A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 4

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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 4
It was Je Gal Seon, the lady of Myo Ga Jang and Hong Seol’s mother.
‘Mother’s face… it’s been so long since I’ve seen it.’
Mother was not alone. A small girl slept peacefully on her lap.
Myo Ga Ryung, Hong Seol’s younger sister by two years.
Je Gal Seon gently fanned the sleeping Ga Ryung’s forehead with a fan.
‘How fortunate Ga Ryung is.’
Hong Seol found her gaze drawn to the scene without realizing it.
“Don’t even think of disturbing Miss Ga Ryung’s nap. Now, off with you!”
At Chung Ok’s words, Hong Seol’s faltering steps came to a halt once more.
She had caught sight of a small bowl placed beside the sleeping Ga Ryung. Inside it lay candied fruits, their glaze shimmering with an appetizing sheen.
‘How delicious they look. I suppose Ga Ryung will eat them when she wakes from her nap.’
Grrrrowl.
Hong Seol glanced down at her own hollow belly. Now that she thought about it, she had eaten nothing all day. Under the pretense of needing to change rooms, Chung Ok had not even brought her the usual salted rice she normally received.
“Goodness, the way this one devours food like a pest, yet her stomach grows hungry so quickly!”
At Chung Ok’s reproach, Je Gal Seon’s fanning suddenly stopped.
“What is the matter?”
A sharp voice flew forth like an arrow, piercing the air.
“Nothing at all, Madam! Come along now, Miss Hong Seol!”
Even as Chung Ok seized her roughly, Hong Seol did not move. Hesitating, she made her plea in the tiniest of voices.
“May I… may I just try one of those candied fruits, Mother?”
“Me, your mother? How amusing.”
Je Gal Seon’s distinctly crimson lips twisted into a merciless smile.
“Listen to this, Chung Ok. She actually called me mother.”
Chung Ok, a servant who had been with Je Gal Seon since before her marriage, was quick to read the situation. Understanding her mistress’s intent, she immediately glared at Hong Seol.
“A half-sister incapable of becoming a martial artist, yet you wish to be treated as a daughter of Myo Ga Jang?”
At those words, Hong Seol’s small shoulders shrank further.
She was accustomed to coldness. Yet… hearing such words from the mother she loved most was something she could never quite grow used to.
Though she struggled to suppress her sorrow, her eyes reddened of their own accord.
‘It is all my fault. If only I could have cultivated inner energy…’
Originally, Hong Seol had been the precious heir of Myo Wi Heon, the master of Myo Ga Jang. That was, until she was deemed incapable of cultivating inner energy.
This calamity had befallen her on the day she turned five years old.
It was also the third day since Hong Seol had begun learning the Myo Ga Jang’s secret technique, the “Myo Soo Jin Gyeol.”
Praised by the entire family for her unusually rapid accumulation of inner energy, her fortune was short-lived.
Hong Seol collapsed in the middle of the training grounds with a sudden thud.
“The young lady’s dantian is intact, but her meridians are severed in multiple places. There is currently no way to repair this.”
With those words from the physician who had long served Myo Ga Jang, everything changed.
It was as good as a declaration that the heir of Myo Ga Jang could never become a martial artist.
The family head, Myo Wi Heon, turned away and locked himself in his quarters, while Je Gal Seon fainted on the spot.
Only after two days did Je Gal Seon finally awaken, and she pointed at Hong Seol and spoke.
“Put that away in the storage room immediately.”
From that day until now, Hong Seol had never once been permitted to call Je Gal Seon mother.
Je Gal Seon, who had been stroking the sleeping Ga Ryung’s forehead, turned her cold gaze toward Hong Seol.
“If you truly wish to call me mother, you’ll need to prove yourself useful to the Myo Ga Jang, even without inner strength.”
“Y-yes, but how can I do that?”
Je Gal Seon lifted her head, and a mountain entered her line of sight—Dae Chuk Mountain, renowned as one of An Hui Province’s most celebrated peaks.
Though not particularly tall, its summit was perpetually shrouded in inexplicable blizzards, making even seasoned men reluctant to climb it.
A sinister smile bloomed across Je Gal Seon’s face.
“Yes. If you can obtain an inner core from the ‘Master of the Lake’ at the peak of Dae Chuk Mountain, perhaps you’ll be recognized as a daughter of the Myo Ga Jang.”
An inner core? What could that possibly be?
The ignorant young Hong Seol tilted her head in confusion.
Above her head, Chung Ok and Je Gal Seon exchanged glances. The perceptive Chung Ok quickly interjected.
“Ah, but how could young Miss Hong Seol possibly make her way to Dae Chuk Mountain alone? Unless, of course, she were to catch a ride on the cart that comes to the foot of the mountain every day at noon to gather firewood in front of the Main Gate.”
Every day at noon? In front of the Main Gate? A cart?
Hong Seol clenched her small fists, desperately trying to memorize Chung Ok’s words.
‘If I bring back an inner core, I can become a daughter of the Myo Ga Jang. I can call mother mother again!’
“If you could only bring back an inner core, you’d be recognized as a daughter of the Myo Ga Jang, wouldn’t you, Miss? And you could eat those sweet confections you’ve always wanted every single day!”
Sweet confections? Really?
At those words, Hong Seol’s heart began to race.
* * *
Such a delicious aroma.
A small crease formed on Hong Seol’s nose as she lingered in her pleasant dream.
“Hong Seol.”
From somewhere, a gentle voice called her name. Even in her dream, Hong Seol found this strange.
‘Could it be that I succeeded in bringing back an inner core from Dae Chuk Mountain?’
For there was no other reason why someone would call her with such tenderness.
“Wake up.”
At last, Hong Seol’s eyes fluttered open.
She felt the soft touch of quilted bedding against her cheeks, and the air in the room was warm—utterly unlike the storage room of the Myo Ga Jang, where a chill always lingered near the tip of her nose when she lay down.
‘Where am I?’
Hong Seol’s eyes widened as she bolted upright from the bed.
The first thing that caught her eye was a bowl of sweet confections resting on an elegant table. The aroma of fragrant oil, flour, and sweet syrup seemed to beckon her with a gentle wave, as if saying ‘taste me.’
In that moment, a deep voice resonated.
“Are you awake?”
As she lifted her head, Nam Goong Ho’s face, marked with distinct sword scars, was right before her eyes.
‘This is… the grandfather of the Nam Goong Family!’
The cat ears that had been protruding from her tension instantly retracted. So consumed with fear, Hong Seol didn’t even notice.
Gulp.
She could only swallow dryly.
Hong Seol gripped the blanket like a lifeline as she stared at Nam Goong Ho, and he, in turn, gazed back at her.
At that moment, a loud sound came from somewhere.
Gurgle.
The sound had come from Hong Seol’s small belly.
“Are you hungry?”
“….”
To his question, I had only bitten my lips in silence, but after hesitating and hesitating, I carefully opened my mouth.
“Um, if you don’t mind, could I perhaps try just one of those candies over there?”
Gasp.
What did I just say!
Even as I spoke, I was startled and quickly covered my own mouth. These were words I would normally have suppressed and held back.
But I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the candies.
‘If I eat that, would it taste the same as the candy I saw in my dream…?’
Just one piece.
No, if I could just taste one bite, the sorrow knotted in my chest might ease a little.
But Nam Goong Ho gave no answer. His expression had only grown more rigid and stern.
Catching a glimpse of that face, I shrank my shoulders and trembled.
I had tried so hard to speak like a well-mannered child. It seemed shameless to ask for free candy after all.
Desperate, I pleaded with an even more earnest voice.
“In, instead, I’ll wash grandfather’s robes clean for you. You don’t need expensive lye water. If you just give me a washing bat….”
A heavy voice cut off my urgent words.
“That won’t do.”
At Nam Goong Ho’s blunt refusal, my lips trembled sorrowfully. My eyes, unable to hide the disappointment, glistened with moisture.
‘Just as I thought. This household must have someone else who owns the candies, just like my sister Ga Ryung.’
As I was about to cry and hung my head low, that was when it happened.
Nam Goong Ho’s stern voice rang out.
“Eating rice comes before sweets. You there! Bring out the evening meal that was prepared earlier.”
After that, I could only blink and watch the spectacle unfold.
The moment the reception room door opened, servants dressed in robes embroidered with cloud patterns streamed in endlessly with food. Soon the table was so packed with dishes that there wasn’t even room to place a single cup.
Faced with this lavish procession of dishes I had never seen before, I was utterly dumbfounded.
“Here.”
Nam Goong Ho placed chopsticks in my hands.
“This is whole fried flounder, this is beef meatballs, and that is egg stir-fried with finely chopped scallions. Which side dish do you like best?”
Only then did I come to my senses, and after a moment’s hesitation, I pointed to a familiar dish. It was cucumber kimchi.
To choose cucumber of all things, when faced with various meats and eggs.
“For a child, you have quite unusual tastes. Why do you like this?”
I answered in a small voice as I pondered.
“Be, because this is the only food I’ve ever eaten here.”
At that, Nam Goong Ho seemed at a loss for words and pressed his lips firmly shut.
Though the Myo Ga Jang was not equal to the Five Great Families, it was still a martial household of considerable power. It was unthinkable that a direct descendant child would not be fed meat in such a place.
Even the servants at the Nam Goong Family Estate ate meat dishes once every three or four days.
‘No matter how useless she is to the family, she’s still just a child who should be protected….’
Moreover, Hong Seol was undeniably the daughter of the Myo Ga Jang master.
Not only did they refuse to feed the growing child her fill, but they pushed her toward Dae Chuk Mountain demanding she retrieve a snake’s inner core.
Nam Goong Ho simply could not comprehend such cruel treatment of blood kin.
It was then that he deliberately suppressed his rage and gestured to Hong Seol.
“Come, eat your food….”
Once again, Nam Goong Ho’s words caught in his throat.
Though she must have been starving for quite some time, the small child before him barely moved her chopsticks despite the food laid before her.
“Is it truly all right for me to eat this?”
Restraint had become her habit—she merely asked with cautious uncertainty, as if testing the sincerity of his offer.
That sight shattered the fury Nam Goong Ho had barely contained.
‘These vicious little beasts…!’
In an instant, the air around Nam Goong Ho thrummed with a low, ominous hum—killing intent seeping through his barely restrained rage.
Unaware of this, Hong Seol mistook his anger as directed at her.
Hong Seol trembled, chopsticks still in hand.
“Oh, I don’t need the cucumber side dish! Just salted rice is fine…. Or rather, if you’d just let me stay here….”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
Realizing his mistake, Nam Goong Ho forced himself to suppress his aura.
His anger had no place being directed at this child. He barely managed to contain his emotions and changed the subject.
“Taste everything slowly. All of this was prepared for you to eat.”
“Really? Even that flounder fry that’s bigger than my face?”
“Yes.”
Could that truly be?
Hong Seol tilted her head in astonishment, unable to fathom why Nam Goong Ho was giving her so much food.
“Go ahead and eat.”
Only after hearing his repeated urging did the child begin to eagerly devour the unfamiliar dishes, stuffing them into her hungry belly.
Nam Goong Ho watched intently, his chest aching strangely, yet feeling oddly satisfied—as if he himself were eating.
Then, a sudden sound from outside disturbed this peaceful moment.

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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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