Chapter 14
“Did I cause you trouble again? I’m sorry…….”
Soya apologized in a dejected voice. At that sight, one of Sa-eon’s eyebrows twitched upward.
“Trouble? What are you talking about?”
What on earth had this little child gone through in those chicken-head bastards’ territory that the first thing she said after waking from her illness was an apology?
Sa-eon barely suppressed the rising hostility toward the Zhuque Clan. He couldn’t scare the child.
“Not at all. So don’t worry about nothing, Cotton Ball.”
Instead, he said that and gently stroked Soya’s head.
In that moment, Soya’s eyes went wide and round.
It was the same casual yet affectionate touch he used when stroking the young masters’ heads.
She remembered how she had sneakily glanced at it, envious without realizing.
Soya suddenly felt tears welling up, so she bit down hard on her lower lip.
“Cotton Ball is crying, Father!”
Gayul shouted at Sa-eon upon noticing Soya’s reddening eyes.
“What?”
For a moment, Sa-eon faltered in surprise.
“It’s because of you, Father! You made Cotton Ball cry!”
“N-No, it’s not!”
Seeing Sa-eon’s expression turn serious, Soya frantically waved her hands and shook her head.
“Really, really it’s not! It’s true! This is just…… a yawn! Look, haaah!”
Soya opened her tiny mouth wide in a fake yawn.
It was a clumsy gesture that fully revealed her worry that Sa-eon might suffer an unfair misunderstanding.
Sa-eon couldn’t help but relax his stiff expression and chuckle at the adorably awkward sight.
“Cotton Ball must be really sleepy. Yawning so wide your mouth might split.”
Seeing Sa-eon’s face soften, Soya let out a sigh of relief.
At that moment, Baek Sa-ra, who had been watching the scene all along, spoke to Soya.
“Hey, baby who looks like a cotton ball. Come talk with me for a bit.”
Soya flinched and shrank back at the suggestion from the unfamiliar adult.
Noticing that Soya was shy around strangers, Sa-eon stepped in front of her and said,
“Sister, Cotton Ball still needs rest.”
“Who’s going to eat the child? As the Priestess of Baekho Palace, I have things to discuss with her, so step aside…….”
“Wh-What did you say, Aunt? You’re going to eat Cotton Ball?”
Gayul raised his voice in shock.
“……That kid Gayul has been rumored lately to be slacking on his studies and training, and now he’s turned into a complete idiot.”
Sara pressed her throbbing forehead.
“How could you even think something so terrifying! Cotton Ball is so small, and tiny, and little……!”
Gayul trembled, glaring at Sara as if she were the most evil villain in the world.
“You’re right, Sister. Cotton Ball is too small to withstand your fierce expression…….”
“Everyone get out of the shrine right now, you’re giving me a headache!”
Unable to bear it any longer, Sara shouted in a sharp voice.
In the end, everyone was chased out, leaving Soya alone with Sara in her shrine.
“I am Baek Sa-ra, the Priestess of Baekho Palace. Managing the Spirit Cores of young beastkin is part of my duties as well.”
Soya gazed at Sara, a bit tense at the prospect of being alone with a stranger.
Long, snow-white hair, tall stature, elongated eyes, a seemingly cold impression, and blue irises…….
‘Huh……?’
Suddenly, Soya realized that Sara looked very much like Sa-eon.
‘She looks like Sa-eon-nim.’
Strangely, her tension melted away, and her mind eased.
“Hello, Sara-nim. I’m Soya.”
Soya greeted her in a much more relaxed voice.
“Did you know your Spirit Core was damaged?”
Sara asked abruptly.
“My Spirit Core…… is damaged……?”
Seeing Soya’s trembling eyes, Sara let out a short sigh.
“I guess you didn’t know. Your Spirit Core isn’t functioning at all.”
“Ah…….”
Soya clutched the blanket hem tightly with both hands and hung her head.
‘My Spirit Core. It’s broken.’
She knew exactly who had broken it.
It was Brother Hwayu.
Three years ago, he was the one who had taken her Spirit Core.
‘Did he hate me that much?’
Tears welled up over her pale pink eyes.
Plop. Plip.
Thick tear stains spread where the child’s tears fell.
What had been taken from Soya wasn’t just her Spirit Core.
The family that should have been her protective fence as a child, and the love they gave—everything had been snatched away in an instant.
Thus, ever since that day three years ago when her Spirit Core was taken, Soya’s time had been frozen in place.
Overwhelmed by the fresh wave of sorrow, Soya silently let tears stream down.
The cold treatment and hatred she had taken for granted over the past three years now felt so heartbreaking, probably because of the warm kindness she had received from the people of Baekho Palace.
Sara felt strangely moved by the sight of Soya shedding big, chicken-tear-like drops without a single sob, swallowing her cries.
There was something about this child that softened the heart.
Was that why even Sa-eon couldn’t pass her by and had picked her up?
‘I’d better tell him about the unusual energy I sensed in her Spirit Core after I’m more certain.’
Sara thought back to the exceptionally clear and pure energy she had sensed the first time she examined Soya’s Spirit Core.
It was an auspicious, crystalline energy comparable to that of a divine beast, unlike anything she had ever encountered.
But it was too soon to conclude. She could observe over time while the child stayed at Baekho Palace.
‘That aside…….’
Sara looked down at Soya, arms crossed crookedly.
‘I don’t like seeing her cry like that.’
Frowning slightly, Sara rose from her seat and drew the bed curtains around where Soya sat.
Swish.
Startled by the sudden sound of the curtains, Soya stopped crying mid-hiccup and looked up at Sara.
“Baby.”
Sara said, haughtily lifting her chin.
“The shrine is well soundproofed, so it’s fine to cry out loud.”
“Y-Yes……?”
“I don’t know how to soothe kids. So cry your heart out until you calm down—that’s what I’m saying.”
“B-But…….”
Cry out loud? But in the Zhuque Clan, everyone got mad when I cried……
As Soya just hiccuped and stared, Sara raised one eyebrow menacingly.
“Don’t tell me you expect me to hold you and pat you?”
“N-No, I…….”
Just as Soya frantically waved her hands at the sharp tone,
“Tch, what a high-maintenance baby.”
Sara reached out toward Soya.
Soya flinched instinctively, but soon—
Squish.
Soya’s small body was pulled straight into Sara’s embrace.
“……!”
Soya looked up at Sara with her eyes round and wide.
For a moment, tears swirled, and the tip of her nose stung.
‘I can’t cry. They’ll all hate me if I cry. Just like the people in the Zhuque Clan…….’
The moment Soya bit her lower lip to hold back the welling tears.
Tap.
A casual hand touched her back.
Pat. Pat.
At that somewhat awkward, rough patting on her back, Soya finally burst into the childlike wail she had been holding back. “Waaah—!”
“You’re like a soaked cotton ball.”
Sara chuckled softly at the proper childish cry.
* * *
“I’m sorry, Young Lady. We should have stuck right by your side…….”
Yeon-jeong and San-ho couldn’t contain their regret and guilt upon hearing that Soya had collapsed.
“N-No need to apologize! Please don’t say that.”
Soya flailed her hands, at a loss.
“No, from now on, we won’t let go of each other—let’s hold hands tight wherever we go. Got it, Young Lady?”
“Me too, Young Lady. Let’s hold hands tight!”
Yeon-jeong and San-ho both reached out to Soya at the same time.
Soya’s face, which had been at a loss moments before, brightened at the two hands extended toward her.
“Y-Yes……!”
Fearing they might pull back, Soya quickly stretched out her arms and grabbed Yeon-jeong’s and San-ho’s hands tight.
The two women’s hands felt different from Sa-eon’s hand that had stroked her head.
Sa-eon’s hand had been broad and firm.
Yeon-jeong’s hand, gripped tightly in her left, was smaller but soft and squishy.
San-ho’s hand, interlocked in her right, had calluses here and there unlike Yeon-jeong’s, but it was warm.
And Sara-nim’s hand that had patted her back…… had been incredibly kind.
Unlike her cold, fierce impression and curt voice, Sara-nim was a truly kind person.
Perhaps everyone at Baekho Palace took after Sa-eon-nim and was gentle.
‘I wish my hands were warm too.’
Thinking that, Soya held tightly to their hands and toddled along on a walk.
But after that day, it wasn’t just Yeon-jeong and San-ho who stuck right by Soya’s side without leaving.
Ever since the day Soya had collapsed, Gayul openly trailed after her.
And Suri, with a gloomy face, chased after such Gayul.
On the fifth day since Soya had arrived here.
Unable to bear seeing Suri’s face grow gloomier by the day, Soya cautiously spoke up.
“Um, Young Master. Suri-nim has been worried since earlier—wouldn’t it be better to head to the training grounds now?”
“It can’t be helped because you’re so weak!”
But Gayul snorted dismissively, showing no interest in Suri’s plight.
“Who collapses like that just because they’re weak?”
“……I’m sorry.”
She had heard that it was none other than the third young master who had saved her when she collapsed.
Feeling sorry and worried that she was causing him trouble for no reason, Soya’s face fell gloomily.
Realizing his mistake, Gayul quickly changed his words.
“N-No, I mean……! What I’m saying is……! The great third son of the White Tiger Clan will specially protect you!”
“Huh? Why me……?”
“B-Because you’re cu……! Cu……!”
Gayul stammered for a moment, then shouted with his face beet red.
“I’m worried you might run into a ghost!”
