The White Tiger Clan’s Baby Cotton Ball - Chapter 113

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 113

 

Soya, who had been carelessly continuing her thoughts, suddenly shook her head.

 

She didn’t want to think about it any further.

 

No matter what reaction they showed, it wouldn’t be pleasant for her.

 

Whether she saw them coldly pushing her away again, as they had done to her.

 

Or whether she saw them embracing her and saying it was okay, as if they hadn’t done that to her.

 

Soya, who had been staring at them blankly, turned her gaze away.

 

‘This isn’t the time for this. Let’s hurry and go find the ornament.’

 

Soya reminded herself of the purpose for coming here and flew toward Lili’s room.

 

Thanks to the Nine-Tailed Fox Family’s transformation orb, no one recognized Soya.

 

Soya safely landed on the open window frame of Lili’s room.

 

The birds that had been chirping in the trees tilted their heads curiously at Soya.

 

“Shh.”

 

Soya whispered to the birds in a small voice.

 

“My coming here is a secret. It would be terrible if I got caught.”

 

Then the birds flew over to the window frame where Soya was sitting.

 

“Huh? You’ll stand guard for me?”

 

Chirp chirp—

 

Tweet tweet—

 

The birds nodded their heads while making clear chirping sounds.

 

“Thank you. Then I’ll quickly go in and come back out.”

 

Soya greeted them cheerfully and entered Lili’s room.

 

She had worried about what to do if the servant women were in the room, but perhaps they had all followed Lili out, as no one was there.

 

Soya, who had landed with a plop on the room floor, looked around.

 

Long ago, she had heard Lili’s voice asking to get rid of her and Jeok Hwayu’s voice responding to that request in front of this room.

 

‘I thought everything was okay now.’

 

Throb—

 

‘But that still hurts my heart.’

 

Soya, who had been glancing at the door, hurried toward the ornate vanity decorated on one side of the room.

 

Though it had been a short time, she had served as Lili’s personal servant, so she knew where she kept her important belongings.

 

The drawer under the vanity.

 

Lili kept her important belongings here and never let other servant women touch them.

 

Soya bit the drawer handle with her small beak and pulled with all her might.

 

Creak—

 

The recoil from the drawer opening caused Soya’s body to tumble to the floor with a thud.

 

“Oh my.”

 

Soya, who got up while shaking her tail feathers, hopped up onto the drawer.

 

Then the luxurious jewels and ornaments piled inside were revealed.

 

Soya unconsciously hesitated.

 

Considering the Vermillion Bird Family’s power, these were things they could certainly obtain, but…

 

They didn’t quite match the family tradition of the Vermillion Bird Mansion, which valued simplicity.

 

As Soya entered the drawer and sorted through the ornaments with her small beak, she discovered a feather in the deepest part.

 

‘Huh…?’

 

It was a stiff gray feather she had never seen before.

 

‘What kind of feather is this?’

 

Soya tilted her head curiously but soon stopped paying attention and found her mother’s relic.

 

Fortunately, it was here as Soya had expected.

 

The ornament embedded with red jade was said to have been passed down from her mother to her mother’s mother, and then to her mother’s mother’s mother.

 

Soya, who came down to the floor with the ornament in her mouth, untied the bundle that Yeonjeong had packed for her and put it inside.

 

Then she pushed the drawer closed with her head and came back out through the window.

 

The birds that had been standing guard for Soya on the window frame flapped their wings and welcomed her.

 

Peep peep—

 

Chirp chirp chirp—

 

“Thank you, birds. Thanks to you, I came out safely without being caught.”

 

After greeting the birds and about to leave, Soya suddenly stopped mid-way through spreading her wings.

 

‘If not today, I probably won’t have occasion to come here again.’

 

Soya, who had been about to return to the Western Lands, changed direction as if she had made a decision.

 

The place she headed to was none other than the Vermillion Bird Family graveyard.

 

In front of the grave where the long-deceased Madam of the Vermillion Bird Family was buried, Soya released her transformation technique.

 

Pop!

 

Her body changed into that of a twelve-year-old girl.

 

Since she had come without a plan, she hadn’t prepared even a single flower blossom to offer at her mother’s grave.

 

Soya spread her palm and drew upon the Azure Dragon’s energy.

 

Then transparent seeds of life began appearing in the air, pop pop pop.

 

The seeds that gently settled to the ground soon bloomed into flowers of various colors.

 

In an instant, beautiful flower blossoms bloomed colorfully in front of the grave.

 

“Thank you, Dragon God.”

 

Soya greeted Cheonghae Yongsin who had lent her the power of life, then looked at the gravesite again.

 

“Hello, Mother. It’s me, Soya.”

 

She wasn’t sure if this was the right way to greet her.

 

“Um… I’ve grown up a lot, haven’t I? I’ve already had my First Growth and I’m twelve years old now.”

 

But she remembered that when people came here in her memories, they all spoke to the grave’s owner this way, so she tried to follow along with an awkward voice.

 

“When I was little, I was always curious about you, Mother. But Suzaku showed you to me.”

 

A mother she had to part with too early, and therefore had no memory of.

 

But Soya remembered her from the past that Suzaku had shown her, and from the illusion she had seen in the Swamp of the Dead.

 

A mother who worried about her until the moment she closed her eyes.

 

Though it was an illusion, she was still so warm it almost brought tears to her eyes.

 

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t live happily when you worried about me until the very end, Mother. But I have better, real family now. So please don’t be too sad, Mother.”

 

At first it was awkward to speak to her, but once she opened up, all the things she had wanted to say flowed out smoothly.

 

“And… I’m sorry I couldn’t get along well with those people who must have been a good husband and good son to you, Mother.”

 

Soya briefly thought of those with whom ties had been severed long ago.

 

“But I probably won’t be able to return to them for the rest of my life. No, I won’t return to them.”

 

Then she continued with a deliberately stubborn voice.

 

“This can’t be helped no matter what you say, Mother. I’m really sorry.”

 

After saying that much and pausing for a moment, Soya stared blankly at her mother’s grave.

 

A little later, her small mouth slowly opened again.

 

“…Actually, Mother. When I was little, I foolishly resented you. Everyone said that to me. That I was a child who should never have been born.”

 

It was a voice that sank sadly, as if confessing past wrongs.

 

Until Lili appeared with the red feather, Soya had been evidence of the Deceased Madam’s infidelity.

 

Family Head Jeok Ayun, who could neither accept nor refuse to accept the fact that his wife had given birth to another man’s child and died, went mad because of this.

 

The Vermillion Bird Family members whispered while looking at Soya.

 

That she was a child who should never have been born.

 

That if only that child hadn’t been born, Madam wouldn’t have died, and the Family Head wouldn’t have suffered.

 

That all the tragedy of the Vermillion Bird Family began with that child’s birth.

 

“Why did you give birth to me, Mother? I had such wicked thoughts and resented you.”

 

I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have had such bad thoughts.

 

“You worried about me until the very end, Mother, but I’m sorry for harboring such bad feelings.”

 

But Soya knows now. That those were wrong thoughts. And…

 

“And thank you for giving birth to me.”

 

When she said this, her throat became a little hot.

 

“Thanks to Mother giving birth to me in exchange for her life, I’ve come to know so many wonderful things in this world.”

 

Now Soya knew how refreshingly cool the air felt brushing against her cheeks when she climbed mountains, cutting through the wind.

 

She also knew how comforting the crunching sound was when stepping on the first snow of midwinter.

 

She knew how beautiful the vast world looked below when she spread her short wings and soared into the sky.

 

“If Mother hadn’t given birth to me, I would never have known for my entire life how beautiful the world I live in truly is.”

 

All of this was the beautiful world she had come to know in exchange for her mother’s life.

 

“So from now on, I’ll live bravely without crying.”

 

Soya spoke with her eyes gently curved, as if trying to reassure her mother.

 

“I probably won’t be able to visit this place again… but I’ll always think of you, Mother.”

 

Even after finishing her farewell, her throat felt tight and she stood there quietly for a while, unable to leave.

 

Perhaps knowing she would never come back again, it was difficult to take that first step away.

 

After standing there for quite some time, just as Soya was slowly turning around.

 

Her eyes met directly with the birds of the Southern Lands who had been peeking at her from between the tree branches.

 

“Huh? Were you embarrassingly watching everything I said?”

 

Soya’s face turned slightly red.

 

Then the birds flew over to Soya and comforted her with their chirping.

 

“Thank you, birds.”

 

Soya was chuckling in response when she was startled by the birds’ continued chirping and asked back.

 

“What? You want to follow me?”

 

Chirp!

 

Tweet!

 

Peep!

 

Chirp chirp!

 

Cheep!

 

Birds with feathers of various colors and different calls answered in a disorderly chorus of chirping.

 

All these birds wanting to follow her. She was a bit worried, but…

 

‘Well. It should be fine. White Tiger Palace is spacious. Horim Mountain is vast too.’

 

Having made that judgment, Soya smiled brightly and said.

 

“Do as you like. But White Tiger Palace is very far from here. So you’ll need to follow well.”

 

The birds chirped and nodded their heads.

 

Pop!

 

Soya, transformed back into Chirpy, soared high into the sky.

 

Behind her, the sound of the birds’ wing flapping echoed through the clear sky as they chased after Soya.

 

* * *

 

At the same time, Jeok Ayun was heading toward Madam’s Grave.

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