A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 261

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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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Side Story 7
Gyeon Young Hoo stepped forward with confidence, thumping his chest proudly.
“I, Gyeon Young Hoo, know the way to escape this Barrier!”
“Really?”
Hong Seol’s eyes widened in delight as she clapped her hands together.
But Nam Goong Baek’s gaze remained clouded with suspicion.
“What’s the bad news?”
“Ah, well… the thing is, we’ll have to spend tonight inside the Barrier.”
“Why! You said you knew how to break the Barrier.”
Hong Seol asked with a deeply disappointed expression.
“Well, you see… my night vision is rather poor.”
“…”
“As you know, Barrier formations are incredibly delicate, and at night it’s rather difficult to attempt anything…”
“…”
Growwwl.
A thunderous sound from somewhere shattered the prolonged silence.
It came from Hong Seol’s stomach.
“Oh, no, that wasn’t me!”
Hong Seol’s face flushed crimson.
“That was just the sound of water. There must be a stream nearby…”
Just as Nam Goong Baek swiftly moved to cover up the situation.
The oblivious Gyeon Young Hoo interjected.
“Wow, Senior! You only managed to eat one piece of braised pork at the Tavern and have been exerting yourself ever since—you must be famished!”
At those words, Hong Seol’s ears turned crimson as well, and she froze like stone.
But Gyeon Young Hoo’s mouth showed no signs of stopping.
“Should I perhaps set a trap and catch a pheasant for you?”
* * *
Hong Seol sat atop a low rock by the stream, her feet submerged in water up to her ankles.
The crystal-clear water was refreshingly cool beyond measure.
“…So there really was a stream nearby.”
Hong Seol murmured in a small, sheepish voice.
“Really? I genuinely only heard the sound of water.”
Nam Goong Baek chuckled softly, then quickened his pace with hands that had slowed while responding.
Splash, splash.
He knelt on one knee by the stream, carefully washing my feet with devoted attention.
So absorbed was he that he never once lifted his head.
Suddenly, watching his silvery crown, a playful impulse stirred within Hong Seol.
Hong Seol lightly splashed the water with one foot.
Splash!
Several droplets of water scattered onto Nam Goong Baek’s silver hair.
It was as if he had scattered jewels across the water’s surface.
He squinted one eye and lifted his gaze to look at me.
“Seol Ah.”
“Hehe.”
I stuck out my small tongue playfully.
I knew full well that I could have dodged the water droplets but chose to take them instead.
‘My brother really is kind.’
Nam Goong Baek grasped both my ankles and pretended to look stern.
“Looking at you now, you’re still a mischievous little kitten.”
“What? No, do you not remember? I was well-behaved even as a child.”
“The day you stole rice cakes from the Kitchen at Chang Cheon Pavilion. Have you forgotten?”
“Ah, well, that was…”
Caught red-handed, I gazed into the distance and pretended not to hear.
Nam Goong Baek chuckled softly and continued moving his hands.
He poured clear water repeatedly over my small feet, then gently rubbed the delicate skin with his thumb.
His manner was as if he were polishing the most precious porcelain in the world.
I felt a wave of embarrassment wash over me, my ears flushing crimson.
“Stop, please. That’s enough.”
“Not yet.”
Nam Goong Baek placed both my feet upon one of his knees and withdrew a silk handkerchief from his robes.
The soft fabric enveloped my feet in warmth and comfort.
“But this is work for the servants to do.”
“I came here as exactly that—your servant.”
Nam Goong Baek carefully brushed away the dirt from the silk slippers he’d set aside, then slipped them onto my feet.
Then he sat down beside me.
The subtle fragrance of his cologne drifted toward me, and suddenly my heart began to race.
Despite having followed me all day long, he always carried that refined scent about him.
‘How does he manage it?’
It wasn’t just the fragrance.
That graceful gait, recognizable at a glance even from afar.
The languid gestures. The perfectly arched brows. The way his lips curved ever so slightly whenever he smiled.
If someone had gathered everything I adored and molded it into a person, that person would be Nam Goong Baek.
‘How can a person be like this?’
Afraid my flushed face would betray me, I bowed my head and mumbled something incoherent.
“You really don’t suit the role of a servant.”
“…Why is that?”
What was a mere servant’s role to the head of the Nam Goong Family?
His enlarged blue eyes, glistening with what seemed like grievance, were utterly endearing.
“Are you truly aggrieved?”
“Not aggrieved so much as wanting to do it well.”
“Pardon?”
“If you’re willing, I’d like to wash your feet for the rest of our lives together.”
Unable to contain herself, Hong Seol pressed her lips to his cheek.
*Peck.*
Nam Goong Baek’s eyes widened in surprise.
It was rare for Hong Seol to initiate a kiss with him.
As Nam Goong Baek stared at her with a puzzled expression, it was Hong Seol who found herself flustered instead.
“I… well, it was just…”
This time, Hong Seol couldn’t hide the crimson spreading across her face.
But the embarrassment didn’t last long.
A large hand swept gently up the nape of her neck, and then—
—scorching lips descended upon hers without mercy.
“Oh, Elder Brother… wait… mmph!”
It was only because his hands firmly supported her neck and waist that Hong Seol didn’t lose herself entirely.
She felt as though she were drowning in a tidal wave, clinging desperately to his neck for purchase.
“You said it yourself this afternoon, Seol. That you know everything about me.”
His lips, which usually curved in that barely-there smile, now traced a clear, confident line.
Though to Hong Seol’s flushed eyes, everything appeared hazy.
“Tell me. How does it feel when I kiss you?”
But again, she had no chance to answer. His lips met hers once more, stealing her breath.
Drowning in a downpour of kisses, Hong Seol closed her eyes and thought:
Baek Elder Brother appeared as cold as eternal snow, yet within him burned a fire more passionate than anyone’s.
That’s why every kiss felt as though it might be the last—desperate, urgent, absolute.
And she loved him for it.
That was when it happened.
An oblivious, cheerful voice buzzed from the distance.
“Senior! I’ve actually caught the pheasant!”
* * *
Night had grown deep.
Traces of the roasted pheasant they’d devoured lay scattered throughout the camp.
Only Gyeon Young Hoo, whose appetite remained unsated, was still cracking bones to extract the marrow.
As if the day had been unusually exhausting, Hong Seol was already nodding off.
Nam Goong Baek found the sight rather pitiful.
“Seol Ah, lie down and rest.”
As he slipped his hands beneath her back and knees, lifting her gently, Hong Seol naturally wound her arms around his neck.
Nam Goong Baek laid her down upon the dried grass he’d gathered beforehand.
“Mmm… what about you, Elder Brother?”
Unable to fight off sleep, Hong Seol drifted away before she could even hear his answer.
It was only possible because she trusted Nam Goong Baek so deeply.
‘Back when I ran away with that snake, I could never have rested so peacefully.’
Nam Goong Baek sat beside her, gazing fondly at Hong Seol as she slept with a face as pure and innocent as a child’s.
Crack, crack!
The sound of dry branches burning in the campfire echoed through the night.
At the noise, he lifted his head to see Gyeon Young Hoo waving his hand, his fingers glistening with grease as he sucked on them contentedly.
Perhaps only now was he beginning to feel a sense of responsibility for their predicament of being trapped in the forest, for his expression had grown quite resolute.
“Since we don’t know what might be lurking in these woods, I shall stand watch tonight!”
“No. I will keep watch.”
Nam Goong Baek looked up at Gyeon Young Hoo with cold eyes as he spoke.
“But surely you cannot entrust the watch to the Servant alone.”
“If need be, shall I demonstrate that Servant’s prowess right here?”
Nam Goong Baek’s hand had already drifted to rest upon his sword hilt.
Seeing this, Gyeon Young Hoo deliberately exaggerated a shrug of his shoulders.
“Yikes! Then let us keep watch together. You should get some rest, Senior.”
Nam Goong Baek raised his eyebrows—a gesture of assent.
‘That much should suffice.’
He removed his outer robe and draped it carefully over the sleeping Hong Seol, tucking it snugly around her neck.
Then he moved closer to the campfire where Gyeon Young Hoo sat and tossed additional dry branches into the flames.
He was concerned that Hong Seol might grow cold in the depths of night.
This was despite having already given her his own outer robe.
Gyeon Young Hoo, who had been staring blankly at these actions, suddenly retrieved a gourd flask from his bosom, uncorked it, and held it out.
“What is this?”
“Spirits, sir. Do have some. It will warm your body.”
Nam Goong Baek accepted the flask without thinking, then narrowed his eyes as he asked.
“Do you always carry spirits with you?”
“There was quite a bit left over at the tavern earlier. I thought it wasteful not to bring it along.”
Now that he mentioned it, the flask did resemble the one he’d seen at the tavern.
If that were the case, then what lay within was likely the very spirits he’d taken a sip of earlier.
Nam Goong Baek gazed down at his own hand.
It remained as long and graceful as ever.
‘Given that I still maintain human form, it is highly probable that the spirits pose no danger.’
After all, this fellow Gyeon Young Hoo had even gone to the trouble of visiting the Alcohol House to verify it himself.
Nam Goong Baek raised the flask toward his lips, then paused.
The gleam in Gyeon Young Hoo’s eyes as he watched him was far too bright and eager.
Yes, it was the look of someone anticipating something.
Nam Goong Baek set the flask down with a sharp tap.
Gyeon Young Hoo, startled, asked.
“Why, why are you doing this, Servant?”
Those blue eyes blazed with keen intelligence right before him.
“Drink it first. I want to ensure nothing suspicious has been added.”
In that instant, cold sweat trickled down Gyeon Young Hoo’s spine.

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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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