The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 8

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

Chapter 8
A strange face, a strange voice.
Having spent her entire life confined within the palace, Baeksa had never encountered an unfamiliar beast-kin before, and her body instinctively tensed.
Yet the woman approached with a warm, gentle smile and pulled up the quilted blanket that Baeksa had pushed away.
“The physician said you need to rest a while longer, so please stay in bed.”
Wrapped in the plush warmth of the cotton blanket, Baeksa hesitated before stammering nervously.
“Um, ex-cuse me, where am I……?”
The ceiling was as high as the Imperial Palace, and elegantly embroidered bead curtains hung elegantly. Scattered throughout the room, candlesticks burned with a brilliant, beautiful glow.
The entire chamber was bathed in rich crimson, while Baeksa, lying in the center, was completely white—as if to emphasize that she was the only outsider in this space.
So, while she already had a fleeting suspicion of where she might be, she felt compelled to ask anyway.
The maid smiled affectionately once more and answered.
“This is the Vermilion Bird Family Estate.”
With a tender touch, she helped Baeksa lie back comfortably and pressed the back of her hand against the girl’s feverish forehead.
“My master brought you here after finding you collapsed all alone in the snow. He gave strict instructions to tend to you with the utmost care until you woke.”
“By master, you mean…….”
“He is the Family Head of the Vermilion Bird Family.”
Baeksa’s lips parted slightly at the maid’s words, and she gave a quiet nod.
‘So it really was him.’
The man she had seen just before losing consciousness.
That person truly belonged to the Vermilion Bird Family.
Moreover, to think he was the head of the entire family.
But as that realization settled in, a deep uncertainty rose to the surface.
Why had he saved her?
The Vermilion Bird Family and the Imperial Palace did not get along, because the Emperor had abandoned Namto.
Given that, why would he rescue someone wearing the robes of the Imperial Palace……?
‘Maybe he didn’t know.’
What if he didn’t realize that her clothes belonged to the Imperial Palace? If she looked at it that way, it made perfect sense.
While Baeksa was lost in her hesitant thoughts, the maid quickly tidied the area around the bed and smiled softly.
“Master told me everything. You must have been terribly cold out in that snowfield, right? You don’t have to worry anymore, because it’s not cold here. The Flame of the Vermilion Bird keeps this room at just the right temperature.”
So that was why it felt so cozy. The child nodded, carefully reading the maid’s expression.
Only now did Baeksa notice that the garments she was wearing were no longer the ones she had worn when she fled the palace.
It seemed the maid before her had changed her into fresh clothing.
New clothes.
A gentle touch.
Words reassurance telling her she was safe.
Every single thing was so utterly foreign to Baeksa that she swallowed hard.
She had no idea what to say. The room was enveloped in a comforting warmth, and the fabric against her skin felt incredibly soft.
But was she truly allowed to enjoy such luxury?
‘What if.’
What if, now that she was awake, they told her she had to leave?
She might be cast out into that freezing snowfield all over again.
Her small heart sank heavily.
‘I don’t want that.’
Being abandoned twice had been painful enough; the thought of being discarded a third time was absolutely terrifying.
Besides, now that she knew she could no longer produce beads, she could never return to that place.
Blinking in sheer helplessness, Baeksa finally lifted her gaze to look at the maid.
“Um…….”
The child’s voice trembled faintly.
“You said…… the Family Head was the one who brought me here.”
The maid gave a reassuring nod.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then…… um, would it be possible for me to meet him?”
Baeksa’s voice shook as she finished her sentence, her tiny hands tightly gripping the cotton blanket.
She intended to face the master of this estate and beg him to let her stay.
It might be a terribly shameless and audacious favor to ask. He might even fly into a rage, regretting that he had ever shown her mercy.
And yet.
‘If not here, I have nowhere else to go.’
Baeksa was left with only two choices.
Remain here, or be abandoned to the elements once more.
It felt as though the biting chill of that frozen wasteland was still embedded deep within her bones.
If she were sent back to that place where tears froze before they could even fall, she would undoubtedly die this time.
Baeksa recalled the crimson eyes of the man she had glimpsed right before she collapsed.
In that fleeting moment, the young girl had believed that this man might allow her to live just a little longer.
Those eyes had felt warm enough to burn, yet they seemed profoundly kind. And for some strange reason, they brought a faint wave of nostalgia.
That feeling remained unchanged even now, which was why Baeksa desperately wanted to meet the Family Head of the Vermilion Bird Family again.
‘Of course, if I meet him, I must tell him everything honestly.’
From her ominous supernatural ability to the truth of her birth.
She couldn’t bring herself to lie to the savior who had spared her life.
At that thought, a sharp pang pierced her chest.
Perhaps it was because she feared that once she confessed the truth, no one would ever want her around.
Baeksa’s fingertips twitched with a slight tremor.
The maid watched her quietly for a moment, then broke into a bright smile.
“Of course, young lady. In fact, I was just about to go inform the master that you had opened your eyes.”
She leaned down toward Baeksa and spoke in a gentle whisper.
“I will go tell him now, so please rest comfortably.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Think nothing of it. By the way, my name is Sirang.”
Her voice was clear and melodious.
“While you stay at this estate, I will be here to assist you so that you want for nothing.”
She was completely different from the servants at the Imperial Palace, who would scowl the moment they laid eyes on her.
Because of that, Baeksa found herself mirroring the woman’s smile without even realizing it.
Though tension still lingered on her face, it was the very first smile she had managed since leaving the Imperial Palace.
***
Ju Jeokseo stood in the hallway leading to his private quarters, staring blankly at a certain painting.
The corridor outside his chamber was lined with long paintings rendered by an exceptionally skilled artist.
The artwork depicted two young Vermilion Birds playing harmoniously together, painted with a brilliantly glowing crimson pigment that shimmered like flickering flames even in the dark.
Yet, what held Ju Jeokseo’s gaze was not the bird with the crimson plumage.
His eyes were fixed on the white bird depicted beside it—a modest yet exquisitely detailed White Vermilion Bird.
Standing in absolute silence, Ju Jeokseo gazed intently at the piece before tracing the feathers of the White Vermilion Bird with his fingertips.
All that met his touch was the dry, crisp texture of the paper.
He had wondered if he might catch a fleeting sensation of the soft feathers locked away in his memories, but it was a futile hope.
Acknowledging how foolish he must look, a bitter expression crossed his face as he let his hand drop.
A beautiful White Vermilion Bird covered entirely in pristine white feathers.
Twenty-seven years ago, a white-hued Vermilion Bird had been born alongside a prophecy claiming she would cause the family’s flames to dwindle.
The only daughter of the Vermilion Bird Clan in this land of Namto.
An omen of misfortune to the Vermilion Bird Clan, and Ju Jeokseo’s cherished younger sister.
Ten years ago, she had vanished without a trace.
On the eve of her coming-of-age ceremony into the Vermilion Bird Clan, she had disappeared as if she had never existed in the first place, leaving not a single letter behind.
Since then, endless time had marched on, flowers blooming and withering away, but Ju Jeokseo had never been able to gaze upon his sister’s face again.
Was she even alive? Was she doing well?
In his desperate search for her, he had scoured not only Namto but every corner of the Haeseo Kingdom.
Since the Vermilion Bird Clan was forbidden from crossing the borders of Namto, he had gone so far as to beg the White Tiger Clan and the Azure Dragon Clan for assistance in his pursuit.
She was not the type of girl to disappear without a reason.
She wasn’t someone who would just up and vanish one day without saying goodbye. Ju Jeokseo was absolutely certain that something terrible must have happened to his sister.
‘Brother, look at this! I can use my supernatural ability now!’
‘My feathers can’t be used to make warmth stones, but instead, I’m so happy I can use them to decorate your clothes beautifully.’
Yet ten years had passed.
Throughout a whole decade, far from finding his sister, he hadn’t managed to discover so much as a single feather belonging to her.
If she had truly left because she loathed Namto, he wished she would at least send word that she was living happily somewhere.
But not a single shred of news ever reached him, leaving Ju Jeokseo’s heart to burn with agony.
Perhaps that was why.
‘Please, save me…….’
When that child had reached out her hand, begging to be saved, he had found himself utterly unable to cast her aside or ignore her.
‘She had white hair.’
While white was considered an auspicious color in the Empire, the situation altered completely when it came to snakes.
‘Snake beastmen are fundamentally treated as omens of bad luck.’
Judging by how she had been abandoned entirely alone in that freezing snowfield, it was blindingly obvious what kind of treatment the snake beastman had endured before arriving here.
“…….”
He recalled the exact moment he had first discovered the little snake in the snow.
In truth, at that moment, Ju Jeokseo had been swept away by the sudden, overwhelming illusion that he had stumbled upon his sister from when she was very young.
A fleeting sensation as if his sister, who had gone missing a decade ago, had returned as a small child and collapsed in the snow before him.
Of course, it was nothing more than a delusion born of wishful thinking, and he knew perfectly well that such a miracle was impossible.
And yet…….
Why was it that, in that brief instant, the image of his younger sister and that little snake had overlapped so perfectly?
Was it truly just because their hair color happened to look alike? Or had he simply gone mad from the desperate longing to see his sister again?
Just then, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed from a distance.
“Master, I have something to report.”
Outside the corridor, a maid spoke up in a clear, resonant voice.
“It concerns the little snake lady you brought back last night.”
Only then did Ju Jeokseo finally tear his gaze away from the painting of the Vermilion Bird on the wall.

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