Chapter 101
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Chapter 101
Within the Black Swamp.
Jeok Soya drew a slow, deliberate breath and lifted her eyelids open.
'Where do I go from here?'
Just as the divine beasts had promised, breathing posed no difficulty, yet darkness enveloped everything around me—I couldn't see what lay ahead.
I hesitated, uncertain of which path to take.
―My child.
'What...?'
A voice echoed from somewhere in the darkness.
―My beautiful child. Soya.
The voice was calling out to me.
'Who is this?'
Yet strangely, the voice didn't feel unfamiliar.
It was warm, comforting... and oddly, hearing it made tears threaten to spill—a voice I had desperately longed for.
'When and where have I heard this voice before?'
I searched my memory, turning the voice over in my mind.
―Your mother is waiting for you.
'...!'
In an instant, my eyes widened in shock.
―Come to mother now, my baby.
'Ah. When I was in mother's womb... that's the sound I heard then.'
In that moment, brilliant light flooded through, and the darkness receded.
Within the radiant glow, I found myself lying on a bed in a familiar room.
And seated at the head of my bed was a woman.
With reddish-brown hair draped elegantly about her shoulders, the refined and graceful woman was none other than the Lady of Suzaku House.
In other words, the one who gave birth to me—my...
"M... Mother...?"
I carefully parted my lips and called out to her.
"My baby. Why did you sleep in so late today?"
The woman spoke with a gentle laugh.
She looked exactly as she had in that past moment Phoenix had shown me.
The only difference from that past was that in Phoenix's vision, her face had been sickly and pale, but now, before my eyes, she smiled at me with a vibrant, healthy glow.
"My little one still looks half-asleep."
The woman tenderly stroked my hair.
"Ah..."
A small gasp escaped between my lips.
At the touch of her hand, my chest suddenly burned with warmth, and without thinking, I clutched the cloth doll I'd been holding close to my heart.
Then, belatedly noticing the doll's presence, I looked down at it.
'This is...'
My throat tightened painfully.
It was a phoenix doll that the Lady of Suzaku House, Jeok Soya's biological mother, had crafted long ago for the child she would bear.
That very same doll—the one brutally seized and burned to black ash by the household servants when Jeok Soya was cast into the Cold Palace.
"Uu...."
The moment I saw it, tears burst forth uncontrollably.
"Waaah...!"
"Oh my."
The woman startled and pulled me into her embrace.
"Sweet child, why are you crying? Our Soya. Did you have a frightening dream?"
"Sob, sob, waaaah...!"
Overwhelmed by sorrow, I wept aloud like an infant.
On that day when the doll turned to black ash, I had truly wanted to cry like this.
What burned that day was not merely a cloth doll, but the familial affection that young me had desperately needed.
That day was when my entire world—everything I possessed—burned brilliantly and scattered as ash.
"It's alright, don't cry, my sweet child. Mother is here."
The woman held me close and soothed me.
I gazed up at her while swallowing my hiccupping sobs.
'Why do you look even more sorrowful than I do?'
The question lingered in my throat.
Under the woman's gentle touch as she comforted me, my tears gradually subsided.
Sniff, sniff.
As I wiped my nose and lowered my head, I noticed short, plump little limbs.
'How strange. Were my arms and legs always this short?'
I flexed and unfurled my short fingers absently, tilting my head in confusion.
'I've already completed my first growth phase, so I should be... wait, how old was I again?'
My memories kept growing hazy, and I couldn't quite recall.
"Oh dear. Our Soya, you'll be four years old in just ten more nights. If you cry like this, Phoenix won't give you a gift."
'Ah, that's right! I'm four years old!'
At the woman's gentle, chuckling words, I suddenly remembered.
No wonder my tears had been flowing uncontrollably like a baby's since earlier.
"No, I wasn't crying! Soya will receive the gift Phoenix gives!"
As if I hadn't been weeping at all, I wiped my eyes briskly and sat up straight with a spirited expression.
Still clutching the phoenix doll tightly in one arm.
"That's right, that's right, our Soya. Shall we sit over here?"
The woman brought a small mirror and set it before me, then began combing my hair.
'How strange. My mother was never this skilled at braiding hair....'
The woman's hands moved with such practiced ease, braiding my hair smoothly without tangles or painful tugging.
I kept stealing glances at the woman sitting behind me through the mirror.
'Is this woman... Soya's mother... Oh!'
Our eyes met in the mirror, and I startled, quickly averting my gaze.
"You're adorable, aren't you, my baby."
At her appearance, the woman burst into laughter.
"Ta-da! All done!"
I gazed into the mirror with a strangely fluttering heart.
The reflection showed me with my crimson hair twisted into two buns atop my head, resembling dumplings.
"How do you like it? Our Soya. Isn't she adorable?"
"Yes, um..."
A faint blush crept across my face as I nodded.
It felt odd to say it aloud, but my reflection in the mirror truly was beautiful.
Especially that radiant crimson hair I had always admired...
'Wait? I admired it?'
As the unbidden thought flickered through my mind, my eyes blinked, and the woman extended her hand toward me.
"Shall we go outside and show it off?"
"Yes, yes!"
I quickly grasped her hand.
The woman chuckled softly as she watched my small hand clutch hers eagerly, as if afraid she might vanish.
Holding the woman's hand firmly, I stepped out of the Inner Quarters.
The familiar landscape of the residence unfolded before my eyes.
The two of us made our way to Hayeonji Pond, an artificial lake nestled in the Inner Courtyard of the Joojak Residence.
'Ah, it's been such a long time since I was here.'
I stood gazing at the pond, lost in thought.
"Hmm? But we came to see it with Mother yesterday."
The woman spoke as if she had read my innermost thoughts.
'Is that so?'
I tilted my head in confusion, my eyes drawn to the lotus flowers blooming on the pond's surface.
The woman reached her hand out into the empty air.
Birds flew down and chirped upon her palm, then took flight once more, returning with two lotus blossoms.
The woman tucked a lotus stem above my ear.
"Oh, how lovely. Our Soya."
"Me too! I want to put one on Mother's ear!"
"Here, go ahead."
The woman smiled warmly and handed me the remaining blossom.
As she bent down, I carefully placed the flower stem above her ear with my small hands.
But the moment she began to straighten up, the blossom I had placed tumbled down.
"Oh...!"
My face crumpled in dismay as I stared at the fallen flower, but the woman picked it up again and apologized.
"My, Mother wasn't careful enough. Would you like to try again, little one?"
This time, I placed it with utmost care and concentration.
As the woman helped me tuck it in securely with her fingers, the blossom stayed firmly in place.
"How's that?"
At her warm smile and question, my own face bloomed with a bright, radiant grin.
"It's so pretty, Mother!"
I laughed brightly, my voice ringing out.
As I sat beside the woman at the water's edge and gazed down at the surface, the reflection of two figures—mother and daughter—sitting side by side shimmered back at us.
'With the same flowers adorning our hair like this, we truly look like mother and daughter.'
I giggled at the thought.
"This pond is an artificial one your father created for me."
The woman explained in a soft voice.
"There was a large pond like this in my homeland where I originally lived. Since I had to leave my home to come to your father, he built this for me so I wouldn't feel lonely."
"I see."
I nodded, swinging my feet gently back and forth.
"When our Soya grows up to become a fine lady, you'll leave Mother's side to follow your husband, won't you?"
"What?"
Startled by those words, I turned to look at the woman.
"I wish our Soya would stay by Mother's side forever, never going anywhere."
"I-I will, Mother!"
I answered quickly.
"I won't marry and leave! I'll live here forever! With Mother... and also..."
'Hmm? When did I ever have this conversation with Mother before?'
As I trailed off uncertainly, a strange question suddenly flickered through my mind.
"What are you thinking about, my dear Soya?"
"Oh, Mother. It's just..."
I was about to explain the fleeting sense of déjà vu that had just crossed my mind.
"My sweet little one."
The woman drew my small body into her embrace and whispered.
"Don't burden yourself with complicated thoughts. Just grow healthy and strong in Mother's arms."
'Yes, that's right. I won't think about complicated things.'
"Here, the two of us will be together forever and ever."
'Mother's embrace feels so wonderful. I want to stay in Mother's arms as her baby for a long, long time.'
I played with Mother in the Garden, admiring the flowers, climbed the Pavilion Tower to enjoy delicious refreshments, and sang and danced with countless baby birds.
'But... I feel like I'm forgetting something...'
An inexplicable sense of unease had been troubling me since earlier.
Yet whenever I tried to recall what it was, my thoughts became as hazy as if shrouded in mist.
After trying several times to grasp the memory, I eventually gave up.
The warmth and comfort of Mother's hand, which held mine so tightly, was simply too much to resist.
'Yes, but...'
Sitting on the woman's lap and playing with her palm, I absently glanced around and tilted my head in confusion.
'Why is it that only Mother and I are in the estate?'
As I pondered this, the woman explained once more, as if reading my thoughts.
"Your father left for the Imperial Palace because His Majesty summoned him."
"Father?"
"Yes, Father. In ten nights, it will be our Soya's birthday, so you'll be coming soon too. Bringing lots of gifts for our little one."
"Father...."
Soya murmured the word in a daze.
[The world you've inhabited until now has been wrong. That's why I will show you the correct world from now on.]
'What...?'
A certain voice suddenly surfaced in her mind.
[I'm not a fluffy cotton ball. I have no wings, no tail feathers. I'm not cute. I don't know much myself, but people say I have a terrible personality too.]
'This is....'
Soya's expression stiffened in an instant.
[Is such an uncute and ill-tempered father not to your liking?]
'Father...!'
This was the voice of the person Soya loved most in the world.
[Call me Father. I'd prefer it even more if you called me Dad.]
'Ah. Yes, that's right.'
The hazy fog that had clouded her mind gradually dissipated.
[I'll be protecting this place, so be careful on your way, my little cotton ball.]
'Father is waiting for me!'
Flash!
With the realization, Soya's body transformed.
No longer the four-year-old child yearning for her mother's absence, but a twelve-year-old girl's body.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org