Chapter : 23
Ga-hyeon stood by the window all day, looking down at the garden.
As he absentmindedly tapped the small stone placed on the windowsill, his brow faintly furrowed.
Right then, Ho Jeok-a, who had come after lunch to escort him for his afternoon schedule, tilted his head at the sight of the young master’s unusually sour expression.
“Is something the matter, Young Master?”
“It’s strange. She usually takes a walk between Mi hour and Shin hour, but I don’t see her.”
“Pardon?”
“The child in the west-end room.”
For some reason, Soya hadn’t appeared today.
He had even deliberately placed the stone on the windowsill so that it would catch her eye.
“You even remember the time Miss Fluffball goes for her walks?”
“What?”
At Jeok-a’s question, Ga-hyeon frowned and turned to glare at him.
It sounded as if he were implying that Ga-hyeon paid special attention to the girl, and that thought both irritated and embarrassed him.
Still, he replied in a cool voice.
“What’s so special about remembering what happens inside Baekho Palace?”
“But you don’t even know the youngest young master’s training schedule.”
“Do I look like someone with so much free time that I memorize useless details like that?”
Ga-hyeon shot back coldly as he strode toward the door.
Jeok-a wondered whether Miss Fluffball’s walking schedule counted as something “useful,” but he wisely kept that to himself. Instead, he hurried after his master.
“The Eunho family has invited you for tea. What shall we do?”
“Accept it. Since we’re at it, it’d be better to meet the Galho family and the Heukho family before the Mountain Lord Festival begins— …Wait.”
Just as Ga-hyeon was about to open the door, something small and solid in Jeok-a’s hand caught his eye.
The shape looked oddly familiar—and irritating.
“What’s that?”
“Pardon?”
“That thing in your hand.”
“Oh, this? Miss Fluffball made it for me—a stone charm. She gave it to me just a moment ago over there.”
“……”
At Jeok-a’s plain reply, Ga-hyeon’s expression darkened.
She had dirtied her small fingertips rummaging through the garden soil—and she hadn’t given it only to him, but to this guy as well? That didn’t sit well with him.
Worse, unlike his own, this one was brightly decorated, and that bothered him.
“Why does yours look like that?”
“She said she painted it and baked it. This drawing here—apparently she drew it herself.”
“……”
Ga-hyeon’s mood sank even further at the explanation.
Did she like Ho Jeok-a enough to draw on it herself?
And the picture on that stone—it was a red fox.
She must have known Jeok-a was a red fox beastman and drawn it specifically for him.
I’ve never even seen her talk to him much. What does she like about him? His face?
Ga-hyeon narrowed his eyes and stared pointedly at Jeok-a’s neat, handsome face.
“Didn’t you receive one?” Jeok-a asked innocently.
“I already did. Before you.”
Ga-hyeon shrugged, gesturing toward the stone on the windowsill.
“I mean not the one from before. Yesterday she gathered a whole bunch of stones from the garden, painted them, and gave them out to everyone in Baekho Palace—even the guests from the branch families.”
“What?”
“I heard the Lord and the youngest young master both received new ones with tigers drawn on them.”
“……”
Ga-hyeon’s lips pressed tightly together.
She drew new ones for Father and Yul… and didn’t come to see me?
Maybe she had noticed that he was keeping his distance and deliberately left him out.
He had been the one to draw the line first, so perhaps it was for the best.
Then why did his mood sink like this?
“Hmm. Perhaps she simply forgot, Young Master,” Jeok-a offered, trying to soothe him.
But Ga-hyeon’s expression did not improve.
“Forget it. I don’t need some trashy stone—”
He flung the door open with a frosty retort—
“……!”
—and found himself face-to-face with Soya, who had come to see him at that exact moment.
Ga-hyeon wasn’t the only one who froze.
Soya, clutching a small stone in her hand, stiffened as their eyes met. Then, startled, she turned and ran away.
Ga-hyeon stood there, staring blankly at the spot where she had disappeared, his face slightly pale.
Did she hear?
She must have heard.
Me calling it a trashy stone…
He normally didn’t make mistakes like this.
His sharp, sensitive nature only showed around his siblings or Jeok-a.
But hearing that everyone in Baekho Palace— even the branch guests—had received gifts while he alone had not…
The thought made something surge up inside him.
He had failed to swallow his momentary hurt and said something careless.
Normally, he would have sensed her presence and been cautious.
But the image of her startled face as she fled lingered in his mind.
Ga-hyeon stood there for a long time, frozen and unable to speak.
* * *
Meanwhile, Soya hurried around the corridor and clutched her chest.
Whew, that was close. If I hadn’t overheard his conversation with Lord Jeok-a, I might have upset Young Master again.
She glanced at the stone charm she had intended to give Ga-hyeon.
No matter how nicely she decorated it, it seemed that to the Second Young Master, it was still just trash.
I guess stones won’t do. But I want to make him a charm before I leave Baekho Palace…
As she stepped into the garden, she spotted two baby tigers scuffling.
One had familiar white fur—a white tiger.
The other had brown fur.
The youngest young master… and Lord Arang?
Though they were sixth cousins, the two had never gotten along since childhood.
“Rooaaar! (You stupid brown tiger! I cannot acknowledge you as a tiger of Baekho Palace!)”
“Grrr! (Who do you think I came here for? I just wanted to see what kind of pitiful soul would end up family with a tiger like you!)”
“What?! Stupid?! Did you just say that?!”
“Yes, I did!”
“Then fight me!”
“Gladly!”
Like proper ferocious baby tigers, they abandoned words and started wrestling in earnest.
Then—
“Roar? (Huh? Fluffball!)”
Gayul spotted Soya.
Ignoring Arang lunging at him, he ran straight toward her.
Instinctively, Soya spread her arms.
The baby white tiger leapt and nestled snugly in her embrace.
“Grrr! (Hey! Don’t run away!)”
Arang chased after him and leapt as well—only to chomp down on Gayul’s tail.
“Ahh—!”
Unable to bear the weight of both cubs, Soya plopped down onto the grass.
“Rooar?! (Gasp! Fluffball! Are you okay?!)”
Gayul shoved Arang away in alarm.
“Roar, roar! (It’s your fault she almost got hurt!)”
“G- Grr? (M-My fault…?)”
Startled, Arang raised his tail stiffly and circled Soya in panic.
Watching this, Soya waved her hands with a smile.
“No, no. I just sat down on the grass. I’m not hurt at all.”
The youngest young master tended to overprotect her.
Soya chuckled softly—then realized she had grown a little used to it.
I’ll have to leave soon… I think I’ve grown too accustomed to this.
Just then, Arang sprang to his feet and bared his teeth at her.
“Grrr… (You, you, you…!)”
“Lord Arang?”
“Roarrr! (I told you not to get hurt in front of me!)”
At his booming declaration, Soya tilted her head.
“Are you worried about me?”
“Grr…! (W-Why would I worry about someone who isn’t even a tiger…!)”
“Thank you, Lord Arang.”
Soya beamed and gently stroked his brown fur.
“……!”
Arang’s body went stiff.
The tigers around him usually bit, shoved, or pinned him down—no one had ever stroked him kindly like this.
Overwhelmed by the unfamiliar ticklish sensation, he fluffed his fur and hissed.
“Gyaaah! (Don’t touch me!)”
He glared at Soya, snorting, then dashed away in embarrassment.
“Hmph. Running off with his tail between his legs,” Gayul scoffed, flicking his tail.
Soya watched Arang’s retreating figure, then looked down at Gayul purring in her arms.
Suddenly, she gasped.
“Ah!”
“Grr? (What is it, Fluffball?)”
“When I first saw Lord Arang, he felt strangely familiar. I think he resembles you, Young Master.”
“Yelp! What?!”
Gayul leapt out of her arms in horror.
“Gyaaah! How could you say something like that to me?! Take it back! Take it back right now!”
The way his fur bristled and he hissed looked exactly like Arang moments ago.
Soya burst into soft laughter.
“Roooaaaar! (Don’t laugh! Take it back! Hurry up and take it back!)”
