A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 21

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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 21
Silver hair dancing in the wind, eyes of blue.
Anyone who had ever laid eyes upon him could not mistake that appearance.
Nam Goong Jong Woo recognized him just as readily.
“Eek! Y-you’re Nam Goong Baek, Young Master?”
He attempted to correct his posture belatedly, but he was a moment too slow.
Nam Goong Baek’s merciless grip had already seized his ankle with an iron clasp.
“Gasp!”
Nam Goong Baek slowly knelt on one knee. Then a chilling voice pierced Nam Goong Jong Woo’s ears.
“What were you saying just now? A child who received the Nam Goong Family’s grace?”
“….”
“How amusing. I happen to know someone like that as well.”
Nam Goong Jong Woo’s throat bobbed with tension. Witnessing this, Nam Goong Baek’s lips curved into a chilling smile.
“Elder Nam Goong Mu Young, to be precise.”
At those words, Nam Goong Jong Woo’s face flushed crimson.
Elder Nam Goong Mu Young had originally come from the slums. Though it was said his mother bore the Nam Goong surname, it could never be verified.
By fortune, he had been adopted into a cadet branch of the Nam Goong Family that lacked heirs during his childhood. Thus he obtained the Nam Goong name and clawed his way ruthlessly to his current position.
“How strange it is. That one who received the Nam Goong Family’s grace should treat a child of similar circumstances far more harshly. Even his own grandson, no less.”
Seized by fear, Nam Goong Jong Woo shrank into his chair as if melting into it.
Nam Goong Baek slipped shoes onto his feet while whispering.
“Henceforth, do not presume to order the Nam Goong Family’s guests about.”
In that instant, Nam Goong Jong Woo felt a chill run down his spine.
Though Nam Goong Baek was positioned below him, it felt as though he were gazing down from far above.
His blue eyes were obscured by the silver hair scattered across his brow, yet this only deepened the terror.
“There. All done.”
Nam Goong Baek brushed away nonexistent dust from Nam Goong Jong Woo’s shoulder with a cold smile.
“Th-thank you… Ahhh!”
The moment he stepped back, Nam Goong Jong Woo bolted from the Training Ground without finishing his words.
Hong Seol, who had been standing bewildered, cautiously approached Nam Goong Baek and asked.
“What did you say to him?”
Yet Nam Goong Baek offered no reply. He merely gazed down at Hong Seol intently, then turned away without a word of farewell.
Hong Seol urgently called out to him.
“O-older brother!”
At that, Nam Goong Baek’s footsteps halted.
Hong Seol gathered her courage and asked in a small voice.
“W-will you perhaps come to watch my martial arts demonstration today?”
All this while, whenever Hong Seol trained, she would secretly recall the image of Nam Goong Baek wielding his blade.
Today was the day to display the fruits of her labor.
It was Hong Seol’s modest wish that Nam Goong Baek might witness her performance with his own eyes.
Yet Nam Goong Baek turned away with an expression of indifference.
“No. There’s no reason for me to watch your martial arts match.”
His voice was calm, yet his reply was utterly indifferent.
I stood alone, watching Nam Goong Baek’s retreating figure fade into the distance.
“He left without even saying goodbye again….”
I swallowed the disappointment rising in my throat.
Nam Goong Ho’s grandson, brother to Heuk and Jeok—he seemed like he should be a good person. So why did he treat me with such coldness?
‘Perhaps it’s because of that illness they say kills you at twenty….’
A strange ache bloomed in one corner of my heart.
* * *
The Martial Arts Arena, its floor laid with pristine blue granite, was crowded with spectators.
Nam Goong Jong Woo rounded the corner of the arena and crouched down, cradling his forehead. The ominous atmosphere kept anyone from approaching him.
Nam Goong Jong Woo had been withdrawn the entire time.
It was because of what he’d heard from Nam Goong Baek in the Training Ground moments before.
“From now on, do not treat the Nam Goong Family’s guests carelessly.”
That contemptuous gaze, that look as if viewing a counterfeit Nam Goong!
And in that instant, his aura had unmistakably squeezed around his ankle!
As if he meant to break it.
Nam Goong Jong Woo wrapped his arms around both shoulders and trembled violently.
He had nearly become unfit to step onto the Martial Arts Arena today.
‘Why did Nam Goong Baek take that girl’s side?’
Nam Goong Mu Young, an elder standing a few paces away, tapped his grandson Nam Goong Jong Woo, who was lost in thought.
“Why are you so tense, unlike yourself? Your opponent is merely a girl who’s been training in martial arts for only two months.”
At Nam Goong Mu Young’s words, Nam Goong Jong Woo clenched his fists with his head bowed low.
Displeased with his posture, Nam Goong Mu Young added a word.
“What are you doing? Stand like a true Nam Goong child—lift your gaze to the heavens and straighten your chest!”
Nam Goong Jong Woo’s fists trembled. The image of Nam Goong Baek, who had just humiliated him, overlapped with the grandfather standing before him.
“…That cursed Nam Goong, Nam Goong.”
Nam Goong Jong Woo, who had been keeping his head down, suddenly snapped his eyes open.
“Grandfather, you’re not even a real Nam Goong anyway!”
The atmosphere instantly froze.
Nam Goong Mu Young, his forehead creased with wrinkles, clamped his mouth shut in shame.
“Jong Woo, you brat…!”
Nam Goong Jong Woo didn’t stop there and took one step further.
“That’s right, isn’t it? A fake. Someone who was sitting on the street and got lucky enough to take the Nam Goong name!”
“You, you, how dare you!”
“I have ears too! Did you think I wouldn’t hear the servants gossiping about this forever?”
Having shouted those words, Nam Goong Jong Woo clamped his mouth shut and cast his gaze downward.
‘As if you even know what humiliation I suffered before Nam Goong Baek because of you!’
Struck by shock, Nam Goong Mu Young grasped his grandson’s martial robe with trembling hands.
“G-Jong Woo!”
“Let go of that!”
Nam Goong Jong Woo’s voice erupted like thunder as he shoved the man away roughly.
“Father!”
“Are you alright?”
His family members who rushed over were too busy attending to the shocked Nam Goong Mu Young.
“I apologize, Father. I’ll discipline this wretch immediately—!”
“No, no. Leave it be. I cannot allow the child’s mind to be troubled before such an important martial match.”
The family’s gazes turned toward Nam Goong Jong Woo, who stood with his back turned a few paces away.
Lacking the audacity to flee far before the impending match, he could only gnaw nervously at his fingernails.
* * *
At that very moment.
Hong Seol was receiving encouragement from the Nam Goong Estate Patriarch on the opposite side of the Martial Arts Arena.
“What if I lose, Grandfather?”
“There is nothing to fear. Today, you will win without question.”
“But Grandfather…”
I have never learned how to attack even once.
Hong Seol suppressed her anxious heart with effort.
I knew Nam Goong Ho cherished me, but winning without attacking made no sense.
No matter how unfamiliar I was with the world of martial arts.
‘Perhaps he simply means for me to treat today’s match as a good experience?’
Yes, that must be it.
Then it happened.
“Squeak (My lord, I wish you victory in this match)!”
A familiar squeaking sound reached my ears. I turned toward the source.
A mouse was waving his paws from the corner. It was Seo Han Eol, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Wait, just a moment. I’m nervous—could I have just a sip of water…?”
I made an excuse and made my way to a secluded spot.
I was delighted to see the elderly mouse again after so long.
“Mr. Squeak! Did you come to cheer me on?”
“Squeak (Indeed, my lord)!”
The white mouse scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
“Squeak (I was too ashamed to visit until I found the information you asked about. But just now, I witnessed something rather peculiar).”
“What kind of spectacle?”
“Squeak (Your opponent today, well…)…”
My face darkened upon hearing that Nam Goong Jong Woo had insulted his own grandfather by calling him a “fake Nam Goong.”
‘Sitting on the street and fortunately gaining the Nam Goong name… just like me.’
I too had been abandoned by my family and nearly died, only to remain in the Nam Goong Family Estate thanks to Nam Goong Ho.
Even after returning to my position beneath the Martial Arts Arena, I remained silent for a long while.
The Changcheon Master Nam Goong Ui Gyeol, who had finished his business and returned, seemed to think I was quiet out of fear.
Judging by how he poured forth passionate encouragement without giving me a moment to breathe.
“Don’t be anxious. I’ve trained to evade sword strikes countless times, so there’s absolutely no chance you’ll be harmed.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Hong Seol nodded in acknowledgment.
Now it was truly time to ascend onto the Martial Arts Arena.

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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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