The White Tiger Clan’s Baby Cotton Ball - Chapter 65
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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 65
“Chirp!”
Soya spread her wings wide and flapped toward Ga Hyeon.
“It’s late, so what’s the matter that you’re not sleeping, Soya?”
Ga Hyeon asked in a gentle voice, hiding the sharp and sensitive mood he had shown just moments before.
“Peep, peep!”
“You want to go see snow-covered Horim Mountain? But it’s too dark.”
“Chirp, chirp!”
“What? That guy Yul said such useless things… Ah, sorry, Soya. I take back calling it useless. Then let’s go together with your elder brother.”
Ga Hyeon smiled softly at the baby bird’s whining and climbed onto the window frame.
Then he held Soya in his arms and jumped down to the floor.
Thud!
The moment he landed on the floor, he transformed into a large tiger.
Ga Hyeon put Soya on his back and leaped toward Horim Mountain.
As a White Tiger beast-human whose physical abilities far exceeded those of ordinary beast-people, he reached the midslope of Horim Mountain in just three bounds.
“Elder Brother, look over there! Horim Mountain is really sparkling!”
Soya, who had somehow released her beast transformation and taken the form of a young girl, shouted while looking down from his back.
“Is this what you wanted to see so badly?”
“Yes! Yul said that when snow piles up, we absolutely must go see Horim Mountain at night!”
At some point, Gayul had told Soya that the night view of snow-covered Horim Mountain sparkled beautifully like sugar had been sprinkled on it.
So they had promised to go see Horim Mountain’s night view together when the first snow fell, but unfortunately Soya caught a cold that day, and afterward Gayul suffered from growth pains and couldn’t come to see it.
“I was worried I wouldn’t be able to see it until the snow melted, but I’m so grateful you brought me all the way to Horim Mountain like this.”
Thanks to the pure white snow receiving moonlight, all of Horim Mountain sparkled like jewels.
The mountain scenery on this snowy night was so beautiful and mysterious that Soya felt as if she had come to the Heavenly Realm she had heard about in old tales.
Ga Hyeon burst into laughter at the sight of Soya, who remained silent for a while as if enchanted by that scenery.
“If you want it, I should come with you anytime. But you’re not dressed too lightly for the cold, are you?”
“Yes, I’m dressed very warmly. When I caught a cold last time, Yeonjeong got me a blanket made from flame mole fur.”
Soya answered while pulling the blanket draped over her shoulders tighter.
“Then shall we go explore higher up?”
“Yes!”
Ga Hyeon leaped up toward the mountain peak.
Soya’s heart swelled along with the rapidly increasing altitude.
Ga Hyeon deliberately walked through the forest path where white birch trees spread out for Soya’s sake.
The snow that had settled on each bare white branch was truly beautiful.
“The white snow seems just like you, Soya.”
“Like me?”
“Yes, it’s white and pure, just like you.”
“I was thinking it seemed like you, Elder Brother.”
Soya found it amusing that she and Ga Hyeon had the same thought, so she covered her mouth with both hands and giggled softly.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch…
The sound of stepping on snow harmonized with the tranquil forest path.
“You know, Elder Brother. I used to hate that I was white.”
Soya, who had been quietly enjoying the night atmosphere on Ga Hyeon’s back, suddenly began telling her story.
“I hated my white hair and my white fur too. But now I really love it.”
Her gentle voice drifted through the night air and echoed through the snow-covered birch forest.
“Because I’m white like Father and my elder brothers, it seems like others would see us as a real family too.”
“You were thinking about that?”
Ga Hyeon asked in surprise, then spoke in a gentle voice.
“I also like that you’re the same white color as me, Soya. But regardless of such things, we’re family.”
“That’s right, you told me that here during the Mountain God Festival.”
Soya nodded with a gentle smile.
The words Ga Hyeon had said to her here during last autumn’s Mountain God Festival had left a very deep impression on Soya.
[Real family doesn’t abandon each other over such trivial things.]
[I want to become real family with Soya. Real family that protects and cherishes each other regardless of what we look like, whether we’re birds or beasts.]
Until then, Soya had always thought of herself as a child abandoned by her family.
But Ga Hyeon’s words had changed Soya from ‘an abandoned child’ to ‘a child who found real family.’
They had been fake family from the beginning, so she hadn’t been abandoned.
So Soya thought.
The fact that Ga Hyeon, who had told her that important truth, considered himself ‘abandoned’ by Cheongha…
Perhaps it was because her elder brother thought of Cheongha as ‘real family.’
“Elder Brother, I didn’t have a mother from birth.”
Ga Hyeon flinched at Soya’s sudden confession.
“But there was someone I thought of as my mother. However, I later found out that she wasn’t my real mother.”
“…”
Ga Hyeon’s steps slowed.
“I didn’t have a mother from the beginning, so I might not understand your feelings very well, Elder Brother.”
“…”
“But you had a mother and then lost her, so you must have been sadder than me.”
“…”
“Because even though I was very young, I had Father and my elder brothers, but they disappeared in an instant, and I was very sad, upset, and hurt.”
“…”
“Even more than when I learned I didn’t have a mother.”
“Soya.”
Ga Hyeon stopped walking.
Soya jumped down from his back and faced him.
“I’m no longer upset because of the wounds those people gave me. Because you taught me, Elder Brother. That they were ‘fake.'”
Soya said while looking into Ga Hyeon’s faintly trembling blue eyes.
“But the reason you keep Cheongha in your heart might be because Cheongha isn’t ‘fake’ to you, Elder Brother?”
“I never kept that woman in my heart—”
“That’s a lie.”
Soya interrupted Ga Hyeon’s words. It was the first time she had ever interrupted him.
“I saw everything. Yesterday when Cheongha was in the garden, you were watching from the window, weren’t you? And today too. You came all the way to the dining hall during mealtime, then saw Cheongha and just stared for a while before turning away.”
“…”
Thud!
Ga Hyeon released his beast transformation and returned to human form.
“…Why are you saying such things, Soya?”
He asked in a voice that seemed unable to understand.
“You’re my younger sister. You should be on my side, not that woman’s. So why do you speak as if you’re on that woman’s side?”
“I’m not taking Cheongha’s side. If I had to choose between the two of you, I would naturally be on your side, Elder Brother.”
Soya answered him with a slightly hurt voice.
“That’s exactly why. I don’t want you to suffer, Elder Brother. That’s all.”
* * *
After taking Soya to her room, Ga Hyeon headed to his own room.
In truth, he knew as well. Why Mother had to make that choice.
He too had grown up learning about the duties of the Direct Lineage.
And in truth. The very, very truth was….
He stopped short.
Ga Hyeon’s expression hardened in an instant.
“Hyeona.”
That woman was waiting for me in front of my room.
“….”
Ga Hyeon tried to pass by her as if he hadn’t seen her.
“I’m sorry.”
A thin thread of voice instantly stopped Ga Hyeon in his tracks.
“I should have said this first. But I’m a cowardly, pathetic mother, so I couldn’t.”
“….”
“I’m sorry, Hyeona. For leaving you behind when you cried and clung to me that day. For not coming back even though I said I’d return soon.”
“….”
“Mother is sorry for everything.”
“What’s the point of apologizing now…!”
It was when Ga Hyeon whirled around in anger.
His heart sank―
Upon seeing Cheongha’s face, crumbling as if she was about to cry, Ga Hyeon froze completely.
Ga Hyeon had seen that expression of hers before.
That day.
That night when Mother abandoned me and left.
Mother had held me in her arms and shed tears with exactly that expression.
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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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