Translator: Nox

Ch#80

Sa-eon gently patted the small body of Soya, who was bursting into tears in his arms.

By nature, a young beastman’s Growth Pain had to be endured alone, with only the mother beastman exceptionally allowed to stay by their side.

A young beastman in the throes of Growth Pain wouldn’t even recognize their own father, who had given them blood and flesh—let alone Sa-eon, who shared no blood with Soya.

And yet, even so, Sa-eon couldn’t leave Soya alone.

“Daddy!”

That day, the black bodily fluid of the venomous insect had splashed onto the cheek of the child who had rushed in to save him.

It sizzled corrosively, eating into the child’s skin and burrowing deep.

“Cotton ball…!”

In that moment, as the child’s pupils dilated and the whole world seemed to freeze…

Sa-eon couldn’t clearly tell what was happening.

Suddenly, the sky flushed red, and the child snapped open her tightly shut eyelids.

At the same time, brilliantly sparkling red feathers fluttered lightly around her.

All of it happened in less time than a single blink.

A vivid red flame bloomed in the child’s tiny palm.

With unfocused eyes, the child raised both hands.

Soon, the radiant red flames roared to life as if to devour the entire world, sweeping over the whole village…

And transformed into a warm glow that enveloped everything.

In the places where the shimmering light settled, people glanced around in bewilderment before jolting in shock.

“The patients…!”

“All the patients have been healed!”

The flames the child had conjured had purified the Yeonghaeks of everyone who had been contaminated.

It wasn’t just the Yeonghaeks.

Every old scar and minor scratch on their bodies had vanished completely clean.

Even Jjakjjagi, who had collapsed, hopped back up on its two feet and toddled about, and the wound on Sa-eon where the venomous insect had grazed him was gone without a trace.

It was a truly wondrous sight.

Amid the people’s cries of awe, Sa-eon quietly realized the truth.

The child had awakened the “Purifier of the South.”

The child collapsed limply into his arms, groaning in agony.

Her forehead burned hot as a lump of fire.

Though startled at first, Sa-eon soon recognized it as Growth Pain and brought her straight back to Baekho Palace.

He stayed by her side the entire time she suffered through it.

In truth, his presence couldn’t do much to help.

Only a mother who had carried the child in her womb for ten months could soothe a child whose reason had been numbed by the Growth Pain.

However…

“Daddy, Daddy… Don’t leave Soya. Soya doesn’t want to be alone.”

How could he possibly leave the side of a child weeping so heartbreakingly?

“Don’t hate Soya. Soya did something wrong…”

“Next time… Next time, Soya will definitely succeed. Will succeed so coolly…”

Sa-eon knew exactly who those words were meant for.

Jeok Ayun. The man who was her biological father, yet had abandoned her.

Delirious from the fever raging through her, the child was mistaking him for that man.

There was no room left for doubt that he was her birth father.

After all, during her Growth Pain, as she repeatedly shifted into her beast form and back, she had borne those brilliant red feathers.

“Baby cotton ball. Daddy’s right here—what on earth are you crying about like that?”

The sight of the sobbing child twisted Sa-eon’s heart.

Perhaps because of the deep wound she’d suffered at such a young age, Soya often bottled up her emotions.

She never fussed even upon waking from sleep, and she endured colds or pains in stoic silence.

So to see this child crying out in such pain—it was inevitable that his chest would ache.

She would weep piteously one moment, only to lose her senses to the searing agony the next, transforming into a firebird that scorched her surroundings and attacked Sa-eon with beak and talons.

But every time, Sa-eon refused to dodge. He pulled her into a tight embrace and soothed her.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, baby cotton ball.”

“Daddy’s right here—everything’s okay.”

“Our baby—everything’s okay.”

In the process, small scratches marked his body, but Sa-eon didn’t mind.

They were honored scars from witnessing her growth.

Not a single one hurt.

“What parent would feel pain watching their child grow up this magnificently?”

It was the honest truth.

His heart might tear apart from being unable to ease her suffering, but these wounds could never hurt him.

“Thank you, our baby, for growing up so magnificently.”

“…!”

With those words, Sa-eon held the child—who finally burst into sobs—and soothed her in his arms.

Some time later, the now-calm Soya sniffled.

“Sniff, sniff, ugh…”

“Come on, blow.”

When Sa-eon held a handkerchief to her nose, Soya shook her head vigorously with a “Nng.”

She was twelve now, after all—probably embarrassed to blow her nose in front of her father.

Sa-eon burst into laughter.

Feeling unfairly teased, Soya pouted before asking slyly,

“How’s the village?”

“Thanks to our baby cotton ball, everyone’s Yeonghaeks were purified, and everything turned out fine. Jjakjjagi’s safe now, too.”

“…!”

Her face lit up radiantly at the news that everyone was safe.

“You have no idea how magnificent our baby was that day. Daddy’s so proud of you, baby cotton ball.”

Sa-eon grinned as he stroked her head.

“…”

It was so strange.

Soya had always dreamed of the day she would undergo her first growth.

Afterward, she had planned to proudly declare to her father that he should stop calling her “baby” anymore…

‘But with Daddy smiling at me so tenderly like this, it feels like it might be nice to stay his baby forever.’

She couldn’t stop having thoughts like that—of wanting to remain an eternal child in her father’s eyes.

“…I’m so glad, really.”

“Soya.”

Sa-eon called her name in a voice that had sunk into a more serious tone.

Whenever her father—who always called her “cotton ball”—addressed her as “Soya,” something important always followed.

Soya straightened up and looked at him.

“Don’t you have something to tell Daddy?”

“I found the owner of the voice that lent me the Purifying Flame. So, here’s what happened…”

Soya explained everything she had seen and heard that day to Sa-eon.

That the one who had lent her the Purifying Flame was none other than the southern divine beast Jujak—and that long ago, on the night of the red moon, she had awakened him.

“…So that’s how it was.”

Sa-eon nodded quietly.

Soya tilted her head at how unsurprised he seemed.

“You had guessed it already, hadn’t you, Father?”

“A bit. Ever since the time you awakened Baekho on Horim Mountain.”

“Then, does that mean I’m the one from the prophecy—the one who awakens the Four Divine Beasts?”

On the night the red moon rises, the Imperial Dragon’s Bride shall awaken the slumbering Four Divine Beasts, sweep away the darkness scattered across the land, and bring peace.

Three years ago, at the Mountain Lord Festival, Soya had been too young to grasp what “awakening Baekho” truly signified.

But as she was educated as a young lady of Baekho Palace, she gradually came to understand its weight.

And why her father had told her to keep it secret back then.

“Yes. That’s what I suspected—that you are the protagonist of the prophecy, the one who will awaken the remaining divine beasts and drive back the evil of the north.”

“You didn’t tell me because—”

“Because if word got out, you’d be in danger. I told you—baby cotton ball is my greatest worry of all.”

Back then, Soya had been a mere child beastman, not even through her first growth.

Her Yeonghaek had been more unstable than most, and she was only just overcoming her fear of Beast Transformation.

So she understood her father’s heart. But.

“Father, I… I’ve made up my mind.”

As she looked up at Sa-eon, a firm, unyielding resolve gleamed in Soya’s rosy-pink eyes.

“I’ll awaken the remaining two divine beasts. And I’ll stand against the Hyeonmu Clan.”

She was no longer some childish young beastman.

“I’ll drive out the demons tormenting people and end the war.”

She wouldn’t run away. From the prophetic mission entrusted to her.

Sa-eon let out a soft chuckle at her words.

He had known Soya—his baby cotton ball—would say exactly that.

That was why he had held his tongue, letting her discover it herself.

Until the weight of the prophecy settled on those small shoulders, he had hoped she could remain a child just a little longer.

But she had grown so swiftly in the blink of an eye, and now he could no longer hold back this much bigger girl.

In that case, as her father, what he could do for her was…

“Yes, cotton ball. Walk your own path.”

Sa-eon rested his hand on her shoulder and grinned.

“Daddy will clear the road ahead for you, making it straight and true.”

He’d check for any obstacles in her way.

For any villains who might endanger her.

To ensure she wouldn’t stumble, fall, and cry in pain.

That she wouldn’t lose her way and wander off astray.

He’d stand on that path, watching over her safe passage and waiting for her return.

“So go on—run as hard as you can in the direction you believe is right.”

Believing in her. Supporting her so she could stride proudly down the road laid out before her.

That was the very best a father could do for his child.