The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 42

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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 42
“How is the interrogation of the Songra Family Head progressing?”
“Jo Yeong is handling it. But no matter what we’ve tried, he won’t open his mouth. I need your help.”
Ju Jeokseo slipped the Flower Ring onto Baeksa’s small finger as he spoke. The delicate ring hung slightly loose on her tiny hand.
But the young snake had no time to rejoice at the sight of it—she swallowed hard instead.
‘The Songra Family Head.’
The man who had brought Ahee here, the one who tried to torment her.
What was his purpose in bringing Ahee? What if it was all because of him?
If that were true.
‘Does the Songra Family Head know about my mother?’
If the Songra Family Head had known that Baeksa was Ju Myeongyeong’s daughter, he might know something about her as well.
To Baeksa, that felt somehow more important than the ring. The girl fidgeted with her fingers in Ju Jeokseo’s arms.
Hwanya observed her intently, his gaze unwavering.
Then Hwaryeong suddenly cried out and stepped in front of the young snake.
“Why are you looking at her like that? Knock it off!”
“Hwaryeong, you want another beating, is that it?”
“No violence! I oppose violence!”
Hwaryeong puffed out his cheeks and stuck out his tongue, deliberately blocking Baeksa from view.
At this, Hwanya shook his head slowly and sighed.
“Hwaryeong, you shouldn’t be playing with father right now.”
Hwanya’s voice was calm as he spoke.
“You didn’t forget what I said before I left, did you? I’ll be checking your assignments this evening. Come to my quarters.”
“…That… well.”
At the mention of an “assignment check,” Hwaryeong’s pupils trembled with anxiety.
He looked as if he’d just heard a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
But Hwanya showed no mercy.
“Doeui, the same goes for you. Come along with him later.”
“Yes, sir.”
Doeui nodded obediently.
Hwanya glanced in turn at Hwaryeong, Doeui, and Baeksa, then quickly lost interest and looked away.
“Then I’ll rest for a bit and visit the Songra Family Head. The longer he stays in the Dungeon, the worse his condition becomes, and the less information we can extract.”
And just as he was lowering his eyes to close them.
Tap.
Something very small touched Hwanya’s pant leg.
‘Tap?’
Hwanya looked down in confusion, and there he found a small, round head.
It was Baeksa.
When their eyes met, Baeksa started in fright and quickly slipped back into Ju Jeokseo’s arms.
Then she held out a single petal pinched between her fingertips.
“There was a petal stuck to your pant leg, sir… I wanted to remove it for you.”
The young snake, who had nearly collapsed onto the grass, smiled sheepishly, and at the sight of her, Hwanya’s eyes narrowed.
He rolled his foot and brushed his pant leg with a pat.
“It’s natural for petals and leaves to cling to you when standing in tall grass. Unnecessary.”
“Hehe…”
“I’m busy and must go. We’ll see each other again another time, little one.”
Hwanya extended his large hand toward the round head of the young snake.
But just before he could stroke it, his hand hesitated and withdrew.
In that moment, Baeksa, who had grown accustomed to the Vermilion Bird Family and naturally expected to be petted, tilted her head in confusion.
‘Is something bothering him?’
It was possible.
After all, this was the first time Hwanya had seen her.
“…I must be going.”
Hwanya immediately turned and left.
Though he was always accustomed to hurrying, today his pace seemed even more rushed than usual.
“It doesn’t match his nature at all.”
Ju Jeokseo murmured quietly to himself.
Hwaryeong, who had been quietly watching his retreating figure, shook his head.
“He’s done for…”
Baeksa asked hesitantly.
“Because of the assignment check?”
“Yes! And my older brother is really too much! Does he think everyone in the world is a genius like him?”
“Still, he probably won’t scold you too severely. He must have learned what ‘not acceptable’ means by now.”
“Maybe when it comes to studies! But this Abnormal Ability check…”
At those words, even Doeui fell silent.
Baeksa asked carefully.
“An Abnormal Ability check?”
“…He wants to see how much my Beast Transformation form has changed. The Vermilion Bird Clan naturally produces flames from their bodies when they transform, you see.”
Hwaryeong glanced nervously at Ju Jeokseo’s expression.
“But I…”
He quickly rolled once and transformed into his bird form.
Poof!
With a small explosion and a cloud of white smoke, a tiny bird was born.
He looked small and fluffy, just as he had when he first became friends with Baeksa.
His tail and feathers bore streaks of red, but no flames seemed to rise from his body.
“Chirp-chirp…”
Hwaryeong brought his wing to his eye and lowered his head, making a pitiful whimpering sound.
“Oh, brother, don’t cry.”
The alarmed Baeksa carefully picked up the small bird with both hands.
And she cradled him in her arms as she spoke.
“We can practice together. I’m sure sir Hwanya won’t scold you too harshly…”
“He will. Hwanya succeeded when he was five.”
Ju Jeokseo spoke as if it were someone else’s problem, his tone light.
Then the small bird in Baeksa’s palm, who had been whimpering, began to jump about indignantly.
“Chirp-chirp!” (Father!)
At that, Ju Jeokseo let out a soft laugh and gently tapped Hwaryeong’s beak.
“But each has their own pace. If your brother scolds you too harshly, tell me. I’ll scold Hwanya instead.”
“Chirp…” (I have to keep promises…)
Hwaryeong collapsed weakly in Baeksa’s hands.
At the sight of this, a natural smile bloomed on the faces of everyone present.
This small bird could not summon flames from his body, but he seemed capable of warming the hearts of all who saw him.
‘Brother Hwaryeong is so warm… I hope sir Hwanya doesn’t scold him too harshly.’
Being scolded for her Abnormal Ability, the young snake felt a tiny kinship with him.
Baeksa, with a worried expression, brought the small bird’s warm body close to her cheek.
Thump-thump.
She could feel his tiny heart beating very close to her.
***
“What do you think?”
Hwanya asked the Guard beside him. The Guard tilted his head.
“What do you mean, sir?”
“After being away for so long, how would it feel to suddenly have a cousin?”
“Ah, you mean Miss Baeksa.”
The Guard, recalling the small girl bustling about inside the estate, nodded with a slight smile.
“It must be wonderful to have a cute cousin, especially since Miss Baeksa has been revealed to be the daughter of the missing Ju Myeongyeong. It should be quite joyful.”
“Right?”
Hwanya murmured.
“Then I suppose I’m the strange one.”
“Sir?”
“Never mind. Don’t worry about it.”
At Hwanya’s words, the Guard blinked before something occurred to him and he spoke again.
“Sir, about that young snake girl. They say she possesses a truly remarkable Abnormal Ability?”
The Guard’s voice was somewhat excited.
“According to those who were at Jeokryusan during the Divine Beast Festival, that snake girl’s Abnormal Ability is supposedly ‘Absorption.’ She can even absorb Contamination! Everyone clearly saw how the area was purified! Perhaps…”
“And so?”
Hwanya tilted his head.
“Sir?”
“Do you really think that little snake could purify all of Namto?”
“Well…”
At Hwanya’s question, the Guard hesitated and swallowed.
The Guard had thought the young snake far too small.
Without the testimony of those who had witnessed it firsthand, he would never have believed that the young snake had absorbed all the Contamination from even a single pond.
How could such a tiny child, unable to even finish a bowl of rice, truly absorb anything of substance?
Hwanya, reading the confusion on the Guard’s face, sighed and spoke.
“Hollow hope becomes poison. Whatever Abnormal Ability that little one possesses, abandon any hope that she could rid all of Namto’s Contamination.”
Hwanya stood before a mirror hanging in the corridor, staring intently at his own reflection as he spoke.
“It’s good for neither that little one nor the Beast-kin of Namto.”
And not for me, either.
‘Not good.’
As Hwanya blinked, his eyes and hair in the mirror appeared dark for just a moment.
His beautiful red hair took on a dark crimson hue for an instant before it gradually faded.
Hwanya, staring quietly at his reflection, spoke bluntly.
“I had hoped my aunt would return.”
“Sir…”
“Not the child she bore with the Emperor.”

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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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