Chapter 129
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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 129
The six-year-old Jeok Soya, cast into the Cold Palace, had waited there all along.
Even if just one person would come looking for me.
And tell me.
That I am not unsightly. That I am not terrible.
That I am a brave and magnificent baby bird.
That even though I must have trembled and been nervous before so many people, I was truly, truly courageous and wonderful.
That they celebrate my first transformation.
So let us go see the Summer Festival together.
There we would watch amusing puppet shows, eat refreshing watermelon and delicious plums....
And so spend the happiest day in the world celebrating my first transformation.
Because in the world of the Beasts, the day of one's first transformation holds meaning as profound as one's birthday.
It was the day that young me had counted down to with such longing, waiting and waiting....
"Just a little longer, sob, please come just a little faster. Come while I am waiting alone and tell me. Sob, hiccup, whimper...."
Jeok Soya's tears would not cease, so she pressed her lower lip firmly and wept with choked sounds.
"Jeok Soya...."
San Yu gazed upon his sister with sorrowful eyes.
Since the child's first transformation had been eight years ago, this was sorrow that had accumulated and festered within her for those eight years.
A wound of a magnitude I could scarcely fathom crashed over me like a great tidal wave.
Sniff, sniff, whimper....
Gradually, Jeok Soya's sobs began to subside.
Finally, after the sniffling ceased, an awkward silence flowed between them.
Since the day at twelve when Jeok Soya had suffered growing pains and wept in Father's embrace, this was the first time she had cried like this.
Moreover, she had not merely shed tears—she had wept with full, heaving sobs.
'I am already fourteen, yet I wept like a child.'
A belated sense of embarrassment washed over her.
Jeok Soya glanced at San Yu's face, which was wet with tears as profound as her own, but the moment their eyes met, she hastily cast her gaze downward.
For some reason, she could not bear to look at him.
"...I did not come seeking your forgiveness so shamelessly, Jeok Soya."
It was San Yu who first broke that awkward silence.
"You may continue to hate me. I simply wished to tell you."
"...."
"Though all our family turned away from you, there was still one person who loved you dearly."
"...."
At those words, Jeok Soya's tears burst forth anew.
Truly, none of those who had treated her so poorly had ever apologized, yet only the one who had not been there was apologizing to her.
It was a strange thing indeed.
But what was stranger still was that she wanted to believe his words as they were.
Ever since learning the truth, Jeok Soya had been thinking that perhaps one day she would face the members of the Jujak Family again.
And she had made a vow.
If I ever encounter them again, I must never look at them.
Even if they weep and cling to me begging for forgiveness, I should not yield.
No—I should ignore them so completely they cannot even speak the word sorry.
Because I do not want their apologies. Not one of them.
I had resolved this so firmly. Truly, I had.
'And yet I still want to believe.'
Though it is a painful past I wish to excise entirely, nevertheless....
'I want to believe that at least one person stood by my side.'
Crunch―
My fists clenched so tightly around the hem of my skirt that my knuckles whitened.
Having finally steeled myself, I turned to him and opened my mouth.
"San Yu, Older Brother...."
I froze.
He was not where he should have been.
"Wh...?"
He had been standing before me just moments ago, speaking with me. How could this be?
My eyes blinked in confusion.
Crash―boom!
A tremendous sound erupted from behind me.
I spun around in alarm, and my face drained of color.
"...!"
A pristine white tiger was pinning San Yu's body against a tree trunk, bearing down with its full weight.
San Yu gasped in pain beneath the crushing pressure on his chest.
Though I had never seen this tiger before, the brilliant shimmer of its form made it unmistakable.
"G-Gaya, Older Brother?"
When shapeshifters transform into their beast forms, the clothes and jewels they wore in human form vanish through illusion, only to reappear when they revert.
Of course, some vain shapeshifters deliberately maintain their ornaments through will, but most find such encumbrances tiresome.
Yet this pristine white tiger bore one jewel, two jewels, three jewels, four jewels....
It was unmistakably Gaya.
The white tiger, bedecked with jewels across its entire body, raised one massive paw to strike at San Yu.
With each blow, the gems adorning him chimed and jangled.
Yet San Yu neither defended himself nor pushed back.
In his human form, he simply endured each of Gaya's attacks without resistance.
"Gaya, Older Brother, stop!"
At my cry, the thick paw aimed at San Yu's face halted in mid-air.
"Please, Older Brother, compose yourself!"
"That bastard made you cry."
Gaya's voice was cold and cutting, his gaze still fixed on San Yu.
"That's not it! He...!"
Realizing this would end in disaster, I cried out desperately.
"That's my older brother!"
"What...?"
Gaya wasn't the only one shocked by her words.
San Yu, pinned beneath Gaya, also turned to stare at Jeok Soya with a dumbfounded expression.
I hadn't expected her to call me older brother again.
Poof!
Gaya's beast form dissolved, his body reverting to human shape.
"...What are you talking about, Somsomi?"
Gaya asked her with an ominous expression unlike anything I'd seen before.
"I'm your older brother. So why has that bastard become your older brother?"
"It's just that..."
"Don't tell me you like him more than me?"
"No, that's not it..."
"Is it because he has feathers like you? Is that why you decided to make him your older brother instead of me? Because he has feathers?"
Jeok Soya tried to explain further, but Gaya kept interrupting, speaking only his own thoughts.
His voice trembled with profound sorrow and injustice.
"But I have round-pointed ears too, and a long fluffy tail, and soft paw pads. Plus, we both have white fur and our names share two characters. So just because I don't have feathers, does that make me inferior to him...?"
"That's not it at all!"
Jeok Soya raised her voice in response.
"San Yu is my older brother from where I lived before I met Father and came to Baek Ho Palace!"
"..."
At her cry, Gaya's mouth snapped shut, and a brief silence fell.
Somewhere along the way, members of the Baekho Family who had heard Gaya's commotion came rushing over and surrounded them.
"...So you're saying that bastard was Somsomi's old older brother."
Gaya asked the Baekho Family members in an accusatory tone.
"Why didn't anyone tell me about this important fact?"
"I intended to tell you last night."
Baek Gahyun answered with a cold expression.
"But you simply left, saying 'I'm going to find Somsomi,' didn't you, older brother?"
"That was..."
Only then did Gaya's eyes narrow as the memory belatedly returned to him.
Right. That had definitely happened.
After dinner yesterday evening, while Jeok Soya went for a walk, Father called me over.
He said there was something I should know.
But Gaya was concerned about Jeok Soya going for a walk alone, so he said he'd hear it next time and simply left.
And today, he had to move separately from his family starting in the morning, so there was no time for a separate conversation...
"Still, you could have told me beforehand!"
"To see you making petty excuses and blaming others—you're an even more inadequate tiger than Gayul."
Baek Gahyun replied with a cold smile.
The admiration that had once shone in his eyes toward his older brother had completely vanished.
"...I am fine, Prince Baek Gahyun."
San Yu, who had been pinned beneath Gaya until now, forced his lips open with great effort.
"It is my fault that I made Jeok Soya cry, as you said. I will accept your blows as they come. Please strike me until your anger is satisfied, Lord Gaya."
As he averted his gaze like a criminal and blinked, his tear-dampened lashes trembled delicately—a sight of such pristine beauty.
Gaya's sudden urge to strike him vanished entirely.
"Then what was your reason for making Somsomi cry?"
And shortly after.
When Gaya learned what the Jujak Family had done to Jeok Soya, his eyes blazed crimson as he shot to his feet, kicking off the ground.
"Stop him, all of you!"
At Baek Gahyun's cry, the members of the Baekho Family rushed at Gaya in unison.
Suri and Seol Yo combined their strength to seize Gaya's torso, while Baek Gahyun, having undergone a beast transformation, tackled him.
Jeok Soya also rushed over and grasped Gaya's garment hem, squeezing her eyes shut.
Only when Jeok Soya held him did Gaya's violent thrashing and attempts to break free subside somewhat.
Of course, this did not mean he had grown docile.
At the sight of Gaya shrieking and raging wildly, Baek Gahyun shouted to Baek Gayul.
"Gayul! Go fetch Father at once!"
"Y-yes!"
Baek Gayul dashed off swiftly to find his father.
"Blast it, this is why Father said..."
Sayeon had warned him.
That if Gaya learned the truth in his absence, something very dangerous could occur.
Now Baek Gahyun finally understood why his father had spoken thus.
Even with a dozen people from Baek Ho Palace clinging to him, they could not restrain Gaya alone—they were struggling desperately.
* * *
"Your Majesty. The third son of the Baekho Family has arrived."
The tranquil tea time between Sayeon and Tae Irim was shattered by Baek Gayul, who came rushing in breathlessly.
Baek Gayul's face had gone deathly pale.
"Gayul?"
"Father, my eldest brother...!"
A pause.
From that single phrase alone, Sayeon understood what situation had unfolded.
An expression of dismay crossed his face.
Sayeon rose hastily and sought Tae Irim's understanding.
"Your Majesty, a matter has arisen within my family. I must depart at once."
"Shall I lend you the Imperial Palace's forces?"
Tae Irim asked casually, sipping his tea.
"No. This time, I must handle it swiftly before the Central Region's officials rise in revolt."
"Very well. I would prefer the trees in the Palace Rear Garden remain undamaged, if possible."
Tae Irim added with a faint smile.
Sayeon departed urgently, and Tae Irim, left alone in the chamber, set down his teacup and gazed out the window.
"If it's the eldest brother... it would be Baek Ga Ya."
Though they might not realize it, I found the men of the Baek Family quite agreeable.
The Baek Family's firstborn son possessed an exceptionally possessive nature.
Once he deemed something "his," he would never relinquish it to another soul.
Moreover, he could not bear even the slightest harm befalling anything he considered "his."
The category of "his" in his mind could encompass people, animals, or objects alike.
Thus, I was profoundly relieved that the child had entered into Baek Ga Ya's domain of "his."
With a man as formidable as my father—and at times even more ruthless—serving as a protective barrier, the child's safety would become all the more absolute.
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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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