Chapter : 9
It was said that the direct descendants of the White Tiger, who ruled the West, were born with extraordinary physical abilities.
Baek Saeon covered in a single bound a distance that would normally take a week on horseback.
And so the place he arrived at was the mountain fortress Baekhosan Palace (白虎山宮).
Among the people, it was more commonly called “Baekho Palace,” the grand estate of the Baekho family.
“L-Lord?”
“Father?”
When Saeon returned in the middle of the night carrying a little girl dangling from one arm, the people of Baekho Palace rushed out in shock.
Among them were his second son, Second Young Master Baek Gahyeon, and his third son, Third Young Master Baek Gayul.
“Call a physician immediately.”
Leaving the flustered crowd behind, Saeon strode straight to his room and laid the child on the bed.
Looking at the girl—her face pale as snow, breathing faintly in thin, wheezing breaths—Ho Jeokyeong, Saeon’s aide and the eldest son of the Red Fox clan, carefully asked:
“Who is this child, Lord?”
“I picked her up on the way.”
Saeon answered indifferently, folding his arms.
But unlike his casual tone, his eyes and aura were sharp with concern, as if worried something might happen to the child.
“You picked her up…?”
“To be exact, I stole her.”
“P-Pardon?”
“Father, did you decide to become a thief?”
Everyone looked at him with bewildered expressions, silently demanding an explanation. But Saeon kept his lips tightly shut and only stared at the child.
It wasn’t until the physician was hurriedly summoned that he finally spoke.
“Fix her.”
“Y-Yes! I-I will…!”
Just as the physician, intimidated by Saeon’s fierce presence, rushed to check the child’s pulse—
Twitch.
The corner of the girl’s eye trembled.
Slowly—
Her eyelids lifted, revealing soft pink eyes like spring blossoms.
Blink, blink.
She blinked a couple of times and looked around.
‘Where am I?’
The unfamiliar room was filled with strangers she had never seen before.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Instinctive fear rose within her at the unfamiliarity, and her heart pounded.
‘Why am I here…?’
Soya searched her memories.
She had gone to see the summer festival with Hwayu oppa…
While waiting for him when he didn’t return, a black-masked assassin had appeared…
And then, by a tall man as big as Father, whom she had met there by chance…
Her rolling gaze found the one person in the room who didn’t feel unfamiliar.
‘Ah…!’
In that instant, the tension frozen on her face melted away, and a small sigh of relief slipped through her lips.
“Fluffball, are you awake?”
Saeon asked in a deliberately worried voice.
“Yes, I’m fine—”
Just as Soya nodded to answer—
“Eek!”
Third Young Master Baek Gayul, who had been sneaking glances at her the whole time, let out a visibly startled sound and hurriedly hid behind Saeon’s leg.
Flinch.
Startled by the sound, Soya stiffened as well.
“Father, she’s really tiny… If I blow—she might fly away…”
Gayul whispered quietly while tugging at Saeon’s clothes, his eyes still fixed on Soya.
It was understandable. There had never been a child as small as Soya in Baekho Palace.
She was at least a head shorter than Gayul, the youngest shapeshifter in the palace.
Seeing Gayul at a loss, Saeon teased him.
“That’s right. So you must be careful, Yul. If you don’t want to blow her away.”
“Gasp!”
Gayul quickly covered his mouth with both hands.
As if worried even a stray breath might send the tiny fluffball flying, he fidgeted anxiously.
Saeon chuckled and ruffled his son’s hair.
Soya stared blankly at that absentminded yet affectionate gesture.
Saeon tilted his head toward the physician.
“Examine her.”
“Y-You don’t need to examine me.”
Soya waved both hands hurriedly.
“This happened because I ate a peach… It’ll get better after a little while. Really!”
Her hurried addition at the end came from worry that she might be troubling them.
“A peach?”
One of Saeon’s eyebrows rose.
“Peaches are that dangerous?”
“Sometimes, if someone eats food that doesn’t suit them, their body may reject it. I will prepare medicine to reduce the swelling and fever for the young lady.”
At the physician’s explanation, Saeon’s expression hardened further.
“So you knew peaches would make you sick, and you still ate one?”
“Ah, well, I…”
As Soya hesitated—
“Dispose of every peach in the estate immediately.”
“T-That’s not necessary—!”
Soya flailed her hands in alarm.
“Yes, Lord.”
But Ho Jeokyeong responded faster, already accepting the order.
“And for the child…”
Saeon paused, looking at Soya for a moment before continuing,
“Give her the room at the far end of the west wing.”
“Yes, Lord.”
“But Father. That room is—!”
Unlike Gayul, who had been nervously glancing at Soya, Second Young Master Baek Gahyeon, who had been quietly observing, raised his voice in surprise.
“That room is what?”
“Ah… nothing.”
Under his father’s questioning gaze, Gahyeon retreated obediently.
Saeon personally carried Soya to the room.
“I… because of me… I’m causing trouble…”
Her fever having risen again, Soya squirmed in his arms and mumbled weakly.
“You’re not any trouble at all, so don’t worry. Stay here for the time being. First, sleep well and recover your health.”
“Yes…”
Even during that short walk, her vision blurred from the heat filling her head.
In her hazy consciousness, she remembered taking the medicine the physician prepared and falling asleep.
When she woke after sleeping deeply, her body felt much lighter.
“It seems your fever has gone down…”
“But how can she be this small and soft? Look at this fair skin like rice powder. Baekho Palace might just melt from how squishy she is.”
“Now I understand why the Lord called her Fluffball. She’s really too cute—our Fluffball young lady.”
At the murmuring voices nearby, Soya carefully opened her eyes.
The moment she did, her gaze met the unfamiliar women looking down at her.
“Oh my, the young lady is awake!”
“Hello, young lady. Are you feeling better?”
Startled by the women suddenly leaning in, Soya shrank back.
“W-Who are you?”
“I’m Yeonjeong of the Red Fox clan! I’ll be attending you from today onward!”
“I’m Sanho of the Indigo Wolf clan! I’ll be protecting you! Wow, even our young lady’s voice is so cute!”
“Y-Yes…?”
One woman with elegantly braided reddish-brown hair and another with indigo hair tied up in a single ponytail introduced themselves in turn.
Overwhelmed by their rapid greetings, Soya felt her head spinning.
Then suddenly she realized they were calling her “young lady.”
“W-Wait, young lady…?”
That title was used for noble children like Lady Liri. It didn’t suit a bad little bird who had stolen from others like herself.
“I’m not a young lady. You can just call me Soya…”
“Oh dear, since you’re the Lord’s guest, of course you’re a young lady.”
“A g-guest? I’m not a guest, I’m just…”
She was about to say she had been stolen, not invited—but she stopped.
She remembered Saeon saying it would be troublesome if rumors spread.
[It would be troublesome. If word gets out that I sneaked into the southern land like a thieving cat and stole something.]
He had looked extremely serious when he said that.
‘What should I do? I can’t let Saeon-nim get into trouble because of me…’
Not wanting to cause him problems, Soya couldn’t bring herself to argue and just fidgeted.
Sensing her hesitation, Sanho quickly added:
“If we fail to show proper respect to the Lord’s guest, that would be disrespectful to the Lord as well. So please allow us to serve you properly, young lady. Yes?”
“Yes…”
Persuaded, Soya slowly nodded.
Being called “young lady” felt uncomfortable, but she didn’t want to trouble Saeon, who had saved her and brought her here.
Yeonjeong and Sanho exchanged grins and then asked,
“Then, young lady, shall we wash up first?”
“Pardon?”
As she blinked in confusion, Sanho suddenly lifted Soya up.
They took her to the bath, scrubbed her clean until she squeaked, changed her into fresh clothes, and skillfully styled her hair.
‘They’re… really fast.’
Soya blinked blankly, unable to believe everything that had happened overnight.
She had suddenly been stolen here, washed clean, dressed in soft clothes.
She had a pretty room, and people were carefully brushing her hair.
The situation felt so strange that she didn’t know how to react, her eyes just rolling around.
“In Taehwa Kingdom, besides the Imperial Palace where His Majesty resides, there are four grand estates permitted to bear the title ‘Palace.’”
At Yeonjeong’s explanation, Soya’s ears perked up.
The underwater palace of the eastern lands, Cheonghae Dragon Palace.
The mountain fortress of the western lands, Baekhosan Palace.
The heavenly ancient estate of the southern lands, Jujak Jeong Palace.
The underworld domain of the northern lands, Hyeonto Underground Palace.
By granting these four places the title of “Palace,” the imperial family had officially acknowledged the authority of the four great clans.
“Our Baekho Palace is one of them.”
When the story of the Jujak estate came up, Soya’s body flinched unconsciously.
But she pretended not to notice and nodded obediently.
Then she sensed someone staring at her.
‘Huh…?’
Through the slightly open door, a small boy with snow-white hair was peeking at her.
‘That’s the one who hid behind Saeon-nim’s leg yesterday…’
“Oh my, that’s the youngest young master.”
Sanho and Yeonjeong noticed her gaze and explained.
“There are three young masters in Baekho Palace. The eldest, Young Master Gaya; the second, Young Master Gahyeon; and the one peeking at you right now is the third, Young Master Gayul.”
“Young Master Gaya was conscripted into the war three years ago and hasn’t returned yet, but the other two reside here in Baekho Palace.”
“Hmm, that’s strange. The youngest young master should be in sword training right now.”
Listening, Soya glanced at Gayul.
His fine white hair and blue eyes closely resembled Saeon’s.
But whenever their eyes met, Gayul visibly startled and pretended he hadn’t been staring.
‘Why is he acting like that…?’
As Soya felt awkward about his behavior, Yeonjeong, who was fixing her hair, giggled softly and whispered,
“I think the youngest young master wants to become friends with you.”
“Pardon? With me?”
Soya’s eyes widened into circles.
Then she shook her head.
“There’s no way.”
