The frail little body slowly froze.

Her tiny hands had become swollen from the cold, and by now they were completely numb.

The carriage that had brought Baeksa here had long since left the Southern Lands.

Now, in this freezing place…

She was truly all alone.

Her breathing grew faint, and her eyelids drooped halfway shut.

Standing at the end of her life once again, Baeksa desperately struggled to stay conscious.

She still hadn’t seen the orb again.

Yet no matter how long she waited, it never appeared.

The icy snow drifting through the air and the merciless wind of the Southern Lands steadily froze the girl’s body solid.

The child slowly clenched and unclenched her frozen, numb hand.

“Why…”

Why wasn’t it appearing?

Had she really imagined it back then?

Frozen tears stung her delicate eyelids.

Her eyes burned, but perhaps because her face had frozen stiff, she couldn’t even close them properly.

Even as her consciousness faded…

The orb never appeared.

As if she had expected this all along, Baeksa smiled a lonely, sorrowful smile.

“I guess… I really imagined it…”

Once she thought that, everything made sense.

How could an orb resembling a dragon’s Dragon Pearl have appeared before someone who wasn’t even a dragon?

And yet…

Because she couldn’t completely let go of that tiny hope.

Because she believed that maybe it really had appeared.

She had foolishly allowed herself to be abandoned in the Southern Lands once again instead of trying to escape.

It was a fitting end…

For a snake, the symbol of misfortune.

“It’s my fault.”

If only I had been born a dragon…

I never would have been abandoned.

I never would have come all the way here chasing such foolish hope.

Baeksa knew very little.

She didn’t even know how to blame others.

Instead…

Blaming herself and hurting herself came as naturally as breathing.

So she chose to blame herself.

It felt like it hurt a little less that way.

The tiny baby snake curled herself into a small circle and let out weak breaths.

Baeksa stared blankly across the snowy field.

“When I die…”

“Will I finally stop feeling sad?”

“Will it stop hurting?”

This time…

I hope I don’t come back to life again.

“I’m scared…”

Just as Baeksa squeezed her eyes shut and trembled…

“…A child?”

A stranger’s voice echoed from somewhere in the distance.

“A child? Patriarch! There’s a child lying here all alone!”

A voice…

She had never heard before.

***

The southern region of Haeseo Kingdom.

A polluted land where no one could survive because the enraged dragons no longer blessed it with rain.

Yet even in the land abandoned by the Emperor, beastfolk still lived there.

The head of the Vermilion Bird Clan—

Ju Jeokseo.

If Ju Jeokseo had not constantly delayed the spread of the Southern Lands’ corruption with his supernatural power, every beastfolk living there would have perished long ago.

Because of that, they were extremely wary of outsiders.

And even more wary of anyone from the Imperial Palace.

So when rumors spread that an imperial carriage was heading toward the Southern Lands carrying some kind of cargo, everyone became uneasy.

“The Imperial Palace is sending a carriage here?”

“Is the Emperor finally planning to wipe out the Southern Lands?”

No one knew what the carriage was carrying.

But they knew one thing.

It couldn’t possibly be something meant to help them.

The Emperor had abandoned this land long ago.

He had never cared whether the people living here survived or died.

So they had to find out what the carriage was bringing.

For that reason, Ju Jeokseo personally decided to go to the border of the Southern Lands.

After all…

He was practically the only one who could temporarily resist the corruption covering the Southern Lands.

Without delay, he mounted his horse and headed for the polluted border.

His dark crimson hair, tied behind his back, fluttered like glowing embers after a dying fire.

Standing proudly atop his black horse against the endless snowfield, he looked like a flame that had suddenly blossomed upon the white earth.

But he was the only thing that stood out.

There was no imperial carriage.

Nothing dangerous in sight.

Just as he turned his horse to leave—

“Over here! Here! It’s over here! There really is a child!”

Jo Yeong jumped up and down while calling for Ju Jeokseo.

The man’s brows furrowed at the noisy display.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would there be a child here?”

“I’m serious! Hurry and come see!”

Unable to ignore the frantic shouting any longer, Ju Jeokseo reluctantly walked over.

And there…

There truly was.

“…What…”

A tiny little girl.

Lying on the pure white snow as though she had been abandoned.

Wearing clothes embroidered with the Imperial Palace’s crest…

With neither a single guard nor even a fur blanket to cover her body.

Without hesitation, Ju Jeokseo approached and touched her frozen cheek.

Fortunately…

She was still breathing.

“Her breathing is weak.”

So faint…

So fragile…

As though it might stop at any moment.

If nothing was done immediately, she would die here.

Just how long had she been abandoned in this freezing place?

Had he not come…

She surely would have died here before tomorrow’s sunrise.

Without another thought, he reached out toward the child.

“Is this a trap?”

Or…

Had they simply thrown her away to die?

Knowing how deeply the beastfolk of the Southern Lands hated the central kingdom and the Imperial Palace…

Leaving behind a child dressed in imperial clothing…

Judging from everything, the latter seemed far more likely.

Just as Ju Jeokseo carefully lifted the child’s frozen body into his arms—

The little girl slowly forced open her frozen eyelids.

At that instant…

Ju Jeokseo’s eyes met those of the tiny baby snake.

***

An unfamiliar voice.

An unfamiliar embrace.

Surrounded by nothing but strangers…

Baeksa struggled to open her eyes.

Through her fading vision, she saw a man with dark crimson hair.

Hair as red as blazing fire.

Eyes burning the same brilliant crimson.

The moment she saw him…

She immediately recognized who the man holding her was.

“Ah… the Vermilion Bird Clan…”

The ones who had incurred the Emperor’s wrath.

The rulers of the abandoned Southern Lands.

The kings of the Southern Territory.

Baeksa had heard bits and pieces about the people who lived here.

She had heard that the Vermilion Bird Clan, once one of the great pillars supporting Haeseo Kingdom, still remained in these lands.

Then…

Is this man one of the Vermilion Bird Clan?

She wanted to ask.

But she couldn’t.

Opening her eyes had already exhausted the last of her strength.

Even blinking had become difficult.

Through her blurry vision, the girl silently stared at the man’s flame-like hair.

Just like that fiery hair…

His hands were warm like fire.

With his large hand, the man gently cupped her cheek, slowly melting away the cold that had frozen her body.

“It’s warm…”

It had been so long since she had felt another person’s warmth.

And this warmth…

It was the warm flame she had encountered at the very end of her life.

Because of that…

She no longer wanted to die.

“I want to live…”

She wanted to live.

Just like the childish dream she once had—

To quietly survive, leave the palace someday, and live happily.

She didn’t care if she had to beg because she had no money for food.

She didn’t care if she had to sleep beneath a bridge because she had nowhere else to go.

The dream she believed she had abandoned long ago rekindled inside her heart like a tiny spark.

And so…

The girl decided to do something she never would have done before.

“…Ple…”

Using every last ounce of strength she had, Baeksa stared straight into the man’s eyes.

“Please… save me…”

His hands were so warm.

They felt warm enough to completely melt away her frozen cheeks.

And if someone possessed warmth like this…

“Maybe…”

“Maybe… just for one more week…”

He might save her.

That foolish hope rose once again inside the girl’s heart.

The tears she thought had long since dried up overflowed once more from the warmth she encountered at the end of her life.

A single tear rolled slowly down her round cheek.

Without even thinking to wipe away her tears or stop crying, Baeksa desperately grabbed the sleeve of the man who burned like fire.

“Please…”

Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.

Yet it was clear.

Looking up at him with all the desperation in her heart, Baeksa pleaded,

“I want to live…”

The moment those words left her lips…

Her tiny eyelids slowly closed.

Her hand slipped weakly away.

Her little body went limp in the man’s sturdy embrace.

Then, the very next instant—

Whoosh!

Someone hurriedly draped a large fur blanket over Baeksa’s tiny body.

The blanket was so large and warm…

It could have wrapped her little body several times over.