Chapter 2
Three days later.
In the rear garden of the Azure Dragon Palace, two young maids huddled together, whispering excitedly.
“Did you hear? They say some kind of bird hatched from the nest on Cheongyeon Pond!”
“Huh? Really? What kind of bird?”
“I don’t know! But I’ve seen the Lord carrying something tiny around in his arms for the past few days. Do you think it’s that bird?”
The girl with braided hair shook her head in disbelief.
“No way. It’s probably the youngest young master. I heard he was born very weak.”
Just then, another girl wearing an apron suddenly joined the conversation.
“No! I saw it too! What the Lord is carrying isn’t the youngest young master!”
“Then it really was a bird?”
The apron-clad girl nodded vigorously.
“Yep! It’s a baby bird! It’s completely white and really tiny! And when it goes ‘cheep, cheep,’ it’s the cutest thing ever!”
“‘Cheep, cheep’? Are you seriously saying the head of the Azure Dragon Clan is carrying around something like a little chick? You’re not talking about a dream?”
“No! Actually, I was just sent to deliver milk porridge for the baby bird. It was only one spoonful in a bowl no bigger than a soy sauce dish, though!”
The other two girls stared with wide eyes.
“Really? You’re serious? But… why would our incredibly busy Lord suddenly be doting on a bird?”
“Oh, that? Lord Hee-rim explained it to me. What was it again…? It was a difficult word…”
The apron girl frowned in concentration before suddenly remembering.
“Ah! I’ve got it! Imprinting!“
“Imprinting…?”
She nodded confidently.
“They say every baby bird thinks the first person it sees after hatching is its mother. That’s called imprinting.”
“S-so… does that mean our Lord has become the baby bird’s… mother…?”
The three maids looked at each other, tilting their heads.
It certainly sounded absurd.
The head of the Azure Dragon Clan…
A baby bird’s mother?
…Completely unaware that she’d somehow acquired a mother overnight instead of a father…
Aran, sleeping nearby, caught the delicious aroma of food.
“Cheep…?”
(Huh…? Millet milk porridge… my favorite…?)
Still half-asleep, she smacked her beak.
A drop of warm, sweet-smelling porridge fell neatly into her open mouth.
Without even opening her eyes, Aran swallowed it.
“…Cheep.”
(D-delicious… The consistency is perfect… neither too watery nor too thick…)
After that, her beak naturally opened again and again.
“…Cheep…”
(Mmm… Not too hot… not too cold… just the perfect temperature…)
By the time the tiny bowl was nearly empty, Aran’s little belly had become even rounder.
Feeling thoroughly satisfied, she buried her head once more into the now-familiar source of warmth.
Something that was neither overly soft nor too hard gently supported her newborn body.
Then she began swaying softly, almost as if she were lying in a cradle.
“Kyuu…”
(Wait… this is definitely a scam… I was supposed to ascend to the Heavenly Realm…)
Still…
For someone who’d supposedly been cheated…
It was remarkably comfortable.
Her back was warm.
Her stomach was full.
How long had it been since she’d slept so peacefully, without a single worry?
Before she knew it…
Aran drifted back to sleep, as though washing away the exhaustion of the past hundred years.
A full week had passed since Cheong-un had begun carrying the baby bird tucked into the crook of his arm.
On the first day, the mysterious little bird had been covered only in sparse white fluff.
After a week of careful feeding and devoted care, however, she looked much healthier.
Her fluffy white down had become soft and glossy.
The shriveled, patchy little legs had filled out into plump pink ones.
Even so…
She was still no bigger than a fist.
And she still spent almost all her time asleep.
Unable to bear the thought of the clan head personally feeding a tiny animal every day, Hee-rim usually took over feeding Aran her meals.
That didn’t mean he accepted the situation.
Watching his lord calmly reading with one free hand while the bird slept in the crook of his other arm, Hee-rim finally lost his patience.
“She’s not a Vermilion Bird after all, is she? After reading that book, shouldn’t that be obvious?”
“Hm? You mean this little one?”
The book in Cheong-un’s hand was titled:
How to Raise a Vermilion Bird: 108 Secrets to Raising a Firebird
Ever since deciding to adopt the baby bird as his youngest child a week ago, Cheong-un had actually dispatched the Azure Dragon Order to the Vermilion Bird Palace…
To steal the book.
Good heavens…
His Lordship actually ordered theft…
That alone had nearly given Hee-rim a heart attack.
Still…
If reading the childcare guide would finally bring his master back to his senses, he was willing to overlook it just this once.
Instead…
Cheong-un calmly shattered that hope.
“Mm. She’s unquestionably a Vermilion Bird.”
Hee-rim nearly exploded.
Again with the Vermilion Bird nonsense…!
Naturally, since he knew nothing about Cheong-un’s gift of foresight, such confidence was impossible for him to understand.
Unfortunately for Hee-rim…
Cheong-un wasn’t merely the head of the Azure Dragon Clan.
He was the ruler of the entire Eastern Region.
So long as it wasn’t outright treason, he possessed virtually unlimited authority over everything in the East.
Closing the childcare book with a satisfied thump, Cheong-un smiled.
“Good. I’ve learned everything I need.”
“Now all that’s left is to find her a nanny.”
“According to this, Vermilion Birds have to be taught everything—walking, flying, all of it. A nanny is essential.”
At that exact moment…
The baby bird, who had been nestled motionlessly against his arm as though she’d taken root there…
Suddenly raised her head.
“Cheep?”
(What? No! I don’t need a nanny!)
A nanny?
That was serious enough to instantly drive away the drowsiness that had plagued her for the past week.
Unfortunately…
She was still speaking Beast Speech.
No one understood her.
Cheong-un gently stroked her round little head.
“Look at that. You’re opening those round little eyes now.”
“I wish Hui would come back soon.”
“Then someone could finally translate what our little one is saying.”
What?
There’s someone in this family who can understand Beast Speech?!
Bring them here immediately!
“Cheep! Cheep-cheep!”
(Hey, Azure Dragon! Listen to me first! I don’t need a nanny!)
Aran protested desperately at the mention of a nanny.
But only briefly.
Her energy soon ran out.
She fell asleep once again.
And with sleep…
Came memories she’d long forgotten.
“Goodness… how pitiful. So that’s the illegitimate child of the late youngest miss?”
Long ago…
So long ago the memories had almost faded away…
Aran had been the disgrace of her clan.
She was the unwanted hatchling born from an egg suddenly laid by the Vermilion Bird Clan’s youngest daughter before she’d ever married.
Her frail mother had died from childbed fever shortly after laying the egg.
All the blame…
Fell upon the helpless baby bird left behind.
“A Vermilion Bird without any markings? What a freak.”
“Our poor young lady lost her life giving birth to something like this…”
“And what’s with those pitch-black eyes? Our gentle young lady… just what kind of mongrel bird did she get involved with? Or perhaps… something terrible happened to her…”
Ugly rumors spread throughout the palace.
To the family she’d been left with…
There wasn’t a single reason to welcome an illegitimate child without even the customary flame markings.
About a week after her birth…
The Vermilion Bird Clan’s patriarch—
Aran’s grandfather,
Ju Sang-ryun—
Looked at her with obvious displeasure.
“She still can’t walk?”
“Why?”
Even the nanny bird seemed ashamed of Aran’s existence.
Instead of raising a proper Vermilion Bird heir bearing the clan’s sacred flame markings…
She’d been forced to care for this pale, miserable little hatchling.
Almost eagerly, the nanny answered.
“She hatched a whole week later than the others.”
“Now she’s slow to walk as well.”
“I doubt she’ll survive…”
“…Cheep…”
(No, Grandfather… I can do it… Just please wait a little longer…)
Ju Sang-ryun paid no attention to the baby bird’s desperate plea.
He simply pretended not to hear.
“I wondered what to do with this motherless child.”
“It seems Heaven has answered for me.”
“…Cheep?”
(Grand… Father…?)
“Just make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble while she’s alive.”
To Ju Sang-ryun…
It was incredibly convenient.
An embarrassing child with no known father and no inherited markings…
Dying young…
Was hardly a loss.
Receiving what amounted to silent permission from the clan head, the nanny grew even bolder.
“…Cheep…”
(I’m cold…)
She moved Aran’s cradle against the cold northern wall.
“…Cheep…”
(I’m… hungry…)
She fed her less and less.
As a result…
Even by the age when any Vermilion Bird should naturally have been flying…
Aran could barely stagger a few unsteady steps.
Her family seemed to forget she even existed.
Months passed.
The blazing southern summer arrived.
The nanny left Aran’s cradle beneath the scorching sun all day long…
Without giving her even a single sip of water.
“…Cheep!”
(I’m thirsty…!)
Dizzy with dehydration, Aran tumbled from her cradle.
Just then…
Rain began to fall.
“…Cheep!”
(Water!)
Soaked to the bone, she staggered through the rain, drinking every drop she could catch.
Finally…
Her strength gave out.
She collapsed.
Someone approached.
A dry cloth gently wrapped around her.
“My goodness…”
“Who are you?”
“You poor little thing…”
The youthful voice belonged to Okdan—
A laundry maid, one of the lowest-ranking servants in the Vermilion Bird Palace.
The next morning…
Aran’s eyes snapped open.
She breathed heavily.
It had been a very long time since she’d dreamed about Okdan.
“…Cheep.”
(My dear Okdan… I wonder if you’re doing well…?)
Then…
She felt someone’s cool gaze fixed on her.
“…Cheep?”
(Huh…?)
Turning with difficulty, she found a tall, handsome young boy standing nearby with a crooked grin.
“And what are you supposed to be?”
“You can already talk?”
…He understood her.
At long last—
Aran had finally found a dragon who could understand her words.
