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Chapter 7
At that moment, Jeok Hwayu hesitated slightly and looked at So-ya.
Older brother…
A title that should never have been used toward a child who had deceived their family.
And yet… for some reason, it left a strange feeling in his chest.
“I have somewhere to go. Wait here.”
He forced an awkward smile, hiding his true thoughts.
And then—
“Whatever happened to that child?”
“She’s dead.”
Suddenly, a scene flashed before So-ya’s eyes.
Jeok Hwayu speaking with a man wearing a black mask.
She flinched.
“…What is this?”
The image shattered instantly, like a dream dissolving.
A cold bead of sweat ran down her forehead.
“It must’ve been an illusion…”
“Soyaa?”
Hwayu called her again. She quickly came back to her senses.
“Just wait here for a moment, I’ll be back—”
He looked strangely anxious, as if afraid she might refuse.
And then So-ya understood instinctively.
That’s a lie.
The request to wait… was a lie.
He wouldn’t return.
This was the moment she was being abandoned.
Even so—
“Yes, Young Master.”
So-ya smiled and nodded, clutching the bead bracelet he had given her tightly.
Only then did Hwayu turn away in relief.
So-ya watched his back as he left.
Her smile slowly faded.
As night fell, the festival ended and the streets emptied.
He never came back.
But So-ya still stood in the same place, holding the bracelet.
Even knowing he wouldn’t return… she still waited.
Just to feel what it was like to wait.
Still… it was nice.
She truly thought so.
She was a “bad chick”—a child who had deceived her family.
But despite that, her family had raised her until she turned nine instead of casting her out immediately.
Today’s short outing had been a luxury.
It felt like the most precious gift in the world.
So she must not resent them.
Even if… they were going to abandon her.
But then—
Her body grew warm. Her throat began to itch.
So-ya recognized the symptoms.
Peach allergy.
She had suffered it before as a child, and after the identity switch, the maids sometimes fed her peaches deliberately to torment her.
It would pass in a few hours, as always.
More importantly… what would she do now?
She had nowhere to go.
Nothing left.
“Run!”
A voice suddenly rang inside her head.
“What…?”
She turned her head sharply—
Swish!
A dagger sliced through the air, grazing her hair.
Several strands of her white hair fell to the ground.
“…!”
Her eyes widened in shock.
If she had not moved, it would have been her neck.
A chilling sensation crawled over her skin.
In the bushes ahead stood a man in a black mask.
Their eyes met.
And suddenly—
She remembered.
The illusion she had seen earlier.
Hwayu speaking with a masked man.
“What happened to that child?”
“She’s dead.”
Her heart sank.
It wasn’t an illusion.
It was the future.
And she finally understood who “that child” was.
It was her.
So-ya.
They had said they would “take her away for Lili.”
She had thought it meant exile.
But—
No.
Her pupils trembled violently.
They intend to kill me.
Her legs shook. Her body grew cold despite the summer heat.
I have to run… I have to…
But her weakened body wouldn’t obey.
The killing intent drew closer.
“Don’t stop! Run, So-ya!”
The voice rang again in her mind.
She didn’t understand what it was.
She didn’t have time to.
She turned and ran in the opposite direction.
Behind her, heavy footsteps followed.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Her body felt heavy. Her legs nearly collapsed.
And then—
“Ah!”
She tripped over a stone.
The bead bracelet shattered, scattering colorful beads across the ground.
Her pouch also fell out from inside her clothing.
“…Ah!”
And then—
A shadow fell over her.
“Little rat of a girl.”
So-ya froze.
A masked man stood before her, raising his sword.
I’m going to die.
She closed her eyes tightly—
And then—
Swish!
Clang!!
A sharp sound rang out.
The assassin’s sword flew away.
Slowly, So-ya opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was a broad man’s back.
“…Father?”
No.
It wasn’t her father.
A tall man with waist-length white hair stood before her.
On his shoulder was a silk robe embroidered with a white beast and blue markings.
So-ya recognized it instantly.
The guardian beast of the west.
White Tiger…
The lord of the Baek Clan.
He moved his sword gracefully.
Meanwhile
Baek Sa-eon, the master of the Western White Tiger Clan, had come to the southern lands under the prince’s command.
“Go to the land of the Vermillion Bird in the south. Steal the most valuable thing there.”
It was a strange order.
But he could not refuse.
Because—
“I will give you the Dragon Blood Herb you’ve been searching for.”
The prince knew exactly what he needed.
So it was not a command.
It was a deal.
He hadn’t expected to end up stealing in the land of those chicken-headed Vermillion Bird fools.
But then—
He felt a killing intent nearby.
Instinct moved him.
His blade cut through the air without mercy.
Swish!
The white sword sliced through the masked assassin.
He looked down at the corpse coldly.
Before the man’s last breath, Sa-eon flicked his sword.
The mask was cut away.
A tattoo was revealed—three-legged crow markings.
The symbol of the Vermillion Bird clan’s secret assassin group, Samjok-o (Three-Legged Crow).
Sa-eon narrowed his eyes.
Then—
He felt something trembling beside him.
He turned sharply.
And saw it.
A small, white figure trembling on the ground.
“…?”
Despite her pale, frightened face, she looked strangely composed for her age.
“…What is this fluff ball?”
A tiny, snow-white girl stood there, like a fragile little creature caught in the storm.
