Chapter 3

“Don’t start saying things like there’s no improvement, or you’ll have to face the consequences.”

The young Emperor gave a cold smile. He gently shook the bead curtain around the woman’s waist as if tickling her.

The glass beads clattered against each other. However, even at that sound, the person behind the bead curtain did not move at all.

After taking the woman’s thin wrist and finishing his examination, the royal physician bowed his head with a heavy expression.

“…Your Majesty, I think it would be better to find another way. Perhaps we should ask the beastmen in the south for help…”

At the words ‘beastmen in the south,’ the Emperor’s brow twitched.

The beastmen who lived in the south could only be ‘those guys.’

Everyone in Haeseo Kingdom knew that the current Emperor hated them terribly.

The royal physician realized that he had upset the Emperor and tightly closed his eyes.

“Ask the beastmen in the south for help… That sounds like a good idea.”

The Emperor suddenly stood up and walked right in front of the physician, looking down at him with a cold face.

“Do you think those people, who can barely survive because they cannot even heal their own bodies, would happily come running to treat her?”

“…I apologize, Your Majesty.”

“Enough.”

The Emperor turned around. Just as the physician let out a sigh of relief, the Emperor casually asked,

“What happened to that child?”

A court lady standing at one side of the room quickly answered.

“She is still the same as before.”

“I thought so. What about what I ordered you to prepare?”

“It is almost finished. We should be able to leave soon.”

“Good.”

The Emperor looked at the court lady with a cold gaze as sharp as a blade and said,

“When the preparations are finished, get rid of her from this Imperial Palace.”

The dragon’s eyes, which could kill or erase anything he wanted, flashed dangerously.

“She seems unable to wake up because that thing is in the palace.”

Anything ominous had to be removed.

He would remove all such things and leave only good things behind to help her wake up.

After finishing his words, the Emperor immediately turned around and left.

Right afterward, a strong wind came in from somewhere and blew out the candle.

At the same time, the bead curtain hanging there swayed slightly.

“Really?”

“I’m telling you! I heard the preparations are almost finished.”

“Come on, even if that’s true, would he really be that heartless…… …do that? He has dragon blood flowing through his veins.”

“Do you think he won’t? He didn’t even give her a name!”

“But if she goes there, she’ll die, won’t she?”

“He’s sending her there to die. If a dragon kills its own child directly, the heavens will punish him.”

The court ladies whispered among themselves in low voices. Even while talking, they were extremely careful in case someone heard them.

They had no choice.

If someone heard this conversation, they could immediately be dragged away and executed.

Fortunately for them, there was only one person who heard their conversation.

‘It seems it’s almost finished.’

It was Baeksa, who had changed into the form of a snake.

She was hiding behind the bushes.

If she were caught outside her quarters, she would certainly be scolded, but she had no choice.

It seemed to be common knowledge that Baeksa would soon leave the Imperial Palace, but no one had told the person herself.

Baeksa quietly thought over the court ladies’ words with a sad expression.

‘If a dragon kills its own child, the heavens will punish them….’

That was actually true.

As people knew, dragons could not directly kill their own children.

Not only that, dragons could not kill one another either.

They were beastmen who had received the power of the Heavenly God.

It was like a restriction placed upon a race that possessed such great power.

But Baeksa could not understand.

If they abandoned someone to die, did that mean it was not the same as killing them directly?

‘Then this thing called heavenly punishment is really strange….’

Just as Baeksa lowered her head and was about to return to her quarters,

“Look at this! Look at me!”

A familiar voice came from far away.

It was Yeoryun, Baeksa’s other half-sibling. She was also a princess whom the Emperor cherished greatly because she possessed a pure and beautiful white Dragon Pearl.

When Yeoryun’s voice was heard, the court ladies who had been talking stopped what they were doing and quickly scattered.

Baeksa could not return to her quarters because she was afraid Yeoryun might see her, so she flattened herself under the bushes.

A moment later, through the thick bushes, Baeksa saw Yeoryun wearing beautiful clothes.

A small bead floated gently above Yeoryun’s head as she ran around with an excited expression.

That was the Dragon Pearl.

‘The Dragon Pearl….’

Something every member of the dragon race was supposed to have.

Something the white snake, Baeksa, did not have.

Those with a Dragon Pearl could use blessed abilities. They could also make rain fall from a clear sky and make the wind blow to move ships.

It could be called the foundation that allowed them to use the omnipotent power of the Heavenly God.

The white bead flashed brightly.

Rain began to fall from the clear sky, and the area where the girl stood became wet in a round shape.

Yeoryun had used her ability.

The court ladies cried out in surprise when her beautiful clothes became wet from the light rain, but Yeoryun did not care at all and burst into cheerful laughter.

The white Dragon Pearl, wet with raindrops, sparkled like a pearl beneath the clear sky.

Baeksa’s eyes showed envy as she watched that scene.

‘I thought I wouldn’t be jealous anymore.’

She had decided not to desire things she could not have.

She thought that even if she saw something like that, she would not feel jealous….

But feelings were not something she could control.

She could not stop them from suddenly filling her heart.

Especially since Yeoryun’s Dragon Pearl was more precious than those of the other members of the royal family.

A pure white Dragon Pearl.

In Haeseo Kingdom, white was considered an auspicious and good color.

The reason Baeksa had been able to survive in the Imperial Palace at all was partly because of that.

…And it was also the reason she had been thrown out as soon as her body turned black.

In a kingdom like Haeseo, it was only natural that Yeoryun, who possessed a white Dragon Pearl, was loved.

Those who saw Yeoryun’s Dragon Pearl believed that the girl might become the legendary ‘White Dragon.’

If that happened, Haeseo Kingdom would enjoy endless glory and prosperity.

Moreover, Yeoryun was closely connected to the legend of Haeseo Kingdom that said, ‘Dragons are born from the lowest place.’

That was because Yeoryun’s mother had been a slave.

The beastmen praised Yeoryun, saying that because of all these things, she would grow into a magnificent dragon someday.

There was a time when Baeksa had been very jealous of that.

A White Dragon from legend.

Wasn’t that an amazing existence just to imagine?

But.

‘I won’t be like that anymore….’

It had nothing to do with her, since she would soon be thrown out of the Imperial Palace.

So she would not be sad or jealous.

Baeksa forced herself to ignore her aching heart and returned to her quarters.

The small snake crawling along, little by little, looked especially small and miserable from behind.

A few days later.

Just as expected, two court ladies entered Baeksa’s room and silently took the child’s hands.

They filled a large bathing tub with water, roughly washed her, and chose the cleanest clothes they had before dressing her.

The child’s wishes did not matter during the process.

The two women did not even properly look into Baeksa’s eyes.

As if they were simply doing something because it was their duty, they silently washed and dressed the child.

The girl obediently let the court ladies handle her while looking at their faces.

They were faces she had never seen before.

The people who usually brought her food and washed her were different.

‘And there are two of them.’

There were three court ladies who took care of Baeksa, but they worked in shifts and never came in together.

Because of that, Baeksa instinctively realized it without hearing a single word from them.

‘Today.’

The day His Majesty had spoken about.

And the day she had been waiting for….

‘It was true.’

They really were planning to take her away and abandon her.

After changing all her clothes, one of the court ladies looked at Baeksa and said,

“Follow me.”

Before the child could answer, the woman started walking.

Baeksa hurriedly followed her in small steps, holding the hem of her skirt because she was afraid her clean clothes would become dirty.

When Baeksa came outside, the scenery of the quarters where she had lived until now appeared in her eyes.

The shabby, old quarters.

The front yard overgrown with weeds because it had not been properly maintained.

The long hallway where footsteps echoed every time she walked.

The dried-up pond.

It was a lonely and desolate place, but it had still sheltered Baeksa until now.

But even that was ending today.

‘Goodbye.’

After today, she might never be able to come back again.

And she would not even be able to miss it.

After saying her final goodbye to the place where she had lived, Baeksa followed the court lady, who hurried away without waiting for her.