Chapter 13 (1/2)

TL: pineapples

ED: sid

****

“Young Miss, you’ve been playing with that for the past few weeks now”

I’m not playing with it. It’s just that this thing won’t listen to me.

“You have to sleep now. You can play with that tomorrow.”

Really, I’m not playing with it. But I laid down on the mattress obediently.

“Got it. Nanny, sleep well.”

“Sweet dreams, Young Miss.”

Seoyoung quietly left after turning off the lights.

I dove under the sheets.  Waiting until the footsteps receded, I suddenly sat up.  I flicked at the twig which was near the bed with my finger.

“Baekha, are you really not going to listen to me?”

I had named the branch Baekha and had been experimenting with it for the last month. Even though I didn’t know anything else about it, the results confirmed one thing.

This thing was a pervert.

Though unbelievable, it was the truth. I was even sure that this thing was not just a pervert, but a sadistic pervert. From the very beginning, the old grandpa’s advice to let go if you wanted to stop giving it energy wasn’t feasible.

Once I started feeding it power, I couldn’t let go of the branch. Like it had stuck to me like glue. The branch took my energy to its heart’s content until I begged it to stop. I yelled at it and threatened to burn it up, but none of my methods worked. It only listened when I begged.

It looked like the branch enjoyed it when I begged. This thing even blocked off where I slept. I was sure that I had left it at my feet before I went to bed. But I wondered how it ended up on my pillow when I woke up. This was an obvious provocation and the challenge to authority was clear.

I glared at Baekha. Do you think of me, your owner, as nothing?

What did the old grandpa say? Don’t pamper it.

Since I practiced everyday, my powers had increased. So I resolved to discipline this guy right

now.

“Fine, if you like stuffing your face like that, I’ll feed you until you throw up.”

Grabbing Baekha, I began to feed it energy. As the cold energy entered violently, the branches turned white. At the same time, the ambient temperature dropped significantly. Time passed.

The usual amount of energy I normally gave it had been exceeded long ago. Nevertheless, this pervert continued to be obstinate. A cold sweat began to flow from my forehead. I felt empty like I had a small hole somewhere in my lower stomach. I soon became dizzy and thought that I would faint.

‘Oh?’

It was then. The energy which had been flowing in like a sponge absorbing water gradually stopped. Then the energy began to pour out.

‘Hehe, you must be full?’

Concentrating, I pushed out all the remaining I had.

When the Baekha vomited the energy out, I absorbed it again and forced it back inside him. After a long tussle, I felt something for sure. It was the fact that Baekha had submitted to me.

If it had endured a bit longer, I would have lost. But I won.

“Hmmph! If you don’t listen to me, I’ll beat you up… huk, huk!”

A white fog exited my lips. My dantian was empty and I couldn’t even speak. My hands and feet were cold and my sweat turned into small beads of ice and fell down.

“I’m.. not tired… I’m just a little…sleepy.”

I dropped my head. In the rapidly blurring view, I saw a flower at the end of Baekha.

The flowers were in full bloom.

* * * *

Baekha’s flowers had bloomed beautifully. A moment later, an ice flower that gave out a transparent light, fell.

“Woo-.”

I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

I figured out that once Baekha absorbed a lot of cold energy, a flower would bloom. But that wasn’t the end.

If I kept feeding more cold energy to Baekha, an ice flower would form above the regular flower. Neatly separated as well.

The ice flowers gave off a transparent and ecstatic glow, like diamonds.

It was cold enough that I could feel the cold when I went near it, but it did not melt when I touched it by hand. And as to how hard it was… I hit it with a stone, but it didn’t scratch it.

These were the 10,000 Flowers that the grandpa had mentioned. It’s true that they were worth more than any treasure.

I love you, nameless grandpa. I hope you live a long life.

So whenever I had a chance, I made ice flowers and kept them.

The more energy it was fed, the more ice flowers bloomed. So my dantian was often empty these days.Whenever my dantian was empty, I felt dizzy and cold. But at the same time I felt proud when I thought about the future.

“Hehehe.”

“Young Miss?”

I must have laughed evilly. Seoyoung looked at me curiously. I wiped that expression off my face and put a bag full of ice flowers in my arms.

“Where is the sogyoju?”

Not long ago, I had to persistently ask Seoryoung why my eyes had changed color and why I had powers.