The Blue Dragon Clan’s Very Suspicious Little Chick - Chapter 11

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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 11

“Squeak…!”
(Mmm, sweet and salty pine nut porridge. So thick and fragrant…!)
Two months later, Aran was marveling at the Blue Dragon Palace’s cuisine as a matter of daily habit when it happened.
Knock, knock.
Someone rapped lightly at the door.
“My, our young mistress does attract visitors.”
Sorim, who had been feeding Aran porridge, set down her spoon and rose.
“Now, who’s come to see our mistress this time?”
The moment the door opened, Aran could only blink in utter astonishment.
Standing before her was a child as delicate and precious as a spirit, with short sky-blue tousled hair perched on her head like an acorn cap.
The child’s eyes, held by Cheong Hui’s hand, were the same pale earthen brown as the other members of the Blue Dragon Clan.
The way she kept her other hand tightly clenched suggested she was tremendously nervous.
Aran leaped to her feet and scurried toward the doorway.
“Squeak! Chirp? Squeak-squeak!!!”
(That’s Yeon! It’s Yeon, isn’t it? She’s gotten a human form! How wonderful! So, so beautiful!)
Yeon had been lying about feeling unwell these past few days, and now Aran understood—she’d been waiting for her human body to fully manifest.
Yeon tried to crouch down to meet Aran at eye level but lost her balance and tumbled backward onto her bottom.
“Ow.”
The doll-like child made a small sound of discomfort, then broke into a wide, bashful smile.
“Arani.”
At the same moment, a hand no larger than a maple leaf reached up tentatively toward Aran’s head.
“Yes, little Yeon has come.”
Aran opened her already small eyes as wide as they would go and asked eagerly.
“Squeak! Squeak-chirp?”
(Yeon! Can you still understand Beast Language?)
This time, Cheong Hui answered for her.
“When someone first gets a human body, they can still understand Beast Language for a while. Yeon must be the same.”
But a month ago, when Min had obtained a human form, she’d quickly lost the ability to understand Beast Language, which had left Aran quietly disappointed.
Though Min’s words were few and her pronunciation clumsy, she was one of the only conversation partners Aran had.
So Aran bounced excitedly on the floor.
“Chirp-chirp!”
(Our Yeon is the best after all!)
Of course, part of her joy came from relief—she’d worried this past month that Yeon might be upset over her twin sister getting a human form first.
But kind-hearted Yeon seemed to be thinking of something else entirely.
“Until Arani gets a human body, I’ll hold you lots and lots.”
“Squeak, squeak-chirp!”
(Ha, yes!)
Aran found herself laughing at the girl’s awkward, fumbling attempt to lift her.
How could she not smile when even a baby dragon fresh from acquiring a human form was already thinking of how to embrace her?
Then Cheong Hui interjected, counting on her fingers.
“Let’s see—Aran was born only six months ago, and… if Father’s right that Aran is a Suzaku, then she has about another six months before she gets a human form?”
“Squeak.”
(Arani doesn’t know!)
Aran quickly feigned ignorance.
If she blurted out that she’d been born in a Blue Dragon nest and was actually a Suzaku who still had more than a year before acquiring a human form, it would seem completely impossible.
Aran was already strange enough as a baby bird; she didn’t want to add further suspicion to her peculiarities.
“That’s fine. Aran can take her time getting a body. Bird-type Therianthropes have long childhoods anyway.”
Cheong Hui smiled brightly and took Aran from Yeon’s hands, plainly worried that the still-clumsy Yeon might drop her.
She added softly:
“Whether you’re a Suzaku or not, you’re part of our family. You understand that, don’t you?”
“Chirp.”
(Yes—Aran is Cheong Aran.)
Aran spoke her new surname with pride, the name she’d been given in this lifetime.
She was destined to become a great Suzaku, but the house of Joo had left her soul steeped in resentment deeper than any ocean.
The name Joo? She’d sooner spit at the sight of it.
Just then, a loud commotion erupted from outside.
“Peep?”
(What’s that?)
In the midst of scattered shouts and the sound of soldiers rushing out, Cheong Hui’s expression grew grave.
“I’ll go and see what’s happened. Please stay here with the children, Instructor.”
As Cheong Hui swept away, her beautiful blue hair flowing behind her, Yeon stared after her with frightened eyes.
“W-what could it be?”
“It’s probably nothing serious, Young Master.”
Bah, it’s sure to be nothing.
The Blue Dragon Palace has never fallen in an age like this, so…….
Aran was lying there thinking comfortably when Sorim’s voice continued, trying to act unbothered but betraying her tension.
“Why don’t we do some leg stretches to ease the tension, then?”
Aran jolted upright as if lightning had struck her head.
“Eee-ow!”
(Please—! Who tears their legs when trying to relax?!)

***

Cheong Hui followed the rushing soldiers directly and was startled to realize that everyone’s footsteps had stopped at the main palace, quickening her pace.
She arrived breathless at Cheong Yeon Pond, terrified something had befallen the heart of the palace.
Her father and Heuirim stood looking down into the pond, their backs tensed with bewilderment.
Cheong Hui’s alarmed gaze fell quickly upon Cheong Yeon Pond.
The pond was still as glass, and the great lotus leaves and beautiful blossoms remained untouched, yet something was clearly wrong.
It was in that moment that Cheong Hui’s earth-brown eyes caught sight of the strange creature.
It was an enormous tortoise, and with six eyes, it bore no resemblance whatsoever to any beast near the Blue Dragon Palace.
“Father……?”
Cheong Hui approached in confusion, and Cheong Un turned to face her at last.
“Ah, Hui. I was just about to call for you—you’ve come at the perfect moment. So this is…….”
At that moment, Cheong Hui’s ability detected the tortoise’s voice.
“Gro……rrgh…….”
The tone was very low and slow, yet she could understand it.
Cheong Hui looked up at Cheong Un with startled eyes.
“It’s Yuk An-gwi? One of the Black Tortoise Palace’s messenger-beasts?”
Heuirim stepped between the two of them and opened a wooden chest he’d been carrying, revealing its contents.
Inside lay two sealed letters and a small ceramic jar.
“It brought gifts, you see. But as the eldest young master surely knows, Yuk An-gwi has never served as a courier before, so naturally we were taken aback.”
“Well done, truly.”
Cheong Un clicked his tongue beside Heuirim.
“Summoning the entire Green Guard over a few gifts arriving. How mortifying…….”
So Heuirim had called out the Green Guard in alarm.
Cheong Hui at last steadied herself and lowered her posture to address Yuk An-gwi.
“Explain yourself carefully. What brings you here?”
“Croo, croogh…….”
No matter how carefully she listened, it was an unremarkable story. Cheong Hui rendered her interpretation, which felt somewhat anticlimactic.
“Apparently the youngest of the Black Tortoise Palace wanted to send a letter and a gift to our youngest, so it brought them directly.”
To the ears of those listening, this sounded plausible enough.
Had the Black Tortoise Palace been up to some trick, they wouldn’t have sent just a single messenger-beast.
Cheong Hui had only one detail that troubled her, and so she asked again.
“But when you say the youngest of the Black Tortoise Palace—you mean Hyeon Tae-o, born just a few months ago?”
“Croogh…….”
Yuk An-gwi, remarkably, nodded its head.
Cheong Hui turned to her father with an unsettled expression.
“Since one of the letters is addressed to you, Father, perhaps you should read that one first.”

***

Some time later, a visitor arrived at Aran’s temporary quarters, where screams were still echoing.
This time it was Cheong Un, not Cheong Hui.
“Clan Leader, the palace was in chaos earlier—why have you come all the way here? You should have called for me.”
Sorim asked in alarm, but Cheong Un shook his head as if it were nothing serious.
“Mm, that chaos was caused by her brother. It was nothing of consequence.”
“Huh? This shameless water dragon of mine again……!”
Sorim’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment for a moment, and Cheong Un set a small ceramic jar down before Aran and Yeon.
The moment he lifted the lid, a sweet-tart fragrance wafted up, and Aran’s head tilted forward in curiosity.
“What is this, Clan Lord?”
Sorim, still blushing, answered, easing Aran’s confusion.
“I asked both the cook and the physician, and they told me it’s Cornelian Cherry Honey Pickle.”
Cornelian Cherry Honey Pickle……!
Aran’s eyes flew wide open.
Because Cornelian Cherry Honey Pickle was the one snack she had loved most throughout her entire past life.
What strange fortune was this!
Do they enjoy Cornelian Cherry Honey Pickle even in the Black Tortoise Palace?
The Blue Dragon Clan’s Peculiar Duckling — Chapter 11
E-book Release Date | August 5, 2026

Author | Lavioli
Publisher | Odd Eye
Submissions/Inquiries | [email protected]

UCI | G720:N+A101-20260722065.0011
List Price | 100 Won

© Lavioli 2026

This e-book is protected by copyright law.
This e-book is published under contract with the author, and unauthorized reproduction, duplication, distribution, or sharing is prohibited without written consent from both parties.

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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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