Dawn broke, and Bido opened her eyes.
This time, her breath hadn't caught in her throat.
The nightmares were no more.
Instead, her body felt strangely heavy.
Bido lowered her gaze.
Raen was pressed up close beside her,
and a thick tail was draped over Bido's waist and stomach.
Like a blanket.
Bido thought for a moment.
If she moved now, it seemed Raen would wake.
So,
she decided to lie still a little longer.
Then Miryeong rose from the adjacent bed.
"Yaaawn..."
Miryeong wiped moisture from the corners of her eyes,
and looked down at Bido and Raen.
For a moment,
a smile brushed her lips.
"...The tail doubles as a blanket, too."
Swallowing her laughter, Miryeong opened the door and left.
Shortly after,
Raen stirred and opened her eyes.
Raen paused briefly upon seeing Bido awake,
then quickly put on a relieved expression.
"Ah... Bido."
"Did you sleep well?"
Bido answered.
"Yeah. Raen."
Raen hastily pulled her tail back and coughed dryly.
Raen was silent for a while.
As if waiting for the air in the room to fully settle.
Then she glanced at Bido and spoke.
"...Being stuck close to you like this."
Raen's eyes briefly grew distant.
"It makes me think of my little sibling. I like it."
The end of her sentence trailed slightly downward.
Too brief to be called a sad expression,
yet too lingering to say it meant nothing,
it was undeniably a face that left its mark.
But Raen immediately smiled again.
"Didn't you have a younger sibling or an older sister, Bido?"
The answer didn't come immediately to Bido.
"Ah... I..."
She opened her mouth,
then closed it again.
The word 'family' rolled unfamiliarly inside her mouth.
Bido lowered her gaze and spoke quietly.
"...The only one worth calling family,"
"was my Master."
Raen's smile slowed slightly.
"...Ah. Really?"
When Raen asked no more,
Bido's thoughts instead began to flow on their own.
Master.
Aslo was not someone to whom the word 'father' could be attached—
too taciturn,
and hid too many things.
Even so, he always stood before her first.
And Miryeong.
Though her voice calling out to Bido was always rough,
there were moments when she noticed Bido's condition before anyone else.
Bido thought that if she had had an older sister,
it might have been like that.
Mendel, too.
Even though Bido had hurt her,
she was someone who asked first if Bido was okay.
'So this is...'
Bido rolled the word 'family' only in her mind.
Raen quietly watched that silence,
then suddenly clapped her hands with a smack.
"Bido!"
Raen's face brightened as if none of that had ever happened.
"Let's go eat breakfast!"
Bido briefly lost her train of thought at that bright voice,
then smiled faintly.
"...Sure."
—
When she opened the door,
cold air brushed her face.
The morning in Eunwoldan began not with sunlight,
but with the stirrings of people.
From afar came the sound of clattering dishes,
boiling water,
and brief laughter and low voices flowing along the stone walls.
Raen stepped outside first and whipped her head around.
"Hurry up. If you're late, I'll eat everything, got it?"
Instead of answering, Bido looked back into the room once more.
Where Miryeong had left, the blanket was half-tangled,
and that ordinary sight strangely lightened her heart.
Bido closed the door and followed after Raen.
—
The dining hall was already warm.
The lanterns hanging on the stone walls still retained some of the night's warmth,
and from somewhere, steam from a boiling pot slowly drifted out.
Before she could even sit, Erdin spoke first.
"Bido, please eat lots."
Bido nodded and looked at the table.
The meal was different from their usual simple one.
Instead of hard, sour bread,
there sat wheat bread that looked freshly baked.
Lightly toasted on the outside, it gave off a savory aroma,
and the inside looked soft enough to sink in at the press of a finger.
And instead of dried jerky,
a stew with fairly large chunks of meat was steaming.
The broth was thick,
and inside floated several large pieces of root vegetables alongside the meat.
Miryeong held a roasted bird leg in one hand and tore off a bite, speaking casually.
"They prepared this for us, apparently. Eat up."
Before Raen was a pile of fruits that looked freshly picked at a glance.
Apples with a lively gloss on their peels,
small, well-ripened berries with a rich fragrance,
and a fruit with soft flesh that seemed like it would stick to one's hand.
Raen's eyes sparkled as she spoke.
"Wow. Thanks for the food!"
Bido looked at the plate before Raen and tilted her head.
"But why does Raen only have fruit?"
Erdin smiled, looking slightly troubled.
"Ah... the Dullam can't eat meat."
Raen crunched—
and took a bite,
speaking with her mouth full.
"Yeah! We only eat fruit or... greens!"
Bido snickered at the way she said it.
Then she carefully picked up the wooden spoon and scooped up some stew.
Bido looked around as she ate.
The atmosphere was brighter than expected.
So much so that the events of just yesterday felt somewhat distant.
People moved about busily,
dishes came and went,
and laughter spread in small ripples.
Bido found it strange.
Even though this was a hidden place,
it was a place alive.
It was when she had nearly finished her meal.
She sensed someone approaching her.
It was Mendel.
She paused her gaze on Bido for a moment.
Her black hair disheveled as always.
And in Mendel's hand was a comb.
When Bido finished eating, Mendel approached from behind.
Mendel placed her hand on the back of Bido's chair,
and had Bido scoot slightly toward the end of the table.
"Bido. Please stay just like that for a moment."
Bido was slightly bewildered, but the tone was so natural
that she sat still as she was.
Soon, Mendel slid in the comb.
Each time the comb teeth passed through her hair, they caught on tangled knots,
and a few strands were pulled, stinging slightly.
Bido instinctively flinched, then endured it.
Strangely, she didn't mind it.
Mendel continued combing and spoke.
"You've never... combed your hair before, right?"
At that moment, Miryeong whipped her head around from the side.
Her rough white hair whipped and swayed.
Miryeong swallowed what she was chewing and spat out bluntly,
"Haraya doesn't do that."
Mendel laughed upon hearing that.
"Is that so? Then today is your first time."
With a smiling face, Mendel brought the comb down again.
As Bido's hair was gradually being tidied,
she quietly felt a comfort she couldn't explain the reason for.
Mendel stopped combing and spoke.
"All done. How is it?"
Bido moved her head only slightly.
At that moment, the surrounding gazes focused on her once more.
Her disheveled hair became neat and orderly,
and Bido's ears, always hidden beneath her hair, were revealed.
They resembled Miryeong's ears but were a bit shorter, with less length at the tips.
Rather than unfamiliar—
it was an appearance that made one recall, 'Ah, she always looked like that.'
Miryeong pointed at Bido's head with her chin and spoke.
"That's right. Much better."
"From now on, why don't you just go around with those ears exposed like that."
Raen's eyes sparkled.
"Wow... Bido, you look so much better!"
"Oh! Mendel, me too! Do mine too!"
Mendel smiled brightly and sat Raen down.
This time, she swept the grayish hair back with her hand once and slid in the comb.
Bido felt unfamiliar with her neatened hair and exposed ears.
She briefly wondered where that unfamiliarity came from.
And she slightly parted her lips.
It felt like words were caught in her throat.
But if she let this pass,
she felt she would never be able to ask again.
"Mendel."
Mendel answered without stopping her hands.
"Yes?"
Bido hesitated for a moment.
"By any chance... do you know... what kind of person my mother was."
Her voice trailed off.
"...Mother."
The sound of combing slowed for a brief moment.
Mendel swallowed a breath with an 'Ah...'
and looked at Miryeong.
Upon receiving that gaze, Miryeong
briefly pondered with a 'Hmm...'
Bido did not rush her.
She simply waited.
Miryeong spoke first.
"Mendel wouldn't know."
"It's from before Mendel joined."
Bido carefully asked,
"Then... was she... with Eunwoldan...?"
Then,
a voice came from the direction of the door.
"Your mother was one of Eunwoldan's founding members."
It was Yun.
Miryeong spoke.
"Ah. Yun."
Yun bowed her head to Miryeong in greeting.
"How was it, did you enjoy your meal?"
"Thanks to you, I feasted."
Yun smiled briefly and sat across from Bido.
And after briefly looking at Bido's exposed ears, she continued speaking.
"Your mother's name was Yurna."
"She was... a close friend of mine."
Mendel's hand, which had been combing Raen's hair, paused briefly, then moved again.
Miryeong was silent too.
Yun lowered her gaze for a moment,
then looked at Bido again.
"Yurna intended to return."
"She said she had... something she absolutely had to do upon returning."
Yun's hand slowly reached inside her clothes.
And a small object was carefully taken out.
It was a crescent moon-shaped necklace.
The metal bore an aged silver hue,
and its surface held fine scratches as if worn from long handling.
And yet, strangely, its luster had not died.
Yun spoke.
"It is the token of the Moon Clan."
Bido's eyes grew slightly wider.
Yun placed the necklace on her palm,
and added in a low voice.
"Yurna... someday wanted to place this,"
"with her own hands around your neck."
As those words ended,
the bright sounds of just moments ago seemed to recede for a very brief moment.
Bido's fingertips,
unknowingly, reached toward it.