The Blue Dragon Clan’s Very Suspicious Little Chick - Chapter 57

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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 57

They sat side by side before the refreshment table, yet their lips never moved at all.
It was clear they weren’t eating anything, nor exchanging words.
Aran’s soft tsk of disapproval was quickly swallowed up in the chatter of the twins and Hong Bi.
“Come visit the Vermillion Bird Realm sometime! It’s incredibly warm and beautiful!”
“Really? You’ll invite me?”
Min’s hips wiggled with delight, setting the boat rocking as water splashed over the side.
“Haha! This is so much fun!”
Gung-in didn’t seem startled in the least, moving to settle the children.
“If you move about too much, the boat might tip over. Please stay seated.”
“Okay!”
The answer came back dutifully enough, but Min kept right on playing.
At one point, she even reached out and snapped off a lotus bloom floating on the water.
The boat reached the far bank of the pond, turned its prow, and began heading back toward where Hyeon Tae-o and Baek Sa-heum waited.
Because Min kept fidgeting, it was Je Geon-u who took the seat beside Aran on the return journey.
A cool breeze carried the scent of autumn, and yet…….
Without thinking, Je Geon-u suddenly grasped Aran’s arm.
“I have something I want to ask you.”
Aran, who had been too occupied managing Min’s mischief, started at the sudden contact and turned to look at Je Geon-u.
“Yes?”
The question from the unsociable child was startlingly direct.
“What kind of Beastfolk are you?”

***

It struck Aran like a bolt from the blue.
Even the Vermillion Bird Realm children pricked up their ears.
Until now, Aran had only been known as a bird-type Spirit Being, and none of them had seen her true form.
Of course, Aran always had a plan.
“Father said I seem to be a Crested Ibis Spirit Being.”
She gave the answer she’d rehearsed with Cheong-un, while playing the pitiful child who didn’t truly understand her own nature.
How could she know her own identity when even her parents didn’t?
If she waffled about it and Je Geon-u ended up recognizing her the way Baek Sa-heum had, that would be catastrophic.
Sure enough, Je Geon-u’s face softened with apology and he released her arm.
“Ah, a Crested Ibis Spirit Being…….”
But what was this now?
Je Geon-u, who had seemed satisfied with her answer a moment ago, was staring at Aran again and asked once more.
“Then, if I may ask—what color are your feathers?”
Feathers.
Why feathers, of all things?
Even if she revealed her true form, there was no way he could discover she was a Vermillion Bird.
Aran was still far too small for a Vermillion Bird, and there wasn’t a trace of red in her plumage.
Still, she felt she ought to give an answer as close to the truth as possible, yet somehow that didn’t sit right with her.
And if she said a different color now, the twins would think it strange.
She had no choice but to answer.
“White. Why do you ask?”
“White……?”
Je Geon-u looked genuinely taken aback.
“I’m sorry, but…….”
What came next from Je Geon-u startled even the usually composed Aran.
“Since you’re a new Spirit Being, you can change your form freely, can’t you?”
What——why?
It must have been one of those moments when the children’s chatter had died down. Je Geon-u’s question rang out clearly across the silent pond.
Yeon jumped to her feet.
“No!”
“Oh! Young master! If you stand up like that…….”
The boatman didn’t even get a chance to interject.
Yeon answered with unbridled excitement.
“Aran’s body is frail—she can’t change form whenever she pleases when there’s no one to watch over her!”
The moment Yeon lurched to her feet, the boat tilted sharply to one side.
Aran grabbed quickly to pull Yeon back inward, but it only made things worse.
The weight that had shifted toward Yeon now swung violently the other way, toward Aran.
The shallow ripples erupted into turbulent waves in an instant.
“Ah—!”
Aran felt her light frame pushed helplessly through the water.
“Eek!”
“Miss!”
As Hong Bi and the palace attendant cried out together, Aran’s world spun upside down.
Splash!
Aran was flung from the boat before anyone could catch her.
Cold water swallowed her whole in an instant.
“Aran!”
Only Yeon’s anguished cry—her hand still gripping Aran’s sleeve—echoed across the water’s surface.

***

Moments before, at the pond’s edge, Baek Sa-heum found himself in an awkward position.
“Since you don’t seem to understand, I’ll explain it to you once.”
Hyeon Tae-o had said this the moment Aran’s boat drifted away.
“Aran is mine.”
Of course, this differed sharply from everything Sa-heum had heard until now.
“But…….”
Sa-heum feared the Genbu here second only to the Crown Prince himself, and he regretted not following after Aran.
Yet he couldn’t stand idly by while this child spoke carelessly about Aran, whom he privately regarded as his teacher.
“I… I understood it differently… that you belonged to Aran…”
Sa-heum ventured this timidly, but Hyeon Tae-o was unmoved.
“It works the same in reverse.”
‘Reverse’ doesn’t sound quite the same to me……
But Sa-heum lacked the courage to argue further with the terrifying Genbu.
“Y-yes, I understand.”
“You understand?”
The sharp confirmation sent Sa-heum flinching once more.
“…Yes.”
Then the Genbu’s furrowed brow relaxed, and he spoke in a measured tone.
“Good, if you understand, then I ask you to refrain from embracing or holding Aran’s hand without permission going forward.”
Sa-heum felt deeply wronged.
As if he would ever presume to take the Immortal’s hand first or embrace her.
He had only ever conducted himself properly and respectfully in her presence…….
Would explaining that just anger him further?
Fortunately, his mood did seem to have improved somewhat…….
In the end, timid Sa-heum swallowed his grievance and nodded.
“Yes, I’ll do my best.”
Of course, a promise not to do something and an effort to try are different answers altogether.
Hyeon Tae-o was just beginning to show displeasure at this ambiguous reply.
Splash!
An ominous sound erupted from the direction of the pond.
Both turned their heads at once, but Sa-heum’s eyesight was keener.
The beast’s crimson eyes widened, and Sa-heum was on his feet first.
“Aran’s gone! She’s not on the boat!”
No matter how shallow the pond, Aran’s feet would never touch bottom.
Hyeon Tae-o pushed off from the ground before Sa-heum’s words even finished, and sprinted toward the water.
The moment he reached the pond’s edge, he dove without hesitation.
Splash!
“T-Tae-o—!”
Sa-heum rushed after him, hesitating at the water’s edge, but only a small spray of water now marked where Hyeon Tae-o had gone.
In that moment, the surface—which had swallowed Hyeon Tae-o—suddenly rose in a massive wave.
What was that……?
Baek Sa-heum’s eyes narrowed to slits.
There was no way the small Hyeon Tae-o could stir up a current like that, yet the pink wave rushed toward the boat as though it possessed a will of its own.
“Wait—the Young Master of the Black Tortile House?”
The palace attendants who had been standing guard nearby gasped and came hurrying over, though already too late.
This was where the precious descendants of the Four Celestial Palace were being watched over. Several of them, without so much as a moment’s thought, plunged straight into the Pond.
Splash! Splash!
The edges were shallow enough that the adults hardly needed to dive in at all.
But Hyeon Tae-o still had not surfaced.
Baek Sa-heum clenched his lower jaw.
He despised himself—this helpless self who couldn’t swim and lacked the courage to dive in after him.
The strange wave continued to swell and advanced with ponderous slowness.
Watching it, as though it might swallow the small boat whole, Baek Sa-heum began stamping his feet in distress.
“Please, please…….”
Then, in the middle of the Pond where the boat was floating, the water surface suddenly split open, and something emerged.
Round and enormous and dark…….
A turtle……?
Wait? A turtle that large lives in this small Pond?

***

“Aran!”
Hearing Cheong-un’s cry, Aran—who had just drawn a deep breath—sank beneath the water.
Even so, her small mind raced with swift calculations.
Why was Je Geon-u taking an interest in my true form?
A few days ago he saw only an illusion, surely he couldn’t have seen this body…….
And why did Cheong-un suddenly tell such a lie?
She doesn’t know anything…….
This is most strange.
Aran’s instincts screamed danger.
Above all, I must never have my identity discovered by the prince……!
Should I just play drowning and lose consciousness?
Aran, being a Vermillion Bird, was naturally an excellent swimmer—but few knew this fact.
Of course, the twins and Hyeon Tae-o would likely realize that Aran could survive by transforming into her true form if necessary…….
Yet Aran had not considered that she had already been underwater far too long, nor that the twins and Hyeon Tae-o themselves were so startled they could barely think straight.
So it wasn’t until she was nearly at the bottom of the Pond that she pushed off hard from the floor and began to rise.
Then she felt an incredibly heavy current pressing down upon her.
What is this? Why such currents in a Pond…….
Aran, thrashing with her small limbs, made toward the surface.
In the murky water, something enormous emerged from the darkness.
A turtle……?
In the next instant, Aran saw it.
Eyes gleaming jade-green in the darkness.
The Azure Dragon Clan’s Oddly Suspicious Chick – Episode 57
E-book Publication Date | August 5, 2026

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

UCI | G720:N+A101-20260722065.0057
List Price | 100 Won

© Ravioli 2026

This e-book is protected under copyright law.
This e-book has been published under contract with the author, and unauthorized reproduction, distribution, sharing, or transmission in any form without written consent from both parties is prohibited.

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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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