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Chapter ‌‌‌‌68
Jeok Soya had grown up believing the late Lady of the House of the Jeok Family to be her ‌own mother for as long as she could remember.
The Lady of the House was a red-haired sparrow-human, renowned among bird-humans for her diminutive stature.
So Soya had assumed her own small frame, unlike her ‌‌‌‌‌father and older brothers, was simply an inheritance from her mother.
But she was not Soya's true mother—her real mother was said to be a ‌servant who had attended the Lady of the House.
Yet no one had ever explained that woman to Soya in detail, leaving her with no way to know anything of her true birth mother.
All ‌‌‌‌she knew of her was one thing alone.
That she was a criminal who had destroyed the young lady's happiness and shattered the peace of the Jeok Family.
That truth weighed so heavily upon Soya's heart.
Why would she do such a thing?
Perhaps my mother loved me so dearly that she thought I would be happier as a young lady of the Jeok Family.
That if ‌I became the young lady of the Jeok Family, I would find greater joy, and so....
Yet no matter how hard ‌‌I tried to think of it that way, my heart would not lighten.
But because of that, I stole away Miss Riri's entire life.
And in exchange, I made everyone unhappy, and even myself miserable.
And above all else....
'Would my mother have been content never to see ‌‌‌me again, so long as I became a young lady of the Jeok Family?'
It ‌‌‌was a question that had taken root in my heart ever since witnessing Chung Ha's sorrow and anguish at having to part from her older brothers due to the duties of her direct lineage.
It was as Jeok Soya sat hunched upon a rock in the Garden, her face sunken in melancholy. ‌‌
Seol Yo settled beside her and gazed at her quietly.
He wished to comfort Soya, who ‌seemed so downhearted, yet Seol Yo lacked the gift of words.
'That boy would have comforted her so much better.'
Seol Yo recalled the platinum-haired boy who had visited Baek Ho Palace the previous autumn.
The image of that boy speaking in his gentle ‌manner and Soya responding with bright smiles had not faded even now, a season later.
'I want to comfort Soya too....'
Seol Yo, lost in ‌‌‌‌thought, glanced about his surroundings.
He wanted to find something Soya loved and bring her ‌‌joy.
But the Garden flowers she adored were no longer visible as the weather grew cold.
The vibrant autumn leaves and golden ginkgo leaves had ‌‌‌vanished ‌‌‌‌as well.
If only snow remained—but the snow that had blanketed the Garden had begun to melt into slush past noon.
Seol Yo, having made his decision, quietly disappeared.
Moments later, Soya turned her head at the sound ‌‌of rustling.
"Hmm?" ‌‌
Yet when she looked toward the source of the sound, ‌‌‌she saw nothing, and her eyes blinked in confusion.
Pitter-patter—
Pure white snowflakes began to fall from the sky.
"Snow?"
Soya caught the falling snowflakes without thinking.
But looking closer, they were not snow at all—they were tiny white flowers that ‌‌‌resembled stars scattered across the night sky.
"Flowers in this winter.... Wait, Seol Yo!"
Soya lifted her head without thinking, then startled ‌‌in surprise.
Seol Yo, who had transformed into a black chick to mimic Soya, had brought a white dogwood branch from the foot of Horim Mountain and was shaking it vigorously above both their heads.
"What are you doing? If the others find out about this...!"
Since the people of Baek Ho Palace believed Seol Yo to be a wolf-human, Soya grew anxious at the thought of his secret being exposed.
But seeing Seol Yo laugh with his eyes crescent-shaped and twinkling, she immediately understood his intention.
"You're trying to cheer me up, aren't you? Thank you."
Seol Yo always seemed to sense my feelings without me saying a word, as if by magic.
At his comfort, my heart warmed.
I still couldn't understand why my birth mother had done such a thing, nor could I know if she truly loved me.
Yet I had ‌‌‌my family ‌‌‌who loved me, the people of Baek Ho Palace, and this wonderful friend who was always by my side to comfort me whenever I felt melancholy.
Realizing this, I finally shook off my gloomy mood and asked with a bright smile.
"This is so beautiful, Seol Yo. Did you ‌find ‌‌it on Horim Mountain?"
"Chirp, chirp!"
Seol Yo opened his beak to answer my question but dropped the branch in the process.
Yet having achieved his goal of seeing my smiling face, he abandoned any regret about the branch and settled onto my palm, panting softly.
The body of a baby bird was small and delicate unlike that of a wolf, and just from shaking the ‌‌‌branch vigorously, his beak had grown sore.
As I gently stroked Seol Yo's body, which lay sprawled on my palm and panting, I laughed ‌‌‌‌brightly.
* * *
Chung Ha had to return.
Due to the direct duties inscribed ‌‌upon her soul core, she could not be away from the Blue Dragon Territory for long.
Yet as Baek Gahyun saw his mother off, he no longer shed tears. ‌‌
"I believe you'll come again. And if it's difficult for you to come, then I can go to you instead..." ‌‌
Baek ‌‌Gahyun added with a slightly bashful face, his ears flushing red.
"You must stay healthy."
"Yes, Gahyun. You must stay healthy too."
I found it somewhat curious to see Baek ‌‌‌‌Gahyun nestled in Chung Ha's embrace.
He ‌‌‌was always so ‌mature before me, yet beside Chung Ha, my older brother seemed just like Baek Gayul and I—like a child. ‌‌‌
"Mom, me too! Tell me to stay healthy as well!"
"Our little tiger must stay healthy and well."
"Hehe."
Normally, Baek Gayul would have protested at being called a ‌‌‌"little" ‌‌tiger, but he only laughed happily. ‌‌
'Gayul's older brother always objected when Father called him a ‌baby, but... Gahyun too, and everyone ‌‌‌‌becomes a child in front of their mother?'
It was then that I blinked my eyes in newfound realization.
After exchanging farewells with her family in turn, Chung Ha turned to me.
"Soya, once you complete your first growth ‌‌‌stage, be sure to visit Cheonghae Palace with your older brothers."
She bent down toward me and whispered softly.
"Cheonghae Palace?"
"Yes, ‌‌‌in the Eastern Lands ruled by the Cheongryong Family, there is a vast sea."
"I've read about it in books. The sea is like an endless lake that is ‌‌‌incredibly large and wide."
"It cannot be compared to a mere lake. It ‌‌is deeper than the height of Horim Mountain and wider than all the continents combined."
Chung Ha explained just how vast the Sea was.
"Beneath that sea lies the Cheong Hae Dragon Palace of the Cheongryong Family, who rule over the marine-folk."
Jeok Soya was utterly captivated by the stories Chung Ha told of the Eastern Lands and the Sea.
The tales of the Festival ‌‌‌‌that opened every spring were endlessly fascinating, the Sea in the Eastern Lands stirred her curiosity, and the underwater palace within it—the Cheong ‌‌Hae Dragon Palace—intrigued ‌‌‌her even more.
But young beast-folk who hadn't undergone their first transformation couldn't breathe beneath the sea, so something terrible would happen before reaching the Cheonghae Palace, she explained.
Chung ‌Ha added that Jeok Soya should grow as splendidly as her older brothers and come visit then.
"Yes, Chung Ha! I'll ‌‌‌definitely come play!"
Jeok Soya beamed with joy, linking her pinky finger with ‌‌‌‌Chung Ha's.
Chung Ha pressed her thumb firmly against Jeok Soya's in return, smiling softly.
"And it's a bit early to say this, but... well, someday when I return to Baek Ho Palace again." ‌‌‌‌
She paused for a moment, then asked in a somewhat tense voice.
"Will you call me Mother instead of Chung Ha then?"
"...!" ‌‌‌‌
Jeok Soya's eyes grew wide as saucers.
"I'm not exactly a perfect adult, but if you're willing, I'd like to become part of your family too, little fluffy one."
"Ah...."
At those words, Jeok Soya froze completely.
As Jeok Soya stood speechless and dazed, Chung Ha grew flustered.
'Oh no, what have I done? That question was too sudden.'
She'd carelessly spoken out of turn just because a child had followed her for a few days, burdening the little ‌‌‌‌one.
"I'm sorry, Soya. I didn't mean to put pressure on you...."
Chung Ha was attempting to smooth things over with an awkward smile.
Grip—
A small hand grasped her garment tightly.
"...Mother."
"...!" ‌‌
At that delicate whisper, Chung Ha's eyes trembled ‌with emotion.
"I read in a book that the family ‌of family is family."
Jeok Soya looked up at Chung Ha and spoke.
"We're already family, aren't we? So it's okay ‌to call you that, isn't it?"
Jeok Soya's face flushed crimson as she spoke those words in a voice that trembled slightly.

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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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