The Beloved Baby Priestess of the Twelve Zodiac Gods - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 13
What troubled him most was the limp in her gait.
When he’d first found her, she was sprawled face-down on the ground.
Worried that something violent might have happened to her in those brief moments, Do Gyeong gently brushed the dust from Arin’s clothes.
The moment she came to, Arin thrashed against his arms.
“Please, please spare me! I’m not tasty!”
“And this tiny thing’s been taking me for a cannibal this whole time.”
“Waaaah!”
Though he’d only meant it as a light threat, Arin burst into tears.
Yesterday, for all her wariness, she hadn’t feared him. Now, somehow, everything had changed.
Taken aback, Do Gyeong wiped her tears away roughly with his sleeve.
“Now, now—why are you crying like that?”
Arin resisted fiercely against the sudden touch.
“No, stop it, stop!”
She pummeled him with her small fists, over and over.
In truth, the sorrow she’d bottled up since Ahyun wrapped her arms around So So had finally burst forth—and it was Do Gyeong who bore the brunt of it.
“Well, well?”
Do Gyeong let out a dry laugh at the harmless blows of her tiny fists.
He was curious to see how long she’d keep it up when suddenly Arin began to gasp for breath.
As she cradled her aching hand with the other, whimpering softly, Do Gyeong could barely suppress his smile.
“Huff… huff…”
Arin’s face, flushed with indignation, was streaked with tears and snot.
Do Gyeong carefully wiped her face with his sleeve—more gently this time—and asked, “All done?”
“Sniff, sniff. I’m not tasty…”
“That’s right. You don’t look tasty.”
“Then… then you won’t eat me?”
“Who in their right mind told you such nonsense?”
At his weary words, Arin blinked.
“So So said…”
“Who is So So?”
“So So said… the Geumho Family’s son fell ill and needed a fresh Spiritual Core…”
“Ha, what kind of absurd—”
Do Gyeong finally understood how the child had come to such a misunderstanding, and let out another hollow laugh.
It seemed the false daughter had lied to drive the girl away.
Gathering every ounce of patience, Do Gyeong opened his mouth with the most harmless expression he could muster.
“Listen closely, little one. All my sons are in perfect health. One’s probably buried in books right now, and the other’s likely bouncing around the yard—want to bet?”
“Then… you don’t need my Spiritual Core?”
“And if I did, you’d just hand it over?”
“N-no! I don’t want that!”
When Arin firmly shook her head, Do Gyeong clicked his tongue.
To steal a living person’s Spiritual Core was against the law—it was murder.
Whoever lost their core would wither and die from loss of vitality.
But this was knowledge beyond a child’s understanding.
Do Gyeong steadied his voice and continued his explanation.
“In the first place, does it make sense to you that a Spiritual Core could heal an illness? It’s not some cure-all elixir. You don’t just hand those out carelessly, do you?”
At his grumbling words, Arin’s lips moved soundlessly.
Now that she thought about it, he seemed to have no interest in her Spiritual Core at all.
And seeing him call her “little one” with such tenderness, Arin’s reason finally returned to her.
A moment later, the realization of her enormous mistake struck her, and her face flushed crimson.
“Oh… what do I do…”
This was the man who’d given her medicine, let her sleep, and even brought her chicken porridge and egg candy.
Yet she’d fled in terror after believing So So’s words. The shame of it washed over her.
Now that Arin had grasped the full picture, her manner became subdued.
“I’m… I’m so sorry.”
The shift in her demeanor brought a relieved smile to Do Gyeong’s lips.
“Yes, you should be sorry. Throwing away the Dangi I gave you and running off like that.”
Do Gyeong drew the hair ribbon from his robes and tied it around Arin’s scraped palm.
Arin gazed down at it in silence.
The Dangi she’d agonized over leaving behind had found its way back to her on its own.

“H-how did you… how could you know about this?”
“I gave it to you as a gift, and you were just going to leave it behind?”
“I’m so sorry… I truly am.”
Arin’s face crumpled as she bowed her head.
It was far too precious a thing to carry with her.
She hadn’t been able to bring herself to take it, afraid that some trouble might find her on the road.
She couldn’t bear the thought of losing anything else that was hers.
What she’d meant as kindness—leaving it behind to spare herself the ache—had become a wound for him instead.
Arin watched Do Gyeong’s face carefully, and he shook his head lightly.
“I’ve come back for it now, so you’re never to let anyone take it from you again.”
His words carried the certainty of someone who saw straight through her heart.
At his gentleness, Arin stared at the yellow Dangi, and suddenly her tears spilled over again.
The truth was, she loved the ribbon deeply.
Now that he’d returned it to her with his own hands, something locked tight in her chest came undone in waves.
“…S-sob… Really, h-hic… w-waah.”
The warmth within his embrace was so comforting, and his touch so tender.
Overwhelmed by remorse and gratitude, Arin wept against Do Gyeong’s chest.
“No, why are you… why again?”
Do Gyeong regarded the weeping girl with bewilderment.
He hadn’t said anything particularly harsh this time.
They said girls and boys were different in every way imaginable.
She was already so thin and frail that he had to be careful not to break her with a careless touch.
“Hic… w-waaah.”
When the child finally clung to his neck and began to cry in earnest, Do Gyeong gazed up at the sky and muttered to himself.
“This is nothing like raising a son.”
Then he began to pat her back clumsily.
“What a little crybaby.”
His gruff words belied the endless gentleness of his hands as they soothed her.
In time, as Arin grew calmer, Do Gyeong looked down at her and asked quietly.
“So, what’s your answer?”
“…Answer?”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t even thought about it.”
At Do Gyeong’s incredulous question, Arin tilted her head uncertainly.
Seeing that innocent expression, he let out a hollow laugh.
“Of all things—after I made sure you ate well and everything—did you really forget what I asked? I know I asked you last night if you’d come with me.”
“Oh.”
Only then did Arin remember Do Gyeong’s words about going together.
At the time, she’d been too startled by the mention of the Geumho Family to think deeply about it.
Arin hesitated, then spoke quietly.
“…Are you… are you truly certain that I may go?”
At her timid question, Do Gyeong’s brow furrowed.
“Why? Would you rather stay here?”
After everything she’d endured, could she possibly think her family was worth remaining for?
But Arin shook her head firmly.
Relieved, Do Gyeong’s lips curved into a faint smile as he asked once more.
“Then you’ll come with me?”
The old Arin might have hesitated.
But when Ahyun had pushed her aside just now, taking So So’s side instead of her own.
Arin had sensed with sudden clarity that the Hongsa Family was no longer a place where she belonged.
And then his hand had reached out to her.
To a girl who’d lost her home, his offer felt like salvation itself.
“Can I really go?”
Struggling against the urge to nod immediately, she asked again, and Do Gyeong answered with playful warmth.
“If you say yes. I’ll protect your Spiritual Core no matter what comes. You have my word.”
Arin gazed at him for a long moment, then broke into a bright smile and nodded emphatically.
“Yes, I’ll go! I want to go with you!”
She was so endearing.
As Do Gyeong watched the child’s radiant face, his hand drifted gently toward her cheek.
“It’s rare to hear such words from that small mouth of yours.”
“Hehe.”
“Don’t laugh like that. If you cry and laugh at the same time, you’ll grow horns on your backside.”
“Really?”
“How could there be such a thing?”
“Hehe.”
“You’re a funny one.”
Do Gyeong caught the corners of Arin’s mouth as she giggled foolishly, and found himself mirroring her smile.
He cleared his throat once, then spoke with measured courtesy.
“Come to think of it, I never learned your name. I am Do Gyeong, head of the Geumho Family. What is your name, child?”
Arin hesitated for a moment, then spoke softly.
“I’m… Arin.”
Abandoned by her parents, she had no family name to speak of.
And so she offered only her given name.
“A lovely name indeed.”
Do Gyeong was grateful that Arin had not mentioned her family name.
Better she carry the name of the Geumho Family than that of such people.

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