On a frigid, desolate stretch of earth, a small snake—abandoned and alone—blinked its eyes.
Cold…
The young snake knew all too well where it had been cast aside.
The southern lands of Haseoguk.
A cursed region where black rain fell every day, and anyone who set foot there was said to never return alive. Among those lands, this place—where she now lay—was the most polluted of all.
Though she had been abandoned in such a dreadful place, she felt no resentment.
Because being discarded… was her own fault.
The small snake, Baeksa, struggled to lift her head and look down at her body.
Once, her scales had been as white as snow.
Now, they were stained black.
A pitch-dark body that did not suit the name Baeksa—“White Snake”—in the slightest.
This grotesque form was the very reason she had been thrown away.
“It’s no longer of any use.”
“Take it to the southern lands and dispose of it.”
Because she had become something that could no longer be used in any way.
Her body had not always been like this.
There was a time when Baeksa truly lived up to her name—pure and unblemished.
But everything changed in the year she turned seven, when she awakened her innate ability—an “ability” unique to beastfolk.
The small snake exhaled faintly as she watched the black snow drift down, recalling that day—
The moment her power first manifested.
Baeksa was born a snake under the Emperor of Haseoguk—a member of the dragon race.
Unlike her dragon siblings, she had no beautiful horns, nor a radiant dragon pearl.
Worse still, she had not manifested the “ability” that all beastfolk were born to use as naturally as breathing.
Because of that, some whispered that it must be due to her mother’s lowly origins.
But Baeksa’s mother was a forbidden subject—nothing about her was known or could be known.
In such circumstances, there was only one thing Baeksa understood:
That she had been born a snake—an omen of misfortune.
And that a white snake was not a welcome existence in the imperial family.
“A snake? How could a snake be born in the imperial family…?”
“Is it truly His Majesty’s bloodline?”
Since dragons were naturally born from dragon beastfolk, no one could believe the birth of a snake.
Thus, the imperial family of Haseoguk regarded Baeksa as a great disgrace.
A blemish that had appeared without warning upon an emperor who could afford none.
For that reason, the emperor did not even give her a name.
In Haseoguk, it was tradition for the emperor to personally name his children.
While her siblings received names befitting dragons at birth, Baeksa went nameless for seven years.
“She,” “white snake,” “little snake,” “that worthless thing”—those were the names she was called.
Even so, the child did not mind.
She believed that being allowed to live—despite being the empire’s disgrace—was a great mercy in itself.
Then, in the year she turned seven—
“The princess has awakened her ability!”
“But… the ability is—”
Contrary to everyone’s expectations that she would never awaken one, she did.
But what she gained was not the dragon race’s power of “Blessing.”
“No! My power! My blessing—this lunatic thing devoured it!”
“I—I didn’t mean to…!”
“Help! Nurse! Aaaah! Help me!”
Her ability was Absorption.
It manifested when she devoured the power of Prince Songra, who had been tormenting her.
Baeksa’s ability was a greedy and terrifying power that consumed anything in its path.
Terrified and at a loss, the child was soon seized by soldiers and dragged before the emperor.
She knelt before her father, trembling like a criminal.
Instinctively, she knew—this power was not something to be welcomed.
As expected, the emperor looked at her and smiled faintly.
It was not the expression of a father pleased by his daughter’s awakening.
“I had been planning to throw you into the southern lands soon.”
The child flinched.
The southern lands—where the exiled Vermilion Bird clan ruled, and where the ancient divine dragon’s curse lingered.
No one who entered ever returned alive.
And he had intended to abandon her there.
Tears welled in her wide eyes.
Seeing this, the emperor spoke as if he had been waiting.
“But I’ve changed my mind. If you work for me from now on, I will postpone that decision.”
“What will you do? Be exiled south and die? Or remain in this palace and serve your father?”
“I—I’ll stay. I want to serve Your Majesty.”
She looked up at him with frightened eyes.
I’ll do anything. Whatever it is…
So please… don’t cast me out.
Pleased with her answer, the emperor finally gave her a name.
Baeksa—“White Snake.”
A name given merely to distinguish her from the dragon-blooded royals.
Still, Baeksa was happy.
She had a name.
That meant she finally had a purpose in this imperial family.
That meant she could prove her worth.
From that day on, once every day, the emperor would blindfold Baeksa and take her somewhere.
There, he would place someone’s hand in hers and order her to absorb the energy within their body.
She obeyed.
She never removed the blindfold, nor wondered who the hand belonged to.
Because her father had told her not to ask.
Her role was simply to do as she was told.
“Lady Baeksa, it is time to go to the annex palace.”
And so, though she traveled back and forth, she knew nothing about the owner of that hand.
Only that it was soft, with long fingers—and that it never once moved while she held it.
But it was not a corpse.
It was warm.
Sometimes, it even carried a pleasant scent—strangely nostalgic, as though she had smelled it before.
But that must have been her imagination.
After all, she had lived her entire life isolated from others.
As time passed—
After she began absorbing energy, subtle changes appeared in her body.
Black spots formed on her pure white scales.
And the more she used her ability, the larger those stains grew.
Until they slowly consumed her entire body.
Even as her body changed, Baeksa could not neglect the task given to her.
Because it was the only reason she had not been cast out.
But when the black consumed her completely—
When she was no longer a pure white snake, but a pitch-black, ominous one—
She could no longer use her ability.
She could absorb nothing—neither blessings nor curses.
It was as though her body had reached its limit.
And when the emperor learned this—
“Dispose of it.”
Without hesitation, he ordered her to be thrown into the southern lands.
His voice held not a trace of affection for the daughter he had raised.
And so—
She was abandoned here.
Now.
Tears dripped from the eyes of the blackened baby snake.
If I had been just a little more useful… would I not have been abandoned?
What were those energies I absorbed, that turned me into this?
And… what will happen to the owner of that hand without me…?
Countless thoughts rose and fell within her mind.
She curled herself into an even smaller shape.
Instinctively, Baeksa knew her death was near.
Since being abandoned, the polluted energy of the land had been pouring endlessly into her body.
Those who absorbed too much of it died.
And she had already reached her limit.
Soon, her body would give out.
If I had known this would happen…
If she had known it would end like this, she would not have tried so hard to earn recognition.
Her father, who gave her a trivial, worthless name—
Yet even that had made her happy.
She wanted to do anything she could.
She believed that someday, she would be acknowledged… that she would become a true member of the imperial family.
But now she understood.
That was impossible from the moment she was born a snake.
Some hearts could not be changed—no matter how hard one tried.
The small snake closed her eyes.
She had no strength left to run or struggle.
All she could do was wait.
For the end that was approaching.
As her vision dimmed and strength left her body—
Something small and black appeared before her eyes.
What… is that…?
It looked like a dragon’s pearl.
Something she could never possess.
Something she had longed for more than anyone else.
With the last of her strength, the little snake lifted her gaze toward the orb.
And in the next moment—
It flashed with white light and swallowed her whole.
Before she could even understand what she had seen, her vision went dark.
And thus—
Her short life came to an end.
After the baby snake’s heart completely stopped
The energies of all creation flowed into the orb, and the polluted land around it briefly began to return to its original state.
But the change lasted only for a moment.
So fleeting—
That no one ever witnessed it.