Chapter 9
It was well-known that the direct descendants of the White Tiger Clan, who ruled the Western Region, were born with astonishing physical abilities.
Baek Sa-eon rode across a distance that would take a week on horseback in a single bound.
And so, the place he arrived at was the Mountain Fortress(山中要塞) Baekho Mountain Palace(白虎山宮).
It was the grand residence of the Baekho Clan, more commonly known to people as ‘Baekho Palace.’
“P-Patriarch?”
“Father?”
When Sa-eon returned in the middle of the night with a strange little girl dangling from one arm, the people of Baekho Palace came rushing out in surprise.
Among them were Sa-eon’s two sons, the second young master Baek Ga-hyeon and the third young master Baek Ga-ryul.
“Call the physician at once.”
Brushing past the flustered people, Sa-eon headed straight to his room and laid the child down on the bed.
As he gazed at the girl, whose face was deathly pale and who was letting out only faint, ragged breaths, Sa-eon’s aide from the Red Fox Clan, Ho Jeok-yeong, carefully asked,
“Who is this child, Patriarch?”
“I picked her up on the way.”
Sa-eon crossed his arms indifferently and replied.
But contrary to his casual tone, his eyes and aura were fiercely intense with worry that the child might take a turn for the worse.
“You picked her up on the way……?”
“More precisely, I stole her.”
“W-What?”
“Father, have you decided to become a thief?”
Everyone looked at him with eyes demanding an explanation in their bewilderment, but Sa-eon kept his lips firmly pressed together, staring only at the child.
Only after the physician was urgently summoned did his sealed lips part.
“Fix her.”
“Y-Yes, sir! I-I’ll fix……!”
It was just as the physician, intimidated by his sharp aura, hurriedly moved to check the child’s pulse.
Twitch.
The child’s eyelids twitched.
Slowly—
Her eyelids lifted, revealing spring-flower-like pinkish eyes.
Blink, blink.
The child blinked a couple of times and looked around.
‘Where is this?’
The unfamiliar room was filled with strangers.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Instinctual fear rose from the strangeness, making her heart pound.
‘Why am I here…….’
Soya rummaged through her memories.
She had gone out with Brother Hwayu to see the summer festival……
While waiting for Brother Hwayu, who never came, an assassin in a black mask had appeared……
And then, a man as tall as the father she had met by chance……
Soya’s eyes, rolling around in confusion, found the one person in this room who wasn’t a stranger.
‘Ah……!’
At that moment, her tense face relaxed, and a sigh of relief escaped her small lips.
“Cotton ball, are you coming around?”
Sa-eon asked the child in a deliberately worried voice.
“Yes, I’m fine…….”
It was the moment Soya nodded and answered.
“Eek!”
The third young master Baek Ga-ryul, who had been sneaking peeks at Soya, let out a noticeably startled yelp and quickly hid behind Sa-eon’s leg.
Flinch.
Soya stiffened in surprise at the sound.
“Father, she’s so tiny……. If you blow on her, she might fly away…….”
Ga-ryul tugged at Sa-eon’s clothes and whispered softly. Even then, his eyes remained fixed on Soya.
That made sense, as there had never been a child as small as Soya in Baekho Palace before.
Soya was a full head smaller than Ga-ryul, the youngest beastkin in Baekho Palace.
Sa-eon teased in response to Ga-ryul’s uncertain demeanor.
“Yeah. So you’d better be careful, Ryul-ah. If you don’t want to blow her away.”
“Gasp!”
Ga-ryul quickly clamped both hands over his mouth.
He fidgeted anxiously, as if worried his breath might accidentally send the cotton-ball-like tiny child flying.
Sa-eon chuckled and ruffled his son’s hair.
It was while Soya blankly watched that casually affectionate gesture.
Sa-eon nodded toward the physician.
“Examine the child.”
“N-No need for an examination. I’m fine.”
Soya waved her hands and said.
“This is all because I ate……peaches. It’ll get better soon. Really!”
The words she hurriedly added at the end came from her worry that she might be bothering them.
“Peaches?”
One of Sa-eon’s eyebrows arched up.
“Peaches are that dangerous?”
“Sometimes, if you eat food that doesn’t agree with you, your body can have a rejection reaction. I’ll prepare medicine to reduce the swelling and fever for the young lady.”
At the physician’s explanation, Sa-eon’s expression grew even more rigid.
“So you knew peaches would make you sick, but you ate them anyway?”
“Ah, I, um…….”
It was while Soya hesitated, unable to answer.
“Dispose of all the peaches in the residence immediately.”
“Th-There’s no need for that……!”
Soya jumped in surprise and waved her hands.
“Yes, Patriarch.”
But Ho Jeok-yeong acknowledged the order more swiftly.
“And for the child…….”
Sa-eon paused for a moment, looking at Soya, then said,
“Give her the end room on the west side.”
“Yes, Patriarch.”
“But Father, that room is……!”
Unlike Ga-ryul, who had been fidgeting and peeking at Soya the whole time, the second young master Baek Ga-hyeon, who had been standing calmly and watching, raised his voice in alarm.
“That room is?”
“N-No, it’s nothing.”
But under his father’s gaze questioning if there was a problem, Ga-hyeon obediently backed down.
* * *
Sa-eon personally carried Soya all the way to her room.
“I……because of me……bother…….”
By then, Soya’s fever had flared up again, and she mumbled and squirmed in his arms.
“Not a bother at all, so don’t worry and stay here for a while. For now, you should get a good sleep and recover.”
“Yesss…….”
Even during that short walk, her vision blurred from the fever filling her head, so she kept blinking.
In her hazy mind, she even remembered taking the medicine the physician had prescribed before falling asleep.
When she woke up after a deep sleep, her body felt much lighter.
“The fever seems to have gone down now…….”
“And how can she be so small and soft? Look at this skin, pale like rice flour. It makes Baekho Palace feel like it’s melting away all soft and squishy.”
“Now I know why the Patriarch called her cotton ball. She’s just too adorable, our little cotton ball young lady.”
At the murmurs coming from right beside her, Soya cautiously lifted her eyelids.
The moment she did, her eyes met those of the unfamiliar women looking down at her.
“Oh my, the young lady’s awake!”
“Hello, young lady. Are you feeling better?”
Soya shrank back in surprise as the strange women suddenly thrust their heads forward.
“Wh-Who are you?”
“I’m Yeon-jeong from the Red Fox Clan! Starting today, I’ll be attending to you, young lady!”
“I’m San-ho from the Indigo Wolf Clan! I’ll be protecting you, young lady! Wow, even your voice is so cute!”
“Y-Yes……?”
A woman with elegantly braided reddish-brown hair and a woman with her indigo hair tied up in a single ponytail introduced themselves in turn.
Soya’s head spun from their rapid-fire greetings.
Then, she suddenly realized they were calling her “young lady.”
“Wait, young lady……?!”
“Young lady” was a term for precious children like Lady Riri. It didn’t suit a naughty baby bird like her who had stolen from others.
“I’m not a young lady. Just call me by my name, Soya…….”
“Oh, come on, you’re the Patriarch’s guest, so you’re a young lady.”
“G-Guest? I’m not a guest, I’m just…….”
Soya started to say she had been stolen, but she stopped short.
She remembered Sa-eon saying it would be troublesome if word got out.
[It’d be troublesome. If it got around that I sneaked into the Southern Region’s chicken-head land like a stray cat and stole something.]
Sa-eon had said it with a very serious expression.
‘What do I do? I can’t let Sa-eon-nim get in trouble because of me…….’
Not wanting to cause trouble for Sa-eon, who had saved her and brought her here, Soya couldn’t bring herself to argue and just fidgeted.
Noticing Soya’s demeanor, San-ho quickly added,
“If we don’t show proper respect to the Patriarch’s guest, that would be rude to the Patriarch himself. So please help us show him that respect, young lady. Okay?”
“Yesss…….”
Convinced by those words, Soya nodded, drawing out the end of her reply.
She didn’t like being called young lady, but she didn’t want to burden Sa-eon, who had rescued her and brought her all this way.
Yeon-jeong and San-ho exchanged smiles, then asked Soya,
“So, young lady, shall we wash up first?”
“Y-Yes……?”
As she blinked at them, San-ho suddenly scooped Soya up.
They took her to the bathroom, scrubbed her clean until she was squeaky fresh, changed her into new clothes, and then skillfully styled her hair.
‘They’re……so fast.’
Soya could hardly believe everything that had happened overnight and just blinked blankly.
Suddenly kidnapped to this place, bathed clean, dressed in fresh, fluffy clothes.
She even got a pretty room, and people neatly combed her hair.
The situation felt so awkward that Soya didn’t know what to do and just rolled her eyes around.
“In Taehwa Kingdom, besides the Imperial Palace where the Son of Heaven resides, there are four grand residences permitted to bear the name ‘Palace(宮).’”
At Yeon-jeong’s story, Soya’s ears perked up.
The Azure Sea Dragon Palace of the eastern underwater realm.
The Mountain Fortress Baekho Mountain Palace of the western lands.
The Jujak Jeong Palace heavenly mansion of the southern lands.
The Hyeon Earth Underground Palace of the northern realm of the dead.
By granting these four the name ‘Palace,’ the imperial family had directly acknowledged the prestige of the four great clans.
“Our Baekho Palace is one of them.”
When the Zhuque Mansion came up, her body involuntarily flinched.
But Soya pretended not to notice and nodded obediently.
Then, she noticed a gaze that had been watching her for a while.
‘Huh……?’
Through the slightly open door crack, a small boy with snow-white hair was peeking at Soya.
‘That’s the one who was hiding behind Sa-eon-nim’s leg yesterday…….’
“Oh my, it’s the youngest young master.”
San-ho and Yeon-jeong, noticing Soya’s gaze, explained.
“There are three young masters in Baekho Palace. The eldest, Young Master Gaya, and second young master Ga-hyeon, and the one peeking at you there is the third young master Ga-ryul.”
“Young Master Gaya was drafted into the war three years ago and hasn’t returned yet, but the other two young masters are here in Baekho Palace.”
“Hmm, that’s strange. The youngest young master should be in sword training right now.”
Soya glanced at Ga-ryul while listening to their explanations.
His fine white hair and blue eyes strongly resembled Sa-eon’s.
But every time their eyes met, Ga-ryul would startle noticeably and pretend not to be peeking.
‘Why is he doing that……?’
As Soya wondered about Ga-ryul’s behavior, Yeon-jeong, who was touching Soya’s hair, chuckled softly and whispered in her ear.
“The youngest young master seems to want to be friends with you, young lady.”
“Me?”
Soya’s eyes widened round. But she soon shook her head.
“No way.”
