Chapter 8: LBSVF

Chapter 8

A strange face, a strange voice.

Because she had lived only inside the palace, Baeksa’s body, unaccustomed to seeing unfamiliar beast-kin, shrank back.

However, the girl smiled warmly and approached, then pulled the blanket Baeksa had pushed aside back over her.

“His physician said you should rest a little more. Please lie down a bit longer.”

Baeksa, still covered in the soft cotton blanket, spoke hesitantly.

“U-um… where is this…?”

A ceiling as high as the imperial palace, jeweled bead curtains embroidered in luxury. Candle stands burning beautifully in every corner of the room.

The room was entirely red, and only Baeksa, lying in it, proved herself to be an outsider—completely white in contrast.

So Baeksa felt like she already knew where this was, but still had to ask again.

Then the maid smiled again gently.

“Here is the residence of the Zhuque family.”

She placed a gentle hand on Baeksa, adjusting her properly on the bed, then touched her forehead with the back of her hand, checking her temperature.

“Your master found you collapsed alone in the snowfield. He instructed us to take good care of you until you woke up.”

“Master… you mean…?”

“The head of the Zhuque family.”

At the maid’s words, Baeksa opened her mouth slightly, then nodded.

‘So it really is true.’

The man she saw before she lost consciousness.

He really was from the Zhuque family.

And not just that—he was the head of the family.

But as she thought further, another question arose.

Why did he save her?

The Zhuque family and the imperial palace were not on good terms. The emperor had abandoned the southern land.

And yet, why would he save someone wearing imperial clothing…?

‘Maybe he didn’t know.’

If he didn’t know that her clothes were from the imperial palace, then it made sense.

While Baeksa was hesitating, the maid who had quickly tidied the room smiled softly.

“Your master told us about it. You were very cold in that snowfield, right? It’s not cold here, so it’s alright. The fire of Zhuque keeps the room at a comfortable temperature.”

So that’s why it was warm.

The child nodded carefully, looking around.

Only now did Baeksa realize that the clothes she was wearing were not the same ones she had worn when leaving the palace.

They had likely been changed by the maid.

New clothes.

Gentle hands.

Words like “it’s alright.”

All of it was too unfamiliar to Baeksa, so she swallowed nervously.

She didn’t know what to say. The room was warm, and the clothes she wore were soft.

But did she deserve such luxury?

‘Maybe…’

Maybe once she woke up, they would tell her to leave.

Maybe she would be sent back to that snowfield again.

Her small heart dropped heavily.

‘I don’t want that.’

She didn’t even want to be abandoned a second time—if she were abandoned a third time, it would be unbearable.

Moreover, she had confirmed she could not produce pearls anymore. She could not go back there.

Baeksa blinked anxiously, then slowly raised her head to look at the maid.

“U-um…”

Her voice trembled faintly.

“You said… the master brought me here, right?”

The maid nodded.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then… um, could I… perhaps meet the master?”

Her voice shook as she finished speaking. Her small hands tightly gripped the blanket.

Baeksa intended to ask the owner of this house to let her stay here.

It was likely a shameless and unreasonable request. He might regret his kindness and become furious.

But—

‘If not here, I have nowhere to go.’

Baeksa had only two choices left.

Stay here, or be abandoned again.

The coldness of that snowfield still felt embedded in her bones.

If she were sent back to that place where tears froze before they could fall, she would surely die this time.

Baeksa recalled the man with red eyes she had seen just before collapsing.

At that time, she had thought he might let her live a little longer.

Those eyes had seemed hot enough to burn, yet strangely kind. And somehow, they also felt a little familiar.

And that thought had not changed even now, so Baeksa wanted to meet the Zhuque family head again.

‘Of course, I should tell the truth if I meet him.’

About her dangerous ability, and her origin.

She couldn’t lie to the benefactor who saved her.

At that thought, her chest ached.

Maybe if she told everything, no one would accept her.

Her fingertips trembled slightly.

The maid, who had been quietly watching Baeksa, suddenly smiled brightly.

“Of course, young lady. I was just about to go inform the master that you have awakened.”

She leaned closer and whispered.

“I’ll go tell him, so please rest.”

“Th-thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And my name is Sirang.”

Her voice was clear and pure.

“While you stay in this residence, I will make sure you lack nothing and help you in every way.”

Unlike the palace attendants who always frowned when they saw her, this was different.

So Baeksa, without realizing it, smiled faintly as well.

It was still a nervous expression, but it was the first smile she had made since leaving the palace.

Meanwhile—

Jujeokseo stood in the corridor leading to his inner chambers, staring blankly at a painting.

The corridor of his residence was lined with long paintings made by skilled artists.

The painting depicted two young Zhuque birds playing together happily. Because it was painted with red luminous pigments, it seemed to glow like fire even at night.

But what Jujeokseo was looking at was not the red bird.

It was the white Zhuque bird drawn beside it—delicate yet beautifully depicted.

He stood silently, staring at it, then reached out and touched the white bird’s feather with his fingertips.

All he felt was the dry texture of paper.

He had hoped, perhaps foolishly, to feel the softness of feathers from his memory—but it was the same as always.

With a bitter expression, he lowered his hand.

A beautiful white Zhuque covered entirely in white feathers.

Twenty-seven years ago, born with a prophecy that its flames would extinguish the Zhuque fire.

The only Zhuque daughter of the southern land.

And the ill omen of the Zhuque clan… and Jujeokseo’s beloved younger sister.

She disappeared ten years ago.

Without a letter, without a trace, as if she had never existed, just before her coming-of-age ceremony.

After countless years passed, flowers blooming and falling, Jujeokseo never saw his sister again.

Was she alive? Was she doing well?

He searched for her across the entire empire and even beyond, requesting help from the White Tiger and Azure Dragon clans, since the Zhuque clan could not cross the southern border.

Because she was not the kind of child who would disappear without reason.

She wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye. Something must have happened to her.

‘Brother, look at this! I can use my ability now!’

‘I can’t make warmth stones with my feathers, but I can decorate your clothes beautifully instead! I’m happy about that.’

But ten years.

For ten years, he found neither her nor even a single feather.

If she had simply left because she hated the southern land, then at least hearing that she was living somewhere would have been enough.

But not even a rumor reached him.

Perhaps that was why.

“Help… me…”

He could not ignore or push away the child who reached out asking for help.

‘White hair.’

In the empire, white was considered auspicious—but not if it belonged to a snake.

Snake beast-kin were generally considered ominous.

Seeing her abandoned alone in the freezing snowfield made it obvious what kind of treatment she must have endured before arriving here.

“……”

He recalled the moment he first found the infant snake in the snowfield.

At that moment, he had briefly felt an illusion—as if he had found his very young sister.

As if his sister, missing for ten years, had returned and collapsed there as a child.

Of course, he knew it was only his imagination.

But…

Why was it that the snake child and his sister overlapped in his mind at that moment?

Was it simply because their hair color was similar? Or had he gone mad from longing to see his sister again?

Then, distant footsteps were heard.

“Master, I have something to report.”

A maid’s clear voice came from outside the corridor.

“It is about the baby snake young lady you brought back last night.”

Only then did Jujeokseo’s gaze shift away from the painting of the Zhuque on the wall.