Chapter 58
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Chapter 58
"Father...!"
Riri's fierce expression transformed in an instant.
The face that had contorted with rage like a demon vanished, replaced by such a pitiful visage that one longed to embrace her.
Riri rushed to her father and threw her arms around him, bursting into tears.
"Sob, sob... Father..."
Riri's tyrannical behavior had begun last summer, after Jeok Soya disappeared.
In truth, on the final day of that summer festival, it was none other than Riri who had ordered Samjok O to eliminate Jeok Soya.
Her older brother had intended to give the girl money and send her far away, but Riri despised the thought of Jeok Soya breathing beneath the same sky as herself.
It was right to uproot any sprout that might one day become discord.
Thus, Riri commanded her own Samjok O to kill Jeok Soya.
[Dispose of that girl without anyone knowing. Before my brother's Samjok O takes her far away.]
[Yes? But, young master...]
[You're Riri's Samjok O! You should grant all of Riri's requests! If that girl lives, she'll surely steal Riri's place again someday. Would you want me to spend my whole life anxious because of her?]
[Understood, young lady. I shall eliminate this source of trouble, so please do not cry.]
Yet somehow, after that day, Riri's Samjok O vanished without a trace.
However, Riri was not greatly troubled.
She had overheard her brother's Samjok O reporting Jeok Soya's death.
'It actually worked out well. I was worried about how to silence them.'
The eyesore that was Jeok Soya had been eliminated, and the only Samjok O who knew of it had disappeared—Riri actually thought things had turned out perfectly.
It was only after overhearing a conversation between her father and older brother that Riri began to feel uneasy again.
[Find the child.]
They believed they had moved to a place where Riri could not hear, speaking in secret, but there was nowhere within the Jujak Family Estate that the youngest, most treasured daughter could not access.
The family head had issued an order that no one was to restrict the child's movements anywhere.
[...Then at least bring me her corpse. Only then can I believe in that girl's death.]
Though her older brother's words that the girl would not live long even if alive had reassured her, her father's voice commanding them to find her kept echoing in her mind.
'What does he intend to do by finding that girl?'
'Father is Riri's father—why would he search for her?'
'Could he possibly be thinking of raising her as a daughter again?'
Such thoughts surfaced repeatedly, filling Riri with anxiety.
'No. Father's daughter is only Riri. The young lady of the Jujak Family is only Riri, and Father and my brother must love only Riri.'
Whenever her anxiety flared, Riri behaved with increasing petulance.
Most often, the targets were young maidservants of her own age.
And when her father held and comforted her at the end of such tantrums, it felt as though she were confirming his affection, and her heart would find peace.
Yet Riri, nestled in Jeok Ahyun's embrace, could not see it.
She could not see how her father's face had grown somewhat weary and drawn as he patted her.
"What is the matter, Riri."
"That girl tried to steal Riri's possession! The ornament Mother gave to Riri!"
Riri pointed at the maidservant prostrate on the floor, sobbing, and huffed indignantly.
Jeok Ahyun glanced at the ornament hanging from Riri's jacket.
"...."
It was something the late mistress had left behind for Jeok Soya.
And at the same time, it was something Riri had taken from Jeok Soya.
"No, no, Master. Truly, I was merely trying to tidy the young lady's appearance...."
"Don't lie! You were about to touch Riri's ornament with those filthy hands! Did you think I wouldn't notice?"
Riri cut off the maidservant's words and burst out in anger.
Jeok Ahyun, who had been quietly observing the scene, spoke to soothe the child.
"Riri. It is not right to strike members of the family over matters that are uncertain."
"But... but...."
Riri looked up at her father with a trembling expression, then suddenly let out a wail.
"Riri was afraid she would lose Mother again!"
"...."
"Riri is so scared. If someone takes Riri's family away like 'that child' did, then, then what will Riri do? Ugh, hic, waaah...!"
Riri began to cry loudly, her voice rising.
Jeok Ahyun, looking troubled, tried to comfort the child.
After barely managing to calm Riri and send her away, Jeok Ahyun let out a sigh.
Riri's behavior was growing increasingly worse.
At first, everyone had been understanding because Riri was a child with a wounded heart, and thus more sensitive than others....
As time passed, Jeok Ahyun's concern deepened at Riri's increasingly rough conduct.
'It was the same that day.'
That day, Riri had falsely accused Jeok Soya of stealing the ornament to frame her.
It was clearly wrong to have falsely branded the other as a thief, yet no one had reprimanded Riri for it.
It had been more important to soothe the heart of young Riri, who was only nine years old and had been shocked and wounded.
'But... I had forgotten. Jeok Soya, that child was also the same age as Riri.'
Jeok Ahyun's thoughts suddenly drifted toward Jeok Soya.
I had searched for her remains, but ultimately could not find them. In the end, I had to accept her death.
It would have been impossible for such a small child—especially one whose spiritual core was not yet complete—to survive alone beyond the estate's walls.
At first, I had found that child abhorrent, and later, resentful. When I learned of the switch between her and Riri, I had thought it would have been better had she never been born at all.
Yet when I heard the news that the child had died.
Why had my heart felt as though it were crumbling....
Even though I had resolved not to spare even a fragment of my heart for that child for Riri's sake, it seemed I had harbored something within me all along.
The last time I saw the child was the very day after Riri learned the truth and the estate was thrown into chaos.
While sharing refreshments with Riri atop the Pavilion Tower, I spotted Jeok Soya stepping outside the estate.
Without thinking, I gazed at the child, and the moment our eyes met, I immediately looked away.
'Had I known that would be the last time, I would not have turned away.'
Since learning of the child's death, as time passed, I found myself thinking of her more and more.
The child's traces remained in every corner of the estate.
In the bedchamber lay memories of the child taking her first steps, and on one wall of the study room remained the marks of ink where the child had scribbled after just learning to write.
By the lotus pond at Hayeonji Lotus Pond lingered the sound of the child's laughter as she gazed upon the blooming lotus flowers, and along the garden's walking path remained memories of the child clinging tightly to my hand, chattering away.
And in the deepest part of the estate, within the Sacred Shrine where the Jujak Family's divine treasure, the Crimson Phoenix Bow, was kept....
"This is the Jujak Divine Bow, a treasured heirloom of our Jeok Family. It is a treasure left behind by the ancient divine beast."
"A treasure?"
"Not yet. Once you awaken your spiritual core and succeed in beast transformation, then I shall let you touch it."
"Ugh... Jeok Soya wants to touch it too..."
The child puffed out both cheeks in disappointment, her eyes lingering wistfully upon the Divine Bow.
Lost in contemplation as I wandered through the Jujak Estate, my footsteps came to an unexpected halt before the Sacred Shrine where the divine treasures of the Jujak were enshrined.
It was the first time I had set foot in this place since that day three years ago.
Creak—
As I pushed open the weathered wooden door that seemed out of place with the estate's grandeur, a massive bow adorned with crimson feathers came into view at its center.
That child, whose eyes had gleamed so brightly upon seeing the Divine Bow, had departed this world without ever touching it.
"...."
I gazed upon it with an expressionless face for a long while before turning to leave.
Yet just as I was about to depart without thought—
I froze.
In an instant, my head snapped around.
'Light... from the divine treasure...?'
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