The Beloved Baby Deer of the Hwangryong Family - Chapter 26

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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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Even without them saying anything, Seo-yu could almost hear their inner thoughts, making her feel a bit troubled.

In Seo-yu’s eyes, both were so cute that she couldn’t choose just one.

Moreover, the two kept going back and forth so much that she couldn’t even think about measuring their size.

“You were both really cute.”

At her honest words, the twins simultaneously frowned.

“Cu…te?”

Then they looked at each other and immediately made retching sounds. Their faces showed they couldn’t accept it.

“The cute one is our youngest!”

“Right. We’re not cute. We’re cool dragons.”

“Oh, no. You really were cute though…”

Did they dislike being called cute?

As Seo-yu was reading the mood, Yi-ryeong clapped her hands as if a good idea had occurred to her.

“Youngest! You should do Beast Transformation too!”

“Good idea! We want to see Seo-yu’s Beast Transformation too. We’ve never seen a flower deer before.”

Li-gon agreed as if it were a good idea. Two pairs of sparkling eyes fixed on Seo-yu.

“I…”

Seo-yu was suddenly frightened.

Her heart, which had been full of fluffy happiness just moments before, felt like dark clouds had instantly covered it.

‘Brother, look at Nok Seo-yu! She transformed and she’s really ugly!’

‘You’re right. I can’t believe there’s such a hideous deer.’

‘Exactly! Doesn’t she look really funny? We should show Mother too. Hey, ugly. You stay right there.’

The voices that had giggled while treating her like a strange toy swirled dizzily in Seo-yu’s head.

That day, Seo-yu had to spend the entire day tied to a shabby storage room pillar, unable to undo her Beast Transformation, becoming a spectacle.

It had been so agonizing that just remembering it made fear grip her chest tightly, but Seo-yu managed to erase the afterimage.

‘No. Yi-ryeong-nim and Li-gon-nim wouldn’t do that. They said even my ugly horns were cool and looked very strong.’

Though they were siblings like her, the Great Antlered Deer Family and the twins couldn’t even be compared. Yi-ryeong and Li-gon were truly kind and grateful people.

‘Maybe they’ll look favorably on my Beast Transformation form too.’

It was the moment when thread-like courage began to bloom.

“But why are flower deer called flower deer? Do they have flower patterns?”

“Wow, then it must be really pretty. I want to see it quickly.”

At the twins’ excited chatter, Seo-yu’s face turned pale.

‘No. I can’t show them. If they see my appearance, they’ll surely be disappointed.’

Seo-yu clenched her small fists tightly and barely managed to open her reluctant lips.

“I can’t do Beast Transformation.”

Of course it was a lie. But even if she had to lie, she didn’t want them to discover her ugly appearance.

“Huh?”

“Oh, really?”

As if they couldn’t imagine it, Yi-ryeong and Li-gon were visibly flustered. Seo-yu felt so sorry and embarrassed that she couldn’t even look at them.

“S-sorry. I have work left in the medical room, so I’ll go back to check on it.”

“Geez, did that mean uncle give you a lot of work? We’ll go tell him off for you.”

“Right. Let’s go! Hey, youngest, come with… youngest!”

“I’m sorry!”

Leaving the calling voices behind and hurriedly escaping the room, Seo-yu hated herself a little more.

* * *

Beast Transformation.

The greatest distinguishing feature that separates humans and beastkin, it is an innate ability to transform into one’s born species.

Beastkin experience their first Beast Transformation as early as three or four years old, usually around five or six.

But perhaps because there was no one to teach her the method?

Seo-yu only succeeded in her first Beast Transformation when she turned seven.

And that was while climbing the mountain to gather medicinal herbs.

While others transformed into deer and bounded up the mountain with ease, Seo-yu struggled with her small body and couldn’t gather many medicinal herbs.

‘If I could do Beast Transformation too, I could climb up much faster…’

It was at that very moment when she was enviously watching the people ahead of her.

Poof!

‘Kyuu! (Oh!)’

As if someone had granted her wish, she miraculously succeeded in Beast Transformation.

She was so happy and excited that Seo-yu did something she would never normally do.

She ran to the people gathered at the wild herb habitat to show off her Beast Transformation.

‘Kyuuu, kyuung! (I succeeded in Beast Transformation!)’

When someone’s child succeeded in Beast Transformation, the family clan members would all gather together to celebrate.

Seo-yu wanted to be congratulated too. She wanted to prove to people that she wasn’t an idiot who couldn’t even do Beast Transformation.

The only reason she had worked so hard to climb the mountain, hopping on still-short legs, was for that.

However, people’s reactions were completely different from what she had imagined.

Instead of the congratulations she had hoped for, sidelong glances poured down on her. Some had surprised faces, others frowned as if looking at something strange.

‘What is that thing?’

‘What kind of creature looks like that? Is it really a deer?’

‘What’s that on its back? Are those scales?’

‘No way. It must be short fur. But why are the horns like that… Could that possibly be Miss Seo-yu?’

Hearing the whispered words, Seo-yu felt that something was wrong.

After fleeing down the mountain and returning to the household, she was mocked by Miss Su-jeong who had come after hearing the news.

Since that day, Seo-yu had never openly performed beast transformation in front of others.

‘Why do I look different from other deer?’

Other baby deer had yellow, cute fluffy fur, but Seo-yu’s fur was so short it was barely visible, leaving her skin exposed.

Even the skin on her back was dark and hard, truly looking like scales.

No one knew how upset she had been, secretly reflecting her beast transformation form in the pond.

Fortunately, she had prayed to the moon every night for fur to grow, and now she had fur, but Seo-yu still felt her appearance was unsightly.

‘It would have been better if at least my horn was normal.’

Just as Seo-yu let out a deep sigh, Hyeon-ya, who had come out to the herb garden, spoke.

“Seo-yu, the Twins have come to pick you up.”

“Ah, um… Hyeon-ya sir, I’d like to tend to the garden just a little more today, would that be alright?”

Seo-yu answered in a small voice, reading the mood.

For two days now, Seo-yu had been avoiding meeting with the Twins.

Even when the two came to the medical room, she returned late using the garden as an excuse, and in her room, she turned off the lights early, lay down to sleep, and secretly read books.

She simply didn’t know what kind of face to show them.

“Go ahead. I’ll tell the Twins to go first, but don’t overdo it.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Hyeon-ya, who had been quietly watching Seo-yu, nodded briefly. Then he turned around and added one more thing.

“The sooner you reconcile, the better it will be.”

Thud.

The sound of the door closing echoed in Seo-yu’s heart like the sound of her heart sinking.

It seemed her master had already known that something had gone wrong between them.

Seo-yu bit her lips tightly.

‘I didn’t want to lie to them…’

She truly had no intention of deceiving Yi-ryeong and Li-gon.

However, to the two who had called her pretty and cute from their first meeting, Seo-yu wanted to show only her good side consistently.

Even if it was just being the youngest in name only, she wanted to continue being a flower deer.

But Seo-yu could neither be a pretty flower deer nor become the youngest of the Golden Dragon Family.

That unchangeable fact, no matter what she did, pained Seo-yu’s heart.

* * *

Early in the morning, Seo-yu was busily moving back and forth in front of the medicine pot where medicine was boiling.

“He said ginseng is most effective when brewed three times, so I just need to do it once more. He said to add Five-element Bark at the end.”

Her appearance, carefully handling medicinal materials with small hands while muttering, was quite physician-like.

Though she had always liked working in the medical room, lately Seo-yu had become even more diligent in learning Medical Arts.

While avoiding the Twins, the time she spent in the medical room had increased significantly, and she didn’t want to waste that time.

So what she came up with was making Fatigue Recovery Medicine for Hwang Hyeon-rang.

‘The Family Head is always busy, so he must be very tired.’

Since he was her benefactor who had saved her life, she wanted to repay him somehow, and the only thing Seo-yu could do was something related to medicinal herbs.

“I think it needs to boil for just one more hour.”

Seo-yu carefully reduced the brazier’s flame. Fatigue Recovery Medicine needed to be simmered slowly over low heat for a long time to achieve proper effectiveness.

Though she had already learned this from Hyeon-ya several times, this was her first time doing it alone, so she felt nervous.

After a long while, the Fatigue Recovery Medicine was finally completed. A subtle herbal decoction fragrance spread throughout the Medical Room.

“Did it turn out well?”

Seo-yu tasted the herbal decoction. It was bitter, but the aftertaste was subtly sweet. It tasted quite similar to the medicine Hyeon-ya had demonstrated.

Just then, Hyeon-ya entered the Medical Room.

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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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