Chapter 6
“I’ll do whatever you want. If that child upsets you, I’ll make sure she disappears from your sight forever. So please, don’t cry, Riri. It tears my heart apart.”
Hwayu brother was soothing Riri Young Lady in a gentle voice, saying he would get rid of me.
‘Ah…….’
Thud. Soya’s heart sank.
When Soya stood there alone in the corridor with her face drained of color, she heard footsteps.
It was Patriarch Jeok Ayun.
The chilling threat he had made came back to her—that he would not forgive anyone who hurt Riri Young Lady.
‘He’s going to be angry. He’s going to punish me for making Riri Young Lady sad.’
Thump. Bang. Thump. Bang.
Her heart pounded in terror.
His cold eyes swept over Soya’s fragile, trembling body.
The moment she felt their gazes meet, he simply brushed past her.
Then he entered the room.
“Riri. Why are you still crying?”
“Sniff, hic, sniff…… Father…….”
“I’m sorry, Riri. Don’t cry. It’s all this father’s fault.”
Ah…….
Soya’s strength drained from her body, and she collapsed to the floor.
Father hadn’t let it go without punishment.
It was just that soothing Riri Young Lady was more important to him right now than punishing her, so he had passed by.
Listening to Father’s gentle voice soothing Riri Young Lady, Soya limped back down the corridor.
Soya returned to her room and cried silently.
* * *
“The Young Master is calling for you.”
The next day, at the message delivered by a maid from the main residence, Soya went to find the Young Master.
The Young Master was at the Summer Lotus Pond(夏蓮池).
The Summer Lotus Pond was an artificial pond that Patriarch Jeok Ayun had built for his late wife, and only direct clan members were allowed to enter.
Soya had once loved this place very much, too.
A red-haired boy stood with his hands behind his back, facing away from the pond.
“I heard you were looking for me, Young Master.”
Feeling her presence, Jeok Hwayu slowly turned around.
“……You’ve come, Soya.”
A gentle voice flowed into her ears. Soya looked up at him with a flustered expression.
Hwayu brother was calling her name in that gentle voice. Just as he did with Riri Young Lady.
“‘Young Master’? That title feels a bit too formal between us. Call me ‘brother’ like you used to.”
“B-But…….”
“I’ll give your Spirit Core back to you.”
He took a bead emitting a pure white light from his pocket and handed it to Soya.
It was the Spirit Core he had taken from her three years ago, on his father’s orders.
Soya accepted it with a dazed expression.
At his sudden change, Soya could only blink in bewilderment.
“What happened yesterday made me think a lot. And now I’m regretting how I’ve been cold to you and left you all alone all this time.”
“…….”
A brief silence fell between them.
Jeok Hwayu was the first to break it.
“Today is the last day of the summer festival, isn’t it? Why don’t we go watch it together?”
“N-No, I couldn’t possibly…….”
As Soya waved her hands in panic, he added with a mild expression.
“You’ve always been curious about the summer festival, haven’t you?”
“…….”
At that moment, Soya’s lips pressed shut.
‘He remembered…….’
Long ago, she had made a promise with him. That after her first Beast Transformation on her sixth birthday, they would go see the festival together.
So Soya had counted down the days to that one day.
Even though it had all fallen through when it was revealed she was a fake on that very day.
“There’s not much time left, so you’d better get ready quickly.”
“…….”
“Then I’ll see you shortly.”
Watching him pretend to be kindly awkward, Soya had a gut feeling.
‘Ah, so today’s the day. The day I get thrown away.’
Soya’s eyes darkened with gloom.
Watching Jeok Hwayu’s back as he turned and left, Soya thought.
It had only been yesterday that she had limped down the corridor, listening to the Patriarch soothing Riri Young Lady and the Young Master’s gentle voice.
[Please get rid of that child. Before His Highness the Crown Prince comes back to take her.]
[Yes.]
Brother had promised it without a shred of hesitation, in that gentle voice, those cruel words.
So she could no longer believe his words.
Regretting leaving her alone?
No.
If they regretted anything, it was surely that they hadn’t thrown her out of the estate sooner and had let her stay, hurting Riri Young Lady.
‘So now they’re going to chase me out.’
Soya gazed quietly at the sparkling white bead in her palm.
For the past three years, Soya had lived as a half-beastkin without her Spirit Core.
She hadn’t known back then why they had taken it from her, but now she understood the reason.
‘He found my Beast Transformation form so repulsive…….’
Taking the Spirit Core had been a warning never to transform again and appear in that form.
And giving back the Spirit Core she had taken like that meant……
‘Now it doesn’t matter if I transform again or not. Since…… they plan to throw me away forever, out of sight anyway.’
Soya’s eyes, fixed on her own Spirit Core, sank into sadness.
Soya slowly closed her eyes. The pure white bead sparkled as it was absorbed into her body.
Her incomplete body, deprived of the Spirit Core, was finally made whole, but strangely, instead of strength surging through her, her body went limp.
Her heart ached dully, and her solar plexus stung.
But she didn’t have time to just slump over.
Soya returned to her room and took out a small wooden box she had hidden in the corner, peering quietly at the things inside.
They were all Soya possessed.
Soya selected only a few of those items and headed to the promised meeting place.
As she left the estate, Soya strangely found it hard to cross the threshold.
She stared at the gate for a long while before finally stepping over, then looked back at the estate.
For a moment, she felt her eyes meet those of a man standing on the tall pavilion.
But as she blinked slowly, Soya realized it was an illusion.
On the pavilion stood Father. Together with Riri Young Lady, who was bursting into clear, bright laughter.
‘Father wouldn’t have seen me.’
When Father was with Riri Young Lady, he always acted like nothing else in the world existed but her.
Riri Young Lady, who had been wailing so loudly yesterday that it shook the estate, now seemed a bit cheered up as she held Father’s hand and spun around in circles.
And Father watched her with a pleased smile on his lips, as if she couldn’t be more precious.
They looked so happy. Such a perfect family.
‘If only I weren’t here…….’
Gazing at them intently, Soya clasped her hands together toward Father and bowed her head in a silent, brief farewell.
Thinking that perhaps this might be her last greeting to him.
* * *
Soya walked the bustling streets alongside Jeok Hwayu.
She was finally seeing the summer festival she had longed for all this time with her own eyes, but rather than joy, a bittersweet feeling welled up.
“It’s the fruit skewers you like. Try some.”
Jeok Hwayu handed her food with a kind smile. It was fruit skewers coated in sugar, with peaches carved prettily.
‘That’s not what I like—it’s what Riri Young Lady likes. Peaches make me feverish and swell up my throat.’
Soya knew that saying so would shatter this peace.
Even knowing it was a lie, Soya wanted to look just a little longer at Jeok Hwayu’s face smiling at her so kindly. She didn’t want to break this dreamlike, sweet moment.
So instead of saying it, she pulled her lips into a smile.
“Thank you, Young Master.”
But when it came time to actually eat the peach, she hesitated.
Perhaps thinking she was being picky, the corners of Jeok Hwayu’s eyes furrowed ever so slightly.
It was a very subtle change, but Soya, who had grown accustomed to reading people’s expressions over the past three years, noticed it immediately.
“If you don’t want to eat it…….”
“N-No!”
Soya hurriedly bit into a piece of peach. She choked and coughed from swallowing it too quickly.
While Soya quickly wiped the tears welling in her eyes, Jeok Hwayu stood in front of a stall on the opposite side.
It was a stall selling dainty jeweled rings and necklaces.
“Give me one of those bracelets with the red gemstone beads. It’s a gift for my sister.”
“The little Young Lady beside you must be your sister. She’ll be so happy.”
“Ah.”
At that, Jeok Hwayu picked up a beaded bracelet from the stall as if it had just occurred to him and handed it to Soya.
“I’ll pay for this one too. It’s yours, Soya.”
“……!”
Surprised by the unexpected gift, Soya’s eyes widened round, and soon a faint blush colored her cheeks.
“……Thank you so much, brother.”
Even though it was something he bought as an afterthought while shopping for Riri’s, even though he hadn’t chosen it carefully but just grabbed whatever came to hand.
“I’ve always wanted to go to the summer festival. Thank you for remembering and bringing me here.”
Even so, Soya clutched the bracelet preciously and smiled brightly.
