Chapter 21
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Chapter 21
That day, Soya emerged as the victor of the beautiful stone-finding game.
Though Soya thought the stone San Ho had collected seemed prettier, everyone insisted that the stone Soya had found was far more beautiful.
"But San Ho's stone seems more...."
Soya hesitated to concede so easily.
Just then, Gayul—who had paid a harsh price for neglecting her training—shuffled into view, catching San Ho's eye.
"Young Master! Young Master Gayul!"
San Ho quickly called out to Gayul in a raised voice.
"Why are you—wait? Fluffy!"
Upon hearing the call and turning around, Gayul spotted Soya and her eyes sparkled as she scurried over.
"What are you doing here? What are these stones? Are you making talismans with them too?"
"You've arrived at just the right moment, Young Master. Which of these do you think is the prettiest?"
"Well, obviously this one—no wait, this one! This is definitely the prettiest!"
Gayul, who had been about to point at a different stone, quickly changed her answer upon seeing the intimidating glares and meaningful looks from Yeon Jeong and San Ho.
It was a rather clumsy correction, but it was enough to fool Soya.
"R-really?"
Soya asked with her eyes wide and round.
Before Gayul could even respond, Yeon Jeong and San Ho interjected.
"My, Young Master Gayul says your stone is the prettiest too!"
"See? What did we tell you? The stone our young lady found is the most beautiful in the entire world!"
"Wonderful! So today's game winner is our young lady?"
"How is it that our young lady is so skilled at finding stones!"
"...."
Soya, who had no immunity to praise, clamped her mouth shut like a shell, unsure what to say through her shyness.
Yet her flushed cheeks and the corners of her mouth twitching upward betrayed her delighted mood.
Noticing this, Yeon Jeong and San Ho giggled softly and pressed three stones into Soya's hands.
"Here, our young lady. These are your victory gifts!"
Thanks to this, Soya now had three beautiful stones.
"With these, I can make talismans for Yeon Jeong, San Ho, and Jeok Young too!"
Soya exclaimed with a radiant smile.
"Oh no, young lady fluffy! Don't I get one?! Sob... it's hard enough serving such a thoughtless youngest young master, and now everyone else gets a talisman stone from you while I alone am left out...."
"N-no... but there are only three stones...."
Suri's exaggerated whimpering caused a troubled expression to cross Soya's face.
"D-don't cry, Suri! Then I'll collect more stones so I can make one for you too...."
"Then shall we play a new game—'collecting lots of beautiful stones'?"
At San Ho's suggestion, another game began.
And so they all collected plenty of beautiful stones and brought them to Soya's chamber.
Soya spread a large cloth on the floor and laid out the cleaned stones to dry on it.
While Soya and Gayul were counting the stones and playing, Yeon Jeong brought brushes and paints.
"What is this, Yeon Jeong?"
"It's a glaze used in pottery making. What if we paint the stones with it and fire them as gifts?"
"...!"
Soya's eyes widened in delight.
"That sounds wonderful! With color, the stones will look even more impressive!"
Soya clapped her hands in joy.
With paint, the Second Young Master might see them not as trash, but as magnificent talismans.
As Soya was painting the stones in vibrant colors, she suddenly remembered something and spoke up.
"By the way, I saw a beautiful lady descending from a really huge kiln earlier."
"Ah, it seems the branch family tigers are arriving. The Mountain Lord Festival will begin soon."
San Ho wiped away the paint smudged on Soya's nose bridge with a handkerchief as she explained.
"The Mountain Lord Festival?"
"Yes. Young tigers from the Western Lands gather to compete for the position of 'Mountain Lord' that year."
"So they're all tigers too?"
"Yep, they're all tigers!"
Gayul, who had been lying beside Soya playing with the paints, lifted her head and answered instead.
At that moment, Gayul's face was smudged with colorful paint in various places.
"Not that I have magnificent white fur like mine... ow!"
"My goodness, Young Master. You're older than the young lady, yet you're being so unbecoming. Look at your face."
While San Ho shook her head and scrubbed Gayul's face with a handkerchief, Soya began drawing a tiger on the stone with a serious expression.
"My, another tiger?"
"Yes, I'm planning to give these to the guests from the branch family."
Soya felt a weighty sense of responsibility at the thought that the tigers she needed to protect had increased.
"They're all Sayeon's guests, after all. I'll protect every single one of them."
Watching Soya laugh softly, everyone wore gentle smiles on their faces.
* * *
Sayeon's Study.
"I discreetly inquired throughout the Southern Lands as you instructed, but no one knows of anyone named Soya."
Sayeon, sitting before his desk, furrowed his brow as he listened to the report in silence.
"No one at all?"
"No. I even described her appearance in case she had given a false name, but not a single person knew of the young lady. Are you certain you truly picked up the fluffy young lady from the Southern Lands?"
"Do you think I've developed senility at my age?"
"I was merely confirming. Even if the Jujak Family were hiding the child's existence, it would be impossible to conceal it this thoroughly."
"...."
"If the Family Head hasn't succumbed to old age, there are only two possibilities."
"What are they?"
"Either the fluffy young lady is deceiving us with some clever trick, or she's a child from within the Jujak Residence who has never set foot outside."
"A child from within the residence...."
Sayeon pondered Ho Jeok Young's words for a long moment before suddenly asking.
"Didn't Jeok Ahyun have a young daughter?"
"Pardon? Yes, that's right. It's said he had a daughter nine years ago.... Family Head, surely you're not suggesting the fluffy young lady is the Jujak Family's daughter?"
"Why not? We're similar in age."
"Unfortunately, your assumption appears to be incorrect this time, my lord. The young lady of the Jujak Family recently celebrated her ninth birthday and was registered in the family registry under the name 'Riri.'"
"...I see. It would be strange for a family daughter to be hunted by Samjok O like that."
The refined manners the child had briefly displayed made me entertain, however briefly, the absurd notion that she might be the Jujak Family's daughter.
"Nine years old...."
The same age as the fluffy one.
Beast-kin are recognized as legitimate members of beast-kin society only after their first successful transformation, so until then, their names are kept hidden from the outside world.
However, considering the typical age at which beast-kin undergo their first transformation, registering a name nine years after birth was quite extraordinary.
"Given the fluffy young lady's age, might she have been a servant attending to the family's daughter? Though it is suspicious why she was hidden so carefully."
"Do we have any information gathered from inside the estate?"
"We attempted to plant someone within the Joojak Residence, but the security was too strict for it to succeed."
"How incompetent."
"This is all because you provoked Samjok O, my lord."
"So we have no useful information after all."
Sayeon exhaled a short sigh.
Ever since the day Soya collapsed from the spirit core problem, I had investigated the child and the Jujak Family diligently, but found nothing of consequence.
Nothing except that the child was someone from within the Joojak Residence.
Turning my head absently, I glanced at the pristine white paper lying on the desk.
It was a letter that Soya had written to me with her small hand.
"You know, Jeok Young."
"Why do you call me in such a hushed tone again? It's ominous."
"I'm talking about the letter the fluffy one sent me."
Sayeon waved Soya's letter back and forth as she asked.
"Isn't the handwriting very round and beautiful?"
"That still won't work."
"Do you know what I'm about to suggest?"
"Even if the fluffy young lady is educated enough to write in such round and beautiful characters, she is a flying beast. Not a tiger."
"Tch."
Sayeon set down Soya's letter with a disgruntled expression.
Regardless, Ho Jeok Young asked with an unwavering face.
"Have you reviewed the report I submitted regarding the young ladies of the branch families?"
"...."
"My goodness, look at this dust. I don't even need to hear your answer. You haven't even glanced at it because you've been preoccupied with the fluffy young lady, haven't you?"
"I was just about to look at it."
Sayeon replied without sincerity and unfolded the report that had been placed to one side of the desk.
"I carefully selected only those young ladies who are spirited and clever, befitting one who will become the representative of the Baekho Family. We should be able to assess their abilities through this Mountain Lord Festival."
The words 'The fluffy one is also quite spirited and clever' rose to my throat, but I deliberately swallowed them back.
Just as Jeok Young had said before, becoming a family's daughter was not something where one could simply shower affection and indulgence.
"Ah, and before this Mountain Lord Festival ends, you should also decide the fluffy young lady's future...."
It was at that moment.
"Master, the fluffy young lady has come to visit!"
Sayeon, who had been half-heartedly ignoring Jeok Young's words, quickly set down her report upon hearing the announcement from outside and spoke.
"Let her in."
The door opened, and Soya peeked timidly inside.
Soya carried a small bamboo basket slung across her shoulder by a long cord.
With each hurried step Soya took, the bamboo basket hanging at her side swayed and clattered softly.
'What is that?'
While Sayeon's attention was drawn to the bamboo basket, Jeok Young smiled warmly and greeted Soya.
"Welcome, fluffy young lady."
'That hypocrite.'
Sayeon shot Jeok Young a sharp, disapproving glare.
The sight of him, who had just been discussing Soya's whereabouts moments ago, now wearing a pleasant smile and putting on such an act was utterly unbearable.
"Oh, Jeok Young!"
Yet the innocent fluffy one, oblivious to Jeok Young's pretense, smiled brightly and returned his greeting, then began rummaging through the basket for something.
"These are the talismans I promised you a few days ago."
"Wow, what are these? Did you perhaps draw them yourself?"
"Yes! Yeon Jeong and San Ho helped me!"
On the stone talisman Soya handed over was drawn a red fox with a gentle smile.
"I'm not sure I deserve something so precious. Thank you so much, young lady."
At the sight of Jeok Young's delight, Sayeon was so exasperated that she blurted out a comment.
"There's no need to be nice to that wicked red fox, fluffy one."
"I made one for you too, Sayeon!"
Soya pulled out another stone talisman from the basket and exclaimed.
At that, Sayeon's face, which had been scrunched up in displeasure moments before, brightened considerably.
"You shouldn't have gone to such trouble making one for me too."
Even as Sayeon said this, she raised the corners of her mouth and extended her hand toward Soya.
"But fluffy one, why is there a cat drawn on mine?"
Flinch.
At Sayeon's thoughtless question, everyone in the room suddenly fixed her with a sharp stare.
"...?"
Sayeon, confused, looked up and immediately noticed Soya's downturned eyes.
"...!"
Sayeon's face stiffened awkwardly as she belatedly realized her mistake.
"That's not a cat, it's a tiger...."
"...."
"The ears are round and perky, and the nose is pink.... Is the drawing not good?"
"...."
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org