TVBC 08

Chapter 8

An unfamiliar face, an unfamiliar voice.

Having spent all her time inside the palace, Baeksa had never had the chance to see an unfamiliar beastkin, so her body shrank back in fear.

However, the woman approached her with a warm smile and covered her again with the blanket that Baeksa had pushed aside.

“The physician said you need to rest a little longer, so please lie down for a while.”

Baeksa was covered in the soft cotton blanket and hesitantly opened her mouth.

“W-where am I…?”

The ceiling was as high as the Imperial Palace, and there were beautifully embroidered bead curtains. Candlesticks were burning beautifully in various places around the room.

The entire room was red, while Baeksa, who was lying in the middle of it, was completely white, as if to prove that she was the only outsider in this room.

So Baeksa felt as though she knew where she was, but she still had no choice but to ask again.

Then the maid spoke with a kind expression.

“This is the residence of the Vermilion Bird Clan.”

She gently laid Baeksa down properly, then placed the back of her hand against Baeksa’s warm forehead and continued.

“Master brought you here after finding you collapsed alone in the snow. He ordered us to take the greatest care of you until you woke up.”

“When you say Master…”

“He is the head of the Vermilion Bird Clan.”

At the maid’s words, Baeksa opened her small mouth and nodded.

So it really is true.

That man she had seen before she nearly died.

He really was a member of the Vermilion Bird Clan.

And he was even the head of the clan.

But when she thought that far, one question came to her mind.

Why did he save me?

The Vermilion Bird Clan and the Imperial Palace were not on good terms. The Emperor had abandoned Namto.

Then why did he save her even though she was wearing Imperial Palace clothes…?

Maybe he didn’t know.

If he did not know that the clothes she was wearing belonged to the Imperial Palace, then it made sense.

While Baeksa was hesitating, the maid quickly tidied the place where the girl had been lying and smiled softly.

“Master told me about you. You must have been very cold in that snow, right? It isn’t cold here, so don’t worry. The flames of the Vermilion Bird keep the room at a comfortable temperature.”

Was that why it was warm?

The child carefully looked around and nodded.

Only now did Baeksa notice that the clothes she was wearing were not the same ones she had worn when she left the Imperial Palace.

Perhaps the maid in front of her had changed her into new clothes.

New clothes.

Gentle hands.

The words, ‘Don’t worry.’

All of these things were so unfamiliar to Baeksa that she swallowed nervously.

She did not know what she should say. The room was warm, and the clothes she was wearing were soft.

But was she really allowed to enjoy such luxury?

Maybe…

Maybe now that she had woken up, they would tell her to leave.

Maybe she would be sent back to that snowfield.

Her little heart sank.

I don’t want that.

She had hated being abandoned twice, but the thought of being abandoned a third time was terrifying.

Besides, she had already confirmed that no orb would appear, so she could not return there.

Baeksa blinked helplessly before belatedly raising her head and looking at the maid.

“Excuse me…”

The child’s voice trembled faintly.

“You said… the clan head brought me here.”

The maid nodded.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then… um, could I perhaps meet the clan head?”

Baeksa’s voice trembled as she finished speaking. Her small hands tightly grasped the cotton blanket.

Baeksa intended to meet the master of this residence and ask him to let her stay here.

It might be an incredibly shameless and improper request. Perhaps he might become furious and regret having shown her kindness.

But…

If not here, I have nowhere to go.

Baeksa had only two choices left.

Stay here, or be abandoned there again.

She could still feel the freezing cold of that snowfield deep in her bones.

If she were sent back to that place where even her tears had frozen before they could fall, she would certainly die this time.

Baeksa remembered the red eyes of the man she had seen just before collapsing.

At that moment, the girl had thought that perhaps this man would let her live a little longer.

His eyes had looked hot enough to burn, yet gentle at the same time. And for some reason, they also felt a little familiar.

Even now, she still felt the same way, so Baeksa wanted to meet the head of the Vermilion Bird Clan once more.

Of course, if I meet him, I have to tell him everything honestly.

From her ominous ability to her birth.

She could not lie to the person who had saved her.

At that thought, her chest ached.

Perhaps it was because she felt that if she told him everything, no one would be pleased to have her around.

Baeksa’s fingertips trembled slightly.

The maid stared at Baeksa for a moment before smiling brightly.

“Of course, young lady. I was just about to go tell Master that you had woken up.”

She bent toward Baeksa and whispered softly.

“I’ll go tell Master, so please rest here.”

“Th-thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And my name is Sirang.”

Her voice was clear and beautiful.

“While you stay in this residence, I will help you so that you have everything you need.”

She was different from the palace attendants who would frown the moment they saw Baeksa.

So without realizing it, Baeksa gently smiled back.

Her face was still tense, but it was the first smile she had made since leaving the Imperial Palace.

Joo Jeokseo was standing in the hallway leading to his inner chamber, staring blankly at a painting.

Along the hallway of his inner chamber, there were many paintings drawn by skilled artists.

The painting showed two young Vermilion Birds playing happily together. Because it had been painted using brightly glowing red pigments, it shone like flames even at night.

But Joo Jeokseo was not looking at the red-feathered Vermilion Bird.

He was looking at the small yet magnificently depicted white Vermilion Bird painted beside it.

Joo Jeokseo stood silently, staring at the painting, then traced the white Vermilion Bird’s feathers with his fingertips.

All he could feel beneath his fingers was the texture of dry paper.

He had wondered if he might somehow feel the soft feathers he remembered from long ago, but as expected, he could not.

Knowing how foolish he looked, he lowered his hand with a bitter expression.

A beautiful white Vermilion Bird covered entirely in white feathers.

A white-feathered Vermilion Bird born twenty-seven years ago along with a prophecy that she would extinguish the flames of the Vermilion Bird.

The only Vermilion Bird young lady in Namto.

And the ill omen of the Vermilion Bird Clan, as well as Joo Jeokseo’s beloved younger sister.

She had disappeared without a trace ten years ago.

Just before the coming-of-age ceremony of the Vermilion Bird Clan, she disappeared without leaving even a single letter, as if she had never existed in the first place.

After countless years passed, flowers bloomed and withered, yet Joo Jeokseo never saw his younger sister’s face again.

Is she alive? Is she doing well?

To find his sister, he searched not only all of Namto but the entire Haeseoguk.

Since the Vermilion Bird Clan could not cross beyond Namto, he even asked the White Tiger Clan and Azure Dragon Clan for help in his search.

She would never disappear for no reason.

She was not the kind of person who would suddenly disappear one day without even saying goodbye to him. Joo Jeokseo was certain that something had happened to his younger sister.

“Brother, look at this! I can use my ability now!”

“I can’t make a warming stone with my feathers, but I’m happy that I can use them to decorate your clothes beautifully instead.”

But ten years.

For ten years, he had not only failed to find his sister, he had not even found a single one of her feathers.

If she had really left because she hated Namto, he wished he could at least hear that she was living well somewhere.

But not even a single piece of such news had reached him, leaving Joo Jeokseo constantly tormented.

Perhaps that was why.

“Please… save me…”

He could not push away or ignore the little girl who had reached out her hand and begged him to save her.

She had white hair.

In the Empire, white was considered auspicious, but things were different when it came to a snake.

Snake beastkin were generally considered ominous.

Judging from the fact that the little snake had been abandoned alone in the freezing snow, it was obvious what kind of treatment she must have received before coming here.

“……”

He remembered the moment he first found the little snake in the snow.

In truth, at that moment, Joo Jeokseo had unconsciously been overwhelmed by the illusion that he had found his very young younger sister.

It felt as though the younger sister who had disappeared ten years ago had returned in the form of a child and collapsed in this snowfield.

Of course, he knew that it was nothing more than his own illusion, and that such a thing could not happen.

But…

Why?

Why had his younger sister and that little snake overlapped in his eyes at that moment?

Was it simply because their hair colors were similar?

Or had he gone mad because he wanted to see his younger sister again so badly?

Then he heard the sound of someone approaching from far away.

“Master, I have something to report.”

A maid spoke in a clear voice from outside the hallway.

“It is about the young snake lady you brought here last night.”

Only then did Joo Jeokseo’s gaze leave the painting of the Vermilion Bird hanging on the wall.