The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 5

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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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Episode 5
Five days alive, five days dead.
The contaminated land was a place the living could only reach after a full ten days of continuous travel.
However, there was not enough food in the carriage to last ten days.
‘I’m hungry…’
Baeksa squeezed her hands tightly together in the cold.
Of course, the carriage carried enough provisions for the coachman, the guards, and even a modest amount for Baeksa.
But in her past life, Baeksa had eaten almost nothing during the journey.
‘Her? She’s an abandoned princess anyway, there’s no need to treat her with respect.’
‘Just give her enough so she doesn’t starve to death, anything more is a waste.’
She faintly recalled the conversation between the guards inside the carriage before her death.
Baeksa looked down, clutching her empty stomach. Her fingertips trembled, perhaps from prolonged starvation.
Of course, she wouldn’t starve to death here.
If she died inside this carriage, she would die on the soil of the Haeseo Kingdom, not in Namto.
Should that happen, the Emperor would suffer divine punishment for killing his own child.
The guards would never let Baeksa starve to death.
‘But still.’
Baeksa curled her frail body as tightly as she could, rounding her shoulders.
‘I’m already so hungry…’
Outside, the guards were sharing food among themselves.
The scent of cooking drifted into the carriage. Baeksa flinched at the savory aroma.
Unable to bear the hunger, the child stole a glance through the carriage window at the guards having their meal.
They were making rice balls that looked hot enough to burn, eating to their heart’s content.
Baeksa watched them, her fingers tightly gripping the window frame.
Right then.
As if sensing her envious gaze, one of the guards looked toward the carriage where Baeksa sat.
In that instant, the young girl involuntarily harbored a tiny sliver of hope.
Perhaps they might share some of the food they were eating with her.
However.
“The princess looks hungry.”
“What princess! She’s been exiled, so she’s just a snake wench now. She’s a beast that’ll die soon anyway, so don’t bother.”
Loud laughter erupted. Startled by the roaring laughter, the child gripped the window frame so hard her palms dented.
And the next moment.
As if to show off, the guards threw a lump of rice ball toward Baeksa’s carriage.
The rice ball failed to even reach the carriage, falling feebly halfway and rolling across the dirt ground.
At the sight of its pathetic condition, ruined past the point of being salvageable, the guards burst into boisterous laughter once more.
“Eat it if you want it!”
“Yeah, pick it up and eat!”
Baeksa’s gaze instinctively shifted to the dirt-covered rice ball.
At that moment, a small impulse arose within the child’s mind.
‘Should I go out and eat it?’
If she ate it in her snake form, it might be somewhat edible.
But while Baeksa hesitated, another loud sneer drifted over her small crown.
“Look at that wench, she really looks like she’s going to pick it up and eat it!”
“Aha, and she calls herself a princess!”
Frightened out of her thoughts by those words, the girl slid down from her seat and covered her ears with both hands.
Her pale face burned red.
She pressed hard.
Though she covered her ears with all her might, the guards’ laughter showed no signs of stopping.
She felt that cruel laughter slowly drenching the hem of her clothes like a drizzle.
Amidst the hunger, loneliness, and fear, the choice the child made was to squeeze her eyes shut.
At least then, she wouldn’t have to look at anything for the time being.
Covering her ears and closing her eyes, Baeksa murmured as she felt cold sweat dripping down.
‘I wish we would arrive quickly.’
In her past life, she had thought differently while traveling this road.
She used to wish the carriage would move just a little slower, even if she had to eat barely anything or nothing at all.
But not anymore.
‘I want to go quickly.’
If only this time would pass swiftly.
Her stomach growled.
Baeksa clutched her starving belly with her small hands.
***
The carriage rolled on for ten full days.
They did not rest at all along the way.
Everyone worked diligently, as if eager to dispose of this burdensome princess as quickly as possible.
During that time, all Baeksa received to eat was a single rice ball.
The only reason she could stay alive on just that was entirely because she was a snake Beastman.
Any other Beast-kin would surely have succumbed to the hunger and perished.
While the guards stuffed themselves during the trip, there was no one to blame them or hold them accountable.
The carriage had nearly reached its destination, Namto.
At the exact moment Baeksa squeezed her palms painfully to calm her racing heart.
Screech.
The carriage came to a halt, and she heard the guards murmuring something.
Through the window, she caught a glimpse of a fierce blizzard raging outside.
‘Have we arrived?’
Click.
Before the child could even process her question, the carriage door swung open roughly.
“We’re here. Get out of the carriage.”
The guard who had brought Baeksa the rice ball then dragged her body out with brute force.
“Hieek!”
Unable to even offer resistance, Baeksa was pulled out into the bitter cold and biting wind.
‘Ah, it’s so cold…!’
A violent gust blew frantically, painfully striking her small cheeks.
“Now, from here on out, you must go alone.”
The guard spoke mockingly.
Only then did Baeksa open her eyes and look into the blizzard.
The boundary between the contaminated land of Namto and the outside world.
Crossing this boundary would lead directly into the territory of the Vermilion Bird. The guards clearly had no intention of following her into that contaminated land.
Instead.
Schwing.
The guards drew their swords against the child.
A chilling metallic sound echoed over the child’s small head.
It was a sound she had already heard once before.
No, it was a sound she had grown sick of hearing during her time at the Imperial Palace in her past life.
As Baeksa slowly lifted her head, she saw a long, silver-gleaming sword.
That pale blade was aimed precisely at the child’s neck.
They corralled Baeksa, closing in step by step so she could neither flee nor step back.
Baeksa’s eyes wavered helplessly. Dragging her trembling body backward, the child tried to retreat from the armed guard and spoke.
“Pl-please wait.”
The child’s voice trembled faintly.
“Can’t I go slowly…?”
“A criminal dares to ask us to wait? Have you no shame!”
They did not grant Baeksa any time to prepare herself mentally.
Ultimately, the child took her steps into the contaminated land, shivering uncontrollably in the freezing cold.
She couldn’t even look back, for a blade colder and sharper than the blizzard loomed behind her.
All of this, too, was something she had experienced once before.
‘But why am I crying like this?’
She was the one who had decided to accept her fate without trying anymore or letting herself be used.
The moment Baeksa took her first step onto the contaminated land, she heard the sound of swords being sheathed behind her.
And after she walked five steps, the faint sounds of the carriage that brought her here busily moving to withdraw reached her ears.
Even so, Baeksa could not look back. She felt that if she did, she would burst into tears again.
The child took another step.
Only after she had walked about fifteen steps and could no longer hear the carriage or the guards did the girl finally look back.
In the distance, she caught a glimpse of those who brought her preparing to leave.
Her frozen feet stung, and her incessantly thumping chest ached.
Upon realizing that fact, her fingertips tingled with numbness. Baeksa clasped her hands together and thought.
‘Did I… perhaps want to live?’
Since there was no way to survive no matter what she did, she figured she might as well be abandoned early.
She had made up her mind that way, but in truth…
A lump formed in her throat.
Suddenly, tears welled up.
‘How foolish…’
After telling herself she wouldn’t hold any expectations, how could she go and hope anyway?
But a hopeful heart was not something Baeksa could control at will…
Like a single lotus flower blooming gracefully upon the mud, it grew independent of the girl’s volition.
Therefore, the only thing the child could do was simply accept all of this.
A single tear dropped silently from Baeksa’s eye.

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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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