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Chapter 30
It was at that moment.
"Squeak! Chirp!"
Seol Yo's tail shot up as he gnawed at Baek Gahyun's shoe.
"That is...."
Upon spotting Seol Yo, Baek Gahyun's eyes narrowed to slits.
Though its form mimicked a tiger, it was unmistakably no ordinary beast of the mountain.
Had it truly been a wild ‌‌‌creature, I—as a direct descendant of the Baekho Family who governs Horim Mountain—could not have failed to ‌‌‌recognize it.
"A demonic ‌‌‌beast...?"
The black demonic beast emanated the same aura as that barrier which had been spread as ‌‌‌if protecting someone.
Could it be that barrier from moments ago was conjured by this creature? But ‌‌‌‌from what threat, and to protect whom?
It was as Baek Gahyun harbored such suspicions.
"N-No, this one isn't bad, Young Master! I promise!"
Jeok Soya gasped in alarm and hastily scooped Seol Yo up, pulling him away from Baek Gahyun.
"Wild beasts attacked me, and he saved me...."
"Wild beasts attacked you?"
Baek Gahyun, who ‌‌had been scrutinizing Seol Yo, suddenly lifted his head and pressed further.
"Yes.... Suri told me to stay right beside the Youngest Young Master, but suddenly wild beasts appeared, so...."
Jeok Soya recounted everything—the savage beasts, their desperate flight through the forest depths to escape them.
Worried he might not believe her, Jeok Soya stole a glance ‌‌at Baek Gahyun's expression.
"You're not injured anywhere?"
Baek Gahyun asked, his face pale as he examined Jeok Soya's body.
"Any bites ‌‌‌or ‌‌scratches? You didn't fall ‌‌‌while running?"
Learning that she hadn't simply lost her way, Baek Gahyun felt his mind reel.
"No, I'm fine. San Ho lent me a wind orb.... Ow!"
As Jeok Soya spoke in a composed voice to reassure the Young Master, who seemed even more startled than she was—
Her legs suddenly gave way, and she collapsed to the ground.
Though the Indigo Wolf ‌‌Clan's ‌wind orb had fortified her legs and ankles, ‌‌‌she had pushed her physical ‌‌‌abilities to their absolute limit, ‌‌‌‌straining her body.
Upon meeting Baek Gahyun and finding relief, the tension that had kept her rigid finally released, draining her ‌‌‌‌strength.
"Squeak!"
"Jeok Soya!"
Baek Gahyun quickly steadied her.
As Jeok Soya collapsed, Seol Yo bounced from her arms and circled frantically around her and Baek Gahyun.
"At least you ‌‌‌had the ‌‌wind orb. Thank goodness."
Baek Gahyun exhaled in relief. Without the wind orb, ‌this could have ended far more gravely.
"You must have been ‌‌terrified."
The beasts of Horim Mountain, under the dominion of the Baekho Family, were docile and never ‌harmed people.
Yet they had tried to attack Jeok Soya.
And of all times—today, when Father was ‌‌‌away.
'Did someone target Jeok Soya and orchestrate this? But why?'
It might be an overreaching leap in logic.
Yet Baek Gahyun, who had been hardening his suspicions at such a peculiar coincidence, suddenly shook his head.
First, I needed to descend the mountain.
The night air was bitterly cold.
Baek Gahyun bent his knees and offered his back to Jeok Soya.
"Climb on."
"What? But...."
"The path is dark, and I'm worried you might stumble over a ‌rock. So just get on my back, Soya."
To ride on the back of such a noble young master felt burdensome. More than anything, the Second Young Master was....
'He must find me inconvenient.'
Jeok Soya hesitated, recalling how Baek Gahyun had treated me until now.
'What if I'm being a nuisance again?'
Jeok Soya, keener than anyone at detecting negative emotions, knew well that ‌‌‌‌Baek Gahyun disliked me.
"Come on, Soya."
Yet at his repeated urging, Jeok Soya carefully climbed onto Baek Gahyun's back.
Once I was on him, his small back proved far ‌‌‌‌more solid than expected—a back that seemed as though it would protect ‌me, so firm and reassuring.
I recalled having seen such a tender yet sturdy back before.
A broad, solid back of some adult man who had appeared fluttering ‌white silk and protected me. ‌‌
'Ah, yes. The Second Young Master's back resembles San Ho's.'
With that thought, the discomfort in my heart seemed to fade little by ‌‌little.
When I recalled Baek Gahyun's urgent voice as he searched for me, his pale expression, ‌‌‌‌and his wavering gaze, ‌‌‌my feelings became strange.
I had vaguely hoped that someone might come looking for me, but I had never expected the ‌‌‌Second Young Master to search ‌‌‌‌for me.
Yet thinking that Baek Gahyun had found me with such ‌a ‌‌gaze and such an expression felt very strange indeed.
Because ‌‌‌it seemed Baek Gahyun was deeply displeased that ‌‌‌I was here. ‌‌‌‌‌
'From the very first day, I had been a bother to him....'
Jeok ‌‌‌Soya stole a glance at Baek Gahyun.
Since I was riding on his back, I couldn't see what expression he ‌‌‌wore.
Yet I remembered how his hair had clung to his forehead and cheeks, damp with sweat, when he appeared calling my name, and how raw wounds were visible through the tears in his clothes.
'Did he get hurt searching for me?'
If that were the case, my heart would feel terribly uneasy.
"...About ‌‌yesterday."
After walking in silence for a while, Baek Gahyun spoke to me.
"You misheard."
"What?"
"When I said something was a worthless rock, I was referring to that foolish Ho Jeok A's thick skull. I was absolutely not talking about that stone amulet you were holding."
"Ah...." ‌‌‌
"That stone amulet in your hand yesterday—it's mine, isn't it?"
Jeok Soya nodded, then realized he couldn't ‌‌see me and quickly answered aloud. ‌‌
"Yes."
"Thank you. The stone amulet I received from you last time was lonely being alone, and now it has a companion."
"You... you didn't throw it away...?"
"Why would I throw away something you gave me?"
"But last time..."
Jeok Soya trailed off, recalling the moment she had picked up a stone in the Garden and encountered Baek Gahyun.
[Collecting trash from the Garden ‌‌‌‌and secretly leaving it behind like that. Such mischievous pranks are rather troublesome. It's unfair to those who come to tidy the Room.]
Baek Gahyun, recognizing which incident Jeok Soya was remembering, quickly offered a prepared excuse.
"That time, Ho Jeok A didn't tell me it was a talisman, so I didn't know! I said those things because I was ignorant!" ‌
"Ah..."
Yet even as he spoke those words, Baek Gahyun suddenly felt ashamed of his own behavior.
Without warning, he stopped ‌‌‌in his tracks, his head drooping low.
"Young Master...?"
As Baek Gahyun stood silently in the same spot with his head bowed for a long while, Jeok Soya called out to him carefully.
"...I'm sorry. Everything I just said was an excuse. The truth is, I dismissed your sincerity. Please forgive me."
At Baek Gahyun's apology, Jeok Soya was startled and waved her hands frantically.
"Forgive? Please don't say such things to me."
"It's only natural that anyone who makes a mistake should apologize and ask for forgiveness."
Yet Baek Gahyun spoke with an ‌‌‌even firmer voice.
"I'm sorry ‌‌‌‌for treating you coldly when you first came to this unfamiliar place and felt awkward. I'm sorry for dismissing your sincerity and speaking harshly to you even though I knew it would hurt you."
"..."
Jeok Soya's lips remained sealed.
A mistake.
Jeok Soya found his words strange.
It had always been perfectly natural for people to dislike ‌‌her.
She was a worthless chick who deserved no love, and hating or tormenting her could never be wrong.
That was the lesson she had learned over the past three years in the Jujak Family.
Moreover, Baek Gahyun had never struck her ‌‌‌‌or pinched her, never locked her in the Storage Room or pushed her down.
Yet he apologized to her twice.
"And whether to accept an apology is something you decide."
"..."
"When your feelings settle... forgive me then, Soya."
"..." ‌‌‌
Baek Gahyun began walking again.
After a long pause, Jeok Soya spoke to him in the tiniest of voices.
"I wasn't upset."
"Huh...?"
In that instant, Baek Gahyun stopped abruptly and turned his head toward Jeok Soya.
"Really...?"
His questioning voice trembled in a way uncharacteristic of him.
"Um... yesterday I was a little, just a tiny bit sad, but I'm fine now. Really!"
"..."
"You came running to rescue me like this, after all."
Jeok Soya said with a radiant smile.
"...!"
Baek Gahyun's eyes widened in surprise, then softened into a gentle ‌‌curve.
"I'll have ‌‌‌to come running ‌‌‌more often then."
With a faint smile, he turned his gaze forward once more and began descending the slope.
With each step he ‌took, the basket hanging from Jeok Soya's side swayed gently back and forth.
Squeak, squeak!
The black creature bounded along behind them, hopping with eager little jumps.

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team ‌‌and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------