The White Tiger Clan’s Baby Cotton Ball - Chapter 119

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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 119

 

When Mother passed away, Jeok Hwayu was also very young.

 

So his memories with Mother were not clear.

 

However, he had a faint memory of the day he saw Mother’s flight in her beast transformation.

 

He had woken up early in the morning, rubbing his sleepy eyes as he got up to look for Mother, then followed the chirping bird sounds to Hayeonji.

 

And there he discovered Mother, who was a small red-headed tit beast-person, flying above the lotus flowers.

 

[Mo…]

 

[Shh.]

 

As he tried to approach Mother, Father, who had been there since who knows when, brought his index finger to his own lips and whispered.

 

[Hwayu, let’s watch Mother’s flight without disturbing her.]

 

Jeok Hwayu obediently nodded his head.

 

Then Jeok Ayun smiled gently and lifted him into his arms.

 

It had been so beautiful, that memory of watching Mother’s flight while held in Father’s embrace in the clear morning air.

 

But why did that day’s memory come to mind from watching the flight of that small bird in the distance, whose form could barely be distinguished…?

 

“Elder Brother. What are you looking at so intently?”

 

Jeok Hwayu, who had been blankly staring into the distance, suddenly came to his senses at Lili’s voice calling him.

 

“Ah, Lili.”

 

“Lili is so upset, but Elder Brother is just thinking about other things!”

 

“Sorry, sorry, Lili. I was seeing things for a moment.”

 

Mother, who passed away long ago, couldn’t possibly be here, so what kind of mistake had he made?

 

Jeok Hwayu quickly erased those strange thoughts from earlier and comforted the sulking Lili.

 

Meanwhile, the small bird had flown far away and was no longer visible.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in a corner of the Imperial Palace Garden.

 

Soya, who had transformed into a small bird, was perched atop a tree searching for something.

 

[Soya, when you go to the Imperial Palace Garden, there’s a big zelkova tree that’s 300 years old.]

 

This was because of a story she had heard from Cheongha during her recent visit to the Eastern Lands.

 

[Make sure to check the top of that tree. Mother hid something there.]

 

[At the top of the tree?]

 

[That tree was the meeting place for me and your father.]

 

When Cheongha was fourteen, exactly Soya’s age.

 

Just like Gaya now, she had been summoned to the Imperial Palace as the heir of the Azure Dragon Family.

 

And naturally, Saeon, who was already establishing himself as the definitive heir of the White Tiger Family, was also summoned to the Imperial Palace.

 

Saeon’s birthday happened to be approaching, and Cheongha prepared a gift to celebrate his fourteenth birthday.

 

[I was sitting on a tree branch as usual, waiting for your father, when I heard your father’s footsteps. So I was going to surprise him by going ‘Ta-da!’ but I heard Hangah’s voice from the Imperial Palace along with his.]

 

[What?]

 

[When I listened carefully, that Hangah was confessing to Saeon.]

 

[Oh my, that’s terrible! How could he receive a confession from another woman when Mother was right above!]

 

Soya, who had been listening to her mother and father’s old story with an excited face, cried out in an indignant voice.

 

Of course, receiving a confession wasn’t Saeon’s fault, but somehow she felt a sense of betrayal.

 

[Exactly! So I got angry too and hid the gift I had prepared in a fit of rage.]

 

[You did well, Mother!]

 

Soya clenched her fists tightly as if it were her own affair and huffed in agreement.

 

[As expected, only our Soya takes Mother’s side.]

 

Cheongha giggled and said to Soya.

 

[If you ever have a chance to go to the Imperial Palace, could our Soya find that item for Mother’s sake?]

 

So Soya was rummaging through the treetop that Cheongha had told her about to keep her promise.

 

‘An item that Mother wanted to give Father when she was my age, I’m so curious.’

 

Cheongha hadn’t told her what kind of item it was.

 

So Soya was even more curious.

 

While rummaging through the tree branches, Soya discovered a small hole in the trunk.

 

And inside it, she found a small, elongated object wrapped in a blue handkerchief.

 

“I found it…!”

 

Just as the excited Soya was chirping with laughter.

 

“Be careful, Soya. There are tree thorns over there.”

 

At the gentle calling voice, Soya unconsciously turned around and was startled. Because there…

 

“Your, Your Majesty?”

 

Platinum hair that sparkled as if melted sunlight had been poured into it. Enchanting eyes that held the color of fresh greenery.

 

A boy with beautiful features as if crafted by a deity with utmost care was sitting on a tree branch in comfortable attire.

 

Now sixteen years old, the same age as her second elder brother, Irim gracefully curved his eyes at the boundary between boyhood and youth.

 

‘When, when has he been there?’

 

Soya stared at him blankly for a moment in confusion.

 

She had heard this was a garden for outsiders, so she couldn’t understand why he, the Emperor, was here.

 

“Come this way, Soya. I’ll get that out for you.”

 

Irim smiled gently and extended the back of his hand toward Soya.

 

Soya unconsciously landed on his finger, then realized her action had been too natural.

 

As if handling bird beast-people wasn’t his first time, Irim was very skilled at holding up the back of his hand with one finger raised so Soya wouldn’t be uncomfortable.

 

Even her elder brothers, when Soya first transformed, didn’t know how to support a baby bird’s body and had floundered with their palms stiffly extended.

 

With Soya perched on one hand, Irim stretched out his other arm and retrieved the item from the tree hole for her.

 

As he had said, the peeled tree bark protruded sharply like thorns and would have been quite painful if she had been pricked.

 

“Here it is.”

 

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

 

Soya answered while swaying her tail feathers left and right, feeling somehow shy.

 

Irim smiled with deep eye-smiles.

 

“There’s a custom passed down among lovers in the Central Region.”

 

He unwrapped the tightly wound handkerchief.

 

Then a silver hairpin delicately crafted with a brave tiger was revealed.

 

Judging by its size and shape, it was one used by men.

 

“A woman gives a man a silver hairpin as a gift, and a man gives a woman a golden hair ornament to make an engagement promise.”

 

“An engagement promise…?”

 

At Irim’s explanation, Soya’s mind began spinning rapidly.

 

Then Mother wanting to give this to Father meant…

 

‘As expected! Mother liked Father from when they were very young!’

 

Soya unconsciously chirped with laughter at the feeling of making a new discovery.

 

Then Irim’s laughter mixed in with Soya’s chirping bird sounds.

 

‘Oh no.’

 

Soya was startled and stopped laughing.

 

Laughing like this at the White Tiger Palace had become a habit, so she had unconsciously made bird sounds.

 

She felt a little embarrassed that he had seen her laughing like a baby bird.

 

“Oh my. I didn’t mean to startle you, Soya.”

 

Seeing Soya frozen in surprise, he spoke in an apologetic voice.

 

“I just found your laughter so welcome—”

 

His eyes holding Soya’s small body curved into circles.

 

“And also, so lovely.”

 

“…?”

 

Soya’s two black bead-like eyes embedded in her snow-white down blinked at those words.

 

“Then let’s meet again at tomorrow’s Grand Banquet.”

 

Irim smiled gently while looking at Soya, then left only those words before disappearing in an instant.

 

“Huh…? Your Majesty?”

 

Soya looked around in all directions, but Irim had already vanished without a trace.

 

However, the spot where he had been sitting, with the blue cloth and swaying tree leaves, indicated that he had been there.

 

“He really is like the wind.”

 

Soya stared blankly at the place he had left, then tilted her head at a question that suddenly occurred to her.

 

‘But how did His Majesty recognize me at a glance?’

 

It was the first time she had shown Irim her Beast Transformation form, yet he had recognized her immediately.

 

‘As expected of the Imperial Dragon, there’s probably nothing he doesn’t know.’

 

Soya found what seemed like a reasonable explanation and accepted it, then took the silver hairpin in her beak and descended below.

 

“Soya!”

 

The Black-Haired Youth who had been waiting below came running toward Soya.

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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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