Chapter 29
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Chapter 29
Beyond the encroaching darkness, the absence of sunlight made the cold unbearable.
I huddled beneath a wooden pillar, my body trembling uncontrollably.
Seol Yo approached me, shivering, and rubbed his head against mine affectionately.
"Kyeeing, whimper..."
"Are you cold too? Come here, let me hold you."
Seol Yo hadn't approached because he was cold himself—he wanted to warm me, to ease my suffering.
Unaware of his tender intention, I smiled softly and wrapped my arms around him.
"Kyeeing?"
Suddenly, Seol Yo found himself nestled in my embrace.
As he relaxed into the warmth radiating from my small frame, he abruptly leaped away from me.
"Whimper!"
"Huh? What's wrong? Did I make you uncomfortable?"
My lips had turned pale blue as I tilted my head in confusion—I had drained the warmth from Seol Yo instead of receiving it.
I'd wanted to warm him, yet I'd only made him colder.
With a beast's body, I couldn't provide warmth. Seol Yo's ears drooped in dejection.
Pacing anxiously around me, he suddenly vanished, only to return with two enormous, thick leaves clamped in his jaws.
"Huh? Leaves?"
They were as large as my own body.
Seol Yo offered the leaves, but I stared blankly, unable to comprehend his intention.
"Whimper! Kyeeing!"
He placed the leaves on the ground, crawled beneath them, and poked his head out, crying insistently.
"Whimper, whimper!"
"...?"
"Kyeeing..."
Frustrated by our failed communication, Seol Yo sighed deeply and picked up the leaves again in his mouth.
Then he approached me and draped both enormous leaves across my shoulders like a cloak, and warmth enveloped me instantly.
"Ah...! You brought these because you were worried I'd be cold?"
"Kyeeing! Whimper!"
"Thank you so much."
Seol Yo's drooping ears perked up with renewed vitality.
With his tail held high, he bounded away excitedly, then returned carrying berries, which he set before me.
"Kyeeing, whimper!"
He tapped the ground with his front paws, urging me to eat.
"Are these for me to eat?"
"Kyeeing!"
"Let's share them together!"
"Kyeeing, kyeeing..."
I broke the berries in half and offered them to him, but Seol Yo shook his head firmly.
"You want me to eat them all by myself?"
"Yelp, yelp!"
"But...."
Just then, Jeok Soya's stomach rumbled audibly.
Seol Yo let out a snort as if to say, "See?" with a "yelp."
Then he thrust out his belly and patted his own protruding stomach with a smug expression.
"Oh... right, you're not hungry, are you? Then I'll enjoy these berries."
Jeok Soya, embarrassed, spoke thus and crunched through the berries.
Seol Yo watched with a satisfied expression before curling up at a distance from Jeok Soya.
"Still, I'm grateful you're here. If I'd been alone in this place, I would have been terrified."
Jeok Soya spoke in a gentle, measured voice.
Seol Yo, not quite understanding her meaning, tilted his head in confusion but remained at her side, never straying.
Yet as the night deepened, the smile gradually faded from Jeok Soya's face.
What would happen if she couldn't descend the mountain like this?
She'd broken her promise with Yeon Jeong to return before sunset, and she hadn't brought flowers to the second young master either.
It was as Jeok Soya gazed into the basket of flowers, her expression darkening, that it happened.
Boom!
With a thunderous sound, the earth trembled.
Jeok Soya's eyes widened as she lifted her head.
Seol Yo, his fur bristling on end, bolted forward in front of Jeok Soya.
Thud!
Thud!
Boom!
Seol Yo snarled in the direction of the sound.
Moments later, the noise ceased.
Could another mountain beast have appeared?
Jeok Soya tensed, swallowing hard, and followed Seol Yo's gaze into the darkness.
Whoooosh—
A cool breeze blew from across the way, rustling the branches.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Urgent footsteps echoed through the wind's whisper.
'What...? This is....'
Suddenly, Jeok Soya's lips parted.
'It's not a beast! Those are human footsteps!'
Yet the tension etched across Jeok Soya's face did not fade.
Every person she'd encountered thus far had been more terrifying than any mountain beast.
The footsteps drew steadily closer. Jeok Soya clenched her fists tightly.
Soon, a boy slightly taller than herself appeared, breathing heavily.
"Jeok Soya!"
Unlike his usual gentle smile, the boy's face was deathly pale, devoid of any warmth—none other than....
"The young master...?"
It was Baek Gahyun.
* * *
Baek Gahyun bounded across the Mountain, searching desperately for Jeok Soya.
She had said she'd climbed the Mountain with Baek Gayul this afternoon, yet her scent was nowhere to be found.
As if her trail had simply vanished without a trace.
'What if she got lost? What if it was too dark and she fell off a cliff...?'
A chill of dread seized his heart.
[Never mind. I don't need such worthless stones...]
His last memory of her was watching her eyes widen in shock at those words before she bolted away.
But that wasn't what he meant.
He hadn't meant to dismiss her sincerity or wound her.
He was sorry for saying such cruel things.
The thought that he might never see her again without ever delivering that apology made his heart plummet into an abyss.
Just then, a faint scent brushed against his nose.
Baek Gahyun crouched low to the ground, sniffing carefully.
It was that familiar, soft scent she always carried.
The scent was so faint that the still-young Baek Gayul must have missed it.
Baek Gahyun followed the scent deeper into the heart of the Mountain.
At one point, he stopped and cautiously extended his hand into the empty air.
'This is...'
His fingers brushed against an invisible, transparent barrier.
'A barrier...?'
The unfamiliar energy felt thick and solid, as if protecting someone within.
'She's inside.'
There was no time to wonder why she was trapped behind it.
If Jeok Soya was in there, she'd be trembling in the darkness, unable to escape.
Baek Gahyun hurled himself against the barrier.
Thud!
Though he'd entered his first growth phase beyond early childhood, eleven-year-old Baek Gahyun was still far from his adult form.
His body bounced off the barrier and crashed to the ground.
But he rose again and threw himself at it once more.
The earth trembled with the impact, and small creatures scattered in alarm.
Baek Gahyun did not relent, hurling himself against the barrier again and again.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
After several attempts, fine cracks began to spider across its surface...
Crash!
As the barrier shattered, his body tumbled across the ground and his transformation released.
Yet he rose immediately.
And it was within that shattered barrier that he discovered Soya.
"Soya!"
"Young master...!"
The moment Soya recognized Baek Gahyun, relief flooded across her face.
Baek Gahyun froze in place.
Soya had never worn such an expression before him—not once.
She had always offered only a faint smile, ever watchful of his mood.
So she had known all along. From the very beginning, she understood that I had rejected her.
And yet, despite knowing this, she greeted me with such warmth—how terrified she must have been, abandoned alone in this dark, cold Forest.
Baek Gahyun strode toward Soya, draping his outer robe across her shoulders before pulling her small frame into a tight embrace.
"Ah... Young master?"
Startled, Soya's eyes widened in surprise.
Baek Gahyun's shoulders trembled slightly.
What should I do in a moment like this?
Suddenly, I recalled Sara's hand gently patting my back not long ago.
Remembering that gesture, Soya reached up with her small hand and softly patted Baek Gahyun's shoulder.
Gradually, his trembling subsided.
"I'm sorry. I must have frightened you terribly by disappearing so suddenly, didn't I?"
"You..."
Baek Gahyun opened his mouth to ask Soya how she could possibly apologize in such a situation, but his words trailed off as he bit down on his lower lip.
He had just realized the truth—that it was he himself who had constantly shown her displeasure, who had made her feel unwelcome.
It was he who had left this child alone on the Mountain, cold and frightened, forced to apologize first.
In that moment of realization, a surge of emotion overwhelmed him.
"Yes, I was very frightened, Soya."
Baek Gahyun spoke to her, barely managing to suppress the tightness in his throat.
"Not because of you—because of me. You were lost alone on the Mountain, and I was terrified because I couldn't find you, because I could only wander about foolishly searching."
"But...?"
As Soya blinked in confusion, Baek Gahyun drew his oversized robe more snugly around her shoulders and spoke.
"I'm sorry, Soya. For coming so late."
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org