Chapter 2. Crossing the Rainbow Bridge
I pressed my tiny paws firmly into the soft, fluffy clouds.
Just as I crossed the rainbow bridge, struggling so much that even my claws became sore—
At that very moment!
My furry little puppy body separated from my soul.
“You may not be her daughter, but I shall grant you the body of her younger sister.”
And just like that, with a simple blink.
My soul slipped right into the body of a child.
“Wow! This is so amazing!”
I eagerly swung my hands, now replacing my once-white tail.
As I did, information about this new body seeped into my mind.
A warm, freshly crafted body made by the Puppy God.
Maybe it was thanks to God’s blessing?
According to the setting humans believed in, I had lived with my family in a countryside village until the age of five, and was later adopted into my sister’s family.
“My name is Coco, just like before! I’m five years old!”
My hands were plump, like well-risen sweet potato bread.
My short, turnip-like arms and legs,
And even my small, round, white feet!
With silver hair and purple eyes, I was now a very charming child.
“I’m really her little sister now!”
I sprang up from the bed where I had been lying quietly.
“I have to go see my sister right now!”
But then—
As soon as I stood up, my arms and legs flailed uncontrollably…
Thud! Crash!
My tiny body fell to the floor with a loud thump.
“Ugh….”
I had hit my first obstacle.
“Using a human body… I’m not used to this.”
Walking on two legs after being used to four was incredibly hard.
It felt like trying to move around inside a giant log!
But I, Coco,
Will definitely conquer this huge step.
Because only then can I go meet Sister.
“I came to save her, so something like this… is nothing!”
I lifted one leg with a determined grunt.
Slowly, I managed to stand, though a bit wobbly, on two feet.
“Success!”
I got through my first challenge!
Just as I was beaming with pride.
A woman with brown hair, dressed in a maid’s uniform, entered the room.
“Little Miss, I came in because I heard a noise. Are you alright?”
“Aah… Yes! I’m okay!”
“Then, shall we start packing your things? You will need to leave the mansion soon…”
Leave…? That could only mean one thing—
“Coco, go for a walk!”
“Yes, yes, I love walks!”
I vigorously nodded, happily recalling my sister’s voice.
But the maid gave me a sad look.
“Not a walk… it means you’re being sent away from the family.”
“Huh…?”
That’s when I noticed the paper in the maid’s hand.
[Request for Eviction and Disownment]
“Umm, what’s disownment? What kind of thing is that…?”
“That’s… it means you will have to leave this mansion soon, Little Miss.”
My round mouth dropped wide open, like a dry-roasted sweet potato.
It had only been five minutes since I was overjoyed to become my sister’s little sister…
And now I was about to be kicked out of this house.
* * *
Not long ago, a divine oracle was delivered to the Ardoth Ducal Family.
In short, the message was: 〈Adopt a child blessed by the gods. The family will prosper through this child’s divine powers〉.
The family quickly found a child who perfectly matched the oracle’s conditions:
A girl of commoner birth
Living in a village near the southern sea
Five years old
And most importantly, a child who showed the appearance of a divine mark when touched by a holy relic!
That child was me, Coco!
However…
“They say that when you bring a <blessed child> close to a ‘holy relic’, the divine mark will appear. When the relic touched you, the mark definitely appeared. That’s why you were brought here and added to the family registry…”
“…B-but?!”
“About a month ago, the divine mark suddenly disappeared… This is an extremely rare case, so even the priests came to see you many times. It wasn’t that long ago, don’t you remember?”
“U-um…”
Puppy God, what’s with this setup?!
This is a thorny path!
The maid looked at me with deep sympathy.
I didn’t really understand everything she said, but I replied bravely anyway.
“But, um, maybe if we check again now, the result could be different? The mark might come back, you know!”
But she just shook her head firmly.
“The Duke of Ardoth has departed for the northern front. Even if we request a retest right away, it would be difficult to carry it out any time soon.”
“So… do I have to leave now…?”
“Still, since the divine mark did appear briefly, and because this is such an unusual case…”
“…”
“They’ve decided to postpone the disownment for now. That’s good news, right?”
The maid carefully explained the disownment process to me.
First, the Duke would check my power himself when he returns.
After that, the priests would come again to confirm whether or not the divine mark had truly disappeared.
If, after all that, I was proven not to be the ‘blessed child,’ then I would officially be disowned.
At least I didn’t have to leave the mansion right away, that was a bit of a relief.
But still, I felt a little down.
Because it meant I might never truly become my sister’s little sister.
‘But it’s okay! Trials like this are part of the journey to save my sister!’
I came back to the human world to make my sister happy.
That’s the only thing that matters.
“And lastly… when it comes to anything related to your sister, your intelligence will shine and soar beyond limits.”
Since the disownment can’t really be resolved right away,
Let’s meet my sister first!
“So, how can I meet Lady Chloe Ardoth?”
“La-Lady Chloe? You’re trying to see a di-direct blood family?”
“Yes!”
“Unless something special happens, it’s usually very difficult to meet direct family members. Especially Lady Chloe. Even if you are adopted, meeting her would still be extremely rare.”
Thud.
It felt like a stone had dropped heavily on my head.
The maid mumbled softly, looking at me with pity.
“Ah! But, there is one exception.”
“Gasp!”
“If you’re making a great achievement (gong)*, it’s possible. There was once a servant among us who performed great service and was allowed to meet a direct family member.”
The moment I heard the words ‘big ball (gong)*’, my confidence shot up.
I puffed out my chubby belly and declared proudly,
“Raising a big ball (gong)* is easy!”
“Excuse me? Little Miss, what do you mean…?”
“It’s my specialty!”
Regardless, I stretched my neck and looked around.
‘To raise big ball (gong)*…’
*In those sentences, there’s a Korean homonym ‘공’ (Gong) that can mean either ‘achievement’ or ‘ball,’ depending on the context.
Unfortunately, this place wasn’t exactly the right place to raise a ball (gong).
‘Then I just need to walk somewhere I can raise a ball (gong).’
With clumsy but grand steps, I stomped forward.
I was going to meet my sister, no matter what!
“Little Miss, where are you going?”
“…Huh?”
“You need to nap now. It’s nap time.”
…Plop.
My soft, round body was effortlessly scooped up.
Just like that, I was forcibly tucked back into bed.
* * *
Step One in raising a ball (gong).
Move on your own!
But the maid was always right by my side.
So, I pretended to nap, snoring softly.
Luckily, this body naturally slept about twenty hours a day anyway.
So the maid was easily fooled.
Step Two in raising a ball (gong).
Sneak out of the annex at dusk!
‘Puppies are great at sneaking around!’
My sister used to praise me all the time, saying, “Our Coco is the best in the world at secretly causing trouble.”
And slipping out wasn’t all that hard either.
Sadly, since I had already been deemed a “fake,” there weren’t many people left to guard me.
‘With these tiny, round feet, even after walking for more than ten minutes, I can’t get very far…’
But luckily, I still made some progress.
“Found it!”
I stared intently at the grand barn doors.
‘From my walks with my sister, I know this patch of grass in front of the barn is the best place to pull off something big!’
Thank goodness the barn was nearby!
I clumsily pushed the barn door open.
A feed bin filled with grain.
And over there, far away—there it was—the thing I was looking for!
I was just starting to grin with excitement when I heard a small sound drifting through the crack of the half-open door.
“Thunder’s dying. This is bad. If Lord Luce finds out, he’s going to lose his mind.”
It was Dot, the veterinarian I’d seen just before I died.
“Lady Chloe, you have to let go now. If you keep holding on like this, Coco will only suffer more…”
I shook my head, trying to forget the voice that sounded like an illusion.
Then I heard another veterinarian’s voice.
“To report the current condition, Thunder seems to have no energy at all. He’s barely eating anymore.”
Now that I looked again, I could see a horse through the crack in the barn door.
A horse with a majestic black mane.
‘Is his name Thunder?’
When I looked closely, he really did seem weak.
Even with delicious carrots right in front of him, there wasn’t a hint of light in his eyes.
“I’d like to at least observe what’s going on, but… if anyone gets too close, he kicks them away.”
Apparently, some of the stable hands had even broken their ribs because of him.
Maybe that’s why.
Even now, everyone was keeping their distance from the horse.
The vet sighed and rubbed his forehead.
“We can’t restrain him, nor can we get close enough to observe. Lord Luce dotes on Thunder too much to allow that.”
Lord Luce?
If it’s Luce Ardoth…
He’s my sister’s real brother!
Super grumpy, and apparently, he can whip up gusts of wind with his bare hands!
My sister once showed me his portrait and warned me never to go near him.
‘Just like my sister loves me, I guess Luce loves Thunder in the same way.’
It must be so painful to be sick. Poor thing…
But I didn’t have time to feel sorry for Thunder.
What mattered most to me was finding a way to raise a ball so I could meet my sister.
* * *
I quietly hid in a blind spot outside the barn.
I held my breath and patiently waited until Dot and his friends finally left.
Once the barn was empty, I carefully looked around and tiptoed to a corner of the barn.
And finally—
“A ball (gong)!”
It was the old ball my sister and I used to play with, hidden away long ago.
Even though it had been a whole year, it was still there.
Seems like the servants aren’t very thorough with their cleaning!
But that worked out perfectly for me.
“Hehe!”
Lying right next to the completely still Thunder,
I carefully raised the ball up.
“Did it… work?”
I really wanted to ask someone to throw the ball for me, but I held back.
I just kept the ball lifted off the floor for ten whole minutes.
The ball, which had been slowly rolling, finally stopped.
“I finally did it!”
I bounced up and down with a bright, innocent smile.
“Now I can meet my sister!”
But just then—
The horse lying nearby—Thunder—suddenly let out a big yawn.
Then, as if he were looking at some fool, he muttered,
“You really are a fool. Usually, making a ‘gong’ doesn’t mean that.”
“Huh? Then what does it mean?”
I asked, staring at the horse, as the ball rolled away across the floor.
‘Failed again!’
I dropped my shoulders and went to pick up the ball again.
But Thunder, as if he couldn’t care less about my ball rolling away, suddenly stood up.
“Wha-wha-wha-what?. You just answered me?!”
