Chapter 64
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Chapter 64
The Cheongryong Family, Eastern Divine Beast.
Master of the Cheong Hae Dragon Palace beneath the waves, known as the Underwater Palace, and guardian who protects and rules over the aquatic humanoids of the Cheong Hae Sea in the Eastern Lands.
Chung Ha was a direct descendant of the Cheongryong Family and had once been the most promising candidate to become the next family head.
Yet true to her dragon heritage, she possessed a spirit as free as the wind and had no desire for the position of family head.
The moment one ascends to the position of Cheongryong Family head, a seal is carved upon their soul core, binding them to the Eastern Lands unless summoned by the Yellow Dragon.
To break this oath would damage the soul core, ultimately resulting in death.
Though originally devised by the central Yellow Dragon to restrain the aggressive nature of the Cheongryong, in modern times it had become a tool for the Imperial Family to check their fellow dragon-kin.
Thus, the method Chung Ha chose to escape the position of family head was none other than marriage.
She sought out Sayeon, who had become family head at a young age, and proposed marriage to him.
[So what do I gain from this union?]
[I gain my freedom, and you gain a beautiful wife.]
In truth, everyone had expected Sayeon to refuse her brazen proposal.
From childhood, the two had been at such odds that weapons would be drawn the moment they met.
Yet Sayeon accepted her shameless proposal.
Chung Ha became the Lady of the House at Baek Ho Palace and naturally freed herself from the duties of her direct line.
After Sayeon took his lady wife, Baek Ho Palace knew peace for a time.
Three adorable young tiger lords were born, and contrary to concerns, the harmony between the family head and Lady of the House was quite remarkable.
"But then, circumstances arose that forced Chung Ha to leave Baek Ho Palace."
"Circumstances that forced her to leave?"
Jeok Soya's eyes had been gleaming with intrigue at Father's tale of marriage, but now they widened in surprise.
"The family head of the Cheongryong Family passed away."
Yeon Jeong continued in a subdued voice.
After Chung Ha left the family through marriage, her twin brother naturally became the next family head.
However, eight years ago, when the Northern Lands waged war, the Imperial Family conscripted one person from each family.
As the war dragged on, Chung Ha's brother, who had been the Cheongryong Family head, fell in battle, leaving behind only a young nephew.
"Chung Ha felt overwhelming guilt over this. She believed that had she become family head, her brother would never have died."
"But that wasn't Chung Ha's fault."
"Everyone said the same, but what Chung Ha felt was different."
In the midst of this, one of the retainers staged a rebellion, plunging the Eastern Lands into chaos.
The Cheongryong Family came to the brink of collapse, yet the Imperial Family offered no aid.
As the Imperial Family had long viewed the Cheongryong with suspicion, they saw no reason to intervene.
Ultimately, Chung Ha chose to leave Baek Ho Palace to fulfill her duties to her direct line.
"Naturally, the family head and the young lords tried to stop her."
....
"Especially the youngest lord clung to her most desperately. In those days, he would cling only to Chung Ha and refuse to let go."
A faint smile crossed Yeon Jeong's face as she recalled Baek Gahyun's childhood.
Unlike the other children, Baek Gahyun had been sensitive from infancy and rarely allowed anyone but Chung Ha close to him.
He was even wary around his own father, Sayeon.
After a brief struggle, Sayeon relented and let Chung Ha go.
However, only Baek Gahyun could not accept Chung Ha's departure.
He clung to her sleeve, begging her not to leave, not to abandon them, and if she had to go, to take him with her.
But it was impossible to leave Baek Ho Palace with a direct heir whose core hadn't even awakened yet, and the Eastern Lands she was headed toward were far too dangerous for a child.
Chung Ha left Baek Ho Palace while Baek Gahyun slept, leaving only an apology and a promise to return soon.
Upon returning to the Eastern Lands, she dealt with the retainers who had rebelled and restored the Cheongryong Family, which had been on the brink of collapse.
However, she could not return immediately.
Her young nephew, who had become the family head following his father's death, had been conscripted to the battlefield.
Someone was needed to inherit the family head's seal and protect the Blue Dragon Territory until the family head returned.
Only a Blue Dragon with direct bloodline could inscribe the family head's seal.
Thus, she decided to inherit the family head's seal in her core and serve as acting family head until her young nephew returned.
However, since someone from another family could not serve as acting family head, she had to divorce Sayeon and officially have her name removed from the family registry.
And the young Baek Gahyun, who had gone to the East Gate every day waiting for his mother to return, stopped waiting for her after learning of this.
"In truth, we didn't expect Chung Ha to be away for this long either. Even though her name was removed from the registry, we thought she would return."
Yeon Jeong added that all of this was due to the prolonged war with the Hyunmu Clan.
"Actually, Chung Ha visited Baek Ho Palace last year as well. To help Young Master Baek Gahyun through his growth pains."
"...."
"But Young Master Baek Gahyun locked his door and wouldn't open it. So Chung Ha had no choice but to wait for several days and then leave."
"So that happened...."
After the long story, I wanted to say something more but pressed my lips firmly shut.
Yeon Jeong's stories were always entertaining, but today it was anything but.
"My, our young lady looks like she has much on her mind."
"I think Chung Ha must have been very hurt."
Having to leave her family, and having to be hated by them.
It all seemed so painful.
"Young Master is still young, so as he grows older, he'll come to understand Chung Ha."
While Yeon Jeong tidied the chamber, I wandered through the Garden with a somewhat melancholic expression.
"Soya!"
Seol Yo approached with a thick blanket in hand.
"San Ho said to bring this. She said it's cold."
"Thank you, Seol Yo."
I draped the blanket Seol Yo offered around my shoulders.
"Soya, you look upset. Are you worried about that woman?"
Seol Yo walked beside me and asked.
"I'm worried about Chung Ha too, but actually...."
I thought Chung Ha's situation was quite pitiful.
But truthfully, I was more concerned and troubled by Baek Gahyun than by Chung Ha.
It might sound strange that I'm more concerned about him, who inflicts such cruel wounds on Chung Ha....
But I understand.
What it feels like to be abandoned by family.
[Real family doesn't abandon each other over something so trivial. Let's discard such a fake family ourselves.]
Jeok Soya recalled the words Baek Gahyun had spoken to her during the Mountain Lord Festival.
They had been an immense comfort and source of strength to her at the time, but....
'Perhaps those words were really about my brother's own struggles.'
Jeok Soya glanced up at Baek Gahyun's illuminated chamber.
* * *
Baek Gahyun's nerves had been razor-sharp these past few days.
His colleagues whispered that he emanated an even more ominous aura than Baek Gayul, who was going through growing pains—his sensitivity was that acute.
Ever since Chung Ha's visit to Baek Ho Palace, he had remained in this state.
While he sat quietly reading a book, the sudden image of a certain face made him crumple the pages in his grip.
'This is utterly ridiculous.'
The more he thought of her face—how she had smiled while desperately trying to hide her bewilderment at seeing him—the angrier he became.
'She clung to me so desperately, begging me not to go, yet she abandoned me and left anyway. And now she dares to play the mother?'
Baek Gahyun still remembered that day vividly.
The day she had left him behind as he pleaded with her not to go, not to abandon him and Father.
[Please don't go, Mother. Don't leave Father and us behind.]
[Hyun-ah.]
[Sob, sniff, whimper.... I want to keep living with you. So please, please don't go.]
[I'm sorry, Hyun-ah.]
She had held him close, patting his back with those words of apology, lulling him to sleep with false reassurance before slipping away.
When he woke the next morning, only the cold emptiness of her absence greeted him.
That had been seven years ago.
Though Baek Gahyun had been only four years old then, the memory of that day remained crystalline.
'A mother who abandons her child despite his pleas is not needed. My true family is only Father, my brother, Gayul, and Soya.'
He was lost in these thoughts, staring down at the crumpled pages, when—
Tap.
Tap, tap.
A pecking sound came from the window.
"Soya...?"
Recognizing who had come by the sound alone, Baek Gahyun rose quickly and approached the window.
As he opened it, Jeok Soya—looking like a fluffy ball of down—was tapping at the windowsill with her beak.
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