DRP 25

chapter 25

Sobeksan’s birthday was on March 14th —
a day that, in my previous life, was called White Day.

Since our correspondence had started in January, I honestly thought that by March, we’d have met face-to-face — either through a formal meeting or by one of us visiting the other.

But, surprise, surprise.

Even by early March, we were still only exchanging letters.

I shed bitter tears over breaking our promise, but there was nothing I could do. Both of our families were constantly plagued with one incident after another, leaving no time to arrange our meeting.

Let’s start with the first month.

In January, the great holiday season and Sobeksan’s little runaway incident ate up all our time. By the time things calmed down, the month was already over.

Then in February, just as both families’ elders were bickering over setting a proper date for the meeting, a sudden climate anomaly struck.

The weather, which should have still been cold, suddenly turned as warm as May in spring.

“Leaves have sprouted?”
“The forsythias are about to bloom!”
“Call the sorcerers!”

The panicked elders ran around in chaos.

It was only February — meaning a cold wave could return at any time.
If that happened, the tender new shoots and flower buds, deceived by the warmth, would freeze and fall.
Likewise, bees that had left their hives would surely perish.

The result would be obvious: famine.

After years of suffering from natural disasters, the elders, now sick and tired of it, summoned the sorcerers.

Even the high-level ones — who rarely took commissions — rolled up their sleeves this time.

“We’ll absorb the heat in the air.”
“We’ll use that energy to form clouds with the mid-level sorcerers.”
“Let’s widen the temperature gap between sky and earth.”

To minimize the damage, the sorcerers gathered and created a massive blanket of clouds over the entire Seolgok province.
Thanks to that, the temperature dropped back to normal, and everyone could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

But then, an accident occurred in Homyeok province.

“What did you say?”
“A landslide blocked the main road.”

And of course, it had to be the road connecting Seolgok to Homyeok.

“We sorcerers can simply ride the wind over the mountain, but…”

The Baek family’s sorcerer — who had come to deliver the message — looked troubled.

“Ordinary people will have to wait until the road is cleared. Otherwise, they’ll need to take a long detour.”

And there’s an order to these formal meetings.

If one family visits first, then it’s proper for the other family to visit next.
But with the route blocked, delaying the next meeting was inevitable.

“I’ve never seen Sobeksan so devastated before,”
the sorcerer said with a rueful laugh.
“Heavens really aren’t on his side.”

He’d stolen the words right out of my mouth.

Despite the misfortunes, the preparations for Sobeksan’s birthday gift were going smoothly.

The first gift I chose was a handmade leather bracelet.

I had been rolling around on the floor trying to decide what to give him when Mom made the suggestion.
She said it symbolized wishing someone good luck and good health.

“Ah, the Rang tribe uses leather bracelets, huh? In our family, we used thread bracelets for that,”
Dad suddenly chimed in.

He said there was an old belief that gifting a bracelet woven from colorful threads could bring health, safety — and even fulfill one’s crush.

“Did you ever make a thread bracelet?”
“Wasn’t my fate already tied to yours?”

Mom snorted at Dad’s cheeky response.

“So, would you prefer our child to make a thread bracelet instead of leather?”
“Of course not. Health comes first. Hyeon, leather it is — leather, not thread!”

And that’s how I ended up making a leather bracelet.

It wasn’t hard — just braiding thin, narrow strips of leather together.

Mom even provided the materials.

Out of the many bracelets I made from her leftover scraps, I picked two of the best:
one sleek and glossy black cowhide bracelet,
and one thickly braided brown deer leather bracelet that had a rustic charm.

Both would look perfect on the pale, handsome Sobeksan.

But it still felt like too little.

After all, he’d given me both a bouquet of flowers and a golden tiger figurine.
It was only proper to send a gift of similar value — maybe with something extra.

That’s when the elders stepped in and prepared a black agate figurine of a puppy.

Since his side had sent a tiger sculpture, mine would send a dog — modeled after me.

At first, I thought it would be silly, but once finished, it was so cute that I almost wanted to keep it for myself.

Next came bolts of fine silk, ornaments, and luxury leather that Mom had been secretly hoarding instead of auctioning off.

And lastly…

“Happy… birthday…”

I carefully wrote a letter by hand.

To it, I attached a pressed forget-me-not flower — made from the very blooms Sobeksan had sent me earlier.

Perfect.

I placed the well-dried letter atop the wrapped birthday bundle.

Every few days, a different sorcerer came to visit.

At first, I thought they were taking turns because no one wanted to come.
But apparently, that wasn’t the case.

“Actually, everyone wants to come,”
explained Baek Juseon, a tiger-tribe sorceress with short orange hair braided like a rope.

“Why?” I asked.

She grinned.

“Because there’s a rumor that if you come here, you’ll get to see an adorable young lady who keeps pining after Sobeksan.”

“…”

“I’m serious.”

Normally people say “just kidding” after something like that, don’t they?

“Besides, when else would we get a chance to leave Homyeok province?”

She added with a sly smile that adults are always happier the farther they are from their workplace — revealing one of life’s darker truths.

“Here, take this. A gift.”

“Oh— thank you!”

She handed me a small pouch of snacks.

Lately, every Baek family sorcerer who visited brought me treats.
My taste buds had been living their best life.

“Try it! It’s our family’s secret delicacy — dried persimmon rolls with cheese. They’re rare!”

“Cheese rolls?”

I peeked inside the pouch and gasped.

There were slices of dried persimmon wrapped around chunks of cheese.
So “geonrak” meant cheese!

When I looked up at Baek Juseon in surprise, she nodded solemnly — urging me to try.

I took a big bite.

“…!”

It was delicious.

The chewy, honey-sweet persimmon and the salty, pungent cheese blended perfectly.
As I stomped my feet in delight, Baek Juseon’s face softened into a warm smile.

“It’s tragic that only I get to see this face and not Sobeksan.”
“Mmph?”
“Eat as much as you want. I’ll make sure his birthday gift is delivered safely.”

After enjoying the sight of me eating, she finally left.

I clutched the little pouch of persimmon-cheese rolls to my chest like a treasure.

Sobeksan, and all those Baek sorcerers — they definitely knew their food.

“Today, we’ll learn how to run fast.”
“Yes, ma’am!”

Just because I couldn’t meet Sobeksan didn’t mean I was slacking off.

I had started physical training a while ago.

Until now, I’d been the pampered puppy of the family, but after that incident catching the bad guy, I realized I needed strength and stamina.

And I had just turned five — the age when training officially begins in our family.

Sometimes it starts earlier, but that’s usually for kids who have trouble controlling their power.
Apparently, that was the case for my older brothers, Sion and Seon.

Anyway, I was learning hunting and survival from Mom, and basic body movement and hand-to-hand combat from Grandma.

Today was a training day with Grandma.

“Don’t fall! Keep your breathing steady!”
“Huff… huff…!”

Running sounded easy, but it was much harder than I thought.

A five-year-old’s body trips easily. I recovered quickly, but also tired quickly — stamina was a big issue.

Grandma trained me gently but steadily, focusing on endurance.

She said this was more than enough for my age.

“Take a break. Now, how do you regulate your breathing?”
“Huuuu… hooooo… huuuu… hoooo…”
“Good, that’s it.”

Ugh, I was exhausted.

Just one lap around the training yard and my face felt like it was on fire.
In contrast, if I transformed into a dog, I could do two laps easily.

In that sense, my beast form was definitely more comfortable than my human one.

“My granddaughter, you’ve got quite the talent for running.”
“Really?”
“Must be from Yeonghu.”

Grandfather, apparently, had been a legendary courier hound in the army — famed for his speed.

But because people would lose their focus watching him run, drenched in sweat and shining white, he’d eventually switched to delivering written messages instead of verbal ones.

I imagined a white dog dashing across a field — it looked so cool.
Could I ever run like that?

The thought alone filled me with renewed energy.

After a full sprint session, I moved on to studying how to control the power of my Haetae spirit.

Physical strength, Grandma said, must always be used with awareness of one’s limits.
Before learning real hand-to-hand combat, I first needed to understand the extent of my own strength.

So, I started by punching a log.

Even with a light hit, it made a solid sound.
That was my normal strength.

Then I clenched my fist tight and hit harder.