The White Tiger Clan’s Baby Cotton Ball - Chapter 160

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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 160

“Cotton Ball, are you angry?”

“Young Lady, are you sulking?”

Gayul and Su Ri asked simultaneously upon discovering Soya’s protruding lips.

“N-no! I’m absolutely not angry or sulking!”

Soya denied it, her face slightly reddening.

‘She’s definitely angry.’

‘She’s definitely sulking.’

Gayul and Su Ri thought to themselves.

“R-really! Seolyeo might not need my help, so why would I get angry or sulk over something like that? I’m not a child…”

Soya’s words grew longer and longer.

‘She’s really angry.’

‘She’s really sulking.’

Gayul and Su Ri thought so inwardly but didn’t voice it out loud.

Because they had a history of making Soya cry when they cornered her about sulking in a similar situation shortly after she came to White Tiger Palace.

“Instead of that, Young Lady. How about going to the pond area?”

Yeonjeong, who had been watching their conversation from the side, suggested with a chuckle.

“But Seolyeo wanted to be alone. I won’t disturb my friend.”

“What if it’s not disturbing, but delivering a very important message?”

“An important message…?”

Soya looked up at Yeonjeong with an interested expression.

“Yes, there aren’t many days left before returning to White Tiger Palace. We need to start packing soon, so could you tell him to come back early today?”

“…!”

Soya’s eyes sparkled as she found a perfect excuse to go see Seolyeo.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the same time.

Seolyeo was searching for the light orb at the pond area.

But Soya’s face from this morning kept flickering above the pond water.

‘Soya seemed disappointed.’

That kept bothering him and weighing on his mind.

But it couldn’t be helped.

He wanted to find the light orb and surprise Soya with a gift, but more than that…

‘But this pond is dangerous. She was in so much pain before. What if Soya falls into the water again because of me.’

Seolyeo remembered the day Soya fell into this pond.

Thinking of Soya soaking wet, unable to open her eyes with a pale white face, made his heart sink gloomily.

Seolyeo quickly shook his head and dove into the water with a splash.

Today he planned to go all the way down to the bottom of the pond.

Strangely enough, Seolyeo didn’t find it difficult to breathe underwater.

Seolyeo had a vague idea why that was.

It was probably because I am…

‘Maybe it’s because I’m a serpent beastkin. The mother who gave birth to me was also a serpent beastkin.’

Of course, that was just his guess.

The mother who gave birth to Seolyeo was the chief of the Black Serpent Tribe, but he heard that Seolyeo’s biological father, Hyeon Rabaek, led the Black Tortoise Tribe before becoming the head of the Black Tortoise Clan.

So perhaps I’m not a serpent beastkin but a black tortoise beastkin who resembles my biological father.

However, Seolyeo hoped he resembled his mother rather than his biological father.

Because he wished to have no connection whatsoever with That Man who tried to kill Soya.

‘But why can’t I do beast transformation?’

Such questions arose in Seolyeo’s mind as he swam toward the bottom of the pond.

‘I can become a tiger, I can become a wolf, I can become a small bird… but why can’t I become a serpent?’

Seolyeo, who could shapeshift into any animal, strangely couldn’t do beast transformation into his true form.

As the years passed, questions about his existence kept growing within him.

At White Tiger Palace, he was still publicly known as a wolf beastkin, but he wasn’t a wolf.

He wasn’t a tiger either, nor was he a baby bird.

What exactly am I?

If I’m really a serpent, why can’t I do beast transformation into serpent form?

Such questions tormented Seolyeo from time to time.

And whenever that happened, Seolyeo would recall what Soya had said long ago.

[Seolyeo is just Seolyeo!]

Whenever his heart wavered, that one phrase from Soya gave him strength.

‘Right. I’m just Seolyeo, Soya’s best friend, and the warrior who protects Soya.’

Seolyeo reminded himself of that fact once more and courageously descended to the pond bottom to search around.

However, the visibility wasn’t very good, making it difficult to find the light orb.

There weren’t many days left before leaving the Imperial Palace and returning to White Tiger Palace.

It was when the thought struck him that he might have to return to White Tiger Palace without finding the light orb.

—Shall I help you?

Seolyeo froze in surprise at the strange voice ringing in his ears.

‘This voice is…’

Seolyeo recalled when he had heard this voice before.

—Can you really do anything?

Already two years ago now, when he was wandering around searching for the missing Soya in the Land of Blue Dragon.

—Well. Do you think that’s up to you?

And when he decided to keep his biological father’s secret hidden after returning from the Northern Lands with Soya.

It was exactly that strange voice he had heard then.

—Hey, you heard my voice, didn’t you? Why are you pretending not to know?

Somehow it was a bit rough and… like a street thug.

The adults at White Tiger Palace said nothing good comes from getting involved with guys who use such speech.

So Seolyeo was about to pretend not to hear the voice.

—I said I’d help you? You want to find that orb and win that kid’s favor, don’t you?

“W-win favor…! N-no!”

Despite his resolve to ignore the voice, Seolyeo shouted in surprise as if his inner thoughts had been seen through.

Then his voice echoed loudly in the pond instead of bubbly air bubbles.

Just like how aquatic beastkin can speak freely underwater.

However, rather than being surprised by that fact, Seolyeo’s attention was entirely focused on the rough voice that seemed to see through his inner thoughts.

—Not really. You want to win favor and look good to that kid.

“…”

Seolyeo’s face turned bright red.

What strange words.

I absolutely wasn’t trying to win Soya’s favor, nor am I doing this to look good to Soya.

“I just… I just want to see Soya smile…”

—Hehe. Sure, let’s go with that. Anyway, I’ll help you, how about it? Then you’ll be able to find it right away. In return, you’ll later…

“No. I’ll do it myself without your help.”

―Tch. Taking the long way around when there’s an easy path.

The voice grumbled with dissatisfaction.

Ignoring that sound, Seolyeo continued searching through the pond bottom and finally succeeded in finding the light orb after a long while.

“Found it!”

It was when Seolyeo smiled brightly with joy.

Something rippling in the black water caught Seolyeo’s eye.

‘Huh? What’s that?’

It was when Seolyeo was casually looking at it.

―Huh, huh? Hey, be careful. Don’t go near it. If you do that, something dangerous will stick to you…

But before the voice could stop him, the rippling black energy suddenly engulfed Seolyeo’s body.

Kiiiii… Kiii…

A sharp sound scratched at Seolyeo’s ears.

His vision became dizzy and some scene came to mind.

It was a night with a round moon.

With just a window between them, he saw Soya and… a blonde-haired boy having a conversation.

Soya was smiling beautifully while chatting with the boy.

Her slightly reddened cheeks were an expression never shown in front of Seolyeo.

The scene wavered and scattered, then it became bright daylight.

Soya in the form of a small bird was playing around with that boy on a high tree branch.

Soya chirping through her cute bird beak looked both happy and a little shy.

‘You told me not to make secrets from you.’

Seolyeo’s heart began to churn.

‘Why are you making secrets with that man?’

Strangely, he felt like crying.

Gradually, Seolyeo’s pupils turned pitch black, and rising lonely emotions were engulfing his entire heart when—

“Seolyeo!”

Suddenly.

Seolyeo blinked slowly.

“Seolyeo, where are you?”

It was Soya’s voice.

“Soya…?”

At that moment, the illusion covering his eyes scattered instantly and Seolyeo snapped back to his senses.

Splash—!

Seolyeo immediately shot up out of the water to find Soya.

“Soya!”

Seolyeo burst out of the pond and ran to Soya, dripping with water.

“Look here, I knew you’d be here again… Huh? Seolyeo, that thing you have…!”

Soya’s eyes widened when she discovered the light orb in Seolyeo’s hand.

“You’ve been coming to the pond area alone all this time to find this for me?”

“Uh, huh? Ah, well…”

Seolyeo glanced at Soya and trailed off.

He hadn’t planned to give her the light orb while looking so soaked.

He had wanted to present it in a more impressive manner with cool words.

“We promised to have a festival under the light orb in summer. I was really looking forward to the festival too…”

He couldn’t bring himself to say it was because he wanted to see her smile.

Since he hadn’t prepared any cool words either, Seolyeo was fumbling for whatever words came to mind when—

Swoosh!

“Seolyeo…!”

Soya hugged Seolyeo.

“Really… thank you so much.”

To believe at face value that he did it because he was looking forward to the festival, Seolyeo’s expression was too transparent as he seemed to care about her reaction.

Seolyeo coming to the pond area every day to find the light orb wasn’t because he was looking forward to the festival, but because he did it for her.

To find this light orb and bring it to her.

“And here I was, not knowing any of this and sulking alone thinking you were excluding me. I’m sorry for misunderstanding you.”

Soya apologized with her face slightly reddened, embarrassed by her childish sulking when she hadn’t even known about Seolyeo’s caring heart.

Seolyeo stiffened his body and just stared blankly at Soya’s face.

“…”

It was really strange.

Just moments ago, he had felt strangely churning and like crying…

The moment he heard Soya’s warm voice, a cozy sense of stability washed over him.

Right. He had wanted to see Soya smile brightly like this.

He had wanted to see Soya happy, and he had wanted to see Soya smile prettily.

Then, belatedly noticing that her clothes had gotten wet because of him, Seolyeo cried out in surprise.

“Oh, what do I do, Soya! Your clothes got wet because of me…”

“I’m fine. You’re the one who’s even more soaked than me.”

“But…”

“Oh right, this isn’t the time! Lady Yeonjeong told me to bring you back. Let’s hurry back, Seolyeo!”

Soya smiled brightly with her eyes beautifully curved.

“Y-yes!”

Seolyeo firmly grasped Soya’s outstretched hand and nodded.

Soya burst into laughter at his flustered appearance.

On the way back to the pavilion, Soya and Seolyeo swung their clasped hands and took bouncy, cheerful steps.

The dark emotions that had briefly settled in Seolyeo’s heart also faded without a trace, and only a brightly fluttering heart filled him with excitement.

And at the spot where Seolyeo had been just moments before.

A black serpent that had slithered out of the water muttered while looking at Seolyeo.

―This is trouble. Something dangerous did stick to him, but…

The black snake’s eyes narrowed as it watched Seolyeo.

That writhing black and evil energy had disappeared in an instant.

However, that black energy hadn’t been destroyed.

It had tried to take over that child’s spirit core but was instead devoured.

―A beast-person who can devour evil… I wasn’t mistaken after all. If it’s that child…

The black serpent that had been watching Seolyeo for a while glanced up to look at Soya.

―…

The snow-white hair swaying like gently fluttering snowflakes held his gaze for quite a long time.

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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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