A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 272

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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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Special Side Story, Episode 2, Part 5
In that moment, Nam Goong Baek’s mind flooded with anxiety.
‘Why is that snake meeting with Seol Ah behind my back?’
What if he was trying one last time to shake her resolve?
The thought darkened Nam Goong Baek’s expression like clouds obscuring the sun.
‘I don’t doubt Seol Ah’s heart for a moment. But that cunning snake….’
One could never be too careful.
What if he read the heavens and claimed the timing was inauspicious, or that my feelings had changed, and used it to sabotage this marriage?
“Changcheon Master, is it possible to break the engagement even with two months until the wedding?”
The oblivious Nam Goong Ui Gyeol nodded.
“Of course. It’s possible to break it even on the wedding day itself! So please don’t think of going to see the young lady again.”
With those words, Nam Goong Baek’s complexion grew darker still.
Unaware of this, Nam Goong Ui Gyeol drove the wedge deeper.
“We mustn’t give the Northern Sea Ice Palace any reason to call off the engagement!”
* * *
At last, the wedding day dawned.
Above the sprawling grounds of the Nam Goong Estate Manor, the sky stretched impossibly high and blue.
True to early summer, the lush greenery scattered throughout harmonized with the throng of guests, adding vitality to the scene.
It was a day without equal for welcoming a new family.
Boom, boom, boom!
The drums announcing the groom’s departure thundered across the Nam Goong Estate Manor grounds.
Nam Goong Baek sat atop a white horse, his silver hair neatly bound.
His appearance remained as refined as befitted the finest unmarried nobleman in the Central Plains.
“The young master seems rather thin, doesn’t he?”
“I heard he hasn’t been eating properly and hasn’t been sleeping well either?”
The guests’ murmurs didn’t reach his ears.
Nam Goong Baek’s mind was occupied with something else entirely.
‘…It’s been such a difficult time.’
How many days had I spent in anguish?
Fearing that Dang Yi Woon might scheme and cause problems with my marriage.
‘I can’t even verify what he and Seol Ah discussed when they met.’
And if we were caught meeting in secret, the Northern Sea Ice Palace could demand the engagement be broken!
‘But tonight, the sleepless nights end.’
I would go to the Northern Sea Ice Palace’s tavern, return to the Nam Goong Estate Manor with the bride’s palanquin, and bow three times in total before the heavens, the spirits, and the elders of both families.
Then, after sharing a cup of wine with the bride before all the guests, I would lift the red silk veil from her face, and….
‘Seol Ah will truly become mine. A bond no one can sever.’
No matter what schemes that irritating Dang Yi Woon attempts!
“Hyah!”
Nam Goong Baek, his lips pressed firmly together, urged his horse slowly toward the bride’s quarters.
Nam Goong Baek, his lips pressed firmly together, slowly drove his horse toward the bride’s quarters.
* * *
A Crimson Procession for Ten Li.
It referred to a wedding procession so magnificent that it stretched ten li from the bride’s home to the groom’s—a distance that seemed to span the heavens themselves.
Hong Seol’s wedding procession was every bit worthy of such a grand title.
“Heavens, I’ve never witnessed a procession quite like this!”
“The bride is a direct descendant of the Northern Sea Ice Palace and the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, they say—truly, it shows!”
From within the crimson palanquin, Hong Seol poked her head through the window, stealing a glimpse of the spectacle.
‘Grandmother must have exhausted herself gathering all these betrothal gifts.’
I understood the reason behind her efforts.
Not long ago, we had spoken while gazing upon the mountain of gifts she had prepared.
“My goodness, Grandmother, what is all this?”
“Things I could not give to your mother. And….”
Recalling that moment, I smiled softly to myself.
‘Grandmother truly is a tender-hearted soul.’
“The bride should not be looking outside!”
Before I could dwell further, the frost-laden voice of the Northern Sea Ice Palace Master cut through the air.
“Oh!”
I quickly withdrew my head back into the palanquin.
‘I wonder what Baek Elder Brother’s expression will be…. But there’s no helping it now.’
After all, I had deliberately refrained from sending him any messages for three months.
‘If we had met in secret, today’s emotion would be diminished.’
Imagining Baek Elder Brother’s astonished face when he witnessed what would unfold at the ceremony, I giggled to myself.
* * *
“The bride and groom have arrived!”
With Wi Sa’s thunderous announcement, the sprawling grounds of the Nam Goong Estate Manor erupted into commotion.
The one most astounded by the absurd quantity of betrothal gifts was Bing Yu Hua, who had come to greet them.
“Palace Master, all of this…is betrothal gifts?”
“Yes. These are gifts I give to my granddaughter Hong Seol. And to my daughter So Wol, and….”
The Bing Palace Master paused, her voice catching with emotion, before she continued.
“…gifts I was unable to give to you.”
At those words, Bing Yu Hua froze in place.
“What…do you mean by that?”
“Were you not once a member of the Northern Sea Ice Palace?”
Deep regret etched itself across the Bing Palace Master’s face.
She seemed to be recalling the moment she had shattered Bing Yu Hua’s dantian and expelled her according to the Northern Sea Ice Palace’s laws.
It had been a necessary duty as Palace Master, yet as a human being, it must have been an agonizing choice.
“The dowry I could not prepare at that time—I have gathered all these things to send in its place.”
At those words, tears began to stream uncontrollably down Bing Yu Hua’s cheeks.
“Palace Master….”
“Now, now! One must not cry on such an auspicious day. Go and escort the bride inside at once.”
Bing Yu Hua bowed her head and turned to lead the procession, then stopped and turned back. Her voice carried weight as she spoke.
“After the wedding ceremony, the Palace Master must stay at the Nam Goong Estate for some time.”
Bing Yu Hua swallowed the surge of emotion in her heart and continued.
“Since the Palace Master prepared my dowry, I too should have the opportunity to treat her as I would my own mother.”
It was a statement that had swept away all lingering resentment from the past.
The Bing Palace Master smiled faintly and nodded.
As their conversation ended, the bride finally descended from the palanquin and revealed herself.
Softly.
Hong Seol’s feet touched the ground of the Nam Goong Estate for the first time in months.
For today’s wedding ceremony, Hong Seol wore a deep crimson silk robe.
Each movement of her slender frame set the phoenix patterns embroidered in golden thread dancing like flames.
Above her hair, combed smooth and glossed with fragrant oil, a flower-shaped crown of pearls and gold gleamed.
From there, several strands of beaded strings descended along her forehead, swaying with gentle grace.
And above all—that voice of Hong Seol I had longed to hear.
“Elder Brother.”
The moment I heard that small voice.
Nam Goong Baek felt warm blood coursing through his body for the first time in three months.
I was consumed with curiosity.
What had she and Dang Yi Woon discussed that night when I hid away in the Northern Sea Ice Palace’s tavern?
Why had she been so particularly delighted to see him?
“Seol Ah…!”
But regrettably, the bride Hong Seol’s face was covered with a red silk veil.
Because of that vexing veil, I could scarcely discern her expression.
The prescribed ceremony also cruelly refused to wait for me.
“The bride and groom shall now bow to heaven and earth!”
Nam Goong Baek, tense with anticipation, bowed hurriedly to the heavens and earth.
My mind was completely blank as to how the sequence would proceed.
I regained my senses after the second bow.
When I rose after bowing to the elders of both families, including the Northern Sea Ice Palace Master.
I spotted Dang Yi Woon among the guests, dressed in a green robe.
Dang Yi Woon watched Hong Seol bow with a tense expression.
In that moment, sparks seemed to ignite in Nam Goong Baek’s eyes and heart.
‘Whatever you do, it will be for nothing. Seol Ah is my bride!’
If that wretch Dang Yi Woon dared to interrupt the ceremony, I would meet him with my life on the line.
Even if it meant engaging the Sa Cheon Dang Family in all-out war.
Nam Goong Baek continued to glance sideways at Dang Yi Woon as he completed the final mutual bow.
Now only the final ritual of the wedding ceremony remained—the shared cup ceremony.
The moment when the bride and groom share a single cup of wine and pledge their lives together.
The clear wine poured from the tilted bottle.
From the cups that Nam Goong Baek and Hong Seol held facing each other, the sweet fragrance of peaches rose into the air.
“Wow, what an incredible fragrance….”
One of the guests spoke as if entranced.
At that, Dok Bi Jo, who had been hiding atop the pavilion roof to watch the ceremony, broke into a satisfied smile.
‘May you never part and find eternal happiness, you little ones.’
The wine used in the ceremonial cup-sharing was the ‘Eternal Peach Wine’ that Dok Bi Jo had once passed down to Hong Seol and Nam Goong Baek.
And they had safely shared a single cup together.
At last, the moment Nam Goong Baek had been waiting for had arrived.
It was time to lift the bride’s crimson veil.
‘Once this is done, Seol will be completely mine.’
The moment Nam Goong Baek’s trembling fingers barely grasped the edge of the crimson veil.
Flutter!
Dang Yi Woon flicked the hem of his green robe toward the sky.

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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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