chapter 18
Every time it happened, it was Namgung Ho who saved Hongseol.
“Hey, you punks! Seol-ah is still shy around strangers!”
“Ack!”
Just one shout from Namgung Ho sent them scurrying away with their tails tucked—funny and pathetic at the same time.
Even so, the Black and Red brothers would show up again the next day, poking around Changcheon Pavilion.
Hands full of bamboo balls and wooden dolls, looking very much like they simply wanted to play.
When Hongseol saw their innocent, sparkling eyes, she couldn’t truly believe they were bad kids. Maybe just… too curious.
‘They say the dog beastmen of the Namgung Clan are cruel… but that’s not what I heard back at Myogajang.’
Truthfully, Hongseol was curious about the three brothers as well.
Aside from the wicked younger twins of Myogajang, she’d never had any friends her age.
But she was far too timid to run around and play with them freely.
‘If they find out I’m a cat beastman, I’ll be kicked out of the Namgung Clan… so I have no choice. I just have to be careful.’
Hongseol lowered her head with regret.
“Oh? The little one!”
“It really is! Hyung!”
As if summoned by mischief, Namgung Heuk (Black, the second brother) and Namgung Jeok (Red, the youngest) appeared. Somehow, Heuk had a small cloth bundle strapped to his back.
Seeing them made Hongseol jump in fright.
“Mother of mercy!”
She quickly turned around, but it was too late to pretend she hadn’t noticed them.
The two young masters charged toward her with overflowing energy. They approached so enthusiastically that she could almost imagine wagging tails behind them.
“Look at that—we meet again! Fate, huh?”
They lived in the same house—how was that fate?!
Heuk came right up to her and pouted.
“Hey! Why’d you pretend you didn’t see us?”
Her fingertips trembled from nerves, but somehow, Hongseol didn’t want to back down.
Thanks to all her stamina training with the Pavilion Master, she felt a strange boost of confidence.
So she shot back:
“I-I didn’t pretend…”
“You totally pretended just now.”
So sharp!
Hongseol clamped her mouth shut, defeated. The two brothers happily circled around her.
“How come you’re alone today? Finally we get to see your face properly.”
After seeing her clearly, Heuk grinned.
“You’re really cute. Are all little girls like this?”
Jeok shook his head hard.
“No way, Hyung. This nuna is pretty!”
“Is that so.”
They were mischievous, but their nature was kind. Probably because they grew up surrounded by love, lacking nothing.
And being raised by a father who treated their mother like a precious jewel surely had a big influence.
“Father says a man should always make women smile.
So why do you always look so gloomy when you’ve got such a cute face?”
“Exactly!”
Heuk and Jeok were wildly curious about this strange girl.
They’d barely ever seen a girl up close, which only made their curiosity worse.
And she was a cat beastman?!
It was no wonder their eyes sparkled as they tried to get close to her.
But Hongseol—having never been treated kindly by children her age—couldn’t understand their intentions.
She just curled her body up, trembling.
Heuk suddenly asked:
“Hey! Wanna play ball with us?”
“No.”
“Then how about a running race, nuna?”
Also no!
Hongseol vigorously shook her head.
‘If I run freely even a little, my cat ears might pop out before I realize it!’
And then their curiosity would instantly turn to hatred.
Heuk scratched the back of his head.
“Then how about shape-shifting and fetching a stick? …But you’d hate that since you’re a cat, right?”
Right… huh?
Hongseol nodded without thinking—and froze. Her face turned pale.
‘T-they know! They know I’m a cat!’
Her body trembled violently. She raised her head, ready to transform into a cat and jump the wall if they tried to attack.
‘…Huh?’
Strangely, they didn’t show any sign of biting her neck or attacking.
Instead, their faces were full of excitement.
“We figured as much, so we prepared this. Here!”
Heuk opened the cloth bundle and pulled something out—a toy mouse made of fabric.
Several layers of silk thread were braided into a sturdy string attached to a smooth wooden stick.
A toy made unmistakably for cats.
“How about this? Can we play together with this?”
Hongseol stared blankly, tension melting out of her shoulders. Her eyebrows bent like a 八 character as she asked:
“You… you don’t hate me?”
“Hate you? Why would we?”
“Because I’m a cat beastman, and you’re not…”
“That just means playing will be twice as fun!”
Heuk waved the mouse toy in front of her. Hongseol’s eyes followed the toy left and right like a real cat.
“We begged the embroidery master Seebang for three whole days to make this. Hold out your hand.”
Hongseol held out her hand, and he gently placed the mouse in her palm.
“It’s a present. You like it?”
The mouse was sewn from leftover gray fabric used for martial uniforms.
The eyes and nose were little black knots, and the tail was braided leather cords.
“Oh right—we even stitched your name on it!”
At those words, Hongseol’s heart—so full just moments ago—deflated.
‘I… I can’t read…’
They were assuming she could. That’s why they said her name was stitched into it.
Not knowing how to read felt like a mark of being unloved and unwanted.
Her lashes drooped.
“Um… actually, I—”
Before she could finish, Jeok said excitedly:
“Hurry and flip it over, nuna!”
Reluctantly, Hongseol turned the toy over.
“I can’t read—huh?”
There, stitched in fine pink thread, was a snowflake pattern.
Heuk puffed out his chest.
“Even if you don’t read, you’ll know that’s your name, right?”
“Ah…”
Hongseol lightly brushed the delicate embroidery with her fingertips.
Warmth spread through her chest—gentle, careful warmth.
Her neck felt hot like she had a fever, and the tip of her nose stung like she’d just chewed ginger.
“It’s… it’s so pretty. Thank you, young masters.”
“No need to thank us!”
Heuk proudly stuck out his chest.
“Don’t call us ‘young master.’ Call me big brother!”
“And call me Jeok-ah!”
Their cheerful voices made Hongseol’s eyes fill with tears.
“U-um… if it’s all right, here… a thank-you gift…”
She held out both hands to Heuk. Sitting in her palms was a blue silk ribbon.
At some point, one side of her double-braided hair had come loose and was fluttering in the wind.
“I don’t have much I can give…”
Everything she owned—from clothes to toys—belonged to the Namgung Clan, not her.
Seeing the child depressed, Maeran had secretly made new silk ribbons and lied that she traded Hongseol’s old clothes and scraps for them.
Of course, that was a lie. No merchant would ever exchange rags for silk.
But for Hongseol, who didn’t know the truth, the silk ribbon was the only object she felt truly belonged to her.
“It might look plain, but if you do this—”
Her small hands worked busily, and in moments, a chrysanthemum-shaped knot bloomed in her palm.
Maeran had taught her the knot-tying technique bit by bit.
“If you hang it on your waist sash, it’ll look pretty.”
She handed the ribbon knot to Heuk and nervously watched him.
He stared, eyes wide, stroking the knot with his fingertips.
‘D-does he not like it…?’
A young master of the Namgung Clan probably had never lacked anything in his life.
Had she gotten too excited and done something foolish, just because someone her age was nice to her for once…?
