Chapter 1

Arin lay curled up on an old bed that creaked whenever anyone moved.

She was even smaller and frailer than the bed itself.

The thin, worn blanket could not keep out the cold of dawn, so her hands and feet were freezing.

When the sun finally rose, its light shone through the torn tent covering, making the cold a little more bearable.

Soon, the birds began chirping loudly, and not long after, her stomach growled.

Only then did Arin remember that she was hungry. She got out of bed.

“Up I go.”

With her tiny hands, she carefully folded the blanket before leaving the room. The movement looked very familiar, as if she had done it countless times.

Even though she was barely three feet tall, the wooden floor creaked noisily beneath her feet.

The floorboards were full of holes.

Dust floated through the air, sparkling in the sunlight.

Not caring about any of it, Arin hurried outside with quick little steps.

She washed her face with the water basin in the yard and then went to the main hall.

A simple, almost pitiful breakfast had been left there.

Someone had brought it while she was asleep.

“The side dishes keep getting fewer.”

The meal consisted of barley, rice, and soy sauce.

When she had first been locked away here, the food had not been this bad.

But as the maids gradually began seeing her as nothing but a burden, they treated her worse and worse.

Unaware of the reason, Arin cheerfully sat down and picked up her spoon.

She poured all the soy sauce over the rice and mixed it together.

It tasted decent enough that way, but compared to the meals she used to receive, it was miserable.

Still, Arin never complained.

Only bad children complained about their food.

She had been told to behave quietly until her father’s anger faded.

She believed every word she had heard after being locked away.

It had already been three months since she had begun living alone in the detached building.

Outside, spring was already in full bloom.

As Arin absentmindedly stared over the stone wall…

“Little Miss!”

A familiar voice echoed from the distance.

“Mom?”

Arin’s eyes widened.

She immediately jumped to her feet and ran toward the gate.

Patter, patter.

She crossed the yard barefoot and reached the gate, but it was tightly shut.

“Mom! I’m… I’m in here!”

No matter how hard she banged on the gate, there was no response.

I heard Mom collapsed because of me…

After Arin failed her Beast Transformation,

Her mother had collapsed from the shock.

Her father had turned away from her with a face red with anger.

Her older brother had told her it was all her fault and that she had become an everlasting disgrace to the Hong Snake family.

Arin believed her family was angry because she wasn’t good enough.

She had hoped that, after some time, they would forgive her, let her out, and smile at her again.

But three months had already passed.

Growing desperate, Arin looked around.

She leaned against the stone wall and wedged her feet into the gaps between the stones as she climbed.

She slipped several times and scraped her hands, but she refused to stop.

At last, she managed to pull herself high enough to look over the wall.

“Mother, didn’t you hear something from over there?”

Not far away, a young girl was walking while holding her mother’s hand.

That’s mine…

Arin stared blankly at the ornament hanging from the girl’s skirt.

It was a red coral pendant, the symbol of the Hong Snake family.

Only three months ago, it had belonged to Arin.

She could hardly believe that a stranger was wearing her belongings as if they were her own.

Just then, her mother looked straight at her.

“Mom…”

Arin’s face instantly brightened.

As if she had forgotten all her sadness, she reached out her hand.

But her mother’s expression immediately turned cold.

She turned away and shielded the girl from Arin’s view.

“It must have been a wild animal. Soso, that detached building isn’t maintained anymore, so it’s dangerous. Never go near it.”

“Yes, Mother.”

The girl called Soso smiled sweetly and walked away.

Arin could only watch silently as her mother disappeared into the distance.

“No… Mom just didn’t see me.”

She couldn’t understand what had just happened.

All she could think about was her mother’s cold eyes and expression.

The determination that had carried her up the wall disappeared.

“Ah!”

Her foot slipped.

She lost her balance and fell hard onto the ground.

Thud. Roll.

For a while, the pain kept her from moving.

Lying on her back beneath the blue sky, she suddenly burst into tears.

“Sob…”

Her mother, who had supposedly been bedridden, looked perfectly healthy.

And yet…

She didn’t come looking for Arin.

The maid who used to panic over even the smallest scratch.

Her mother, who always sang her lullabies.

Her father, who personally fed her honey cookies.

None of them were by her side anymore.

There was no word from the older brother she had always admired.

Arin understood exactly what it meant.

She had been abandoned.

A member of the Twelve Zodiac Families who couldn’t transform wasn’t worthy of being one.

The Hong snake family desperately tried to hide the fact that their youngest daughter was defective.

And so, Arin was left isolated deep inside the detached building.

The kingdom ruled by the Twelve Zodiac Families was called Yeonha Kingdom.

Centered around the White Dragon Family were eleven other noble families, all blessed with the power of one of the Twelve Zodiac Spirits.

When direct descendants turned five years old, their spirit core awakened, allowing them to perform beast transformation, the ability to transform into a sacred beast.

Beast Transformation was the source of the Zodiac Families’ power.

Those who succeeded could freely use the powers granted by their sacred beast.

The Hong Snake family had formed a contract with the Fire Snake among the Twelve Zodiac Spirits.

As a result, its direct descendants naturally possessed the power to control fire.

That was simply expected of anyone born into the Hong Snake family.

However, something unprecedented happened the previous year.

Hong Arin, the family’s only direct daughter, failed to awaken her beast transformation.

At first, everyone believed her Spirit Core was simply immature and could improve with time.

But even after a year had passed, there was no progress.

The physician finally concluded that she had a Spirit Core deformity.

Hong Yijin, the head of the Hong Snake family, refused to accept that his child was disabled.

He could not accept that the daughter he intended to marry into the White Dragon Family was flawed.

The White Dragon Family was the first family to form a contract with the Divine Zodiac Beast.

Together with the other eleven families, they had founded the Kingdom of Yeonha.

For generations, they had married daughters from the Twelve Zodiac Families.

The marriage between Arin and the White Dragon Family had already been considered certain.

For such a tragedy to happen now was a devastating blow.

Hong Yijin had been determined to strengthen ties with the White Dragon Family through this marriage.

He couldn’t possibly send a defective child to the royal family.

If the other families found out, the consequences would be disastrous.

As he continued delaying the matter…

Good news finally arrived.

A girl from one of the Hong Snake family’s branch families had successfully awakened her beast transformation.

Although rare, it wasn’t unheard of for members of branch families to awaken their powers.

After confirming it himself, Hong Yijin officially adopted the girl as his daughter three months earlier.

That girl was Hong Soso, the one Arin had seen the day before.

Soso moved into the room that had once belonged to Arin.

Before coming to the Hong Snake family estate, Soso had always gone hungry.

Her mother was an alcoholic.

Her father was a gambler.

She had lived in extreme poverty.

Then, an unexpected opportunity came her way.

Although she could only perform Beast Transformation for a very short time, it was enough.

She no longer had to starve.

Her parents, who had never been of much help, sold her to the Hong Snake family as if she were nothing more than property.

For Soso, it turned out to be a blessing.

She was raised as the family’s direct daughter and lacked for nothing.

One day, she happened to discover a shabby detached building.

It looked no different from the house where she had once lived.

Inside, a girl about her age was locked away.

She had bright reddish-orange hair like trumpet flowers.

Her cheeks were pale and almost colorless.

Her intelligent golden eyes sparkled like stars.

She carried herself with the elegance of nobility yet wore filthy, worn-out clothes.

For some reason, the sight of that strange girl bothered Soso deeply.