Chapter 97
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Chapter 97
"Welcome back, my little ones."
Upon hearing of the triplets' return, Sayeon set aside his administrative duties and came to greet them at the main gate of Baek Ho Palace, offering them a warm smile.
"Father!"
"Father!"
"Father!"
The three siblings rushed toward Sayeon in unison and embraced him tightly.
"Wait, wait just a moment."
Sayeon spoke in a composed voice to the children who had swarmed toward him all at once.
"My little ones. Your father has only two arms, not three. If all three of you cling to me like this..."
"I missed you so much, Father!"
"Father, I missed you terribly!"
"Father, you've been well while we were away, haven't you?"
Yet the triplets seemed oblivious to Sayeon's words, clinging to him regardless.
"It appears this is the fault of the Family Lord, who possesses only two arms. The Family Lord should acquire an additional arm."
Ho Jeok Young offered this remark with a chuckle, and Sayeon could only shake his head in resignation.
"Did you all return safely without any trouble?"
"Yes, yes!"
Jeok Soya answered quickly to Sayeon's question.
Sensing something amiss, Sayeon raised one eyebrow slightly.
"Little cotton ball, your voice just sounded like you'd gotten into some mischief."
"No, it's just..."
As Jeok Soya's expression betrayed her guilt, Baek Gayul burst into bright laughter beside her and exclaimed cheerfully.
"Father, let me tell you! Cotton ball actually...!"
"Older Brother Gayul!"
Jeok Soya clamped her hands over Baek Gayul's mouth.
"Mmph, brmph, brbrbrbp!"
"My goodness, Older Brother Gayul too."
At the sight of their affectionate bickering, Sayeon burst into quiet laughter.
* * *
Upon returning to Baek Ho Palace, Jeok Soya first soaked herself in warm water to ease her fatigue.
"Baek Ho Palace has been so quiet without the young lady and young masters for some time. You have no idea how much everyone has been waiting for your return."
Yeon Jeong spoke as she washed Jeok Soya's hair.
Under the warmth and gentleness of those hands, Jeok Soya felt herself growing drowsy.
"But I've never seen that before, have I?"
Yeon Jeong then pointed to the hair ribbon she had just loosened, and Jeok Soya suddenly became alert.
"Oh, that's...! I received it as a gift."
Jeok Soya answered with a slight blush on her cheeks, and Yeon Jeong smiled knowingly as she asked.
"Could it be a gift from some handsome young master from another household who has taken a fancy to our young lady?"
"No, that's not it! It's just... I received it from Cheonghae Palace."
Jeok Soya jumped back with a start, waving both hands frantically.
"Oh my, I see. I thought our young lady had found herself a charming nobleman!"
Yeon Jeong laughed softly and rinsed the soap from Jeok Soya's hair.
'Why did I tell such a lie?'
My heart pounded wildly in my chest.
'Fortunately, Yeon Jeong didn't press further, but somehow it bothers me.'
I kept worrying about the lie I'd told, stealing glances at Yeon Jeong's expression.
Even after finishing my bath and returning to my chamber alone, the anxiety lingered.
'No. I lied because... it was unavoidable for His Majesty.'
I recalled the sight of Tae Irim dressed in disguise that day.
'He seemed to have slipped out secretly... Yes. That's why I had no choice but to lie.'
Finally finding a reason that satisfied me, I could at last exhale with relief. "Phew."
"Still..."
I glanced out the window, lost in thought.
"I miss Mother."
It had only been a day since I left Cheonghae Palace, yet I already longed for her.
'It was truly wonderful.'
Mother seemed like such a free spirit. How should I describe it? She was like the wind itself.
There, with Chung Ha, I indulged in freedoms I'd never experienced at Baek Ho Palace.
We stayed awake chattering until the deep hours of dawn, sneaked past the palace walls to escape watchful eyes...
And I ate five candied fruits before bed!
'Yeon Jeong said I shouldn't eat too many candied fruits, but Mother said it was fine to eat until my belly burst.'
Remembering those sweet indulgences with Chung Ha, I couldn't help but giggle.
All things I'd never done at Baek Ho Palace.
And on the last day, before I left...
[Look here. Mother told you so. Our little cotton ball will become even more handsome as you grow older, just like your older brother.]
Chung Ha said this while placing a kiss on my cheek.
It was the first time anyone had kissed my cheek, so I felt both shy and my heart flutter with excitement.
Mother's warm and affectionate kiss was truly wonderful.
The soft, comforting embrace she held me in was truly wonderful too.
'I hope Mother returns to Baek Ho Palace soon.'
But for that to happen...
'The war must end as quickly as possible.'
And when the war ends, not only Mother but also my eldest older brother, who is said to be holding back the demonic beasts far away in the Border Region, will return.
My thoughts drifted to my eldest older brother, whom I had never met.
Baek Ga Ya, the eldest of the three princes of Baek Ho Palace and said to resemble Father most, departed for the battlefield six years ago.
Sometimes when my other older brother Hyun sent letters, I would write alongside him and send them, but Baek Ho Palace had never received a reply.
I heard the battlefield was too chaotic and turbulent for anyone to have the mind to write back, but still, I felt a little disappointed.
'I wonder if the handkerchief I sent arrived safely?'
Just before I departed to see the Eastern Festival.
Jeok Soya's embroidery was crude, but she'd stitched a handkerchief with a tiger, pouring all her desire to protect him into every stitch, and sent it to him.
I didn't know what Gaya thought of me, but I was fond of him.
There was no grand reason behind it.
Simply... because he was family.
Family.
That word alone made Jeok Soya cherish him deeply.
'I wish Gaya would come to like me too.'
There had been moments when she worried he might find her strange or burdensome, an unexpected child he'd never known before.
'I have to try harder. So I can truly become family with Gaya.'
Jeok Soya resolved this with quiet determination.
Either way, for Chung Ha and Gaya to return to Baek Ho Palace, the war had to end.
To defeat Evil, there remained one final Sacred Beast she needed to awaken.
"What kind of being is the Black Tortoise?"
At Jeok Soya's question, the Sacred Beasts bounced out of thin air with a pop-pop-pop.
―Little bird!
―Little bird!
The Vermillion Bird Goddess and the White Tiger Mountain Lord rushed toward Jeok Soya with delighted voices.
―Let me explain, that Hyeon To Yeom Wang fellow....
―Step aside, tiger. I shall be the one to tell it.
―No, old woman. I was speaking first, wasn't I?
―Tsk! How dare a youngster raise their voice like that?
At the sight of the two Sacred Beasts bickering the moment they appeared, Cheong Hae Yong Sin clicked his tongue in exasperation.
―Those two remain just as noisy even after a thousand years have passed.
Unlike the two Sacred Beasts before them, who wore the forms of mature man and woman, Cheong Hae Yong Sin appeared as a young girl with hair that flowed like blue waves.
Jeok Soya thought she looked just like a beautiful princess from an old fairy tale.
―You've had quite the time managing those two, little bird.
"Not at all, Divine Spirit. With both of them here, I'm never bored."
Jeok Soya answered with a soft giggle.
―The Northern Sacred Beast, the Black Tortoise. His other name is Hyeon To Yeom Wang.
Cheong Hae Yong Sin explained about the Black Tortoise in place of the two bickering Sacred Beasts.
―Long ago in ancient times, Evil sought to destroy the world. But we Four Sacred Beasts joined our strength and prevented it.
The four of us seized Evil's physical form, yet it was impossible to annihilate its very soul.
So we sealed that soul in the Northern Lands, and thereafter, the Hyunmu Clan, descendants of Hyeon To Yeom Wang, have guarded those desolate, frozen Northern Lands where Evil lay sealed, generation after generation.
However, some ten years ago, Hyun Rabaek, the patriarch of the Hyunmu Clan, offered his own body and awakened Evil.
―Your true opponent is not Hyun Rabaek himself, but the Evil dwelling within him. This cycle will not end unless you vanquish Evil.
"Evil...."
Jeok Soya murmured the name softly to herself.
―Yet the three of us alone can never defeat Evil. You must awaken the Yeom Wang of the North, little bird.
"Yes, Divine Spirit! I will definitely awaken him!"
Jeok Soya answered with spirited resolve.
Cheong Hae Yong Sin let out a soft chuckle as he watched Jeok Soya.
To awaken Black Tortoise, he ultimately had to journey to where Hyun Rabaek dwelled.
The desolate Swamp of the Dead in the frozen Northern Lands.
A place the living could scarcely traverse, yet this spirited and clever young fledgling would find a way through sheer determination.
But the greater obstacle lay elsewhere—in Black Tortoise's heart.
'Can this child bear such a burden?'
Cheong Hae Yong Sin's expression suddenly grew grave.
The Northern Sacred Beast Hyeon To Yeom Wang bore another name: "The Devourer."
Only a hunger to consume all that lived could awaken Black Tortoise.
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