The White Tiger Clan’s Baby Cotton Ball - Chapter 164

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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 164

White Tiger Palace, which had been quiet for a while, regained its vitality thanks to the Family Head and Young Masters, and Young Lady who had returned after finishing the victory celebration.

The expressions of the White Tiger Palace people had been very good these past few days.

In fact, they were in the most excited state they had been in nearly 10 years.

The eldest Young Master who resembled the Family Head perfectly, having returned after ending the long war!

Our brave Cotton Ball Miss who awakened the divine beast and resolved the crisis at the Imperial Palace!

And Madam who would soon return from Azure Sea Palace!

The people’s excited emotions naturally transmitted to Soya as well.

Soya was also waiting for Cheongha’s return more than anyone else.

Tap, tap.

At the sound of tapping on the wooden window bars, she walked to the window and threw it open.

“Chirpy!”

“Chirp chirp―”

Chirpy chirped a song with its cute yellow beak and stretched out its left foot.

A small piece of paper was tied to Chirpy’s ankle.

It was a letter from Cheongha.

“You must have been tired flying all the way to Azure Sea Palace and back. Thank you.”

Soya brought out a bowl filled with feed and water for Chirpy, then carefully untied the thin piece of paper from Chirpy’s ankle.

Soya’s eyes suddenly widened as she read the letter with an excited face.

It was news that Cheongha, having returned the Family Head’s seal to the real owner of Azure Sea Palace and finished the handover, would arrive at White Tiger Palace in four days.

“Finally…!”

Unable to hide her joy, Soya exclaimed with a somewhat flushed face, then immediately ran toward Saeon’s office to share this happy news.

“Father!”

Opening the door and entering, she saw Saeon sitting at his desk.

“Cotton Ball, you’re here?”

Saeon, who had been reading documents, looked up with a pleased face.

Saeon had to be buried in piles of work as soon as he returned.

Not only was there considerable backlog from while he was away, but important figures from major families in the Western Lands who hadn’t been able to meet Saeon were visiting in succession.

“Are you very busy today too?”

It was when Soya, who had approached Saeon’s desk, peeked her head out and asked.

“Oh my, so this is the famous youngest Young Lady.”

A strange woman interrupted, addressing Soya familiarly.

“Hello, Young Lady. I’m Banga Juri, who came as a representative of the Half-Moon Bear family.”

“Hello. I’m Soya. Soya of the Baek family.”

Soya exchanged introductions with the woman who spoke to her in a friendly voice.

“Since there are matters that adults need to discuss, could the young lady come back later? The Family Head is busy right now.”

At those words, Soya glanced at Saeon.

Her eyes were full of disappointment at not being able to spend time with Father.

“Sorry, Cotton Ball. Instead, let’s take a walk together after dinner. Papa will finish all his work by then.”

Saeon, understanding Soya’s feelings, consoled her with a gentle voice.

“Yes.”

Though disappointed, Soya nodded and withdrew.

And after finishing dinner, Saeon took a walk with Soya as promised.

“I thought only good things would happen when I came back to White Tiger Palace, but Father is just busy every single day.”

“Our Cotton Ball, are you sulking because of that?”

Discovering Soya’s protruding lips, Saeon chuckled and asked.

“Sul-sulking? No way!”

Soya was startled and waved both hands.

“Absolutely, absolutely not! Father is the master of the Western Lands, so you have to do very, very important work. So it’s natural that you’re busy…”

Pat―

Soya, who had been making excuses, stopped talking and looked up at the warm touch that landed on her head.

Saeon was smiling at her with a gentle face.

“Father?”

“That’s right. Our Baby Cotton Ball isn’t sulking.”

Though Saeon didn’t quite understand why, Soya seemed to think that sulking was something only little children did.

He wanted to tell Soya that it was okay to sulk all she wanted, but because Soya insisting she wasn’t sulking was cute, he played along with her words.

It was when the father and daughter were spending intimate time together like this.

“Lord Saeon! So you were here!”

At the voice of another woman appearing, Saeon frowned.

It was the woman from the Half-Moon Bear family they had seen in Saeon’s office during the day.

“What is it?”

His voice was quite different from when he spoke to Soya – stiff and cold.

However, the woman answered with an undaunted smile.

“There’s something that urgently needs your attention.”

“At this hour?”

“Regarding the mines in the northwestern region.”

“Wasn’t that matter completely finished during the day?”

“Yes, but in a letter from our family…”

Eventually, Saeon sighed briefly, asked Soya for understanding, and had to head back to his office.

Soya felt like she was being slightly interrupted every time she tried to spend time with Father.

‘Ah, it must be my imagination. That can’t be right.’

Soya, who had been staring at the retreating figures of Saeon and the woman, shook her head and dismissed the subtle feeling.

She shouldn’t feel hurt by something like this. Father was busy with work.

* * *

The next afternoon, Soya was spending time amicably with her Elder Brothers so as not to interfere with Father’s work.

The peaceful courtyard of White Tiger Palace with gentle late spring breezes blowing.

Soya and Gayul sat facing each other on the grass field, chattering away.

“When Mother comes, I’m going to show her the gifts I received for winning at the last Mountain God Festival! And I’m going to ask her to climb to the top of Horim Mountain with me!”

“I’m going to show Mother around my room and sleep with her too! Just like we did at Azure Sea Palace! And I’m going to brush Mother’s hair prettily! I’ve practiced a lot with Yeonjeong and Sanho.”

Ga Hyeon, who had been reading a book while leaning against a wooden pillar, looked away from his book at that sound and gazed at Soya and Gayul.

A gentle smile bloomed on his face at the sight of his younger siblings talking as if competing with each other.

Gaya, who had transformed into a large tiger and was lying down so Soya could lean against him, also let out a rumbling laugh.

“I’m going to ask Mother to teach me spear techniques too. I heard from Sanho that Mother’s spear skills were unmatched in White Tiger Palace!”

“Then me too! I want to learn spear techniques from Mother together with Elder Brother!”

“Huh? But Cotton Ball, don’t you need to grow bigger to hold a spear?”

“What are you talking about? Haven’t you seen Hwageuk in my room? I even played fighting games with Seolyeo using the Hwageuk that Mother gave me as a gift, and I won.”

“That’s a toy…”

It was when Gayul was about to say that wasn’t a real Hwageuk but a toy.

Suddenly, a pure white shadow shot through the air above their heads like an arrow.

“Father…?”

Soya tilted her head while looking at where the white shadow had flown.

“He must be busy today too. Seeing how urgently he’s flying away.”

“Father can’t even play with us and just works all the time… Being a Family Head must be really hard. I feel so sorry for him.”

Soya and Gayul murmured in pitying voices.

But at this moment, Gaya, who had been yawning while just swishing his tail as if uninterested in Father’s rapidly flying figure, suddenly perked up his ears and lifted his head.

Ga Hyeon, who had been wearing a gentle smile, also slowly stood up and looked somewhere.

Gayul, who had been chattering with Soya, also lifted his head a beat later than his Elder Brothers, twitching his nose, and Soya, sensing something from her Elder Brothers’ behavior, straightened up from where she had been leaning against Gaya.

“Could it be….”

Just as Gaya was muttering while looking in the direction where Saeon had disappeared.

Thud!

With a tremendous sound, a large white tiger landed in the inner courtyard of the White Tiger Palace.

The handsome tiger with a body as large as a house and sleek build was none other than Saeon.

The blue-haired woman who had been riding on Saeon’s back gracefully rose to her feet while stroking the head of the one who had carried her.

Then she smiled and greeted the four people.

“My babies, have you been well?”

“Mother?”

“Mother!”

“Mom!!”

“You’ve arrived, Mother.”

The children, who had been momentarily dazed by Cheongha’s visit that was earlier than expected, instantly flocked to her.

“My, our babies have all grown up.”

Cheongha hugged each of the children one by one as she greeted them.

“Our first baby, it’s been a while. You’ve worked hard all this time, haven’t you?”

“I’m long past the age to be called a baby. Wah wah.”

Gaya grinned and added playfully.

Ga Hyeon was horrified.

“Have you lost your mind, Elder Brother? Don’t show Mother such an unseemly side. Because of you, Mother might go back to the Eastern Lands again.”

“Unseemly? That’s rude to say to your elder brother. Mother, please tell him quickly. Tell him that the first baby isn’t unseemly at all and is only cute.”

“Of course, you’re cute, our first baby. Our second baby is cute too.”

Cheongha laughed at the first and second sons’ bickering and patted Ga Hyeon’s shoulder.

“Mom, Mom! Hug me too!”

“Me too, Mom!”

The children clinging to Cheongha chattered and competed to tell her their stories.

Soya also raised her voice enthusiastically among her elder brothers, trying to claim their mother’s attention.

Meanwhile, Saeon released his beast transformation and approached Cheongha and the children, but the children’s attention was entirely focused on Cheongha.

“But how did you arrive so quickly? Originally, you should have arrived three days from now.”

In fact, according to the schedule, Cheongha should have arrived three days later.

However, Saeon, who had been on high alert ever since hearing the news that Cheongha was coming to the White Tiger Palace, had transformed into a large tiger and gone to fetch her as soon as the palanquin carrying Cheongha left the Eastern Lands.

As the leader of the White Tigers, he was very fast even in human form, but when he used beast transformation, he was fast enough to cross from one end of the continent to the other in a single bound.

Thanks to this, Cheongha was able to arrive three days earlier than scheduled.

“I missed our babies so much that I hurried here.”

“I, I missed you too, Mom!”

“Me, me too! Me too! I missed you so much!”

“You don’t know how excited everyone was when they heard Mother was returning.”

“I should have gone to fetch Mother before Father did.”

Everyone eagerly added their own words to Cheongha’s chuckling response.

A gentle smile also bloomed on Saeon’s face as he watched this scene.

* * *

The White Tiger Palace became busy with Cheongha’s return.

A splendid dinner banquet was held to welcome Madam back to the White Tiger Palace.

After finishing dinner, the White Tiger family took a walk together and shared stories from the past.

Everyone had so many stories they wanted to tell that there wasn’t a moment of silence.

Then, as night gradually deepened, it was time to go inside.

“I want to sleep with Mom.”

Soya said, firmly grasping Cheongha’s sleeve.

“You promised at the Azure Sea Palace before. That you’d sleep with me even after returning to the White Tiger Palace.”

“Mm, that’s right. I promised to sleep with our youngest baby.”

Cheongha smiled and looked at Saeon.

“Yes, tonight we’ll sleep together in Cotton Ball’s room.”

Saeon nodded with an awkward smile.

‘Huh? Why does Father’s expression look sad?’

It was when Soya was tilting her head in confusion.

“Cotton Ball monopolizing Mom just because she’s a girl is really unfair! It’s cheating!”

Gayul shouted with a sulky face.

“I want to stay with Mom more too, this is unfair!”

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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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