Home/The very suspicious chick of the Blue Dragon clan/ch 31

Chapter 31

"Okdan…!"

A shabby house reeking of damp earth.

On a worn-out mat spread over the uneven floor, a gaunt woman lay.

Young Aran, with soot smudged on her nose, stirred the rice gruel with tearful eyes.

"Okdan, wake up and eat just a little, okay? The lady from the Jo family made it for you."

As Aran pleaded, holding out the spoon, Okdan's dry lips trembled.

Then, as if coming to her senses, her unfocused eyes looked up at Aran.

"…Huff, huff, young miss."

Her labored breathing was alarming.

Aran, gripped by fear, shook her head frantically.

"Don't talk if it's hard. Just… just eat this, please…"

Lips torn and crusted with blood from hardship. Sunken eyes from sleepless nights.

Despite looking like that, Okdan tried to force a smile.

Then, word by word, as if squeezing out her remaining breath, she spoke painfully.

"Young miss, go to the Jo family… The young mistress there thinks fondly of you… huff… to the Jo family…"

Aran shook her head again.

"No. I like you best, Okdan. I like your house best. This is our home…"

"If you go to the Jo family… haah… there will be more food…"

"Hic…"

As the tears poured like rain, a thorn-like hand groped for Aran's small hand.

Then, a voice softer than a breeze came through.

"…Aran-ah."

It was the first time Okdan had called Aran by her name.

Okdan, who had picked up the deficient, abandoned child and always treated her like a superior, calling her "young miss" until now.

As Aran stared blankly in surprise, the weak, breath-like voice continued.

"You must… go to the Jo family…"

Was she determined to hear that answer?

In the end, Aran nodded tearfully.

She said she would go to the Jo family.

If, if Okdan were to leave, then she would do so.

"You are… a Vermilion Bird… a noble Vermilion Bird…"

It was what Okdan had always said, but Aran couldn't believe it.

If she truly was a noble Vermilion Bird, would Okdan have been beaten and driven out for stealing a handful of grain just to feed her?

If Aran really was a Vermilion Bird, shouldn't the Vermilion Bird Palace have thanked the maid who saved their descendant?

In that moment, Okdan slowly added.

"Survive… and make your… haah… good-for-nothing father… kneel before you… and beg for forgiveness…"

Aran nodded.

She would make him beg.

If she was a Vermilion Bird, and if she gained power someday.

She would never forgive those people of the Vermilion Bird Palace who had hurt Okdan like this.

As soon as she thought that, the hand that had been stroking hers stopped.

"Okdan…?"

Okdan's hand, like a dry twig, fell limply to the floor.

Startled, Aran lunged forward and grabbed Okdan's shoulders.

"Okdan…!"

Okdan's head turned to one side.

Okdan, who at the tender age of eighteen had picked up and raised Aran, never marrying because of her.

Who always gave Aran the best of her share, saying how pretty this burden was.

The kindest Okdan…

"Okdan, don't go! Don't die…!"

Aran clung to her, sobbing, but no sound—not even a faint breath—came from Okdan.

How long did she hold Okdan's still-warm body and cry?

Morning light seeped through the thin paper window.

Only then did Aran rise and take in Okdan's final form.

She pressed her tear-soaked forehead to Okdan's, now cold.

Then, in a voice cracked with exhaustion, she finally murmured.

"…Mother."

Okdan was the only person in this world Aran could call family, could call mother.

Yet she had never once called her that.

"Mother…!"

Aran called that name—which no one would ever hear—a hundred times, a thousand times.

Begging her not to leave her alone.

That was the first and last day in Aran's long life that she ever called someone mother.

---

"Mother, mother…"

Cheongun looked down worriedly at Aran, who was moaning in her sleep.

So-rim, her lips dry with anxiety, changed Aran's wet cloth.

"C-could she not regain consciousness like this? Is this normal for Vermilion Birds…?"

Aran had fallen ill the night Hwi and Su-ryeon returned from the imperial capital.

Then, after three days, she obtained human form, so everyone was relieved—but she had remained unconscious for days.

So-rim, who rarely spoke to the master first, gathered her courage, but Cheongun could not answer.

No matter how many books on Vermilion Birds he gathered and read, it was useless.

Aran had always been different from other Vermilion Birds.

Cheongun quietly looked down at Aran, now in human form.

Silver hair gleaming as white as the moon, plump white cheeks, small crimson lips.

She was the prettiest child he had ever seen anywhere.

He had dreamed of this day for quite a while, waiting for the baby bird he couldn't communicate with to grow—but he never expected it would be so hard to meet his daughter's eyes.

When Cheongun silently held the child's hand, So-rim stepped back with a sad expression.

When Aran was just a baby bird, her cheerful chirps had been reassuring—but in truth, she was just a child who needed a mother, who longed for a mother.

When So-rim stepped into the corridor, the twins, who had been holding their breath, looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Training Master, what about Arani?"

So-rim quickly composed her expression and knelt to meet the twins' eyes.

"Were you waiting here? The young miss is still asleep. But she'll wake up soon."

Yeon bit her lip anxiously and asked again.

"D-did Yeon-ie sleep that long too?"

"Hmm, you woke up a bit earlier, didn't you, Young Master Yeon?"

So-rim answered, hiding her frustration.

"Lady Aran is the most special person in our Blue Dragon Palace."

"I peeked through the door crack yesterday—Arani's hair is silver! She's so pretty!"

Min cut in with his big eyes rolling, and a small smile returned to So-rim's face.

"That's right, young master. She's truly pretty."

"How tall is she? Taller than Min?"

"Hmm…"

Even in this serious situation, Min made her laugh.

So-rim pretended to measure the height with her eyes for the adorable baby dragon.

Of course, she didn't even need to guess.

"I think Young Master Min is just a tiny bit taller?"

"Really? Then Min is Arani's older brother?"

"Pfft."

As So-rim finally let out a laugh she'd been holding back, Yeon snapped.

"Min, that's not the important thing right now."

"Oh, right…"

So-rim, watching Min freeze at the twins' scolding, admonished them both.

"I'll let you know as soon as the young miss wakes up. For now, you mustn't make noise here."

"Yes, Training Master."

After the children quietly withdrew, So-rim stood in the empty corridor for a long time.

Sometimes, very weak beastmen fail to obtain human form, or are weeded out in the process.

She didn't even want to imagine that happening to Aran…

"Please wake up, young miss…"

So-rim was still an unmarried young woman, but over the past year of caring for Aran, she had often thought about maternal love.

She often thought that even if she had children someday, she would never forget Aran…

"Please wake up…"

To So-rim, Aran was her first love.

And as such, she was so precious that tonight, too, seemed likely to be a very long night.

---

Aran opened her eyes in the soft morning sunlight.

As she habitually stretched, something different caught her eye.

"…Huh?"

Soft, maple-leaf-like fingers wiggled.

Aran, just like a real baby, clenched and unclenched her hands.

"M-my hand moves…!"

It seemed she'd finally obtained a body!

She bolted upright.

Someone had dressed her in a light pink jacket and trousers.

Under the loose hems, small white toes wiggled.

"Hehe."

She giggled.

Sitting up, Aran stamped her feet and shouted.

"Ahem! The great Vermilion Bird, Cheong Aran, has arrived on this land!"

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