Chapter 65
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Chapter 65
"Chirp!"
Jeok Soya spread her wings wide and fluttered toward Baek Gahyun.
"It's late—why aren't you sleeping, Soya?"
Baek Gahyun masked the irritability and tension from moments before, his voice warm as he asked.
"Chirp, chirp!"
"You want to see snow-covered Horim Mountain? But it's far too dark out."
"Chirp chirp, chirp!"
"What? Gayul said something so pointless...? Ah, I'm sorry, Soya. Forget that—pointless indeed. Come on then, let's go together."
At the baby bird's insistence, Baek Gahyun chuckled and climbed onto the windowsill.
He cradled Jeok Soya in his arms and leaped down to the floor.
Thump!
The moment his feet touched ground, he transformed into a massive tiger.
Baek Gahyun carried Jeok Soya on his back and bounded toward Horim Mountain.
As a white tiger beastman whose physical prowess far surpassed ordinary beastmen, he reached the mountain's midpoint in merely three strides.
"Brother, look! Horim Mountain is truly sparkling!"
Jeok Soya, who had shed her beastman form and now appeared as a young girl, gazed down from his back and cried out in wonder.
"So you really wanted to see this?"
"Yes! Brother Gayul told me that whenever snow falls, we absolutely must see Horim Mountain at night!"
Long ago, Baek Gayul had told Jeok Soya that snow-blanketed Horim Mountain at night sparkled beautifully, as though dusted with sugar.
They had promised to visit together when the first snow fell, but Jeok Soya had caught a cold that day, and afterward Baek Gayul suffered from growing pains and couldn't come.
"I was afraid I'd miss it before the snow melted, so I'm truly grateful you brought me all the way here."
Bathed in moonlight, the pristine white snow made Horim Mountain gleam like jewels.
The mountain landscape on a snowy night was so breathtakingly beautiful and mystical that Jeok Soya felt as though she had stepped into the celestial realm from an ancient tale.
Enchanted by the scenery, Jeok Soya fell silent for a time, and Baek Gahyun burst into laughter.
"If you wish it, I'll always come with you. But you're not dressed too lightly, are you?"
"No, I'm very warmly dressed. Last time when I caught a cold, Yeon Jeong obtained a blanket made from flame mole fur for me."
Jeok Soya pulled the blanket draped across her shoulders snug against herself as she answered.
"Shall we venture higher up then?"
"Yes!"
Baek Gahyun bounded toward the mountain's peak.
With the rapidly increasing altitude, Jeok Soya's heart swelled alongside it.
Baek Gahyun deliberately walked through the Birch Forest path for Jeok Soya's sake.
The snow settled upon each bare white branch was truly beautiful.
"The white snow reminds me so much of you, Soya."
"Me?"
"Yes—pure and clean, just like you."
"I thought you resembled it, brother."
Jeok Soya found it amusing that they had shared the same thought, and she giggled softly, covering her mouth with both hands.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch...
The sound of footsteps crunching through snow harmonized with the tranquil forest path.
"You know, older brother, I used to hate being white."
Jeok Soya, who had been quietly savoring the essence of night upon Baek Gahyun's back, suddenly began to share her thoughts.
"I hated my white hair, and I hated my white fur. But now I love it so much."
Her soft voice drifted through the night air, resonating through the birch forest blanketed in snow.
"Because I'm white like Father and my older brothers, I thought others would see us as a real family."
"You were thinking such things?"
Baek Gahyun asked in surprise, then spoke with tender affection.
"I'm glad you're the same white as me, Soya. But regardless of such things, we are family."
"That's right—you told me that here during the Mountain Lord Festival."
Jeok Soya nodded quietly, a gentle smile crossing her face.
The words Baek Gahyun had spoken to me here during the Mountain Lord Festival last autumn had left a profound resonance within me.
[True family doesn't abandon each other over something so trivial.]
[I want to become true family with Soya. Real family that cherishes and protects each other, regardless of what form we take—whether winged beast or earthbound creature.]
Until then, I had always believed myself to be an abandoned child.
But those words from Baek Gahyun transformed me from an 'abandoned child' into a 'child who found true family.'
They had been false family from the beginning, so I was never truly abandoned.
And so I came to understand something.
The fact that Baek Gahyun, who had revealed this crucial truth to me, considered himself 'abandoned' by Chung Ha...
Perhaps it was because he thought of Chung Ha as his 'true family.'
"Older brother, I never had a mother from birth."
Baek Gahyun faltered at Jeok Soya's sudden confession.
"But there was someone I thought of as my mother. Then I discovered she wasn't my real mother."
"...."
Baek Gahyun's pace slowed.
"I may not fully understand your heart since I never had a mother from the start."
"...."
"But you had a mother and then lost her, so I think you must have suffered far more than I did."
"...."
"Because when I was very young, I had Father and my older brothers, but they vanished in an instant, and I was so deeply sad and hurt and anguished."
"...."
"More so than when I learned my mother was gone."
"Soya."
Baek Gahyun stopped walking.
Jeok Soya leaped down from his back and faced him directly.
"I'm no longer hurt by the wounds those people inflicted. Because you taught me—they were 'false.'"
Jeok Soya gazed into his trembling blue eyes as she spoke.
"But the reason you keep Chung Ha in your heart isn't because she's 'false' to you, is it?"
"I never kept that woman in my heart―"
"Liar."
Jeok Soya cut off Baek Gahyun's words. It was the first time she had ever interrupted him.
"I saw everything. Yesterday when Chung Ha was in the Garden, you were watching from the window, weren't you? And today too. You came all the way to the Kitchen during mealtime, stared at Chung Ha for a while, then turned back."
"...."
Poof!
Baek Gahyun released his beast form and returned to human shape.
"...Why are you saying such things, Jeok Soya?"
He asked in a voice that suggested he couldn't comprehend her words.
"You're my sister. You should be on my side, not hers. So why do you speak as if you're taking her side?"
"I'm not taking Chung Ha's side. If I had to choose between the two of you, of course I'd be on your side."
Jeok Soya answered him with a slightly sorrowful tone.
"That's why. I just don't want you to suffer. That's all."
* * *
After bringing Jeok Soya to her Room, Baek Gahyun headed to his own.
In truth, he already understood. Why Mother had to make such a choice.
He too had learned of the duties of the direct line as he grew.
And in truth. The very deepest truth....
I faltered.
My expression hardened in an instant.
"Gahyun."
That woman was waiting for me in front of my Room door.
"...."
I tried to pass her by as if I hadn't seen her.
"I'm sorry."
A thin thread of voice suddenly stopped my footsteps.
"I should have said this first. But I couldn't because I'm a cowardly, inadequate mother."
"...."
"I'm sorry, Gahyun. For leaving you behind that day when you clung to me crying. For saying I'd return early but never coming back."
"...."
"I'm sorry for everything, my son."
"An apology now won't change anything...!"
I spun around indignantly.
A chill ran through me—
Upon seeing Chung Ha's face crumbling as if she were about to weep, I froze entirely.
I had seen that expression before.
That day.
The night Mother abandoned me and left.
Mother held me in her arms and shed tears with that exact expression.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org