The Dragon Family’s Beloved Baby Cat - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 33

 

“We’ve arrived.”

 

The Emperor stopped and pointed ahead with his chin.

 

There, something far more massive and ferocious than imagined was crouched.

 

-Grrrrowl!

 

Thud-!

 

The being beyond the barrier stones was truly overwhelming.

 

Rather than a beast, it seemed like a fragment of a god that had fallen to earth.

 

A body dozens of times larger than an ordinary crow.

 

Each time its three sharp, long legs touched the ground, the earth rumbled with a thud, thud, creating small ripples.

 

The most bizarre thing was its feathers.

 

Based in black with spreading purple and blue fluorescence, the feathers gleamed and twisted as if broken mirror shards had been randomly embedded.

 

They emitted a grotesque darkness that seemed to absorb all surrounding light.

 

“Ah…!”

 

Moa let out a small groan.

 

The creature’s condition was pitiful.

 

Massive metal restraints embedded in its back, shoulders, and leg joints were suppressing Goseol’s movements.

 

Perhaps due to that pain, Goseol was thrashing wildly and ramming its body against the barrier.

 

“Tsk. Still quite rebellious.”

 

The Emperor, who had been walking ahead, clicked his tongue.

 

That merciless tone revealed how roughly he had treated Goseol to break it until now.

 

When Goseol saw the Emperor’s face, it flashed its dull gray eyes and resisted violently.

 

-Screeeeech-!

 

As Goseol spread its wings with an ear-splitting shriek, the inside of the barrier churned like a storm.

 

Even the Emperor momentarily hesitated and frowned at that overwhelming power.

 

“Can’t you tell His Majesty’s spirit beast to calm down?”

 

Moa, who felt pity rather than fear despite seeing Goseol’s ferocious appearance, asked carefully.

 

Then the Emperor’s dark red eyes suddenly glared at Moa.

 

“If you carelessly wag that loose tongue, it will be difficult to keep that head.”

 

“…!”

 

Startled by the Emperor’s sensitive reaction, Moa quickly clung to Jin Saheon’s embrace.

 

Jin Saheon then covered Moa’s face with his hand so the Emperor couldn’t see the child.

 

“These are the innocent words of a child who knows nothing yet. Please calm your anger.”

 

“…Hmph.”

 

It was an open secret that the previous emperor had not willingly abdicated the throne, and had stubbornly refused to hand over the contract spirit beast that comes with becoming emperor.

 

“Hmph, how troublesome.”

 

The Emperor, seeming displeased, looked back at Jin Saheon and Moa with coldly hardened eyes.

 

“As you can see, that thing is in poor condition. Jin Family Head, if your daughter truly has the qualifications, she should be able to quell this rampage. I’m busy, so I must be going now.”

 

“Your Majesty! You’re going to leave a child in such a dangerous place!”

 

“Show me results and I’ll acknowledge it. If you can’t… give up and take her out.”

 

The Emperor left those irresponsible words and turned his back without regret, leaving the garden.

 

It was an attitude that showed he saw no need to get covered in dust watching a test that was obviously going to fail anyway.

 

“This crazy…!”

 

Jin Saheon muttered a curse under his breath.

 

“Moa, this won’t do. Let’s go back. Forget this damn test.”

 

Jin Saheon tried to pick up Moa and turn around.

 

Forget joining the imperial family or whatever – the child’s safety was the top priority. But Moa gripped his clothes tightly and shook her head.

 

“No, Dad. Wait a moment.”

 

Moa’s gaze was fixed on the monster inside the barrier.

 

‘This is strange.’

 

Goseol’s movements looked very strange.

 

It only appeared to be a ferocious beast thrashing wildly, but to Moa’s eyes that could see threads, it was different.

 

The threads around the metal restraints embedded in its joints were grotesquely tangled, burrowing into Goseol’s body and causing pain.

 

It was screaming because of the pain from that.

 

Moreover, strangely, once the Emperor disappeared, the ferocious aura gradually faded and she could feel deeper loneliness and sadness instead.

 

‘It’s in pain…’

 

Moa saw her own image overlapped in Goseol – like she had been left alone in the world.

 

Thinking that way, Goseol didn’t look scary but pitiful.

 

“I want to go closer.”

 

“Moa!”

 

Despite Jin Saheon’s attempts to stop her, Moa climbed down from his embrace and took a step toward the barrier stones.

 

That was the moment.

 

-Wooooong

 

Goseol’s wild thrashing suddenly stopped.

 

In the depths of Goseol’s gray eyes, a sky-blue flash flickered.

 

Goseol slowly tilted its head and looked down at Moa, such a tiny existence.

 

‘…Huh?’

 

Moa’s breath caught for a moment.

 

‘It seems to be calling me.’

 

The moment their eyes met, a hot energy surged up from deep within her chest.

 

As if entranced, Moa ran over and placed her hand on Goseol’s body.

 

Then.

 

Moa felt that something about herself was changing, though she didn’t know why.

 

“Ugh…”

 

Her heart pounded as if it would burst, and her vision spun around. She couldn’t stand.

 

“Moa? What’s wrong!”

 

When Jin Saheon approached in alarm, Moa instinctively thought she needed to hide her body.

 

She felt like she shouldn’t show Dad this strange appearance.

 

“Just, just wait…!”

 

Moa staggered and ran into the thick shrub forest nearby.

 

“Moa!”

 

Just as Jin Saheon was about to follow.

 

As if reading her mind that she didn’t want to show herself to Dad.

 

-Kiiiek!

 

Goseol swept the ground with its abundant feathers, creating a sandstorm.

 

Jin Saheon quickly pushed through the thick sandstorm, but Moa wasn’t there.

 

Only the pale pink clothes and accessories that Jaseonghwa had carefully dressed her in all morning were left alone on the ground.

 

“…Moa?”

 

Jin Saheon’s face turned deathly pale.

 

Could it be that she was swept up in that powerful spirit beast’s energy and vanished?

 

“Moa! Answer me, Moa!!”

 

Jin Saheon’s desperate cry, having lost his reason, shook the garden.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, in the grass at the center of the chaos.

 

Something was wriggling under the pink clothes.

 

‘Ugh, I’m dizzy…’

 

Moa opened her eyes with difficulty.

 

The whole world had become enormous.

 

Grass blades looked like trees, and the clothes she had been wearing were like a huge tent.

 

“Meow?” (Huh?)

 

Startled by the strange sound that came from her mouth, she tried to cover it, but a white, fluffy cotton ball appeared before her eyes.

 

She had turned into a cat!

 

This time it wasn’t just ears and tail, but her entire body had completely become a cat.

 

As she struggled to understand the situation, Jin Saheon’s desperate cry came from above her head.

 

“Moa! Where are you!”

 

At the thunderous sound, the kitten’s instincts were paralyzed with fear.

 

‘Ah, Dad won’t like having a cat daughter either.’

 

He had been tolerant of just ears and tail, but now that she wasn’t even human anymore, it seemed like he wouldn’t accept her as his daughter.

 

‘I have to run away.’

 

A single white cotton ball slipped out from under the skirt and frantically ran toward the grass on the opposite side.

 

Jin Saheon, fallen into despair, failed to notice the small creature crawling on the ground.

 

How long had she run? When her heart felt like it would burst and she couldn’t run anymore, the surroundings became quiet.

 

Unlike the splendid garden, this was a shabby, poorly maintained courtyard with few people around.

 

“Meow…”

 

Moa stopped under an old pavilion, gasping for breath.

 

Her strength gave out and she collapsed on the ground with her belly flat.

 

That’s when it happened. Someone’s worn shoes came into her view.

 

‘A person?’

 

Startled, she looked up to find a young boy standing there.

 

Sleeves that seemed too long, as if wearing borrowed clothes.

 

A somewhat gaunt but coolly handsome face.

 

He resembled the Emperor she had seen earlier just a little, but unlike the Emperor’s murky eyes, his red eyes sparkled vividly like sunset.

 

Moa didn’t know who he was, but the boy’s identity was Danhwi, the Emperor’s younger brother.

 

The boy looked down at the white cotton ball that had rolled to his feet.

 

It was a spotlessly clean and pure white creature he had never seen anywhere in the Imperial Palace.

 

“…Huh?”

 

Danhwi’s eyes widened. A strange light he had never seen before flickered through his previously dull eyes.

 

“A cat?”

 

He carefully rolled up the girl’s portrait he had been holding preciously and put it in his chest, then picked up Moa with both hands.

 

“Meow, meow, mrowww!” (Put me down!)

 

Panicked Moa hissed fiercely.

 

He clearly looked to be about eight or nine years old, but having become a kitten, he felt enormously large.

 

However, far from putting Moa down, Danhwi held her even more preciously in his arms.

 

It was warm warmth he had felt after a long time.

 

“…Warm.”

 

Danhwi’s calm red eyes quietly gazed into the kitten’s eyes.

 

The boy, mesmerized by those mysterious eyes mixed with bluish and yellow colors, awkwardly and carefully stroked Moa’s white head.

 

“Shh, be quiet. If we’re caught, you’ll be kicked out.”

 

Danhwi spread his worn clothes and hid Moa deep in his chest.

 

Moa felt that his embrace was more gaunt than expected.

 

His bony chest smelled of old dust.

 

“Where did you come from?”

 

“Meow.” (You don’t know.)

 

“You really talk back well.”

 

“Mrow.” (How funny!)

 

Danhwi and Moa bickered quietly as they moved to his hiding place.

 

The place Danhwi entered after opening the old door was a room so shabby it was hard to believe it was in the Imperial Palace.

 

The window paper patched to block drafts had yellowed with age.

 

Books were stuck densely on the walls and floor as high as the boy could reach.

 

Danhwi had torn and pasted pages one by one from books he had been reading while studying, unable to bear the cold and feeling miserable.

 

The only furniture was an old table and a thin blanket.

 

‘This is the Imperial Palace?’

 

Moa poked her head out from Danhwi’s arms and looked around the room.

 

It was even more miserable than the room she had shared with others during her orphanage days.

 

“You can come out.”

 

Danhwi carefully set Moa down on the floor.

 

When the cold air touched her soft paw pads, Moa shivered.

 

Then Danhwi crouched down and pulled his thin blanket over to cover Moa.

 

“Sorry. It’s a bit cold because they don’t light fires for me often.”

 

The boy spoke matter-of-factly. That made it sound even sadder.

 

Moa wriggled under the blanket and looked up at Danhwi.

 

She felt like she couldn’t just leave this child behind.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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