“If you dare tell me there’s still no improvement… you’d better be prepared for the consequences.”

The young Emperor smiled coldly.

As though teasing the woman by tickling her waist, he lightly brushed the curtain of hanging crystal beads.

The glass beads clinked softly against one another.

Yet even at that sound, the person behind the bead curtain did not move in the slightest.

After taking the pulse of her slender wrist, the Imperial Physician lowered his head with a grave expression.

“…Your Majesty, I believe it would be best to seek another solution. Perhaps… request help from the beastfolk of the south…”

At the words “the beastfolk of the south,” the Emperor’s brow twitched.

There was only one group living in the south.

Those people.

Anyone in Haeseo Kingdom knew that the current Emperor despised them with all his heart.

Realizing he had offended the Emperor, the Imperial Physician squeezed his eyes shut.

“Ask the beastfolk of the south for help… That’s an excellent idea.”

The Emperor rose from his seat and walked until he stood directly before the physician, looking down at him with icy eyes.

“So those fools, who can’t even cure their own sick bodies, would happily come all this way just to heal her?”

“…I beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness.”

“Enough.”

The Emperor turned away.

Just as the physician let out a sigh of relief, the Emperor asked casually, as if it were an afterthought,

“What about that child?”

Immediately, one of the palace attendants standing quietly in the corner answered,

“She remains the same as before.”

“I expected as much. And the preparations I ordered?”

“They are nearly complete. We should be able to depart before long.”

“I see.”

The Emperor looked at the attendant with a gaze as sharp as a drawn blade.

“When everything is ready… remove it from this palace.”

The dragon’s eyes gleamed with terrifying intent—the eyes of someone who could kill or dispose of anything he wished.

“It seems she cannot awaken as long as that thing remains inside the palace.”

Anything ominous had to be removed.

Everything inauspicious would be swept away, leaving only what was good, so that she could finally awaken.

With those words, the Emperor turned and left the room.

Moments later, a sudden gust of wind swept inside and extinguished the candles.

At the same time, the hanging bead curtain swayed gently.

“Really?”

“I’m telling you! His Majesty has almost finished the preparations already.”

“Oh, come on… Would he really be that heartless? She still has dragon blood, doesn’t she?”

“You think he wouldn’t? He didn’t even bother giving her a proper name!”

“But if she’s sent there, she’ll die.”

“That’s the point. He’s sending her there to die. If a dragon kills its own child with its own hands, it’ll be punished by the heavens.”

The palace maids whispered among themselves.

Even while gossiping, they remained constantly on guard in case someone overheard.

They had good reason.

If anyone reported this conversation, they could be dragged away and executed immediately.

Fortunately for them, only one person had overheard.

“So… it’s almost time.”

It was Baeksa, in her snake form.

She was hiding behind a patch of bushes.

She knew she would be scolded if anyone discovered she had wandered outside her residence, but she had no choice.

Although it seemed to be common knowledge that Baeksa would soon be leaving the imperial palace…

No one had bothered telling the person it concerned.

Quietly replaying the maids’ conversation in her mind, Baeksa thought sadly,

“If a dragon kills its own child, it’ll receive heavenly punishment…”

That much was true.

As everyone knew, dragons could not directly kill their own offspring.

Nor could dragons kill one another.

They were beastfolk blessed by the Heavenly God.

It was one of the restrictions placed upon such a powerful race.

But Baeksa couldn’t understand.

If abandoning someone to die wasn’t considered killing them…

“Then heavenly punishment is very strange…”

Just as Baeksa lowered her head and prepared to return to her residence—

“Hey! Look at me!”

A familiar voice echoed from the distance.

It belonged to Yeoryun, another of Baeksa’s half-siblings.

She was an imperial princess whom the Emperor cherished dearly because she possessed a pure white Dragon Pearl.

The moment Yeoryun’s voice rang out, the palace maids immediately stopped talking and hurriedly scattered.

Afraid of being noticed by Yeoryun, Baeksa flattened herself beneath the bushes instead of returning to her residence.

A moment later, Yeoryun, dressed in beautiful robes, came into view through the thick foliage.

Floating cheerfully above her head was a small pearl.

That was the Dragon Pearl.

A Dragon Pearl…

Something every member of the Dragon Tribe was supposed to possess.

Something Baeksa, the white snake, did not have.

A dragon with a Dragon Pearl could not only use the Ability of Blessing, but also summon rain from a cloudless sky or call forth wind to move ships.

It was, quite literally, the foundation that allowed them to wield the divine power of the Heavenly God.

As the white pearl flashed brilliantly, rain began to fall from the clear sky, soaking the ground in a perfect circle around the princess.

Yeoryun had used her Ability.

The palace attendants gasped as her beautiful clothes became damp from the drizzle, but Yeoryun simply laughed merrily without a care.

Bathed in raindrops, the white Dragon Pearl sparkled like a flawless pearl beneath the blue sky.

Watching the scene, longing filled Baeksa’s eyes.

“I thought… I wouldn’t envy it anymore.”

She had decided not to desire things she could never have.

She had believed that seeing something like this wouldn’t make her jealous…

But the heart was not something she could control.

The feelings came flooding in before she could stop them.

Especially because Yeoryun’s Dragon Pearl was considered even more precious than those of the other imperial children.

A pure white Dragon Pearl.

In Haeseo Kingdom, white was regarded as the color of good fortune and blessing.

It was for that very reason that Baeksa had managed to stay alive within the imperial family for as long as she had.

…And also why she had been cast out the moment her body turned black.

In a kingdom like Haeseo, it was only natural that Yeoryun, who possessed a white Dragon Pearl, was so deeply loved.

Those who saw her pearl believed she might one day become the legendary White Dragon.

If that happened, Haeseo Kingdom would enjoy endless glory and prosperity.

Furthermore, Yeoryun was closely tied to the kingdom’s ancient legend:

“A dragon is born from the lowest place.”

Because Yeoryun’s mother had once been a slave.

Considering that as well, the beastfolk praised Yeoryun, saying she would surely become a magnificent dragon in the future.

Once upon a time…

Baeksa had envied that deeply.

The legendary White Dragon.

Just imagining such an existence was enough to fill her with admiration.

But…

“Not anymore…”

It had nothing to do with someone who would soon be driven out of the imperial family.

So she wouldn’t be sad.

Nor would she be jealous.

Suppressing the ache in her heart, Baeksa quietly returned to her residence.

The tiny snake crawled away little by little.

For some reason, her small back looked lonelier and more pitiful than ever.

Several days later.

Just as expected, two palace attendants entered Baeksa’s room without a word and gently took hold of her hands.

They filled a large bathing tub with water, gave her a quick wash, and dressed her in the cleanest clothes she owned.

Throughout the entire process, the child’s opinion did not matter.

Neither attendant even bothered to look into Baeksa’s eyes.

As though they were simply completing another assigned duty, they silently bathed and dressed her.

Entrusting herself quietly to their hands, Baeksa studied their faces.

They were unfamiliar.

The attendants who usually brought her meals and bathed her had always been different people.

And there are two of them today.

Three attendants had been assigned to care for Baeksa, but they always worked in shifts.

They had never all come together before.

Without anyone saying a word, Baeksa instinctively understood.

“Today’s the day.”

The day His Majesty had spoken of.

The day she herself had been waiting for.

“So it really was true.”

He had always intended to throw me away.

Once she was fully dressed, one of the attendants turned toward her.

“Follow us.”

Without waiting for a reply, the woman started walking.

Afraid of dirtying her clean clothes, Baeksa held up the hem of her skirt and hurried after her with short, quick steps.

As she stepped outside, the familiar scenery of the residence she had spent her entire life in came into view.

A shabby, aging residence.

An overgrown courtyard left untended.

The long hallway where footsteps always echoed.

The dried-up pond.

It had been a lonely and desolate place…

But it had still been the place that sheltered Baeksa until now.

Now, however…

This was the last time.

“Goodbye.”

After today, she would never return.

And in time…

She wouldn’t even be able to miss it anymore.

After silently bidding farewell to the place she had called home, Baeksa followed behind the palace attendant, who continued walking without once looking back to see if the little girl was keeping up.