The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 7

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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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A massive blanket enveloped the child’s body completely.
Her frame was so small that a single blanket was more than enough to cover her.
Ju Jeokseo tucked her in tightly to keep out the biting wind, then stood up.
“M-Master.”
Jo Yeong looked at the tiny, pale girl and asked in a dazed voice.
“Are you taking her with us?”
At his question, the man’s gaze shifted down to the small child.
After a brief pause.
He lifted his chin and replied.
“Yes.”
“But she wears the clothes of the Imperial Palace…”
Jo Yeong trailed off.
Ju Jeokseo knew exactly what he was trying to say.
Rumors were already circulating that the Emperor was practically losing his mind because his favorite concubine wouldn’t wake up, so taking a girl wearing the garments of the Imperial Family…
‘It could bring ruin to Namto in the future.’
However.
How could he look away?
‘I want to live…’
A young child desperately begging for her life.
The girl was so tiny she looked five years old at most.
Her hands and feet were frozen solid, and her skeletal limbs looked so fragile they might snap at any moment.
She also seemed to have been abandoned here for quite some time, so she would surely die if left any longer.
Fortunately, her small heart was still beating, though there was no telling when even that might stop.
Furthermore.
‘White hair…’
Ju Jeokseo gently touched the child’s snowy hair.
The white strands slid smoothly past his thick fingers like snowflakes.
And that hair.
‘Brother!’
It reminded him so much of someone.
Ju Jeokseo simply could not leave this child behind.
It would be one thing if he had found a corpse, but he could not bring himself to leave a living child to die.
Besides, hadn’t he seen it the moment their eyes met?
The spark of life flickering inside those round eyes.
That tiny hand clutching his sleeve as if to say she was still alive.
“I know what you are worried about.”
“Master…”
“But since that mad Emperor threw her away on my land, she belongs to me now.”
Ju Jeokseo spoke in a whisper as he gently slipped the Warmth Stone into the girl’s arms.
“I merely picked up something abandoned on my territory.”
No one can claim ownership over what they have thrown away.
Much less when it was discarded in another lord’s domain.
Even a foolish Emperor should understand that simple logic.
The Warmth Stone he gave the girl was crafted from a Vermilion Bird Feather, and holding it felt as warm as sitting by a fire anywhere.
The area near the child’s chest glowed with a faint, soft red light from the stone.
Watching the careful touch as he tucked the stone away, Jo Yeong realized Ju Jeokseo had made up his mind and nodded.
“True. Surely he won’t make a fuss over something he threw away.”
Jo Yeong quickly added.
“Besides, the Emperor probably thinks this kid is already dead.”
Finishing his sentence, Jo Yeong tossed a Vermilion Bird Feather onto the snow, and a massive burst of flame erupted instantly.
Whoosh!
The fire melted away every trace of where the child had been lying before quickly dying down.
“Brr, it’s freezing. Let’s hurry back, Master. Goodness, with snow falling like this, how cold must this little one have been?”
He bustled about preparing to return like a bird with its tail feathers on fire.
“This kid got lucky.”
“Indeed, she was fortunate.”
Yet he wasn’t sure if the lucky one was this tiny child or himself.
Replying tersely, Ju Jeokseo mounted his horse while cradling the child.
Neigh! With a loud whinny, the horse stomped its forehooves and galloped back through the snow along the path they had come.
On the back of the horse riding swift as the wind.
Squirm.
Feeling warmth for the very first time in her life, the child shifted slightly.
***
Baeksa dreamed.
“You stole it! You took it, didn’t you!”
Yeoryun glared at Baeksa with a ferocious face in the dream, screaming at the top of her lungs.
Yeoryun was violently shaking an empty silk pouch.
Seeing that silk pouch, Baeksa immediately recognized the situation.
When Baeksa was five years old.
There was an incident where Yeoryun’s cherished hair ornament vanished. It was a very beautiful piece adorned with pink gems.
While it was true she had thought it was beautiful, Baeksa had absolutely never laid a finger on that hair ornament.
Yet Yeoryun accused the girl of being the thief simply because she had called Baeksa to her room the day before.
“Father gave that to me! It’s not something a creature like you could ever have!”
Faced with Yeoryun’s fury, Baeksa’s eyes shook with helplessness.
“N-No, it’s not true.”
Baeksa trembled violently, shaking her head.
“It’s not true, sister. I really didn’t take it.”
“Liar! You lowly wretch! How dare a mere snake covet someone else’s things?”
Instead of calming down, Yeoryun grew even more enraged and flew into a frenzy.
Then, she mercilessly trampled and struck Baeksa, who had transformed into a tiny snake.
Unable to escape, Baeksa could only curl her body as tightly as possible.
That was the maximum defense a child could manage.
It was true back then, and it was true now.
There was still nothing Baeksa could do.
Even when that hair ornament was later found in a corner of Yeoryun’s bed.
Even when her bruised body throbbed and tears fell.
There was nothing Baeksa could do.
She had returned to the past, but that was all.
Now, Baeksa no longer expected anything to change or be different.
If someone struck or trampled her, the girl would just curl up tightly again.
And she would wait, desperately praying for that time to pass.
As Baeksa kept her eyes shut tight while curled up, Yeoryun’s voice slowly grew faint and drifted away.
At this rate, it would become completely silent.
Would she finally find peace then?
Just as she had once wished.
Free from pain, free from sorrow.
Baeksa thought, her body shivering.
And at last, the moment Yeoryun’s voice vanished entirely.
“Ah!”
Baeksa woke up with a start, her face drenched in cold sweat.
‘It… it was a dream.’
She had dreamed of Yeoryun.
Yet her entire body throbbed with pain as if she had truly been beaten by Yeoryun.
‘It hurts…’
She couldn’t tell if it was her body or her heart that ached.
Reflexively curling herself into a ball, Baeksa shuddered the moment she realized she was lying in an unfamiliar place.
“W-Where…”
Where was she?
Baeksa carefully retraced her memories.
Then, the vivid memory of the moment she was abandoned in Namto came rushing back.
The memory of being forced to walk through the snow by spears and blades.
And the carriage that had left her behind, along with the memory of collapsing all alone in that place.
Then.
“I met someone… Ah!”
She had met someone from the Vermilion Bird Family.
She recalled a pair of crimson eyes looking down at her in her final moments.
And even the memory of someone sliding something warm and round into her arms.
In truth, she had believed that part was a dream too.
Naturally so, since no one would ever come to such a desolate wasteland.
Moreover, there was no reason for anyone to save her.
However.
Baeksa gently touched the thick, warm quilted blanket covering her.
The blanket, stuffed full of cotton, felt so cozy and warm that just touching it made her feel good.
It was different from the blankets she had used in the Imperial Palace. It had no frayed edges or dirty stains.
‘Did that person… save me?’
And did they cover her with a blanket and lay her down in a warm room?
Baeksa clutched the quilted blanket tightly, her face filled with bewilderment.
She couldn’t understand if it was alright for someone like her to be covered by such a clean, warm blanket.
When her thoughts reached that point, Baeksa suddenly felt ashamed to be under the blanket.
The girl hurriedly threw off the covers and pushed herself up to sit on the bare floor instead.
Right at that moment.
Click, creak.
With the sound of shifting wood, the door opened, and a stranger stepped inside.
The moment she saw Baeksa awake, her eyes widened in surprise, and she smiled brightly.
“Oh my, you’re awake?”

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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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