The Beloved Baby Deer of the Hwangryong Family - Chapter 128

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Seo-yu was a little surprised.

‘The Young Master and I had so many things in common!’

She had never observed Tae-eon that closely, nor had she thought deeply about her own habits, so she hadn’t realized it.

‘The Family Head is truly observant.’

It was fascinating that the Family Head knew facts that even she herself was unaware of.

‘I said something unnecessary.’

Gi Tae-ha realized his mistake when he saw Seo-yu’s eyes widen in surprise. He hadn’t intended to startle the child, but he kept saying things he didn’t need to say.

Originally not much of a talker, and having never paid special attention to any one person, this was unfamiliar territory for him.

“Let’s go now. I’ll show you the Heavenly Medicine Forest.”

Just as Gi Tae-ha was about to take a step, he hesitated upon noticing some pebbles that caught his eye. Tree roots protruding from the soil and insignificant small stones also drew his attention.

Though they were perfectly natural parts of the forest, somehow they bothered him. Perhaps it was because the child with him looked so small and delicate.

After a brief hesitation, Gi Tae-ha asked casually.

“Would you like to hold my hand while we walk? The forest paths aren’t as smooth as those outside, so I’m worried you might get hurt.”

“Yes! Thank you, Family Head.”

Seo-yu took his still awkwardly extended hand without hesitation. Then she said in a bright voice.

“My parents also hold my hand like this when we go out. It makes me feel secure.”

“…I see.”

Relief and bitterness washed over him simultaneously. While it was fortunate that the child had grown up loved by her parents, he couldn’t understand why he felt this way.

“They seemed like affectionate people to me as well.”

“Hehe, that’s right. They’re truly wonderful people. They even congratulated me on getting to visit the Heavenly Medicine Forest. They said there would be so much to see and learn… Wow!”

Seo-yu, who had been chattering happily, soon widened her eyes in amazement.

“To think there’s a forest so full of medicinal herbs…”

She had seen vast herb gardens and forests where nature lived and breathed, but the Heavenly Medicine Forest was on a completely different level.

The forest, densely packed with lush trees, was filled with medicinal herbs of various shapes and colors.

‘This is truly amazing. So many medicinal herbs can be gathered in one place!’

With each step she took, new medicinal herbs came into view. The precious scenery continued to unfold, with rare medicinal herbs she had only seen in books scattered everywhere.

She was busily looking around, eagerly exploring the Heavenly Medicine Forest.

‘Huh?’

Seo-yu suddenly felt something strange.

The surrounding medicinal herbs seemed to keep leaning toward her. As if they were trying to greet her warmly.

It wasn’t her imagination.

[A friend!]

[A new friend has come!]

[Such a small and cute friend!]

[Did you come to see us? Welcome!]

[Welcome!]

The earth chattered excitedly, welcoming Seo-yu. Seo-yu was bewildered by the enthusiastic welcome but also very happy.

‘I’m glad everyone likes me.’

She smiled contentedly, and then she heard more voices.

[Oh, she likes us. Can she hear what we’re saying?]

[No way! There aren’t many humans who can hear our words!]

[But she suddenly smiled! Even though no one was talking to her!]

[Right. We were the only ones who spoke.]

[Only us!]

I must have made it too obvious.

Feeling guilty for no reason, Seo-yu quickly composed her expression.

But then, the Qilin Family Head spoke to her.

“The Heavenly Medicine Forest also welcomes your visit.”

Seo-yu looked up in surprise.

“F-Family Head, you too…”

Can you hear those voices?

Seo-yu, who was about to ask that, quickly shut her mouth. It wasn’t something she should bring up carelessly.

Instead, Seo-yu changed her words slightly and asked again.

“Family Head, can you hear the forest’s words?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have such an ability.”

“Ah…”

However, contrary to her expectations, Gi Tae-ha quietly shook his head.

Seo-yu was a little disappointed, hoping she might learn something, but Gi Tae-ha’s words didn’t end there.

“I can only vaguely sense what they’re feeling. In our family, we call this communion.”

“Communion?”

“Yes. The better one’s ability to commune, the more accurately one can understand nature’s will. That’s why the ancient Qilin was said to freely converse with all things.”

Communion, the ability to communicate with all things…

Seo-yu thought it was quite similar to the talent she possessed.

But she had no connection whatsoever to the ancient Qilin.

‘What exactly is my ability?’

Just as she was lost in thought, Gi Tae-ha raised his hand and pointed deeper into the forest.

“Would you like to go further inside? This area is the outskirts of the Heavenly Medicine Forest, so there aren’t that many varieties. More precious medicinal herbs grow deeper inside.”

“Could I possibly encounter Jeongdam Herb and Snow Scale Flowers too?”

“Of course. Shall we go see them now?”

“Yes! Please!”

The Heavenly Medicine Forest sent warm gazes toward the two people walking side by side, holding hands.

* * *

“I’m bored.”

“Play with us, Uncle.”

Hwang Hyeon-ya’s office.

The twins, who had come to the medical room as soon as their training ended, kept pestering Hwang Hyeon-ya without showing any signs of fatigue.

Hwang Hyeon-ya, who had been consistently ignoring their familiar whining, finally raised the white flag.

“If you’re bored, go outside and play. Why do you come here asking me to play with you? Do you think the medical room is a playground?”

As she set down the book, Yi-ryeong’s eyes sparkled as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“But Youngest comes to the medical room even when she doesn’t have classes if she’s bored. Wasn’t Uncle playing with her?”

“Do you think Seo-yu is like you guys? When she comes, she sits quietly and reads books. She doesn’t interfere with work like this.”

At his words, Li-gon pouted his lips and complained.

“Calling your nephews and nieces a bother! Uncle is really mean. We’re hurt.”

“Woo, bad Uncle who makes Hwang Li-gon sad.”

“Only at times like this do you two work in perfect harmony.”

As the children grew, their verbal skills improved day by day, making them quite troublesome to deal with.

It seemed hopeless to read quietly, so Hyeon-ya was about to put the book back when—

“Lord Hyeon-ya, are you there?”

“I’m here. What is it, Eun-hyang?”

A familiar voice came along with the sound of knocking on the door.

“There’s a guest here looking for Lord Hyeon-ya.”

“A guest? Who? There’s no one who would do that.”

Hyeon-ya frowned. If there was urgent business, people usually sent letters rather than coming to see Hyeon-ya directly.

“He said you would know if I mentioned he’s an elder from the west.”

“…Elder Qilin?”

Hyeon-ya’s eyes narrowed.

‘Did something happen to the Qilin Family?’

That was his first thought, but if that were the case, they would have contacted Hwang Hyeon-rang, the family head, first rather than him.

“Is it Qilin Grandfather? We want to go too!”

“Take us with you!”

The twins jumped up from their seats and shouted. Hyeon-ya quickly blocked the two troublemakers from following him.

“You two come later. The adults need to have a conversation first.”

“Tch! Stingy Uncle.”

“Anchovy brain!”

“Yes, what an honor. It would be better for that anchovy to go train before the Young Family Head finds you.”

“Geez!”

Go ahead and try when you’re grown up, you little ones.

Having achieved complete victory, Hyeon-ya hurriedly left the medical room. Whatever it was, something felt ominous.

When he hurried to the reception room, an elderly man with platinum hair was leisurely drinking tea.

“Mm, quite decent. The tea leaf management is rather good. You must put effort into it?”

“Did you come here to evaluate the tea?”

“Really, such an unfriendly fellow.”

Tae-heum clicked his tongue and set down his teacup. Despite his leisurely attitude, his eyes held an unusual intensity.

“I came to see that child Seo-yu. I’d like to have a brief conversation with her.”

“What business do you have with someone else’s disciple?”

Somehow he had a bad feeling about this.

‘Did he hear something at the Medical Academy?’

But that couldn’t be right. Tae-heum had always disliked crowded places. He had never attended the Medical Academy Festival even once.

Moreover, the incident related to Nok Su-jeong was handled quietly to prevent it from leaking outside. It was a measure to protect Seollin and Seo-yu.

‘There’s no way the Qilin Family would have heard about it…’

If they had, he wouldn’t have come all the way here.

Furthermore, Tae-heum was someone who considered the Family Matriarch’s miscarriage ten years ago to be his responsibility. Out of guilt, he had given up his position as head of the Medical Hall and was known to rarely return to the family.

Then there must certainly be another reason. He needed to find out what it was. To prevent those words from reaching the unknown culprit.

“That child, is it true that she only has one horn?”

“Where did you hear that from?”

As Hyeon-ya’s voice grew heavy, Tae-heum nodded his head.

“So it was true.”

Noticing the sharpening gaze, Tae-heum waved his hand dismissively.

“I heard it from the child who shares a dormitory with Seo-yu. I told her not to talk about it elsewhere, so there’s no need to frown like that.”

“Seo-yu must have shown her. I thought there would be no occasion for beast transformation at the Medical Academy.”

Hyeon-ya crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

“She probably did it to comfort her friend. That child also has quite a unique appearance.”

“…”

It was such a Seo-yu-like reason that he had nothing to say. As he closed his mouth at the situation he could picture without even seeing it, Tae-heum began to speak.

“By any chance.”

Even after starting to speak, Tae-heum fidgeted with his teacup for a long time. He could feel his fingertips trembling slightly.

Tension rarely appeared on the face of the old man who was usually only calm.

He opened and closed his mouth several times. With a face clearly showing hesitation, Tae-heum finally opened his mouth after much deliberation.

“By any chance, that child…”

His voice caught. He seemed afraid to voice the words he needed to ask.

It was an extremely human wavering, shown for the first time by a physician who had lived his entire life with cold rationality.

“Your thoughts are probably correct, sir.”

Hyeon-ya gave his answer first. Tae-heum’s eyes flashed open wide and his body moved accordingly.

“What! Then that child really is…!”

“Don’t speak it aloud. It’s not a known story.”

Tae-heum, who had been about to stand up abruptly, slumped back into his seat. His body was so tense that the veins on the back of his hands bulged.

If he had still possessed youthful vigor, he might have overturned the table, but the patience of an old man accumulated through years was that excellent.

“How, how could such a thing…”

“Don’t ask me how it happened since I don’t know either. All I know is that Seo-yu might be a qilin.”

“Shouldn’t we inform Tae-ha, the family head!”

“I already informed him. He said he wants to take Seo-yu to the Heavenly Medicine Forest to see. She’s at the Qilin Family now, so she might have entered the forest by this time.”

“…Are you certain?”

“Shouldn’t the certainty come from their side, not from me?”

At the blunt reply, Tae-heum squeezed his eyes shut. His wrinkled eye area twitched with difficulty.

After a moment, Tae-heum, having barely controlled his anguish, spoke quietly.

“You still don’t know who committed this act, I see.”

“Yes. If they find out the child is alive, they certainly won’t leave her alone, so we must find them first.”

Tae-heum, who had unconsciously gripped his teacup, set it down again. He had been applying so much force that the cup was trembling.

“Does the child… does Seo-yu know this fact?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t very well tell the child to pretend not to know.”

“Yes, you did well. You made a good judgment.”

Tae-heum answered with a sigh mixed in and pressed his forehead.

The Family Matriarch’s miscarriage was the result of someone’s interference. His insides were incredibly noisy at something he had never once imagined.

‘Why didn’t Tae-ha tell me such important news?’

Had he been that untrustworthy? Just as self-loathing was about to wash over him at that thought.

A thought flashed through his mind for a moment.

“There must be someone on the inside who lent a hand!”

If that were the case, it made sense why he couldn’t bring it up first. Even he wouldn’t have been free from suspicion.

Hwang Hyeon-ya let out a chuckle at the realization that burst out like a lament.

“Your mind doesn’t seem to be completely rusted after all.”

“Hey, you rascal. Don’t tease your elders.”

“Anyway, if I were the culprit, I wouldn’t have entrusted such an important matter to you, sir. Seeing you now makes me even more certain of that.”

He wasn’t the type of old man to follow orders from just anyone. He didn’t have any clear weaknesses to grab and shake, so there would be no way to threaten him either.

Hwang Hyeon-ya, who had been slowly observing Tae-heum, soon made his decision.

“So then, if you’ve come to help the Eldest Descendant, would you tell me everything that happened at that time?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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