Chapter 130
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Chapter 130
Riri dismissed all the maidservants from the chamber and sat alone before the mirror, gnawing at her lower lip.
She was bewildered—how could Jeok Soya, who was supposed to be dead, be alive? And of all things, how had she appeared as the daughter of the Baekho Family?
Yet what troubled Riri far more than that was....
[Soya....]
The way Father treated that child.
As if she were a beloved daughter he had lost.
Jeok Ahyun's demeanor filled Riri with profound unease.
"No. There's no reason to be anxious. That girl is a fake. A fake who stole my place and was cast out."
Riri murmured to herself, as if to reassure her own heart.
"Even if she returns like this, she can't take anything from me...."
A faint sound.
Riri caught sight of a pale, translucent form reflected in the mirror and spun around in alarm.
"What—what is this!"
A man in a black burlap cloak stood behind her.
"Who are you!"
The sinister aura emanating from the man caused Riri to shrink back instinctively as she cried out.
"If you don't leave this instant, I'll—I'll call for help!"
"How disappointing. It's been so long since we've met."
"What—what...?"
The man flashed a yellowed grin at the bewildered Riri.
"Hello. Cuckoo."
"How—how do you know that name!"
Cuckoo.
As that name, long forgotten, spilled from the stranger's lips, Riri's face drained of all color.
"How? Because I'm the one who gave you 'that power.'"
The man lowered the black burlap cloak that had covered his head.
In that instant, Riri's pupils trembled violently.
Though the man's face was unfamiliar to her....
"It can't be... No, a Malevolent Beast...!"
In the distant Northern Lands, there existed beings that were not human—creatures who shed human skin like garments and wore them anew.
Entities reborn through the power of Evil—Malevolent Beasts.
And long ago, Riri had encountered one of them.
"Yes, so you haven't forgotten me entirely."
Dochul appraised Riri's appearance with a glance.
"It seems you've been living well with the power I gave you."
"Yes—yes, I've been living well, so why have you come? Surely you're not here to reclaim the power you gave me?"
"I need your help, Cuckoo."
Dochul addressed the wary Riri with a deceptively gentle tone.
"If you help me, I will help you become the bride of the Yellow Dragon."
A flinch.
In that instant, Riri's pupils visibly trembled.
"Yes, yes! I can become the Yellow Dragon's bride without your help!"
Yet Riri's voice suddenly rose to a shout.
"Hwayou Older Brother said he would make me the Yellow Dragon's bride! So disappear from my sight this instant!"
At this, an enigmatic smile bloomed across Dochul's face.
"Aren't you barely managing to hold on without transforming into your beast form?"
"...."
In that moment, Riri's lips clamped shut.
"If you keep struggling like that, your true identity will eventually be exposed, won't it? Cuckoo."
Though they could no longer be found in the Southern Lands, there was once a time when beast-kin of the Cuckoo Clan dwelled there.
They had been stripped of their powers and banished from the Southern Lands as punishment for plundering small avian beast-kin.
Riri was one of the exiled Cuckoo Clan beast-kin.
A beast-kin without powers was weaker than others, making survival far more difficult.
Thus, Riri and the other Cuckoo Clan beast-kin scraped by on the streets, stealing scraps of food to sustain themselves.
Riri was deeply dissatisfied with her lot.
The Southern Lands were home to magnificent birds aplenty—why must she suffer so, born as a mere cuckoo?
The day Riri met Dochul, the day her fate was rewritten.
She had been hiding in an alley, greedily devouring stolen food she refused to share with her kin.
Suddenly, a man draped in a black cloth appeared before her.
"What! I have nothing to give you! It's all mine!"
Riri clutched her food and glared at the man with eyes full of wariness.
Yet the man showed no interest in her food, only gazing quietly into her eyes.
"You possess eyes suited to becoming a vessel for Evil."
The man muttered those incomprehensible words, then smiled wickedly and asked.
"How about it? Would you make a deal with me?"
"...?"
"If you demonstrate the qualities to become a vessel for Evil, I shall give you something truly wonderful."
"Something wonderful?"
At that time, Riri was young and uneducated, unable to comprehend what "deal" meant.
The phrase "vessel for Evil" was even more incomprehensible.
Yet only one word lodged itself in her ears: "wonderful."
"Your powers appear to be sealed. If you make a deal with me, I shall not only release that seal but make them far more formidable."
Dochul whispered to Riri in a honeyed voice.
"I shall grant you a power so tremendous that even the strongest beast-kin of the Southern Lands could be deceived by it. With such power, you could live a life of abundance."
"A life of abundance?"
"Yes. A life where you need not starve or steal from others."
At those words, Riri swallowed hard and asked.
"What do I have to do?"
And that very night.
A great fire broke out in the place where the Cuckoo Clan had hidden away.
Every member of the Cuckoo Clan who had been in hiding perished without a single survivor.
Only one escaped—Riri alone.
And the clan ability that Riri regained in this way was none other than 'Parasitic Brood'.
Originally, the 'Parasitic Brood' ability possessed by cuckoo beastfolk was the power to gather feathers from false parents and transform oneself into a similar appearance.
However, the 'Parasitic Brood' amplified by the power of Evil had twisted into something far more sinister and corrupt—an ability that even attacked the true offspring of the false parents.
That power to harm other lives resembled dark sorcery far more than a natural ability.
[If you're lying, I won't let that wretched creature off easy.]
Even as Riri harbored such suspicions, she searched for the most beautiful feather.
Then, by chance, she found a single feather that gleamed with a brilliant crimson light.
The moment she grasped it and unleashed her ability, Riri's dull gray hair and eyes transformed into a deep red.
At first, she didn't even know that feather belonged to the Phoenix.
But the instant she set foot in the Southern Lands, people approached her with warm voices and kind words.
And on the day she crossed the threshold of the Joojak Residence.
The head of household wept upon seeing me, calling me his long-lost true daughter, and everyone in the Jujak Family welcomed me with joy.
Just as that vile creature had promised, Riri's life changed in an instant.
From a wretched existence of being cast out from her homeland and wandering strange lands, she had become the youngest lady of the noble Jujak Family!
Everyone loved Riri, and everyone blessed her existence.
What became of the true daughter of this household, even Riri did not know.
She had likely died somewhere.
Had not the vile creature who awakened her ability said so?
That the moment 'Parasitic Brood' manifested, the 'true offspring' would suffer a crack in their spiritual core and perish.
And this was also the reason Riri was certain that Jeok Soya was a 'fake'.
That child had remained alive during the months Riri spent in the Jujak Family, never dying.
In any case, the true daughter of this household would never appear again.
But there was one very serious problem.
It was that the ability's efficacy was finite.
Originally, 'Parasitic Brood' was a power that lasted only until the young cuckoo grew. Therefore, after the first maturation, one would revert to their original form.
But Riri loved her current life far too much.
So Riri deliberately suppressed her spiritual core's power and refused to undergo beastification to avoid the first maturation.
Yet, just as Dochul had said moments ago, the limit was beginning to approach.
Soon her spiritual core would crack and she would die, or her true form would be exposed.
Dochul, having read Riri's anxiety with perfect precision, smiled wickedly and spoke.
"Do you wish to return to those days of wandering the Streets? It would be fortunate if you were merely cast out to the Streets. What if you received severe punishment for deceiving the family?"
"That... that can't be!"
Riri denied it with a voice trembling with fear.
"Father and my Older Brother love me so much! My family would never abandon me!"
"Is that so?"
...
Riri could not answer further.
Because I recalled the expression Father displayed today.
The displeased look he wore, paying far more attention to that child than to me when Jeok Soya appeared.
"...So what is it that you want?"
At last, Riri responded with the reaction Dochul desired and posed the question.
At this, Dochul's lips curled upward in a smirk.
* * *
Seol Yo was peering through the dimly lit Palace Garden.
The commotion that had erupted at the Baekho Family earlier that day had barely subsided with Sayeon's arrival.
Yet what weighed heavily on Seol Yo's mind was not that.
While I had ventured beyond the palace gates following Gaya, Jeok Soya had wept far too much.
I wished to comfort her.
I recalled the time long ago when I had plucked flowers from Horim Mountain for Jeok Soya.
But this place was unlike Baek Ho Palace or Horim Mountain, and the flowers she ordinarily favored were scarcely visible here.
Thus, after wandering through the Imperial Palace's garden for some time, I discovered something dark and sluggish moving in the distant shadows.
'What is that?'
It was then that Seol Yo took a step toward it.
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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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