Ch#72
Soya tilted her head, peering at the writing on the paper.
Noticing her curiosity, Sa-eon stroked the child’s head and explained.
“There’s a scary plague going around that corrupts the spirit cores of beastmen.”
“A plague that corrupts spirit cores?”
Soya’s eyes widened round as saucers.
“Isn’t that a big problem?”
“Yeah, it is. So I’ll have to go check it out soon. His Majesty issued an imperial edict.”
Sa-eon said, flapping the paper in his hand.
Following the imperial family’s orders was one of the Four Great Clans’ rightful duties.
Soya’s eyes followed the shaking paper, rolling around, before she suddenly blurted out.
“I want to go with you too.”
“What?”
“I promised Mother I’d watch over you so you don’t cry. And…”
Soya hesitated a little, then mustered her courage and spoke.
“And I have the duty as a direct descendant to protect the beastmen too. Because I’m Baek Soya of the Baekho Clan.”
Sa-eon looked at her quietly for a moment before nodding.
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
Soya, who had expected him to refuse inwardly, looked surprised and asked again.
“Really?”
“But you have to stick right by Father’s side so it’s not dangerous.”
“Yes!”
Soya answered with a bright smile.
At that sight, Sa-eon let out a soft chuckle.
He had been about to tell the child, who hadn’t even grown yet, that she was too young and it wasn’t allowed…
But how could he say no to a child talking about her duties as a direct descendant?
Besides, he knew she’d been upset lately over her first growth issue.
‘Maybe a trip outside will lift Cotton Ball’s spirits a bit.’
* * *
Soya scampered outside and spotted Gayul approaching from afar.
“Huh? Gayul oppa!”
“Cotton Ball! Where are you off to?”
Now thirteen, Gayul had grown much taller than at ten, and his voice was starting to deepen with puberty.
He was still as mischievous and cheeky as ever, but at least his appearance was that of a fine young master.
At last year’s Mountain Lord Festival, he’d seized the coveted Mountain Lord position, and Soya had overheard the young beastmen girls from the western lands whispering that he was so cool.
Her cute baby tiger oppa had become a splendid tiger admired by pretty girls.
Soya gazed at him with a pleased expression, and Gayul came closer, speaking in a secretive whisper.
[Those kids have been staring at me all strange since earlier. I think they’re after my Mountain Lord spot.]
At his words, Soya and Gahyeon burst out laughing at the same time.
Gayul alone tilted his head in confusion, still unaware even now why his siblings had laughed at him that day.
“I was on my way back from morning greetings with Father.”
“Oh, right. Morning greetings!”
At Soya’s words, Gayul slapped his forehead.
“I forgot again.”
“Oppa didn’t forget—you just remembered it now.”
“Well, yeah…”
Called out accurately, Gayul scratched his head and grinned sheepishly.
“Oh, hey! Oppa, guess what? In five days, I’m going with Father when he heads out on the imperial edict.”
Soya boasted in an excited voice.
“You’re going with Father? Then when are you coming back?”
“I don’t know. Probably when Father completes the edict, we’ll return together?”
Gahyeon would have noticed her excitement and said he was jealous, but Gayul wasn’t that perceptive.
He just pouted at the thought of not seeing Soya for days.
“What? Then I won’t see you for a while.”
“If you’re sad, Oppa can come too.”
As Soya giggled and prodded him, Gayul’s face lit up. It seemed like a pretty good idea.
“Should I?”
“Why not ask Father during greetings? I’ll head out first!”
Poof!
Soya transformed into a baby bird and soared into the air, soon fluttering her tail feathers as she flew out the window.
Gayul watched her fly off and turned to go, but suddenly froze.
‘Huh?’
Something red caught his eye.
As his eyes blinked, a single red feather drifted down gently before him.
* * *
Gayul, who had picked up the red feather, wandered around with a troubled expression for a while.
Everyone wondered at the sight of Gayul, who seemed like he’d never worried a day in his sunny life, gloomily stalking through Baekho Palace.
“Is something wrong, young master?”
“N-No! Absolutely nothing!”
He jumped back with highly suspicious behavior at Suri’s question.
“It doesn’t look like nothing…”
“Sh-Shut up! What do you know! I-I want to be alone, so get out!”
He shoved Suri outside, then stayed alone in his room, staring at the red feather.
This red feather, shorter than his finger, was definitely…
‘This is definitely… when Cotton Ball beast-transformed and flew off… it fell from her body…’
Gayul paced the room restlessly, then stopped abruptly and dashed toward Gahyeon’s room.
“Hyung! Brooo!”
Bang!
Gayul flung open the door without the owner’s permission.
Gahyeon, leaning against the window reading a book, frowned slightly at his brother’s rude entrance and looked up.
“What is it?”
His hair, grown longer, swayed elegantly in the breeze.
Now fourteen, the young noble Gahyeon’s features had sharpened further, and he exuded a seductive aura like Cheongha’s.
With a gentle, soft charm different from Gayul’s, he was popular with the young beastmen girls too.
But despite his spring-sun warmth appearance, his voice toward his brother was utterly cold.
“You’re not some immature tiger cub—don’t you know you shouldn’t barge into someone’s room without permission?”
“Hyung. Soya, you know! She said she used to live with the Jujak Clan, right?”
But Gayul ignored the cold retort and pressed right up to Gahyeon.
“She had no red feathers, so those chicken-head bastards threw her out, right?”
Three years ago, when Soya had been registered in the Baekho Clan.
She had told her past to Sa-eon and Gahyeon, but Gayul hadn’t been there.
Back then, he’d been too thrilled that Soya was his sister to think about her history.
Later, he vaguely heard she’d left the Jujak Clan and come here.
That on her first beast transformation, she lacked the red feathers a direct descendant of the Jujak Clan should have.
So they’d abandoned and cast her out.
‘Stupid chicken-heads! How cute are Cotton Ball’s pure white fluff feathers!’
He’d been furious when he heard it late.
Even without knowing she’d been bullied and abused there, Gayul had been that angry, they said.
“Why ask about that all of a sudden?”
Gahyeon’s expression hardened at the unexpected question.
“Well…”
Gayul hemmed and hawed, unable to answer right away.
“Well?”
Gahyeon patiently raised one eyebrow and waited.
A long while later, Gayul finally spoke.
“…I think I saw it. A red feather.”
“What…?”
“N-No, I saw it! For sure! Cotton Ball dropped a red feather!”
“Couldn’t you have seen wrong?”
“…”
Gayul anxiously glanced around, then pulled the red feather from his pocket.
Gahyeon’s face stiffened rigidly.
