The White Tiger Clan’s Baby Cotton Ball - Chapter 46
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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 46
“Chirp…!”
Soya exclaimed in wonder at the sensation of floating she was experiencing for the first time.
However, there was no time to be immersed in emotion. Even at this moment, Hyeoni Elder Brother would be in pain.
Soya flapped her wings earnestly and rose up above the precipice.
Once she gained speed with one wing flap, it became easier afterward.
Flying high in the sky, Soya spotted people gathered busily below.
At their center was Saeon with a serious expression.
“Chirp!”
At Soya’s cry, Saeon quickly lifted his head.
Upon discovering the pure white baby bird flapping its wings earnestly, Saeon’s eyes narrowed slightly…
“…Cotton Ball?”
Saeon, who recognized Soya a beat late, showed a startled expression.
“Cotton Ball, you…!”
“Chirp! Peep!”
Soya cut off Saeon’s words.
“Peep-ya! Peep-ya, chirp!”
At the baby bird’s cries that seemed like mere chirping, Saeon’s face gradually hardened.
“What…?”
“Peep, peeep…”
“Damn it, quickly get someone…! Wait, Cotton Ball, why is your body like this!”
Saeon grabbed Soya’s body.
The baby bird’s body was covered with wounds everywhere.
“Peep?”
Soya tilted her head in confusion, then suddenly felt dizzy.
“Cotton Ball!”
Cotton Ball…
Cotton Ball…
Cotton Ball…
Saeon’s voice echoed like an echo.
Soya collapsed on Saeon’s palm.
* * *
Blink blink.
When she opened her eyes again, Soya was lying on a simple bed inside the barracks.
Her body felt heavy and limp, and her underarms ached. It was the aftereffects of first flight that baby birds experience.
‘I actually flew…’
While she was making a dazed expression, unable to believe that fact, she suddenly remembered the situation just before she collapsed.
“Hyeoni Elder Brother…!”
Soya bolted upright and discovered Ga Hyeon lying on the bed next to her.
“Ah, thank goodness…”
At the sight of Ga Hyeon sleeping peacefully, Soya let out a sigh of relief.
‘Saeon safely brought Elder Brother back.’
A faint smile appeared on Soya’s face.
‘I protected Elder Brother.’
However, her clear expression soon darkened.
‘Everyone must have seen.’
Soya remembered that people had been gathered just before she collapsed.
The thought that everyone had seen her beast transformation made her feel gloomy.
‘No. Even if I went back, I would make the same choice.’
Soya was shaking her head to dispel her gloomy mood when…
“Cotton Ball!”
Saeon, who had entered the barracks, spotted the awakened Soya and strode over.
“Ah, Saeon.”
“Are you, alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine…”
Swoosh!
Saeon pulled Soya into his arms.
“Huh…?”
Soya’s eyes widened.
“You worked so hard. Really.”
“Saeon…?”
“You flew here with those small wings to let us know your brother was in danger, even though no one taught you how.”
“Uh…”
“Our baby Cotton Ball is so admirable and amazing. Whoever’s daughter you are, you’re truly amazing.”
“…”
Somehow Saeon’s voice seemed to carry moisture, so Soya couldn’t say anything and quietly accepted the embrace.
‘Saeon is really strange. He talks about even the smallest things as if I did something incredibly amazing…’
Soya thought while wiggling her fingers in Saeon’s warm embrace.
‘Even now. He’s talking as if I saved the world or did something that amazing…’
However, when she actually pulled away from Saeon’s embrace, there were no signs of tears on his face at all.
‘I felt like Saeon was crying, but did I sense it wrong?’
Soya tilted her head and asked.
“Is Hyeoni Elder Brother alright?”
“Yes. Thanks to a certain admirable baby Cotton Ball who brought people just in time, we got past the dangerous moment.”
“Thank goodness…!”
Saeon chuckled and patted Soya’s head.
“Can you tell me what happened on the mountain?”
“Well…”
Soya told him everything she had seen and heard.
She had discovered that man who tried to kill her in the Land of Suzaku, and Chaos had emerged from inside that man’s body.
“Chaos…?”
“Yes, Hyeoni Elder Brother called him that. The Four Fiends, Chaos.”
Saeon’s expression became serious in an instant.
“Why is Chaos here…”
The Four Fiends. Long ago, there were four demonic beasts that brought chaos to the world.
The Four Ancient Families joined forces to seal them, but eight years ago, Hyeon Rabaek, the head of the Black Tortoise Clan, awakened the sealed souls and became their master.
“He said he had something to confirm with me. That I seemed to have the power to detect evil arts, so he needed to check my Spirit Core…”
Saeon recalled ‘that incident’ that had made White Tiger Palace noisy recently.
It wasn’t simply someone who could use evil arts approaching a young silver tiger who couldn’t resist parental pressure to make a profit.
Giving Soya and other girls an evil arts incense pouch to endanger them, and revealing her past in the Suzaku Family to try to drive Soya away.
‘Are you saying it was all interference from the Northern Lands?’
He had vaguely predicted it, but it was the scenario he least wanted.
Of all things, their blade was aimed at Soya. Was it just coincidence? Or…
Thin wrinkles formed above Saeon’s brow.
Soya glanced around nervously because Saeon’s expression looked too serious.
At that moment, a large, warm hand touched the top of Soya’s head.
“You must have been so scared and frightened, my little Cotton Ball.”
Saeon said this while stroking Soya’s hair.
“I’m sorry. I should have been by your side, but I wasn’t able to.”
“N-no! Hyeoni Elder Brother was there with me, and, and also…”
Surprised by Saeon’s apology, Soya waved her hands frantically before trailing off.
Because when she thought she might die, the person she thought of most was Saeon.
She had actually missed his large, solid back that had always protected her.
She had hoped he would appear this time too, just as he always did when she was in danger.
“See, now that you think about it again, you were upset that I wasn’t there, right?”
Noticing Soya’s hesitation, Saeon asked with a grin.
“Uh, um…”
Soya felt as if her inner thoughts had been discovered and blushed slightly, unable to answer easily.
“You can answer honestly, Cotton Ball. It’s natural for a child to look for their father.”
“I thought of you and missed you, Saeon-nim. But that doesn’t mean it’s your fault. It’s just that I…”
“It is my fault. When a child gets hurt and is in danger, it’s all the parent’s fault.”
Saeon said with a bitter smile.
He had brought her here because he wanted to protect a child who had almost died.
But after bringing her, he had left her alone on the mountain and let her fall into danger from fierce beasts.
‘This wasn’t the time to sulk because Cotton Ball wouldn’t call me father.’
Did he even deserve to be a father like this?
It was when Saeon was blaming himself like this.
“Um, Saeon-nim, but you know.”
Soya called out to Saeon in a very serious voice.
“I’m not a child. I’m already nine years old…”
“You sound exactly like Yul.”
Saeon burst into laughter.
Come to think of it, Soya always seemed to read other people’s moods, yet she didn’t hold back from quietly speaking her mind when she needed to.
That side of her was cute, and somehow made him want to tease her more.
“You haven’t even had your First Growth yet. So you’re still a child, right?”
Beast-humans divided childhood and adolescence based on First Growth, so it wasn’t wrong.
But Soya felt a little wronged being called a child.
“But I defeated the evil Chaos and protected Elder Brother too…!”
Wait.
Saeon, who had vaguely thought Ga Hyeon had defeated Chaos, asked in surprise.
“Chaos, you did that, Cotton Ball…?”
“Yes. Though White Tiger helped me.”
Soya opened her palm and gathered her energy. Then white light gathered above her palm and became a pure white sword.
“…!”
Saeon’s expression stiffened in shock.
“Cotton Ball, this is…”
As the Family Head of the White Tiger Family, Saeon could recognize what it was at a glance.
It was the White Tiger Divine Sword, a Divine Artifact made from the spirit of the ancient divine beast White Tiger.
“Where did you…”
“I met White Tiger. White Tiger helped me protect Elder Brother.”
Soya explained while handing the White Tiger Divine Sword to Saeon.
“No way. You awakened White Tiger?”
Three things were needed to awaken a sleeping ancient divine beast.
Direct lineage blood, the divine beast’s heart, and a spirit body.
Soya didn’t have direct lineage blood flowing through her. But Ga Hyeon, who did have direct lineage blood, was in the same place.
Also, the other name for the divine beast White Tiger was ‘The Guardian’. So to awaken White Tiger, a ‘protective heart’ would have been needed.
Finally, the spirit body. All of Horim Mountain where they had set foot was like the divine beast’s spirit body.
‘All three conditions to awaken the divine beast were met.’
But just because those three things came together didn’t mean anyone could awaken an ancient divine beast.
If awakening a divine beast were that easy, it would have been awakened dozens of times already.
According to the oracle passed down from ancient times, there was only one person who could awaken the divine beast.
[On the night when the red moon rises, the Dragon Emperor’s Bride will awaken the sleeping divine beast and sweep away the darkness scattered across this land, bringing peace.]
The Dragon Emperor’s Bride.
‘…Could it be.’
Saeon’s gaze deepened as he looked at 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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