Chapter 61
‘Is it because I drank the warm tea?’
It was while Soya was gazing dreamily down at the teacup held in both her hands.
“Soya.”
“Ahh?”
At Gahyeon’s call, Soya reflexively opened her mouth. And then…
A tangy tangerine slipped smoothly into Soya’s mouth.
“How is it?”
“It’s delicious!”
The sweet and sour burst in her mouth made Soya’s eyes widen round as she cried out.
“Eat plenty, Soya. You need to get better soon.”
Gahyeon smiled tenderly and kept peeling tangerines into Soya’s mouth.
Every time her tiny mouth, like a bird’s beak, worked away, sweet juice popped and fizzed on her tongue.
As Soya munched happily on the tangerines Gahyeon fed her, her eyes curving into half-moons, she happened to glance down and noticed his fingertips stained yellow.
‘Ah…!’
Suddenly realizing something, Soya looked over at Gayul, who was pressed snugly against her side, firmly tucking the blanket back around her whenever it slipped.
Then she glanced at Seolyo, who was dozing off with slow blinks in front of the firewood, in the form of a large wolf.
Ever since Soya had caught a cold, they had been coming to her room from morning till night whenever they had a moment, staying glued to her side.
‘My heart feels warm because my brothers and Seolyo are here with me.’
Her heart felt reassuringly solid and toasty, and Soya giggled to herself.
“Me too! Me too, I wanna eat! Ahh—!”
Gayul opened his mouth wide beside her, insisting on getting some tangerines too.
“You can peel your own…”
“Nom!”
He snatched and ate the one that had been heading for Soya’s mouth.
“Baek Ga-ryul, you’re not even sick, yet you’re stealing from your little sister… You didn’t come here to nurse her—you just used it as an excuse to skip studying and play, didn’t you?”
“No! I was really worried about the cotton ball…!”
Gayul protested in an aggrieved voice, chewing the tangerine in his mouth, but suddenly he paused mid-sentence.
“Huh…?”
His head spun dizzily all of a sudden.
“What’s wrong, brother?”
“Urgh…?”
Gayul sniffled and made a puzzled face.
“Brother, your face is red.”
“Baek Ga-ryul, you…!”
“Oh my, Young Master! You have a fever!”
Yeon-jeong, who had just come in to tidy the room, checked on Gayul and cried out in alarm.
Gayul was burning up even hotter than Soya had been.
“Eh? Me?”
Gayul, who had always been sturdily healthy and never sick once in his life, panicked at the unfamiliar dizzy, hazy sensation.
“This must be…”
“Yeah, looks like it…”
Everyone in the room exchanged meaningful glances.
“Call the physician, quick!”
“Send someone to the Patriarch too!”
“I’ll go get Father!”
Soya jumped up too and ran off with Seolyo to fetch Sa-eon.
Suddenly, the mansion buzzed with activity.
Soon, people gathered.
Everyone watched Gayul and the physician taking his pulse with anxious, worried faces.
Soya clutched at Sa-eon’s sleeve, her face tense as she waited for the results.
It wasn’t long before the physician shouted excitedly.
“It’s growth pains!”
“……!”
The tense faces around the room lit up with relief.
“Congratulations, Patriarch. It seems the youngest Young Master is finally starting his Primary Growth!”
* * *
Having come down with growth pains, Gayul was confined to his bedroom for a while.
Soya was worried about him but couldn’t go visit.
They said that during growth pains, one might get a bit violent, so everyone kept the young lady away from the Young Master’s room.
And so, for the past few days without seeing Gayul, Soya—still worried—had turned into a baby bird and was peeking around the window of his room.
But the tightly shut wooden lattice blocked her view inside.
‘What if Gayul brother is in a lot of pain.’
During growth pains, one couldn’t take medicine or receive care.
They had to endure and overcome it on their own.
[Don’t worry too much, Soya. Everyone goes through it once. Gayul will get through it safely.]
Gahyeon, who had finished his Primary Growth first, tried to reassure her, but Soya was still concerned.
‘If only I could just see his face a little, I’d feel better.’
Soya paced back and forth on the snow-covered windowsill, peering through the lattice this way and that, then let out a soft sigh and plopped down on the sill.
Her baby bird’s plump bottom sank deep into the white snow.
It was while Soya, looking glum, was flicking her tail feathers and gazing down below.
“Peep? (Father?)”
Spotting Sa-eon walking below, Soya fluttered down toward him.
“Cheep! (Father!)”
Sa-eon looked up at Soya’s call and held out his hand into the air.
Soya landed deftly on his palm and shook off the snowflakes clinging to her feathers with a flutter.
“Baby cotton ball. It’s cold—why are you wandering around?”
Sa-eon asked, stroking the baby bird’s crown gently.
“Peep! (I went to see Gayul brother!)”
“Gayul?”
“Cheep, peep…. (But the lattice was shut tight….)”
Soya spread her short wings to point at Gayul’s room, explaining eagerly, then drooped them limply.
“Chirrrp…. (What if brother is in a lot of pain and suffering?)”
“Oh dear. Our baby cotton ball is all down in the dumps.”
“Peep….”
Soya dropped her head onto Sa-eon’s palm with a thud.
Sa-eon smiled faintly at the tiny baby bird, no bigger than his fist, expressing all her feelings with that little body.
“Then the cotton ball can protect him, right?”
“Peep?”
“Just like you protected Baekho Palace from the ghosts last autumn—why not protect your brother this time too?”
“……!”
Understanding his meaning, Soya’s expression brightened.
“Cheep? (Will it work?)”
“Of course. Shall I pick up some stones for you, or break some flowers?”
“Peep! Cheep, cheep! (There’s namsan fruit by the east gate! Let’s go pick some!)”
“Alright. Let’s go together, baby cotton ball.”
Sa-eon chuckled at Soya, who had perked up in an instant, and set the baby bird on his shoulder.
Then he turned toward the east gate of Baekho Palace.
Chirrrp, chirrrp, chirrup—
Perched on Sa-eon’s shoulder as he walked through the snow, Soya sang chirrup chirrup chirrup.
With each step Sa-eon took into the snow, it crunched softly underfoot.
He could have dashed to the front of Baekho Palace in moments, but knowing Soya loved that crunching snow sound, he deliberately walked slowly.
Every crunch made Soya’s little bottom wiggle happily.
Before long, they stepped out the east gate of Baekho Palace, greeted by a forest path lined with bare winter trees.
Spotting bright red namsan fruit, Soya fluttered up.
“Cheep! (There it is!)”
Flapping her wings, Soya approached the namsan tree and, true to a brave baby bird of the Baekho Clan, pecked a thin branch right off with her beak.
She was just returning to Sa-eon, holding the slender twig dotted with red berries in her mouth, when—
Whoosh—!
A sharp metallic ring suddenly echoed through the winter forest as something sliced through the air.
Clang—!
Soya startled and dropped the namsan fruit from her mouth.
A slender woman in dark blue cloth lunged at Sa-eon with a long spear.
Even against the sudden ambush, Sa-eon swiftly dodged and blocked with his scabbard, but the woman pressed her attack immediately.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Sword and spear clashed, ringing out loudly.
But something was off.
It seemed like Sa-eon was being pushed back by the woman.
‘This is no time to freeze! I have to help Father!’
Snapping out of her daze, Soya flew toward Sa-eon.
“Peep! (Daddy!)”
Soya flapped into the fray.
She aimed to peck the hand gripping the spear.
“Cheep! Cheep! (Get away from our daddy!)”
“Cotton ball? It’s dangerous…!”
Sa-eon hesitated for a split second, turning toward the baby bird at her intrusion.
Clang!
The woman seized the opening and thrust; Sa-eon’s sword flew far away.
Swish—
The tip of the woman’s spear came to rest at Sa-eon’s throat.
“Cheep!”
The baby bird darted in front of Sa-eon, spreading her short wings wide as if to shield him.
Then, with fat teardrops welling in her beady eyes, she peeped and whimpered.
“Peep, peeeep! (Don’t kill our daddy!)”
