TVBC 05

Chapter 5

Five days for the living, five days for the dead.

It was a polluted land that would take ten full days of travel for the living to reach.

However, there was not enough food in the carriage to last ten days.

‘I’m hungry…….’

Baeksa tightly clasped her hands together in the cold.

Of course, there was enough food in the carriage for the coachman, the guards, and for Baeksa to eat at least a little.

But in her previous life, Baeksa had barely been given any food during the journey.

‘Her? She’s a discarded princess anyway. There’s no need to treat her properly.’

‘It’s enough if we give her just enough so she doesn’t starve to death. Anything more is a waste.’

The conversation of the guards that she had heard inside the carriage before her death faintly came back to her.

Baeksa lowered her eyes while holding her hungry stomach. Perhaps because she had been so hungry, her fingertips were trembling.

Of course, she would not starve to death here.

If she died inside this carriage, she would not have died in Namto, but on the land of Haseoguk.

If that happened, the Emperor would be punished by heaven for killing his own child.

The guards would not let Baeksa starve to death.

‘But.’

Baeksa curled up her small body as much as she could and hunched her shoulders.

‘I’m already hungry…….’

Outside, the guards were sharing food among themselves.

The smell of cooking drifted into the carriage. Baeksa’s body trembled at the delicious smell.

Unable to endure her hunger, the child secretly peeked through the carriage window at the guards eating.

They had made rice balls that were hot enough to burn and were eating as much as they wanted.

Baeksa tightly gripped the window frame with her hand as she watched them.

But then.

Perhaps sensing her envious gaze, one of the guards looked toward the carriage where Baeksa was.

At that moment, the girl unknowingly had a small hope.

Perhaps they might share some of the food they were eating with her.

But.

“Looks like the princess is hungry.”

“What princess? She was exiled, so she’s just a snake woman. She’s an animal that will die soon, so there’s no need to care about her.”

A loud burst of laughter rang out.

Startled by the laughter, the child gripped the window frame so tightly that her palm hurt.

And then.

The guards deliberately threw a rice ball toward the carriage where Baeksa was.

The rice ball did not even reach the carriage. It fell helplessly halfway and rolled across the dirt.

It looked so filthy that even picking it up immediately would not make it edible, and the guards burst into loud laughter again.

“If you want it, eat it!”

“Yeah, go ahead and pick it up!”

Baeksa’s gaze unconsciously turned toward the dirt-covered rice ball.

At that moment, a small impulse arose in the child’s heart.

‘Should I go out and eat it?’

If she ate it in her snake form, perhaps it would be somewhat edible.

However, while Baeksa was hesitating, another loud mocking voice came from above her small head.

“Looks like that girl is really going to pick it up!”

“Ahaha! And she calls herself a princess!”

Startled by the words, the girl came to her senses and slipped down from the seat, covering both ears with her hands.

Her pale face became hot.

Squeeze.

She covered her ears with all her strength, but the guards’ laughter did not stop.

She could feel that cruel laughter slowly soaking the ends of her clothes like a light rain.

In the hunger, loneliness, and fear, the child chose to tightly close both her eyes.

At least then, she would not have to see anything for the moment.

Baeksa covered her ears and closed her eyes. Feeling cold sweat running down her body, she murmured.

‘I wish we would arrive soon.’

In her previous life, she had thought differently while traveling this road.

She had wished that the carriage would go a little slower, even if it meant eating only a little food or almost nothing.

But not anymore.

‘I want to get there quickly.’

She wanted this time to pass quickly.

Grrrrr.

Baeksa held her hungry stomach with her small hands.

The carriage traveled for ten full days.

They did not stop even once along the way.

It was as if everyone was eager to get rid of this burdensome princess as quickly as possible.

During that time, all Baeksa received was one rice ball.

The only reason she could survive on that was because she was a snake beastkin.

If she had been another kind of beastkin, she certainly would have died from hunger.

The guards had filled their stomachs as much as they wanted during the journey, but there was no one who would blame them or hold them responsible.

The carriage was almost at its destination, Namto.

Just as Baeksa was painfully clenching her palm to calm her rapidly beating heart—

Screech.

The carriage stopped, and the sound of the guards murmuring about something could be heard.

Through the window, she caught a glimpse of a fierce snowstorm raging outside.

‘Have we arrived?’

Bang!

Before the child even had time to wonder, the carriage door was roughly opened.

“We’ve arrived. Get out of the carriage.”

Then, the guard who had brought Baeksa the rice ball roughly pulled the child out.

“Eek!”

Unable to resist, Baeksa was dragged into the bitter cold and cutting wind.

‘Ah, it’s cold……!’

The strong wind raged like crazy, painfully striking her small cheeks.

“Now, from here, you will have to go alone.”

The guard spoke mockingly.

Only then did Baeksa open her eyes and look into the snowstorm.

The polluted land, the border between Namto and the outside.

If she crossed this border, she would immediately enter the territory of the Vermilion Bird.

The guards did not seem to have any intention of following her into the polluted land.

Instead—

Shing.

The guards drew their swords toward the child.

A chilling metallic sound rang above the little girl’s head.

It was a sound she had heard once before.

No, it was a sound she had heard countless times while living in the imperial palace in her previous life.

Baeksa slowly raised her head and saw a long sword shining silver.

Its bright blue blade was pointed directly at the child’s neck.

They slowly approached one step at a time, driving Baeksa back so that she could not run away or retreat.

Baeksa’s eyes shook helplessly.

The child pulled her trembling body backward, trying to move away from the guard holding the sword, and spoke.

“W-Wait.”

Her voice trembled weakly.

“Can’t I go slowly……?”

“Do you dare ask us to wait for you when you’re a criminal? How shameless!”

They did not wait for Baeksa to prepare herself.

In the end, the child walked toward the polluted land, trembling in the cold.

She could not even look back.

There was a blade behind her back that was colder and more frightening than the snowstorm.

Even that was something she had experienced once before.

‘But why do I feel like crying like this?’

Even though she was the one who had decided to stop struggling, stop being used, and accept her fate.

The moment Baeksa took her first step into the polluted land, she heard the sound of the swords being sheathed behind her.

And after she took five steps, she faintly heard the carriage that had brought her here hurriedly preparing to leave.

Even so, Baeksa could not turn around.

She felt that if she looked back, she would cry again.

The child took another step.

Only after the girl had walked about fifteen steps, when she could no longer hear the carriage or the guards, did she finally turn around.

Far away, she could faintly see the people who had brought her preparing to leave.

Her feet, frozen cold, hurt from the chill, and her constantly pounding heart ached.

When she realized that, her fingertips tingled painfully.

Baeksa clasped her hands together and thought.

‘Maybe I wanted to live.’

She had thought that since there was no way for her to survive no matter what she did, she might as well be abandoned early.

She had made up her mind that way, but in truth……

Her emotions surged.

Tears suddenly filled her eyes.

‘How foolish…….’

She had told herself that she would never have any expectations.

So what was she supposed to do if she ended up hoping anyway?

But a heart that hopes was not something Baeksa could control……

It was like a single lotus flower blooming gently on the mud, growing regardless of the girl’s will.

So all the child could do was accept all of this.

A single tear fell from Baeksa’s eyes.

Plop.