Chapter 37
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Chapter 37
He knelt before the child, lowering himself to meet her eyes, and gazed directly at her face as he spoke.
"Um, well... that is..."
Jeok Soya hesitated before answering, her small fists clenching the fabric of her clothes.
"...Yes."
Her voice emerged thin and ragged, as though wrung from her very core.
The truth was, she didn't want to leave.
'Still, this is good. I thought I'd have to depart without even saying goodbye, but now I get to see his face one more time.'
Jeok Soya forced herself to think positively.
Though her secret had been exposed, she told herself it was for the best.
"No. Absolutely not. Don't leave, little cotton ball."
At Sayeon's flat yet urgent voice, Jeok Soya lifted her head.
"Yes...?"
"You promised me. You said I could steal you away. So I brought you here—you can't change your mind now and run away."
"But back then... you clearly told me to stay for a while..."
"I did?"
"Yes."
"I never said that..."
"You said, 'It's not bothersome at all, so don't worry and stay here for a while.'"
"..."
Sayeon's eyes crinkled slightly at the corners.
Yes. He supposed he had said something like that.
He'd forgotten because he hadn't meant it with any particular weight.
He never imagined the child would memorize those words without a single mistake, turning them over in her mind as she contemplated the day of her departure.
"...To think I made you misunderstand me like this. What a mad tiger I am."
His murmur was laden with self-reproach.
Sayeon understood the truth: all of this stemmed from his failure to give Jeok Soya certainty.
More than that, hadn't he himself failed to decide what to do with the child's future?
So this was entirely his fault.
"I'm sorry, little cotton ball."
Sayeon knelt before Jeok Soya and apologized with quiet sincerity.
"This is all my fault."
"Sayeon...!"
Jeok Soya gasped and sprang to her feet in alarm.
"Why are you kneeling...! The f-floor is cold. Please get up...!"
Jeok Soya fidgeted anxiously, her feet dancing with distress.
Yet Sayeon remained kneeling before her, only lifting his gaze to look up at the child.
"I brought you here but failed to take proper responsibility. I made you anxious, made you think you had to leave alone."
"No, that's not it! I..."
"I promise you, little cotton ball. I'll never make you feel uncertain again. I'll become a better man."
Jeok Soya's frantic gestures stilled at the sound of Sayeon's low, weighty voice.
"So forget 'for now'—I want you to stay here with me. Always."
"...!"
Jeok Soya's eyes widened in shock.
Always? Stay here together?
But what about Siyo?
Siyo would find me inconvenient....
And besides, I....
Jeok Soya, who had been staring blankly at Sayeon, asked carefully.
"...Weren't you disappointed in me?"
"Why would I be disappointed in you, little one?"
"Well, because I'm a bad child who stole someone else's life, just like Siyo said.... And a moment ago, your expression...."
Jeok Soya's voice grew smaller, as though shrinking into itself.
"You seemed so disappointed. You didn't smile...."
Jeok Soya recalled Sayeon's face growing rigid and cold as Siyo had laid bare her secret.
Though his expression was naturally cool, he had always smiled warmly whenever their eyes met—so Jeok Soya had never realized how terrifying his unsmiling face could be.
That was why she had assumed Sayeon was disappointed and angry with her.
After all, she was a criminal who had stolen another's life, hiding her past and shamelessly following him to Baek Ho Palace.
But Sayeon shook his head and answered softly.
"I wasn't disappointed in you. If I appeared disappointed, it was in myself, not you."
"...?"
"Because I failed to discover the hardships you endured in the Jujak Family. I was disappointed in myself for that."
"...That's a strange thing to say."
Sayeon smiled bitterly as he watched Jeok Soya's bewildered expression, unable to grasp his meaning, and continued.
"And I didn't smile because I was ashamed—learning about your suffering only through someone else's words, so late."
"...."
"I regret not knowing about the wounds you must have carried beforehand."
"...."
"And thinking of you suffering for such reasons—my heart ached. That's why I couldn't smile."
"...."
Her small lips, like a bird's beak, parted slightly.
Jeok Soya still couldn't comprehend Sayeon's words.
You were troubled and your heart ached because of me? And that's why you didn't smile?
Perhaps Sayeon hadn't truly listened to what Siyo had said moments before.
He didn't understand what I had done in the Jujak Family, how terribly I had acted and fled—not at all.
"It's not just that simple. I...I stole someone else's entire life!"
So I had to explain it to him.
That I was a terrible child.
That there was no reason for him to feel troubled or heartache because of me.
"Because of me, Riri grew up without parents! Her fragile health is my fault, and the family head and young master's suffering—it's all because of me...!"
It was strange, truly strange.
I was merely speaking the truth of what had happened, yet why did my throat burn so intensely, why did it feel so hot?
Why was I clenching both my fists and raising my voice like an agitated person?
And why was Sayeon looking at me with such a pained expression in his eyes...?
"Why is that your fault?"
Why was he speaking in such a sorrowful voice...?
"You're just a nine-year-old child, a little bundle of softness. You must have been switched with that family's daughter when you were far younger. How could that possibly be your fault?"
"But... but everyone said so. The Family Head, the Young Master, all the servants... they all said it was my mistake..."
Jeok Soya's halting voice gradually became tinged with sobs.
"So I have to repay this sin to Riri for my entire life. I have to suffer and grieve just as much as I made Riri sad..."
"So."
Sayeon cut off Jeok Soya's words and clenched his fists painfully as he asked.
"Did the Jujak Family hurt you?"
I recalled Yeon Jeong's report that there were traces of abuse on the child's body.
I recalled Sara's words that the child must have been without proper care for a long time.
I recalled the Samjok O of the Jujak Family attacking the child on the day we first met.
The truth that the young girl of the Silver Tiger Family had just revealed explained all of that causality.
"They said it was natural for people to hate and torment me, so I had to endure it," Jeok Soya answered in a sorrowful voice.
Jeok Soya answered in a sorrowful voice.
'Damn those bird-brained fools.'
Sayeon forcibly swallowed the rising anger that threatened to overflow.
So she had stolen the seat of the youngest daughter of the Jujak Family and been cast out after pretending to be their daughter?
The child had likely been switched at a very young age.
She wouldn't have even known she was the switched child.
Yet even if this child had been switched with the true daughter of the Jujak Family, how could that possibly be this child's fault?
Though it would take only a moment's thought to realize the child bore no fault, they cowardly heaped their entire tragedy upon this small child.
And so Jeok Soya had endured the torment of people for such an absurd reason at such a tender age.
All without even knowing it was wrong.
"Listen well, little bundle. Everything you suffered in the Jujak Family was wrong."
Then I had to make this child understand.
"No one has the right to torment you, and it is not justified."
"But..."
"You bear no fault. The fault lies not with you, but with them."
"But, but..."
The child's eyes reddened, and soon thick tears began to bead at the corners.
Until now, Jeok Soya had believed everything was her fault.
I'm a wicked chick who stole Riri's seat. That's why it's natural for everyone to hate and despise me.
So she had endured the sharp reproaches and torment of others without crying, silently bearing it all.
But Sayeon tells her that none of it was her fault.
That she bears no fault, that the fault lies with those who tormented her.
'It wasn't my fault. I didn't do anything wrong.'
The moment those words echoed in my mind.
Drip—
A teardrop that had gathered at the corner of Jeok Soya's eyes suddenly burst forth.
Drip, drip—
"Everyone, *sob*, everyone said it was my fault, *sniff*.... No one took my side, *whimper*.... Not Father, not my older brother Hwayou, no one. They all said it was Jeok Soya's mistake, but then, why...."
Jeok Soya asked through her trembling sobs.
"Why do you, *sob*, say it wasn't my fault? Why are you the only one, *whimper*, taking my side?"
"Because the world you've lived in until now was wrong."
At those calm words, Jeok Soya's pupils quivered violently.
"*Whimper*, oh, oh...."
The sobs she had been desperately holding back finally broke through her lips.
"That's why I will show you the right world from now on."
"Waaaaah!"
At last, a sorrowful cry burst forth uncontrollably.
"Jeok Soya...!"
Baek Gahyun, who had been watching quietly from the corner ever since Sayeon's arrival, quickly rushed forward and gently wiped away the tears from Jeok Soya's eyes with the edge of his sleeve.
"So become my daughter, little cotton ball."
Sayeon lightly touched the tip of Jeok Soya's reddened nose and smiled softly.
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