The Blue Dragon Clan’s Very Suspicious Little Chick - Chapter 74

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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 74

The answer was already evident.
Baek Sa-heum had hesitated, unable to speak with certainty.
Yet Hyeon Tae-o waited still.
Finally, Sa-heum opened his mouth, visibly uncomfortable.
“Which… which one are you asking about?”
He’d caught him trying to dodge the question by feigning ignorance.
Hyeon Tae-o let out a soft laugh.
His dark, coarse hair shifted slightly back from his forehead, and his lips—an odd, raw red—seemed to curve even further.
While Sa-heum swallowed hard, Tae-o asked again.
“Baek Sa-heum, you haven’t already forgotten that I was in that room yesterday, have you?”
If Aran had been here, he might have asked more gently.
Or perhaps he would have asked her directly instead.
Then again, since Hyeon Tae-o was careful to read Aran’s mood just as keenly, maybe he wouldn’t have asked at all.
Sa-heum, caught in his own thoughts, grew irritable and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Why are you asking me of all people, when Aran’s sick and not here? Is it a question you can’t ask her directly?”
A counter-question came back at him.
“What do you think?”
The White Tiger, so quick to surrender, conceded at once.
He’d been foolish to think counter-questions would work on Hyeon Tae-o.
Besides, it wasn’t as if Aran had sworn him to secrecy about it.
Sa-heum exhaled and spoke.
“She asked once. Last year.”
“Asked what?”
Tae-o pressed further.
“What did she ask? About me.”
By now, Sa-heum’s own patience was wearing thin.
Was this what asking for help looked like?
But his opponent was Hyeon Tae-o.
Sa-heum shrugged and finally gave in.
“You know I have Spirit Eyes.”
Tae-o simply listened.
“She asked what you look like through my eyes.”

***

That had been shortly after Aran had nearly died from the plague and lived to tell of it.
Sa-heum, who had recovered faster because his case was mild, had gone alone to Aran’s room when she awoke and wept bitterly.
He had sobbed so hard that even Nan-yeong, who was weeping herself, had quietly stepped away to give him space.

“I was so frightened… Immortal… I was so afraid I’d never see you again…”

Aran must have been afraid too.
But she only patted the whimpering Sa-heum and assured him everything would be fine.

“There’s no reason I couldn’t see you again. I don’t die so easily. You’ve seen that often enough by now.”

But her attempt at humor only made things worse, and Sa-heum went on crying for some time after.
It was only when he had finally begun to calm down that Aran spoke softly.

“Sa-heum.”
“Yes…?”

Still sniffling, Sa-heum was startled by the unexpected question.

“What does Tae-o look like through your eyes?”

It was the first time Aran had asked Baek Sa-heum to use his Spirit Eyes to look at people other than Geon-u.
Perhaps because he’d watched Sa-heum struggle with the burden of his Supernatural Ability since childhood, Aran had never pushed him to use it out of mere curiosity.
Especially when it came to Hyeon Tae-o—Sa-heum had hesitated, reluctant to say much about him.
Yet even as Sa-heum showed signs of dodging the question, Aran did not withdraw it.
In the end, Sa-heum opened his mouth.

“Tae-o is…….”

Aran fixed him with eyes so clear and dark that Sa-heum could hardly believe she had only just recovered. As always, he found himself unable to hide anything from her.

“……I can’t see him very clearly.”

That was the truth.
As a child, Sa-heum had thought Tae-o’s lifespan would be very short.
So each time Tae-o hovered near Aran’s side, he’d been anxious that she might give him too deep an affection.
People who appeared faintly in his Spirit Eyes were usually the elderly, and most of them died as their time ran out not long after.
He had told Aran this truth from the beginning—that he could recognize those whose death was near.
So it was natural that Aran would ask with concern.

“Can’t see him clearly, you say?”

Sa-heum hurried to add more.

“I-I don’t know why. But it doesn’t mean anything’s wrong with Tae-o. It’s just that he’s always been like this for as long as I can remember.”

It was true.
Sa-heum no longer thought Tae-o would die soon.
Rather, the opposite—he felt as though Tae-o would live longer than ordinary people, just as Tae-o himself claimed with such confidence.
When Aran’s expression still didn’t improve, Sa-heum rushed to speak again.

“That’s not all, though……! Sometimes I see a strange light coming from Tae-o.”
“A strange light?”
“Well, it’s similar to the way an Immortal always seems to shine…….”

This was how Sa-heum had immediately recognized that Aran was an Immortal.
Aran was always bathed in radiance.
In a light so bright and warm.
The kind of luminescence that seemed as though a god, cherishing and loving Aran without end, was always cradling her close.
And Tae-o, too, sometimes gave off such a light.

“The difference is that Tae-o only shines sometimes.”
“I see.”

Aran smiled faintly, but Sa-heum could tell it was only for his sake.
She must care for Tae-o deeply……so of course she’d worry.
Maybe I should have just said he looked normal?
But I can’t lie to the Immortal…….
As a result, Sa-heum had spent nearly a year fretting about this alone.
He was actually a little relieved that Tae-o had asked him about it.

***

Tae-o was not surprised to hear he appeared hazy or luminous.
The only thing he was curious about concerned Aran.
“So Ran looked worried, not angry? Is that what you’re saying?”
Sa-heum tilted his head in confusion.
If Tae-o appeared hazy through his Spirit Eyes and yet was still alive, that hardly seemed like something worth being angry about.
If anything, it was fortunate.
Sa-heum still found Tae-o difficult to understand.
“……Why would Aran have any reason to be angry?”
At that, Hyeon Tae-o chuckled and asked again.
“So, how does Aran look to you?”
Had he grown indifferent to how his own form appeared in the Spirit Eyes?
How often and how brightly he shone?
Why he alone seemed unclear, why the light so often radiated from him—had he stopped wondering about these things entirely?
Again, Baek Sa-heum could not fathom Hyeon Tae-o.
And he could not answer his question.
“I can’t say that.”
Hyeon Tae-o’s gaze sharpened for a moment, but then his mouth curved upward as if to smile.
“Ah, you must have promised to keep it secret from Aran.”
He hadn’t lied, and he’d kept the secret—so that should be all right, shouldn’t it?
“……Yeah.”
When Baek Sa-heum admitted this with some unease, Hyeon Tae-o spoke carelessly.
“Well, she’d look beautiful either way.”
Hmph, was he trying to lead him into a trap?
Baek Sa-heum didn’t fall for it.
How beautiful Aran appeared, how virtuous and yet fierce. How the light fell across her back in its own particular way.
Those were secrets he wanted to keep for himself alone.
Even without the promise to Aran, he’d hardly have wanted to share them.
Fortunately, Hyeon Tae-o didn’t seem displeased.
“Baek Sa-heum.”
The White Tiger’s name was called with a note of laughter in his voice.
“Don’t lose your heart to Aran’s soul, no matter how beautiful it is.”
“I knew you were going to say that…….”
Baek Sa-heum grumbled in exasperation, but Hyeon Tae-o maintained his claim with shameless consistency.
“Aran is mine.”
“Aran said she disagrees with that!”
Baek Sa-heum cried out in dismay, but fear sent him scrambling toward the door. He had no desire to become a frozen White Tiger statue in the Eastern Pavilion.
Still, he made sure to leave his final word clear.
“You belong to her, and Aran is a free Vermillion Bird!”
On any other day, Hyeon Tae-o would have furrowed his brow, but today he still looked pleased.
How could he be so carefree when Aran was suffering?
The detestable Xuanwu repeated himself with unflappable composure.
“The free Vermillion Bird, Aran, is mine.”
Good heavens.
Baek Sa-heum turned to object once more, then froze.
Hyeon Tae-o’s face bore an expression he’d never seen before—utterly unguarded.
With that look, he repeated the words as if malfunctioning.
“Aran is mine.”
Because protecting her alone would be only natural, even if he had to burn the entire world to ash.
Such depths were beyond what the simple White Tiger could grasp.
The Azure Dragon Clan’s Suspiciously Many Incidents — Episode 74
E-book publication date | August 5, 2026

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

UCI | G720:N+A101-20260722065.0074
Price | 100 won

ⓒ Ravioli 2026

This e-book is protected under copyright law as an intellectual work.
This e-book is published under contract with the author and may not be reproduced, distributed, or shared 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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