TWTCB 18

Chapter 18

The next morning.

Sa-eon was startled to realize that he had slept deeply—without pain.

It was clearly the night of the full moon, when yin energy was at its strongest each month.

And yet… he had slept soundly, without even a single minor nightmare.

Then he noticed a small stone placed on his desk.

“It’s the ghost-repelling charm left by the cotton-ball young lady.”

“Ghosts?”

Sa-eon tilted his head at the sudden mention of ghosts.

Jeok-young then explained what had happened between So-ya and Garyul.

“So… the cotton-ball left this here to protect me?”

Sa-eon picked up the pebble and let out a short laugh.

Now that he knew the full story, the plain-looking stone somehow appeared smooth and oddly pretty.

“Hm. Considering I didn’t have any nightmares last night… maybe it actually works.”

More than anything, the thought that she had tried to protect him with such a small body felt strangely endearing.

“How cute.”

Sa-eon murmured, rubbing the corners of his mouth as if to hide the faint smile that had crept up.

“Since you’ve received such a nice gift, how about returning the favor?”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

Sa-eon began thinking about what would be suitable as a return gift for So-ya.

“Isn’t there a sword His Majesty gifted me last winter? I don’t have any use for it—maybe I should give that…”

“Oh my! Clan Head! That might be fine for the tiger young masters, but young ladies that age don’t like things like that.”

“Tch. How narrow-minded. Don’t assume girls dislike swords.”

“But it’s a real sword! Heavy and sharp! What if the cotton-ball young lady gets hurt playing with it? Ordinary beast-people don’t have thick hides like tigers!”

Sa-eon paused.

It was a valid point.

“…So-ya getting hurt? That’s absolutely unacceptable.”

With a groan, Sa-eon furrowed his brow and fell into thought.

Southern Empire — land of the Vermilion Bird.

Lili’s laughter rang brightly through the air.

With a gentle smile, Jeok A-yun watched her run around happily.

Lili had seemed especially cheerful these past few days.

And because she was happy, A-yun felt happy as well.

‘That’s a relief. I was worried she might be hurt because of that incident.’

Lili discovering So-ya’s secret had been unintended.

Perhaps it had been a mistake to try to keep it hidden from the start.

Still, fortunately, Lili had shaken off her disappointment quickly and returned to her bright self.

As they were enjoying their time together, Jeok Hwa-yu came to visit.

“Father, I need to speak with you for a moment.”

“What is it?”

A-yun raised an eyebrow, displeased at having his time with Lili interrupted.

“Could we move somewhere else to talk?”

He was about to refuse and tell him to speak here—but his son’s expression was serious.

So A-yun left Lili behind and moved elsewhere.

Hwa-yu hesitated, unable to speak at first, before finally forcing the words out.

“…That child is dead.”

“…What?”

For a moment, A-yun’s expression froze.

He stood there blankly, unable to comprehend his son’s words.

In the cold silence, he slowly realized that the “child” Hwa-yu referred to was none other than So-ya.

“We planned to send her far away with some compensation. We thought she would be happier elsewhere, since staying here was distressing Lili.”

“….”

It was true. Hwa-yu had never intended to kill her.

He only meant to give her enough money to live on and send her away.

“However, when the Three-Legged Crow arrived, the child was gone. Only blood remained.”

“….”

A-yun closed his mouth tightly, his expression devoid of emotion.

“This was found at the scene.”

Hwa-yu handed a small pouch to his father.

A slight tremor ran through A-yun’s fingertips.

That pouch… he had personally attached it to the child’s robe on the morning of her sixth birthday.

“Father, will So-ya do well?”

“What if she fails? What if she can’t become a splendid Vermilion Bird like Father and her brothers?”

“Don’t worry, So-ya. So what if you fail? You are still Father’s daughter.”

“But…”

“It’s alright to be a little slow. If you fail today, you can try again tomorrow. And if you fail again tomorrow, there is always the day after. So don’t be afraid—just do your best.”

The voice of the child who once worried about failing her beast transformation echoed in his mind.

In truth, she had succeeded far too perfectly.

If only she had failed.

If only he had never seen her transformed form.

Would things have been different?

A-yun carefully opened the bloodstained pouch.

Inside was…

“…Ah.”

A short breath escaped his lips.

A red feather.

Once, the child had picked up one of his fallen feathers and asked if she could keep it.

When he told her she could, she had clutched it tightly and smiled brightly, as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

“…She kept this all this time?”

The thought that she had carried it even on the day she left the estate made his chest feel strangely tight.

He had loved his wife deeply, and he had also loved his youngest daughter—the child she gave her life for.

Everyone suspected his wife of infidelity because the child did not resemble him, but he ignored them.

He fed her, dressed her, put her to sleep—giving her all the love he could.

So much so that she learned to walk later than other children because he rarely set her down, always holding her in his arms.

But when he learned she was not his daughter…

It felt as though the world he believed in had collapsed.

The child his wife had died giving birth to… was not his.

The woman he loved had deceived him and borne another man’s child.

It was horrific. It was humiliating.

To escape it, he ordered her spiritual core to be taken.

Because he could not bear the sight of a Vermilion Bird that showed none of his bloodline.

Even though he knew the child was innocent, he resented her.

If not for So-ya… if not for her… his wife would not have died. His family would not have broken.

So-ya had become the source of all his misfortune.

He regretted raising her with his own hands, believing she was his own.

After that, for three years, he was not sane even for a moment.

He lived like a madman, drowning himself in alcohol every night.

Only Hwa-yu, who held the collapsing household together, kept the clan from falling apart.

Then Lili appeared.

She proved that he was not wrong. That his wife had not been unfaithful.

Through Lili, he found reassurance—and felt immense relief.

He swore to give the world to his true daughter, who had lived wandering outside until the age of nine.

So consumed was he by Lili that he never once thought about So-ya, who had been abandoned during those three lost years.

When he finally met So-ya again after Lili insisted, he remembered her existence once more.

But even then, he ignored her again.

Out of both guilt and resentment, he distanced himself from her even more—like compensation to Lili.

He told himself it was for Lili’s sake.

But he never wished for her death.

Hwa-yu said they had not even found a body.

A-yun closed his eyes slowly, then opened them again and gave a quiet command.

“Find the child.”

“But Father…!”

“You said there was no body, did you not?”

“Even if she is not dead, she cannot have survived long. Because…”

Hwa-yu clenched his fist tightly, as if disgusted by his own words.

“…Her spiritual core was already severely damaged.”

When they had retrieved the core they had once taken from her, Hwa-yu discovered that So-ya’s core—left unattended for years—had deteriorated badly.

A beast-person with a damaged spiritual core does not live long.

So, under the excuse of a summer festival, they had cast her out of the estate.

And ordered the Three-Legged Crow to take her away.

To care for her somewhere far away… until the day she drew her last breath.

“….”

A-yun stared at his son in silence, his expression unreadable.

After a long pause, he finally spoke—his voice low and hollow.

“…Then at least bring me her body. Only then can I believe it. That she is truly dead.”