The White Tiger Clan’s Baby Cotton Ball - Chapter 37

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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 37

He knelt down in front of the child to meet her eye level and looked straight at her face as he asked.

“Uh, I… well…”

Soya hesitated, then gripped her clothes tightly and answered.

“…Yes.”

Her answering voice was small and hoarse, as if squeezed out.

The truth was, she didn’t want to leave.

‘Still, this is good. I thought I’d have to leave without saying goodbye, but I get to see his face one more time like this.’

Soya tried to think positively.

She was upset that her secret had been discovered, but still, it was a good thing.

“I don’t like it. No. Don’t leave, Cotton Ball.”

At Saeon’s voice that sounded both monotone and urgent at the same time, Soya raised her head.

“Pardon…?”

“You gave me permission. You said I could steal you. So I stole you, but now you can’t change your mind and run away.”

“But back then… you clearly said to stay temporarily…”

“I did?”

“Yes.”

“I never said such…”

“You said, ‘You’re not bothersome at all, so don’t worry and stay here temporarily.'”

“…”

Suddenly, Saeon’s eyes crinkled slightly.

Right. He seemed to have said something like that.

He had forgotten because it wasn’t words he had spoken with much meaning.

He hadn’t known that the child would memorize those words without missing a single syllable, mulling them over alone while thinking about the day she would leave.

“…To make you misunderstand in such a way. What a crazy tiger.”

His muttering voice was filled with self-reproach.

Saeon knew. All of this was because he hadn’t given Soya certainty.

Above all, hadn’t he himself been unable to decide what to do about the child’s situation?

So this was all his fault.

“I’m sorry, Cotton Ball.”

Saeon knelt in front of Soya and calmly apologized.

“This is all my fault.”

“Saeon…!”

Soya jumped up in surprise.

“Why are you kneeling…! The, the floor is cold. Please…”

Soya fidgeted, not knowing what to do.

However, Saeon remained kneeling in front of Soya, only raising his head to look up at the child.

“I brought you here but failed to take proper responsibility. I made you, a young child, anxious enough to think about leaving alone.”

“No, no! I was…!”

“I promise you, Cotton Ball. I won’t make you anxious again. I’ll become a better adult.”

Soya, who had been frantically waving her hands, suddenly stopped speaking at Saeon’s low and heavy voice.

“So not just ‘temporarily,’ but please stay here with me continuously from now on.”

“…!”

Soya’s eyes widened.

Stay here together continuously from now on?

But what about Miss Siyo?

Miss Siyo would be uncomfortable with me…

Besides, I…

Soya, who had been staring at Saeon blankly, asked carefully.

“…Weren’t you disappointed in me?”

“Why would I be disappointed in you, Cotton Ball?”

“Well, I… As Miss Siyo said, I’m a bad child who stole someone else’s things… And earlier, your face…”

Soya’s voice grew smaller as if crawling away.

“You seemed very disappointed… You weren’t even smiling…”

Soya recalled Saeon’s face hardening when Siyo revealed her shameful secret.

Even though he had a somewhat cold impression, he always smiled when meeting her, so Soya hadn’t known that Saeon’s unsmiling face could be so frightening.

So Soya thought Saeon was disappointed and angry with her.

After all, she was a sinner who stole someone else’s life, yet hid her past and shamelessly followed him to White Tiger Palace.

However, Saeon shook his head and answered quietly.

“I wasn’t disappointed in you. If I seemed like a disappointed person, I was disappointed in myself, not you.”

“…?”

“Because I failed to discover the difficult things you must have experienced at the Suzaku Family. That’s why I was disappointed in myself.”

“…That’s a very strange thing to say.”

Saeon smiled bitterly at Soya’s puzzled expression as she couldn’t easily understand his words, and added.

“And the reason I wasn’t smiling was because I was pathetic for learning about it so late through someone else’s mouth.”

“…”

“Because I was upset that I couldn’t recognize the wounds you must have received beforehand.”

“…”

“And because my heart ached thinking of you suffering for such a trivial reason. That’s why I couldn’t smile.”

“…”

Her small lips, like a bird’s beak, opened slightly.

Soya still couldn’t understand Saeon’s words.

He was upset and his heart ached because of me? That’s why he couldn’t smile?

Perhaps Saeon didn’t pay any attention to what Miss Siyo had said earlier.

He completely failed to understand what she had done at the Suzaku Family, how badly she had behaved before running away.

“It’s not such a trivial reason. I… I stole someone else’s life!”

So I need to explain to him.

That I’m a very bad child.

So there’s no need to be upset or heartbroken because of me.

“She said Miss Lili grew up without parents because of me! Miss Lili’s weak body is also because of me, and the Family Head and Young Master’s suffering is all because of me too…!”

How strange.

I’m just stating facts, so why is my throat so hot and burning?

Why am I clenching both fists and raising my voice like an excited person?

And why is Saeon looking at me with such sad eyes…

“How is that your fault?”

Why is he speaking in such a sad voice…

“You’re just a nine-year-old baby Cotton Ball. You must have been switched with that family’s daughter when you were much younger. So how could that be your fault?”

“But… but everyone said so. The Family Head, the Young Master, the household members, everyone… they all said it was my fault…”

Soya’s stammering voice gradually filled with tears.

“So I have to repay this debt to Miss Lili for the rest of my life. I have to hurt and be sad exactly as much as I made Miss Lili sad…”

“So.”

Saeon, cutting off Soya’s words, clenched his fists painfully and asked.

“Did the people of the Suzaku Family hurt you?”

He remembered Yeonjeong’s report that there were traces of abuse on Cotton Ball’s body.

He remembered Sara’s words that her Spirit Core had probably been absent for a long time.

He also remembered the Suzaku Family’s Three-Legged Crow that had attacked the child on the day he first met her.

The truth that the Silver Tiger Family’s young lady had just revealed explained all those connections.

“People hating and tormenting me is natural, so I should endure it, they said.”

Soya answered with a sad voice.

‘Damn chicken-brained bastards.’

Saeon forcibly swallowed down his rising anger.

Had she stolen the position of the Vermillion Bird Family’s youngest daughter and been driven out after pretending to be their daughter?

The child was probably switched at a young age.

She wouldn’t have even known she was a switched child.

But even if this child had been switched with the real daughter of the Vermillion Bird Family, how could that possibly be this child’s fault?

With just a little thought, one could see it wasn’t the child’s fault, yet they cowardly blamed all their tragedy on this small child.

And so Soya had been tormented by people for such an absurd reason at this young age.

Without even knowing that it was wrong.

“Listen carefully, Cotton Ball. What you experienced at the Vermillion Bird Family, all of that was wrong.”

Then he had to let this child know.

“No one can torment you, and that’s not justified.”

“But…”

“You did nothing wrong. It’s not you who’s wrong, it’s them.”

“But, but…”

The child’s eyes reddened and soon thick tears welled up drop by drop.

Until now, Soya had thought it was all her fault.

Because I’m a wicked baby bird who stole Miss Lili’s place. So it’s natural that everyone hates and dislikes me.

So she silently endured people’s sharp criticism and torment without crying.

But Saeon says all of that wasn’t her fault.

He says she did nothing wrong, that those who tormented her were the ones in the wrong.

‘It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t do anything wrong.’

The moment she mulled over those words.

Plop—

The teardrops that had formed in Soya’s eyes burst with a pop.

Plop, plop—

“Everyone, *sob*, everyone said it was my fault, *sniff*… No one, *hic*… took my side. Father too, Hwayu too, they all said it was Soya’s fault, but then, why…”

Soya asked while sobbing.

“Why does Lord Saeon, *sob*, say it’s not my fault? Why is only Lord Saeon taking my side?”

“Because the world you’ve lived in until now was wrong.”

At that calm voice, Soya’s pupils shook violently.

“*Hic*, *wah*, *wah*…”

The crying she had been holding back leaked through her lips.

“So from now on, I’ll show you what the right world is like.”

“*Waaaaah*!”

Finally, sorrowful crying burst out.

“Soya…!”

Ga Hyeon, who had been watching from the corner ever since Saeon’s appearance, quickly rushed out and wiped Soya’s wet eyes with his sleeve.

“So become my daughter, Cotton Ball.”

Saeon gently touched Soya’s reddened nose tip and smiled softly.

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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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