Chapter 10
The other maids who served Young Lady Riri always said to Soya,
No one would want to befriend a shabby, worthless little fledgling like you.
You should always be grateful to Young Lady Riri for looking after an ugly thing like you.
Soya agreed with those words.
She had no splendid feathers and wasn’t cute at all. She was a sinner who had presumptuously stolen the young lady’s place.
“Oh my, why would our young lady think that? You’re so cute.”
At that moment, Yeon-jeong giggled as she tied a pretty hair ribbon to the top of Soya’s head.
‘Me, cute?’
That was a word that suited a pretty child like Young Lady Riri……
“Look at this, young lady.”
San-ho held up a hand mirror and showed it to Soya.
“Wow…….”
Soya’s eyes widened round in surprise as she looked at herself in the mirror.
“Ta-da! It’s Yeon-jeong’s special steamed bun hairstyle!”
Yeon-jeong pointed at Soya’s hair, which she had bundled up plumply like steamed buns.
Soya wasn’t surprised just because of the two plump buns.
Her frizzy hair, which had been mocked as a broom because she couldn’t wash it properly, now shone with a glossy luster, and though her complexion was still a bit pale, a faint vitality glowed through it.
Not only that, but thanks to the fluffy new clothes, a pleasant fragrance wafted from her body.
Soya unnecessarily pulled up her sleeve and sniffed it. A cozy scent lingered at the tip of her nose. Her heart began to thump excitedly.
“How is it? Cute, right?”
“Y-Yes……!”
Soya’s throat felt strangely hot, so she nodded quickly.
“See? Now that you’re this cute, even the youngest young master keeps hanging around you.”
“…….”
Of course, she still couldn’t agree that the young master wanted to befriend her.
‘But in a mansion full of only young masters, how is there such a pretty room and perfectly fitting clothes?’
A small question arose, but Soya soon pushed the thought aside and spoke to San-ho and Yeon-jeong.
“Um…… Is it okay if I go say hello to Sa-eon-nim?”
Soya recalled Sa-eon, who had appeared at a dangerous moment to save her from the assassin and had suddenly declared he would take her, bringing her all the way here.
[It’s not a bother at all, so don’t worry and stay here for the time being.]
Even in her feverish delirium, she remembered his voice, which seemed indifferent yet kind, and the solid, warm embrace that had held her.
‘He told me to stay here for the time being.’
Soya hoped that “for the time being” would last just a little longer.
Because…… the solid adult embrace she had felt after so long had been too cozy and warm.
* * *
With Yeon-jeong and San-ho’s help, Soya made her way to Sa-eon’s office.
“Oh, isn’t this the cotton ball young lady?”
A handsome man with reddish-brown hair standing in front of the office spotted Soya and smiled brightly as he asked.
“Uh, y-yes…….”
Soya’s cheeks flushed pink as she thought to herself.
‘Why does everyone call me a cotton ball? I’m not a cotton ball, I’m Soya…….’
“I came to say hello to Sa-eon-nim. To thank him…….”
Soya fidgeted with her hands as she spoke.
“Please wait a moment. I’ll let the Patriarch know.”
Through the slightly ajar door, she could see Sa-eon gently patting the head of a small boy who resembled him, as if praising him.
The young nobleman with soft features and long white hair tied up in a single braid was Baek Ga-hyeon, the second young master of the White Tiger Clan.
Ga-hyeon was gazing at his father with eyes full of pride and respect.
Soya glanced at Sa-eon’s large hand gently stroking Ga-hyeon’s head.
“Patriarch. The cotton ball young lady has come to see you.”
At those words, Sa-eon and Ga-hyeon both turned toward the door at the same time.
“The young lady says she wants to greet the Patriarch.”
Ga-hyeon’s expression stiffened slightly at Soya’s appearance.
Spotting it, Soya flinched and shrank her shoulders.
Having grown accustomed over the past three years to reading others’ expressions, Soya was more sensitive than anyone to sharp gazes directed at her.
And yet, because it was a gaze she had felt far too often, Soya brushed aside the familiar prickly look and approached Baek Sa-eon, bowing deeply at the waist to express her gratitude.
“I came to say hello, Sa-eon-nim. Thank you so much for saving me, treating me, and giving me a warm room and clean clothes.”
She greeted him shyly, but the child’s manner of speech and the way she clasped her hands and bowed were anything but ordinary.
‘This child has received etiquette training.’
Sa-eon immediately grasped the new fact.
“How’s your body?”
“I’m much better now. The fever’s gone, and my throat doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“You look much better now that you’re not in pain.”
Sa-eon scanned Soya’s small frame and curled the corner of his mouth up slyly.
“Perfect timing. Hyeon-ah. You show Soya around Baekho Palace.”
“Pardon? Me?”
Ga-hyeon asked in bewilderment at his father’s sudden command.
Ga-hyeon had considered Soya pathetic from their first meeting.
‘She knew she’d get sick from eating the peach but ate it anyway.’
He despised kids who couldn’t even express their own will properly.
He didn’t like that such a foolish child had appeared cradled in his father’s arms, nor that she had been given the room at the western end.
And he especially didn’t like that she had interrupted his time with his father just now.
But he couldn’t disobey his father.
Wanting to appear as the perfect child above all in his father’s eyes, Ga-hyeon hid his reluctance and nodded.
“Understood, Father.”
Ga-hyeon extended his hand toward Soya and asked in a gentle voice.
“Hello. Your name’s Soya, right? Want to tour the mansion with me?”
“Uh, I…… Yes.”
Soya cautiously took his hand after glancing at his face, and Ga-hyeon smiled brightly, his eyes crinkling.
Sa-eon chuckled softly as he watched the two children leave hand in hand, looking friendly.
* * *
Ga-hyeon glanced down at Soya, who was toddling after him, clutching his hand.
‘Her hand’s ridiculously small.’
Even his younger brother Gayul, who was below him in age, didn’t have hands this small.
‘Her legs are short too.’
She looked a bit pathetic, her little feet moving quickly in pattering steps to keep up with his pace.
‘What on earth was Father thinking?’
The room at the western end.
That room had been prepared by his father for adopting a girl from a branch family.
It was to put forward a candidate for the “Bride of the Yellow Dragon” in the name of the clan.
The consort of the Son of Heaven who ruled the continent, the Bride of the Yellow Dragon.
This was no mere emperor’s wife; it was a position of equal standing to the emperor, overseeing the empire’s stability and even substituting for him in emergencies.
For generations, the four divine beast clans had produced the Bride of the Yellow Dragon, but when there were no direct-line daughters, it was long-standing custom to adopt a child from a branch family and raise her as a candidate.
Thus, the White Tiger Clan, lacking a daughter this generation, also planned to adopt a child from a branch family.
Branch family girls were already coming one by one, hand in hand with their parents, to catch Sa-eon’s eye.
But for a girl of unknown origin to occupy that room like this made Ga-hyeon increasingly worried.
Not only that, his father had assigned her servants from the Red Fox and Indigo Wolf Clans.
The Red Fox and Indigo Wolf were the two clans that had served the White Tiger Clan’s direct line for generations in the Western Region.
Moreover, Indigo Wolf Nan San-ho was the leader of all wolves in the western lands, originally attending his father, and Red Fox Ho Yeon-jeong was the younger sister of his father’s aide Ho Jeok-yeong and oversaw the inner affairs of Baekho Palace.
Even if it was temporary, it was rather excessive treatment.
‘He’s not planning to adopt this child into the clan instead of one from the branch family, is he?’
For the clan’s sake, that must never happen. A child of unknown roots could never represent the clan.
This child wasn’t even a tiger.
Looking at her small and white…… a cat? But she seemed too meek for a cat……
Or a rabbit? She looked like she lived on grass alone, which suited a rabbit perfectly……
‘Anyway, that’s not the point. She can’t keep staying in that western end room. Of course, Father will handle it well…….’
Baek Ga-hyeon, the second young master of the Baek Clan who respected his father Baek Sa-eon more than anyone, quickly dismissed his doubts.
It was wrong to question what his father did.
“This is the rear garden. The flowers are pretty, aren’t they?”
Unlike his gentle tone as he introduced the mansion’s various spots, Ga-hyeon’s eyes were filled with annoyance.
He had judged there was no need to put in sincere effort for a child who would only stay briefly.
Thus, even though he knew she was toddling after him on her short legs, Ga-hyeon deliberately didn’t slow his pace and gave only cursory explanations.
