The Blue Dragon Clan’s Very Suspicious Little Chick - Chapter 48

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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 48

There was no time left for leisurely indulgence.
Hwa Gyeom threw himself flat against the ground, scrubbing frantically at the characters with both hands.
He waved off the alarmed guards rushing toward him, heedless of his ruined clothes, and continued scrabbling at the sand with manic urgency.
“Gasp, gasp…….”
The more ragged his breathing became, the more his voice tumbled out in what sounded almost like exhilaration.

-How dare these whelps of the Divine Beast Families obstruct me? Bring them back at once, I say……!

Damn it all.
Hwa Gyeom staggered forward, wavering on his feet.
Whoever had torn this from the Crown Prince—they, too, would find no mercy.
He would make certain of their punishment……!

***

A month, perhaps, had passed since their return from the Imperial Capital.
Hui-rim appeared at the lord’s chambers one afternoon, his expression grave, and extended a letter.
“My lord, you ought to see this.”
At Hui-rim’s serious tone, Cheong-un quickly unfolded the letter—it bore word from their spy planted deep in the Imperial Capital.

「A fire has broken out at the Crown Prince’s Palace.
Fortunately His Highness the Crown Prince suffered no injury, yet the composure he seemed to have recovered since the Divine Beast Ceremony has vanished entirely, as though time had wound backward. He has grown violent once more.
The sounds of shattering objects and screams do not cease from the Crown Prince’s Palace……」

“Ah……, of all the wretched timing.”
Cheong-un was lamenting when a voice drifted in from beyond the door.
“Father, may I come in for a moment?”
It was Aran.
Cheong-un called her inside and was folding the letter away when Hui-rim bowed respectfully and withdrew.
“So our daughter has arrived?”
Aran smiled brightly and held out two letters.
“I wanted to ask if you could send these for me.”
The envelopes bore the names Hyeon Tae-o and Baek Sa-heum respectively.
He had been meaning to pass along another letter from Tae-o anyway, but it seemed Aran had belatedly written her replies.
“Those rascals will be delighted.”
Cheong-un’s gaze drifted back to the spy’s letter still resting on his desk.
He asked carefully.
“You didn’t manage a lengthy conversation with His Highness the Crown Prince while at the Palace, did you?”
Aran considered Je Geon-u.
They had spent a night together while she showed him visions, though she wouldn’t call it conversation.
As for the banquet hall…….

“Are you not my servants, after all?”

Small as he was, possessed by something wicked, yet arrogant nonetheless.
Aran frowned slightly as she answered.
“No, not particularly. It seemed difficult to become friends with His Highness.”
“Is that what you felt?”
Cheong-un smiled gently and added,
“Still, after meeting you, His Highness seemed to have found considerable peace. I was pleased to hear it, and yet now comes word of a fire in the Palace, of all things.”
“A fire? At……where?”
At Aran’s urgent question, Cheong-un sighed.
“At the Crown Prince’s Palace.”
Aran swallowed hard.
Could Je Geon-u have been hurt?
No, that’s not it…….
If I leave things as they are, Je Geon-u will ascend to the throne safely, just as he did in his past life.
Though he’ll only become a tyrant all over again, for all the good it does…….
“Fortunately, Your Highness wasn’t injured, though he does seem to have lost his composure. Regrettably so.”
In truth, since returning from the Imperial Palace, Aran had practically lived in the Library, consumed with finding a way to remove the Evil Spirit that clung to the Crown Prince.
But the books in Blue Dragon Manor alone held no answer, and it had become clear that this matter would require the assistance of White Tiger Manor.
So she had written to Baek Sa-heum to inquire how his efforts to persuade the White Tiger patriarch were progressing.
Of course, since Baek Sa-heum could scarcely read yet and anyone might glimpse the letter in transit, she had written only things that wouldn’t matter if others read them.
No matter how great a phoenix Aran was, she lacked the Spirit Sight to perceive souls.
If Baek Sa-heum ultimately failed to convince his father, shouldn’t she seek Cheong-un’s aid to save the Crown Prince, whatever the cost?
Aran had sighed under the weight of that thought.
“By the way, Father, I read in a book that the White Tiger Clan can see ghosts and spirits. Is that true?”
Cheong-un smiled gently and humored her sudden change of subject.
“It certainly is true. Just as your father summons rain, seeing spirits is an inborn gift passed down through White Tiger Manor.”
“Then……could there be another reason why Baek Sa-heum collapsed during the Divine Beast Ceremony? Maybe he saw something?”
“Hmm?”
Cheong-un tilted his head, puzzled.
“Aran, did the boy tell you something unusual?”
Still, she couldn’t have the young Baek Sa-heum scolded for revealing a family secret. Not yet.
“No, I just thought of it suddenly while reading.”
As Aran quickly covered for him, Cheong-un smiled wryly and stroked her hair.
“Our clever daughter—what will you become with such cleverness?”
What will I become?
I’ll become a great phoenix, that’s what.
Aran muttered something old-womanish to herself even as she grinned.
“The White Tiger Manor story was interesting. Could you find me more books about it?”

***

Around the same time, in the Imperial Palace.
“Gaaaahhhhh……!”
Upon entering the palace and first visiting the Crown Prince’s Palace, Scholar Hwa Gyeom barely suppressed a smile at the shrieks echoing through the halls.
“Another commotion. I suppose I should see His Highness myself today.”
The Empress’s portrait—the only one that had existed—burned in the Crown Prince’s Palace fire.
After that, the young prince’s composure shattered once more.
And with it, Hwa Gyeom found peace again.
The Evil Spirit, absorbed in playing with the young prince, paid him no attention whatsoever.
How grateful he was to his one and only nephew.
Court Lady Nam bowed apologetically.
“I’m afraid it’s not possible to see His Highness at present…….”
The composure and relief that had flickered across her face not long before had vanished entirely.
Hwa Gyeom frowned, though inwardly satisfied.
“And what is the reason for that?”
“Well, that is…….”
Court Lady Nam hesitated before continuing.
“His Highness has been tearing at his clothes since early morning and rolling across the chamber…….”
“Has he taken his medicinal decoction?”
The Crown Prince’s decoction was primarily meant to calm mind and body, but in truth it helped nothing.
Should the prince become docile, that only served the host’s purposes better.
So this was a pointless question, asked while knowing full well the answer.
Court Lady Nam shook her head.
“I could not get him to take it. I apologize.”
“I see. Continue your efforts, if you will.”
Satisfied, Hwa Gyeom departed the Crown Prince’s Palace.
He went directly to inform the Emperor that the Crown Prince’s condition had gravely worsened, and the Emperor grew anguished.
“How can such misfortune befall my son again and again……? At the Divine Beast Ceremony, I clearly saw that child walking and speaking properly……!”
The Emperor’s own headaches, meanwhile, showed no improvement.
He had been influenced by the Evil Spirit during the period when the Empress still shared his bed before her death.
Unlike the Crown Prince, the Emperor’s mature Yellow Dragon blood managed to resist, but it had no strength left to protect an heir.
“Your Majesty, I fear…….”
Hwa Gyeom asked as though he had been waiting for this moment.
“Your Majesty, what do you think of reviving the Divine Beast Educational Rite for the Crown Prince?”
The Divine Beast Educational Rite was an ancient imperial tradition in which direct descendants of the Divine Beast Families, peers of the Crown Prince’s age, were summoned to the palace to receive education alongside him.
“The Divine Beast Educational Rite?”
Originally, the tradition had called for the rite to be held every year for ten years straight, from when the Crown Prince turned five until fourteen, but it had long since been scaled back to occur only once or twice around the time he turned ten, accounting for the distances to each Divine Beast Manor.
Hwa Gyeom spoke shamelessly despite knowing this full well.
“Yes, Your Majesty. If the Crown Prince received positive influences during the Divine Beast Ceremony, it would surely be beneficial to invite the Divine Beast Families again—especially since he appears to have been well-influenced by peers his own age.”
“Mm.”
“Moreover, the Crown Prince has just turned five, and there are quite a few children his age among the Divine Beast Families. Is this not providential? Let us begin this very autumn.”
The Emperor hesitated even in the face of hope that the Crown Prince might improve.
“Chancellor Hwa, can the Crown Prince truly attend the rite? He was unable to appear much at the last Divine Beast Ceremony, and if he were to be absent again during the educational rite due to health concerns, everyone would find it strange.”
Rumors of the Crown Prince’s brutality had already spread beyond the Imperial Capital throughout the empire, but the Emperor remained ignorant of this fact.
It was because Hwa Gyeom sealed it all away with an iron grip.
“I, Hwa Gyeom, shall persuade Your Majesty by any means necessary and ensure that the Crown Prince attends the rite…!”
The direct descendants of the Divine Beast Families who had come to the Divine Beast Ceremony were still young.
If among them there existed seeds of sedition, one must swiftly root them out and destroy them as such seeds dictated.
Hwa Gyeom, pretending to be deeply concerned for his one and only nephew, prostrated himself before the Emperor and renewed his plea for the revival of the educational rite.

***

When Aran scratched at her ear, So-rim tilted her head and asked.
“Is your ear bothering you, Miss?”
“No, it just felt a bit itchy.”
Some mad fool dares curse this body without fear, it seems, instructor.
Aran unfolded a new letter that had come from Hyeon Tae-o and let out a small laugh.
The Blue Dragon Clan’s Suspicious Chick — Chapter 48
Digital publication date | August 5, 2026

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

UCI | G720:N+A101-20260722065.0048
Price | 100 won

ⓒ Ravioli 2026

This digital book is protected by copyright law as a work of intellectual property.
This digital book is published under contract with the author and cannot be reproduced, distributed, shared, or transmitted in any form without the written consent of 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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