Chapter 33
“Is, is it because I’m heavy?”
Soya jumped in surprise.
“Please put me down! I want to get down!”
“Whine! Grunt, grunt!”
Seeing Soya wriggling about, Seolyo below tugged at Sa-eon’s pant leg, as if urging him to set her down right away.
At that, Sa-eon burst out chuckling.
“I’m just teasing you, cotton ball. You’re not heavy at all—you’re as light as a feather. I’m actually worried you might blow away if the wind picks up. So hurry up and get heavier.”
“N-No, if I get any heavier…!”
Gurgle.
A gurgle sounded from Soya’s stomach.
Her face burned bright red!
It was mortifying that her stomach had to rumble at a moment like that.
Soya quickly cupped her palms over her face to hide it.
“This won’t do. Let’s go fatten you up a bit, cotton ball.”
Sa-eon chuckled as he started walking again, but he stopped when he spotted Seolyo trotting along right behind him.
He bent down toward Seolyo, prodded her forehead with his finger, and said in a casual tone,
“I’ll fatten up the cotton ball nice and plump before I bring her back, so stay out of sight and behave yourself.”
As if it had understood perfectly, Seolyo nodded and obediently vanished.
* * *
Looking down from the window, Siyo gripped the windowsill tightly.
At the end of her gaze was Soya, being carried in Sa-eon’s arms as they moved along.
‘Why…’
Just last evening, Baekho Palace had been thrown into an uproar when that child went missing.
Everyone in Baekho Palace—even Sa-eon-nim, who had just returned from a trip out—had been fretting over whether something had happened to her.
‘She’s not even a tiger. What on earth is so special about that child?’
Originally, that scent pouch had been prepared to keep the girls from the other collateral families in check during the Mountain Lord Festival.
The plan was to enrage the mountain beasts and disrupt the other girls’ performances.
In truth, when Siyo had first learned of Soya’s existence, she hadn’t paid it much mind.
She had figured a small, innocent human girl who wasn’t even a tiger could never be her rival.
But seeing how the Baekho Clan members were all doting on that child had started to make her anxious.
That’s why, when the chance came up to climb Horim Mountain, she had gifted her the scent pouch.
Yet Soya had come back perfectly fine.
And carried on Gahyeon’s back, no less!
On top of that, the incident had only drawn her even closer to the young masters of the white tigers.
Gahyeon, who had always been so strict with her about using proper forms of address, had let Soya call him big brother.
Just the fact that he had stormed out of their tea gathering to go search for that child had made her impatient enough, but this series of events was filling Siyo with a strong sense of crisis.
“What if Sa-eon-nim really decides to formally adopt that child into the family?”
Siyo muttered as she gnawed at her nails.
“If that child takes the Western End Room from me… then I’ll…”
“It seems things aren’t going your way, Young Lady.”
At the voice that came from behind her then, Siyo startled and whipped her head around.
A man in a black mask was standing right there without making a sound.
“You…!”
The man was the one who had come to the Silver Tiger Clan not long ago, approaching her with an offer to help.
“What happened? You said that with just the scent pouch, you could get rid of anyone! I did exactly as you said, but things have only gotten worse!”
Siyo snapped at him in a sharp voice.
“It seems a variable has arisen.”
“Everyone in Baekho Palace is only looking after that child. If she ends up getting formally adopted into the Baekho Clan…”
“Don’t worry too much. Nothing like that will happen.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I know that girl’s weakness.”
At those words, Siyo paused and asked again.
“That child’s weakness?”
* * *
Soya ate lunch with Sa-eon.
Her belly ended up stuffed full because he kept feeding her this and that.
“Yesterday, while I was away, you went up the mountain and got left behind all alone—that had me really worried.”
Sa-eon, who had been propping his chin and watching Soya eat, smiled crookedly as he pulled out a handkerchief.
“I heard all about it from Gahyeon. It must have been scary, but you came back so bravely—thank you for that, cotton ball.”
As he gently wiped the corners of her mouth with the handkerchief, he said,
Bravely coming back—thank you.
It was the first time she’d ever heard words like that.
Could something so small really be worth being thankful for?
And she had only managed to come back by riding on Young Master Gahyeon’s back, at that.
Not knowing what to say, Soya fidgeted with her fingers before finally managing a reply.
“Thank you too, Sa-eon-nim. For worrying about me. And I’m sorry… for making you worry.”
“The one who should be sorry is me. I brought you here but couldn’t keep you safe properly.”
“N-No! You’ve already protected me so much, Sa-eon-nim!”
“Have I?”
“Yes! Like the day I arrived at Baekho Palace, and the days I was sick…”
Soya folded down her fingers one by one as she listed off the moments Sa-eon had helped her.
“See? You’ve protected me so many times already! So don’t say you’re sorry to me. I should be the one who’s grateful for so much more.”
At that, Sa-eon chuckled softly.
“If we’re counting like that, cotton ball, then you protected Baekho Palace from those terrifying ghosts. Let’s see… starting with me, then that old fox Ho Jeok-yeong, Gahyeon, and Yul…”
Sa-eon ticked off the people of Baekho Palace one by one, then tilted his head dramatically with exaggerated flair.
“Oh dear. I’ve run out of fingers?”
“Uh, well, that’s…”
“See, cotton ball? Looks like I have far more to thank you for, doesn’t it?”
Sa-eon pointed at Soya’s hand, where her folded fingers had formed a fist.
“Y-Yes…”
Though she felt like something was off, Soya got caught up in Sa-eon’s logic and nodded obediently.
Seeing her expression still look puzzled, Sa-eon chuckled again and ruffled her hair affectionately.
“Thank you, cotton ball. For protecting Baekho Palace.”
“……”
The corners of Soya’s mouth curved up shyly.
Something still felt strange, but it made her happy anyway.
After they finished their meal and were having dessert, Jeokyeong came and took Sa-eon away.
Soya waved goodbye to Sa-eon, who was being dragged off with a pained look on his face, then headed back to her room.
As she walked down the hall with quick little steps, lost in thought,
‘Arang-nim and Sahye-nim said they don’t want to be formally adopted, so Siyo-nim will probably become family with Sa-eon-nim and the young masters.’
Soya still hadn’t told anyone about the scent pouch Siyo had given her.
She didn’t want to cause any trouble on her account.
She liked the people of Baekho Palace who had been so kind to her, and that’s why she wanted to protect Baekho Palace.
She hoped nothing would happen to put them in a difficult spot because of her.
‘I don’t want to be a troublesome, bothersome child again. I’ll be leaving soon anyway…’
Just then, she spotted a figure coming from the opposite direction and stopped.
The girl with silver hair was none other than Siyo.
Soya and Siyo’s eyes met squarely.
Without realizing it, Soya clenched her fists tightly inside her sleeves.
After a brief silence, it was Siyo who spoke first.
“Hello, Soya-nim. I was just on my way to see you—how fortuitous to run into you like this.”
She approached Soya with a sweet smile.
“…I actually had something to tell you too, Siyo-nim. About that scent pouch you gave me.”
Soya said, standing ramrod straight.
She planned to tell Siyo everything.
That she wasn’t after that position. That Siyo didn’t need to do something so frightening to her. That she would be leaving this place soon anyway.
“Oh.”
Siyo let out a startled exclamation, then her eyes curved into a delighted smile.
“You’re quick on the uptake, Soya-nim. I hadn’t realized.”
“Were you really trying to hurt me?”
“Yes. Is there a problem with that?”
Soya stiffened involuntarily at the immediate affirmation.
Despite the girl’s face still smiling so amiably, she could feel naked hostility emanating from Siyo.
It was then.
Siyo suddenly leaned in close to Soya’s ear and whispered in a voice turned icy cold.
“You’re a criminal, aren’t you?”
“……!”
“A criminal who stole someone else’s life and ruined it.”
In that instant, Soya’s heart plummeted.
