The Blue Dragon Clan’s Very Suspicious Little Chick - Chapter 73

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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 73

Aran hadn’t refused outright because she still had something to say.

***

“The Inauspicious Beast.”
Aran broached the subject directly.
In truth, there was something else she wanted to ask Hyeon Tae-o separately, but the more pressing matter needed to be resolved first.
If Baek Sa-heum sent word to the White Tiger Palace asking for immediate aid, it would be catastrophic.
“So what you’re saying is, that’s what’s been trying to kill me for the past nine years.”
Seeing the displeasure in Hyeon Tae-o’s eyes, Aran knew he agreed with her.
“I haven’t told Sa-heum yet, but even if it really is an Inauspicious Beast, asking the adults for help should be a last resort.”
Hyeon Tae-o responded to her words with lukewarm skepticism.
“Why?”
“If it’s cornered, it might reach out to His Majesty. If the Beast uses Word Command, everything ends. None of us can withstand that.”
“We just got rid of it a moment ago.”
Though he’d told Baek Sa-heum a moment before that it was his doing, Hyeon Tae-o quickly changed his tune.
Aran shook her head.
“What we used on Nan-young won’t work. Sa-heum observed it for a long time. He said it appeared to be completely one body with you.”
“But Aran.”
Hyeon Tae-o called to her softly.
“You already know the method to eliminate it for certain.”
Aran’s heart dropped like a stone.
She understood what method he meant.
But it hadn’t been Hyeon Tae-o who’d first tried to use that method—it had been Aran herself.
Nine years ago, Aran had asked Hyeon Tae-o to use Jeolmaeksan on her.
To eliminate the child Geon-u without knowing he was infected by the Beast.
Aran felt sick at the mere fact that she’d harbored such thoughts.
“Don’t say things like that.”
Hyeon Tae-o must have understood her trembling words.
Unlike then, Aran now knew that Geon-u had been nothing but a victim as well.
Yet Hyeon Tae-o seemed to have no intention of backing down.
“If it transfers to someone else, it becomes even more difficult, doesn’t it?”
Aran’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
“Is that it? Are you saying we should abandon that suffering child? When you know full well how tormented they’ve been…!”
Hyeon Tae-o said something unexpected.
“I’ve never hidden my heart from you.”
“What?”
“I told you from the beginning. If anyone so much as touches you, I won’t hold back.”
“Hyeon Tae-o.”
When Aran called his name with a sigh, Hyeon Tae-o took her hand.
“We don’t know how it attached to Nan-young in the first place. What if next, it’s you? What am I supposed to do then?”
Strong arms slowly wrapped around Aran’s small shoulders, cradling her as if to hide her away completely within himself, precious and protected.
Then a quiet voice murmured against her ear.
“If it becomes your shadow, I won’t be able to harm it. And if there’s even the slightest possibility that you’d be hurt in the process, I won’t do it.”
On the surface, it might sound like a tender confession.
Unconditional, blind affection.
Love placed above all else.
But an unasked question lingered in Aran’s heart.
Hyeon Tae-o, who are you…?
And the unanswered reply she hadn’t yet heard terrified her.
Because in her mind lived a scene that would never fade.
A world burning brilliantly.
A world where nothing lived—only smoke rising, only ash remaining.
Even if she lived another hundred years, she could never forget that nightmare.
Had it been the same then, too…?
In the end, Aran asked.
“…You won’t do it?”
She pushed him away, slipping free of his embrace.
“The way you speak, it sounds as though you could simply decide this very moment to erase it—an Inauspicious Beast reduced to nothing but a scattered spirit, its form already lost. And you’re not even the White Tiger; you’re the Black Tortoise.”
Hyeon Tae-o showed no alarm, fixing her with his mismatched eyes—one color different from the other.
His handsome mouth curved upward on both sides instead.
When he spoke, his voice carried absolute certainty.
“Exactly. So I’m saying I can erase it now, if you’d like.”
He had always given her anything she asked for—everything—though he had not saved the world.
Like a god from memory.

***

The next morning.
It was the first lesson of what would be the final Four Celestial Ceremonial Lesson, yet the Lecture Hall held two empty seats.
Aran’s and Hong Bi’s.
Si-gang spoke up, puzzled.
“I heard everyone arrived promptly yesterday—has something happened to our precious young ladies?”
Everyone stared at the vacant places in bewilderment.
Even Aran’s twin siblings from the Cheong family and Hong Woo, Hong Bi’s cousin, seemed equally mystified.
Baek Sa-heum, who had seen both of them the night before, turned to Hyeon Tae-o with anxious eyes.
“Last night—you did make sure Aran got to bed all right, didn’t you?”
He whispered the question, and Hyeon Tae-o nodded absently in reply.
Baek Sa-heum let out a breath.
Though she must have been tired the night before, it didn’t seem like the sort of thing that would keep Aran away from lessons entirely.
She was probably just running a little late.
Though truthfully, lateness didn’t suit Aran at all….
Could there still be something left of Nan-young in her?
The possibility that it might be an Inauspicious Beast only made the already anxious White Tiger more tense.
Baek Sa-heum deliberately ignored Hong Woo, who sat directly in front of him, and kept his attention fixed on Aran’s empty seat….
Just as his anxious gaze turned toward the door, it opened and someone stepped inside.
“My apologies, Si-gang.”
To his disappointment, it was Hong Bi alone.
“Aran has come down with a fever and isn’t feeling well. We’ve had a physician attend to her in the Palace Quarters.”
At Hong Bi’s words, both the twins and Hong Woo sprang to their feet without hesitation.
“Everyone, please keep quiet.”
Si-gang gestured to them all.
“I’m sorry to hear the young lady is unwell. But the rest of you must attend to your duties, mustn’t you?”
Min, who possessed healing Supernatural Ability, grew particularly restless, but eventually yielded to Si-gang’s insistence and returned to her seat.
Aran did not appear by the end of the lesson.
After Si-gang left, Hong Woo spoke first.
“That’s strange—Aran looked perfectly healthy at the banquet yesterday. What could have come on so suddenly? Min and Yeon will want to visit her, surely?”
When the twins nodded in agreement, Hong Bi interjected with an uncomfortable expression.
“Your Highness, while I understand your concern, wouldn’t it be better if not too many people visited? So that Aran can rest properly?”
“Ah….”
Hong Woo smiled sheepishly.
“Of course. I just wanted to say—if she needs anything at all, please send word.”
With that, Baek Sa-heum looked to Hyeon Tae-o as if seeking rescue.
His plan was that if Hyeon Tae-o insisted on going, he would subtly follow along.
But Hyeon Tae-o simply sat still.
Baek Sa-heum asked in alarm, his voice low.
“Tae-o, aren’t you going to check on her?”
“If she’s ill, she needs rest.”
If she’s ill, she needs rest?
Baek Sa-heum began to wonder if something wasn’t wrong with Hyeon Tae-o himself.
It was last year when Aran had caught the plague.
Others who contracted the same illness suffered terribly, some even dying from it—yet who had persistently sought Aran out regardless?
Who had gone alone to a place where only physicians were permitted entry, keeping vigil through the entire night?
It had been Hyeon Tae-o.
The gods themselves seemed to marvel at his devotion, and mercifully the sickness did not spread to him; but it had been truly dire then.
So why today…?
Could they have argued after he entered his room last night?
Impossible. Aran wouldn’t ask Tae-o to do something if he wouldn’t play along even unto death.
Baek Sa-heum felt terrified that an Inauspicious Beast had taken root inside Woo, but he hated seeing Aran hurt just as much.
Yet he was neither her brother nor her “possession”—he had no grounds to seek her out in her pain.

***

Baek Sa-heum watched the twins heading toward Aran and Hong Bi’s retreating figures with envious eyes before turning away.
As he trudged toward the Eastern Palace Quarters, Hyeon Tae-o unexpectedly fell into step beside him.
Ordinarily, Tae-o treated everyone except Aran as though they didn’t exist—impartially indifferent.
He was somewhat kinder to the twins because they were Aran’s siblings, but that was all; he wouldn’t even offer unnecessary greetings to the Crown Prince.
So it was decidedly unusual for him to adjust his pace and follow along.
As Baek Sa-heum stole a glance at him, Tae-o spoke.
“I wanted to ask you something.”
Baek Sa-heum straightened reflexively, turning to face him.
It was surprising that Tae-o had a question for him at all, but more surprising still that he’d asked permission first rather than simply demanding.
Though he had helped that night before…
A question he couldn’t ask then—one that had been circling in his throat ever since—suddenly resurfaced.
How exactly had Tae-o used his Supernatural Ability?
Aran didn’t wear a Control Device and had her Divine Seal, but Hyeon Tae-o was clearly wearing one at the time…
Come to think of it, when they were younger, Hong Woo had even kicked up a fuss about Tae-o’s Control Device.
He’d said it seemed like Tae-o could use his Supernatural Ability while wearing it.
Of course, dwelling on such thoughts only made facing Tae-o more difficult.
Baek Sa-heum closed his eyes tightly before answering.
“Y-yeah. If I know the answer, I’ll tell you.”
At that, Tae-o stopped walking.
Baek Sa-heum had grown tall enough that he was nearly on par with Tae-o now, and his build was even slightly broader, yet he still found himself diminished in his presence.
This, then, was the true instinct of the White Tiger. Hyeon Tae-o was an opponent he could never stand against.
Tae-o’s mismatched eyes glinted dangerously as he asked.
“Has Aran ever asked you anything about me?”
The Suspiciously Peculiar Azure Dragon House — Chapter 73
E-book Release Date | August 5, 2026

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

UCI | G720:N+A101-20260722065.0073
List Price | 100 Won

ⓒ Ravioli 2026

This e-book is protected under copyright law.
This e-book is published under contract with the author and may not be reproduced, distributed, shared, or transmitted in any form 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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