Chapter 9

As Aran turned around, she saw a pitch-black snake poking its head out from the bushes.

Aran nearly cried out, “Peep!” in shock, but the black snake silently opened its mouth and dropped the leaf it had been carrying.

Then it calmly lowered itself and disappeared back into the undergrowth.

Staring at the leaf the snake had left behind, Aran tried to calm her pounding heart.

Fortunately, the twins were some distance away, and the servants didn’t seem to have noticed anything unusual.

The leaf the snake had delivered…

It was riddled with holes where insects had eaten through it.

The problem was…

The bite marks had formed unmistakable characters.

「太澳」

Tae-oh.

For some reason, it wasn’t a name that felt unfamiliar.

“Kyuu?”

(Arani, what’s that?)

Lost in thought, Aran jumped when Yeon’s innocent voice broke her concentration.

Before she knew it, Yeon had wandered over.

Startled, Aran pinned the suspicious leaf under one foot and ripped it to shreds with the claws of the other.

Yeon flinched and shrank back.

“Kkeup!”

(Arani! Why’d you do that all of a sudden?)

“Peep, peep…”

(Just… wait a second…)

Even after tearing it apart, Aran still wasn’t satisfied.

She stuffed the fragment with the most characters into her tiny beak and swallowed it whole.

Considering the twins couldn’t even read yet, it was admittedly a bit of an overreaction.

Yeon’s expression turned strange.

“Kuroong…”

(Don’t tell me…)

Ugh… What kind of leaf was that?

It isn’t poisonous… right?

Aran was desperately trying to come up with an excuse while enduring the sharp, spicy taste burning her tongue.

Then Yeon—far too clever for a baby—arrived at an utterly bizarre conclusion.

“Kurorong.”

(Ah! Yeoni finally gets it! Arani’s a herbivore bird! That’s why you can’t eat yummy crickets…)

“Peep?”

(What? Since when are crickets delicious?!)

It was an interesting hypothesis.

Completely wrong, of course.

A Vermilion Bird wasn’t a herbivore.

Besides, Aran’s mind was far too occupied to humor the little chick right now.

She shredded the remaining pieces of the leaf with her claws as memories of that day resurfaced.

The day she flew across a world consumed by flames.

The day she heard the voice of a god.

In truth, on the day the god had promised her a second chance, Aran had heard one more voice in the darkness.

—In return, please take care of Tae-oh of the Black Tortoise Clan.

She had completely forgotten about it until now.

By then her consciousness had already been fading.

Deep down, perhaps she’d wanted to believe she’d only imagined it.

At the time, she’d thought she was about to ascend into heaven.

So now the Black Tortoise God is sending snakes with leaf letters just to remind me of that promise?

Wait…

Was there really a beastman named Tae-oh in the Black Tortoise Clan?

Hyun Tae-oh.

There had been no one by that name in Aran’s previous life.

Just like Cheong-yeon…

At that thought, Aran suddenly shivered.

Could it be… the people whose names I don’t remember all died young in this lifetime?

Not Yeon.

My sweet little Yeon can’t.

Don’t worry, Yeon.

I’ll protect you.

I’ll make sure you live to be a hundred.

Then the Black Tortoise God’s words echoed through her mind even more vividly.

—In return, please take care of Tae-oh of the Black Tortoise Clan.

“Peep!!”

(Seriously, what is wrong with you?!)

Aran shouted in exasperation.

You sent me back to the Eastern Lands, so how exactly am I supposed to take care of someone living in the Black Tortoise Palace?

If that was your plan, you should’ve just sent me there from the start…

No.

Actually, if she’d been sent to the freezing Black Tortoise Palace, she probably would’ve frozen to death immediately.

The Black Tortoise Clan was infamous for its absolute survival-of-the-fittest philosophy.

No one would’ve helped her hatch.

Tae-oh…

Aran fell deep into thought.

Who exactly is Tae-oh?

Has he even been born yet?

At the same time…

The northern Black Tortoise Palace.

As Clan Head Hyun Ui-cheon rose from his seat, his trusted strategist, Han Si-baek, asked,

“Are you heading to the Dark Spring?”

“Yes. My curiosity has reached its limit.”

The Dark Spring was a vast hatching ground located beneath the Black Tortoise Palace.

At that very moment, countless snakes and turtles were gathering there.

Hiss… Hiss…

The sound of countless creatures slithering across the cold stone echoed underground.

“I already have several sons, and at my age I wasn’t expecting much.”

Black Tortoise beastmen experienced only two breeding seasons in their entire lives.

Yet this year, by some miracle, the clan leader and his wife had been blessed with a third.

It had come as suddenly as a gift from heaven.

Their youngest child was about to be born.

And just as the hatching approached, these extraordinary omens began to appear.

How could he not be filled with anticipation?

With nervous excitement, the two men headed toward the northern garden.

Beyond the quiet pavilion and ancient stone pagoda lay a hidden staircase concealed behind thick bushes.

Except for females during the egg-laying season, no one was allowed to descend those steps.

For beneath them lay the sacred sanctuary where the hot springs bubbled—

The Dark Spring.

The first law of the Black Tortoise Palace was simple:

Every hatchling had to climb those stairs alone.

At last they reached the staircase.

Both men froze, mouths hanging open.

“…How is this possible?”

Han Si-baek, a man who had seen every hardship imaginable, let out a breath of astonishment.

Before the steaming Dark Spring, countless snakes and turtles had lowered their heads in reverence.

As though they were waiting for someone.

Hyun Ui-cheon stared down into the dim staircase.

Waiting anxiously…

For his own flesh and blood to crawl upward from below.

Time passed.

Then—

Shuffle.

Tap.

From deep below came footsteps.

But somehow…

They didn’t sound like those of a Black Tortoise.

Shuffle.

Tap.

Neither man spoke.

They simply stood there, hardly daring to breathe, praying that what they hoped was true.

Tap.

The small, damp, yet determined footsteps continued.

And finally…

Their owner came into view.

…A child.

Not a Black Tortoise hatchling.

A child.

The little boy was climbing the stone staircase with his bare hands, refusing to give up.

“What…”

Han Si-baek muttered in disbelief.

“What exactly am I looking at?”

No one could descend into the Dark Spring.

The only beings capable of climbing those stairs were those born there.

Did that mean…

This child had somehow already obtained a human body deep within that barren cavern where not even food existed?

Hyun Ui-cheon didn’t answer.

Instead, he knelt on one knee and quietly waited for the newest member of his family to complete the arduous journey.

When the child reached the final step, he stretched out trembling hands.

“Come here, my child.”

The little boy looked up at him warily.

The instant their eyes met—

Hyun Ui-cheon’s heart pounded violently.

One of the child’s eyes was a brilliant emerald green.

“Green eyes…!”

The boy had deathly pale skin and jet-black hair.

Yet one eye shone with a luminous green brighter than polished jade.

Members of the direct Black Tortoise bloodline normally had eyes that turned green only when using their supernatural powers.

But this child…

Had been born with emerald eyes.

Was that why he had already been able to summon all those animals?

The child silently looked around with his mismatched eyes.

“You’ve endured so much, my son.”

Hyun Ui-cheon’s voice trembled with emotion.

He slipped his hands beneath the boy’s arms and lifted up the child, whose skin was as cold and white as snow.

The beautiful child neither cried nor even blinked.

Instead, he parted his tiny red lips and uttered his first sound.

“Ah.”

It was weak.

Unsteady.

Before the two stunned men—

Something even more unbelievable happened.

“Ah.”

As though that single syllable had been all the practice he needed, the child began to speak.

“Snow…”

His pronunciation was clumsy, but perfectly understandable.

“Tae… oh.”

Hyun Ui-cheon’s eyes filled with tears.

Because Hyun Tae-oh had been the childhood name of the very first Black Tortoise Clan Head.

He hurriedly wrapped the naked child in his robes.

“Thank you for coming to this land, Tae-oh.”

“I am your father.”

Meeting his son was the greatest honor of his life.

And so…

News of the birth of a new Black Tortoise spread throughout the continent.

Hyun Tae-oh.

The world proclaimed him…

The reincarnation of a god.