The Beloved Baby Deer of the Hwangryong Family - Chapter 156

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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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“One more of these? Why?”

Su-jeong asked back in a reluctant voice.

Though it was a helpful item, she felt some inexplicable gloomy aura from it and didn’t want to get close to it.

“If you’re worried about your identity being discovered, you can just swallow one more of these.”

“Ah, that’s what it was? Then you should have given it to me earlier! I got scared for nothing.”

At the following words, Su-jeong eagerly accepted the shell.

After briefly rejoicing at the unexpected gift, Su-jeong frowned at a sudden thought.

“Don’t I need to feed this to that Nok Seo-yu girl too?”

That stupid girl who must be locked up in the storage shed by now.

Thinking of Seo-yu who would be crying in her pitiful state, Su-jeong felt as if her fatigue was completely melting away.

“You’re the only one who needs to take it. They say the power of sorcery will grow stronger.”

Nok Su-gyu nodded with a smiling face.

“Got it. I’ll take it if it looks like I might get caught.”

“You must be careful not to be discovered by others.”

“I know that much too. Really, always nagging.”

Su-jeong grumbled with dissatisfaction, then quickly composed her expression.

“Then Young Master, I’ll be going now. I hope you’ll handle what I asked for properly.”

Cheong, ok, bi, nyeo.

Su-jeong emphasized with her lip movements until the very end, then primly left the room.

Nok Su-gyu turned his gaze away from her retreating figure without lingering, hid the now-empty lacquered box in his bosom, and closed the door himself.

* * *

A small shadow fell over Su-jeong’s head as she left the inner quarters with quick steps.

It was the shadow of Yi-eon, who had transformed into a bird and was flying in the sky.

Yi-eon had just confirmed that Nok Su-jeong, transformed into Seo-yu, had also visited the room where Crown Prince Gon A-hwil had been.

Although Nok Su-gyu had blocked the window so he couldn’t see what had happened with Nok Su-jeong, Yi-eon’s head was already complicated just from the facts he had witnessed.

‘Why did the Crown Prince have a shell from our clan?’

What Gon A-hwil had handed over in the lacquered box was definitely a shell.

Even from a distance, Yi-eon could clearly sense the distinctive presence unique to the Yeong-gwi.

The surprising fact was that this presence was completely identical to what he had felt from Nok Su-jeong.

‘The Crown Prince must have been the one who gave that shell to the Great Antlered Deer Family siblings too.’

He didn’t think the young Crown Prince, not much different in age from himself, could have orchestrated such a big scheme alone.

But regardless of whose will it was, it was certain that the Imperial Family was behind it.

‘…I heard there were those who met their end in Thunder Prison.’

The Yeong-gwi Rebellion had led the Yeong-gwi Family to complete annihilation. Those who were dragged to prison without knowing why never saw the light again.

‘But even so, not all shells contain such strong power…’

If that had been the case, the Yeong-gwi clan wouldn’t have been suppressed so easily.

While the Yeong-gwi were beast-people skilled in sorcery, that was merely a clan characteristic – not every individual was strong.

He couldn’t understand what was going on, but for now, rescuing Seo-yu was more important than that.

‘I can’t let her continue living while pretending to be Seo-yu.’

Yi-eon’s eyes gleamed sharply.

Yi-eon soon drew up the aura from within.

The power born with him from birth, Divine Power.

Yi-eon condensed the power flowing through his veins like a sharp needle and shot that aura toward Su-jeong below, who was walking along humming.

‘Resonance.’

It was a method by which Yeong-gwi sensed and called to each other’s aura among their kind, a resonance of souls.

Wooong—

As Yi-eon’s aura seeped in, the shell fragment embedded deep within Su-jeong’s body showed a reaction.

‘So that’s where it was.’

He couldn’t make her spit out the shell right away.

If he forcibly broke the sorcery, there was no telling what kind of backlash might affect not only Su-jeong’s body as the host, but also Seo-yu’s true form using that shell.

He had to protect Seo-yu’s shadow that was forcibly attached to Su-jeong as well.

‘I need to prevent it from hiding deeply.’

Even just that would allow Seo-yu’s medicine to take effect.

As Yi-eon concentrated his mind once more, blue aura became waves that swept over Su-jeong.

“What?”

Su-jeong, who had been walking while humming, stopped abruptly in place.

Along with a feeling of her heart skipping a beat, the pit of her stomach began to ache.

“What is this, indigestion? That can’t be right. I haven’t eaten anything in particular.”

Su-jeong tapped her chest. The strange unpleasant feeling quickly disappeared.

“How annoying, even my body is acting up.”

Su-jeong exhaled irritably and hurriedly headed toward the Sarangchae.

Her gait had become somewhat sluggish, but she didn’t notice it herself.

Yi-eon spread his wings wide as he watched Su-jeong’s retreating figure.

‘I don’t know who you are, but I won’t let you use our family to torment Seo-yu.’

A shadow resembling a Yeong-gwi formed beneath Little Bird and then disappeared.

* * *

Taking advantage of the brief moment when Su-jeong was away, Li-han led his parents to a secluded room in the Separate Quarters.

There was the real Seo-yu, covered by Su-jeong’s shadow and waiting anxiously.

“…Seo-yu.”

As soon as the door opened, a moan-like call burst from Bi-yeon’s lips. Even with a different appearance, she couldn’t fool a parent’s eyes.

The moment they saw the tears pooled in the child’s eyes, Hwang Hyeon-rang and Bi-yeon were certain.

That this child was truly their daughter, Seo-yu.

“Mother, Father!”

Seo-yu ran over and embraced them both.

“Yes, our daughter. Our daughter was here all along.”

“Then that child is…”

Bi-yeon stroked Seo-yu’s hair, and Hwang Hyeon-rang watched this thoughtfully.

There was no time to explain the situation at length. Seo-yu pressed the bundle of honey rice cakes containing the medicine she had prepared in advance into Li-han’s hands with trembling fingers.

“Elder Brother, this is the medicine.”

“Yes, Seo-yu. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Li-han lightly gripped Seo-yu’s shoulder and promised.

Promising to meet again, the four people left their brief reunion behind and returned to their respective places.

A short while later, Su-jeong, who had returned from the Inner Quarters, frowned at the chaotic atmosphere.

The servants were constantly carrying rice cakes and food to the guests.

Originally, funerals were supposed to have abundant food, but to Su-jeong, whose stomach was churning, it was just an irritating sight.

“You’re back?”

Bi-yeon greeted Su-jeong with a warm face. Su-jeong forced a smile and answered.

“Yes, I’m on my way back from delivering the message to Young Master. He’ll catch the thief soon.”

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I can rest easy.”

Li-han chimed in from beside her. Bi-yeon held out a plate of honey rice cakes as if she had been waiting.

“Oh, you should eat something. You haven’t eaten anything since this morning because you’ve been working so hard.”

“No, I’m fine. My stomach feels a bit off…”

When Su-jeong waved her hands and declined, Bi-yeon tilted her head.

“Maybe your stomach feels empty because you keep starving yourself? It might get better if you eat even a little.”

Su-jeong still wasn’t inclined to eat, but she hesitated at Li-han’s comment from beside her.

“That’s strange. Our Seo-yu loves honey rice cakes so much she’d wake up from sleep for them. Are you really not going to eat?”

Nok Seo-yu did like honey rice cakes.

Even though she didn’t know what Seo-yu originally liked, she clearly remembered how she had coveted expensive honey without knowing her place.

‘Maybe I really am hungry.’

To avoid suspicion as well, Su-jeong took a rice cake and put it in her mouth. The bitter aftertaste she felt as soon as she chewed made her face scrunch up.

“It’s bitter?”

“It’s honey rice cake with bellflower root, so that’s why. You like bellflower root. It’s good for your health, so chew and swallow it.”

At Bi-yeon’s gentle voice, Su-jeong swallowed the rice cake without complaint.

She supposed it must be true that she originally liked it. As she ate, it seemed like her appetite was strangely returning.

Soon Nok Su-gyu appeared, and the funeral procession finally began.

‘Finally leaving this damn place!’

Su-jeong inwardly cheered.

But just as she was about to take a step, she felt an unpleasant vibration in her stomach.

“Ugh.”

As nausea rose and Su-jeong clutched her chest, Li-han quickly approached and supported her.

“What’s wrong, are you okay?”

“Ah, yes. My stomach feels a little… It seems like I have indigestion.”

She tried to endure it somehow, but it was really difficult to bear.

Then at some point, she began to feel something wriggling inside her stomach as if it were alive and moving.

She had an instinctive premonition that this shouldn’t be left alone.

“Let me see, I’ll at least rub your back.”

When Bi-yeon approached to take care of her, Su-jeong irritably shook her hand away.

“No! It’s fine. I’ll go to the outhouse.”

Su-jeong screamed like a shriek and ran toward the sarangchae.

“Ugh!”

But before she could even reach the outhouse, Su-jeong clutched her stomach and collapsed.

Just then, someone called out to Su-jeong.

“Seo-yu?”

When she barely managed to lift her head, it was Gi Tae-ha. He lowered himself with a worried expression she had never seen before and examined Su-jeong.

“What’s wrong? Did you get an upset stomach?”

Su-jeong felt annoyed by his urgent tone.

‘He always just asked me useless questions about medical arts…’

Jealousy and irritation surged, but nausea came first.

Su-jeong turned her back to Gi Tae-ha and bent over, trying to hide her expression.

‘If I just throw up cleanly… Wait. What if what I swallowed earlier comes out?’

If that happened, her identity would be exposed.

‘That can’t happen.’

Fear suddenly struck her, but fortunately Su-jeong had a way.

Su-jeong took out the second shell fragment she had received from Nok Su-gyu and hidden in her belongings.

Then without hesitation, she pushed it into her mouth and swallowed it.

Strong auras collided and the nausea seemed to subside for a moment.

‘I’m saved. This seems to have medicinal effects too.’

Su-jeong felt relieved and was getting up when she opened her mouth to give a casual greeting.

“I’m fine, so you don’t need to worry…”

The words couldn’t be finished.

Thump—!

“Don’t come. You mustn’t come…!”

It was the moment when Gi Tae-ha, having regained his senses, was about to shout urgently.

Whoooosh—!

A brilliant green light brightly colored the space before Gi Tae-ha’s eyes.

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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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