A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 47

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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 47
However, the people from the Myo Family Estate had not yet arrived.
Bing Yu Hua bowed respectfully.
“I am Bing Yu Hua, Medicine Master of the Nam Goong Family Estate. These children are my own—Nam Goong Baek, Nam Goong Heuk, and Nam Goong Jeok.”
“This year, Young Master Nam Goong Baek has graced us with his presence!”
At that, Nam Goong Baek quietly raised his fist in salute.
“…Nam Goong Baek.”
“Nam Goong Heuk, paying respects to our esteemed seniors!”
The perceptive Nam Goong Heuk immediately followed his older brother’s lead and offered his greeting.
“Haha, still sharp-witted young masters, I see.”
“But where is the youngest young master…?”
The question was directed at Hong Seol, whose bangs hung heavily over her eyes.
Distracted by searching for Mother’s figure among the gathered people, Hong Seol was a beat late in raising her fist.
“I-I am Nam Goong Jeok! P-paying respects to our esteemed seniors!”
Through the cascade of bangs, Hong Seol studied the atmosphere around her.
‘M-my identity hasn’t been exposed, has it?’
Just as I was beginning to relax, a puzzled voice cut through the air.
“Hmm, but Young Master Nam Goong Jeok seems somehow different from before.”
Yu Seong Moon Master stroked his long beard thoughtfully, tilting his head.
“M-me, sir?”
Hong Seol’s eyes widened as she answered. Outwardly composed, her heart thundered wildly within her chest.
‘How on earth did he notice?’
I had even practiced my voice until it was flawless.
This old man was like a ghost!
As Yu Seong Moon Master studied me with his narrowed eyes, my mouth went dry.
Then, a dignified elderly woman seated beside him intervened gently.
“Haha, surely it is no surprise that children change from year to year.”
“That may be true, but…”
It was at that moment.
A resonant cry echoed from Wi Sa, who stood guarding the Pavilion.
“The Myo Family Estate has arrived!”
Yu Seong Moon Master’s gaze, which had been fixed upon Hong Seol, suddenly shifted toward the Main Gate.
“Ah, I must go welcome our new guests. Was it not said that the Myo Family Estate’s matriarch, Lady Je Gal, would be attending?”
Lady Je Gal.
At those words, Hong Seol’s heart began to race uncontrollably.
‘Mother!’
Merely thinking of that word set my eyes burning with warmth. My heart pounded without restraint.
Overwhelmed by emotion, I clutched at my collar with small hands.
‘I am here representing the Nam Goong Family Estate in Jeok’s form. So…’
I cannot cry here.
Hong Seol steadied herself and gazed endlessly at the back of Yu Seong Moon Master as he went to greet the guest.
Only my trembling fists remained beyond my control.
Thump, thump.
Thud-thud, thud-thud.
My heart raced in rhythm with the approaching footsteps.
Heavy footfalls that began at the far end of the Corridor came to a halt before the Pavilion.
“So everyone has gathered here.”
‘This voice… it’s not Mother?’
I lifted my head sharply to examine the newcomer. A blurred male figure came into view.
Who was it?
But my hanging bangs obscured my vision, preventing me from seeing clearly.
Frustrated, I brushed the hair from my forehead.
Then a familiar man’s face appeared. I swallowed hard.
‘Uncle!’
Myo Jung San—cousin of Myo Wi Heon, the Master of Myo Ga Jang, and father of Geum Myeong and Eun Myeong.
With his chubby cheeks, he had brought his two sons flanking either side.
Soon an arrogant voice echoed through the Pavilion.
“I am Myo Jung San of Myo Ga Jang.”
“Welcome.”
“It has been a long time.”
No matter how powerful Myo Ga Jang’s influence was, his arrival was far too late.
Everyone except him was already seated in the Pavilion.
There was no way the reception could be warm.
“Why have you arrived so late? And did Myo Ga Jang not say that the Je Gal Lady would be coming?”
Someone chided him lightly. Myo Jung San then replied.
“The Matriarch suddenly fell ill. So I hurried here with my children, which is why I am late.”
“The Je Gal Lady is unwell?”
Mother? Why?
I perked up my ears and stared intently at Myo Jung San’s mouth.
“As you all know, one of our family’s children went missing not long ago.”
A child…?
All eyes converged upon Myo Jung San.
“An eight-year-old girl who could not learn martial arts, so she remained confined within the household.”
I, who had been tilting my head in confusion, suddenly gasped and covered my mouth.
‘That’s about me!’
But what does that have to do with Mother being ill?
“After the child went missing, the Matriarch searched for her day and night.”
At those words, I felt as though my head had been struck by a boulder.
‘Wait… Mother searched for me…?’
A small spark of hope ignited within my muddled mind.
‘Could I have misunderstood something?’
What if Mother never intended to abandon me at all?
Myo Jung San’s subsequent words only reinforced Hong Seol’s suspicion.
“The Matriarch even paid a substantial sum to the Beggar Sect to search for the child. And she entrusted the task to Hu Gae, no less!”
The assembled guests gasped in admiration.
Hu Gae—the second-in-command of the Beggar Sect, an information network composed of beggars.
The one destined to become the next leader of the Beggar Sect.
“The Myo Family Estate truly commands respect! To entrust such a task to Hu Gae himself!”
“It is nothing remarkable. There exists merely a small connection through the Matriarch’s natal family.”
It was an obvious ploy to feign humility while emphasizing the relationship with the Je Gal Family.
Yet young Hong Seol’s attention was drawn more to the fact that her mother was spending a fortune to find her.
Gulp.
Hong Seol gathered her courage and asked.
“Then… how is the Je Gal Lady’s health?”
“Jeok! You must not interrupt your elders so carelessly.”
Bing Yu Hua rebuked her in a stern tone. Yet Hong Seol could not stop herself.
“I apologize, but I am worried…”
Myo Jung San, witnessing this, twisted his lips into a smile.
“For the Nam Goong Family Estate to show concern for our Myo Family Estate—how unexpected. In truth, we received word from the Beggar Sect not long ago that they had found the child.”
“Really?”
Hong Seol’s eyes widened.
‘That cannot be…!’
“However, upon meeting the child, it proved to be someone else.”
Sigh.
Hong Seol exhaled heavily.
“Devastated by this, the Matriarch fell ill. The physicians say it is due to excessive worry.”
“How unfortunate. I shall pray for the Je Gal Lady’s swift recovery.”
“And that the child will surely be found.”
“I happen to have excellent medicinal herbs for such distress. I shall have them sent through a servant.”
Myo Jung San bowed his head beneath the cascade of sympathetic words.
Though everyone offered their remarks, Bing Yu Hua remained seated with her spine rigidly straight, her lips pressed firmly shut.
“Well, since the Medicine Master of the Nam Goong Family Estate has graced us with her presence, it would be lovely if she showed some goodwill toward the Myo Family Estate…”
“So the rumors of bad blood between the two families are true, it seems.”
Though some whispered such things, Yu Hua never opened her mouth.
“From the Northern Sea Ice Palace, I hear—her heart is as cold as the north wind.”
It was Myo Jung San himself who gracefully silenced such gossip.
“Why do you all speak so? We are grateful for your goodwill, but such matters are for the Nam Goong Family Estate to decide for themselves.”
“My, the people of the Myo Family Estate are truly magnanimous.”
Myo Jung San smiled secretly to himself.
In truth, the story of the child being lost and the Matriarch falling ill was an outright fabrication.
It was merely a fabrication Myo Jung San and Hu Gae had concocted to curry favor with the martial artists gathered in An Hui Province.
Everything was proceeding according to plan, and he was exceedingly satisfied.
Just then, servants arrived bearing a large platter of steaming fish.
“Ah! Is that not a Yangtze River blade fish dish!”
“To present such a precious delicacy—truly, Yu Seong Moon Master’s generosity is extraordinary.”
The atmosphere grew lively once more.
Only Hong Seol, wearing Jeok’s appearance, sat with a troubled expression.
‘Mother fell ill searching for me…’
Confusion swirled within me, yet a strange hope kindled in one corner of my heart.
‘Perhaps it was all a misunderstanding.’
Yet logic insisted this could not be true.
The small child within me, who had always yearned for her mother, found my ears drawn to such words.
Bing Yu Hua observed Hong Seol’s conflicted expression carefully throughout.
She called upon Yu Seong Moon Master to shift the mood.
“Master, shall we begin the entertainment?”
Yu Seong Moon Master nodded.
“Ah, yes. Now that everyone has gathered, shall we commence the festivities?”
At those words, Hong Seol’s gaze fixed upon him.
“Each year in An Hui Province, children compete in various contests. The event we have prepared at Yuseong Gate is this.”

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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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