A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 32

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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 32
There it is!
Steaming rice cakes were stacked neatly near the hearth, wisps of vapor curling upward.
‘I just need to bring three of those cakes.’
Then this afternoon, I could stroll through the Back Garden with Heuk and Jeok, each of us savoring a cake—a pleasant way to spend the hours.
This was my first task in cat form, and I’ll admit, it frightened me. Yet since Heuk and Jeok had entrusted me with this mission, I was determined to succeed.
‘Should I grab one for Nam Goong Baek as well?’
The thought flickered through my mind, and I shook my head vigorously.
‘No, that’s foolish. He’ll only refuse it anyway.’
I knew exactly what Nam Goong Baek would say, yet somehow I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
‘But then again… why not take one for him? If he won’t eat it, I can always have it myself.’
Decided!
With generous resolve, I chose to bring a cake for Nam Goong Baek too, and waited patiently for my opportunity.
It came quickly. Yi Hwa, the maidservant who had been fanning the hearth, stepped away.
‘Now’s my chance!’
I leaped from the window and landed lightly near the hearth.
‘Hurry, grab the cakes and go!’
I quickly snatched a cake in my mouth.
‘Ow, it’s hot!’
A startled yelp escaped me.
The moment I dropped the cake, Yi Hwa reappeared in the doorway.
Panic seized me, and I clamped down on another warm cake. Trying to carry four cakes at once nearly dislocated my jaw.
In my haste, I dropped one onto the dirt floor.
‘That was supposed to be for Nam Goong Baek!’
My face fell in dismay.
“You thieving cat! How dare you!”
My eyes met those of the stern Lady Lee. I froze mid-stride, my front paws raised in the air.
“Where did I put the poker?”
“Block the entrance so it can’t escape!”
This won’t do!
As I fled in panic, I remembered the ‘method’ Nam Goong Heuk had taught me.
“That’s right, Hong Seol! If you’re ever discovered by the servants, listen carefully.”
This was the moment to use it.
“Kyaaah!”
One of the servants shrieked.
I had suddenly leaped high into the air and landed precisely on Lady Lee’s head.
Paw prints scattered across her scalp.
I extended my plump paw pads and quickly pressed several vital points on Lady Lee’s back—the pressure point technique.
Nam Goong Heuk had explained it clearly.
“Press the acupoints I’ve shown you. Anyone will fall asleep instantly.”
Yes, with just this acupuncture technique, Lady Lee will soon dissolve away… Huh?
“This wretched cat!”
Wait, something’s wrong?
Whoosh!
I bolted with my tail streaming behind me, narrowly dodging the poker hurtling through the air. As I scrambled frantically on all fours, I couldn’t help but wonder.
‘Could it be that all the servant girls of the Nam Goong Family are actually masters immune to acupuncture techniques?’
In that moment of distraction, my pace faltered.
“Caught you!”
With a single swift motion, Yi Hwa’s hand seized me by the scruff of my neck.
“Meow!”
I thrashed my four paws desperately in resistance, but it was useless. All I earned was a sharp smack on my hindquarters.
‘What do I do! If I get thrown out because of this…!’
Trembling with fear, I cried out as loudly as I could for help, but the young masters offered no response.
“My goodness, how did a cat wander into the Nam Goong Family without anyone noticing?”
“It looks like just a kitten. What should we do? Should we throw it out the back gate?”
At those words, I felt my blood run cold.
‘No… I’ve only just settled in here…’
I couldn’t be cast out like this. Yet I couldn’t transform back into human form either.
The fact that I was a cat-form demihuman was a secret known only to the direct bloodline of the Nam Goong Family.
‘What am I going to do?’
Just as I was mewling pitifully, an unexpected figure appeared.
“Oh my, Young Master Nam Goong Baek!”
Lady Lee’s face brightened.
“A thief cat has somehow wandered into the Chang Cheon Pavilion kitchen.”
“A cat?”
In her hand was the poker, and in the servant girl’s grip hung a limp pink kitten by the scruff. Four rice cakes rolled across the floor.
“Ah.”
Nam Goong Baek grasped the situation at a glance.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
‘No, of all people, why did Nam Goong Baek have to find out…!’
Yet right now, he was my only refuge.
“Meow…”
With my spirit thoroughly dampened, I opened my triangular mouth. It was a plea for help.
But Nam Goong Baek, as always, turned away indifferently without a second glance.
Desperate, I cried out louder.
“Meoooow!”
Please, help me, older brother.
For Grandfather Nam Goong Ho’s sake!
“Sigh.”
From a distance, I saw Nam Goong Baek’s shoulders rise and fall with a quiet sigh as he walked away.
Was he really just going to leave her behind?
“Meoooooooooow!”
The more he seemed ready to depart, the more pitifully Hong Seol wailed.
Then something miraculous happened.
“Really, you’re nothing but a nuisance.”
Nam Goong Baek turned and walked toward her, extending his hand to Yi Hwa.
“Hand her over. She’s a cat the Grand Patriarch keeps. I’ll take her with me.”
“The Grand Patriarch keeps a cat?”
Not long ago he’d brought back a cute young girl, and now a cat?
And just moments before, he’d been trying to leave without acknowledging her at all…
Even the servants who passed through Chang Cheon Pavilion daily carrying tea tables and meal trays had never heard such news. But when the eldest son of the Nam Goong Family said it was so, what could anyone do?
If he declared salt sweet, then it was sweet. If he said a wolf-human kept a cat, then so be it.
“Take her with you then, sir.”
Yi Hwa handed the cat she’d been holding comfortably to Nam Goong Baek, then clapped her hands together sharply.
“Oh, Young Master! Just now, Nam Goong Do from the Branch Family was looking for you.”
At those words, Nam Goong Baek stiffened.
In that instant, Hong Seol saw it.
A faint crack appearing across the brow of Nam Goong Baek, whose expression rarely changed.
‘Nam Goong Do—the young master of the Branch Family that Mae Ran mentioned? It seems my brother despises him greatly.’
“If he comes looking for me again, tell him I’ve gone out.”
“Y-yes, sir.”
The bewildered servant took a step back.
Lady Lee gazed at Nam Goong Baek with eyes full of concern. He patted the small cat’s body once before pausing as he tried to leave the kitchen.
“By the way, grandmother. Give me one of those rice cakes wrapped in bamboo leaves too.”
“Of course, right away!”
How unusual for the eldest young master, who ate so little, to suddenly ask for food first.
Lady Lee’s face brightened. Nam Goong Baek tucked the bamboo-wrapped cake into his robe and disappeared, still cradling the cat.
* * *
Nam Goong Baek walked steadily toward the Back Garden. Nestled in his arms, Hong Seol found herself in the most awkward position imaginable.
‘This is neither being held nor not being held.’
She’d reluctantly entered his embrace to avoid being cast out from the Nam Goong Family Estate, but she couldn’t relax completely in his arms either.
So Hong Seol kept her front paws splayed, pushing against his arm to maintain distance, ensuring her body didn’t press against his. Yet his arm was so firm that her resistance seemed to have no effect whatsoever.
‘He seems to skip training all the time, but surprisingly, my brother’s body is quite sturdy.’
Could this be what they called natural martial constitution?
While Hong Seol pondered this, Nam Goong Baek had reached a secluded corner of the Back Garden.
Though servants still passed through even in such isolated spots, Hong Seol remained unaware of this fact.
‘I really want to get down now…’
Cradled in his embrace, Hong Seol flicked her tail irritably back and forth.
In the kitchen just moments ago, she’d had no choice but to cling to Nam Goong Baek.
But truthfully, asking him for anything at all made her deeply uncomfortable.
“Meow.”
Unable to hold back any longer, I opened my mouth slightly, but he simply continued walking in silence.
Losing my nerve, I clamped my mouth shut.
‘I don’t have the courage to beg him to put me down….’
Then what?
‘I’m sorry, but I’ll have to use the pressure point technique Nam Goong Heuk taught me!’
Just then, as if my position had become uncomfortable, Nam Goong Baek adjusted his hold, cradling me face-to-face so that if I stretched my front paws, they would nearly touch his back.
I extended my toes with all my strength and pressed against Nam Goong Baek’s sleep pressure point.
Press.
But nothing happened.
‘That’s strange? Why isn’t he falling asleep?’
Now that I thought about it, the same thing had occurred in the kitchen earlier. My toes had clearly struck Lady Lee’s pressure point, yet she hadn’t so much as yawned.
I tilted my head in confusion and was about to try again, pressing harder with my sole against the pressure point.
Then I heard Nam Goong Baek’s quiet voice.
“To use a pressure point technique, you must channel inner energy into it.”
What?
My front paws froze in mid-air, startled.
‘Ah, so that’s why it didn’t work!’
I opened my mouth in bewilderment.
‘Nam Goong Heuk didn’t even tell me that!’
Whimper.
Defeated, I gave up and leaned my body fully against Nam Goong Baek’s embrace.
Then my body melted into drowsy warmth.
Somehow, I remembered those hands that used to close my eyes for me back on Dae Chuk Mountain.
‘His embrace is so warm. Even though he speaks coldly, perhaps he really is a good person?’
Without even having my pressure point struck, I felt sleep creeping over me.
“My goodness, who is this?”
An unpleasant voice, thick with phlegm, rang out. At that sound, my eyes snapped open.

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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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