The Blue Dragon Clan’s Very Suspicious Little Chick - Chapter 31

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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 31

“Okdan…!”

A shabby house that reeked of damp earth.
On a worn mat spread across an uneven floor lay a gaunt woman.
Young Aran, with soot smudged across the tip of her nose, stirred the gruel with tear-streaked cheeks.

“Okdan, wake up and eat just a little, all right? This is what Mrs. Jo made for you.”

As Aran held out the spoon and pleaded, Okdan’s parched lips trembled.
Then, as if consciousness slowly returned, her vacant eyes lifted toward Aran.

“…Hah, hah, young lady.”

Her labored breathing was deeply troubling.
Aran, seized by fear, shook her head frantically.

“Don’t, don’t speak if it’s hard. Just… if you’d eat this much at least, ehh…”

Her lips were cracked and scabbed from suffering. Her eyes hollow, as though she hadn’t slept in days.
Yet Okdan, in that state, forced herself to summon a smile.
Then, word by agonizing word, as if squeezing out her final breath, she spoke.

“Young lady, you must go to the Jo household… Their new bride is fond of you, hah, to the Jo family…”

Aran shook her head again.

“No. I like you best, Okdan. I like your home best, all right? This is our home…”
“If you go to the Jo household, there would be more to eat…”
“Ehh…”

As tears poured down like a sudden downpour, a skeletal hand fumbled to grasp Aran’s small fingers.
Then, softer than the whisper of wind itself, came a voice.

“…Aran.”

It was the first time Okdan had called Aran by her name.
Though she had taken in a child abandoned as defective, she had always served her with the respect of a elder, calling her young lady, always young lady.
As Aran stared in surprise, a voice thin as air drifted on.

“You must… go to the Jo household…”

Was she determined to hear that answer?
At last, Aran nodded, weeping.
She would go to the Jo household.
If Okdan were to leave her, then she would do as told.

“You are… a Phoenix… a noble Phoenix…”

These were words Okdan had spoken countless times before, yet Aran could not believe them.
If she were truly a noble Phoenix, would Okdan have been beaten and driven out for stealing a handful of grain just to feed her?
If Aran were truly a Phoenix, should not the Phoenix Palace have begged forgiveness from the maidservant who had kept the master’s blood alive?
In that moment, Okdan added slowly.

“Live on… make sure you live… so that your grandfather, that proud man, kneels before you… and begs your… forgiveness…”

Aran nodded.
I will make that plea.
If I am a Phoenix, and one day I gain strength,
I will never forgive the people of Phoenix Palace who hurt Okdan like this.
The moment she finished that thought, the hand stroking Aran’s stilled.

“Okdan……?”

Okdan’s hand, thin as a dead branch, fell limply to the floor.
Aran gasped in shock and pitched forward, grasping Okdan’s shoulders.

“Okdan……!”

Then Okdan’s head rolled to one side.
Beautiful Okdan, only eighteen when she had found and raised Aran, never marrying because of her.
That burden of a child—yet Okdan had always chosen the very best of her own share to give to Aran.
Good, kind Okdan…….

“Okdan, don’t go! Don’t die……!”

Aran clung to her, weeping, but no sound—not even the faintest breath—came from Okdan anymore.
How long did she hold that cooling body, tears flowing without end?
Morning light seeped through the thin paper of the sliding door.
Only then did Aran rise and commit Okdan’s final form to memory.
She pressed her own tear-dampened forehead against Okdan’s, now gone cold.
Then, her voice breaking—raw, metallic with grief—she whispered it late:

“……Mother.”

In this world, Okdan was the only person Aran could call family, call mother.
Yet she had never spoken the word before.

“Mother……!”

Aran called that name a hundred times, a thousand times, where no one could hear.
Pleading, begging her not to leave her alone.
It was the first and last time in Aran’s long life that she would call out for her mother.

***

“Mother, mother…….”
Cheongun gazed down at Aran, his brow furrowed with worry as she moaned fitfully in her sleep.
Sorim’s hands trembled as she rewet the cloth and pressed it gently to Aran’s parched lips.
“Is it—is it possible that she might not wake? Is this normal for a Phoenix……?”
Aran had fallen ill the night Hui and Suryeon returned from the Imperial Capital.
After four days, she had finally taken human form, and everyone had breathed easy—only to find her still unconscious days later.
Even Sorim, who rarely ventured to speak first to the head of house, found her courage now; but Cheongun had no answer to give.
He had gathered and read every book on Phoenix lore, to no avail.
Aran had always been different from other Phoenixes.
Cheongun studied the human form before him quietly now.
Silver hair that shimmered pale as moonlight, round, full cheeks of snowy white, lips the color of fresh red clay.
She was a child of a beauty he had never beheld anywhere in all his years.
He had dreamed long of this day—waiting for the fledgling bird whose cries he could not understand to grow—yet meeting her gaze as a daughter felt impossibly difficult.
When Cheongun held her hand without speaking, Sorim stepped back with sorrow written across her face.
When Aran had been only a fledgling, her cries had sounded so spirited that it was easy to miss the truth.
That she was a young child who needed her mother, searching for her mother…….
As Sorim stepped into the corridor, the twins who had been waiting in hushed silence opened their eyes wide at the sight of her.
“Instructor, where is Aran?”
Sorim quickly composed herself and bent to meet the twins at eye level.
“You’ve been waiting here? Miss Aran is still sleeping. But she’ll wake soon.”
Yeon chewed her lip anxiously and asked again.
“My, has Yeon slept this long before?”
“Well, Young Master Yeon did wake up a bit earlier than usual, didn’t he?”
Sorim answered, doing her best to hide her frustration.
“Miss Aran is the most special person in our Blue Dragon Palace, after all.”
“I peeked through the door yesterday, and Aran’s hair is silver! It’s so pretty!”
When Min chimed in, rolling his large eyes, a hint of a smile finally returned to Sorim’s face.
“That’s right, Young Master. She truly is beautiful.”
“What about her height? Is she taller than Min?”
“Hmm…….”
Even in this grave situation, Min manages to draw out a laugh.
Sorim pretended to measure the adorable young dragon’s height by eye.
Of course, she didn’t really need to estimate.
“I’d say Young Master Min might be just a tiny bit taller, I think?”
“Really? Then Min is Aran’s older brother?”
“Pfft.”
When Sorim’s suppressed laughter finally burst out, Yeon grew irritable.
“Min, that’s not what matters right now.”
“Yeah, I guess…….”
Sorim soothed the twins as she watched Min cower under their rebuke.
“I’ll tell you right away when Miss Aran wakes. You mustn’t make noise here now.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
After the children withdrew in silence, Sorim stood alone in the hallway for a long time.
Sometimes, very weak Beast-persons fail to obtain a Human form, or they are culled in the process.
She didn’t even want to imagine that Aran might fall into that category…….
“Please wake up, Miss…….”
Though Sorim had yet to start a family of her own, over the past year caring for Aran, she had thought many times about motherhood.
She had often thought that even if she bore and raised children someday, she would never forget Aran…….
“Please, just wake up…….”
For Sorim, Aran was her first love.
Precisely because of that, she was so precious—and tonight the night seemed terribly long indeed.

***

Aran opened her eyes in the soft morning light.
She stretched out of habit, and something different from usual caught her notice.
“……Huh?”
Soft fingers shaped like maple leaves twitched and moved.
Aran clenched both hands together like an infant testing them out.
“They… they’re moving…….”
So I’ve finally gotten a body!
She jerked upright with a start.
Someone had dressed her in a pale pink Jeogori and Pants.
Beneath the loose trouser cuffs, tiny white toes wiggled and twitched.
“Hehehehe.”
Giggles spilled out.
Still seated, Aran kicked both feet in the air and cried out:
“Ahem! The great Phoenix Cheongyaran has arrived in this realm!”
The Blue Dragon Clan’s Suspiciously Many Chicks — Chapter 31
E-book publication date | 2026.08.05

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

UCI | G720:N+A101-20260722065.0031
Retail price | 100 won

© Ravioli 2026

This e-book is protected under copyright law.
This e-book is published by contract with the author, and unauthorized reproduction, copying, 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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