The Beloved Baby Priestess of the Twelve Zodiac Gods - Chapter 78

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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 78
Arin sought out Sejagung first thing in the morning.
She’d been worried about Muje since the night before.
As it happened, Muje recognized her while the physician was examining him and tried to sit up.
Arin started in alarm and rushed to his side, gently pressing him back down.
“Just stay lying down.”
“I’m sorry. I caused you trouble yesterday, didn’t I?”
Having heard the situation from Jicheon, Muje felt nothing but apologetic toward Arin.
His sudden outburst had exposed his identity to his father.
Arin squeezed his hand, watching his careful expression.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
“I’m relieved.”
Arin smiled softly, her worry melting away.
In truth, Muje couldn’t remember what had happened last night or when exactly he’d been exposed to the sorcery.
“What did His Majesty say?”
“It seems he’s thinking of sealing my power for now.”
He’d judged it dangerous, since the incomplete Yeouiju had nearly consumed him.
“I’ll just have to throw myself into Sword Arts Training all the harder.”
Muje spoke with deliberate cheerfulness to keep her from worrying.
But the darker his words, the deeper Arin’s frown grew.
“If I’d trained harder, you wouldn’t have suffered like that.”
“What are you talking about? How much have you helped me all this time? Yesterday too.”
As Muje vehemently denied it, Arin shook her head.
“When I go back, I’m going to train harder. So I can protect the people who matter to me.”
“…Do I matter to you?”
Muje touched his warming ear as he asked softly.
“Of course. You’re a really precious friend to me, Muje.”
At her flustered words, Muje covered his mouth with his hand, hiding the smile that threatened to escape.
Being nearly controlled by the Black Horse Clan had been terrifying, but receiving her concern felt surprisingly good.
Just then Baek Hyeon Je and Do Gyeong entered Muje’s quarters.
“You two seem quite close.”
Baek Hyeon Je’s smile never wavered. Do Gyeong’s expression, by contrast, had hardened.
“Arin is naturally affectionate with everyone.”
As if to prove the point, Arin rushed to her father the moment she saw him and embraced him.
Do Gyeong held his daughter close, shielding her as he spoke.
“His Majesty must have been quite frightened, so we’ll depart as soon as he’s recovered.”
“You needn’t rush away.”
For whose benefit?
As Do Gyeong’s brow furrowed, Baek Hyeon Je let out a hearty laugh.
“Hahaha.”
Arin stared intently at Baek Hyeon Je.
The White Dragon King she met for the first time bore little resemblance to what she’d imagined.
According to what Muje had told her, she’d expected him to be far more terrifying.
Baek Hyeon Je, noticing her gaze, met her eye level and smiled warmly.
“Welcome. So you’re Arin.”
At his greeting, Arin hesitated before bowing politely.
“Greetings, Your Majesty. You’ve come to see Muje?”
“That’s right. My boy is rather delicate, you see. I hear you’ve been a great help to him. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. Muje is my friend, after all.”
“Quick-witted too, I see.”
As Baek Hyeon Je smiled with apparent warmth, Do Gyeong’s expression darkened.
For one who knew his nature, it was a distinctly false response.
“As you can see, my son will need some time to recover.”
“That’s fine! We agreed Muje and I would leave once he’s better.”
As Arin looked toward Do Gyeong, he reluctantly nodded.
Watching how he doted on his daughter, Baek Hyeon Je smiled darkly to himself.
“I’d be delighted if we could meet more often in the future.”
“Then we’ll take our leave for now.”
After Do Gyeong hurried Arin away,
Baek Hyeon Je glanced at Muje and spoke.
“How much longer will you keep up this pretense of being ill? The physician said you were fine.”
“I really am sick.”
Despite his denial, Muje rose from the bed without apparent difficulty.
Though his memory had gaps, his physical state was sound enough.
“If anything, it seemed Father wanted to drag things out longer. Since when have you taken such interest in my health?”
“Ungrateful wretch.”
Baek Hyeon Je tossed something at him. Muje caught it reflexively, tilting his head in puzzlement.
It was a bracelet made of beads.
“What is this?”
“Keep it on you always. I’ve imbued it with my own vital force—a talisman to ward off sorcerous tricks.”
Baek Hyeon Je wielded the Purification Power most skillfully among the White Dragon’s abilities.
Fashioned from that concentrated force, it would surely prove invaluable.
Ordinarily, Muje would have had no need for such a thing.
But until they recovered the Yeouiju from those people, it would serve him well.
“Be careful. Stay in contact once you’re there.”
Hyeon Je felt a lingering reluctance at sending his son away.
Reading that sentiment, Muje spoke evenly.
“Please don’t worry too much.”
“Worry is—”
Baek Hyeon Je glanced out the window. Just then, the departing figures of Do Gyeong and Arin came into view.
“The engagement with Hong Sa Ga has been dissolved.”
“Now that they know my condition, it was inevitable.”
“True. Yet I confess I find myself… disappointed.”
Baek Hyeon Je turned to face Muje directly.
“It would have been better if that girl had remained at Hong Sa Ga.”
“Don’t think of using Arin.”
Baek Hyeon Je studied him with an air of innocent surprise.
“Yet you yourself knew of that girl’s power and were kind to her for that reason, were you not?”
Muje could not immediately deny it.
In the beginning, he had sought her company precisely because of Arin’s abilities.
But now…
“She is someone who will help whenever help is needed, with or without marriage vows.”
“Can you truly be satisfied with that?”
At that probing remark, Muje bit the inside of his lip.
Catching that momentary wavering, Baek Hyeon Je gripped his shoulder and pressed on.
“It may seem right now, but there will come a time when you regret it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You, who never showed tenderness to anyone—have you not been gentle with that girl alone? And the child doesn’t seem to dislike you either.”
“That’s only because Arin is kind to everyone. Friends should maintain such courtesy.”
At his stubborn insistence on the word “friend,” Baek Hyeon Je let out a laugh.
“By rights, you and that girl were destined to be husband and wife. It’s unwise to end as mere friends.”
When Baek Hyeon Je mentioned the bond of spouses, something shifted in Muje’s chest.
He couldn’t explain it at once, but he sensed he understood what his father meant.
Muje’s gaze turned toward the window.
“I am… working on it.”
His eyes following Arin’s receding silhouette held a softness that was newly apparent.
Seeing the corners of his mouth naturally rise, Hyeon Je said nothing more.
That reaction alone told him what lay in his son’s heart.
Rather, he felt apprehensive. If kindness born not of utility but of genuine feeling went unrequited, the boy would surely suffer.
White Dragons were possessive of what they deemed theirs.
Whether an incomplete Muje, lacking the full Yeouiju, could govern such an emotion well remained uncertain.
“If you have need of my aid, tell me anytime.”
Muje declined the offer with indifference, as though he’d already considered it.
“It won’t be necessary.”
As if to say he could manage without his father’s help.
That inspired little confidence, but belief was all Baek Hyeon Je had left.
* * *
Days later, Arin returned to Geumho Village and visited the Twelve Zodiac Village for the first time since Ushion’s rampage.
It was her first visit since then.
She hadn’t encountered him on the way back.
As Arin glanced about the surroundings, Yeo Ryeong spoke.
“Ushion is no longer here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I found him a new place to stay.”
“He’s left?”
Arin was taken aback at the news that he had departed without a word.
While they were in the capital, it made sense because of the Black Horse Clan, but to find he was nowhere to be found even after returning—
She’d thought they’d grown close enough. Learning that he’d left without even a farewell, Arin’s face fell.

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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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