The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 15

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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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Chapter 15
“Miss, may I come in?”
“Oh, just a moment!”
Baeksa, caught off guard, flailed about helplessly and hurriedly threw a blanket over the small bird.
Then, careful not to suffocate it, she left a small gap for air and called out.
“Come in, please!”
The bird’s tail feathers poked out slightly from under the blanket.
Before Sirang could spot them, Baeksa quickly tucked the feathers back under the covers.
Sirang entered carrying a basin of water and set the lukewarm liquid before Baeksa.
“Did you sleep well last night? Is there anything you need?”
“Yes, yes! I was comfortable.”
“My, but why are you sweating so much?”
At Sirang’s question, Baeksa stiffened.
“Perhaps the room grew a bit warm? I stoked the brazier hotter so you wouldn’t be cold, but…”
“Oh, no, it was warm and lovely. Really…!”
Baeksa answered, beads of sweat sliding down her face.
She couldn’t tell Sirang that the sweat came from the small bird hiding under her blanket.
That would be betraying the bird’s secret.
But there was one problem: in all her life, Baeksa had never once lied or deceived anyone.
This was the first time she had lied for someone else’s sake.
Fortunately, Sirang seemed not to have noticed the small bird hidden under Baeksa’s blanket.
“Well then, I’m relieved. Just wait a moment, miss. I’ll bring your breakfast shortly!”
Sirang carefully washed Baeksa’s face with the lukewarm water.
Then, taking the used water with her, she hurried back outside.
‘She’s gone…!’
Baeksa waited for the door to close, and the moment Sirang left, she pulled the small bird from under the blanket.
“Chirp!”
The bird, apparently finding the blanket suffocating, flapped its wings wildly the instant it emerged.
Its small feathers were all disheveled. The sight was utterly adorable.
‘How cute….’
Baeksa, who had been hesitating, reached out and smoothed the fledgling’s feathers.
Then, careful not to be heard outside, she asked in the smallest of voices.
“Is there a reason no one can know you came here?”
“Chirp-chirp-tweet!”
The small bird nodded earnestly. Then it brought its wing to its beak and made a shushing motion.
“You want me to keep it secret?”
“Chirp!”
“All right, don’t worry. I’ll keep your secret safe.”
Baeksa smiled warmly and gently cradled the fledgling in her hands.
Then she padded over to the window, extended her hands holding the bird into the open air, and spoke.
“Meeting you will be my secret. But Sirang will be back soon, so you should go before she returns.”
“Chirp… chirp-tweet……”
“I have to tidy the blanket, and then there won’t be anywhere to hide……”
The small bird seemed deeply reluctant to leave Baeksa’s room.
It kept glancing around, burrowing deeper into her palms.
The bird was so warm that holding it felt like cradling a small Warmth Stone.
Baeksa, too, was reluctant to let it go. This bird was the first friend she had made since coming here.
Of course, the bird might not think the same way. But at least, that is how Baeksa felt.
‘Maybe that’s why I’m so sad to see it go.’
I have never been welcomed by a Spiritual Beast before, nor have I ever had a friend.
Baeksa, who had been gazing quietly at the soft feathers, asked carefully.
“Would it… would it be all right if you came back again?”
“Chirp?”
“I mean, of course you don’t have to if you’re busy! As long as you’re all right with it……”
Baeksa added hastily, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Then the bird’s eyes sparkled as it looked up at her, and it spread its wings wide.
It nodded frantically, flapped its wings once toward Baeksa, and flew away.
Flutter!
Where the small bird had flown, a single tiny feather drifted down.
With its tip faintly tinged in red, it felt like a gift the fledgling had left behind.
‘What a kind bird.’
Baeksa smiled softly and tucked the small feather beneath her pillow.
Here, she thought, Sirang wouldn’t sweep it away or lose it.
And soon enough, Sirang returned to Baeksa’s room with the breakfast tray.
***
Once Baeksa’s condition had improved somewhat, the Physician gave her permission to move about and walk freely.
Appropriate activity would aid her recovery.
Besides, without any muscle from spending so long bedridden, she needed to move about and build strength.
Yet Baeksa hesitated to leave her quarters.
It wasn’t simply fear of meeting other Beast-kin.
‘Ah, it’s this….’
After both the Physician and Sirang had left,
Baeksa, alone in her room, tested her Abnormal Ability with downcast eyes.
A greedy black mist writhed in her small, pale palm.
It continued to pour from within her body regardless of her will.
Like a monster that would not be satisfied until it devoured everything.
‘It wasn’t like this before.’
But back then, the moment her Abnormal Ability manifested, His Majesty had immediately given her work.
And since then, she had not gone a single day without using her ability.
She had absorbed malevolent energy ceaselessly. They had never given her even one day of rest.
‘Is that why?’
Ever since her Abnormal Ability first manifested, has it been raging because she has been unable to seize or consume almost anything?
Worry shadowed the small child’s face.
“What if my Abnormal Ability spirals out of control…?”
Her Abnormal Ability was like a great monster dwelling deep underground within her.
A monster that, once unleashed, even she could not control.
Baeksa feared the monster living in her own body. She was terrified it might escape on its own and devastate the Vermilion Bird Family Estate.
So even though she had been given permission to move about, she found no joy in it.
In fact, staying confined to her room might have been better.
‘If only this place were that Contaminated Zone.’
Perhaps her Abnormal Ability would have been useful.
Her ability could absorb Contamination, after all.
But this place was the heart of Namto, a distance away from the Contaminated Zone.
It was the center of the Vermilion Bird Family Estate. For that reason, there was almost no visible Contamination here.
So the only things Baeksa could absorb in this place would be the special powers and strengths of others.
Such as the Flame of the Vermilion Bird Family, for instance……
‘No, that can’t happen!’
The thought startled Baeksa so much she opened her eyes wide and shook her head frantically.
That above all was unthinkable.
If she absorbed the Flame the way she had absorbed Songra’s Blessing, she would be unable to return it.
Having thought that far, Baeksa remembered the small Spiritual Beast bird that had visited her room this morning.
‘Chirp-chirp-tweet!’
The small, soft creature that had been her friend, even if only for a moment.
Since that bird seemed to be no ordinary creature but a Spiritual Beast, it surely possessed some special power of its own.
Then wouldn’t it be better if it didn’t meet me?
Her heart felt suffocated.
As if a great stone lay heavy upon her chest.
Baeksa, sitting quietly with her gaze fixed on her palm, recalled something the Emperor had once said.
‘Your Abnormal Ability is rooted in greed. Since I have granted you a power befitting such greed, be grateful to me.’
He had said a fitting purpose.
Then was she truly meant to devour everything?
If that was her fate…the young serpent’s expression grew resolute as she slowly lifted her head.
‘Ah, it might be good if I could use my Abnormal Ability in a way that serves the Vermilion Bird territories.’
The borders of Namto were so heavily Contaminated that mere contact could kill, so using her ability there would be impossible.
But elsewhere?
Even here within the Vermilion Bird Family Estate, the Contamination was far weaker than at the borders.
It seemed that Beast-kin sought out and gathered in the places within Namto that had escaped Contamination.
So perhaps she could safely absorb the small amount of Contamination within this place.
“All right, I’ll go ask the Family Head for a purpose……”
Baeksa, resolved, nodded to herself and was just about to rise with determination when
“Miss, are you there? It’s Sirang!”
Click.
Sirang opened the door and stepped in, smiling brightly as she looked at Baeksa.
She took the girl’s hand, helped her to her feet, and spoke.
“Miss, the Family Head is calling for you. He’s waiting in the Rear Garden.”
“The Family Head is calling… for me?”
“Yes. It seems the Family Head also heard from the Physician that you were given permission to move about freely.”
Baeksa blinked, taking Sirang’s hand and rising with a bewildered expression.
‘How fortunate….’
I had something I wanted to tell him, anyway.
The small serpent girl’s cheeks flushed a rosy red as she broke into a shy smile.

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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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