Chapter 26
“Young Master……!”
When Soya raised her voice, Gayul hopped down from the tree and started running away.
Soya chased after Gayul.
“Kyaaak!”
Gayul was caught by Soya in no time.
She had completely forgotten that she had received the Wind Orb from San-ho.
The fiercely competitive Gayul felt a little indignant about being caught by Soya.
“Woof! Woof, woof! (This is cheating, cotton ball!)”
It was then, as Gayul pounded the ground with his front paws to vent his frustration.
Soya swiftly tucked a flower blossom right into Gayul’s round ear.
“Grrrng? (W-what is this?)”
Soya burst into giggles at the flustered Gayul.
“It’s your penalty. Since I caught you, Young Master.”
“Woof! Woof, woof! (No way! I’m the great third son of the White Tiger Clan…….)”
Gayul leaped into the air, flailing his short front paws to yank out the flower.
“Huh? No, you can’t! A penalty is a penalty!”
Soya grabbed hold of Gayul’s front paws to stop him.
“Grrrng……! (Who decided that!)”
Soya beamed at the huffing Gayul and made a proposal.
“Then this time, you be the tagger, Young Master. If you catch me, I’ll let you take that flower off.”
“Grrrng? Grrrng…… Rawr! (What? No…… cotton ball! Where do you think you’re going!)”
Before Gayul could even finish, Soya bolted off in the opposite direction.
A brilliant smile bloomed across Soya’s face as she ran.
It was a pure, radiant smile that Soya herself had forgotten how to make for so long.
Thanks to the Wind Orb, Soya could hop lightly even over the rugged slopes without a struggle, but she couldn’t match Gayul’s endurance.
With their speed and stamina now evenly balanced, their game of tag turned into a fierce, back-and-forth contest—unlike their ball games in the garden.
Soya and Gayul chased each other around in tag for quite a while before collapsing in a panting heap.
They had played so exuberantly that even Gayul, who prided himself on his endless stamina, ended up a little winded.
After amicably sharing the lunch box Yeon-jeong-nim had prepared, Gayul—now back in human form—flopped onto the grass and dozed off with soft snores.
While playing flower games beside him, Soya noticed that Suri-nim looked unwell.
“Suri-nim, what’s wrong?”
“I think I’ve got a stomachache.”
Suri-nim replied, beaded in cold sweat.
“A-are you okay? Shouldn’t you head down right away?”
“I can’t ruin Young Lady’s first outing on my account. I’ll dash back to Baekho Palace real quick, so stay glued to the Young Master’s side and don’t wander off, Young Lady. Understood?”
Suri-nim gave a strained smile to the foot-stamping Soya. It looked so effortful that worry flooded her.
“Yes, yes! I’ll stick right by the Young Master, so please hurry back, Suri-nim!”
The moment Soya finished speaking, Suri-nim transformed into a massive wolf with a poof!
In his rush, he bounded down the mountain in a single leap and vanished in the blink of an eye.
‘Suri-nim is so fast even without a Wind Orb.’
She had heard that the beastkin of the Indigo Wolf Clan, renowned for their wind-like speed, had served as warriors guarding the White Tiger’s direct lineage for generations thanks to that gift.
‘I wish I had such a cool unique ability.’
Soya thought the Indigo Wolves, who used their powers to protect others, were utterly amazing.
Unique ability.
The innate power possessed by beastkin, typically passed down through family bloodlines.
Any beastkin would naturally awaken their Spirit Core and manifest their unique ability, but for Soya—who had her Spirit Core extracted for three years after her first beast transformation—it was impossible.
She had gotten her Spirit Core back now, but it wasn’t working properly, and its condition was so dire that leaving it alone threatened her very body.
Just recently, it had acted up and made her collapse, worrying everyone around her.
She was diligently taking the tonic Sara had sent, morning and night, but deep down, Soya knew.
She would probably live out her life as a half-beastkin with a broken Spirit Core.
[Extract the child’s Spirit Core and lock her in the Cold Palace.]
[If that kid upsets you, I’ll make her vanish from your sight forever. So don’t cry, Riri.]
Thinking of her father and brother Hwayu still made her chest tighten with sorrow.
But Soya sensed that it no longer hurt as sharply as before.
Because she knew it all too well now.
They had never been her family from the start.
Her broken Spirit Core was the price for stealing Riri Young Lady’s place and making them sad and pained.
That thought let Soya swallow down her grief, at least a little.
And besides, there had been those warm hands that comforted her when she cried so bitterly.
‘And it’s fine without a unique ability. I protected people too, after all.’
Soya recalled the colorful stone amulets she had finished painting with Yeon-jeong-nim and San-ho-nim’s help.
Her sunken mood lifted right away.
‘When I head down this evening, I should make an amulet with these flowers and give it to the youngest Young Master as a gift. I hope he likes it this time.’
It was then, as Soya grinned at the sky flowers in her basket.
“Huh……?”
Soya’s ears suddenly perked up.
Grrrr……
An unfamiliar growl rumbled from the bushes.
“……!”
Soya shot to her feet on instinct, staring toward the sound.
She froze right there.
A mountain beast glared at her with fierce, menacing eyes, drool dripping in thick globs.
‘Why…….’
Her eyes trembled as tension locked her body.
‘Yeon-jeong-nim said the beasts on Horim Mountain never attack people.’
But right now, there was no time to puzzle it out.
‘I have to run……!’
Her hands and feet shook uncontrollably.
Soya remembered the last time she had felt this.
The day she left Zhuque Mansion—after the summer festival ended, left alone, facing that man in the black mask.
This was unmistakable killing intent.
‘I can get away. Last time, I stupidly tripped and nearly died, but now I have San-ho-nim’s Wind Orb.’
Soya clenched her fists tight and stole a glance at the youngest Young Master.
He was sleeping soundly a short distance away.
The beast before her was zeroed in on Soya and hadn’t spotted him yet.
Tadot!
Soya kicked off and sprinted in the direction opposite Gayul.
The mountain beast gave chase.
Tadot! Tat, tat, tat!
Her frantic footsteps echoed through the mountains.
The noise drew more beasts; their numbers swelled one by one behind her.
Soya dodged them as she plunged deeper into the forest.
After running for what felt like ages, she hit a dead end. A massive black rock loomed, blocking the path.
Soya whipped her head back for a look.
Sensing she had nowhere left to flee, the mountain beasts closed in leisurely.
Grrrr……
Grrrr……
Grrrr……
Soya gulped down air and turned back to the rock.
The black rock barring her way was far too huge and steep.
After a brief hesitation, Soya began scaling it.
Normally, she never would have dreamed of trying.
But the Wind Orb bolstered the strength in her ankles and legs.
Soya scrambled up with swift hands and feet.
She nearly slipped a few times but made it safely to the top.
That was when the panicked beasts swarmed the base.
Rumble rumble rumblerumble—!
The sky abruptly darkened, and the ground quaked violently.
Soya, plastered flat against the rock, slid right off and landed hard on her backside.
“No……!”
She scrambled up in a panic and froze.
The beasts that had been flashing sharp fangs at her moments ago now whimpered in terror, cowering.
‘Huh……?’
Bewildered by the beasts stumbling back, morale shattered, blinking in confusion—
A colossal shadow suddenly engulfed her from above.
Soya slowly craned her neck back and turned to ice.
Now she knew what had terrified the mountain beasts.
What she had taken for a big rock was rising up.
An icy dread, incomparable to before, crashed over her.
‘It’s not a rock! That’s……!’
Soya’s eyes quivered wildly.
Gray eyes glinting beneath a black, rock-hard shell. Thick legs propping up its boulder-sized body.
It was a magical beast.
“GRRRRRRRNG!”
The guttural roar shook the earth once more, and
Boom!
The magical beast smashed down with a massive forepaw, splitting the ground.
“Kyaeeeng……!”
“Kiiing……!”
The hesitating beasts had no chance to flee; they tumbled into the fissures.
In seconds, Soya was alone in the empty clearing with the magical beast.
“Grrrrrng…….”
“…….”
Soya stood petrified, not daring a single breath.
She had to run.
She had to escape now.
Terror from the scene she had just witnessed wrapped her body in tight chains.
“Grrrrrng…….”
The magical beast fixed its gleaming gray eyes on Soya.
Tears pricked at her eyes from raw, primal fear.
Shhhhk—
Its bark-like, rigid black hide sloughed off, and its body melted away like thick mud, oozing…
“Pyah!”
Into a small black fluff ball.
“Peep?”
The black fluff ball cocked its head at Soya.
