A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 13
‘In two months, the outcome of the martial contest will determine whether she can become my disciple… but I should refrain from mentioning that for now.’
There was no need to burden the little cat with such concerns.
However, I had to make it clear that she could not learn martial arts from me immediately.
“One thing is certain—I am not the master who will teach you martial arts right now.”
“Pardon?”
“I wish to instruct you directly, Seol, but for the time being, Chang Cheon Pavilion’s Lord Nam Goong Ui Gyeol will be your teacher.”
“Pardon?”
Nam Goong Ho had deliberately emphasized the words “for the time being,” yet Hong Seol’s face had already gone pale.
“There is no cause for concern. Ui Gyeol oversees the instruction of the white, black, and crimson as well, and I shall brief him on several matters, so he will teach you well.”
Hong Seol’s expression crumpled as she shook her head.
‘It’s not your skill I’m worried about, Grandfather.’
As if meeting a new dog-kin wasn’t enough, now I had to learn martial arts from him!
My small heart raced frantically.
* * *
Creak.
The door to the Training Ground opened just a crack, and Hong Seol in a blue martial robe peeked through with a tense expression.
Had I arrived too early?
The Training Ground, lined with fine azure stone, was empty.
Save for one person.
Whoosh.
A cool breeze swept across the space and brushed against Hong Seol’s forehead.
The breeze was born from a young man’s sword.
‘That’s not… the Lord of Chang Cheon Pavilion?’
I had been told my training would be one-on-one.
‘Who is this?’
He seemed a few years older than me.
With each swing of his sword, the young man’s lustrous silver hair fluttered alongside his sleeves.
His blue eyes, fixed forward, were steady and unwavering.
‘It’s as if that place exists in a different world.’
I gazed at the unfamiliar young man, utterly entranced.
I had even forgotten that I shouldn’t be watching someone else’s training uninvited.
‘How beautiful…’
His striking appearance was captivating, but what truly seized my attention was his swordwork.
It flowed like a dance, yet when the moment demanded, it cut with unwavering decisiveness.
The state of no-self.
The young man had already transcended into a realm where he and his blade were one, where he forgot himself entirely.
Watching him, my heart began to race.
‘So this is the way of the Nam Goong sword.’
The footwork was light, the blade’s edge weighty.
The constant, seamless transformations made it nearly impossible to follow the sword’s trajectory with the naked eye.
‘Like wind dancing freely across the azure sky.’
At that moment, a brilliant blue aura began to swirl around the tip of the boy’s blade.
‘Just a little more…!’
Hong Seol, watching intently, found her palms growing damp without realizing it.
Even to someone untrained in martial arts like Hong Seol, it seemed the boy was on the verge of reaching a new realm of mastery.
Then.
Abruptly, he halted his movements and lowered his sword.
‘Did he do that on purpose…?’
To stop the sword right before enlightenment.
Hong Seol could not comprehend his actions.
The boy’s blue eyes had grown hollow and vacant, and his arms hung limply at his sides—a stark contrast to the vibrant grace with which he had wielded his blade mere moments before.
In that instant, he appeared profoundly sorrowful.
“Why….”
Hong Seol found herself uttering a word of regret before she could stop herself.
The boy lifted his cool gaze toward Hong Seol.
“Who are you?”
“Ah, I, I am.”
Flustered, Hong Seol glanced around. She wished desperately for somewhere to hide.
The expansive Training Ground held only smooth blue-grey stone—not a single wooden pillar to conceal herself behind.
In that moment, the boy closed the distance between them in an instant.
“Oh!”
Hong Seol gasped in surprise.
One step closer, and she would have caught the scent of fragrant oil from his garments.
“Spying on another’s training is a breach of propriety.”
The boy’s voice emerged calm and measured.
“I, I’m terribly sorry!”
Hong Seol’s face flushed crimson. She bowed her head repeatedly in apology.
“Your swordwork was so beautiful that I couldn’t help myself….”
He offered no particular response to her praise-tinged apology, merely gazing down at her with those blue eyes.
Hong Seol found herself dazed once more.
‘His eyes are like the jewels from ancient tales.’
It was the boy’s voice that pulled the entranced Hong Seol back to reality.
“Now that I think about it, this is strange. This Training Ground is reserved exclusively for direct descendants of the Nam Goong Family—no one else should be able to enter.”
In that moment, they both realized who the other was.
“Ah, so you’re that little one from Chang Cheon Pavilion.”
Hong Seol’s mouth fell open; she could only blink, unable to form words properly.
She managed to squeeze out only three syllables—the name of the person before her.
“Nam, Nam Goong Baek….”
At those words, Nam Goong Baek, the eldest son of the Nam Goong Family, swept his gaze across Hong Seol.
Most people who first recognized him had similar reactions.
They either envied his background and talent, or they awkwardly tried to befriend him.
Which would this little one be?
It was while I was observing the child before my eyes that it happened.
“Oh, Mom!”
“What?”
At this absurd response, Nam Goong Baek furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes.
The child had already scurried away and hidden behind a chair at the edge of the Training Ground.
Yet unable to suppress curiosity, the little head peeked out cautiously.
“How exasperating.”
Just moments ago, the child was mesmerized watching me wield my sword, and now suddenly claiming to be frightened.
Finding the sight amusing, I turned to leave.
“….”
But then a sudden thought crossed my mind, and I looked down at the small child again.
Since I would be staying at the Nam Goong Family Estate, this child needed to clearly understand who I was.
Not knowing would only lead to further entanglements, which would be tiresome for us both.
“You should know who I am. I am of the Nam Goong Family….”
Before my words could finish, Hong Seol hurriedly interjected.
“I know! Nam Goong Baek….”
Again, the proper title that should follow the name was missing.
A small wrinkle formed on Nam Goong Baek’s forehead.
Had the child not yet learned proper etiquette from my grandfather, the Patriarch Nam Goong Ho?
I was about to add something.
“…Senior Brother.”
“What?”
“In, in the martial world, when you serve the same master, you call them Senior Brother.”
Hong Seol was filled with worry.
Not only had I inadvertently witnessed the training, but upon learning who he was, I’d called him by name alone without the proper title….
It seemed Nam Goong Baek would surely see me as an impolite child.
‘I only called the name because I was startled!’
“Since the Master of Chang Cheon Pavilion said he would teach us both, I should properly call you Nam Goong Baek Senior Brother.”
Despite being clearly terrified, the child earnestly explained her own sense of propriety.
“So, ah, I will perform nine bows of respect!”
Moreover, what she was saying made no sense whatsoever.
Nam Goong Baek, who had been silent for a moment, spoke.
“The Nine Bows of Respect are performed between master and disciple.”
“Oh?”
It was then, as Hong Seol’s hands froze in midair, uncertain what to do, that a loud crash echoed from somewhere.
The Training Ground door suddenly burst open.
“First Brother! You were here?”
“That’s too much, brother. Were you having all the fun playing with the little one by yourself?”
Black and Red—the twins had arrived.
Even as his younger siblings rushed toward him with delight, Nam Goong Baek’s expression remained unmoved.
“Oh!”
Seeing Black and Red barreling toward her, Hong Seol instinctively took a step backward.
“We went to Chang Cheon Pavilion, but you weren’t there, so we came running when they said you were at the Training Ground.”
“Sister! Please read us that storybook!”
A storybook?
Now that I thought about it, Red was clutching some sort of tome beneath his arm today.
The moment Hong Seol saw it, her face darkened.
‘I can’t read…’
“This book is so much fun! There are ghost stories in it too.”
“So read it with us. …Huh?”
It was the moment when Black and Red, who had been pestering her relentlessly, sensed something amiss in Hong Seol’s expression.
“What is this commotion in this sacred Training Ground!”
A thunderous voice shook the air around them.
At that commanding presence, Black and Red froze in place as though struck by lightning.
“The, the Master of Chang Cheon Pavilion!”
Hong Seol lifted her head and looked toward the entrance.
A man of unmistakably rugged and imposing build was striding into the Training Ground.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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