The Beloved Baby Priestess of the Twelve Zodiac Gods - Chapter 9

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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 9
“Oh!”
Soso clutched at her loosened hair, her expression one of shock.
Yeo Ryeong examined the embroidery etched into the Hairpin and let out a sigh.
“Geum Do Gyeong speaks the truth. This was mine to begin with.”
“What?”
“It means this is the very Hairpin he said he gifted to a child he met yesterday.”
At words that amounted to a final confirmation, Soso sank heavily to the ground.
She’d never dreamed in a million years that it could have belonged to the Priestess.
What business could Arin possibly have had meeting the Priestess?
“Priestess!”
It couldn’t be. This was clearly Yeo Ryeong’s way of protecting Geum Do Gyeong.
She’d always kept him close, after all.
“Look at it yourself.”
Yeo Ryeong handed the Hairpin to Hong Yi Jin, who’d been about to protest.
Hong Yi Jin, still breathing raggedly, examined the embroidery on the Hairpin and her mouth fell open.
A golden lotus flower—the symbol of the Twelve Zodiac Village—was stitched into it.
This was unmistakably the pattern that the Priestess Yeo Ryeong embossed on her own belongings.
Since it was not an object anyone could easily possess, Hong Yi Jin found herself unable to deny it further.
“How could this possibly…….”
Hong Yi Jin looked back and forth between the Hairpin and Soso in disbelief.
“Did you truly steal this?”
At Hong Yi Jin’s hollow question, Soso found herself with nothing to say.
If she said she’d taken it from the Separate Quarters, it would expose her meeting with Arin.
If she said she’d stolen it, she’d face charges for wrongfully taking the Priestess’s possession.
In the end, Soso had no words left to offer.
* * *
The Welcome Gathering ended in shambles, undone by the friction between Geum Do Gyeong and Hong Yi Jin.
While Yeo Ryeong and Hong Yi Jin went to confer about Arin, Geum Do Gyeong returned to his quarters.
Arin was still asleep. Geum Do Gyeong approached her side and pressed a hand to her forehead.
“Thank goodness. The fever’s broken.”
How he’d fretted over that fever, which clung stubbornly even after she’d taken her medicine.
Geum Do Gyeong kept vigil beside the child through the night, repeatedly wiping away cold sweat as dawn crept near.
When he rose for a moment to fetch water, a small, delicate hand caught hold of him.
‘Father, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. Don’t go, please…….’
In her delirium, she had clearly mistaken him for Hong Yi Jin.
‘I’ll do better, I promise… please…….’
As he watched the child beg forgiveness in a hoarse voice, he found himself unable to breathe.
Geum Do Gyeong sat back down and soothed Arin’s small frame.
‘You haven’t done anything wrong.’
Only then did Arin’s troubled expression ease, and she slipped back to sleep.
Yet the unease hadn’t entirely faded—her tiny hand remained locked around his index finger.
It was then that he suddenly remembered his late wife’s wish.
How she’d wanted a daughter. Perhaps Jin Gyeong, watching from heaven, had sent this child to him.
That night, Geum Do Gyeong made his decision.
He would raise this child as his own.
The next morning, the moment daylight broke, he sought out Yeo Ryeong and declared it.
‘I will take the child with me.’
‘Good. You’ve chosen well.’
Yeo Ryeong, as if she’d known all along, set about the necessary arrangements.
Originally she’d meant to wait until Arin woke.
‘This… this is something Mother gave to me as a gift…….’
When Geum Do Gyeong saw Soso returning with the Hairpin he’d given to Arin tied pointedly about her head, he couldn’t contain himself.
A long tail is always caught in the end.
Thanks to Soso, Hong Yi Jin had been caught red-handed and could no longer deny Arin’s existence.
Since Yeo Ryeong herself had stepped in, the matter of transferring Arin to the Geum Family would be settled swiftly.
Grrrrrowl.
Just then, a sound like thunder rumbled from sleeping Arin’s belly.
Geum Do Gyeong stared at the child’s sunken stomach and ground his teeth.
“And you haven’t even fed the poor thing…….”
While Geum Do Gyeong stepped out to fetch something for her to eat.
“Mm.”
A small sound escaped Arin’s lips, and her eyes fluttered open against the heaviness that had sealed them shut.
‘Where am I?’
Since moving to the Separate Quarters, she had endured cold and darkness every night.
Waking suddenly in this warm, bright place left her disoriented.
Only then did Arin recall meeting a golden rat just before she collapsed, and she bolted upright.
At that instant, the damp cloth on her head tumbled away.
Now that she thought of it, the headache that had plagued her all morning had vanished completely.
She turned to look out the window, where the moon hung full and luminous in the sky.
Since she had met the golden rat around twilight, it seemed not much time had passed.
It was a thought she could only have because she knew nothing of having slept for more than a day.
“Golden rat?”
She called out softly, but sensed no presence in return.
With no other choice, Arin began tidying her blankets to prepare for departure when Geum Do Gyeong entered carrying Chicken Porridge.
It was made with glutinous rice added to Samgyetang from the banquet.
Geum Do Gyeong tilted his head as he watched Arin arranging the bedding.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh?”
Arin spun around in surprise, recognizing him as the kind man who had given her a Medicinal Snack not long ago, and she offered a deep bow.
“Hello, sir. Did you perhaps help me?”
“Sir…….”
Geum Do Gyeong’s expression showed genuine shock at her address.
He was indeed a sir, but being called one still felt unfamiliar to him.
Everyone around him had always called him Master of the House.
Yet his tone remained cheerful, which suggested she had recovered well.
Geum Do Gyeong set the Chicken Porridge on the table and asked again.
“So what were you doing?”
“I was folding my bedding. You’ve helped me twice now. I’m truly grateful.
At her formal words of gratitude, Geum Do Gyeong was left speechless.
The fact that such small hands had managed to fold such thick blankets at all seemed absurd.
His tone grew sharp.
“Who told you to fold the blankets?”
“Well, it just seemed wrong to leave them like this…….”
“Leave them? You weren’t planning to go back to the Separate Quarters, were you?”
“What? I…….”
Arin waved her hands in denial, uncertain. In truth, she had no idea where to go.
She had decided to leave the Separate Quarters.
But looking outside now, it was too dark.
She couldn’t even be sure she could find her way back to the Separate Quarters if she tried.
Arin swallowed her pride and lowered her head.
“If it’s not too much trouble, might I impose on your hospitality for just one night?”
“…….”
“I’ll stay in a corner and sleep quietly, I promise.”
Each time Arin opened her mouth, Geum Do Gyeong was left exasperated, unable to form words.
Was it because she had gone so long without an adult’s touch?
Arin tried to do everything alone. Even though she still needed an adult’s care.
“Do as you wish.”
Geum Do Gyeong pushed the blankets into the corner and seated Arin at the table.
Arin found herself sitting before the Chicken Porridge and stared at Geum Do Gyeong blankly.
Her nostrils flared at the porridge’s aroma, yet she restrained herself admirably.
“Eat.”
“Yes? May I really eat it?”
“I made it for you, so stop asking questions and eat. You might get indigestion, so go slowly and chew thoroughly.”
Geum Do Gyeong even placed a spoon in her hand so she couldn’t refuse.
Arin gazed at the porridge as steam rose from it, then carefully lifted the spoon.
The moment she tasted the Chicken Porridge, her eyes sparkled.
The glutinous rice melted pleasantly across her tongue with its nutty richness, and the texture of the tender chicken was exquisite.
Having meat for the first time in so long, her mouth continued to fill with saliva.
Arin ate with such fervor, as though she had never tasted anything before.
Geum Do Gyeong handed Arin the dongchimi broth when he saw the child eating in hasty, desperate gulps.
“Your throat will hurt.”
“Y-yes, thank you.”
Arin drank the dongchimi broth in long swallows, her small frame trembling.
“It’s so delicious……!”
The combination of savory chicken porridge and the sweet-and-salty pickled radish broth—what a pairing.
When Arin’s face lit up with excitement, a smile bloomed across Geum Do Gyeong’s features.
“If you want more, just say so.”
“Really? I can?”
“Must I tell you twice?”

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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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