The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 18

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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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“Hwaryeong, we should probably head back.”
From behind Hwaryeong’s back.
Leaning against a tree with arms crossed, a boy spoke bluntly.
Unlike Hwaryeong, who possessed crimson hair and red eyes, this boy had black hair and violet eyes.
“If we stay any longer, we’ll get caught.”
He was Hwaryeong’s friend and guard, Do-ui.
A Beast-kin who had drifted into Namto at a young age, he had grown up under Ju Jeokseo’s care just like the brothers Hwaryeong and Hanya.
Ju Jeokseo had taken him in with the intention of using him as a guard once he grew up, but what was known to others differed slightly.
Everyone working in the Vermilion Bird Family knew that Ju Jeokseo regarded Do-ui as another son.
Perhaps because of that, Do-ui and Hwaryeong shared a relationship closer to friends than that of master and servant.
“Chirp, chirp!”
‘Alright, I’m going!’
Hwaryeong grumbled as he fluttered up and landed neatly on Do-ui’s shoulder.
Do-ui scaled the wall with practiced ease, slipping away from the Family Head’s residence.
The boy’s movements were so swift that it was difficult to even track him with the naked eye.
Only after escaping the Family Head’s pavilion and arriving at an deserted flower garden did Do-ui toss Hwaryeong into the air.
Poof!
With that, the tiny bird transformed in midair into a mischievous boy and landed on his feet.
Scratching his head as he appeared, Hwaryeong complained.
“Why is Father so wary of me like that?”
“He isn’t wary of you; he’s worried about that Baeksa. Didn’t you hear she’s shy around strangers?”
“Hmm, but she didn’t really seem all that shy. When I went in my bird form, she wasn’t even that surprised.”
Do-ui shook his head sideways.
“That’s because your bird form is small and cute. If you go in that human form, she’ll probably burst into tears from fright.”
“Hey! Are you quite finished?”
“Not yet.”
“Why, you…!”
Though they were master and guard, Hwaryeong and Do-ui had grown up almost like peers, so their speech was casual when they were alone.
“Still, it looked like he would introduce that Baeksa to you very soon.”
Do-ui smoothly shifted the subject. Hwaryeong’s curiosity was instantly piqued.
“How do you know that?”
“Young Master.”
Do-ui offered a faint smile.
“The Family Head knew we were hiding behind the window.”
Hwaryeong flinched at those words.
“And what does it mean that he just left us alone? He let it slide because he intends to introduce her soon anyway.”
“Ah…”
“Still, that kid has some spine. She didn’t tattle that she met you.”
Hwaryeong nodded.
“True, I thought she’d blabber right away. Or maybe she just didn’t realize it was me?”
“Well, could be.”
Do-ui shrugged his shoulders.
Hwaryeong brushed off the blades of grass clinging to his shoulders and clothes, then took a long stride forward.
“Anyway, she was small and cute. I hope she stays here for good.”
“Why?”
“Just because! It’s nice having a younger sister! I’ve always wanted one.”
“You cannot have everything you want, Young Master.”
“Are you trying to rain on my parade again?”
Hwaryeong narrowed his eyes into sharp angles, prompting Do-ui to let out a smirk.
Then, quickening his pace to pull ahead of Hwaryeong, he recalled the image of the Baeksa he had seen a moment ago.
Clutching a single, tiny scale tightly in her hand, the Baeksa had smiled as if she held the entire world.
That was…
‘Rather than cute…’
Didn’t she seem a bit precarious?
The tiny snake had smiled brightly, yet she continuously scanned her surroundings and walked on eggshells around Ju Jeokseo.
As if she were being chased by something.
Do-ui knew that expression all too well.
He knew exactly what kind of situation a person had to endure to make that kind of face, to wear that kind of expression.
Just then, a tiny dandelion caught Do-ui’s eye.
Blooming quietly between the stone walls, the dandelion scattered along the breeze the very moment it received his gaze.
Only after the pure white dandelion completely vanished from his sight did he look away.
No matter what expression that girl wore, it was none of his business anyway.
His only duty was to remain faithful to his role as Hwaryeong’s guard, just as he always had.
Therefore, there would be no reason to run into that Baeksa often, nor any reason to get involved with her.
“Ah, ugh…”
At that moment, Do-ui winced as a sudden headache throbbed through his temples.
Hwaryeong rushed over frantically.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded his head.
“I’m fine.”
Headaches were practically a daily routine for Do-ui.
Thus, it was nothing to be surprised about.
Quickly adapting to the pain, Do-ui blinked his eyes a few times.
***
That night, Baeksa stealthily slipped out of her Residence.
Tied to her waist was a silk pouch containing a small white scale.
Sirang had personally crafted that pouch so she wouldn’t lose the scale.
After asking Baeksa what color she preferred, Sirang made it out of bright crimson silk, and it had captured Baeksa’s heart completely.
“I’m so happy…”
Fingering the pouch, Baeksa softly sat down by the edge of the small pond inside her Residence.
Then, she pulled her white scale out of the silk pouch.
Bathed in the moonlight, Baeksa’s tiny scale gleamed faintly, reflecting a rainbow of colors.
It was a completely different reaction from when she had first produced it.
Furthermore, she could feel her own power—though faint—contained within this scale.
Carefully tilting the tiny scale against the moonlight, Baeksa murmured to herself.
“Do you think I’ve become a little closer to you now?”
Was this what it meant to become closer to the scale?
Besides, perhaps because her Supernatural Ability was embedded in it, she felt an odd sensation as if the scale wanted to undergo Absorption of something.
“Hmm…”
The Family Head’s homework was somewhat enigmatic, making it difficult for the young Baeksa to grasp all at once.
The child carefully looked down at the small pond.
The pond, where duckweed and small water lilies floated, was tiny, but the water was murky just like the one she had seen in the Rear Garden.
Baeksa considered trying her Supernatural Ability on the pond but soon took a step back.
“No, the Family Head told me I must hide my Supernatural Ability for the time being…”
It happened just as Baeksa took that step backward.
Suddenly, something seemed to move within the darkness, and it abruptly grabbed her ankle.
“Ah!”
And in the very next instant.
“Watch out!”
A boy appeared out of nowhere, lunging forward to yank Baeksa into his arms.
***
Do-ui happened to be passing by the front of the Detached Villa where Baeksa was staying.
‘She must be asleep by now.’
The boy glanced into the front yard of the Separate Palace with a curious expression.
Strangely, that image from earlier kept coming back to him.
An expression that somehow looked so precarious.
He had heard she was a princess, yet she didn’t look like Imperial Royalty at all.
Of course, he had absolutely no intention of sneaking in to spy on the Baeksa.
He didn’t possess the personality to go climbing through windows like Hwaryeong, and in the first place, Do-ui was incapable of Beast Transformation.
If anyone wondered how that could be, there were very rare cases where certain Beast-kin could not perform Beast Transformation.
Most of them were treated as half-wits and ignored, but fortunately, he had never faced such treatment because Ju Jeokseo had kept that fact hidden.
Furthermore, the brothers Hwaryeong and Hanya never discriminated against or hated other Beast-kin for such reasons.
At any rate, due to these circumstances, Do-ui could not transform like Hwaryeong to sneak a peek inside.
So, instead of sneaking in, he chose to simply walk past.
But then.
“What is that…?”
Do-ui’s eyes narrowed as he spotted something moving in the darkness.
Hair as pure white as snow gleamed softly under the moonlight.
A tiny frame, a round little head.
It was the Baeksa he had seen earlier.
‘Why is she out at this hour?’
Did she step out because she couldn’t sleep?
The boy paused in his tracks for a moment, hiding behind a tree to watch the Baeksa.
The tiny Baeksa was rejoicing as she held something up to the moonlight.
Then she dipped her finger into the pond with a tiny splash, only to smile brightly a moment later.
She looked exactly like a baby finding the world fascinating.
Her smiling face, looking as though she had never seen such things in her entire life, kept drawing Do-ui’s gaze.
Right around then.
“…Uh?”
He saw something slithering through the darkness, approaching the Baeksa.
Do-ui’s pupils sharpened at that familiar, ominous sight.
Others might not know what it was, but he did.
‘It’s a ghost!’
He was a direct descendant of a lineage born with the eyes to see ghosts.
That was also the reason Do-ui lived with a constant headache.
Those who hear the voices of ghosts are always plagued by terrible headaches.
Do-ui widened his eyes.
A water ghost was approaching to harm the Baeksa.
“Watch out!”
Catching sight of it, Do-ui threw himself forward without a second thought and snatched the Baeksa away.
Thud! Crash!
Tumble, roll.
Reflexively shielding Baeksa as they rolled across the ground to a landing, Do-ui glared at the ghost.
Fortunately, the ghost seemed frightened upon seeing Do-ui and had vanished back into the water.
However, there was another problem.
“Uh, uh…”
Startled by Do-ui’s sudden appearance out of the darkness, Baeksa looked up at the boy with wide, round eyes.
In the dead of night, the gazes of the two children locked onto each other.

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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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