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Chapter 31
“Every time I use my ability, it grows a little bigger. Now it really feels like this child is my friend.”
Baeksa chatted away with a faint blush on her cheeks.
Hearing that, Hwayeong poked Baeksa’s cheek as if she found her unbearably adorable.
“Still, don’t use it too much. What if it’s bad for your body? The Divine Beast Festival is coming up soon.”
“Yeah. This Divine Beast Festival is basically your stage. Well, another kid did show up, but…”
Doui trailed off.
Hwayeong and Doui seemed worried that Baeksa might feel uncomfortable because of the girl who had suddenly appeared.
But Baeksa found their attitude rather strange.
I’m still an outsider, and if she’s Myeongyeong-nim’s daughter, then she’s family.
Why were they paying so much attention to her feelings?
And Hwayeong’s comment that “something feels off” also bothered her a little.
With Hwayeong and Doui’s personalities, there was no way they would look down on Myeongyeong-nim’s daughter.
The fact that they still had not gone to see the girl and were instead spending time with her felt somewhat odd.
“Ah, looks like time’s up. We should get going.”
After carefully setting Baeksa down from her lap, Hwayeong stood up and stretched.
Doui stared at Hwayeong for a moment before turning to Baeksa.
“Finish all of this by yourself. You need to put on some weight. You’re still way too skinny.”
“But don’t eat until you throw up!”
Hwayeong added.
The two of them gave Baeksa kind words until the very end before departing.
Watching their retreating figures, Baeksa quietly waved before curling her knees up to her chest.
If that girl really is Myeongyeong-nim’s daughter, I want to give her this residence.
If their positions were reversed and she were in the girl’s shoes, she would want to stay here.
“Maybe I should talk to the Head of the Family…”
The truth was, Baeksa liked this residence too.
Had she simply grown attached to it after living here?
No, more than that, she just liked it for reasons she could not explain.
It felt as though she had returned to a place she had missed terribly.
So if someone asked whether she wanted to keep living here, she could not honestly say no.
She simply believed that if there was a rightful owner, it should be returned.
Baeksa looked at her reflection in a transparent bead.
Her face was faintly reflected in the shining black sphere.
“It’s such a relief that the Head of the Family found his niece. You think so too, right?”
As if answering her, the bead sparkled.
Smiling softly, Baeksa carefully placed the bead into a silk pouch.
Ahee adapted to the Vermilion Bird estate at an astonishing speed.
The woman who had raised and cared for her until now was currently staying at the Song family estate.
And yet Ahee never once said that she missed her mother or wanted to return home. She simply settled into life at the estate.
The servants of the Vermilion Bird estate were rendered speechless the moment they saw her face.
Snow-white hair.
Red eyes.
And white feathers.
Without needing any proof at all, Ahee looked astonishingly similar to the missing Vermilion Bird young lady.
If evidence were required, then her remarkably similar face was evidence enough.
“There’s no doubt. She must be Myeongyeong-nim’s daughter.”
“Just what kind of person did Myeongyeong-nim have a child with…? And how did it happen so far away?”
“Where in the world did Myeongyeong-nim go?”
Whenever Ahee passed by, the servants whispered among themselves in bewilderment.
Naturally, none of them treated her carelessly.
The White Vermilion Bird young lady had once been the most beloved person in the estate.
Joo Myeongyeong’s disappearance had left a deep scar in the hearts of the servants even now.
And now, after all this time, a girl believed to be her daughter had returned.
Their joy was beyond words.
Unlike Baeksa, Ahee was not shy around strangers.
“Hello, Head of the Family. May I walk with you? I wanted to spend some time with you.”
Ahee spoke clearly and confidently.
The servants’ affection for the missing White Vermilion Bird young lady, combined with Ahee’s naturally charming personality, made her beloved by the estate in no time.
Of course, rumors had spread everywhere that Myeongyeong’s sacred treasure had not yet reacted to her.
Even so, the servants believed it was only a matter of time before it did.
Ahee resembled Myeongyeong too closely for it to be otherwise.
An elderly servant attending her muttered emotionally,
“How can you look so much like Myeongyeong-nim…?”
“Do I really look that much like her?”
Ahee lowered her voice and whispered.
The truth was that the sacred treasure had not yet acknowledged Ahee as Myeongyeong’s biological daughter.
As a result, she had not officially been recognized as Myeongyeong’s child.
That was why she still could not call Joo Myeongyeong “Mother.”
Nevertheless, the servants firmly believed she was Myeongyeong’s daughter and felt sorry for her situation.
“Of course. You look unbelievably alike. There’s a portrait, so be sure to ask the Head of the Family to show it to you sometime. And the residence where Myeongyeong-nim used to live as well…”
The maid, whose eyes had filled with tears, suddenly stopped speaking.
Only then did she remember that another beastkin was currently living there.
And Ahee already knew that.
She knew there was a girl with white hair similar to her own living in the estate.
And that she was staying in the residence that had belonged to the White Vermilion Bird young lady—Ahee’s “mother.”
Some of the maids were uncomfortable with that situation.
Of course, they understood that Ahee had not yet gone through the proper procedures and therefore had not officially been acknowledged as Myeongyeong’s daughter.
Still, they felt it was unfair that a child who looked so much like Myeongyeong and even possessed her belongings was staying in a guest room instead of Myeongyeong’s residence.
“Um, Lady Ahee. If you want to see the place, I can ask for permission. Lady Baeksa is staying there right now, but at least looking around should be—”
At that moment, Ahee’s eyes suddenly sparkled as if she had spotted something in the distance.
“Hmm, no. It’s okay. I’ll ask for permission myself another time.”
She answered vaguely before turning her head sharply.
At the end of her gaze stood Hwayeong and Doui.
“Hwayeong-nim!”
Ahee smiled brightly and ran toward them.
Her neatly braided hair swayed charmingly with each step.
“Where are you going? To see the Head of the Family?”
“Yeah. We have something to discuss with him. Why are you here?”
“I was taking a walk. From over there all the way to here.”
Her eyes sparkling, Ahee asked,
“If you’re going to see the Head of the Family, may I come too? I want to see him as well.”
As Ahee blinked, the servants around her smiled as if she were the cutest thing in the world.
But Hwayeong and Doui were exceptions.
When they were around Ahee, they did not laugh or joke as much as they did with Baeksa.
Ahee seemed to notice the awkward atmosphere and took a step back.
“Um, was I being too presumptuous? I just… wanted to thank the Head of the Family for giving me such pretty clothes.”
“Ah, no. That’s fine. You can come. Sure… let’s go together.”
Hwayeong nodded somewhat reluctantly.
At that, Ahee beamed and wrapped herself around Hwayeong’s arm.
Yet for some reason, Hwayeong did not welcome Ahee’s affectionate behavior.
Ahee had not done anything wrong.
And yet Hwayeong could not understand why she felt this way.
That evening, Baeksa sat alone in the front courtyard.
Both Hwayeong and Doui were busy today and had not come to their secret meeting at the Hour of the Monkey.
Still, she did not feel disappointed.
They’re busy people.
Honestly, I’m already grateful they’ve spent so much time with me.
Baeksa was absentmindedly playing with a flower petal when—
“Lady Ahee. You can’t come here without permission…!”
She heard Sirang’s troubled voice trying to stop someone.
At the sound, Baeksa, who had been crouching on the ground, lifted her head.
Their eyes met.
“A snake beastkin?”
Baeksa blinked.
Standing in front of Sirang was a girl with hair as white as her own.
Her round red eyes were lovely, while the sharp shape of them resembled Hwayeong’s.
The moment their eyes met, Baeksa immediately recognized who she was.
Ahee…!
