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Chapter 41
Dinner time.
For once, all the members of the Baek Ho Palace family had gathered in one place.
The family head and both young masters ‌‌were so busy that it was often difficult to coordinate meal times.
But today was Jeok Soya's first day as an official family member!
And so they all sat down together ‌‌‌for the evening meal.
"I completed the formal adoption procedures this afternoon. From now on, when someone asks your name, you'll introduce ‌‌yourself as Baek Soya, daughter of Baek Sayeon."
"Yes!"
Jeok Soya answered brightly, her cheeks flushed with joy.
Baek Soya.
Not Jeok Soya, but Baek Soya.
Baek Soya, daughter of Baek Sayeon.
Baek Soya of the Baekho Family.
The sound of that unfamiliar name was truly beautiful.
"My name is Baek Gayul too! Cotton ‌‌‌ball and I have the same 'Baek' character in our names!"
Baek Gayul shouted with even more excitement than Jeok Soya.
"Stop spouting nonsense."
Baek Gahyun looked at Baek Gayul with an expression ‌‌‌of exasperation and spoke.
"I'm just amazed! Father said that using ‌‌‌‌the 'Baek' character at the beginning of a name means family! Cotton ‌‌ball and I really have become family!"
"Please close that mouth of yours. ‌‌I'm embarrassed by association. Your stupidity will make Soya run away."
Baek Gahyun shook his head in disapproval.
Jeok Soya simply giggled softly.
Sayeon, watching the scene with a pleased expression, rested his chin on his hand at an angle and asked Jeok Soya.
"How does it feel to be Baek Soya on your first day, cotton ball? Is there ‌‌‌anything uncomfortable?"
"No, everyone treats me so well. Before and now."
"That's good to hear. If you need anything, don't hesitate to tell me anytime."
"Oh, then... about Seol Yo."
"Seol Yo?"
"That child you brought, sir!"
"That one introduced ‌‌‌himself that way?"
"Yes! He can even write his name, and he's such a kind and clever child! He helped me yesterday too!"
Jeok Soya had just told Seol Yo not to follow her any further and sent him back.
Remembering Seol Yo standing quietly in the shrubland, wagging his tail until she was out of sight, she felt a pang of guilt.
"Could Seol Yo live here at Baek Ho Palace with us?"
Jeok Soya glanced nervously at Sayeon, worried he might refuse.
But Sayeon answered without the slightest hesitation, chuckling softly.
"If that's what you want, then so be it."
"Really?"
"I ‍‌brought him here in the first place anyway. ‌‌‌There's no reason he can't stay. Just be careful not to let people find out he's a demonic beast."
"Yes! I'll explain it well to Seol Yo. He's a clever child, so he'll understand!"
"A demonic beast? Cotton ball, you tamed a demonic beast?"
Baek Gayul, who had never seen Seol Yo before, asked with curiosity brimming in his voice.
"No, we just became friends. You know, that black wolf you saw yesterday."
"That black wolf you rode on was a demonic ‌‌beast? That's ‌‌amazing, cotton ball! I heard demonic beasts are violent and don't become friends with people!"
"Brother ‌‌Gayul would also become good friends with Seol Yo if you met him. ‌Seol Yo is kind and gentle, so he doesn't hurt people."
"Then let's have dinner and go meet the demonic beast!"
"That won't do. Jeok Soya promised to come look at the library's collection with me."
Baek Gahyun, who had been placing side dishes one by one over Jeok Soya's rice bowl, interjected into the children's conversation.
"Then what if you introduce Brother Gayul to Seol Yo first, and then we all go to the library together?"
Sayeon's ears perked up as he absently listened to the ‌‌‌‌children's conversation. He recalled what he had discussed with Jeok Young that morning.
[She calls you Sayeon instead of Father or Dad—doesn't that ‌‌‌bother you?] ‌‌‌
[Yet she calls the young masters ‌‌"brother" so naturally.]
'Jeok Young was right.'
Sayeon's brow furrowed slightly.
Though he understood she would naturally feel more comfortable with her peers, ‌‌‌Baek Gahyun and Baek Gayul, than with an adult like himself, it ‌‌still bothered him.
"Jeok ‌‌‌Soya, that foolish tiger cub has a condition where he collapses the moment a book is opened. So just go with your brother alone."
"What? A condition where he collapses? Then is reading like a peach to Brother ‌‌‌‌Gayul?"
"Ah, no! I like ‌‌books too! I'm going to read with cotton ball ‌‌as well!"
"Ahem, ahem."
At the sound of ‌‌the deliberate cough, all three children turned to ‌‌‌look at Sayeon ‌‌simultaneously.
"The ceremonial rite scheduled for today has been postponed due to yesterday's events and will be held together on the ‌‌‌day of the Mountain Lord Festival. And I intend to formally introduce you to the family members then, cotton ball. As ‌‌‌‌my daughter."
Sayeon deliberately emphasized the phrase "my daughter," subtly hoping she would call him Father.
"Will I be attending the Mountain Lord Festival as well?"
"Of course. You're ‌‌my daughter now and a member of the Baek Family."
"...!"
Jeok Soya's face was about to light up brilliantly.
"Then we'll get ‌‌to see cotton ball in her humanoid form!"
At Baek Gayul's words, Jeok Soya froze.
"Humanoid form...?" ‌
"Yeah! You have to transform into humanoid form to participate in the Mountain Lord Festival."
Baek Gayul, who had been receiving nothing but reproaches from Baek Gahyun all along, became excited now that a subject he knew had come up and explained eagerly.
However, unlike Baek Gayul's animated voice, Jeok Soya's chopstick movements gradually slowed.
Sayeon recalled the conversation he had shared with the child the previous night as he observed her darkened expression.
[I realized I was a fake when I was six years old. That day, when I underwent my first humanoid transformation....] ‌‌‌
Last night, Jeok Soya had quietly told him about the matters from the Jujak Family that Sayeon had ‌‌‌‌not dared to probe into.
There ‌‌‌‌was no doubt that Jeok Soya had ‌‌‌developed a fear of humanoid transformation ‌‌‌‌from that day's events.
Sayeon recalled the fluffy white chick.
The child had called herself ‌‌unsightly and inadequate, but to Sayeon's eyes, she was simply adorable and beautiful.
He ‌‌could not understand the people of the Jujak Family who had oppressed this small child he only wanted to protect.
He wanted to tell the child that all of her forms were precious and beautiful, but the fear of humanoid transformation that she carried was far too great.
'Eventually, I'll need to help her undergo the beast transformation, but there's no need to rush.'
I had no desire to force the matter and reopen the child's wounds.
From the moment I decided to register her into the ‌‌family, I made a vow alongside that commitment—to gift this child a ‌‌‌world of happiness untainted by suffering.
"If you ‌‌‌‌don't wish to do it, there's no need to force yourself."
At Sayeon's words, Jeok Soya's eyes widened in surprise.
"Huh? But...! Mmph!"
Baek Gahyun swiftly covered Baek Gayul's mouth with his palm ‌‌‌‌before the tactless boy could say anything more.
"That's right, Soya. We ‌‌didn't ask you to stay here to burden you with obligations or force anything upon you."
He then spoke to Soya, whose expression remained bewildered, in a gentle voice.
"If anyone ever tries to force ‌‌‌you to do something you don't want to do, tell me everything. Your older brother will scold them for you. Even if it were Father himself."
Baek Gahyun lowered his voice slightly as he added that final remark.
At ‌‌‌‌this, ‌Sayeon let out ‌‌‌an amused chuckle, raising one eyebrow as if exasperated.
"My, my. Look at ‌‌‌you, cotton ball. Your older brother is quite terrifying, isn't he?"
Thanks to this, Jeok Soya's ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌expression brightened considerably, and the warm, harmonious dinner continued.
* * *
That evening, Jeok Soya introduced Seol Yo to the household members and visited the Library, which only direct descendants of the Baekho Family could enter, where she spent time reading with her older brothers.
Despite having such an enjoyable time with them, an inexplicable roughness lingered in one corner of ‌‌her heart, troubling her.
Yet Jeok Soya deliberately ignored that prickly sensation, for the joy of suddenly having a new family was far too overwhelming.
As time passed, the night before the Mountain Lord ‌‌‌‌Festival arrived.
Jeok Soya dreamed.

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