TLSVB 02

Chapter 2

“Why…?”

Baeksa muttered as she looked down at her tiny hands.

“Why am I… back again?”

Baeksa, who had just awakened, was shocked out of her wits.

Because the place where she opened her eyes was her residence within the Imperial Palace.

It was not the cold Southern Land where black snow endlessly fell.

How in the world had she returned to the palace?

Had Father given her another chance?

Had he picked up the daughter he had abandoned and brought her back?

Yet something felt strange.

There was not a single black spot on her body.

Just like before her ability had manifested, she was completely clean.

The girl spun around on the spot to examine herself more closely.

As she did, brilliant multicolored smoke rose around her, and a small baby snake appeared within it.

Having transformed into her beast form, Baeksa looked down at her tail.

Nowhere on her long, white, rice-cake-like body could a black spot be seen.

Just then—

“Hey! Snake!”

With a loud crash, a boy barged into Baeksa’s residence.

It was Songra, her half-brother and the Second Prince born to the Empress.

Baeksa froze when she saw him.

‘On Brother Songra’s forehead…’

The Dragon Seal is still there.

The golden mark was something possessed by every dragon capable of using a Blessing.

But Songra had lost his seal when he turned ten.

‘Y-you…! What have you done?!’

Because when Baeksa’s ability manifested, she absorbed part of his Blessing.

The seal never reappeared on Songra’s forehead after part of his Blessing had been stolen.

As a result, Baeksa had to endure the Empress’s and Songra’s relentless blame and abuse.

But the seal was still there…?

Could it be…?

‘Don’t tell me… I went back to the past?’

An unbelievable possibility floated into Baeksa’s mind.

‘If that’s really what happened…’

Then no matter how much Songra bullied her, she must not react.

While Songra grabbed and harassed her, Baeksa tightly shut her eyes and silently endured it.

“Hah, how funny. Why aren’t you even turning into your human form?”

Unlike back then, she didn’t think about running away.

Nor did she wish she could become a magnificent dragon like Songra.

If she allowed herself such thoughts, ‘that incident’ might happen all over again.

“Tch.”

“…”

“This is boring. What’s wrong with you today? Did you eat something weird?”

When Baeksa gave no reaction whatsoever, Songra quickly lost interest and left.

Only after he was gone did Baeksa cautiously open her tightly shut eyes.

After confirming that nobody was in the room, she slipped outside through a gap in the door.

Then she bit down on a weed growing outside her residence and activated her ability.

Sss—

“…!”

Just as she had expected, the plant withered away as all of its vitality was drained.

Her greedy ability had already manifested.

Whether it was life or death.

Whether it was Blessing or Corruption.

A dreadful power that greedily devoured everything that existed.

Calming her racing heart, Baeksa thought carefully.

‘I really did return to the past.’

To before her ability manifested.

To before she became her father’s tool.

If she had reacted to Songra’s bullying earlier, the same events would have unfolded all over again.

As that thought crossed her mind, Baeksa lifted her head and looked at the sky.

Wait.

Shouldn’t the same events happen?

Shouldn’t she become Father’s tool once more?

Maybe this time she could do better.

Maybe she could become a more useful child.

Maybe she wouldn’t be abandoned, and—

But then she remembered the image of her father coldly casting her aside.

Her head drooped.

‘What a foolish thought.’

If she had truly returned to the past, nothing she did would change the future.

She would still have to obediently absorb the energy inside the Owner of the Hand, following her father’s orders.

And afterward, she would still be discarded by that heartless father.

She hated that.

If that future was waiting for her anyway, she didn’t want to go through it again.

Working until her nose bled.

Desperately using her ability to gain Father’s approval.

Living in constant fear that she would be thrown away once she ceased to be useful.

She was tired of that life.

‘Then what should I do…?’

At that moment, she remembered something her father had said before her regression.

‘I had already planned to abandon you in the Southern Land soon.’

She learned that statement had been true because of Songra.

After Baeksa stole part of his Blessing, Songra had screamed at her in fury.

‘If it weren’t for that horrible ability of yours, you would’ve been abandoned soon anyway! Do you know that?’

‘Sob… You were going to be thrown away. If Father had abandoned you just one week earlier…!’

‘He said one week…’

That meant that one week from now, the Emperor would take her to the Southern Land and abandon her.

After a moment of thought, Baeksa made her decision.

This time, she would allow herself to be abandoned instead of trying to earn love.

If the same future awaited her regardless, she no longer wanted to remain in this dreadful palace.

Even if she could only live for a single day, she wanted to spend it outside the Imperial Palace.

Somewhere no one found her disgusting or unclean.

Besides—

‘I want to see it.’

The orb she had seen at the moment of her death.

She hadn’t seen it clearly, but it had definitely resembled a dragon’s Yeouiju.

‘If I could see it just one more time.’

If she could find out what it was, she thought she wouldn’t mind dying earlier in this life.

To do that, she first had to hide her ability.

If she was lucky, she might survive there for several days.

After all, her ability absorbed everything.

Since she had not absorbed anything yet, it would take time before her body became filled with Corruption.

Four days would be enough to uncover the identity of that orb.

Of course, it might never appear again.

Even so, Baeksa wanted to return there.

Whether it appeared or not, she felt she had to see that place with her own eyes.

And if she was even luckier, she might meet the beastfolk who lived in those exiled lands.

Perhaps she could survive a few more days by relying on their kindness.

‘Though they probably won’t be kind to me…’

Still, anything would be better than living here.

From experience, Baeksa already knew there was no place sadder or lonelier than the Imperial Palace.

Yet after deciding to leave, there was one thing that continued to bother her.

‘That hand.’

The hand from which she absorbed energy every day under the Emperor’s orders.

What would happen to that person if she left?

The energy that had accumulated within her body was powerful enough to destroy young Baeksa’s body and eventually kill her.

If she disappeared…

Baeksa stared blankly at her own hands.

Back when she lived in the palace, there had been moments when that hand brought her comfort.

The owner of the hand neither spoke nor moved, so she never hated Baeksa or pushed her away.

But at the same time, it made her sad.

The only beastfolk who did not reject her in this place was the owner of that hand, lying motionless as though dead.

That was why Baeksa sincerely wished for her to wake up soon.

And even after waking, she hoped she would continue accepting Baeksa’s touch just as she did now.

At the same time, however, she was afraid.

Afraid that once the woman awakened, Baeksa would no longer be useful.

Afraid that the owner of the hand would push her away just as her father had.

At that thought, Baeksa vigorously shook her head.

‘No.’

If she kept thinking like that, she would never be able to leave.

And then, just like before, she would once again become her father’s tool until she was eventually discarded.

‘I’m sorry, nameless… lady.’

Remembering the young woman’s hand, Baeksa curled into a coil with a sorrowful expression.

‘Even if I stay, I’ll soon become useless anyway.’

So please find another way, wake up as soon as possible, and recover completely.

Baeksa sincerely hoped the woman would rise soon.

After all, it was thanks to holding that hand that she had managed to extend her life, even a little.

She had now chosen to give up even that.

But that did not mean the feelings she had once held had disappeared.

Even now, it felt as though the familiar scent she had smelled by that woman’s side still lingered at the tip of her nose.

Inside a room softly illuminated by warm light.

The Emperor lifted the long curtain of hanging beads and asked,

“How is her condition?”