Chapter 48
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Chapter 48
At that question, both Baek Gayul and Arang turned to look at Jeok Soya simultaneously.
"Yes, you're adorable! So incredibly adorable, Jeok Soya!"
Arang seized Jeok Soya's hand as she spoke.
"Your fluffy, soft feathers are adorable! Your fluttering wings are adorable! Your little pointed tail feathers are adorable! And oh, your beak too! Your beak is such a pretty yellow, like forsythia flowers! You're just so adorable!"
"Don't call my sister adorable! She's my sister!"
Baek Gayul huffed indignantly, separating Arang and Jeok Soya before turning to warn her.
"Fluffball. When you transform into your human form, you'll be so adorable that you need to be careful. Otherwise, that wicked tiger might kidnap you."
Yet Jeok Soya still couldn't comprehend what they were saying.
"I... am I seeing this correctly?"
They're calling my transformed appearance adorable? Truly?
Not pathetic and horrifying?
"You're teasing me right now, aren't you? That's what this is, isn't it?"
"Uh, uh-huh? Fluffball, you're... angry?"
Baek Gayul assumed Jeok Soya was upset.
Because her eyes were reddened and her face and voice had turned rigid.
"No, we're not teasing or joking. So please don't be angry..."
That was when it happened.
Plop. Pitter-patter.
Large tears welled up in Jeok Soya's eyes before falling in heavy drops.
Baek Gayul startled, his body trembling as he asked urgently.
"Hic, fluffball? A-are you really that angry to cry?"
"...This can't be real. It's all lies."
"S-solitary fluffball...?"
"That's what they said. That I'm just a pathetic little chick with unsightly white feathers..."
As she recited the harsh words the Jujak Family had hurled at her for so long, her voice trembled.
"That my transformed appearance is so horrifying they'd tear off my wings if I ever showed myself..."
So even after recovering her spiritual core, Jeok Soya had never dared attempt transformation.
She didn't want to show these people from Baek Ho Palace—who had revealed to her such a kind and warm world—her form that was supposedly so horrifying it would make them want to rip off her wings.
Just as she had lost everything in a single moment before, she couldn't bear to lose her world again.
"What? Who are these people! I'll teach them a lesson!"
"Me too! I swear by the name of the great Baek Family, I'll make them pay!"
"Squeak... growl, growl!"
But these people called her transformed appearance adorable.
They called even her unsightly white feathers, as plain as dandelion seeds, fluffy and adorable.
They didn't shun her as filthy or horrifying.
They said she was so small and cute they just wanted to take her with them.
It was completely different from anything Jeok Soya had ever heard.
"Really... I'm not horrifying? Truly, I'm adorable?"
"Of course! You're the cutest human-form being I know!"
"Right, yes, fluffy one! So don't cry anymore...."
"Purr! Purr, purr!"
It was all so confusing, and I still couldn't quite believe it.
And yet....
[It's not you who's wrong—it's them.]
That's what Sayeon said. That everything wrong was their fault.
My most reliable shelter in this world, my 'true family,' had told me so.
So then, could I believe these words?
Could I believe that I'm cute, that there's nothing terrible about me at all?
'I want to believe.'
A sudden longing bloomed within Jeok Soya's chest, filling it with warmth.
The words of people who grew flustered at my tears and tried to comfort me.
The words of these people who grew angry on my behalf for my past.
The words of those who taught me such warmth of feeling.
'...I want to believe.'
A lump rose in my throat.
Overwhelmed by the surge of emotion, tears suddenly welled up in my eyes.
"Jeok Soya...!"
"Fluffy one...!"
"Chirp...!"
"Sniff, sniffle, whimper...."
Yet Jeok Soya pressed her lower lip firmly together and rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand.
I no longer wanted to cry over the wounds those wrong people had inflicted.
"Thank you, all of you. I won't cry anymore."
And so Jeok Soya sniffled, her nose flushed red, and broke into a bright smile.
* * *
That day, Jeok Soya spent the happiest hours of her life.
Now a Mountain Lord, Jeok Soya donned the Baekho mask and spun in circles before the bonfire with the other children, dancing.
Whenever Jeok Soya's clumsy dance steps faltered, everyone followed along, swinging their arms and legs in imitation.
Even Seol Yo, in his great wolf form, wove between them and mimicked Jeok Soya's dance, his movements so comical that everyone burst into laughter.
Huddled together, they ate delicious roasted meat, and before the dying embers, they all made wishes together.
I finally understood why the Mountain Lord Festival was said to be the most anticipated event among the young beast-humans of the Western Lands.
After the festival ended, Sayeon entrusted Jeok Soya with the Baekho Sword.
[I hereby appoint Jeok Soya, daughter of the Baek Family, as the Keeper of the Baekho Divine Sword.]
Divine artifacts left behind by divine beasts could not be owned by mere mortals, so families merely preserved them.
The one who guarded such an artifact was called a 'Keeper,' and as the family head, Sayeon had appointed Jeok Soya as the Keeper of the Baekho Sword.
I worried whether I was worthy of such a weighty responsibility....
'But I'm a capable little bird now. So I'll fulfill the duty Sayeon has given me.'
Jeok Soya thought with determination.
And from that day forward, another change would come to Jeok Soya....
"You're amazing, Miss!"
"Wow, how does she fly so high with those tiny wings?"
The people of Baek Ho Palace watched Jeok Soya's flight and called out one after another.
Since winged beasts were rare in the Western Lands, everyone marveled at Jeok Soya's aerial display.
Though embarrassed, Jeok Soya didn't dislike their reactions, so she deliberately showed her humanoid form once a day.
And whenever Jeok Soya fluttered her small wings to take flight, the people's amazement echoed just as before.
Until now, transformation had been something terrifying and dreadful for Jeok Soya.
But that was no longer the case.
Thanks to my transformation, I could protect my brother.
Sayeon praised me as the bravest and most courageous little fluffball in the world.
And the people of Baek Ho Palace even adored my transformed appearance, calling it cute.
The way I walked with my thin little legs, the way I fluttered with my tiny wings, the way I pecked at grains with my golden beak.
Everyone called it all adorable and remarkable.
And most of all....
'My spirit core has become more stable.'
Every time I transformed, I felt my spirit core adapting and stabilizing within my body.
I felt a bit wronged for having feared transformation all this time.
"Roooar!"
"Grrrrowl!"
Baek Gayul and Arang, similarly transformed into tigers, leaped frantically below but couldn't reach Jeok Soya.
"Roar! (That's cheating, fluffball! How is it fair to fly around when we're playing tag!)"
Baek Gayul, frustrated after climbing even into the trees to catch Jeok Soya but ultimately failing, huffed indignantly.
"Chirp, squawk! (But you ran up into the trees last time too, brother! You know I can't climb, and you ran away when you thought you'd be caught—that's so unfair!)"
"Gr, growl.... (That, that was....)"
With nothing to say, Baek Gayul lowered his head and merely shook the branches.
Jeok Soya covered her beak with her wing and burst into laughter.
Chirrup, chirrup, chirruuup―
That laughter—the same one that made Yeon Jeong and San Ho marvel at how even her laugh was so adorable—rang out crystal clear across the autumn sky.
Just then, Baek Gahyun walked over from the distance.
Poof!
Upon spotting him, Jeok Soya released her transformation and approached Baek Gahyun.
"Brother Gahyun! Are you feeling better?"
Baek Gahyun's left arm was wrapped tightly in bandages.
A wound from that day, sustained while protecting Jeok Soya from Hondon.
"Yeah, I'm fine. A wound like this is nothing at all."
Baek Gahyun answered with a gentle smile, but worry filled Jeok Soya's eyes as she examined his arm.
Meanwhile, Seol Yo, who had been playing in the garden with them, tilted his head and observed the scene intently.
* * *
The Mountain Lord Festival had ended, and the tigers of the Western Lands departed one by one.
On a night when peculiar silence and darkness settled over the once-bustling Baek Ho Palace.
In her dream, Jeok Soya encountered an enormous presence.
Wrapped in crimson light, its form remained indiscernible, yet I could sense it was vast and luminous—a being of profound clarity.
―How vexing, little fledgling. To have your initiative stolen by that old tiger.
The voice carried a warmth and comfort that enveloped her entirely.
"Do you know me...?"
―Of course. I have walked beside you since time immemorial.
"Who are you?"
―Forgive me, little fledgling. I cannot reveal my name until you find me. So come, seek me out.
The colossal presence dispersed, leaving only cryptic words in its wake.
'What was that dream?'
The memories felt far too vivid to dismiss as mere fantasy.
'It said it had been with me since ancient times. Yet I was always alone until I came to Baek Ho Palace.'
I sat upon the garden's earthen floor, pondering the dream from the previous night.
"Chirp, chirp...."
At the feeble cry, I lifted my head and leaped to my feet in alarm.
Seol Yo was limping toward me.
"Seol Yo!"
I rushed to him and examined his injured foreleg.
It bore wounds, as though pricked by thorny brambles.
"Goodness...! Seol Yo, are you alright? How did you get hurt like this?"
I asked, my voice trembling with concern.
"Chirp...."
Seol Yo blinked his large eyes and gazed up at me.
My brow furrowed with sympathy.
"Oh, how it must have hurt."
"Chirp, chirp...."
Seol Yo nuzzled his head against me.
"You must have been in such pain, yet you didn't cry. How brave our Seol Yo is. My, how impressive."
I mimicked the tone Yeon Jeong had once used when I was injured, gently stroking Seol Yo's head.
Crack!
Suddenly, sparks erupted from my fingertips.
"Huh?"
Startled, I stumbled backward.
Seol Yo's body became engulfed in a brilliance so dazzling it seared the eyes....
Slip—
The black hide enveloping Seol Yo peeled away slowly.
And beneath the shed dark exterior....
"...!"
There stood a handsome boy, my age, with black hair and ash-grey eyes.
"Seol Yo has become human...?"
Jeok Soya's eyes widened in disbelief as she murmured softly to herself.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org