Chapter 13
The baby bird, which she had thought was sleeping, lay with its eyes closed, letting out faint, feeble peeps.
Jolt!
Gayul’s heart plummeted with a sickening thud.
It was a breathing sound so fragile it seemed it might stop at any moment.
“C-Cotton Ball’s breathing is weird!”
“Oh no, I’ll fetch the physician! The physician!”
It was just as Suri was about to dash off to call the physician.
“Wait, it’s not a physician!”
“P-Pardon…?”
“It’s this kid’s Spirit Core—it’s acting strange!”
Gayul realized it on instinct. Soya’s problem wasn’t with her body, but with her Spirit Core.
“We need to take her to Aunt Sara, not a physician!”
“Y-Yes? A-Aunt… you mean Lady Sara?”
The elder sister of the clan head Baek Sa-eon and the priestess of Baekho Palace, Baek Sa-ra. She was infamous for her prickly personality.
Because of that, the people of Baekho Palace, Suri included, generally avoided approaching the shrine unless absolutely necessary. But now was no time for such concerns.
That adorable little cotton ball young lady was suffering.
Immediately, Suri transformed into a massive wolf and carried the young master and the young lady on his back as he raced toward the shrine on the eastern side of Baekho Palace.
The moment they arrived at the shrine, Gayul hopped down from Suri’s back and pounded on the door frantically.
“Aunt Sara! Aunt Sara!”
With a creaky groan, the door swung open, and a woman with long, curly white hair elegantly pinned up appeared. She had a glamorous yet icy demeanor, a pipe clenched between her teeth as she poked her head out.
The priestess of Baekho Palace, Baek Sa-ra.
“I wondered what rude wild beast was banging on the shrine door, and here you are.”
Baek Sa-ra tsked, looking down at her third nephew with clear irritation on her face.
“The runt of Baek Sa-eon, tsk.”
“Save the cotton ball!”
Gayul thrust both hands forward and shouted right away.
“The cotton ball…! The cotton ball, her breathing’s all weird! I was watching her with both eyes wide open, and suddenly she just—flop—collapsed…!”
In Gayul’s tiny palms lay an even tinier, pure white baby bird.
“So this is the cotton ball that Sa-eon picked up?”
Sara narrowed her eyes into thin slits as she examined the baby bird.
Not long ago, word had spread throughout Baekho Palace that Baek Sa-eon had inexplicably brought home a tiny girl who looked like a fluff ball in the dead of night and given her the room at the far end of the western wing.
The story had even reached Sara’s ears, despite her disinterest in affairs outside the shrine.
Not a four-legged beast, but a winged bird beastkin.
Curiosity stirred at the sight of such a small creature unseen in Baekho Palace, but first things first—she needed to check the baby bird’s condition.
Sara gently placed her hand over the little body and closed her eyes.
Then, suddenly sensing something off, her eyes snapped open.
A golden light rippled through her blue irises.
“Fetch Sa-eon. Now!”
“Y-Yes, Lady Sara!”
Suri bolted off at her frightening shout.
* * *
The southern continent, the land of the Zhuque Clan.
Jeok Hwayu sat at his desk, handling paperwork.
Since three years ago, he had taken over the clan’s affairs in place of his father.
“Young master.”
At that moment, a man in a black mask appeared.
Jeok Hwayu glanced at him briefly and replied in a voice devoid of emotion.
“This is unusual.”
It had been two days since he’d assigned the task.
The man’s visit was somewhat puzzling, as he’d assumed he had already left the southern lands by now, but he lowered his gaze back to the documents and asked indifferently.
“What happened to the girl?”
“She’s dead.”
He froze.
The hand that had been casually flipping through the papers stopped.
The masked man placed what he had retrieved on the desk.
A bloodstained pouch. And… three colorful beads.
Jeok Hwayu didn’t recognize them at first.
Then he realized they were part of the beaded bracelet he’d bought for Soya in the streets.
“We found them at the last place where she left any trace.”
“……”
As Jeok Hwayu stared blankly at them, the masked man continued his report.
The wicked baby bird who had stolen the young lady’s place and deceived everyone had vanished, leaving only bloodstains behind.
In the end, they couldn’t even find the body.
“…I see.”
Jeok Hwayu nodded and dismissed the man.
He covered his weary face with his palm.
She’s dead…
Was she really dead?
He hadn’t intended to kill her. He had only…
[Riri can’t live under the same sky as that thing. Unless you want to see Riri die, please make that thing disappear.]
[I’ll do whatever you want. If that thing upsets you, I’ll make sure it never appears before your eyes again. So please don’t cry, Riri. It tears my heart apart.]
Yes. He hadn’t intended to kill her.
He had only planned to remove her far, far away so she could never approach Riri again.
Because Riri was sad as long as that girl existed.
Poor Riri.
Just thinking of Riri made Jeok Hwayu’s chest ache.
But why was this?
Soya. The thought that she might be dead brought the same pain… just like when he thought of Riri.
’No. No. She’s the daughter of the criminal who stole and ruined Riri’s childhood. For Riri’s sake, I shouldn’t grieve her death.’
Grimacing, Jeok Hwayu ground his teeth and rose from his seat.
‘I need to report to Father…’
His father didn’t know yet.
He probably didn’t even know the girl had vanished from the mansion.
Ever since Riri returned, his father’s attention had been solely on her.
But what should he report?
The girl is dead.
All that remained at the site of her disappearance were a few items and dried bloodstains.
We couldn’t find the body.
Even if she’s alive, she’ll die soon.
Because her Spirit Core is already…
* * *
On the day of her first Beast Transformation at age six, Soya had awakened her Spirit Core for the first time—only to have it immediately extracted from her.
As a result, the child’s body had failed to grow properly for three years due to the absence of her Spirit Core.
On top of that, forcibly attempting Beast Transformation without a Spirit Core had damaged her body in various places.
The weakened flesh had then excessively absorbed the energy from the recently recovered Spirit Core, triggering side effects.
“This child seems to have endured a long time without her Spirit Core.”
Baek Sa-ra, now back in human form, looked down at Soya, who lay gasping on the bed, and explained.
“The reason she’s so unusually small and frail is probably because of that. She couldn’t grow properly after enduring so long without it.”
Sa-eon’s face hardened as he listened silently.
In the world of beastkin, extracting a Spirit Core was something done only to grave criminals.
That authority belonged to the heads of the four great clans, and this child had lived under the influence of the Zhuque Clan.
‘Which means… the one who took this child’s Spirit Core…’
The Patriarch of the Zhuque Clan, Jeok Ayun. It had to be his doing.
“Moreover, the Spirit Core itself isn’t in perfect condition. It’s severely damaged.”
“……”
“It wasn’t just damaged from being separated from its owner and neglected. It feels like someone deliberately ruined it.”
Baek Sa-ra frowned, her expression grave as she spoke.
“Someone deliberately damaged the Spirit Core of a child this small?”
Sa-eon asked incredulously.
He immediately recalled the Samjok-o assassins from the Zhuque Clan who had attacked the child on the first day he met her.
‘Could it have been them?’
Jeok Ayun, the Patriarch of the Zhuque Clan called the Sage of the South, was renowned for his wisdom and righteousness.
He had a completely different reputation from Baek Sa-eon, the Mad Tiger of the Western Lands, and they were like water and oil, never mixing.
It was hard to believe such a man would commit such a vile act against a tiny child.
[Then… I almost died? To those… people from the Zhuque Clan…?]
The moment he remembered Soya tearfully saying that and sobbing pitifully, Sa-eon unwittingly scowled.
The red fox he’d assigned to the cotton ball had reported that the girl’s body was covered in wounds everywhere.
As if they were traces of long-term abuse…
What on earth had happened between this child and the Zhuque Clan?
‘I’ll need to send someone to the southern lands to investigate.’
The easiest way to find out was to ask the child directly.
But if she had truly been abused, even recalling it would hurt her.
Above all, Sa-eon didn’t want to see the child cry again.
Just remembering her pitiful sobs made his chest twinge painfully.
It was while Sa-eon was lost in unusually gentle thoughts.
“So I specially used one of my treasured spirit medicines to nourish her body and Spirit Core. Feed her well, let her rest, and play with her, and she’ll recover soon.”
“Thank you, sister.”
“Don’t thank me. But without properly treating the Spirit Core, the root problem won’t be solved. And as you know, the way to treat a Spirit Core is…”
It was while Sa-eon and Sara continued their serious conversation.
“Huh? The cotton ball’s eyes are open!”
Gayul, who had been glued to Soya’s side, jumped up and shouted.
All eyes turned to Soya in an instant.
“Cotton ball! You okay?”
“Are you alright?”
Gayul and Sa-eon asked in turn.
Waking up in an unfamiliar place, Soya blinked dazedly, unsure of the situation.
“You were dozing off on the rock and then—flop—just collapsed! So I brought you to Aunt Sara!”
“Ah…”
At Gayul’s explanation, Soya’s eyebrows drooped into an eight (八) shape.
The weather had been nice, so she’d been sitting on a big rock in the garden, basking in the sun.
Following the sun was instinct for bird beastkin, but back at Zhuque Mansion, she couldn’t bask freely like this.
Everyone disliked it when Soya wandered outside.
But here at Baekho Palace, it was different.
Yeon-jeong and San-ho had told her she could go for walks whenever she wanted.
No one got angry or scowled when Soya went out.
No one pinched their noses saying she stank, whispered, or pointed fingers.
There was that strange tiger young master who kept peeking at her, but since she knew his gaze held no sharp malice, it didn’t bother her.
So while Yeon-jeong had stepped away briefly to report to Sa-eon, Soya had slipped out alone for a stroll.
She remembered sitting on the rock, basking in the sun until drowsiness came, and nodding off with slow blinks…
