The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 70

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 70
“Perhaps. In any case, it would be wise to take to heart what the Divine Beast has said.”
“Yes.”
Baeksa nodded.
Among the three trials ahead, had she already endured some of them? Or would all three still come?
She didn’t know which, but strangely, she felt no great fear.
‘Is it because of the Divine Beast’s blessing? I feel a little braver now!’
Just then, the small bird perched on Baeksa’s shoulder fluttered into the air and landed lightly atop her head.
The bird, made of Ju Myeongyeong’s soul fragment, had grown slightly larger since receiving the Divine Beast’s blessing.
It felt as if she were together with her mother.
The journey to meet Jangwangshin didn’t seem so frightening anymore.
“Uncle, when do we depart?”
“We’re making preparations now. We’ll leave by tomorrow at the latest. Siyeom sent word that her incantation preparations are finished.”
“What about Doeui?”
“Doeui has to stay. He might be needed to help Siyeom.”
Doeui’s face darkened.
But Ju Jeokseo was not the sort to indulge such expressions.
“If you can’t help, who can? No complaints—just do your part well.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Didn’t you now—that face of yours just spoke a hundred words.”
At his light rebuke, Doeui shrugged.
Then Baeksa’s eyes brightened as something occurred to her.
‘Now that I think about it…’
Siyeom of the Black Tortoise Clan was among the most strikingly beautiful people Baeksa had ever laid eyes upon.
A beast-kin whose beauty surpassed even the countless beauties she’d seen in the Imperial Palace.
And yet now, looking more carefully, Doeui seemed to share some resemblance with Siyeom.
‘Do all those with Ghost Spirit Ability share some likeness…?’
Or perhaps Doeui carried a trace of Black Tortoise blood as well?
Baeksa tilted her head, unable to imagine any family connection between Doeui and Siyeom.
Doeui poked her soft cheek lightly.
“What is it?”
“Oh, I just thought you look a little like Siyeom.”
“…Me?”
Doeui’s eyes narrowed.
“What part exactly?”
It was hardly surprising that Baeksa looked taken aback.
‘I thought he’d be pleased!’
Siyeom was, to be clear, extraordinarily beautiful. Being told one resembled her was surely a compliment of the highest order.
Yet Doeui’s brow furrowed as though he’d just heard something deeply offensive.
Baeksa stammered in alarm.
“Well, that is—you’re also remarkably handsome, so I thought you resembled Siyeom.”
“…”
This time, his expression eased, and his eyebrows lifted slightly with what might have been satisfaction.
He asked quietly.
“I’m handsome?”
“Yes! Yes, very much so!”
Baeksa nodded earnestly.
Had he asked her a hundred times, she could have answered a hundred times—Doeui’s beauty was indisputable.
Pale skin, sharp features, a broad forehead, and keen eyes cut with an almost feline sharpness. Eyes as green as fresh spring leaves.
Hwaryeong and Hwanya were both strikingly handsome too, but their appeal differed from Doeui’s in some essential way.
Where those two possessed the charm of gallant grace, Doeui’s beauty stirred a protective instinct in those who beheld him.
‘Or so Sirang said.’
Truth be told, Baeksa didn’t fully understand the notion of protective instinct.
Sirang had elaborated after saying all this, claiming that the one most capable of stirring such feelings was Baeksa herself.
But such matters were beyond her comprehension.
What she did know was that Doeui was handsome.
At this, Doeui’s mood seemed to lift, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.
“…”
Seeing this, Hwaryeong’s eyes widened, and he spun toward her.
“Baeksa! What about me? Your older brother!?”
“You’re handsome too, of course.”
“But between him and me, who’s more handsome?”
“Huh…?”
“Why can’t you answer right away—ow!”
Thwack.
Unable to bear it, Hwanya flicked his younger brother’s forehead.
Hwaryeong clutched his head and glared at his brother.
Hwanya shook his head without remorse.
“Stop teasing the child. What kind of question is that anyway? Obviously you’re the worse-looking one.”
“Brother!”
“Look at Doeui. Fair skin, calm bearing, a gentle manner of speech. Girls like that in a man. You, on the other hand…”
“What’s wrong with me?”
“You climb through windows.”
At Hwanya’s words, Hwaryeong pouted and pulled Baeksa into his embrace.
“Sniff…”
Nestled against Hwaryeong’s chest, Baeksa waited for Doeui and Hwanya to turn their attention elsewhere, then rose up on her tiptoes.
She brought her mouth to Hwaryeong’s ear and whispered, so softly only he could hear.
“Your older brother is…the most handsome.”
Before an overjoyed Hwaryeong could react, she hastily added,
“It’s a secret!”
Baeksa’s pinky finger extended.
“Got it.”
Hwaryeong grinned widely and linked his pinky with hers.
***
In the Capital of Haeseo Kingdom, within the Imperial Palace.
“What has become of the Ghost Dragon?”
“It has not yet returned, Your Majesty.”
At Tae Eunuch’s report, the Emperor’s face hardened into an austere mask.
“Then it failed to steal the soul?”
“…”
“Why do you not answer?”
“That…appears to be the case, Your Majesty.”
“What could possibly be in Namto to make the Ghost Dragon fail its task…”
He muttered in disbelief.
In truth, since that infant snake was born, nothing in the Emperor’s life had proceeded smoothly.
But lately, things hadn’t merely gone badly—they’d gone catastrophically wrong. The Emperor released a heavy sigh, and Tae Eunuch pressed himself flat to the ground.
“Your Majesty, it may in fact be a blessing in disguise.”
“How so?”
“If the soul remains in Namto, its place of origin, it may recover further there. Rather than placing a feeble thread of spirit into her body, it would surely be better to wait and restore the soul to fuller strength before transferring it to the Lady Ju Myeongyeong.”
“I see…”
The Emperor already knew as much.
If even one fragment of soul remained, the wisest course was to nurture it to the strongest possible state before returning it to flesh.
But that would take far too long.
He had already waited seven years. He could not bear to wait longer.
He wished to awaken the woman he loved this very moment, to kiss her lips and whisper that he adored her.
The Empress, the concubines—all of it was trivial. The Emperor’s attention turned solely toward the woman who lay in her slumber.
“Though the Ghost Dragon has failed its first task in going to Namto, it will not fail the second.”
The Emperor spoke with a measured calm.
“And upon reflection, you speak wisely, Tae Eunuch. Waiting a while longer is not unreasonable.”
In truth, he could not bear to wait even a single minute.
But waiting a little longer was better than rushing forward and losing everything.
And…
‘Baeksa is alive.’
If necessary, her soul could serve as material to strengthen Ju Myeongyeong’s.
He had not intended to use her in such a manner, but upon hearing that Ju Myeongyeong’s soul reacted to Baeksa, the idea naturally presented itself as a ‘fortunate circumstance.’
The daughter’s soul could prove an excellent medium to strengthen the mother’s.
And if that came to pass, he might finally discover a way to drive out all the Contamination that dwelt within Ju Myeongyeong’s body.
For a moment, the Emperor wondered if perhaps he had allowed Baeksa to live precisely for this day.
If that child grew well and nurtured her mother’s soul equally well, he would consider it filial piety lasting a lifetime.
“It was well done not to order her killed and brought back.”
He had cast her out to Namto partly from fear of Heavenly Punishment, but also because he wished his brother-in-law to see the child with his own eyes.
The thought of that man, who did not even know his niece was his niece, pitying the poor little thing, amused him.
True, dragons cannot kill their own offspring—or so legend claims—but he had never truly feared Heavenly Punishment.
The world believed Heavenly Punishment to be a terrible thing, yet he was a man who had endured suffering far greater than that.
Having lost the woman he loved, what could he fear from Heavenly Punishment? So it was not mere fear that stayed his hand.
It was purely, entirely, for Ju Jeokseo’s sake.
With such thoughts, it seemed fitting that Baeksa should grow a little longer in that place called Namto.
It was not paternal affection.
Rather, did not his beloved need at least one being willing to sacrifice its life for her?
“Report to me when word comes of the Ghost Dragon.”
At the Emperor’s command, Tae Eunuch bowed and hurried from the Great Hall in quick steps.
A terrible silence fell over the chamber.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————