The Beloved Baby Priestess of the Twelve Zodiac Gods - Chapter 74

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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 74
It seemed connected to the strange weather outside.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
Arin’s question went unanswered. Mu Je simply stared ahead blankly.
He straightened his posture, then began muttering in a daze.
“The Yeo-ui Bead is calling me.”
“What?”
“I have to go.”
Mu Je moved toward the Banquet Hall’s exit like a man under a spell.
Arin’s attempts to block him were useless.
“No, wait! It’s dangerous out there.”
She positioned herself in front of him, terrified his eyes might be exposed.
She looked around for Do Hun and Do Young, but the crowd was too thick to spot them.
‘What do I do?’
Arin alone couldn’t hold Mu Je back.
It was obvious at a glance that the Black Horse Clan had made a move.
She was blocking his path, determined to keep him here, when—
“Long time no see.”
At the familiar voice, Arin spun around in alarm.
A Hyeon and So So were just stepping out of the Banquet Hall.
So So’s gaze fixed on Mu Je’s hand, which Arin was holding.
She’d watched the two of them cling to each other throughout the banquet, and her composure was slipping.
Meanwhile, A Hyeon was equally flustered to encounter Arin so unexpectedly.
He’d greeted her on impulse, but now he wasn’t sure what to say.
“Have you been well?”
A Hyeon asked cordially, keeping his composure.
“Of course. How have you been, A Hyeon?”
A Hyeon.
The stark shift in how she addressed him made A Hyeon’s brow twitch.
The meaning was far too clear.
A Hyeon replied curtly, feigning indifference.
“There’s nothing to complain about.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Arin smiled awkwardly, her eyes searching for Do Hun and Do Young.
A Hyeon noticed her scattered attention and felt a flicker of irritation.
‘Where is she looking?’
Despite seeing her brother for the first time in ages, she seemed uneasy rather than delighted.
Yet she’d laughed and chatted freely with those imposters all evening.
He’d known they’d meet eventually, but he hadn’t expected such a tepid response.
The old Arin would have greeted him with that radiant smile—he knew it well, and the coldness of this reunion left him unsettled.
His gaze shifted to Mu Je, who stood behind Arin with his back turned.
He’d already heard rumors of their closeness.
A Hyeon decided to use Arin as a stepping stone to befriend Mu Je, and he addressed him.
“You’re His Highness, aren’t you? You were truly remarkable earlier.”
A Hyeon extended his hand for a handshake.
Seizing the moment when Arin’s attention was divided, Mu Je bolted.
“Mu Je!”
Arin called after him in alarm, but it was too late.
She watched him vanish into the distance and stamped her foot in frustration.
“No, this can’t be—!”
Torn between the inside and outside, Arin abandoned caution and chased after Mu Je.
A Hyeon stood frozen, his hand still outstretched, suddenly ignored.
In his entire life, he’d never been dismissed like this.
He clenched his fist and let out a hollow laugh.
“Unbelievable.”
Sensing his displeasure, So So subtly stoked the flame.
“Still so rude. Imagine treating someone this coldly after not seeing them for so long.”
“She must hate us.”
A Hyeon scoffed as if unbothered.
It was the only way to shake off this bitter sting.
So So was grateful that Arin had given A Hyeon the cold shoulder on her behalf.
And yet at the same time, she was bothered by the way Arin trailed after Mu Je.
‘What exactly is between them?’
Already the rumor that the two of them met every day had spread far and wide.
That the Crown Prince, who had no close friends to speak of, was drawing near with such intimacy to none other than Arin—it grated on her.
So So, who had been following A Hyeon, pouted her lips and turned her steps in the direction Mu Je had gone.
* * *
From a clear sky, thunder cracked and torrential rain began to pour.
Baek Hyeon Je’s expression hardened as he read the power mixed into the rainwater.
The power that commands the weather belonged originally to the White Dragon.
Baek Hyeon Je felt a chilling fury at the Black Horse Clan’s small fry daring to scheme with his son’s Yeo-ui Bead.
“How dare they…….”
Since someone who was not even the owner of the Yeo-ui Bead had wielded its power, Mu Je must have suffered greatly.
To withdraw the power hastily risked dealing Mu Je a blow, so stepping in was dangerous.
Baek Hyeon Je stared at the darkened sky and clenched his fist.
Meanwhile, those in the Munji who felt Mu Je’s power looked up at the heavens and murmured amongst themselves.
“Is that not the Crown Prince’s power? Could it be that they have truly used the Yeo-ui Bead……?”
Each trailed off their words, casting glances at Baek Hyeon Je.
A weakness that had been so carefully hidden all this time was now laid bare before all the world.
Not content with laying a hand on his son, they were now abusing that very power—Baek Hyeon Je could not bear it.
First, securing Mu Je’s safety was paramount.
“Ji Cheon.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Go to Mu Je at once.”
At Baek Hyeon Je’s command, Ji Cheon vanished without a sound.
Seeing him flinch as if he might dash to his son’s side at any moment, Do Gyeong spoke.
“You said yourself that he could stay at the young master’s side.”
“A king cannot afford such indulgence. Least of all with enemies at the gate.”
Baek Hyeon Je answered calmly, as if he had never wavered.
His gaze toward U Hyeon that followed was bitterly cold.
When he first learned of U Hyeon’s existence.
He had struggled to master the killing intent that rose in him.
A child who was both the thread leading to his enemy and bore the strength of that very villain.
In his eyes was no trace of mercy—only the regret that he could not tear the child to pieces on the spot.
Yeo Ryeong, who had labored so hard to persuade such a man, was almost grateful when the assassins appeared.
Shortly after the rain fell, the powers from all directions mingled, making it hard to distinguish friend from foe.
It was plain that they had used power to conceal their intrusion.
But already, through the Qi Formation, she could track U Hyeon’s position and the assassins’ approach.
Moments later, she felt the assassins converging on the area around U Hyeon.
Yeo Ryeong sent a hand signal, and one by one they took their positions.
Unaware of the ambush, the assassins moved swiftly.
Just as they were about to reach for U Hyeon.
Crash—boom!
With a tremendous roar, the pre-arranged Qi Formation activated, the earth split wide open, and tree roots thrust upward.
Immediately after, a massive cage of wooden spikes, densely packed, erupted around U Hyeon.
The startled assassins tried to evade, but to no avail.
Wherever Do Gyeong reached out his hand, earth poured forth, binding the assassins.
As U Hyeon moved to dodge as if he had been waiting for this moment, one of the assassins raised a flute to his lips.
An ominous piping sound that burrowed into the mind.
‘They try to control us with that strange flute.’
Yeo Ryeong, who had already heard of their methods, did not hesitate.
“Not so fast!”
The moment Yeo Ryeong brought her staff down, Divine Power wrapped protectively around U Hyeon.
As if the eardrums had been sealed, the ominous flute’s sound ceased, and in that moment, Do Gyeong snatched the flute from the assassin.
U Hyeon quickly retreated to Yeo Ryeong’s side.
For several minutes they pressed on until the assassins reached a state of complete incapacity.
Once the assassins’ resolve was thoroughly broken and they showed no signs of further resistance, the Munji members who had been standing back at a distance drew near.
“So they are indeed from the Black Horse Clan.”
One of the Munji members examined them with interest.
“It seems this child is quite important to them, just as the Geum Head said.”
“Didn’t I say so? Even when we kept the child in Geumho Village, there was no end to the requests from aristocrats seeking to find her.”
“Since this has been proven, the Geum Head must keep close watch over that girl.”
With Do Gyeong and then Baek Hyeon Je backing him, the Munji could no longer call for U Hyeon’s death.
The operation had turned public opinion in U Hyeon’s favor. When the Munji accepted this with silence, Hyeon Je issued an order to the royal guard.
“Bind him and take him away.”
Just as the operation was wrapping up and Do Gyeong was heading toward the Banquet Hall, it happened.
Yeo Ryeong came to an abrupt halt, her gaze fixed on something in the distance.
“Do Gyeong.”
“Yes?”
“Didn’t you tell Arin not to step outside the Banquet Hall?”
“That’s impossible. She should be inside right now, eating and playing without a care.”
“Then why can I sense Arin’s power emanating from over there?”
Yeo Ryeong pointed toward the outer grounds of the Banquet Hall, and Do Gyeong’s brow furrowed.
The aftermath of the torrential downpour caused by the Yeo-ui Bead made reading energy extraordinarily difficult.
Urgency crept into Do Gyeong’s voice as he pressed her.
“Which direction?”

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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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