Chapter 97
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 97
“Welcome back, babies.”
Upon hearing the news of the three siblings' return, Sa-eon had set aside his duties and come all the way to the main gate of the White Tiger Palace to greet them. He gave the children a broad, beaming smile.
“Father!”
“Father!”
“Fatheeeer!”
The three siblings rushed toward Sa-eon simultaneously and threw themselves into his arms.
“Wait, just a moment.”
Sa-eon spoke in a calm voice as the children swarmed him all at once.
“Babies. Your father only has two arms, not three. If all three of you hug me like this at the same time…”
“I missed you, Father!”
“Father, I missed you so much!”
“You’ve been doing well while we were away, right, Father?”
However, the three siblings acted as if they couldn't hear him, stubbornly clinging to him.
“It seems the fault lies with the Clan Head for only having two arms. You’ll have to go and grow another one,” Ho Jeok-yeong remarked with a laugh. Sa-eon shook his head as if he were helpless against them.
“Did everyone stay healthy and out of trouble?”
“Yes, yeees!”
So-ya answered quickly at Sa-eon’s question.
Sensing something suspicious, Sa-eon slightly raised an eyebrow.
“Little Cotton Ball. That voice just now sounded exactly like someone who did get into trouble.”
“No, well, that is…”
As So-ya fidgeted, her expression giving her away, Ga-yul stood beside her and shouted in a bright, innocent voice with a wide grin.
“Father, I’ll tell you! What Cotton Ball did was…!”
“Brother Yul!”
So-ya clamped both hands over Ga-yul’s mouth.
“Mmph, mrrph, mmmph!”
“Oh, honestly, Brother Yul.”
Watching them bicker so affectionately, Sa-eon let out a soft chuckle.
* * *
After returning to the White Tiger Palace, the first thing So-ya did was soak in warm water to wash away the fatigue of her travels.
“The White Tiger Palace was so quiet while the Young Lady and the Young Masters were away. You have no idea how much everyone was waiting for you all to return,” Yeon-jeong said as she washed So-ya’s hair.
The warm, gentle touch made So-ya feel drowsy and relaxed.
“By the way, I haven’t seen that one before.”
So-ya snapped back to her senses when Yeon-jeong pointed to the hair ribbon she had set aside earlier.
“Ah, that…! It was a gift.”
When So-ya answered with her cheeks flushing slightly, Yeon-jeong asked with a small laugh, “It couldn't be a gift from some handsome young lord who fell for our Young Lady, could it?”
“N-no! It’s just, I just received it at the Cheonghae Palace.”
So-ya jumped and waved her hands in denial.
“Oh, I see. And here I thought our Young Lady had found herself a wonderful young lord.”
Yeon-jeong chuckled and rinsed So-ya’s hair.
‘Why did I tell a lie like that?’
So-ya’s heart went pit-a-pat.
‘Fortunately, Yeon-jeong isn't prying any further, but I feel uneasy for some reason.’
So-ya kept glancing at Yeon-jeong, her conscience pricked by the lie. Even after she finished her bath and returned to her room alone, the feeling persisted.
‘No. My lying was… unavoidable for His Majesty’s sake.’
So-ya thought back to the disguised appearance of Tae Yi-rim she had seen that day.
‘He seemed to have come out in secret, after all… Right. That’s why I had no choice but to lie.’
Having finally found a convincing reason, So-ya was finally able to let out a sigh of relief.
“Anyway…”
So-ya glanced out the window and thought, “I miss Mom.”
It had only been a day since she left the Cheonghae Palace, but she already missed her mother.
‘It really was so wonderful.’
Her mother seemed like such a free person. How should she put it? Like the wind.
There, So-ya had enjoyed a wild streak of rebellion with Cheong-ha that she had never even dreamed of at the White Tiger Palace.
For instance, staying up late into the night to talk, or climbing over the palace walls away from prying eyes…
And she had eaten five pieces of fig candy before going to sleep!
‘Yeon-jeong said I shouldn't eat too many sweets, but Mom said it was okay to eat until my stomach burst.’
Thinking of her sweet rebellion with Cheong-ha brought a constant giggle to her lips. These were all things she had never done at the White Tiger Palace.
And on the last day, before she left…
[Look at this. What did Mom tell you? I told you our baby Cotton Ball would grow up to be even more wonderful than her brothers.]
Cheong-ha had said that and given her a soft peck on the cheek.
It was the first time anyone had ever kissed her cheek, so So-ya felt somewhat shy, yet her heart fluttered with excitement.
She truly loved her mother’s warm and affectionate kiss. She also loved the soft, cozy embrace when her mother held her.
‘I hope Mom returns to the White Tiger Palace soon.’
But for that to happen…
‘The war must end as soon as possible.’
And when the war ended, not only her mother but also her eldest brother—who was said to be blocking the demonic beasts at the distant border—would return.
So-ya’s thoughts drifted to her eldest brother, whom she had never met.
Baek Ga-ya, the eldest of the three young lords of the White Tiger Palace and the one said to resemble their father the most, had gone to the battlefield six years ago.
Sometimes, when Brother Hyeon sent letters, Ga-ya would write a bit on the side, but a reply had never come back to the White Tiger Palace. She had heard that the battlefield was so fierce and chaotic that there was no time to write back, but it was still a bit disappointing.
‘I wonder if the handkerchief I sent arrived safely?’
Just before leaving to see the festival in the East, So-ya had sent a handkerchief. Her embroidery was clumsy, but she had filled it with her desire to protect him, embroidering a tiger onto the fabric.
She didn't know what Ga-ya would think of her, but she liked him. There wasn't a specific reason. It was simply… because they were family.
Family. That word alone was enough for So-ya to like him very much.
‘I hope Brother Ga-ya likes me too.’
In the past, she had sometimes worried that he might find it awkward or bothersome that a child he’d never seen before had suddenly appeared.
‘I’ll have to work hard. So that I can become family with Brother Ga-ya too.’
So-ya thought bravely.
In any case, for Cheong-ha and Ga-ya to return to the White Tiger Palace, the war had to end. To defeat the Evil, there was now only one remaining Divine Beast she had to awaken.
“What kind of person is the Black Tortoise?”
At So-ya’s question, the Divine Beasts popped out into the air.
—Baby bird!
—Baby bird!
The Vermilion Bird Celestial Maiden and the White Tiger Mountain Lord rushed toward So-ya with delighted voices.
—I shall explain. That man, King Yeom of Hyeon-to, is…
—Step aside, Tiger. I shall be the one to explain.
—No, Granny. I was speaking first, wasn't I?
—Ahem! Where does a youngster get off raising his voice?
As the two Divine Beasts began bickering the moment they appeared, the Dragon God of Cheonghae clicked her tongue.
—Those two are just as noisy as ever, even after meeting again after a thousand years.
Unlike the other two Divine Beasts, who took the forms of a mature woman and man, the Dragon God of Cheonghae appeared as a young girl with hair as blue as waves.
So-ya thought she looked exactly like a beautiful princess from an old fairy tale.
—You must have a hard time living with those two, baby bird.
“No, Dragon God. I’m never bored because the two of them are here,” So-ya replied with a giggle.
—The Northern Divine Beast, the Black Tortoise. His other name is King Yeom of Hyeon-to.
The Dragon God of Cheonghae explained about the Black Tortoise on behalf of the two who were busy arguing.
—Long ago, the ancient ‘Evil’ sought to destroy the world. However, we, the Four Divine Beasts, joined forces and stopped it.
The four beasts had seized the body of the ‘Evil,’ but it was impossible to destroy its soul. Thus, they sealed the soul in the northern lands, and ever since, the Black Tortoise Tribe—descendants of King Yeom of Hyeon-to—has guarded that desolate and cold northern land where the ‘Evil’ is sealed.
However, about ten years ago, Hyeon Ra-baek, the leader of the Black Tortoise Tribe, offered up his own body and awakened the ‘Evil.’
—The opponent you must truly fight is not Hyeon Ra-baek, but the ‘Evil’ dwelling within him. Unless the Evil is defeated, this cycle will never end.
“The Evil…” So-ya murmured the name softly.
—But the three of us alone can never defeat the Evil. You must awaken the King Yeom of the North, baby bird.
“Yes, Dragon God! I will definitely awaken him!” So-ya answered bravely.
The Dragon God of Cheonghae let out a soft chuckle as she watched So-ya.
To awaken the Black Tortoise, she would eventually have to go to where Hyeon Ra-baek was. The Swamp of the Dead in the cold North. It was a place difficult for the living to cross, but this brave and clever baby bird would surely find a way.
However, a greater problem than that was… the Black Tortoise’s heart.
‘Can this child harbor that within her?’
The Dragon God of Cheonghae’s expression suddenly sank into gravity.
Another name for the Northern Divine Beast, King Yeom of Hyeon-to, was the ‘One Who Swallows.’
Only a heart that desired to swallow everything living could awaken the Black Tortoise.