Chapter 57
“Ah…….”
Soya’s mouth fell open just a little.
“Ah, ah…….”
Her lips twitched as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t quite get it out.
Sa-eon waited patiently for her without urging her on.
Her eyes squeezed tightly shut, Soya cried out at the sight of those two eyes curved so tenderly toward her.
“Daddy!”
At the same time, tears burst from Soya’s eyes in big, fat drops as she threw herself into his arms.
In truth, she had wanted to call him that all along.
Father. Daddy.
She had longed to run into his arms while calling him that, just like her older brothers did.
But strangely, “Father” was the one word that had been so terribly hard for Soya to say.
There could be many brothers, but only one father.
If she lost that one and only father again, she wasn’t sure she could bear the grief.
Sa-eon froze for a moment, not expecting Soya to throw herself at him like that.
But soon enough, he scooped her up into the air and gazed at her tear-streaked eyes.
It hurt to see her reddened eyes—it hurt so much, made him so heartbroken—and yet……
“You know that, cotton ball? I’m so incredibly happy right now.”
Sa-eon forced down his own aching heart and grinned.
“I finally feel like I’m truly your daddy, our little cotton ball. I’m so, so happy right now.”
“I’m sorry it took me so long to say it. I knew you—Father, no, Daddy—were waiting for me, but it was just so hard…….”
“Don’t say you’re sorry, cotton ball.”
Sa-eon gently pinched Soya’s sniffly little nose with his fingers—not hard enough to hurt—and let go as he spoke.
“What do you have to be sorry for? You just needed some time.”
“But…….”
“Really? Are you really that sorry?”
“Yes…….”
“Then you can make it up to me by calling me that a lot more from now on. Daddy.”
“Okay! I will, Daddy! Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!”
Sa-eon’s mouth corners twitched upward at Soya’s hurried additions.
He hadn’t realized it before, but the resonance of that word “Daddy” was so wonderful.
The more he heard it, the more he wanted to keep hearing it—it was just that good.
* * *
The next morning.
By the time Soya opened her eyes, Irim had already left Baekho Palace.
‘He really left right away.’
They had said their goodbyes the night before, but she couldn’t help feeling a little regretful anyway.
‘Will I get to see him again?’
Soya sat in front of the mirror, watching as Yeon-jeong braided her hair, lost in such thoughts.
Today, her hair was done in two braids hanging down, then coiled up high near her ears and decorated with silk ribbons—at Soya’s special request.
“Ta-da! All done, Young Lady. Oh my, you look so adorable again today.”
“Young Lady, what’s gotten into you today? Paying so much attention to your appearance like this, even picking out your own clothes.”
It was the first time Soya, who usually didn’t care much about her hairstyle or outfit, had voiced her own preferences in the morning.
Could it be that their cute Young Lady had someone she wanted to look nice for?
The emperor from the Imperial Palace had already returned early that morning, though.
“I’m going to see Father!”
But Soya answered promptly, as if she’d been waiting for the question.
“Oh my.”
It was the first time the Young Lady had referred to the Patriarch as “Father.” Yeon-jeong and San-ho noticed and let out gasps of surprise and delight.
“I’m going to meet Aunt with Father this morning.”
Soya emphasized “Father” with a somehow proud expression.
Finding her so lovable, Yeon-jeong and San-ho exchanged glances and chuckled.
Beaming happily, Soya headed to Sa-eon’s office.
Jeokyeong, who happened to be standing in front of it, greeted her.
“Good morning, cotton ball Young Lady. Are you here to see the Patriarch?”
“Yes! I’m here to see Father! We’re going to meet Aunt together!”
“If it’s the Patriarch, he’s inside…… Huh? Young Lady, did you just say Father?”
“Yes, Father!”
Soya replied in a spirited voice.
Sa-eon, who had overheard through the slightly ajar door, came out, barely managing to lower his twitching mouth corners.
“Cotton ball. Here to see Daddy?”
“Yes, Daddy……!”
Soya smiled brightly and snuggled right into Sa-eon’s arms.
Ho Jeok-yeong’s eyes went wide in shock at the changed behavior of the Young Lady, who had always kept her distance by calling the Patriarch “Sa-eon-nim.”
“Jeokyeong. I have somewhere to go with cotton ball, so guard the office.”
Sa-eon said to Jeokyeong with a smug look on his face.
At such times, the father and daughter wore the exact same expression.
The place the father and daughter headed to was none other than Sara’s shrine.
With her eyes closed, Sara placed a hand on Sa-eon’s head and examined the energy of his Spirit Core.
More tense than either of them, Soya clenched her fists tightly and waited anxiously for the results.
“It can’t be.”
After a long while, an exclamation burst from Sara’s lips.
“Something strange is going on, Sa-eon. Your Spirit Core’s energy really has changed.”
“Is it a good change, Aunt?”
Unable to hold back her curiosity, Soya cut in and asked.
“Yes, little one like my cotton ball. It’s changed in a very good way. This one’s Spirit Core is so clear and pure now. It’s just like…….”
Her voice trailing off for a moment, Sara glanced at Soya and continued.
“Yes, just like it’s been ‘purified.’”
“……!”
Soya’s face lit up with joy.
“Th-then Father’s Spirit Core isn’t hurting anymore?”
“Well. What do you think, Sa-eon?”
“The faint pain in my Spirit Core that I’d been feeling seems to be gone now. I won’t know for sure until the full moon, though.”
“Amazing. What happened last night?”
Even if Soya had the Unique Ability of Purification, cleansing a contaminated Spirit Core was supposed to be impossible.
Because restoring a damaged and contaminated Spirit Core was beyond the realm of ordinary suin.
Under Sara’s suspicious gaze, Soya explained everything she had seen, heard, and done the night before.
“Borrowed power, not Purification?”
Sara’s expression hardened slightly.
“What is it, big sister?”
“…….”
Unique Abilities that borrowed the power of others had existed from time to time.
But the power Soya had borrowed was far from ordinary—it was the power of a transcendent being.
One existence immediately came to mind for Sara.
If the divine beast Baekho was the “guardian” of the Western Region, then in the southern lands, there existed a being called the “Purifier.”
It might just be coincidence. But……
[Sister. Soya awakened the divine beast Baekho during the Mountain Lord Festival.]
What if, during the Mountain Lord Festival, this child hadn’t merely awakened the “guardian” but had borrowed its power?
‘I thought the energy I sensed from the child’s Spirit Core was extraordinary…….’
However, if the child was truly fated to awaken such transcendent beings, then as an ordinary suin, it was best for her not to interfere further.
The moment she spoke up, she might disrupt the child’s destiny.
“No, it’s nothing. You have a truly remarkable Unique Ability, little one.”
And so Sara held back from saying more.
More than that, she had one other curiosity.
How on earth had the young emperor seen through Soya’s Unique Ability?
Even she, who had examined countless suin Spirit Cores, hadn’t recognized it at a glance.
* * *
Smack—!
With the sound of flesh striking flesh, the young maid’s head snapped to the left.
“I-I’m sorry, Young Lady. Please forgive me…….”
“Why did you make a mistake, then?”
Crack—!
“Aaah!”
This time, her head whipped to the right.
Riri huffed and puffed, unleashing her full tantrum.
It was then, as the young maid with swollen red cheeks prostrated herself at Riri’s feet and sobbed, that a voice called out.
“Riri.”
Her father, Jeok Ayun’s voice.
