Chapter 28
‘She must have been hurt, right?’
Gahyeon thought back to how Soya’s large eyes had trembled.
He hadn’t seen her again since that incident.
He needed to explain that he hadn’t meant it that way, but whenever he tried to go to her, he couldn’t figure out what to say, so he let time slip by aimlessly.
Because of that, the events from yesterday lingered in his throat like a stubborn fishbone, prickly and irritating.
It was then that a guest from the silver tiger clan arrived.
“Gahyeon oppa, it’s been a while. Have you been well?”
Siyo greeted him in a friendly tone.
At the word ‘oppa,’ Gahyeon lifted his head to look at her.
Even though they were distantly related through a collateral line—practically like strangers—it wasn’t an appropriate form of address.
Still, hiding his inner thoughts, Gahyeon smiled softly and replied.
“Yeah, it’s been a while. Sihwa.”
He deliberately got her name wrong. It was a polite way of saying they weren’t close enough for such familiarity.
Siyo’s face flushed slightly as she caught on.
“Ah, um, oppa, I’m not Sihwa…”
She stammered out her name again by way of introduction. The thought that those around them might have seen made embarrassment flood over her.
“Ahh, sorry. I must have mixed it up.”
Gahyeon replied in a gentle, warm voice, as if it had been completely unintentional.
“No, it’s fine, oppa. It’s just that it’s been so long since I last visited.”
“Even so, it’s better to use the proper form of address, Siyo. What if people misunderstand? They might think you’re coveting the Western End Room.”
It sounded at first like a warning not to eye the Western End Room, but as he pointed it out, Gahyeon’s expression and voice were so kind and caring, as if he were simply worried for her.
Thus, though Siyo felt him subtly drawing a line, she dismissed it as her imagination.
“Yes, Young Master. Thank you for your concern.”
The two sat across from each other with a tea tray between them and continued their conversation.
“Hehe, so my father said…”
“Mhm, I see.”
Gahyeon’s demeanor remained polite throughout, but he had long since lost interest in this meeting.
He had already been preoccupied with other thoughts even before Siyo arrived, and now that they’d exchanged a few words, the whole thing felt like a waste of time.
It was while Gahyeon was going through the motions with a feigned amiable expression, enduring the dull and boring time, that he happened to glance out the window—and sensed something subtly off.
He soon realized what that sense of wrongness was.
It was dinnertime soon, which meant Soya should have been out for her final afternoon walk, but she wasn’t there.
‘Why… isn’t she visible?’
The corners of his eyes narrowed faintly.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her all day.’
The thought reached that point, and Gahyeon abruptly shot up from his seat.
Soya’s routine was quite regular.
Of course, she occasionally deviated from it by an hour or two.
But for Soya, who loved walks, to not show herself in the garden even once all day—this was too strange.
Come to think of it, not just Soya, but Gayul was missing too.
“Young Master…?”
Siyo blinked up at him in surprise. Gahyeon’s expression had darkened.
“Is something bothering you…?”
But before Siyo could even finish, Gahyeon called for Jeokah and rushed outside.
“Ho Jeokah!”
“Young Master?”
“That kid’s nowhere to be seen. Where is she?”
“Pardon?”
“I mean Soya. I haven’t seen her all day.”
Jeokah looked at him with a bewildered expression.
It was as if to say, How should I know?
“Well, as for Cotton Ball Lady’s schedule, you’d know it better than I do, wouldn’t you, Young Master?”
His young master had a firmer grasp on Cotton Ball Lady’s routine than anyone else in Baekho Palace.
He probably knew it even better than Yeon-jeong or San-ho.
“I’m saying this because it’s her afternoon walk time and she’s not there. She wasn’t at morning walk time or afternoon playtime either.”
“Maybe she wanted to rest in her room for the day? She might not be feeling well…”
Whoosh!
Gahyeon brushed past Jeokah and headed straight for Soya’s room.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Gahyeon, who as a direct descendant of the Baekho always minded his bearing, had never once stomped around making such heavy footsteps.
He was the sort of young master who wouldn’t run even in the rain but would walk calmly while getting soaked.
At this uncharacteristic behavior, not only Jeokah but all the servants passing through the corridor stared in shock.
Bang!
He flung open the door to Soya’s room, but she wasn’t there.
Gahyeon clenched his fist tightly, then immediately began searching the entire residence for her.
But Soya wasn’t in the garden, nor on the walking paths, nor in Gayul’s room.
‘Where on earth…’
Gahyeon, anxiously searching for her, spotted Yeon-jeong walking toward him from the opposite direction.
“Where’s Soya?”
She looked taken aback by his sharp, abrupt question but answered readily.
“If it’s the Young Lady, she went up Horim Mountain this afternoon and hasn’t come back yet. She seems to be running a bit late.”
“What?”
“The youngest Young Master and Suri went with her, so she should be fine. Horim Mountain isn’t a dangerous place anyway.”
“Suri… you mean that indigo wolf kid over there?”
Yeon-jeong turned her head toward where Gahyeon was pointing and jumped in surprise.
Suri, who should have been with the Young Lady and Young Master right now, was loitering near the north gate of Baekho Palace.
“No, Suri, you! Why are you here? What about the Young Lady and Young Master?”
“Ah, Yeon-jeong-nim. Young Master. Well, I had a stomachache… So we promised I’d stick right by Cotton Ball Lady and the Young Master’s side, and…”
Suri mumbled his answer.
Gahyeon’s expression hardened rigidly.
Gayul was with her, so there shouldn’t be any danger, but his unease didn’t fade.
“I’ll go fetch her myself.”
Gahyeon strode off toward the rear of Baekho Palace.
“Oh my, Young Master? Young Master!”
“Young Master, I understand you’re worried about Cotton Ball Lady, but this is a bit excessive…”
It was as Yeon-jeong and Jeokah hurried after him.
“Huh? Isn’t that the youngest Young Master over there?”
Gayul was just coming down from the mountain.
“Looks like he’s coming down now.”
Everyone sighed in relief, but Gahyeon muttered in a stiff voice.
“…Why is he alone?”
Gayul, who should have been with Soya, was descending by himself.
At that moment, Gayul, who had been rushing down the mountain with an anxious expression, spotted Gahyeon and shouted right away.
“Hyung! Have you seen Cotton Ball?”
“…Didn’t you go up the mountain with her? What are you talking about?”
Gayul’s face went pale at that.
“W-what do we do, hyung? I think I lost Cotton Ball!”
“What?”
“I dozed off for a bit and woke up, and she was gone… I searched everywhere, but no sign of her, so I thought maybe she came down first…”
Gayul explained while fidgeting anxiously. Gahyeon’s face turned fierce.
“And you came down alone because of that? You idiot!”
Gahyeon bellowed.
Separate from how he could be sharp and cold with his own blood kin, he had never once raised his voice like this.
“U-uwaah, uw…”
“What are you crying for? It’s not like you did a good job.”
As Gayul sniffled from the fear of having lost Cotton Ball, Gahyeon snapped at him harshly.
“Sniff, hic, sob, but, but Cotton Ball… because of me…”
Gayul swallowed his sobs with hiccups.
“Don’t worry too much, Young Master. The Young Lady will be fine.”
“Yeah. Besides, the beasts on Horim Mountain are docile and it’s not dangerous.”
“She must have gotten lost, so if we go look for her…”
It was while everyone tried to speak positively.
“I can’t smell Soya.”
Everyone froze at Gahyeon’s murmur as he stared coldly at Horim Mountain.
“Something is blocking me from finding her scent.”
Gahyeon gritted his teeth, glaring at Horim Mountain, then—poof!—transformed into a massive tiger.
* * *
Meanwhile, the Soya left behind in the forest waited for Gayul to catch her scent and come find her.
But she waited and waited, and he still didn’t come.
In the meantime, the sun had fully set.
