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Chapter 38
Soya cried for a long time before barely managing to swallow her sobs as she asked,
“Hic… can I really… become Lord Sa-eon’s family?”
The child’s wet eyes glanced cautiously at Sa-eon.
“I’m not a tiger, and I don’t have cool patterns, or strong legs, or steel-like teeth…”
“Well,” Sa-eon replied, “if anything, that’s what I want to ask.”
He lightly brushed the damp hair stuck to her cheek behind her ear and smiled.
“I’m not a fluffy ball either. I don’t have wings or tail feathers. I’m not cute. And from what people say, I even have a bad personality.”
“……”
“But I still want to become family with a fluffy ball. What about you? Do you not like a dad who isn’t cute and has a bad personality?”
He asked playfully, trying to cheer her up, but Soya—whose sobs had just stopped—began trembling again before bursting into even louder tears.
“Father…! Soya is crying again!”
Because of that, Sa-eon received a great deal of blame from Gahyeon.
It felt a little unfair, but Sa-eon liked seeing how Gahyeon was already taking special care of the “fluffy ball.”
After sending the children to their rooms and putting them to sleep, Sa-eon returned to his office and muttered in a worried voice,
“By tomorrow, she’ll be a swollen fluffy ball. What should I do?”
Thinking of Soya sobbing like that made his chest ache.
It was the first time he had ever seen her cry out loud.
Soya rarely cried.
She didn’t cry even when she almost died at the hands of the Samjok-o of the Vermilion Bird clan.
She didn’t cry when she suffered after eating a peach.
She didn’t cry when her spirit core was injured and she collapsed.
She didn’t cry even when she got lost in the mountains.
The only time she shed tears was when she learned that the Vermilion Bird clan had ordered her death—and even then, she cried silently.
The people of Baekho Palace called her gentle and mature, but Sa-eon didn’t like that at all.
[That fluffy little baby… she doesn’t seem to know how to cry out loud.]
[If she keeps bottling things up like that, it will interfere with healing her spirit core. So, Sa-eon—teach the child how to cry.]
Maybe it was because of Sara’s words.
Seeing the fluffy ball cry made his heart ache, but at the same time, he felt proud that she had finally learned how to cry aloud.
“Aigoo, you really went and did it.”
Jeok-yeong entered the office, letting out a deep sigh.
Half an hour earlier—
Amid the chaos, Sa-eon had sent the children, including Soya and Siyu, inside first.
Then Sara came rushing in with a fierce expression, asking where the sachet came from.
It was confirmed to be a northern curse.
Despite that, in front of retainers who insisted it was wrong to punish a tiger because of an unidentified child, Sa-eon declared that he would formally adopt Soya into the Baekho clan.
That caused a great uproar in Baekho Palace.
“But, Jeok-yeong.”
“Yes? Why are you calling me like that again? When you lower your voice like that, it’s really scary.”
“…I’ve been thinking.”
Sa-eon looked at Jeok-yeong and said,
“A child doesn’t exist for the needs of adults. They’re not something to be used up for the sake of the clan.”
Eun Siyu had been pressured by her parents and became obsessed with becoming the master of the western end room.
That obsession even led her to harm other children.
Even that trembling child, who panicked when the curse was discovered, was only about ten years old.
“Because of some so-called tradition about the bride of the Yellow Dragon, those young children are competing for a direct-line position… I think that’s strange.”
“What? But, Head, as you know, that position is the duty of the direct line—”
“The duty of the direct line. Yes, that’s important.”
As the head of the clan and a descendant of a divine beast, Sa-eon understood that responsibility better than anyone.
He had no intention of neglecting to teach the children their duties.
“But they’re still children. Until they grow up, adults can take on those responsibilities instead. Pushing that burden onto children who haven’t even matured yet… that’s cowardly.”
He continued calmly,
“So what if the fluffy ball isn’t a tiger? So what if her claws are weaker than other branch children? So what if she can’t hunt?”
Thinking of Soya, a faint smile appeared on his face.
“She’s good at making talismans, and her handwriting is round and pretty. She takes her medicine without complaining and enjoys walks. If you look, there are many things she does well.”
Jeok-yeong thought he was just doting on her again—until Sa-eon continued.
“And it’s not just her. The child from the Eunho clan, and those from the Galho and Heukho clans—they all have things they’re good at.”
“…What are you trying to say?”
Jeok-yeong narrowed his eyes.
“My point is, there’s no need to rank them.”
Sa-eon smiled.
“They’re children. Just running around and smiling brightly is enough to make them shine.”
Each child had their own kind of brilliance.
A beauty that shone in its own color, without needing comparison.
And it was the adults’ job to protect that shine.
“Shouldn’t people like us protect that shine?”
The children from the Galho and Heukho clans hadn’t even wanted to be adopted—they were pushed into it by their parents.
The child from the Eunho clan, who had wanted it the most, cried and clung to her mother when something frightening happened.
Seeing that, Sa-eon felt the tradition of making children compete and separating them from their parents was very strange.
“So I’m going to get rid of this strange tradition.”
So that children could shine as children.
So they wouldn’t lose that shine under pressure and rivalry.
“Then… are you really planning to adopt Miss Fluffy Ball?”
Jeok-yeong asked, sounding resigned.
“Yes. I already got her permission. I can’t back out now.”
“If that’s your decision, then there’s nothing I can do.”
“Don’t worry too much. Even if we don’t produce the Yellow Dragon’s bride, our clan won’t collapse so easily.”
Sa-eon grinned.
“More importantly, I’ll hold things together—for the fluffy ball too.”
He was confident.
That he could protect both the child and the clan perfectly.
‘More than that…’
Sa-eon recalled how Soya alone had sensed the scent of the sachet that no one else noticed.
The child from the Eunho clan had hidden it because she didn’t think anyone would detect it.
But Soya did.
Sara had said it might be related to Soya’s spirit core.
She had felt a special energy from it—but couldn’t be certain because the core wasn’t fully intact.
‘A special energy…’
In their world, the energy of the spirit core was inherited through blood, which was why lineage was so important.
‘But wasn’t the fluffy ball originally said to be a maid’s daughter?’
A deep frown formed on Sa-eon’s face.
* * *
The next morning.
Soya woke up on the soft bed and stared at the ceiling, murmuring blankly,
“It wasn’t a dream…”
Her swollen eyelids told her that last night really happened.
“I really became Lord Sa-eon’s family.”
Still unable to believe it, she lightly slapped her cheeks—just as Yeonjeong entered the room and saw her.
“Miss, oh my—! Your eyes are so swollen!”
Startled, Yeonjeong brought ice, wrapped it in a cloth, and gently pressed it against Soya’s eyes.
Her eyelids felt rough and hot from crying all night, but Soya just giggled.
In truth, her daily life hadn’t changed much.
She was still the fluffy ball lady of Baekho Palace.
She still used the western end room.
After breakfast, she still held Yeonjeong’s hand and went for a walk.
Yes, nothing had changed much…
‘But somehow, today the sunlight feels warmer, and the trees and grass in the garden look greener… even though summer has passed and autumn has come.’
