The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 32

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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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“Ah, um, hello. My name is…”
Baeksa was scrambling to introduce herself.
“I heard you don’t even have a name yet. What exactly are you trying to introduce?”
Ahee snapped.
Baeksa froze in place, her mouth hanging open blankly.
Seeing this, Sirang stamped her feet anxiously and spoke up.
“Lady Ahee!”
“What? I just want to take a look around the place where my mother used to stay.”
Ahee naturally referred to Myeongyeong as ‘mother,’ but no one dared to correct her or call her out on it.
Sirang looked at Ahee, completely at a loss.
The other servant girls standing behind her signaled to Sirang with their eyes, telling her to just step aside.
However, Sirang soon shook her head as if she had made up her mind.
“Even so, you have not sought formal permission, so you cannot enter. This is strictly a place where someone else is currently residing…”
“You are strange.”
Ahee muttered.
“Pardon?”
Sirang asked back.
“If anyone should step aside here, shouldn’t it be that girl?”
Ahee pointed her finger at Baeksa, causing Baeksa to blink her large eyes.
“That girl has absolutely nothing to do with Lady Myeongyeong. Why is she allowed to stay here, while I’m not even allowed to look around?”
Everyone present was struck dumb by Ahee’s question.
In truth, those who knew Myeongyeong’s face had gasped the moment Ahee stepped into the residence.
Seeing Ahee standing in Myeongyeong’s residence made them hallucinate for a moment that Myeongyeong herself had returned.
Those who witnessed it all thought the exact same thing at once.
Ahee is Myeongyeong’s daughter.
Without a doubt.
So, under these circumstances, when Ahee was throwing a tantrum because she wanted to see her mother’s residence, who could possibly stop her?
Before Sirang could get into any more trouble, Baeksa hurriedly stood up and approached her.
“Sirang, let’s step outside for a moment. Lady Ahee, please take your time looking around.”
In fact, Baeksa had already been thinking that she should yield the residence to Ahee.
Stepping aside for a little while was no trouble at all.
It was just as Baeksa grabbed Sirang’s sleeve, attempting to quickly leave the room.
“Never mind, I’ve seen enough.”
Ahee turned on her heel coldly.
“I’ll be staying here soon anyway, so I can just look around then.”
“Ah, wait…”
“Until then, you can enjoy it all you want.”
Ahee skipped away with a lively stride, and the servant girls followed behind her with troubled expressions.
Baeksa and Sirang were left standing blankly, staring at Ahee’s retreating figure.
The gentle, affectionate, and lovely Lady Ahee was nowhere to be found.
She had acted sharp and sensitive, as though Baeksa had stolen what belonged to her.
Yet, Baeksa could understand Ahee’s feelings to some extent.
From Ahee’s perspective, she had returned home after seven years, only to find someone else living in her mother’s room.
So, it was understandable that she might be a little prickly.
‘But why does my chest sting so much?’
As Baeksa blinked her eyes, Sirang hurriedly scooped the child into her arms and comforted her.
“My lady, please don’t pay any mind to what Lady Ahee said. She was just a bit sharp…”
“No, Sirang. I’m okay. She isn’t wrong, after all.”
Baeksa hugged Sirang tightly and flashed a faint smile. The child glanced toward a corner of the garden.
There stood a single lotus flower that Baeksa had brought to bloom, alongside the crystal-clear, purified pond.
And it wasn’t just the pond.
The place Ju Jeokseo had opened exclusively for Baeksa.
Ju Myeongyeong’s rear garden had become quite magnificent by now, thanks to Baeksa diligently absorbing the contamination whenever she passed through.
But she still had a long way to go to completely absorb all the contamination.
‘I need more time.’
Could Ahee wait just a little longer?
If so, she might be able to cultivate the rear garden into something even prettier before returning it.
Once that was done, perhaps Ahee would forgive her a little for staying here, and it would serve as payment for her time spent in the residence.
As these thoughts drifted through her mind, Baeksa buried her head deeply into Sirang’s shoulder.
“My lady, are you alright…?”
“Yes…”
She wanted to keep holding onto good thoughts, but her chest stung so much that it was difficult to maintain a cheerful mindset.
She missed Hwaryeong, Doeui, and the Family Head.
***
“How is Baeksa doing?”
“I heard Lady Ahee stopped by Lady Baeksa’s residence, and she has seemed dispirited ever since.”
Receiving the report, Ju Jeokseo let out a heavy sigh.
Although Ahee looked exactly like Ju Myeongyeong, there were still questionable points remaining, so he had been holding off on formally bringing her into the family.
At the same time, fearing that Baeksa—who hadn’t been at the estate for very long—might be bothered by Ahee, he had given strict orders to ensure Ahee stayed away from Baeksa’s vicinity.
‘And they couldn’t even manage that.’
The servants were endlessly soft on Ahee, who looked identical to Myeongyeong.
Even he himself would freeze up at the sight of Ahee’s face, feeling as though the young Myeongyeong had returned, so how much worse must it be for those who had served Myeongyeong closely?
However, unlike Myeongyeong, Ahee had an inscrutable side to her, which was why he intended to introduce her to Baeksa slowly.
Yet she had already paid a visit.
Ju Jeokseo toyed with the Feather Fan.
He wished the spirit treasure would react to someone, anyone, but the item had not budged even once since Ahee’s return.
Regarding this, the retainers claimed it was because the spirit treasure’s power had waned.
‘That can’t be.’
This spirit treasure had reacted once quite recently.
Furthermore, he could feel a faint trace of power still lingering within it.
Therefore, if Ahee truly possessed Myeongyeong’s bloodline, the spirit treasure would surely react eventually.
Conversely, if she was not of Myeongyeong’s bloodline…
Ju Jeokseo sifted through the documents.
After searching for a long while, the documents he pulled out detailed the source of the Song Clan’s funds, which he had been investigating.
The family funds of Song Hyun had shown an anomalous flow starting from ten years ago.
Having keenly noticed this, Ju Jeokseo had recently restarted the investigation into the source of the Song Clan’s funds.
‘I have a bad feeling about this.’
Of course, just because everything was uncertain did not mean he intended to kick Ahee out immediately.
For starters, Ahee’s face was an uncanny match for Myeongyeong’s, and the item allegedly discovered alongside the child was genuine as well.
In addition, just as he had taken in and tenderly cared for the homeless Baeksa, it was his principle never to cast a child out.
However, if the Song Clan Head had deceived him, the situation would change entirely.
If that were the case…
Ju Jeokseo gripped the platinum hairpin in his hand.
Ju Jeokseo’s intuition grew as sharp as a finely honed blade.
***
That night.
The tiny snake sat alone in front of the pond.
The night wind was chilly, but because she had undergone her beast transformation, her bare scales were exposed without any covering.
Discovering her there, Ju Jeokseo plonked himself down beside Baeksa.
Belatedly noticing Ju Jeokseo, Baeksa gasped in surprise, her jaw dropping.
Then, in a flurry, she canceled her beast transformation and returned to her human form.
“Family Head!”
“What are you doing here all by yourself? It’s so late at night, you should be sleeping.”
Before they knew it, it was already midnight. It was an hour by which Baeksa should have fallen asleep long ago.
Baeksa gave a sheepish smile and toyed with her hair, looking embarrassed.
“I couldn’t fall asleep. Please keep it a secret from Sirang…”
“Very well, I shall keep it a secret.”
“Here… pinky swear.”
Not long ago, Baeksa, who had learned how to ‘pinky swear’ from Hwaryeong and Doeui, thrust out her pinky finger.
Ju Jeokseo let out a chuckle at the sight.
Then, hooking his thick finger into her tiny pinky, he gave her his ‘promise.’
“I heard what happened. I was told Ahee dropped by during the day.”
“Ah… you heard?”
Baeksa widened her eyes.
“Lady Ahee seemed upset. So I was looking over the pond.”
“Why the pond?”
“When I return it to Lady Ahee later… I thought it would be nice if it looked prettier.”
Baeksa spoke softly.
“……Did you not feel any reluctance to give it back?”
“I am merely borrowing everything here for a short while.”
Baeksa tapped the surface of the clear spring water with her fingertip. Thanks to Doeui driving away the water ghost, the inside was empty and pristine.
“I thought you would be upset.”
“Lady Ahee is your family, Family Head. I am not upset.”
Baeksa shook her head.
Watching her quietly, Ju Jeokseo closed his eyes slowly before opening them again.
This tiny child was remarkably mature and resilient.
Yet, for some reason, he couldn’t understand why listening to this baby snake’s words made his own heart ache so deeply.

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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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