TVBC 06

Chapter 06

The small body was slowly freezing. Her tiny hands had become chapped from the cold, and before long, she could barely feel them.

The carriage that had brought Baeksa had already left Namto long ago.

Now, she was truly all alone in this cold place.

Her breathing became faint, and her eyelids were half-closed. At the end of her life, which had come once again, Baeksa struggled desperately to stay conscious.

Because she had not seen the bead again yet.

However, no matter how long she waited, the bead did not appear.

The cold snow blowing through the air and the fierce winds of Namto froze the girl’s body completely.

The child gently clenched and released her frozen hand, which had lost all feeling.

Why…….

Why wasn’t it appearing?

Had she actually seen it wrong that time?

Cold tears that had almost frozen pierced her delicate eyelids.

Her eyes stung, but because her face was frozen, she could not even close her eyes as she wanted.

Yet even as her mind became hazy, the bead did not appear.

As if she had expected this, Baeksa smiled sadly and quietly.

I must have imagined it that time…….

Thinking that way made everything make sense.

There was no way a bead like a Dragon Pearl would appear for someone like her, who was not even a dragon.

And yet, because of that small possibility.

Because she had hoped that maybe it really had appeared.

That was why she had foolishly stayed instead of running away, only to be abandoned in Namto once again.

It was the end fitting for a snake, a symbol of bad luck.

It’s my fault.

If I had been born a dragon, I would never have been abandoned, and I would never have come all the way here while holding on to such a foolish hope.

The child did not know much, so even blaming someone else was difficult for her.

Instead, blaming and hurting herself was as easy as breathing, so Baeksa decided to blame herself.

She thought it might hurt a little less that way.

The tiny baby snake curled her body into a ball and breathed out weak, shallow breaths.

Baeksa stared blankly at the snowfield.

Will I no longer feel sad or hurt after I die?

This time, I hope I don’t come back to life again.

I’m scared…….

Just as Baeksa squeezed her eyes shut and trembled—

“……A child?”

A strange voice came from far away.

“A child? My lord! There is a child lying here alone!”

It was another completely unfamiliar voice.

Southern Haeseo Kingdom.

A polluted land where no one could live because the enraged dragon no longer sent rain.

Yet even in that land abandoned by the Emperor, there were still beastfolk living there.

The head of the Vermilion Bird family, Vermilion Bird Ju Jeokseo.

If Ju Jeokseo had not used his ability to slow down the pollution of Namto and cared for the land, all the beastfolk of Namto would have died.

That was why they were sensitive to outsiders approaching, and even more sensitive to anyone from the Imperial Palace.

Then, rumors spread that a carriage from the Imperial Palace had departed for Namto carrying something.

The beastfolk of Namto had no choice but to become anxious.

The Imperial Palace’s carriage is coming here?

Is the Emperor finally planning to wipe out Namto?

They did not know what the Imperial Palace’s carriage was carrying.

But there was no way it could be something useful to Namto.

The Emperor had abandoned this land long ago.

He had never cared whether the people living here lived or died.

Therefore, they had to find out what the Imperial Palace’s carriage was bringing.

So Ju Jeokseo decided to personally go to the border of Namto.

After all, he was almost the only one who could be free from Namto’s pollution, even for a short time.

The man immediately rode his horse toward the border of the polluted territory.

His dark red hair, tied into a single ponytail, fluttered like dying embers left behind by a burning fire.

When he stood tall on the snowy field while riding a black horse, he stood out as if a flame had suddenly bloomed in the middle of the snow.

But he was the only thing that stood out.

There was no Imperial carriage, nor anything that looked dangerous.

Just as he was about to turn his horse and leave—

“Over here! Here! There really is a child!”

Joyoung jumped up and down as he called Ju Jeokseo.

The man’s brow furrowed at his excited behavior.

“Speak sensibly. Why would there be a child here?”

“I really mean it! Come and see quickly!”

Unable to ignore his commotion, Ju Jeokseo reluctantly walked over.

But there, there really was—

“……What?”

A small girl.

A young child was lying on the pure white snow, as if she had simply been abandoned.

She was wearing clothes with the Imperial Palace’s emblem on them.

And she was lying there without even a guard or a single leather blanket to cover her body.

Ju Jeokseo approached without hesitation and touched her frozen cheek.

Fortunately, she was still breathing.

But—

Her breathing is faint.

It was so weak and faint that it could stop at any moment. If he did not act immediately, she would die just like this.

How long had she been abandoned in this freezing place?

If he had not come, the child would certainly have died here before the sun rose the next morning.

Without hesitation, he reached out toward the child.

Could this be a trap?

Or had she been abandoned here to die?

Knowing that the beastfolk of Namto held deep hatred toward the central beastfolk and the Imperial Palace, someone had dressed a child in Imperial clothes and left her here.

Judging from the circumstances, the latter seemed more likely.

Just as Ju Jeokseo carefully lifted the completely frozen child into his arms—

In the man’s embrace, the little girl struggled to open her frozen eyelids.

At that moment, the eyes of Ju Jeokseo and the tiny baby snake met.

An unfamiliar voice, an unfamiliar embrace.

Surrounded by nothing but unfamiliar things, Baeksa struggled to open her eyes.

Then, through her fading vision, she saw a man with dark red hair.

Red eyes and red hair that looked like burning flames.

The moment she saw all of this, Baeksa realized who the man holding her was.

Ah, the Vermilion Bird family…….

The one who had incurred the Emperor’s anger, and the king of Namto who ruled the abandoned land.

Baeksa had vaguely heard about the people living here as well.

She had heard that the Vermilion Bird family, which had once been one of the pillars supporting the Haeseo Kingdom, still remained here.

Then, was this man a member of the Vermilion Bird family?

She was curious, but she could not ask.

It seemed that opening her eyes had used up the last of her strength. Even blinking was difficult.

Beyond her blurry vision, the girl blankly stared at the man’s hair, which burned like flames.

Just like the color of his hair, the man’s hand was as warm as a flame. The man covered the child’s cheek with his large hand and slowly warmed her frozen body.

It’s warm…….

It was the warmth of another person, something she had not felt in a very long time.

And it was also a warm flame she had met at the final moment of her life.

That was why the girl wanted even more desperately not to die.

I want to live…….

She wanted to live.

Just like the dream she had when she was young, when she wished to quietly live like a mouse and someday leave the palace and live happily.

It did not matter if she had to beg because she had no money to buy food.

It did not matter if she had to sleep under a bridge because she had nowhere to sleep…….

The dream she thought she had given up long ago began to burn again like a tiny flame inside Baeksa’s heart.

So the child decided to do something she normally would never have done.

“……ve me.”

Baeksa used the last of her strength and stared directly into the man’s eyes.

“Please, save me…….”

The man’s hand was very warm.

She felt that those hands would be able to warm her frozen cheeks.

And if someone had an embrace this warm—

Just let me live for one more week…….

She foolishly hoped that perhaps he would save her.

That thought rose again inside the child’s heart.

The tears she had thought had already dried up began to flow again from the warmth she had encountered at the end of her life.

A single tear rolled down the child’s round cheek.

Baeksa did not wipe away the tear, nor did she even think about stopping her crying. Instead, she desperately grabbed the sleeve of the flame-like man.

“Please…….”

Her voice was so small that it almost disappeared.

But it was still clear as Baeksa looked up at the man and desperately pleaded.

“I want to live…….”

With those words, the child’s tiny eyelids closed.

Her hand dropped weakly, and her small body went limp in the man’s strong arms.

And immediately after—

Whoosh!

The man threw a leather blanket someone had brought over Baeksa’s tiny body.

The blanket was large and warm enough to wrap around her small body several times.