The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 16

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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 16
Baeksa held Sirang’s hand and stepped lightly out of the room.
It was her first time venturing beyond the Residence, so she felt a little nervous.
As they went, the two encountered many Beast-kin.
They all worked for the Vermilion Bird Family.
Some looked at Baeksa with curious eyes, while others turned away.
The averted gazes were familiar to her, so the child accepted them more naturally than the curious ones.
A needle wound must keep piercing to keep hurting.
Baeksa, who had been treated as a nuisance within the Imperial Palace all this time, had become numb enough that even ordinary needles no longer caused her pain.
“Miss, this is the Rear Garden.”
Sirang, who had arrived at the Rear Garden, spoke as she gently released Baeksa’s hand.
The child looked up and surveyed the Rear Garden.
Beautiful flowers bloomed everywhere, and those flowers, which blossomed without regard to season, were as lovely as to evoke the Peach Blossom Spring itself.
“I will wait here. If you follow this Stone Path, you will come upon a small Pavilion, where the Family Head should be waiting.”
“Yes, yes… Thank you so much for bringing me here.”
Baeksa bowed politely and began to walk slowly along the Stone Path.
The Stone Path appeared to have been recently maintained—its height was even and there were no protruding stones, so it was not difficult for the child to walk.
As she carefully followed the path, she saw a figure standing in the distance.
His crimson hair, bound high, fluttered in the breeze like a flame.
How could that flame-like hair bring her such joy, even though she had seen it many times?
Unable to contain her delight, Baeksa hurried forward, and just as she gathered her courage to call out to him—
“Sir, Family Head…!”
That very moment.
Stumble!
The little snake’s body lurched violently.
***
At that same instant.
Ju Jeokseo was waiting for Baeksa in the Rear Garden.
Since bringing her here, he had yet to show her anywhere beyond the Residence where she was staying.
‘She will surely love the Rear Garden.’
Girls that age love beautiful things, so seeing the koi and flowers of the Rear Garden would surely delight her.
While she stayed here, he wanted to give her only the finest things.
‘Family Head, do you truly intend to let the Imperial Princess stay here?’
‘It seems like an unwise decision! Surely the Namto Beast-kin will object! The other officials will oppose it as well!’
Of course, he had not yet made a final decision about the child’s future, but until then he planned to do his utmost to care for her well.
That was why he had summoned her to the Rear Garden—to help her exercise and to give her permission to play here freely in the days to come.
As he waited a moment thus.
Tap-tap-tap!
The sound of a small child running reached his ears.
The sound of the child running along the Stone Path was as faint as the patter of raindrops.
At that sound, Ju Jeokseo turned his head with delight—
The very moment he did, the child stumbled on the Stone Path before his eyes, her small body lurching.
The startled Baeksa opened her eyes wide and stretched her arms toward Ju Jeokseo in what appeared to be excruciatingly slow motion.
Without hesitation, he rushed forward and caught the child before her small body could strike the ground.
“Uh—ah!”
“Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Fortunately having caught her before she fell, Ju Jeokseo hurriedly checked the child’s condition.
Having witnessed the child nearly fall before his very eyes, his heart pounded ungracefully—thump-thump, thump-thump.
And beneath Ju Jeokseo’s hand, Baeksa’s small heart was beating just as frantically.
The small child, eyes wide, looked up at him, and a gentle smile crossed her face.
“Yes, yes… You caught me in time, so I’m not hurt. Thank you for saving me.”
“…!”
‘You caught me in time, so I’m not hurt!’
At the sight of this fairy-like child smiling softly, the face of his younger sister flashed through Ju Jeokseo’s mind.
“Um, Family Head?”
As Ju Jeokseo stared vacantly at the child’s face without answering, Baeksa timidly called out to him again.
Only then did he come to his senses, set the child down, and apologize.
“Forgive me. I was lost in thought for a moment.”
“No, I’m just grateful that you saved me.”
The child shook her head hastily.
The thought that crossed Ju Jeokseo’s mind at the sight of her was the sort that would make his officials clutch the backs of their necks and swoon.
‘I cannot send her away.’
His heart had already lurched at the mere sight of her stumbling—how could he possibly send her anywhere?
A small child whose every word and gesture reminded him of his younger sister.
If this child were to disappear like his sister had, Ju Jeokseo was certain he would be tormented by guilt once more.
Moreover, this child was born of the Imperial Family.
Given the Namto Beast-kin’s visceral hatred of the Imperial Royalty, it seemed there was no suitable guardian who would cherish this child sincerely.
‘Then it would be better if I protected her temporarily—for ten years, perhaps.’
While he made this decision to himself, Baeksa, glancing about the Rear Garden with her head raised, smiled softly.
“Family Head, the Rear Garden is so beautiful.”
“This was the Rear Garden my younger sister once tended herself long ago. Now I maintain it in her stead.”
He plucked a large peony and handed it to the child, and her already round eyes grew even rounder.
“This… this is….”
“If you wish, you may come here and play whenever you like. You may even pluck this peony and place it in your room.”
“Are you giving it to me?”
“Yes.”
“Wow….”
The child’s eyes sparkled as she gazed at the large peony.
The king of flowers—the peony was beautiful enough to captivate anyone.
Yet the child was not captivated by the peony itself, but moved by something else entirely.
“Family Head, thank you so much for giving me something precious. You are truly kind.”
The girl, her cheeks flushed with the color of the peony, spoke as she hugged the large flower tightly.
“Um, so that’s why… I have a favor to ask of you, Family Head.”
“A favor?”
“Yes. While I stay here, I want to be of help to you.”
Baeksa continued carefully.
“Lately my Supernatural Ability keeps trying to overflow outside my body… So I think I need to use it….”
The child fidgeted with her fingers.
“If it’s all right with you, could you take me to a place where the soil is Contaminated? I can absorb the Contamination….”
“You….”
“Ah, of course, I cannot absorb too much. But still….”
The child rambled on, adding more qualifications.
Ju Jeokseo, looking at the child who clutched the peony as large as her own body, shook his head firmly.
“No.”
“But I….”
“The Contamination of Namto is a powerful force that slowly poisons and kills those Beast-kin who touch it. I do not know how you absorbed Contamination in the Imperial Palace, but the Contamination here is different from such things.”
Even a Beast-kin as strong as Ju Jeokseo could not endure remaining at that border for long.
If the child absorbed it carelessly, she could truly die.
And even if the child absorbed it flawlessly, that would be a problem too.
‘That power must not be revealed.’
If it became known that this child could absorb Contamination, how many eyes among the Namto Beast-kin would gleam with hunger?
They would surely forget that this child was merely seven years old and demand that she sacrifice herself.
Ju Jeokseo could not bear to see such a thing.
He could not watch this small child follow the same path as his sister. The thought of his beloved younger sister, the White Vermilion Bird Princess, caused his brow to furrow.
He took the child’s hand and led her toward the Pond.
Over the Pond, dark as the night sky, bloomed red and black lotus flowers.
Beneath them, large koi could be glimpsed swimming here and there.
“Do you see? This is the only Contaminated place within this Estate.”
“Ah, the Pond is….”
“The Pond is dark. Do you think you could absorb and purify it?”
Baeksa, who had hesitated, looked up at Ju Jeokseo and spoke.
“If you ask me to, I will do my best.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“This Pond is not merely a body of water held in a basin—it is groundwater that rises from beneath the earth, contained here. To make this Pond clean would mean absorbing countless Contaminations from the depths of that land.”
“I see….”
“All of Namto’s Contamination is like this, Baeksa. Your heart is admirable, but it is not something you can do alone.”
Ju Jeokseo spoke gently, soothing the child.
“If it is simply a matter of needing to use your Supernatural Ability, then I will solve that for you.”
He gently brushed back the child’s hair with his large hand.
“Come with me.”

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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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