Chapter 40
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Chapter 40
"...!"
Sayeon's expression stiffened at the unexpected criticism.
"...That's because the little one still needs time to adjust."
"Yet you call the young masters 'older brother' just fine, sir."
"...."
Jeok Young drove the point home with a mischievous expression.
"Our little lady certainly understands. It's just that the family head's character isn't quite suitable to be called 'father'... Ahhhhh!"
The moment Sayeon thrust the window open, documents scattered across Jeok Young's desk flew in all directions.
"Family head!"
"Hmph."
Sayeon let out a satisfied snort toward Jeok Young, catching one of the fluttering documents with a smug expression.
It was a report summarizing the incident involving the Eun Ho Family's daughter.
Siyo had testified that a masked man in black had sought her out not long ago.
It was that same man who had given her the sachet made with sorcery from the Northern Lands, and who had revealed Jeok Soya's past to her.
However, unfortunately, when they searched for the man after hearing Siyo's testimony, he had already vanished without a trace.
'Who was it, and what could their reason be? Was it purely for personal purposes, or perhaps....'
As Sayeon read through it with an indifferent gaze, lost in thought.
Jeok Young, who had been organizing the documents, suddenly asked as if remembering something.
"By the way, shouldn't we inform Cheongha as well?"
A pause.
"After all, she's the young masters' mother, isn't she?"
"...."
Sayeon's expression hardened subtly.
* * *
After finishing lunch, Jeok Soya went to find Sara.
Sara examined Jeok Soya's spiritual core state and wore a pleased expression.
"You've been taking the medicinal tonic I sent you well, haven't you, little one?"
The condition of her spiritual core had improved considerably.
The best way to nourish a spiritual core separated from the body was to frequently undergo beast transformation so the spiritual core could adapt to the body.
However, Jeok Soya feared beast transformation.
Recognizing this, Sara did not force Jeok Soya into beast transformation, instead helping her nourish both body and spiritual core through medicinal tonics.
'But she can't avoid beast transformation forever like this....'
However, for now, adapting to Baek Ho Palace was more pressing for Jeok Soya.
"Once you grow a bit healthier, you'll be able to undergo your first growth and awaken your abilities."
"Really?"
Jeok Soya asked in a surprised voice.
"Yes. So, little fluffy one, keep taking the medicine I send you from now on and grow up healthy and strong."
"Yes, Sara!"
Jeok Soya answered with a bright face.
Yet Sara regarded Jeok Soya with an expression of unmistakable displeasure.
Noticing the hardness that had settled into Sara's features, Jeok Soya found herself cautiously searching her face, wondering if she had somehow misspoken.
Sara's brow furrowed deeply, and then her voice rang out clear and sharp with demand.
"Call me aunt as well."
"Am I... allowed to do that?"
"If you're Baek Sayeon's daughter, then you're my niece—of course you are. Surely you're not suggesting you'll only acknowledge that fool Baek Sayeon as family and not me?"
"No, of course not! A-Aunt..."
At the timid honorific Jeok Soya added, Sara burst into hearty laughter.
After bowing respectfully to Sara, Jeok Soya stepped out of the Sacred Shrine, feeling oddly self-conscious.
The two young masters had chased after her all day, begging her to call them older brother, while Yeon Jeong and San Ho had asked her not to use formal speech with them.
Yet changing how she addressed people still felt impossibly difficult for Jeok Soya.
[Let the little cotton ball do as she's comfortable. Don't make things awkward for her.]
Fortunately, because Sayeon had said as much, they all waited patiently for Jeok Soya to grow accustomed to it at her own pace.
'Since they're all waiting for me, I really should get used to it soon...'
Jeok Soya glanced quickly around, confirmed no one was nearby, and then murmured softly to herself.
"Older brother. Aunt. And... um."
Fine wrinkles creased the bridge of Jeok Soya's nose.
"F-Fath... mmm."
One particular title beginning with that sound simply wouldn't come, and Jeok Soya's lips trembled with frustration.
The reason the word "father" came so reluctantly was that, for so long, there had been only one man she called by that name.
The man whose image inevitably arose whenever she thought of that word.
Jeok Ahyun, the patriarch of the Jujak Family—with hair as flame-red as fire itself, yet bearing an impression of gentleness and warmth that stood in stark contrast, though to Jeok Soya alone he had been nothing but cold.
The man she had once believed to be her true father.
'When was the last time I called him father?'
Jeok Soya's fingers fidgeted as she searched her memory.
She recalled it was not long after being cast into the Cold Palace.
There, she had always been alone, waiting endlessly for a family that would never come, clinging to the belief that someday they would arrive.
Then one day, she missed her father terribly.
So she slipped out through a gap in the guards' vigilance and secretly made her way to his chambers.
[F-Father...! *gasp*]
And when she found him there, Jeok Soya froze in shock.
Beneath the moonlight, a man with his red hair unbound was moving about, making sounds like a wounded beast.
The man glanced at Jeok Soya with hollow eyes, then passed by her, reeking of sharp, acrid alcohol.
In that moment, he seemed nothing like the father she had known.
It was terrifying. It was devastating.
'Father is suffering like this because of me. It's all because of me...'
After that, she never found the courage to seek him out again.
Jeok Soya shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel the memory.
Frightening recollections seeped through unbidden, clinging to her ankles like sticky mud.
Even after leaving the Joojak Residence, she found herself thinking of it often.
The father who had pushed me away and the elder brother Hwayou who had sneered at me, asking who my real brother was...
'Would it really be alright to call him Father? What if Sayeon becomes like those people?'
Jeok Soya sat lost in thought, picking up a stone and scratching crude drawings across the dirt ground.
Three tigers with round, pointed ears were Sayeon and the two young lords, and beside them, a small girl was Jeok Soya herself.
But at that moment, a plump black furry mass suddenly popped up beside Jeok Soya.
"Seol Yo!"
Jeok Soya turned around with a bright smile, delighted.
"Squeak, squeak!"
Seol Yo drew a clumsy circle beside Jeok Soya's drawing with his chubby front paws.
"What is that?"
"Squeak, squeak!"
"Did you draw yourself?"
Jeok Soya giggled as she looked at Seol Yo's barely recognizable drawing.
"You write your name so well, but you have absolutely no talent for drawing."
"Squeak?"
Seol Yo tilted his head in confusion.
Jeok Soya added round, pointed ears to the circle Seol Yo had drawn and sketched in a long tail as well.
Then it began to look quite like Seol Yo.
"I was grateful that day."
That day, Seol Yo had mimicked Suri's form that he'd seen on the mountain, transforming into a black wolf to carry me and race across Horim Mountain.
Thanks to that, I was able to show people the beasts of Horim Mountain that had grown violent, and even expose that Siyo had used sorcery from the Northern Lands.
Fortunately, because the night was dark and the surroundings were chaotic with various incidents, people didn't notice that Seol Yo was a magical beast.
Though that day's matter was resolved well, Sayeon had me sit separately and told me my method had been dangerous.
[I would have believed in you even without such a dangerous method, little cotton ball.]
[But if you trust me blindly without question, wouldn't that make you an unfair family head? I didn't want to be a burden to you, Sayeon.]
[What a thoughtful little cotton ball you are. But from now on, it's alright to burden me as much as you wish.]
[Really...?]
[Because we're family.]
Family.
As Jeok Soya savored that word once more and gazed quietly at the drawing on the dirt ground, Seol Yo suddenly sprang to his feet and growled at the shrubland across from us.
"Huh? What's wrong, Seol Yo?"
Jeok Soya turned her head in the direction Seol Yo was staring.
But there was no one there.
* * *
A man wearing a black mask quickly concealed himself.
The man's name was Hondon.
One of the Four Calamities alongside Qiongqi, Taowu, and Taotie, he moved under the orders of Hyun Rabaek, the leader of the Hyunmu Clan.
To disrupt the three great families so that the Yellow Dragon's bride could not be produced.
That was the lord's command.
That was the king's command.
He approached Eun Siyo for this purpose.
He intended to use her to eliminate the other girls, and ultimately dispose of Eun Siyo herself.
Yet his plan, which he had deemed effortless, crumbled to dust.
It was all because of a fledgling that had escaped the Jujak Family nest.
[The same fragrance emanated from the other ladies' palanquins. If left unchecked, something dangerous would occur tomorrow...]
'But how did she detect that scent?'
Hondon questioned how Jeok Soya had sensed the fragrance of sorcery.
He needed to investigate the child further.
Yet approaching her proved difficult.
The child monopolized Baek Ho Palace's attention entirely.
But an opportunity would soon present itself.
The Mountain Lord Festival was drawing near.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org