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Chapter 30
The Vermilion Bird clan was in an uproar.
A girl who appeared just before the Shinsu Ceremony.
A child with white hair and white feathers, just like the young lady of this estate, the White Vermilion Bird.
The girl brought by the Song family head looked just like Myungyeong, as if she had returned.
Judeokseo rushed out at once and looked back and forth between Song Hyeon and the girl.
He then led them to the reception room and turned to Song Hyeon.
“What is going on?”
“My subordinates revisited the place where Lady Myungyeong’s trace was last found,” Song Hyeon said respectfully.
“And there, we found this child. She looks so much like Lady Myungyeong that….”
Song Hyeon looked at the child.
“Show them.”
“Ah, yes!”
The girl brought her hands together and used her ability.
Whoosh!
A white flame ignited in her palms.
The Vermilion Bird clan’s ability—fire.
That pure white flame was proof that the child was indeed of Vermilion Bird blood.
“Because she possesses such an ability, I believed this child must be Lady Myungyeong’s daughter, and brought her quickly to the Divine Lord.”
“When I went there before, the Spirit Treasure did not react.”
If she were truly Myungyeong’s daughter, the Spirit Treasure would have reacted to its former master’s bloodline.
So she could not be Myungyeong’s daughter.
Even as he thought this, Judeokseo’s gaze remained fixed on the girl’s face.
After collecting himself, he spoke coldly.
“Are you saying you found what I could not?”
“Divine Lord, please hear me! It is only natural that you could not find this child.”
“Why?”
“The widow who found and raised this abandoned child hid her carefully, fearing the child’s birth mother might come to take her away.”
Song Hyeon said.
“Of course, I cannot confirm she is Lady Myungyeong’s daughter, but look at her face.”
There was not a single tremor in his voice.
“She is exactly like Lady Myungyeong, as I remember her.”
As Song Hyeon said, the child truly looked like Myungyeong.
But that made it even more strange.
“Why, despite looking so much like her, do I feel no affection at all?”
When he first found Baeksa—
When he first held that small child lying in the snow, Judeokseo had instinctively thought of Myungyeong.
As he cared for and raised the child afterward, that feeling only deepened.
But strangely, he felt no such emotion toward this girl who resembled Myungyeong even more.
Instead, it felt unpleasant, as if someone had merely imitated his younger sister’s face.
He quietly looked at the child and shook his head.
“If this child is Myungyeong’s daughter, then who is the father? Myungyeong is not the kind of woman who would bear a child with any man.”
“I do not know that either….”
Song Hyeon glanced at the girl again, as if there was nothing more to say.
The girl, with snow-white hair and red eyes, blinked innocently.
Her face was so similar to Myungyeong’s that she could almost be called a little Myungyeong.
And that was what made it even stranger.
Standing this child next to Baeksa, the one who resembled Myungyeong more was actually this girl.
Yet instead of affection or relief, he felt only discomfort.
“If they were truly blood relatives, this would not happen.”
According to Song Hyeon, the timing did match.
The last trace of Myungyeong had indeed been cut off in the place where the child was found.
Then why—
“Why do I feel… like this…”
Judeokseo asked.
“How old are you?”
“I’m nine.”
Nine years old—roughly the same age as Baeksa.
As he had not ruled out the possibility that Baeksa might be Myungyeong’s child, he could not dismiss this girl’s possibility either.
No—it was more than that.
With a face this similar, anyone would think she was Myungyeong’s daughter.
Then why had she only appeared now?
Moreover, could he believe that his younger sister, who left at just seventeen, had given birth and disappeared?
Judeokseo felt confused.
“Divine Lord!”
Song Hyeon prostrated himself.
“I humbly beg you, please keep this child by your side until the Shinsu Ceremony!”
“Until the Shinsu Ceremony?”
“Yes. As Your Excellency says, there is no way to prove it. After the ceremony, I will take her and raise her myself.”
At that moment, Judeokseo reacted.
Song Hyeon did not miss the opening and took something from his robes.
“However, Divine Lord, please look at this.”
It was a white-gold hairpin.
It was something Myungyeong always carried, and one of the belongings that disappeared when she vanished.
“How did you obtain this…?”
“When the child was found, it was inside her swaddling cloth.”
“Then why was this not shown first?”
Judeokseo’s question went unanswered.
He looked between Song Hyeon and the girl with a confused expression.
Then he asked the child.
“What is your name?”
“Ahee, Divine Lord.”
The girl answered in a clear voice.
“Ahee… you may stay here for now.”
Judeokseo said, putting the white-gold hairpin away.
“While you are here, you will be well taken care of. However, I need time to investigate whether you are truly my sister’s daughter.”
Still unable to understand the strange feeling of familiarity and rejection, he continued.
“Stay in the guest room until the Shinsu Ceremony. A maid will prepare a room for you.”
“Lady Myungyeong’s… daughter?”
Baeksa’s eyes widened.
Held on Hwa-ryeong’s lap while being fed fruit, he spoke.
Hwa-ryeong nodded.
“Yeah. Elder Song brought her. She’s staying in the guest room now.”
“I peeked at her earlier. She looks exactly like Lady Myungyeong’s portrait.”
“I haven’t seen her yet. Something feels off.”
Hwa-ryeong popped a grape into Baeksa’s mouth.
Doyi asked,
“What does?”
“Doesn’t it feel strange? Baeksa just arrived not long ago, and now another white-haired kid shows up? It feels off.”
Hwa-ryeong shrugged.
When Baeksa first arrived at the estate, Hwa-ryeong had even transformed into her beast form to meet him.
So this was unfamiliar, and Baeksa blinked and fidgeted his hands.
But—
‘Lady Myungyeong’s daughter… congratulations.’
He had heard that the clan head had long missed Lady Myungyeong deeply.
Now that a supposed daughter had appeared, it must be a blessing for him.
While Hwa-ryeong and Doyi found it suspicious, Baeksa did not think that way.
He simply believed that since the clan head was a kind person, heaven had sent a blessing.
‘But… should I give up my room?’
Baeksa looked around the place where he stayed with worried eyes.
This had originally been Lady Myungyeong’s residence.
It was the warmest place in the Vermilion Bird estate, so it had been given to Baeksa when he was rescued, frozen.
But now that the true owner might have appeared, it seemed right to move out.
“For now, she’s staying until the Shinsu Ceremony. They said the clan head has Lady Myungyeong’s Spirit Treasure.”
“Right. They think if she’s the real daughter, the Spirit Treasure will react in that time.”
“She was found with Lady Myungyeong’s belongings… so it does match the situation. But I don’t know. Why does it feel so unsettling?”
Hwa-ryeong muttered.
“My instincts are usually right.”
“You always have weirdly good instincts in cases like this, young master. Baby snake, eat a bit more.”
Doyi placed a sweet snack into Baeksa’s hand. Baeksa nodded while leaning into Hwa-ryeong’s arms.
“Thank you, Doyi-nim.”
“How’s your bead? Is it okay?”
“Yes. Look at this.”
Baeksa took out a bead from his pocket and showed it.
The bead had grown much larger than before.
What had once been so small and rough it could not even be called a bead or a pebble now looked like something quite valuable.
