldn't stop.
“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy….”
In her delirious state, she didn't even know why she was so sorrowful, but she simply clung to Sa-eon and let her grief pour out.
“Daddy….”
She wailed like a child in her father’s arms.
When the short but intense growing pains finally ended and So-ya opened her eyes again.
She realized she was lying in her own room in the White Tiger Palace.
“Daddy…!”
So-ya sat up with a start.
She froze.
She found Sa-eon kneeling on the floor, his head buried in the edge of her bed, fast asleep.
“Ah….”
So-ya blinked blankly, reality slowly trickling back into her mind.
“Why am I here…?”
What happened?
I was definitely fighting poisonous insects….
Then I met the Vermilion Bird and obtained the purification flame….
I remember it being very hot and painful….
Did Father stay by my side the whole time I was hurting? But….
“Cotton Ball?”
At So-ya’s movement, Sa-eon stirred and raised his head.
“Father, I, why….”
As she murmured in a daze, a single red feather caught her eye.
“…?”
Seeing So-ya blinking in confusion, Sa-eon let out a soft, airy chuckle and picked up the feather.
“Isn't it cool, Cotton Ball? Your feather sparkles like a flame.”
He grinned, holding the feather out to her.
“Congratulations on your growth, my little Cotton Ball.”
“…!”
A look of shock washed over So-ya’s face.
“What’s this? Why are you so quiet? I thought you’d get mad and say you aren't a 'little' Cotton Ball anymore now that you’ve grown.”
Sa-eon asked in a playful voice.
“Are you that happy about completing your First Growth?”
“…….”
But So-ya couldn't answer easily.
It was because she had discovered the wounds on her father’s body.
Sharp scratches, as if made by a baby bird’s talons, and red marks that looked like burns were scattered across Sa-eon’s arms and hands.
“Father, this….”
So-ya’s voice trembled as she took hold of Sa-eon’s wrist, where a particularly dark scar remained.
“Ah.”
Sa-eon tried to hide his wrist in embarrassment, but So-ya had already seen everything.
“Did I do this?”
“No. This is….”
“I did it, didn't I? Right? I hurt you, didn't I, Father?”
She had heard that beastkin undergoing growing pains could become violent and aggressive.
She had done this.
She had lost her mind and attacked her father.
“It’s not like that, little Cotton Ball.”
“What do you mean it’s not? It’s true, I hurt you….”
Fluff—
So-ya’s sobbing form was pulled into a broad embrace.
“It didn't hurt Daddy at all.”
Sa-eon soothed her, patting her back.
“What kind of parent would feel pain seeing their child grow so magnificently?”
At those words, So-ya’s throat tightened painfully.
The man who had given her life had abandoned her just because she lacked that single red feather.
But this father, who had taken her in, told her that everything about her was fine, that everything was wonderful.
Even if her growth was slower than others.
Whether she had a red feather or not.
Even when she had caused him pain….
“Thank you for growing up so beautifully, my baby.”
He smiled at her and told her thank you.
“Ugh, hic, waaaaaah!”
At the end of the growing pains that had been more arduous because they were late, So-ya burst into tears once more in her father’s arms.