âIâm afraid I wonât be able to see you. Iâm the most afraid of that in the world.â
ââŚâŚ.â
âYour father was just scared, not angry. Why would I be angry when my daughter dealt with the situation wiser than anyone else? Iâm proud of you.â
The childâs cheeks turned red at the Cheonmaâs gentle words.
Cheonma carefully brushed the childâs cheek, which had a wound left.
âDoes it hurt?â
âIt just looks like this. It doesnât hurt at allâ.
âThis hurts me though.â
The child slowly shut his mouth.
Tears quickly filled her eyes.
âIâm sorryâŚI wonât do that again. I donât like my dad getting hurt. Donât get hurt.â
The child sniffled and hung onto Cheonmaâs neck. She whispered for him to not get hurt, begging for forgiveness for a mistake she didnât commit.
Unable to win against that, Cheonma wiped away the tears of the child that were rolling down her face.
It was only his fingertips that had her tears on it, but why did his own heart feel so heavy?
It was the first time in my life that he was told not to get hurt.
It felt very strange to hear words that I had never heard from anyone from his childâs mouth.
Cheonma patted the childâs back.
âYouâre the only one who can cause me pain.â
âSo, Lihua, donât get sick.â
The child nodded with her lips tightly shut.
Immoogi quietly watched the father and daughter.
***
As soon as I came out of the tent, Immoogi suddenly asked.
âIs Master the Master of Cheonma?ââ
âWhat are you talking about? I said he was my dad.â
âWhy are you close to your dad?ââ
I think I know what heâs talking about. Male snakes leave after mating with females.
âIn general, human parents stay by their childrenâs side until they are fully grown up.â
There are a lot of people who donât.
I stroked Immoogiâs head while recalling the memories of my previous life.
âYou just donât remember because he left before you were born. But you also had a father. Although he was forced to leave you, he must still be missing you somewhere.â
âIn my momâs stomach?â
âYour mom ate your⌠dad?â
âYes.â
After mating, there are species that eat males to accumulate nutrients. I didnât know snakes would do that either.
It would be weird to offer my congratulations and ask them if they enjoyed it.
I had nothing to say, so I shut up.
Immoogi continued with a relieved look.
âYour dad, no, Cheonma is strong. Heâs stronger than the old humans I saw earlier. Heâs the strongest human Iâve ever seen.â
âBut?â
âBut he couldnât say anything to Master, I thought Master made him your subordinate.â
âNo, itâs not because heâs a subordinate, but because he loves me.â
âWhatâs love?â
âItâs when you cherish a person. Rather than seeing the other person hurt, you would rather want to be hurt in their place. If thereâs something delicious, they want to give it to you. And when they see you eating, they feel full.â
âIs that a sickness?â
Immoogi distorted his forehead as if those thoughts were terrible.
For him, it wasnât even enough food to eat by himself but to actually give away oneâs food. It would be impossible for him unless he was crazy.
It was strange to teach human emotions to an old snake, so I just laughed.
âAnyway, as long as heâs not your subordinate. I donât want to compete with other guys.â
ââŚâŚ?â
I was confused by his words but I tilted my head and said,
âBy the way, you can go now.â
âWhere?â
âAnywhere you wantâ
âAre you coming with me?ââ
âWhy should I go with you? Iâm saying Iâll let you go.â
Thanks to him, I escaped easily and wasnât scolded as much. However, raising him was a big problem.
I donât know whatâs going to happen to me so how can I take responsibility for other lives?
âLive freely. Itâs really easy for you to be scammed, so go to places where thereâs no humansâ
I thought he would like it, but Immoogiâs face hardened.
âYou lured me and now you want me to leave?ââ
âWhat? When did I lure you?â
âYou first gave me something to eat and then touched me!ââ
A servant in front of Cheonmaâs bedroom suddenly lowered his head.
I was surprised and covered Immoogiâs mouth.
âHey hey hey if anyone hears that, theyâll misunderstand. I gave it to you because I thought you would be hungry. I didnât give it to you to touch you!â
Immoogi shook off my hand and screamed.
âLies! There is no creature in the world that would feed someone without reasonâ.
If I didnât feed you, I would have been the one who went into your mouth, not dried persimmons!
But I shut my mouth. If I say that, Cheonma would hear me.
I pulled on Immoogiâs hand and moved far away from Cheonmaâs quarters.
âItâs an order. Leave.â
âI donât want to.â
â⌠Are you violating your masterâs order?ââ
âYeah, I donât think I need to listen to that.â
âHow can a subordinate pick a command to listen to?â
âIf you abandon me, youâre not my Master. Then I donât have to listen to you.â
It was strangely logical. I tried to nod without realizing it.
âIâm not kidding. If youâre next to me, youâll only suffer. Do you still want to stay? You might die or get hurt later.â
âWill you give me dried persimmons?ââ
â⌠Do you like them that much?ââ
âWill you pat me if I get hurt?ââ
âIf you get hurt, I willâŚthatâs not whatâs important!â
âThatâs all that matters.â
What do you mean thatâs all that matters?
I stared at Immoogi and changed my approach.
Something seems wrong with the medicine given by the Poison grandpa.
Why does it work intermittently?
âI should get an antidote and feed it to him.â
Until then, I should give him a name as Cheonma said. I canât call him a snake.
What would be good?
âThen promise not to eat people without my permission. Then Iâll think about it.â
âOkay.â
âLetâs go out now. My dad has a good ear, so he hears everything from afar. If we stay here, he mightâŚhe might hear that you were going to eat me.â
.
âWhat? I said that I wouldnât eat you.â
âNo matter how much youâre my subordinate, he wonât forgive you for that. They love me so much that he would get rid of anything that threatens me.â
âEven though I didnât even hurt you?â
âYes, even if you didnât hurt me.â
âHe must be really sick in the head. Okay I got it.â
When I left Cheonmaâs Palace while soothing Immoogi, a thunderous roar erupted.
The elders, including disciples of the elders, flocked to us without a moment.
âMy lady defeated Immoogi!â
âShe is the only one who could subdue such a monsterâ.
Before I knew it, I became a six-year-old child who had subdued Immoogi.
âWho said this ridiculous rumor?ââ
I stood from afar and glared at the elders who were happily watching. The elders, who seemed to avoid my gaze, showed off their proud faces. Like they were the ones who did it.
âOh my! Grandfathers!â
Immoogi, which had only been watching, jumped up and turned into its true appearance. Then he snatched me and threw me on top of him.
The masters who saw this scene cheered and went wild.
âHooray for the sect! Hooray for the Sect Master! Hooray for Young Miss! Hooray for Immoogi!â
âOooowahwah!â
The elders raised their thumbs up at me from afar. It seems that they thought I intentionally did this.
I heard a different sound as if air was directly shaking in my ears.
â Can I eat those humans?
âWhat? You promised not to eat humans!ââ
Those humans attacked Master.
âThey didnât attack me! Itâs a way to show that they like me!â
â I thought Master was in danger and so saved you.⌠Then you wonât give me dried persimmons?
âYou ate a lot!ââ
-But⌠You said youâd give me dried persimmons if I act nice.
âŚâŚ Was he a reincarnated soul who died while eating dried persimmons in his previous life?
âDid you do that because you really thought I was in danger? Is it because you want to eat dried persimmons?â
â Yeah.
He was just like Baekha.
Just as Baekha sees me as her own energy bank, he sees me as a dried persimmon warehouse.