Chapter 52
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Chapter 52
At the sound of that voice, Jeok Soya looked up and was startled to discover Tae Irim gazing down at her painting.
"Your Majesty...?"
Tae Irim asked, a gentle smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"I failed to keep my promise to return soon, Soya. Will you forgive me?"
"Forgive you? What are you saying?"
Jeok Soya waved her hands urgently in denial.
"I thought you were angry with me."
Tae Irim straightened slowly, adding in a deliberately forlorn tone.
"You no longer call me as you did before."
"Now I must address you as Your Majesty."
"This is not the Imperial Palace, so won't you call me brother while I remain here?"
"But..."
Under his steady gaze, Jeok Soya hesitated before speaking.
"Then, only while you're here... brother."
"How pleasant that sounds."
"...?"
"I've missed hearing you call me that so very much."
Though it had been merely a season since I last saw him, he spoke as though decades had passed since our reunion.
Feeling oddly embarrassed, Jeok Soya flushed and quickly changed the subject.
"Oh, how have you been all this time, brother?"
The moment the words left her lips, she wanted to bite her tongue. How could she ask such a thing when she'd already heard of all the turmoil surrounding him?
'I must be a fool. With all the hardships he's faced, how could he possibly be well?'
Jeok Soya's expression grew pained as she berated herself.
"Yes, I've been well, Soya."
At that moment, he chuckled softly and spoke in a warm voice.
"I've eaten well, dressed well. Though I must confess, I haven't slept much—I've been quite busy. But now that I've become Emperor of Taehwa Kingdom, I suppose I can't say I've fared too poorly."
His playful tone dispersed the self-recrimination that had been weighing on Jeok Soya's heart.
A moment later, she realized the truth—he had spoken in jest deliberately for her sake.
He carried himself with a maturity that hadn't been there before, yet remained as kind and warm as ever.
'How could such a gentle person earn the dreadful reputation of a tyrannical demon?'
Jeok Soya felt an inexplicable sense of indignation.
Meanwhile, from behind the shrubland, a pair of eyes watched the exchange between Jeok Soya and Tae Irim.
'Who is that person? Why does Soya smile like that when she looks at him?'
It was Seol Yo.
Seol Yo clutched a handful of ginkgo leaves tightly in both hands as he spied on the two of them.
'This is strange. I wish Soya wouldn't smile at that person.'
Seol Yo vividly remembered the sensation he had felt on the day he first met Jeok Soya.
The place where he had originally lived was cold and barren—the Northern Lands.
From the earliest stirrings of memory, he had always been alone.
The earliest moment he could remember was the day he witnessed his mother's death.
Though he no longer recalled her face or scent, Seol Yo had been born to a mother.
She had hidden me in a wardrobe to save my life, and 'that man' killed her before setting the Jujak Estate ablaze.
I couldn't quite remember how I escaped through the searing flames.
It had happened when I was far too young, and my memories were fragmented and incomplete.
When Seol Yo regained consciousness, I had become a small beast covered in pitch-black fur.
People called me a 'Beast'—a repugnant and terrifying creature.
A Beast that harmed innocent people.
'I'm not a Beast. I haven't hurt anyone. So why does everyone call me one?'
Seol Yo tried desperately to insist that I would never harm anyone, pleading with them not to despise me.
[Whimper, whine...!]
But all that emerged from my mouth was a pitiful whimpering sound, indistinguishable from a Beast's cry.
No one listened to my words. Instead, they came after me with clubs, calling me a disgusting Beast.
Seol Yo had to hide in remote places to escape from people.
As a result, I went hungry far more often than I was properly fed.
Wandering the cold and desolate Streets, when night fell and hunger gnawed at me, I would venture down to villages and rummage through piles of discarded food.
If I was ever caught making noise, I would whimper and flee from the people's stone-throwing.
I couldn't even sleep peacefully at night. If I dozed off in my hiding place and encountered Beast Hunters, I had to run with all my strength.
That day was particularly unlucky.
Hit by an arrow shot by a Beast Hunter, Seol Yo limped away on one injured leg and encountered Sayeon on a mountain path.
[What's this? A young Beast? Looks like it'll starve soon without even tasting blood.]
[Whimper...! Whine! Whimper!]
[You're just a pup—don't bare your fangs at your elders like that.]
[Growl...!]
[Little Beast. Want to come with me? I'll give you three warm meals a day.]
[Whine...?]
He brought me to Baek Ho Palace without my consent.
But clever Seol Yo seized the moment when Sayeon let his guard down and escaped to the mountains.
'Ha, as if I wouldn't notice you trying to lull me into a false sense of security before handing me over to Beast Hunters.'
When I saw him take me to a woman with a menacing appearance despite promising three warm meals a day, his scheme was transparent.
Seol Yo did not trust Sayeon.
I trusted no one—not just Sayeon, but all people.
Fortunately, Sayeon never came to capture me again, but being alone once more left Seol Yo profoundly lonely.
I spent years on Horim Mountain, occasionally gathering mountain berries to eat and sometimes stealing provisions from Baek Ho Palace.
Then one day, I happened to meet Jeok Soya.
Seol Yo remembered the moment I first saw Jeok Soya as vividly as if it were yesterday.
After being alone and lonely for so long, Seol Yo followed a clear, melodious voice ringing across Horim Mountain and discovered Jeok Soya.
Jeok Soya was playing a chasing game with a tiger-human from Baek Ho Palace.
I watched the scene as if enchanted.
'I could do that too. A chasing game....'
When I lived in the Northern Lands, Seol Yo once approached a group of children his own age who were playing tag, hoping to join them.
But the boys threw stones and sticks at me, while the girls screamed and burst into tears.
The stones and jeers from those children hurt far more than the arrows shot by the Beast Hunters.
After that day, whenever Seol Yo saw human children his own age, his body would shrink back in fear.
But Jeok Soya was different from everyone else.
Unlike the other children who would cry out that I was a terrible beast, she always spoke to me in a gentle, measured tone.
She even protected me from wicked beastfolk who tried to torment me.
She praised me, saying I was a kind and gentle child, a clever beast who could even write his own name.
Whenever Seol Yo was beside Jeok Soya, my heart would race uncontrollably.
'I want to become close with her.'
So Seol Yo lingered around Jeok Soya, yearning to grow closer to her.
Being at her side felt warm and comforting.
It was like being cradled in the embrace of my mother, whose face and scent I could no longer remember.
And Jeok Soya even helped me find my true form.
The moment the warm, white light flowing from her fingertips enveloped my body, I was able to shed my black exterior and emerge anew.
A stern-faced woman from Baek Ho Palace whom I had seen long ago told me that I was a beastfolk with a spirit core.
'Me, a beastfolk?'
Seol Yo was overjoyed to no longer be a pointed-at beast, but rather a beastfolk like Jeok Soya.
Even though I myself still didn't know what kind of beastfolk I was.
Having become a beastfolk, Seol Yo became Jeok Soya's guard.
Sayeon said it was merely a nominal position to justify my presence at Baek Ho Palace and that I didn't really need to do anything, but Seol Yo felt immensely proud of being her protector.
I wanted to protect Jeok Soya.
I wanted to keep her from even the slightest harm, to ensure she never cried from sadness, to stay right beside her and guard her always.
But then....
'That child took my place.'
Seol Yo stared intently at Jeok Soya and the unfamiliar boy beside her.
Just moments ago, it was my duty to guard Jeok Soya's side, but suddenly this boy had stolen my position away.
Jeok Soya kept smiling in front of the unfamiliar boy and spoke to him in that gentle, measured tone of hers.
Seol Yo loved the way Jeok Soya's eyes would crescent beautifully when she smiled like that.
But why did her smile feel so heavy and melancholic in this very moment?
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org