The Beloved Baby Deer of the Hwangryong Family - Chapter 23

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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 had said what he should have said instead.

Though he didn’t want to admit it, it was a perfect answer.

Thanks to that, Li-han had completely missed his chance to leave. If he encountered them now, he would seem like someone eavesdropping on their conversation.

‘This is troublesome.’

While he had no choice but to hide behind a pillar, the maid responded as if accustomed to this.

“There you go again. The Family Head himself called you a guest! Besides, now that you’re Master Hyeon-ya’s disciple, you’re properly a young lady.”

“No, if you call someone like me a young lady, everyone will laugh.”

He had thought that if the maid insisted once more, she would reluctantly accept the treatment, but Seo-yu firmly shook her head.

Li-han frowned.

‘Someone like me.’

It was exactly what Li-han had been thinking, but hearing Seo-yu say it herself sounded a bit strange.

‘…Do people usually talk about themselves like that?’

Of course, he had treated Seo-yu that way. But he who disliked Seo-yu couldn’t be the same as Seo-yu herself, could he?

Her self-assessment was so harsh that it bothered him for no reason. It was even more so because her tone was calm despite her still small voice.

That wasn’t the only thing that bothered him.

‘Why is she carrying something that big by herself?’

Now that he looked, Seo-yu was carrying a water jar as big as herself. It even seemed to be full of water, judging by how it reflected the sunlight with gentle ripples.

Of course, the maid was also carrying a separate water jar, but that maid was a strong imugi.

In comparison, Seo-yu was just a deer, and neither tall nor big at all.

Yet it was amazing how she carried the clay pot without spilling a single drop of water. As if she had done this work many times before.

‘Still, I should help her.’

Though he wasn’t inclined to, the child was too small to just watch, making him feel uneasy.

‘Anyway, since she’s a guest of the family clan, helping her is also the Young Family Head’s duty.’

Besides, if she fell and got hurt, it would become even harder to drive her away.

“Who would dare? There are so many rumors about how Master Hyeon-ya cherishes his new disciple! Yi-ryeong said that Master Hyeon-ya even allowed access to the herb garden?”

Li-han, who had been about to approach the two while swallowing a sigh, hesitated.

‘The herb garden?’

Hwang Hyeon-ya managed the medical room with obsessive thoroughness. Naturally, he was selective about people too.

Even when close branch family members begged to be taken as disciples, if he observed them briefly and decided they weren’t suitable, he would cut them off immediately.

Such a Hwang Hyeon-ya had already entrusted that child with the herb garden, which he wouldn’t even let maids help with?

Did he have that much trust in that child?

“That’s only because I asked my master for permission and he allowed it…”

Li-han’s expression hardened at Seo-yu’s words that followed.

‘Hwang Yi-ryeong, why did you steal the treasure vault key!’

‘I didn’t steal it, I borrowed it…’

‘Answer properly!’

‘Well… Sister Cho-a said she was curious and asked me to show her just once… I was just going to show her briefly. I absolutely wasn’t trying to steal anything.’

A headache rushed in as old memories surfaced again.

‘So there was an ulterior motive after all. Was she deliberately trying to look pitiful? Does she want to get something from the herb garden?’

He had wondered why everyone was so eager to be kind to an outsider child who had barely arrived, but now it all made sense.

He had almost been fooled himself – what impressive acting skills.

“Oh come on, Master Hyeon-ya wouldn’t have given permission to just anyone! He entrusted it to you because you’re Seo-yu!”

“Still, I’d prefer if you just called me Seo-yu. ‘Miss’ feels too burdensome… would that be okay?”

“Oh my, then I’ll call you Seo-yu-nim. That’s fine, right?”

“That’s great!”

As if nothing had happened, the child’s voice immediately brightened.

In contrast, Li-han’s expression grew even darker.

‘Right. Before too, it started with gaining sympathy.’

Everyone had fallen for those tricks, and the family’s information had nearly been leaked entirely.

‘I won’t fall for it again.’

I’ll thoroughly uncover whatever scheme this is.

Li-han gritted his teeth and turned away sharply.

* * *

“Thank you, Seo-yu-nim. Thanks to you, I finished the work easily.”

“Not at all. It’s work anyone would do.”

“I’m an imugi, after all! Since Seo-yu-nim is a deer, it’s even more impressive.”

I just got the hang of it from doing it a lot…

Seo-yu’s cheeks flushed red from the continuous praise.

“Miss, you move the rest. Since you’re the slowest, you do less work accordingly. Got it?”

Before, she had been scolded for taking too long even when doing the same work, but at the Golden Dragon Family, she received praise despite doing less than half of that.

“Um, could I take just one gourd of water?”

“Of course! Take as much as you want.”

“Thank you!”

Everyone here is really such good people.

Taking the water gourd, Seo-yu headed to the Medical Room with light steps.

And unlike usual, she headed straight for the door leading to the back area.

The Back Gate was firmly locked, but Seo-yu had the key that Hyeon-ya had given her.

Click.

As soon as she opened the door, the fresh scent of medicinal herbs filled her nostrils.

“Mm, it smells so wonderful!”

Hyeon-ya’s Herb Garden was very special.

First of all, the garden was indoors rather than outside.

Unlike other buildings, sunlight mysteriously shone through what appeared to be an opaque roof, and it was a magical space where warm air flowed unlike the outside.

By filling that space with soil and planting seedlings, lush medicinal herbs grew abundantly.

‘He said this place was made by renovating a banquet hall.’

The Medical Room was small because it was originally a small inner chamber used as a resting space.

Actually, Seo-yu didn’t think the Medical Room was small either, but compared to this enormous herb room, anywhere would feel small.

“Wooow… Master, this is so amazing. In the Western Region, I’ve never seen a garden inside a room like this.”

“There’s no need for that there. You have that great kirin, so you don’t have to worry about crops not growing. I had no choice but to struggle like this.”

“Huh? Then did you create this place yourself, Master?”

“Yes. Though I did get some help.”

“Wow! Master, you’re really a genius!”

“I’d have to eliminate a few geniuses to earn that qualification.”

“No, you’re really amazing.”

Hwang Hyeon-ya replied indifferently, but Seo-yu was genuinely amazed.

To be able to grow medicinal herbs like this even in winter when cold winds blow fiercely!

‘Hyeon-ya is more amazing than the kirin!’

No matter how great a kirin is, they don’t have the power to change seasons, do they?

In Seo-yu’s eyes, Hwang Hyeon-ya seemed far more magnificent.

“If I’m a genius, then you, Seo-yu, must be a disciple chosen by a genius.”

“Huh? But I’m not such an amazing person…”

“Just do it. Then I can at least manage to be a genius or whatever.”

And such a Hwang Hyeon-ya had acknowledged her as his disciple.

She was grinning happily for no reason when the soil holding the medicinal herbs spoke to her first.

[Seo-yu, Seo-yu!]

[Hello, Seo-yu!]

“Hello, everyone. Did you sleep well?”

This soil was brought from the Kirin Family Clan, and perhaps because it wasn’t contaminated by magical beast poison, unlike the dying soil in the front courtyard, it responded well.

Moreover, the medicinal herbs grew very healthily.

‘But why won’t the Jeongdam Herb grow?’

However, according to Hwang Hyeon-ya, even in this soil, the Jeongdam Herb couldn’t grow.

“Is it really because there’s no kirin?”

Hwang Hyeon-ya, who had been muttering quietly, looked quite lonely, which made Seo-yu very upset.

‘If I ask the soil, wouldn’t I be able to find out the reason?’

So Seo-yu asked Hwang Hyeon-ya if she could examine the herb garden.

The herb garden in front of the Medical Room was a place where people came and went, so she couldn’t freely have conversations there, but in Hwang Hyeon-ya’s herb garden where just anyone couldn’t enter, she could ask as many questions as she wanted.

Hwang Hyeon-ya set the condition: ‘I’ll give you the key when you can read and write the names of all the medicinal herbs in the herb garden,’ and Seo-yu easily passed the test.

It was worth holding onto the books so tightly that they got worn from her hands.

‘If I know what the soil likes and dislikes, I should be able to repel the poison.’

Contamination is ultimately the soil being in pain.

So if the land becomes healthy, wouldn’t the medicinal herbs grow well too?

‘Then maybe I could even heal Madam’s illness.’

If I could help with that, maybe Li-han would look upon me favorably….

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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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