“You’d better be prepared if you dare to say there’s no improvement.”
The young emperor let out a sly, unpleasant smile. His hand lightly brushed the bead curtain as if tickling the woman’s waist.
The glass beads clinked softly as they struck one another. Yet even at that sound, the person behind the curtain did not move in the slightest.
After taking the pulse of the slender wrist, the royal physician lowered his head with a heavy expression.
“…Your Majesty, I believe it would be best to seek another method. Perhaps requesting help from the beastfolk of the south—”
At the words “beastfolk of the south,” the emperor’s brow twitched.
Because there was only one group that fit that description.
Anyone in the Hae-seo Kingdom knew that the current emperor despised them to an extreme degree.
Realizing he had disturbed the emperor’s mood, the physician squeezed his eyes shut.
“Ask the beastfolk of the south for help… That’s quite a good idea.”
The emperor abruptly rose and approached the physician, stopping right in front of him and looking down with a cold expression.
“Then those wretches, who can’t even heal themselves and are barely clinging to life, will come running gladly to treat her, won’t they?”
“…I beg your forgiveness.”
“That’s enough.”
The emperor turned away. Just as the physician let out a sigh of relief, the emperor casually asked:
“What happened to that child?”
At once, a court attendant standing to the side replied quickly,
“She remains the same as before.”
“I expected as much. What about the preparations I ordered?”
“They are nearly complete. Departure should be possible soon.”
“Good.”
The emperor spoke while fixing the attendant with a sharp, blade-like gaze.
“When everything is ready, remove it from the imperial palace.”
His dragon-like eyes flashed viciously, as if he could kill or erase anything at will.
“It seems her presence is preventing her from waking.”
Anything ominous must be cleared away.
He would remove all such things and leave only what was good, so that she could awaken.
Having finished speaking, the emperor immediately turned and left.
Soon after, a rough gust of wind swept in from somewhere, extinguishing the candles in a single breath.
At the same time, the hanging bead curtain swayed faintly.
“Really?”
“I’m telling you! They’ve almost finished preparing already.”
“No way… No matter what, would he really be that heartless…? He has dragon blood, after all.”
“You think he wouldn’t? He didn’t even give her a name!”
“But if she goes there, she’ll die, won’t she?”
“He’s sending her to die. If a dragon kills its own child directly, it brings divine punishment.”
The attendants whispered among themselves in hushed voices, constantly on guard in case someone might overhear.
They had no choice—if anyone heard this conversation, they could be dragged away and executed on the spot.
Fortunately for them, only one person had heard it.
‘So it’s almost finished.’
It was Baeksa, transformed into a snake.
She hid behind the bushes.
If it were discovered that she had come outside her quarters, she would be scolded—but she had no choice.
Although it seemed to be common knowledge that Baeksa would soon leave the imperial palace, no one had told her directly.
Quietly reflecting on the attendants’ words, Baeksa thought with a sad expression:
‘If a dragon kills its own child, it receives divine punishment…’
That was indeed true. As was widely known, dragons could not directly kill their own offspring.
Moreover, dragons could not kill one another either. They were beastfolk blessed with the power of the heavenly gods.
It was a kind of restriction placed upon a powerful race.
But Baeksa could not understand.
Was abandoning someone to die not the same as killing them?
‘If that’s the case, then this so-called divine punishment is really strange…’
Just as Baeksa lowered her head and was about to return to her quarters—
“Hey, look at me!”
A familiar voice rang out from afar.
It was Yeoryun, her other half-sibling. She possessed a pure white dragon pearl and was dearly cherished by the emperor.
At the sound of Yeoryun’s voice, the attendants who had been whispering quickly dispersed.
Afraid of being seen, Baeksa flattened herself beneath the bushes instead of returning.
Soon, through the thick foliage, Yeoryun appeared, dressed in beautiful clothes.
Above her head floated a small, glowing orb.
That was the dragon pearl.
‘A dragon pearl…’
Something every dragon should have.
Something Baeksa, a white snake, did not.
Those with dragon pearls could use blessing-type powers, summon rain from clear skies, and even command the wind to move ships.
It was, in essence, the foundation for wielding the omnipotent power of the heavenly gods.
As the white orb shimmered, rain began to fall from the clear sky, dampening the ground around Yeoryun in a perfect circle. She had used her ability.
The attendants gasped as her beautiful clothes became wet in the drizzle, but Yeoryun paid no attention and burst into cheerful laughter.
The rain-soaked white pearl sparkled like a jewel beneath the clear sky.
Watching her, envy flickered in Baeksa’s eyes.
‘I thought I wouldn’t feel jealous anymore.’
She had decided not to desire what she could never have.
She thought she wouldn’t feel envious, even seeing something like that…
But the heart could not be controlled. The feeling surged in before she could stop it.
Especially since Yeoryun’s pearl was more precious than any other in the imperial family.
A pure white dragon pearl.
In the Hae-seo Kingdom, white was considered an auspicious and fortunate color. It was also the reason Baeksa had barely managed to stay alive in the palace.
…And also why she had been cast out the moment her body turned black.
In such a kingdom, it was only natural that Yeoryun, who possessed a white pearl, was loved.
Those who saw her believed she might become the legendary “White Dragon.”
If that happened, the Hae-seo Kingdom would enjoy endless glory and prosperity.
Moreover, Yeoryun was closely tied to another legend: that dragons are born in the lowest places.
Because her mother had been a slave.
Taking all of that into account, the beastfolk praised Yeoryun as someone destined to become a magnificent dragon.
Once, Baeksa had envied that deeply.
A White Dragon from legend—just imagining it sounded magnificent.
But—
‘I won’t feel that way anymore…’
It had nothing to do with someone who would soon be cast out of the imperial family.
So she would neither be sad nor envious.
Ignoring the ache in her heart, Baeksa returned to her quarters.
The small snake slithered away, her back looking especially small and pitiful.
A few days later.
Two attendants entered Baeksa’s room without a word and took hold of the child’s hands.
They filled a large bath and washed her roughly, then dressed her in the cleanest clothes she had.
Her opinion did not matter in the process. The two never even properly looked into her eyes.
As if they were merely completing a task, they silently bathed and dressed her.
The girl quietly entrusted her body to their hands, watching their faces.
They were unfamiliar.
The ones who usually brought her food and bathed her were different people.
‘And there are two of them.’
There were three attendants assigned to her, but they worked in shifts and never came together.
Because of that, Baeksa understood instinctively, without needing to hear anything.
‘It’s today.’
The day His Majesty had spoken of.
And the day she had been waiting for…
‘It was true.’
That they were going to throw her away.
After she was fully dressed, one attendant glanced at her and said,
“Follow me.”
Before the child could respond, she turned and began walking. Holding up the hem of her clean clothes so they wouldn’t get dirty, Baeksa hurried after her with small, careful steps.
As she stepped outside, the sight of the place she had lived in filled her eyes.
A shabby, worn-down residence.
An overgrown yard left untended.
A long corridor that echoed with every step.
A dried-up pond.
It had been a lonely and desolate place, but it had sheltered her until now.
But this was the end.
‘Goodbye.’
After today, she would never return—and she wouldn’t even be allowed to miss it.
After bidding a final farewell to the place she had lived, Baeksa followed behind the attendant, who did not wait for her and continued ahead briskly.