Chapter 123
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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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Chapter 123
Emperor Tae Irim entered, followed by the young generals who were the stars of tonight's victory celebration banquet.
At the Emperor's entrance, everyone ceased what they were doing, rose from their seats, and bowed their heads respectfully toward him.
Jeok Ahyun also had to stop himself from turning toward Jeok Soya and offer proper courtesy to the Emperor instead.
At sixteen, the boy emperor—no longer an age one could call merely young—proceeded toward the seat of honor.
Once the Emperor was seated, everyone returned to their places.
Jeok Ahyun found his assigned seat and sat down, yet he heard neither the drum announcing the banquet's beginning nor the Emperor's opening remarks.
He could only stare blankly toward the distant corner where Jeok Soya sat, far removed from his own position.
* * *
Jeok Soya watched Tae Irim's entrance with genuine admiration.
His Majesty showed not a trace of nervousness even before so many people. Truly remarkable.
Just yesterday, when I saw him atop the tree in the Palace Garden, he wore something rather casual, but today he was dressed in the imperial robe embroidered with the Yellow Dragon—a garment only the Son of Heaven of Taehwa Kingdom could wear.
When he had visited Baek Ho Palace five years ago, it wasn't an official occasion, so he had worn something lighter; this was the first time I had seen him dressed so formally.
Though countless eyes fixed upon him all at once, he moved forward with a languid gaze, sweeping across the crowd as though such attention were only natural.
I was so nervous just assisting Father beside him at last year's Mountain Lord Festival.
At last year's Mountain Lord Festival, I had assisted Father in place of Jeok Young, and everyone praised me for doing wonderfully, but truthfully I had been quite tense and trembling the entire time.
Yet before far more people than that, Tae Irim appeared perfectly at ease. Despite being only two years older than me, he seemed far more mature.
To be completely honest, he seemed even more grown-up than my older brother Baek Gahyun, who had just turned twenty.
Of course, there were times when Baek Gahyun seemed younger than Baek Gayul, but...
[I won't tell you.]
When Baek Gahyun said that last night, it was really... well... forgive me for saying so, but it was rather childish.
Sometimes he says things that even Baek Gayul wouldn't say.
Baek Gahyun really is an amusing person.
Jeok Soya chuckled to herself at the thought of Baek Gahyun.
Just then, he was entering behind Tae Irim.
Jeok Soya looked toward Baek Gahyun with a delighted expression, then gasped in surprise.
Baek Gahyun was... glittering...?
He was literally shining—adorned with an abundance of ornate jewelry that sparkled brilliantly.
Suddenly, I recalled something the people of Baek Ho Palace had once told me.
[The eldest young master does enjoy dressing lavishly. He's quite fond of shiny things, especially jewels.]
[Unlike the refined Baek Gayul or Baek Gayul who pays no mind to such matters, he has some material desires.]
[It's not just material desire—he has strong possessive instincts in all respects. When he was younger, he often made the other two young masters cry.]
So he really does love jewels.
Jeok Soya's jaw dropped as she beheld the cascade of dangling gems.
I wondered how difficult it must have been for an older brother who loved such adornment to spend such a long time on the battlefield.
Even such elaborate decoration, which might have seemed burdensome, could not diminish Baek Gahyun's beauty. If anything, it shone all the brighter.
It was easy to understand why he had supposedly been surrounded by young ladies from the Western Lands even before his first growth spurt.
So that's why Sahye of the Heuk Ho Family had insisted since childhood that she would marry Baek Gahyun.
Just then, Baek Gahyun spotted Jeok Soya and winked playfully.
At his mischievous gesture, Jeok Soya burst into laughter.
As Tae Irim took his seat, the banquet commenced.
"Baek Gahyun of the Baek Family. And San Yu of the Jeok Family."
From his elevated position, he gazed down at the generals standing below and called forth the two names.
At this, Baek Gahyun and San Yu stepped forward before the Emperor.
"I hear that in this war, you two joined forces to strike down Dool. In the name of the Yellow Dragon, I commend your valor."
Even Baek Gahyun and San Yu, who were perpetually at odds, bowed their heads with uncharacteristic restraint in this solemn setting.
Jeok Soya watched the scene unfold with a face brimming with pride and satisfaction.
The two proceeded to the specially prepared seats reserved for the architects of this war's victory.
For this main banquet alone, they had to spend the evening seated near the Emperor rather than with their families.
Jeok Soya felt a twinge of disappointment, but with several smaller gatherings still to come, she could easily yield her older brother to His Majesty for this one day.
As Jeok Soya gazed at Baek Gahyun with contentment, she suddenly caught San Yu glancing in her direction from beside him, and she deliberately turned her head away with practiced nonchalance.
Because of this, she couldn't tell whether he had seen her face.
'In any case, he'll soon realize that I'm the child who greeted him yesterday, but....'
Soon, grand music praising the heroes of this war swelled forth, and as the dancers unveiled their graceful movements, the banquet reached its crescendo.
* * *
Meanwhile, Jeok Ahyun could do nothing but sit through the entire banquet.
Even as his own son received commendation from the Emperor, his gaze remained fixed only on the section where the members of the Baekho Family sat.
[That child has died.]
Since hearing that news five years ago, that child had appeared before my eyes like a phantom all this time.
And whenever I beheld that phantom, I felt an inexplicable, melancholic sensation.
Jeok Ahyun had convinced himself that these sensations, growing ever stronger with time, stemmed merely from lingering guilt.
The guilt left behind by the death of the child I once believed to be mine and raised as such.
But the moment I saw Jeok Soya, and felt my heart sink with a heavy thud.
Only then could I finally comprehend the true nature of that inexplicable emotion.
I had been yearning for that child all along.
That child who was so uniquely gentle and warm, who reminded me so much of my deceased wife.
A torrent of questions swirled through my mind—why was that child with the head of the Baekho Family, and whether I was merely mistaken upon seeing a similar-looking child.
[It is said that the head of the Baek Family adopted a daughter. And that child's name is... Jeok Soya....]
Jeok Soya, who had left the estate five years ago and vanished without a trace, leaving only a bloodstained pouch behind.
And the Baekho Family, who likewise adopted a child named Jeok Soya five years ago.
Jeok Ahyun was certain.
Though the child had grown considerably in those five years, that was undoubtedly the small child who once called me Father—Jeok Soya.
Jeok Soya was not the only one who had frozen at this realization.
Following their father's gaze with tilted heads, Jeok Hwayou and Riri also discovered Jeok Soya at the end of that line of sight.
Riri was startled upon finding Jeok Soya.
'Why is that girl...!'
Despite five years having passed, she recognized her instantly.
The white hair, the crimson eyes. Those features that were so infuriatingly beautiful—more lovely than my own despite being merely a servant girl—had always kindled my jealousy.
Jeok Soya.
That wretched thieving wretch!
Jeok Soya was laughing and conversing with the Baekho princes whom she had once ignored.
'How on earth did this happen?'
Riri couldn't focus on the banquet she had anticipated so eagerly, and instead gnawed at her lower lip.
Jeok Hwayou was equally bewildered.
The members of the Jujak Family couldn't discern how the banquet was unfolding.
After a considerable time, the Emperor rose first to move to a separate area with the young generals, and the banquet concluded.
The people gathered in the Banquet Hall gradually stood and dispersed in small groups.
Jeok Ahyun, who had been sitting there with a vacant expression until then, suddenly snapped back to awareness and bolted upright.
The members of the Baekho Family were already returning to their designated pavilions.
I caught a glimpse of Jeok Soya laughing brightly between the family head Baek Sayeon and his two sons.
In that moment, Jeok Ahyun couldn't restrain himself and strode toward them.
"Sayeon!"
At Jeok Ahyun's cry, Sayeon spun around to look at him.
Simultaneously, the Baekho Family's two young princes stepped back and shielded Jeok Soya behind them.
"...Jeok Ahyun."
Eyes of blue, carrying a chilling murderous intent, narrowed slowly.
"How dare the noble winged beast of the Southern Lands approach me so recklessly. Like those uncouth ground beasts you all mock for having nothing but brute strength."
Sayeon let out a cold, scornful laugh.
His tone was unmistakably contemptuous, but it mattered little to Jeok Ahyun.
"Just now. That child who was beside you."
For him in this moment, only Jeok Soya—the child they were hiding—held any importance.
"Please, just let me see that child once."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"The daughter you adopted five years ago. The one named Jeok Soya."
The moment he spoke Jeok Soya's name, Baek Sayeon's expression turned terrifyingly fierce.
"That child... she resembles the child I lost five years ago..."
"You fool. Have you lost your mind?"
In an instant, the air around Sayeon froze with his rising fury.
Detecting the murderous aura, Jeok Ahyun reflexively summoned flames as a defense.
Boom!
Sayeon lunged at him even faster.
With a thunderous crash, Jeok Ahyun's body slammed to the ground, and Sayeon pinned him down, gripping his collar threateningly.
"Jeok Soya, that child, just once, I—"
"How dare you, before me, claim who belongs to whom?"
Sayeon's voice cut like a blade as he ground out the words, his eyes blazing.
"Ah, Father's expression is strange."
Baek Gayul, watching from the side, swallowed hard and stammered.
He had heard rumors of what his father was like in his youth, but he had assumed the stories were somewhat exaggerated.
After all, Sayeon had never shown such a side of himself before his children.
Yet now, a light unlike anything he had ever seen flickered and blazed in his father's eyes.
"What should we do, Older Brother? If Father gets hurt like this...."
Jeok Soya murmured in a deeply worried voice.
"...."
Baek Gahyun watched the two men with calm eyes even as his younger siblings fidgeted anxiously.
"Tch, Baek, Sayeon...."
As Jeok Ahyun bit down hard on his lower lip, flames erupted around him in a brilliant display.
The roaring inferno coalesced into the shape of a massive arrow and hurtled toward Sayeon.
Crash!
Sayeon furrowed his brow and rolled his body away.
Boom!
Where Sayeon had stood moments before, a wide crater of fire now scarred the ground.
Whoosh, whoosh—
"Have you lost your mind, Sayeon?"
Jeok Ahyun glared at Sayeon with fierce intensity.
Immediately, the flames within the crater transformed into dozens of fiery arrows that streaked toward Sayeon.
"Merely that?"
Yet Sayeon smiled crookedly and tore apart the dozens of flaming arrows hurtling toward him with his bare hands.
Jeok Ahyun's flames lost their light and fell to the ground with soft thuds.
Black smoke curled from Sayeon's fingertips.
The commotion drew a crowd of onlookers.
Yet the two men paid no heed to the stares, their eyes locked in a tense standoff.
They were about to rush at each other once more.
"Father...!"
At that frail cry, both men froze in their tracks simultaneously.
Jeok Ahyun whirled his head around toward the source of the voice.
Jeok Soya stood there, her face etched with worry.
"Ah...."
A shallow gasp escaped between his teeth.
Father.
Hearing that word after so long, my heart tightened and my eyes grew hot.
The anxious child who had been fidgeting now rushed toward me, clutching her skirts.
"Jeok Soya...!"
It was the moment Jeok Ahyun reached out his hand toward the child.
Whoosh—
Jeok Soya passed right through him.
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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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