The Beloved Baby Priestess of the Twelve Zodiac Gods - Chapter 67

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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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Episode 67
“I… I think I need to rest a moment.”
“Let me come with you.”
“No! I’ll be right back!”
Arin slipped away from her seat as though fleeing.
Suddenly alone, Mu Je was surveying a comfortable place to wait when—
“Would you like me to send some of the desserts to the Crown Prince Palace as well?”
Yeong Jae ventured to speak, and Mu Je replied flatly.
“I’ll pass. Not to my taste at all.”
Having dismissed the pastries with harsh criticism, he disappeared.
Only then did Yeong Jae recall how Mu Je was usually like this—
“Like I’d just seen a ghost.”
It was all the stranger because he never usually attended these social gatherings, so seeing him felt like a mirage.
* * *
As Arin stepped outside for fresh air, she ran directly into So So and Yu Hui returning to the gathering.
They had parted on bad terms.
It would be awkward to pretend not to know each other, yet harder still to acknowledge it.
As they stood exchanging hostile glances, Yu Hui spoke first.
“You’re Arin of the Gold Tiger Clan, aren’t you? I’m Yu Hui of the Cheongmyoga Clan.”
“Oh, hello.”
“By the way, you two seem to know each other. Were you close before coming here?”
At the tactless question, Arin studied So So’s expression.
When they’d first met at the Byeol-gwan, So So had been brimming with confidence.
Now her face was rigid, as though she’d been caught red-handed.
“It’s been a while.”
When Arin acknowledged her first, So So answered coolly.
“Yeah. I heard you’d joined the Gold Tiger Clan. You’re quite fortunate—already wrapped a new family around your finger.”
Her barbed way of speaking remained unchanged.
But Arin was no longer that confined child locked away in the Byeol-gwan.
“Right, good. So you take care of yourself too.”
……
When Arin showed no sign of being wounded, So So felt the defeat keenly instead.
As Arin tried to slip past them, Yu Hui caught her arm.
“Leaving already?”
“I came out for a walk. I’ll be back.”
With only those words, Arin drifted away unhurriedly.
So So watched her departing figure with narrowed eyes and muttered under her breath,
“Insufferable girl.”
Yu Hui, having heard this, smiled meaningfully.
“A fallen-out friend, perhaps?”
At the veiled question, So So shook her head.
“She was with the Hongsaga Clan before.”
“Ah, so is she a branch member too?”
“Ha, no. Her origins are noble. Her abilities, however…” So So trailed off, her tongue clicking dismissively.
But her lips itched to say more about Arin.
Yet she held herself back.
“Seems like there’s bad history between you two.”
“Yes, that’s right. I’d rather not be entangled with her anymore.”
With that, So So quickened her pace back toward the gathering.
It was then that they arrived at the venue—
“So the Gold Tiger Clan took a child from the Hongsaga Clan? Is that why the Gold Tiger Lord and the Hongsaga Lord were growling at each other whenever they met?”
At the voice ringing out for all to hear, So So froze.
“Yu Hui!”
“Oh, was that supposed to be secret?”
Yu Hui blinked innocently. But those who had heard her words were already showing keen interest.
“What do you mean? Are you saying the Gold Tiger Clan’s newly adopted daughter is from the Hongsaga Clan?”
Suddenly finding herself interrogated about Arin, So So bit at her fingernails.
“I’m not entirely sure. She was already there when I joined the Hongsaga Clan.”
She tried to brush it off, unwilling to say more, but these were not people who would let it rest.
“Now that you mention it, didn’t the Hongsaga Clan have a daughter? She should have been invited to this Social Gathering, shouldn’t she?”
So So was taken aback when asked whether only an adopted daughter had come, not a blood daughter.
Cornered, So So rushed to defend herself.
“The Hongsaga Clan has only me as a daughter. That girl was expelled long ago!”
“Expelled? Why?”
“…Ah!”
So So realized she’d misspoken and clapped a hand over her mouth.
But it was too late—everyone had already heard.
“So the Gold Tiger Clan really did take in the Hongsaga Clan’s daughter as an adopted daughter?”
“Well, that is…”
“A child expelled from the Hongsaga Clan? Did she cause some sort of trouble?”
It was exceedingly rare for a direct descendant of the Twelve Zodiac Clans to be expelled.
It happened only when someone tarnished the family name or committed a grave crime.
But there was no way six-year-old Arin could have done anything like that.
Yu Hui, who had been watching the situation unfold in silence, let slip a casual remark.
“I’ve heard that occasionally direct descendants of the Twelve Zodiac Clans are expelled if their abilities don’t manifest.”
The remark, as though Yu Hui already knew Arin couldn’t undergo Beast Transformation, made So So’s face go pale with dread.
“I-I don’t really know the details. When I came to the Hongsaga Clan, she was already in the Byeol-gwan and…”
She was on the verge of spilling secrets while rambling nervously.
“Seems you’re rather interested in other people’s affairs.”
Mu Je, who had heard enough of this conversation, cut in coldly.
He had been keeping his presence hidden until Arin arrived, so others wouldn’t bother them.
But then he happened to overhear them talking about Arin.
‘So Arin was the Hongsaga Clan’s daughter.’
During the New Year’s holiday, Arin had once told him a story about being abandoned by her own family.
He hadn’t known it was the Hongsaga Clan.
But when she spoke matter-of-factly about how she’d been left abandoned in the Byeol-gwan for a long time, her face had looked so forlorn.
She had every right to resent the family that had abandoned her, yet Arin bore no complaint.
It seemed she swallowed even that sorrow deep inside, which made him ache for her.
Mu Je found So So’s casual prying into Arin’s wounds deeply offensive.
So he had deliberately revealed his presence.
“It’s unpleasant to hear.”
At Mu Je’s single remark, the gathering fell silent.
So So, suddenly caught speaking ill of others, flushed crimson.
‘This person is…’
She had looked forward to meeting him today and had dressed with such care.
To have their reunion happen this way filled her with shame.
‘It’s all that girl’s fault…!’
The chilled atmosphere refused to thaw.
Arin, unaware of what had just happened, entered the room.
Seeing her, Mu Je approached as though he’d been waiting for exactly this moment.
“Shall we go?”
“Already?”
Arin glanced back over her shoulder at the other children with a bewildered expression.
They all seemed to avert their eyes from her and pretend to be occupied with something else.
“Yes. The gathering is over.”
He forcibly ended the gathering, took Arin’s hand, and left.
So So’s gaze locked onto their clasped hands.
‘How do they know each other?’
She had met the boy first, after all.
Seeing Mu Je, who had been cool toward her, shield Arin so protectively kindled a fierce jealousy in her chest.
Once he had completely vanished, the tension finally broke and the others exhaled the breath they’d been holding.
“When did Your Highness arrive?”
“Did we make a bad impression?”
“Is there anyone who hasn’t made a bad impression on him?”
With the person in question gone, voices grew louder again.
Only then did So So learn that the boy was the Crown Prince of Baekryong Palace, and her mouth fell open.
“He was Your Highness?”
“You didn’t know?”
The man she had fallen for at first sight turned out to be her betrothed.
Under other circumstances, she might have welcomed it as fate.
His thoughts had grown complicated, especially since Arin had left with him moments ago.
Had Arin succeeded in her Beast Transformation, he would have known the two were connected.
“It seems you were acquainted with the lady Arin…….”
Curious gazes converged on So So.
‘Why does it have to be you again?’
So So’s mind had already slipped beyond reason; she could no longer hear their voices.
“I’ll go too.”
So So ignored their piercing stares and left.
Unaware of the storm her own words were about to unleash.
* * *
Arin watched Mu Je’s silent figure as he walked, her eyes fixed on his back.
‘He seems angry.’
Something must have happened while she was away.
Arin followed him wherever he led, waiting for his temper to settle.
How long had they been walking?
Mu Je finally came to his senses and stopped, letting out a small exclamation.
“Ah.”
He had wandered, without direction, straight into the Crown Prince Palace.
“I apologize. We should have gone to Byeol-gung instead.”
As he turned to retrace his steps, Arin stopped him.
“Why don’t we rest here for a moment?”

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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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