Chapter 46
“Peep……!”
Soya let out a cry of awe at the floating sensation she was feeling for the first time.
But she had no time to bask in the thrill. Her brother Gahyeon must still be in pain even now.
Soya flapped her wings furiously and flew up to the top of the cliff.
Once she gained speed with that first flap, it became much easier afterward.
Having soared high into the sky, Soya spotted the crowd of people gathered noisily below.
At the center was Sa-eon, his face grave.
“Peep!”
At Soya’s cry, Sa-eon’s head snapped up.
The moment he spotted the little white chick flapping its wings desperately, his eyes narrowed thinly…….
“……Cotton ball?”
A beat later, Sa-eon recognized her and his face filled with shock.
“Cotton ball, you……!”
“Peep! Cheep!”
Soya cut off Sa-eon’s words.
“Cheep! Cheep, pee!”
At the chick’s faint, peeping cries that sounded just like chirps, Sa-eon’s face gradually hardened.
“What……?”
“Cheep, cheep…….”
“Damn it, hurry and get someone……! Wait, Cotton ball, what’s wrong with your body?!”
Sa-eon grabbed Soya’s tiny form.
Wounds covered the chick’s body here and there.
“Cheep?”
Soya tilted her head, then suddenly felt a dizzy spin.
“Cotton ball!”
Cotton ball……
Cotton ball……
Cotton ball……
Sa-eon’s voice echoed like a reverberation.
Soya collapsed onto the palm of his hand.
* * *
Blink, blink.
When she opened her eyes again, Soya was lying on a simple cot inside a tent.
Her body felt heavy and limp, her armpits aching sorely. It was the aftereffects of a chick’s first flight.
‘I flew…….’
Still stunned by the realization, her expression blank, she suddenly remembered the scene right before she collapsed.
“Brother Gahyeon……!”
Soya bolted upright and spotted Gahyeon lying on the cot beside her.
“Ah, thank goodness…….”
Seeing Gahyeon sleeping soundly, Soya let out a relieved breath.
‘Sa-eon-nim brought oppa back safely.’
A faint smile rose on Soya’s face.
‘I protected oppa.’
But her innocent expression soon darkened.
‘Everyone must have seen.’
Soya remembered the crowd gathered just before she collapsed.
The thought that everyone had seen her beast transformation made her heart sink.
‘No. Even if it happened again, I’d make the same choice.’
As Soya shook her head to shake off the gloom,
“Cotton ball!”
Sa-eon entered the tent, spotted her awake, and strode over.
“Ah, Sa-eon-nim.”
“Are you…… okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine…….”
Whoosh!
Sa-eon pulled Soya into a tight embrace.
“Wha……?”
Soya’s eyes widened round.
“You did well. Really.”
“Sa-eon-nim……?”
“You flew here on those tiny wings to warn everyone that your brother was in danger, even though no one taught you to.”
“Uh…….”
“Our baby cotton ball is so brave and amazing. Whoever’s daughter you are, you’re truly incredible.”
“…….”
For some reason, Sa-eon’s voice seemed laced with a damp wetness, so Soya stayed quiet and nestled obediently in his arms.
‘Sa-eon-nim is so strange. He makes even the tiniest things sound like huge accomplishments…….’
Soya wriggled her fingers in Sa-eon’s warm embrace as she thought.
‘Even now. He’s talking like I saved the world or something…….’
But when she finally pulled away from his arms, there wasn’t a trace of tears on his face.
‘I could’ve sworn Sa-eon-nim was crying, or was I mistaken?’
Soya tilted her head and asked,
“Is Brother Gahyeon okay?”
“Yeah. Some brave little cotton ball called for help just in time, so they got past the dangerous moment.”
“That’s a relief……!”
Sa-eon chuckled and stroked Soya’s head.
“Can you tell me what happened on the mountain?”
“Well…….”
Soya told him everything she had seen and heard.
She had spotted the man who tried to kill her in the Zhuque Clan’s lands, and Chaos had emerged from inside that man.
“Chaos……?”
“Yes, Brother Gahyeon called it that. One of the Four Evil Beasts, Chaos.”
Sa-eon’s expression turned serious for a moment.
“Why would Chaos be here…….”
The Four Evil Beasts. Long ago, they were four demonic beasts that had thrown the world into chaos.
The ancient four clans had joined forces to seal them away, but eight years ago, Hyeonraback, the leader of the Xuanwu Clan, had awakened their sealed spirits and become their master.
“He said he had something to confirm. That he seemed to have the power to detect sorcery, so he needed to check the spirit core…….”
Sa-eon recalled the incident that had recently caused a stir at Baekho Palace.
It wasn’t just some sorcerer who knew sorcery approaching a young silver tiger cub under parental pressure to make a quick profit.
The scent pouch imbued with sorcery that had endangered Soya and the other girls, and the attempt to drive Soya out by revealing her past in the Zhuque Clan.
‘All of it was interference from the Northern Lands.’
It was a vague prediction, but the worst-case scenario he had hoped to avoid.
Their blades had been aimed at Soya, of all people. Was it mere coincidence? Or……
A thin crease formed between Sa-eon’s brows.
Soya glanced at him, his expression so grave it worried her.
At that moment, a large, warm hand rested on the crown of her head.
“You must have been so scared, our baby cotton ball.”
Sa-eon said as he stroked her head.
“I’m sorry. Daddy should have been by your side, but he wasn’t.”
“N-No! Brother Gahyeon was with me, and, and also…….”
Startled by Sa-eon’s apology, Soya waved her hands frantically before trailing off.
Because at that moment when she’d thought she might die, the person she’d thought of most was Sa-eon.
She had missed his broad, solid back that had always protected her.
Just like every time she was in danger, she had hoped he would appear this time too.
“See? When you think about it, you were upset I wasn’t there, right?”
Sa-eon grinned, noticing her hesitation.
“Uh, um…….”
Soya felt like her inner thoughts had been exposed, her cheeks flushing slightly as she struggled to answer.
“You can be honest, Cotton ball. It’s natural for a baby to miss her daddy.”
“I was thinking of Sa-eon-nim and missed you. But that doesn’t mean it’s Sa-eon-nim’s fault. It’s just me…….”
“No, you’re wrong. When a child gets hurt or endangered, it’s always the parents’ fault.”
Sa-eon said with a wry smile.
He had brought her here because he wanted to protect the child who had nearly died.
Yet he had left her alone on the mountain and let her fall into danger from a vicious beast.
‘It’s not the time to sulk that she won’t call me Daddy.’
Did he even have the right to be a father like this?
As Sa-eon berated himself,
“Um, Sa-eon-nim, but.”
Soya called to him in a very determined voice.
“I’m not a baby. I’m already nine years old…….”
“You sound just like Ryeul.”
Sa-eon burst out laughing.
Come to think of it, Soya always seemed to watch others’ reactions, yet she never held back on saying what needed to be said, speaking softly but firmly.
That made her all the more adorable—and tempting to tease.
“You haven’t even gone through primary growth yet. So you’re still a baby.”
Suin divided childhood and adolescence at primary growth, so it wasn’t wrong.
Still, Soya felt a bit indignant at being called a baby.
“Even so, I fended off that evil Chaos and protected oppa……!”
Sa-eon froze.
He had vaguely assumed Gahyeon had dealt with the Chaos, and asked in surprise,
“You…… defeated Chaos, Cotton ball?”
“Yes. Though Lord White Tiger helped me.”
Soya held out her palm and gathered her energy. White light gathered in her hand, forming a pristine white sword.
“……!”
Sa-eon’s expression stiffened in shock.
“Cotton ball, this is…….”
As the patriarch of the Baekho Clan, Sa-eon recognized it at a glance.
It was the divine artifact forged from the spirit body of the ancient divine beast White Tiger: the White Tiger Divine Sword.
“Where did you…….”
“I met Lord White Tiger. He helped me protect oppa.”
Soya explained as she handed the White Tiger Divine Sword to Sa-eon.
“You don’t mean…… you awakened White Tiger?”
To awaken a dormant ancient divine beast required three things.
Direct-line blood, the divine beast’s heart, and the spirit body.
Soya didn’t have direct-line blood. But Gahyeon, who did, had been right there with her.
White Tiger’s other name was ‘The Guardian,’ so awakening it would require a ‘heart that protects.’
And finally, the spirit body. The entire Horim Mountain where they had stood was practically the divine beast’s spirit body.
‘All three conditions to awaken the divine beast were met.’
But even with those three gathered, not just anyone could awaken an ancient divine beast.
If it were that easy, they would have awakened it a dozen times over by now.
According to the ancient oracle passed down,
[On the night the red moon rises, the bride of the Yellow Dragon shall awaken the slumbering Four Divine Beasts, sweep away the darkness scattered across this land, and bring peace.]
The bride of the Yellow Dragon.
‘……No way.’
Sa-eon’s gaze deepened as he stared at Soya.
