The Dragon Family’s Beloved Baby Cat - Chapter 32
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 32
Thud.
The carriage door opened with a heavy sound.
The carriage bearing the Jinryong Clan’s emblem had stopped at the main gate of the Imperial Palace.
From this point on, even the carriages of the great families could not enter.
Jin Saheon, who got out first, extended his hand and lifted Moa into his arms.
After him, Yehui followed, her face pale with tension.
‘Phew, I’m nervous.’
Seeing the massive Imperial Palace decorated with splendid gold leaf and red pillars, Moa swallowed nervously.
An incredibly grand and beautiful place.
But thinking of it as the final gateway to becoming a true family only made her more nervous.
‘My golden thread…’
Moa unconsciously touched her chest to feel reassured.
Then she activated the Thread Network ability she had turned off to prevent dizziness.
She planned to take one last look at the golden thread for comfort before entering the Imperial Palace.
“Gasp…!”
And the Imperial Palace that appeared in her expanded vision was.
‘Disgusting.’
The beautiful appearance was nowhere to be found, and it was no different from a massive haunted house.
Black threads tangled so densely they could cover the sky were wrapping around and crushing the pillars and roofs like living snakes.
The palace maids and eunuchs bustling about, the soldiers standing with spears.
Without exception, thin black strings hung from all their bodies.
Sparkling beautiful threads were rare to find.
‘They’re all tied up.’
It was like a giant puppet show stage.
A world of marionettes that would smile when someone pulled their strings from above and collapse when the strings were released.
The sticky and unpleasant energy seemed to touch her skin, making Moa tremble involuntarily.
“Ugh…”
She felt nauseous.
It felt like the dress Sehui had prettily dressed her in would get dirty.
When Moa hesitated and gripped Jin Saheon’s clothes tightly, he paused while carrying the child and looked down at Moa.
“Moa. Are you nervous?”
He didn’t know the child could see the threads.
He simply thought she was nervous before an important event and patted her back gently.
“Should we postpone it to another day if you’re not feeling well?”
Postponing after requesting an audience with the Emperor would be a great discourtesy, but he could do it for the child’s sake.
At his question, Moa was startled and shook her head vigorously.
“Today! Now! I want to go!”
Then she wrapped her arms tightly around Jin Saheon’s neck.
Dad’s embrace was warm, and the golden thread emanating from his chest was the most vivid thing in this strange world.
Moa thought she would trust only that thread and navigate through this gray Imperial Palace.
***
“Your Majesty, we announce that Jin Saheon, Head of Jinryong Clan, and his prospective adopted daughter Han Moa have arrived!”
The eunuch’s high voice echoed, and the massive doors opened.
Along with the fragrant scent of incense came a suffocating sense of pressure.
Jin Saheon set Moa down and walked in confidently, holding the child’s hand.
Yehui was guided by palace attendants to wait in the waiting room outside the audience chamber.
According to Imperial Palace protocol, only the clan head and prospective adopted daughter could appear before the Emperor.
At the end of the vast audience chamber, the Emperor sat on the Golden Dragon Throne with a benevolent smile.
“Oh, has Lord Jin come?”
His voice was gentle.
But the moment Moa saw him, all the hair on her body stood on end.
‘Monster…’
The Emperor’s face appeared to be that of a great beauty at first glance, but such superficial appearance gave Moa no impression whatsoever.
The Emperor in the child’s vision was.
Wrapped tightly with tens of thousands of black threads emanating from his entire body.
Those threads extended through the ceiling, pillars, and windows to the outside, controlling the entire Imperial Palace.
The source of all malice in this place. The master of the black strings. That man was exactly that.
“You must have had a hard journey coming so far. But… who is that child?”
The Emperor’s snake-like eyes fixed on Moa.
“A good connection has come my way, and I wish to register this child. I have come to request Your Majesty’s permission.”
Jin Saheon submitted the related documents through a eunuch.
The Emperor casually skimmed through the documents, then rested his chin on his hand and gazed at Moa with apparent interest.
“The Jinryong bloodline are all like stubborn rocks, so I wonder if such a flower-like child will adapt well.”
He looked down at Moa, who was clenching her fists and putting on a resolute expression to hide her fear.
Despite his proper praise, he didn’t seem particularly interested in Moa.
“Come closer. Let me see your face more clearly.”
The Emperor gestured. Jin Saheon’s hand tensed. He didn’t want to send the child away.
But refusing here would be an act of impiety.
Moa gently released her dad’s hand and courageously walked forward.
Standing below the platform, she grabbed her skirt hem and curtsied as she had learned.
“Moa of Jinryong Clan greets His Imperial Majesty.”
“Yes, good child.”
The Emperor smiled. That was the moment.
‘…Huh?’
From the Emperor’s fingertip, a very thin black thread slowly unraveled.
It crawled along the floor like a snake and tried to wrap around Moa’s ankle in an instant.
[No, Moa!]
Simultaneously with Somi’s scream, Moa fell down trying to avoid it.
“Ouch!”
When the child suddenly fell, Jin Saheon hurriedly approached and helped Moa up.
The Emperor twitched his eyebrows and retracted the black thread.
Jin Saheon was a monster-like human who could unconsciously defend against even his carefully crafted techniques.
He couldn’t carelessly give away clues while targeting a mere child.
“I’m sorry. I was so nervous that I fell.”
Moa squeezed her eyes shut once, then smiled awkwardly and apologized.
She had tried to avoid the approaching black thread because it was too scary, but she couldn’t tell the Emperor that.
Her stomach churned from the black threads that dominated her entire vision, but if not for that, she might have fallen victim to the villain’s scheme.
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed.
Was it coincidence? Or instinctive sense?
But the child’s eyes he saw up close were just like those of a frightened young animal.
“Cute.”
“Your Majesty. Please approve the documents.”
Jin Saheon urged stiffly.
But the Emperor didn’t stamp the seal while holding it.
Instead, he smiled coldly and looked back and forth between Moa and Jin Saheon.
“Approval. But Lord Jin. How can I trust this child and stamp my seal?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The descendants of the great Twelve Families have traditionally handled and protected spiritual beings. To become part of that bloodline, shouldn’t one have the appropriate qualifications?”
The Emperor was blatantly finding fault.
From the beginning, he had no intention of letting Moa join the family peacefully.
“Prove it.”
“Where could there be more certain qualifications than my guarantee?”
“Not that. I mean evidence that can be seen with the eyes.”
The Emperor continued with a deliberately troubled expression.
“Ah, yes. Would you relieve me of one of my worries? Then I’ll stamp the imperial seal.”
He looked at Moa instead of Jin Saheon as he asked.
Seeing those eyes, Moa instinctively realized that the Emperor had no intention of leaving her alone.
“What kind of worry is it?”
When she asked cautiously, the Emperor answered with a seemingly troubled expression.
“There’s a spirit beast called Goseol in the Imperial Garden, and its condition is always unstable. This spirit beast is my worry.”
Moa listened quietly to his story and tilted her head as she asked.
“Who is the owner of that spirit beast?”
“Owner, you say. Haha… It’s a spirit beast that hasn’t contracted with anyone yet. If we’re being strict about it, it’s mine, but…”
The Emperor’s mood suddenly seemed to turn unpleasant as he said this.
‘Was it possible for spirit beasts to be uncontracted? But saying it’s his spirit beast… does that mean he made a contract or not…?’
His attitude of talking about the spirit beast like an object was also irritating.
After thinking for a moment, Moa intuitively realized that if she refused here, the Emperor would issue harsh orders.
Thanks to the years she’d spent reading people’s moods, this kind of intuition was quite useful.
“Your Majesty! This is too harsh a treatment for a child.”
Jin Saheon stepped forward to protect the child.
“Harsh, you say. Could joining one of the twelve great Sega clans in the Dan Empire be easy?”
The Emperor’s voice turned cold.
This wasn’t a proposal from the start. It was an order, and a trap.
Jin Saheon’s fists trembled. The urge to draw his sword and cut that snake’s throat surged through him.
That’s when it happened.
“…I’ll do it.”
A small voice cut through the silence.
When Jin Saheon looked down in surprise, Moa was gripping his sleeve tightly.
“Moa?”
“I’ll do it, Dad.”
Moa raised her head and stared directly at the Emperor.
A person so frightening that her legs trembled.
But she hated seeing Dad troubled by that monster even more.
And Moa had something she could rely on.
She had eyes that could see things invisible to others.
If it was a spirit beast tormented by that snake-like Emperor, it would surely be bound by black threads like Yehui.
‘I’ll cut them for you.’
Moa’s eyes shone with determination.
The Emperor looked at those bold eyes and smiled with satisfaction, stretching his lips wide.
“Yes, that’s how it should be.”
The Emperor rose from his seat.
“Let’s go. To see if you can truly become Jin Moa.”
Glaring at the Emperor’s back as he walked ahead, Moa pressed her head firmly.
The threads that had been rippling since earlier were causing an overload, giving her a continuous headache.
But she couldn’t rashly turn it off due to the tension.
The father and daughter silently followed the Emperor.
The place they arrived at under the Emperor’s guidance was the deep garden of the Imperial Palace.
On the surface, it was a beautiful garden with colorful flowers in full bloom, but Moa could instinctively tell.
The air here was heavier and stickier than the Throne Room where she had faced the Emperor.
Black threads covering the sky formed a dome-like barrier isolating this area.
“Moa.”
Jin Saheon, who had been silent throughout the journey, whispered quietly.
He tightened his arms holding Moa and urged her in a voice small enough not to be heard by the Emperor.
“If anything happens, hide behind me. Do you understand? Forget about joining the family or anything else, your safety comes first.”
His eyes were serious.
If even a scratch appeared on the child, he was ready to cut down the Emperor, the spirit beast, and everything else.
Moa hugged his neck tightly and nodded.
“Yes, Dad.”
That’s when it happened.
Grrrrr, CRASH-!
A beast’s roar that shook the ground, along with the harsh sound of chains clashing, struck their eardrums.
In the distance, they could see an iron cage surrounded by massive barrier stones.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
