The Beloved Baby Deer of the Hwangryong Family - Chapter 155

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

“What? A thief?”

“You were robbed? What exactly was stolen?”

At this unexpected story, confusion appeared on everyone’s faces.

Li-han briefly took in his parents’ bewildered expressions and Su-jeong’s frowning face, then immediately bit his lips.

“The Blue Jade Hairpin that Mother gave me has disappeared.”

“The Blue Jade Hairpin? Li-han, that…”

Bi-yeon opened her mouth in puzzlement.

‘Didn’t you already give that to Seo-yu?’

She was just about to say exactly that.

Li-han stepped forward quickly.

“I know, Mother. It’s not something I should have brought to such a place.”

Li-han, with his straight eyebrows drooping downward and his blue-green eyes cast down, looked quite sorrowful.

“But since Seo-yu will be returning to the Medical Academy and we won’t be able to meet for a while, I thought she might miss the family, so I wanted to give her the hairpin… It’s all my carelessness.”

Watching such Li-han, Su-jeong clicked her tongue inwardly.

‘So in the end, he lost both the handkerchief and now the hairpin.’

Even if he was that great Death Spirit, or the greatest among dragons called Eung-ryong, it seemed there was no helping that he was clumsy as a person.

‘What can I do? Kind me will have to understand.’

Anyway, a hairpin made of blue jade could be obtained easily enough.

More than that, Su-jeong wanted to escape this place as quickly as possible.

So she decided to become the kindest younger sister in the world and comfort Li-han. Though it was just pretense, to be precise.

“Elder Brother, I’m fine. Just your warm heart already makes me feel like I’ve received the hairpin.”

At her gentle voice, Li-han’s expression instantly hardened. Bi-yeon and Hwang Hyeon-rang were the same.

They all knew the fact that Seo-yu had already received the Blue Jade Hairpin as a gift from Li-han.

‘Now both of them must have clearly realized that this child is not Seo-yu.’

Of course, they must have already been thinking something was strange.

Li-han knew better than anyone his parents who cherished Seo-yu as much as he did, or even more.

But he didn’t want to let his parents be further swayed by a situation that couldn’t be easily explained.

‘How dare she try to toy with our Golden Dragon Family.’

Li-han concealed the coldness that suddenly surged up and muttered as if regretful.

“But I don’t know if it’s okay to leave a treasure of the Dragon Palace like this. Though I can’t ask them to find a thief in the middle of a funeral…”

“A treasure?”

Su-jeong’s eyebrows rose slightly with interest. Li-han nodded his head.

“Yes, I told you before, didn’t I? That there’s a Blue Jade Hairpin made from Azure Dragon Scale. I wanted to give that to you.”

Azure Dragon Scale!

Su-jeong gasped.

‘That’s the blue scale that the Dragon King left behind when he ascended to heaven long ago! That really exists?’

Su-jeong, who loved jewelry so much that she knew all about various rare treasures, was well-informed.

Among them, the Azure Dragon Scale was a dream jewel that she thought only existed in legends.

‘Come to think of it, the madam of this family is an Azure Dragon.’

And the younger sister of the Blue Dragon Family Head who rules the Dragon Palace at that!

I once heard a story about the Azure Dragon Scale, describing it as a beautiful jade that boasted a transparent and brilliant blue color, as if a piece of the deep sea had been carved out and crafted.

Su-jeong swallowed her saliva.

“Elder Brother, of course your feelings alone are more than enough for me, but…”

Su-jeong, who had subtly begun speaking, added her following words with emphasis.

“Still, if it’s such a precious item, I think it would be right to catch the wicked thief and recover the treasure. For the sake of the Blue Dragon Family Head who gave you the gift.”

As if that wasn’t enough, she turned her head as if seeking confirmation and asked Bi-yeon.

“Isn’t that right, Mother?”

“…Yes, that’s right. We must definitely catch the thief.”

Bi-yeon’s blue eyes, facing Su-jeong, gradually darkened.

“Then I’ll go see Young Master Nok separately. I don’t really want to, but… still, if we don’t want to make this into a big issue, I think it’s right for me to see him.”

While Su-jeong was excited about the prospect of finding the treasure, the gazes of the three dragons intertwined in the air.

The looks exchanged in silence carried cold anger.

* * *

“Young Master, are you inside? It’s almost time for the funeral procession. You must come out now…!”

Nok Su-gyu’s nerves became sharply on edge at the urgent voice of the household member coming from outside the door.

“Didn’t I tell you to wait!”

Nok Su-gyu, who shouted angrily, paced around the narrow room, unable to hide his anxiety.

His gaze, rubbing his sweaty palms, turned toward the lacquered box on the table. His eyes looking at the box shook uneasily.

‘Why on earth does His Majesty the Emperor possess that thing!’

His mind was a complete mess.

He couldn’t understand at all why the Emperor had that item, and why he had bestowed it upon him at this particular moment.

But the more he thought about it, there was only one answer that emerged.

‘It was his instruction from the very beginning.’

He had always been curious.

Why and how his father had kidnapped the child from the Qilin Family.

Wasn’t it far too big an affair for his father, who was merely a newcomer holding only a low-level administrative position, to commit?

His father wasn’t the type of person who could think of such a thing on his own.

Therefore, his father had been acting on someone’s orders from the very beginning. He probably became the lord of the Four Spirits Territory as compensation for that.

‘Why did His Majesty try to harm the Qilin’s child?’

The order was to steal the child away, but how could that newborn grow up well in someone else’s house?

As his son, he knew better than anyone that his own father, Nok Sa-pyeong, wasn’t such a good person.

Though there were many questions, what was important now wasn’t that.

‘In any case, His Majesty the Emperor already knows about all of this.’

The one who had secretly sent him letters, calling him ‘the one who bears the future of the Nok family,’ was surely the Emperor.

The Emperor had manipulated him to eliminate his father, Nok Sa-pyeong, who had carried out his orders ten years ago.

Without getting a single drop of blood on his own hands!

While it sent chills down his spine, there was one point he couldn’t understand at all.

Why had the Emperor revealed his identity?

Couldn’t he just hide behind the shadows and give orders as he had been doing all along?

But why did he suddenly reveal his identity now? And after successfully accomplishing everything according to his will, no less.

Moreover…

Knock knock—

Just then, the sound of knocking on the door interrupted his thoughts. Nok Su-gyu burst out in anger.

“Did I not tell you to wait!”

However, after a brief silence, the voice that came was not that of a household member.

“Young Master, it’s me, Hwang Seo-yu.”

Seo-yu? Why is that one here?

Nok Su-gyu, who had momentarily frowned, soon realized it was Su-jeong, his younger sister, and let out a sigh.

When he opened the door, Su-jeong was standing outside alone.

Su-jeong looked up at Su-gyu with irritated eyes and spoke disgustingly while pretending to be Seo-yu.

“I have something urgent to discuss with you, so I took the liberty of coming here. May I come in for a moment?”

“Please do.”

And so the Great Antlered Deer Siblings entered the room.

Nok Su-gyu quickly lowered the beaded curtain to cover the window, lest others see.

“Is it alright for you to wander around alone like this? What about the Golden Dragon!”

“I made up an excuse and came, so mind your own business.”

Su-jeong grimaced at the scolding that came as soon as they met, then relaxed her expression and asked.

“More importantly, we need to catch a thief. Can you help?”

“What? Are you asking me to find a thief in a house that’s holding a funeral?”

At such an absurd statement, Nok Su-gyu’s tone became fierce. Su-jeong also raised her eyes defiantly.

“That’s why you should have managed the household better! A precious treasure was stolen! A hairpin with an Azure Dragon Scale, no less!”

“What on earth is an Azure Dragon Scale… No, never mind. Now is not the time to look for such things.”

Su-gyu stopped speaking appropriately, trying not to raise his voice too much. However, Su-jeong had no intention of backing down.

“Of course it is! It’s a treasure from the Dragon Palace, so we must find it. Do you want to make enemies of the Qilin, the Golden Dragon, and now the Azure Dragon too?”

“That’s all because of you!”

When Su-gyu shouted in disbelief, Su-jeong brazenly lifted her chin.

“Why don’t you just announce to the whole neighborhood that I’m here!”

When she was in prison, she begged desperately to be saved, but now that she was out, she was being selfish again.

Her consistent behavior since childhood made his head throb.

“What’s this? It looks incredibly expensive.”

Su-jeong showed interest in the lacquered box and approached it. Su-gyu quickly reached out to block her.

“Don’t touch it! It’s a gift bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor.”

“Tch, will it wear out just from touching? How petty.”

Though grumbling, Su-jeong withdrew her hand at the mention of the Emperor.

“Anyway, I’m not going back until we find that thing, so hurry up and send the servants to catch the thief. It was in a medicine container made of paulownia wood.”

Su-jeong spoke as if giving notice and turned around, then hesitated and stopped.

The next moment, Su-jeong turned back around, narrowed her eyes, and asked.

“Oh, and just to be sure, this really can’t be recognized by anyone, right?”

“Of course. Don’t tell me something happened already?”

When Su-gyu asked with suspicion, Su-jeong replied with an irritated voice.

“What do you take me for! It’s not that, it’s just that the eldest Golden Dragon sometimes looks at me strangely.”

“Strangely?”

“It seems like he’s being wary of something… It’s probably just my imagination. Anyway, as long as there’s no risk of being caught, that’s fine. Pretending to be good is damn exhausting.”

Then she roughly swept her hair back.

When she did that, Su-jeong didn’t look like Seo-yu at all.

‘Can she really continue pretending to be Nok Seo-yu?’

A doubt suddenly crossed Nok Su-gyu’s mind.

First of all, their personalities were too different, and once she returned to the Medical Academy, her grades would surely give her away.</

Su-jeong had lived her entire life without studying.

If she had at least lost her memory, it might be different, but in this state, she would be exposed before long.

Then naturally they would retrace her movements one by one, and he, being the most recent outsider she had contact with, would become a suspect.

“That’s true! That is indeed the case. Still, Father did accomplish something great before he left.”

Nok Su-gyu, who had been watching the relieved Su-jeong with unreadable eyes, held out the shell.

“Su-jeong, I’ll give this to you.”

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