Chapter 59
A moment ago, it had seemed like light flashed from the sacred relic.
But when he looked back, there was only the massive shrine, emitting no light at all, just as always.
‘Did I see it wrong?’
Jeok Ayun, who had been scanning the shrine with a startled, tense face, soon felt his energy drain away.
‘Of course not.’
There was only one case when the sacred relic shone. When its true owner, the ancient divine beast, awakened.
‘I must be tired.’
Jeok Ayun pressed his temple and turned away.
As he stepped outside and walked, he spotted his son talking with his subordinates.
Seeing his son’s deeply serious expression, Jeok Ayun called out to him.
“What’s wrong, Hwayu.”
“Ah…… Father.”
Jeok Hwayu hesitated before opening his mouth.
“The patriarch of the Baek Clan has adopted a daughter.”
“That’s not something to worry about. With no girls in the direct line, they must have adopted from a branch family.”
Jeok Ayun replied nonchalantly.
“But the child’s name is……”
At his son’s next words, however, Jeok Ayun’s face stiffened.
“Soya……”
* * *
In the eastern empire, the land of the Azure Dragon cradling a vast sea.
Behind bamboo blinds woven from blue jade sat a woman with a bewitching air, her blue hair framing pale purple eyes.
Cheongha, proxy head of the Cheongryong Clan.
Drip, drip. With the sound of falling water droplets, a turtle leaped from the pond surface.
In an instant, the turtle became a small boy who scampered over to Cheongha.
“Lady Cheongha! Lady Cheongha!”
“Why are you making such a fuss?”
Cheongha, who had been filing her nails, asked the boy in a bored tone.
“I heard some amazing news from the mainland!”
“News?”
“Yeah, get this……! Lord Sa-eon adopted a youngest daughter!”
“And I was wondering what it was.”
“Isn’t it a big deal?”
“It’s a little insolent of him to adopt a daughter without telling me.”
Cheongha let out a short laugh as she thought of Sa-eon, but her mind drifted to his three boys who took after him so much—the three young masters of the Baekho Clan: Gaya, Gahyeon, and Gayul.
“……I wonder how those kids are doing.”
At Cheongha’s murmur, the boy asked,
“Are you going to the Western Land?”
“Hmm. Who knows.”
“But you know, Lady Cheongha. If you leave the land of the Azure Dragon, your Spirit Core……”
“Don’t worry too much, Ab-saeng. My heart’s like the sea wanting to leave right now, but I’ve got mountains of work piled up.”
Cheongha shrugged, pointing to the stacks of documents on her desk.
She couldn’t leave just yet.
If it were a duty she could toss aside so easily, she never would have accepted the position in the first place.
‘That tiny little thing is already nearing the time for Primary Growth.’
Unlike her casual reply, her gaze deepened as she looked down at the file folder.
* * *
That autumn, so many things happened to Soya.
No matter what form they took—whether bird or beast—they protected and cherished her regardless. She gained a sturdy, true family.
She awakened the Baekho of Horim Mountain, obtained the sacred relic, and proudly became the winner of the Mountain Lord Festival.
She overcame her fear of Beast Transformation and became a splendid baby bird who could enjoy magnificent flights.
Not only that, she awakened her Unique Ability and used its power of ‘Purification’ to help Seolyo and her father.
She still hadn’t found out who that being was who had lent her the power of ‘Purification’……
Every day Soya spent in Baekho Palace was so happy. Every moment sparkled and shone beautifully, precious like jewels.
Soya felt a little regretful that these times she wanted to cherish forever were slipping by so quickly.
Mitum-dal—the month racing from autumn into winter, November—passed, and as Maedeup-dal approached—the month to gather one’s heart at the year’s end, December—the days grew chilly.
The bedding decorating Soya’s room grew thicker as well.
Just like the fur of a baby cotton ball puffing up as winter neared.
Soya was sleeping soundly, buried deep in the fluffy blankets.
“……Young Lady……”
Yeon-jeong and San-ho’s voices woke Soya from her sleep.
“Young Lady, get up and see!”
They sounded a bit more excited than usual.
“Uuung, Lady Yeon-jeong, Lady San-ho, just a little longer……”
“Come on! It’s snowing at Baekho Palace!”
Soya, who had been burrowing deeper into the blankets, bolted upright at those words.
“It’s snowing?!”
She whipped her head toward the window without thinking and was soon startled.
“……!”
Snow had fallen all night, turning Baekho Palace entirely white!
Her sleepiness vanished in an instant, and Soya scurried to the window.
Gripping the windowsill and peering down, Soya turned to Yeon-jeong and San-ho with wide eyes and shouted,
“Baekho Palace is all white!”
Roofs, tree branches, statues, and stone steps—everything was blanketed in pure white snow.
“It snowed last night. They say it’s the first snow of the year.”
“……!”
At Yeon-jeong’s explanation, Soya’s face lit up brightly.
“Come on, let’s go down! I want to see the snow, Lady Yeon-jeong!”
The land of Zhuque where Soya was born and raised never saw snow even in the depths of winter, thanks to the fiery warmth of the earth.
Faced with her first snowy landscape in her nine years of life, Soya was thrilled beyond measure.
Yeon-jeong chuckled at Soya stamping her feet in eagerness to go down.
“Yes, yes. Let’s go out right away. After washing your face and changing into warm padded clothes.”
Even the short time it took to wash her face and change felt agonizingly slow to Soya’s impatient heart, and she kept asking,
“What if all the snow melts away like this?”
“Don’t worry, Young Lady. Snow’s still falling from the sky.”
“Still, I want to go out right now, right now!”
“No, Young Lady. You’ll catch a cold if you go out like this. You have to dress warmly.”
Even at the rare sight of the young lady urging her on, Yeon-jeong was firm.
Yeon-jeong brought a padded jeogori stuffed with cotton and a thick inji. White fur trimmed the jeogori’s collar and cuffs thickly.
While Soya gazed at it with wonder, Yeon-jeong wrapped cozy winter gear around her head and hands.
Only after she was bundled from head to toe could Soya finally step outside.
“It’s so pretty! It’s like flowers falling from the sky!”
The snow she was seeing for the first time was so pretty and wondrous that Soya cried out in an excited voice.
Not far away, a snow-white baby tiger was frolicking across the snowfield.
The baby tiger, its whole body caked in snow, was none other than Gayul.
Being so purely white, he’d probably be hard to spot if he hid in the snow.
“Rawr, rawr! (Cotton ball, whatcha doing? Let’s play!)”
Gayul, with snow clinging to his fur, hopped about like a frog despite not being one.
But unlike when she’d been stamping her feet eager to see the snow, Soya hesitated with just one step left before the snowfield, unable to easily set foot in it.
‘Oh dear, what do we do with our young lady. She must be scared of the snow.’
‘She looks just like a snowball, so cute.’
‘How is it that even our cotton ball young lady being scared of snow is this adorable?’
Everyone chuckled at the young lady repeatedly lifting her foot to the snow, hesitating, and pulling it back.
At that moment, whoosh—!
Soya’s body floated into the air.
But even without seeing his face, she knew who it was, so instead of startling, she beamed and shouted,
“Father!”
In just one season, calling him “Father” had become perfectly natural.
Sa-eon looked at Soya, bundled up tight, and grinned.
“The baby cotton ball came out armed to the teeth. You look perfectly round now.”
“I don’t feel chilly at all, but Lady Yeon-jeong dressed me like this, so that’s why I look round!”
Soya huffed indignantly and shouted back.
