The Beloved Baby Priestess of the Twelve Zodiac Gods - Chapter 59

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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 59
Arin blinked.
“Well… I just can’t stop thinking about him. He’s an abandoned child, like I was.”
Unlike herself, who had met Do Gyeong by fortune, Woo Hyun seemed to have wandered the streets and accumulated countless wounds.
“If I hadn’t found my father, I’d probably be in a situation just like Woo Hyun’s. That’s why I keep worrying about him. I hope he’s doing well.”
Baek Mu Je regretted asking the question. Her sincerity cut deeper than he’d expected.
Unlike him, these two shared the same pain—and he envied them fiercely for it.
“Rest then.”
Baek Mu Je was about to leave, uncomfortable with the weight of his own feelings, when—
“Wait a moment.”
Arin caught his hand.
“Father told me to check on you too.”
“I’m fine.”
“Fine? Your face is pale as a ghost.”
Arin cupped his cheeks in her palms and drew closer.
In that instant, heat flooded Baek Mu Je’s face.
His heart thundered so violently he didn’t know what to do with himself, when Arin whispered softly.
“I’m sorry. It seems you’ve suffered so much because of me.”
“Really, I’m all right.”
Baek Mu Je, unsure where to look, murmured under his breath.
Fearing his thoughts might show on his face, he tried to step back, but Arin followed at once.
“You’re not! Your face is bright red and you’re burning up.”
“It’s because…”
Baek Mu Je couldn’t finish. His eyes darted away.
He couldn’t bring himself to say it was because of her.
‘If only it were Seol Yi instead.’
Then he could sink into Arin’s embrace without worry, basking in her affection alone.
The thought left him hollow.
He still wasn’t as close to Seol Yi as he wished to be.
‘I want to be closer to her.’
With that thought, Baek Mu Je did something impulsive—he opened his mouth.
“I think… I’m not feeling well.”
Arin responded at once to this show of weakness, so unlike him.
“Really?”
Seeing her flustered, glancing around, Baek Mu Je quietly leaned his weight against her shoulder.
“I feel dizzy too.”
“Oh! What—what do I do?”
As Arin clasped him close, flustered and helpless, Baek Mu Je felt his earlier despair lift away.
He suppressed his smile and whispered softly.
“Just… let me stay like this for a moment.”
“Oh, yes. I was being too flustered, wasn’t I?”
Only then did Arin calm herself.
Baek Mu Je rested his head against her knee, eyes closing.
Arin gazed down at him quietly.
His pale, soft hair kept drawing her attention.
She’d wanted to touch it for some time, and now she spoke gently.
“Are you asleep, Baek Mu Je?”
……
Hearing no response, Arin carefully reached out and touched his hair.
The moment soft strands brushed her fingertips, Baek Mu Je’s eyes flew open.
“Ah.”
He caught the hand that reflexively withdrew.
“Keep going, please.”
His eyes held something almost pleading, and Arin’s heart stuttered.
“…All right.”
As her fingers resumed their gentle motion, Baek Mu Je’s mouth curved upward with contentment.
At that expression, something made Arin speak without thinking.
“You look just like Seol Yi.”
Baek Mu Je’s eyes widened in surprise, and Arin tapped her own lips as she explained.
“Seol Yi smiles like that when she’s happy. I’ve always thought it was adorable.”
Arin broke into a smile as though she hadn’t just been crying.
Baek Mu Je, watching her reddened eyes quietly, reached out his hand.
“What do you think it would be like if I were Seol Yi?”
His touch was remarkably tender as he gently brushed her swollen eyes.
“Would you be kind to me the way you are with her, then? Or would you pull away?”
Arin simply blinked at the incomprehensible question.
What did he mean, what would it be like if he were Seol Yi?
“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean anything bad by it…….”
She was just about to apologize, wondering if she’d somehow offended him.
Baek Mu Je caught her hand and brought it to his lips.
“Answer my question, please.”
His gaze fixed on her with relentless intensity.
As though heaven and hell hung on whatever she might say.
His seriousness made Arin choose her words carefully.
“The truth is, I’ve felt Seol Yi’s presence is similar to yours since long ago……! Maybe that’s why I felt more at ease with you from the start.”
From their very first meeting, there had been something strangely familiar about him, a natural comfort.
“Even if you were Seol Yi, wouldn’t things be the same as now?”
“……I see.”
“Though I confess I said all manner of things to her that I’d probably be embarrassed about if you were her.”
Arin murmured softly, touching her cheek.
Despite it being only a hypothetical, warmth flooded her face.
“I don’t think I could tell you everything the way I tell her…….”
Because there were things she’d never told her own father that she’d said to Seol Yi.
Watching her in silence, Baek Mu Je sat up and met her eyes.
“Isn’t it better when we can truly understand each other?”
“Perhaps, but…….”
Arin’s eyes darted away.
“It’s still embarrassing.”
“Why not practice starting now?”
“Practice?”
“Imagine I’m Seol Yi and treat me as such.”
Baek Mu Je spoke with a grin, while Arin could only blink in response.
“But why would you……?”
“Because I want to be your friend.”
Yes, that had been his intention from the very beginning—to become her friend.
“We’re already friends…….”
“I’d like us to be closer than that. The kind of friends who share their worries, like you are with Seol Yi.”
Today, Baek Mu Je was being unusually persistent, so much like a petulant Seol Yi that it made her laugh.
“I’ll try.”
Unable to refuse, Arin consented, and Baek Mu Je broke into a radiant smile.
“Good.”
There was something ticklish about it all.
Arin kept her eyes fixed on the wall’s pattern until Eun Baek arrived.
* * *
After that day, Arin was forbidden from entering the Twelve Zodiac Village for a time.
As punishment for entering without permission, she was confined to personal training until Yeo Ryeong called her again.
Arin resolved to stay quiet until Yeo Ryeong’s anger subsided.
Fortunately, Geumgeum came by in secret and brought news of Woo Hyun, which gave her some relief.
– Don’t worry about Woo Hyun. That boy is doing well enough.
His face had looked so troubled the last time she saw him that she wanted to check on him herself, but she couldn’t bear to cause more heartache.
– Give this to him.
Instead, she sent him a gift from the welcoming ceremony—Spirit Medicine said to be good for recovery—along with a note.
That night, Do Gyeong came to find her in secret, arriving late.
– I promised to protect you, yet I didn’t even know you were in danger. I’m ashamed as a father.
She pretended to sleep, afraid of seeing his expression of disappointment.
In his muttered words, spoken as if she truly slept, lay a deep well of worry.
Only then did Arin realize how her reckless actions had burdened her father, and sorrow washed over her.
– I won’t make Father sad again.
So even knowing that Do Gyeong frequented the Twelve Zodiac Village, she didn’t pester him to take her along.
She believed that when the time came, he would grant her permission once more.
And so time passed until one unremarkable day.
Arin blinked upon hearing unexpected news.
“I’m going to the Yeonsoje Ceremony with everyone?”
“You didn’t know? All direct lineage members attend. Once you turn five, you’re eligible to participate.”
Do Young spoke casually between chews of glutinous rice cake.
At the mention of five years old, Arin’s expression dimmed.
‘So the ability to transform must be the criterion for attendance.’
The Twelve Zodiac Animals typically opened their Spirit Cores after turning five, enabling their first transformation.
Arin drooped her brows and muttered.
“Hmm. Then I won’t be able to go.”

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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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