The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 10
‘Didn’t I tell you not to touch my things? Everything you touch breaks!’
‘There is no existence in this entire Haeseo Kingdom as ominous as you.’
Yeoryun’s accusatory voice, which had lacerated her heart hundreds of times before, echoed in her ears.
The voice she thought she would never have to hear again after leaving the Imperial Palace rang hollowly in Baeksa’s ears.
The young girl’s face turned deathly pale.
‘I shouldn’t have touched it…….’
Yeoryun had been right.
Whenever she laid her hands on something, whatever it might be, it was ruined or rendered utterly useless.
Knowing that, why had she mindlessly reached out?
‘It’s all my fault…….’
Regret washed over her until tears welled, but there was no turning back time.
Baeksa, quietly watching Ju Jeokseo’s deeply hardened expression, hurriedly clutched her skirt and dropped to her knees.
Then, tightly holding the blackened, faded feather in both hands, she looked up at him.
“I’m so, so sorry, Family Head……”
Her tiny hands trembled violently.
Her mind went completely blank, and tears welled in her eyes. She had no idea how to beg for forgiveness.
Should she offer to be beaten until his anger subsided, just as she used to plead with Yeoryun?
Although Imperial Royalty would never kneel to anyone, Yeoryun and Songra had forced Baeksa to her knees countless times.
Furthermore, they constantly reminded her that she was an existence lower than the pages and palace servants who attended them.
So at this very moment, Baeksa thought it only natural to kneel and beg for forgiveness.
“I didn’t mean to ruin it on purpose. Truly, I just did it without realizing……”
The black feather, having lost its five-colored radiance and turned unsightly, rested gently within her grasp.
Perhaps because it had been left abandoned and isolated in the snowfield, her small hands were terribly swollen with frostbite.
Yet she didn’t care about the pain in her fingertips at all.
She was far too frantic to notice such discomfort.
As Baeksa squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for Ju Jeokseo’s judgment.
Grab.
Ju Jeokseo suddenly caught her hands in his.
At his unhesitating touch, the black feather fluttered down, landing beneath her knees.
“Um, Family Head……”
“Why hasn’t the child’s hand been treated yet?”
He wasn’t addressing Baeksa.
The sharp, rebuking question was directed at Sirang, who stood nearby in a polite posture.
Sirang quickly answered.
“The Physician said we should administer the medicine once the young lady woke up, so we haven’t been able to treat her yet.”
“She is awake now, so tell him to come and treat her immediately. Leaving it like this will only worsen the injuries.”
“Yes, Family Head. I will bring him at once.”
Sirang hurriedly left the room.
Baeksa looked up at Ju Jeokseo with a bewildered expression.
The feather, which looked precious even at a glance, lay pitifully on the floor.
Yet Ju Jeokseo didn’t spare the feather a single glance; instead, his focus remained entirely on Baeksa’s hands.
His brow furrowed slightly, looking as though he were the one enduring the pain.
Baeksa swallowed hard. Her large eyes darted busily back and forth between the feather and Ju Jeokseo.
The little snake, with both hands captured, asked in a faint, trembling whisper.
“Um, Family Head……”
“What is it?”
“Are you, are you not angry……?”
“Should I be?”
“Because I, I ruined something so precious……”
“It is indeed precious,”
Ju Jeokseo replied calmly. Baeksa’s fingertips twitched slightly.
But he continued without paying it any mind.
“However, it is not so grand a thing that a young child must kneel because of it.”
Releasing her hands, Ju Jeokseo casually picked up the feather from the floor.
“This must be your first time seeing one. It is called a Guiding Feather.”
“A Guiding Feather……?”
“It is an item that provides guidance when one is lost. My younger sister made it.”
An item crafted by the Family Head’s younger sister.
She had ruined such a thing, so why was he saying it was alright?
Until now, everyone Baeksa had ever met blamed her whenever something broke or when things went wrong.
Yet far from blaming her, Ju Jeokseo calmly held out the feather toward her.
“This feather possesses a special power; it returns a lost person to their home. Once that purpose is fulfilled, its light fades away like this.”
Baeksa gently accepted the feather with her swollen hands.
Then she lifted her head to look up at him.
“Since this feather lost its power upon touching you, it seems this place is your home.”
Hearing his tender words, Baeksa lowered her gaze.
‘That can’t be true, Family Head.’
I am an ominous snake who cannot live anywhere.
Besides, the reason this Guiding Feather lost its light was because her own Supernatural Ability had swallowed its special power.
Moved by his kind words, Baeksa made up her mind.
She couldn’t hide the truth from such a gentle person.
“Um, Family Head…… there is something I must tell you.”
After a moment of hesitation, Baeksa spoke up.
“The feather lost its power when it touched me because of the Supernatural Ability I possess……”
“A Supernatural Ability?”
Faltering, Baeksa nodded her head.
“You might already know this, but I am a beast-kin of the Imperial Family.”
No, he undoubtedly knew.
The Emperor had deliberately dressed Baeksa in clothes symbolizing Imperial Royalty before abandoning her in Namto.
“But I cannot use the Supernatural Ability of the Imperial Family. Instead……”
Baeksa detached an ornament that hung from her clothing.
As she carefully channeled her energy, the ornament’s color turned pitch-black, before crumbling into a handful of ashes and scattering from her palm.
A dreadful Supernatural Ability that ruined everything and devoured everything.
Because it was her first time exposing the raw reality of that power to another person, the child bit her lower lip hard.
“It must have been ruined…… because of this. But thank you so much for speaking to me so kindly.”
After a brief silence, Ju Jeokseo spoke with a puzzled expression.
“What kind of Supernatural Ability is that?”
“Ah, this is…… something that steals the energy of others……”
“What nonsense are you talking about? There is no such thing as a power that merely steals from others. Every Supernatural Ability manifests to maintain the harmony of heaven and earth. Therefore, your ability must surely have a proper name.”
He countered calmly.
Startled, Baeksa blinked her eyes before responding.
“Ah…… the Imperial Father called it Absorption.”
“Absorption…… I have never heard of it. But it is quite remarkable. If you refine it well, it will be of great help to your growth in the future.”
Baeksa was profoundly taken aback by this unexpected reaction.
‘Remarkable?’
Objectively speaking, her ability was not remarkable at all.
How could it be?
As if being an ominous snake beastman weren’t enough, she had a power that swallowed everything.
Yet he called it remarkable?
Was this elder of the Vermilion Bird Family telling a lie?
While Baeksa was lost in her confusion, Ju Jeokseo casually set the feather aside and spoke.
“I heard you wanted to meet me.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Do you happen to have something to say to me?”
Baeksa slowly nodded her head.
“I have a request I would like to make.”
“A request?”
Gulp.
Baeksa swallowed her dry saliva.
Then, with great effort, she parted her parched lips.
“Um, by any chance…… could I stay here?”
Her voice trembled pitifully.
Her eyes wandered aimlessly through the air, lacking any direction. She looked fully aware of how absurd her request truly was.
He had saved her life, and now she was asking to be allowed to stay.
She really was a shameless child.
Furthermore, she was utterly useless.
However.
‘If not for this…….’
She would be driven out into the cold again.
Sirang had said she would look after her ‘during her stay.’
Those words meant that, eventually, she would have to leave this place.
But if Baeksa left this home, she truly had nowhere else to go.
The only thing waiting for the small snake was that barren, freezing snowfield.
Still kneeling, Baeksa timidly peered up at Ju Jeokseo with a trembling expression.
“I am useless, but…… if you give me any task, I will work as hard as I can.”
“…….”
“Um, I…… you might be uneasy because of my birth, but……”
“What birth? The fact that you belong to Imperial Royalty?”
“Yes……”
The little snake had never once received the respect due to Imperial Royalty.
Yet that lineage, which had never aided the girl throughout her entire life, had become a shackle now that she had traveled to this distant land.
Even so, she couldn’t deceive her savior.
Therefore, despite knowing that the beast-kin of the Vermilion Bird territory harbored a terrible hatred for the Imperial Family, Baeksa had no choice but to confess her origins herself.
“So, you wish to say that you are not a spy?”
“Yes……”
Ju Jeokseo arched an eyebrow.
“For a young child, you are quite sharp.”
“You, you truly do not need to worry.”
The hands clutching her skirt tightened. Baeksa spoke in a resolute voice.
“Because I…… came here under an Imperial Order to die.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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