A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 24

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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 24
* * *
Several people had gathered in the Guest Reception Tea Room of the Nam Goong Family Estate.
The most striking figure was the Patriarch Nam Goong Ho. He repeatedly sighed while glancing sideways toward some distant, unseen point.
Seated before him was Nam Goong Ui Gyeol.
“What on earth could the young lady be thinking?”
Rather than answering his question, Nam Goong Ho suddenly posed an unrelated inquiry.
“Your wife’s maiden name was Seok, wasn’t it?”
“Ah, yes.”
As if they were on good terms, Nam Goong Ui Gyeol’s face brightened the moment his wife became the topic of conversation.
Meanwhile, Nam Goong Ho continued to ask with a worried expression.
“I heard it wasn’t an arranged marriage decided by the family. How did the two of you meet?”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol scratched his head and answered shyly.
“We were childhood friends. After the martial arts match ended, we were reviewing the bout together when… ah!”
As if struck by sudden realization, Nam Goong Ui Gyeol sprang to his feet from his seat.
His calloused fingers pointed toward the distant tea room where Hong Seol and Nam Goong Jong Woo had gone.
“Now I understand.”
Nam Goong Ho drank his tea with a troubled expression.
“…I’m not sure it’s appropriate to leave a young man and woman alone together in such an enclosed space, even if they are children.”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol responded to Nam Goong Ho’s inadvertent murmur.
“Just say the word, Patriarch. I’ll immediately strike down the tea room walls with the Heavenly Thunder Divine Palm and escort Miss Hong Seol back here.”
Why ignore the perfectly good door?
Anyone observing would have thought Hong Seol had been kidnapped by Nam Goong Jong Woo.
Nam Goong Ho sighed, pressing his brow repeatedly with his fingers.
“I promised to grant any wish they made… but it would be ridiculous to check on them for the sake of propriety, and eavesdropping is equally improper.”
I wish my grandsons would go and break this awkward tension.
Nam Goong Ho’s gaze fell upon Heuk and Jeok, who sat on a long bench in the corner.
Heuk and Jeok were preoccupied trying to guess why Hong Seol had asked to be alone with Nam Goong Jong Woo.
“Hmm. That little one is trickier than I thought.”
“Why, big brother?”
“Why she asked to be alone with him is obvious.”
“Maybe she wanted to discuss some secret or something!”
“No, you fool. She’s planning to beat him up again when the adults aren’t watching.”
“But sister already won the martial arts match?”
“When you beat someone, you have to do it thoroughly to avoid complications later. Remember that.”
“Ah!”
Young Jeok nodded with a bright face, as if the life lessons learned from his second older brother were invaluable.
“Jeok.”
At Nam Goong Ho’s call, the youngest Jeok scurried over.
“Yes, Grandfather!”
“Aren’t you curious what’s happening in the Tea Room where Hong Seol is?”
His voice was coaxing, almost cajoling.
Nam Goong Ho knew well that the naive youngest, Jeok, was far easier to provoke than the shrewd second son, Heuk.
Yet an unexpected answer came.
“No! I’m not curious!”
“Not curious?”
Nam Goong Ho’s brow furrowed.
“That’s right! I already know the answer!”
“And what is that?”
“Hong Seol is beating the daylights out of Nam Goong Jong Woo in the next room!”
“Beat… what? Who taught you such language?”
“Second Brother did!”
“Hey!”
Nam Goong Heuk rushed over in panic and clamped his hand over his younger brother’s mouth, but Nam Goong Ho’s expression had already darkened.
“Hehe….”
Nam Goong Heuk, trembling with fear and forcing an awkward laugh, slowly began backing away while keeping his hand firmly over Jeok’s mouth.
“You brat!”
“Ack!”
The moment Nam Goong Ho’s stern voice boomed, Nam Goong Heuk bolted from the room, still gripping Jeok by the scruff of his neck with one hand.
“What on earth are you teaching your younger brother?”
Nam Goong Ho slumped deeply into his chair, all his energy drained away.
He had scolded them on impulse, but now, thinking it over, he regretted having driven the children away so hastily.
“The children might have been better at gauging the atmosphere….”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol asked carefully.
“Should we perhaps summon Young Master Nam Goong Baek?”
Nam Goong Ho shook his head firmly.
“That boy has no interest in Hong Seol. He didn’t even come to watch the martial arts match today.”
The wrinkles etched into Nam Goong Ho’s face deepened.
“I never once imagined Hong Seol would become the granddaughter-in-law of Nam Goong Mu Young.”
Soon enough, she would likely announce she was leaving here to live in the Branch Family Residence.
Sigh.
The servant carrying out a plate of mung bean cakes flinched at the synchronized sigh that escaped from both men’s lips.
They sighed so frequently that their breath alone was enough to cool the tea on the table.
Yet Nam Goong Ho and Nam Goong Ui Gyeol remained blissfully unaware.
That Hong Seol was, in fact, truly beating Nam Goong Jong Woo senseless.
* * *
An awkward silence hung in the Tea Room where only Hong Seol and Nam Goong Jong Woo remained.
Nam Goong Jong Woo, visibly more subdued than before, fidgeted with his fingers hidden beneath the table.
“Why did you ask to see me alone?”
“….”
There was no response.
Hong Seol scrutinized Nam Goong Jong Woo from every conceivable angle, as if something about him displeased her.
Under that gaze, Nam Goong Jong Woo felt indignation rising within him.
‘If only I had won the martial arts match!’
“If you’re not going to answer, I’ll just leave.”
Nam Goong Jong Woo was about to stand up.
“…Hey.”
Hong Seol’s voice came through, pitched deliberately low. Nam Goong Jong Woo doubted his own ears.
It was a sound he could not believe had come from the mouth of such a small, delicate-looking girl.
What followed was even more shocking.
“You lost the martial arts match, so where do you get off acting tough?”
Hong Seol glared at him, her eyes wide with intimidation.
Though she appeared composed on the surface, in truth her heart was racing uncontrollably with nervousness.
‘How could I say something so terrible!’
Hong Seol’s chest shrank—she had lived her entire life without raising her voice once. Yet simultaneously, she felt an inexplicable sense of exhilaration.
‘All those times observing Nam Goong Heuk’s behavior finally paid off!’
Though her words stumbled slightly, it was enough to intimidate the already-deflated Nam Goong Jong Woo.
“Why are you doing this to me…?”
Nam Goong Jong Woo sat back down hesitantly, his eyes fixed only on his own feet.
Emboldened, Hong Seol crossed her arms firmly and spoke to Nam Goong Jong Woo with deliberate sternness.
“G-go apologize to your grandfather.”
At those words, Nam Goong Jong Woo’s eyebrows suddenly tensed with force, his dejection evaporating.
“Why should I?”
“Because you hurt your grandfather’s feelings.”
“So what? I didn’t even say anything wrong!”
Nam Goong Jong Woo let out a sharp cry and turned his head away indignantly.
Startled by this outburst, Hong Seol’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘What kind of child is this?’
Hong Seol frowned and shook her head in disbelief.
She had thought that if she mentioned how deeply his grandfather had been hurt—so much so that even she had noticed—Nam Goong Jong Woo would understand!
‘Can he throw tantrums like this because he’s his biological grandson?’
She herself would have tucked her tail between her legs and begged for forgiveness the moment she saw displeasure on Nam Goong Ho’s face.
‘There’s nothing I can do about it…. I’m not even part of the Nam Goong Family after all.’
Her shoulders sagged under the weight of that melancholy thought.
“Anyway, I’m not apologizing!”
At those words, Hong Seol’s small mouth fell open in shock.
She could not fathom why Nam Goong Jong Woo was being so stubborn.
‘And his grandfather cherishes him so much too.’
From beneath the Martial Arts Arena, Nam Goong Mu Young’s gaze upon Nam Goong Jong Woo was brimming with affection.
And that gaze had not changed even after Nam Goong Jong Woo lost the martial arts match.
‘Unlike me, who was abandoned for being unable to use inner energy….’
Even Hong Seol, standing at a distance, had noticed it, yet it seemed Nam Goong Jong Woo had not.
‘If I had possessed a family like that….’
I would still be living happily at the Myo Family Estate. Eating the candies my mother prepared for me, playing ball games with my younger sister Ga Ryung.
Nam Goong Jong Woo’s startled voice reached my ears.
“You… crying?”
In a moment of carelessness, tears burst forth. But I despised showing weakness before Nam Goong Jong Woo.
Hong Seol brushed away the tears with the back of her hand and lifted her head with a sharp motion. Then she spoke with deliberately stronger conviction.
“D-do well while your family is by your side.”
“What?”
“Do well while they’re there! Don’t regret it. You’re really not going to apologize to Grandfather?”
Nam Goong Jong Woo, who had been studying Hong Seol’s face for a moment, furrowed the bridge of his nose and cried out.
“Mind your own business!”
Nam Goong Jong Woo was clearly more stubborn than I had anticipated.
The situation was quite different from what I had imagined before coming to the Tea Room.
‘How did Nam Goong Heuk handle it when the youngest, Jeok, wouldn’t listen?’
Hong Seol pondered for a moment, came to a decision, and spoke to Nam Goong Jong Woo.
“Ah, this won’t do.”
“What…?”
“Words won’t work with you.”
Before the sentence even finished, Hong Seol stepped into a light movement technique and sprang onto the round tea table.

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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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