A large blanket completely covered the child’s tiny body.

She was so small that a single blanket was enough to wrap her from head to toe.

Making sure no cold wind could reach her, Ju Jeokseo bundled her up tightly before standing.

“P-Patriarch…”

Jo Yeong looked at the tiny white-haired girl and asked hesitantly,

“Are you taking her with us?”

At the question, the man’s gaze fell upon the little child.

After a brief silence, he raised his chin and answered,

“Yes.”

“But… she’s wearing clothes from the Imperial Palace…”

Jo Yeong trailed off.

Ju Jeokseo knew exactly what he was trying to say.

Rumors were already spreading that the Emperor had nearly lost his mind because his beloved concubine had yet to awaken.

Bringing back a girl dressed in imperial robes…

…could become the root of future trouble for the Southern Lands.

But…

How could he pretend not to see her?

“I want to live…”

A child who had pleaded so desperately to be saved.

She looked no older than five.

Her hands and feet were frozen stiff, and her thin, emaciated limbs looked as though they could snap with the slightest force.

She had clearly been abandoned here for quite some time.

If they delayed any longer, she would certainly die.

Fortunately, her tiny heart was still beating.

But even that fragile heartbeat could stop at any moment.

Besides…

“White hair…”

Ju Jeokseo gently brushed the child’s snow-white hair with his fingers.

The silky strands slipped through his rough fingertips like drifting snowflakes.

And those white locks…

“Big Brother!”

Reminded him of someone.

Ju Jeokseo simply could not leave this child behind.

If he had found a corpse, that would have been one thing.

But he couldn’t leave a living child here to die.

Especially after what he had seen when their eyes met.

The flame of life still burning inside those round eyes.

The tiny hand that had clung tightly to his sleeve, silently telling him,

I’m still alive.

“I know what you’re trying to say.”

“Patriarch…”

“But that mad Emperor abandoned this child on my land.”

He carefully slipped a warming stone from his robe into the girl’s arms as he quietly continued,

“So now, she belongs to me.”

“I merely picked up something that had been thrown away.”

No one could claim ownership over something they had discarded.

Especially if they had thrown it away on someone else’s territory.

Even that foolish Emperor should understand such a simple truth.

The warming stone he had given her was crafted from Vermilion Bird feathers.

Anyone carrying it would feel as though they were sitting beside a warm fire, no matter where they were.

A soft crimson glow spread across the girl’s chest from the stone.

Watching Ju Jeokseo carefully tuck the warming stone into her blanket, Jo Yeong realized that the Patriarch had already made up his mind.

He nodded.

“You’re right. Surely they won’t complain about something they’ve already thrown away.”

He hurriedly added,

“Besides, the Emperor probably doesn’t even expect this child to still be alive.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Jo Yeong tossed a single Vermilion Bird feather onto the snow.

Whoosh!

A massive pillar of flame erupted instantly.

The fire completely erased every trace of where the child had been lying before dying away moments later.

“Brr… It’s freezing. Let’s hurry back, Patriarch. Goodness, with the snow falling like this, this little one must have been so cold.”

He bustled around like a frantic little bird preparing to leave.

“This child was lucky.”

“She certainly was.”

But whether it was truly the little girl who had been fortunate…

Or himself…

Ju Jeokseo couldn’t say for certain.

Without another word, he climbed onto his horse while holding the child securely in his arms.

Neigh!

The horse pawed the snow before letting out a loud cry and galloping back across the snowy plains.

Racing swiftly like the wind…

The child, experiencing true warmth for the first time in her life…

Shifted ever so slightly in her sleep.

***

Baeksa dreamed.

“You stole it! You’re the one who took it!”

In the dream, Yeoryun glared at Baeksa with a furious expression.

She violently shook an empty silk pouch.

The moment Baeksa saw it, she immediately remembered what this was.

When she had been five years old…

One of Yeoryun’s favorite hair ornaments had gone missing.

It was a beautiful ornament decorated with pink gemstones.

Baeksa had indeed thought it was pretty.

But she had never once touched it.

Still, because Yeoryun had summoned Baeksa to her room the previous day, she immediately accused the little girl.

“Father gave that to me! Something like you has no right to have it!”

Baeksa’s eyes trembled helplessly beneath Yeoryun’s rage.

“N-No…”

She shook her head frantically.

“No, Sister. I really didn’t take it.”

“Liar! You lowly creature! A snake dares covet someone else’s belongings?”

Rather than calming down, Yeoryun only became more enraged.

She transformed into her small snake form and mercilessly stomped and beat Baeksa.

Unable to run away…

Baeksa could only curl herself into the smallest ball possible.

That was the only way she knew how to defend herself.

It had been that way then.

And it was still that way now.

There was still nothing Baeksa could do.

Even after the missing hair ornament was eventually found tucked away beside Yeoryun’s own bed.

Even when her bruised body ached and tears filled her eyes.

There was still…

Nothing Baeksa could do.

She had returned to the past.

But that was all.

Now she no longer expected anything to change.

If someone beat or trampled her…

She would simply curl herself up again.

Then wait…

Desperately praying for the pain to pass.

As Baeksa lay curled up tightly with her eyes squeezed shut, Yeoryun’s voice gradually grew fainter.

Farther…

And farther away.

Soon…

She wouldn’t hear it anymore.

Will I finally feel at peace then?

Just as I’d always wished…

Without pain.

Without sadness.

Baeksa’s body trembled.

Then, at last—

The moment Yeoryun’s voice completely disappeared—

“Gasp!”

Baeksa jolted awake, her face drenched in cold sweat.

“I-It was a dream…”

She had dreamed about Yeoryun.

Yet her entire body hurt as though she had truly been beaten.

“It hurts…”

She couldn’t tell whether it was her body hurting…

Or her heart.

Instinctively curling into herself again, Baeksa suddenly realized that she was lying somewhere unfamiliar.

Her body stiffened.

“W-Where…”

Where is this?

Carefully, she searched through her memories.

Little by little, she remembered being abandoned in the Southern Lands.

Being forced at swordpoint to walk through the snow.

Watching the carriage leave her behind.

Collapsing there alone…

And then—

“I met someone… Ah!”

Someone from the Vermilion Bird Clan.

She remembered crimson eyes looking down at her in her final moments.

And someone gently placing something warm and round against her chest.

Truthfully…

She had thought even that had been part of a dream.

After all…

Who would come to such a desolate place?

And who would ever save someone like her?

But…

Baeksa gently touched the thick, warm quilt covering her.

It was stuffed full of soft cotton.

Just touching it made her feel warm and comfortable.

It was nothing like the blankets she’d used in the Imperial Palace.

There weren’t any worn patches.

No dirty stains.

“Did that person… save me?”

Did he cover her with this blanket…

And lay her down in a warm room?

Still unable to believe it, Baeksa clutched the quilt tightly.

She wasn’t even sure someone like her was allowed to use something so clean and warm.

The thought alone made her feel embarrassed.

Flustered, she hurriedly pushed the quilt aside and tried to climb down onto the bare floor instead.

Just then—

Click.

Creak.

The wooden door slowly opened.

A woman she had never seen before stepped inside.

The moment she saw Baeksa awake, her eyes widened in surprise before she broke into a bright smile.

“Oh my, you’re awake?”