The Dragon Family’s Beloved Baby Cat - Chapter 50
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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 50
“…That’s not true.”
“That’s why you still call him Older Brother now, and you don’t describe him like a demon.”
“That’s not true!”
“Oppa isn’t wrong or bad… Ow!”
Flustered Danhwi accidentally pushed Moa away, causing Moa to fall backward with a thud and land hard on her bottom.
When Moa’s cute face scrunched up, Danhwi panicked and covered his mouth.
‘It, it was an accident….’
It was when Danhwi was resigning himself, thinking that Moa, who had fallen to the floor, would now say she was done with everything and run away.
“It’s okay. I was abandoned too, you know?”
“…What?”
“Mom and Dad abandoned me right after I was born. But I don’t hate them. Though I prayed every day asking when they would come get me.”
“You….”
“But now I’m adopted and happy. I have mom and dad, and I really love my oppas too.”
Danhwi’s expression became shocked upon hearing the story of Moa, who seemed like she would have grown up like a flower receiving nothing but love.
‘To abandon such a lovable child.’
It was shocking enough to make him think that unconsciously.
“So, I think you can go through bad things and still not hate your older brother. That’s not wrong, is it?”
“You….”
“The bad one is that villain mister.”
Moa pouted her lips while thinking of the Emperor.
“You’re talking about the Emperor, right? That mister is really the villain boss.”
“You, you. Even if people don’t come here…! Watch your mouth!”
If someone overheard, it would be cause for great alarm.
Panicked Danhwi sat down right there and covered Moa’s mouth.
“Mmph! And oppa, here….” (Hmph! And oppa, here….)
With her mouth covered, Moa grabbed Danhwi’s wrist and mumbled something.
“What?”
“It’s not just the outside that’s hurt, the inside is hurt too, right? It’s a mess, isn’t it?”
Danhwi’s eyes widened.
That was a secret only the Emperor and he knew.
Because of the divine power that was forcibly torn away, Danhwi’s insides were always hot and painful as if burning.
“How do you know that….”
“I’m a doctor! Let me see….”
It was when Moa boldly declared this and used her divine power to activate the thread network.
-Woong!
Something felt like it was resonating.
Pop!
Suddenly Moa’s clothes fell limply to the ground.
Danhwi froze at the sight of a person disappearing before his eyes.
The pile of clothes wriggled, and something small poked its head out from within.
White fur, and a tiny pink nose.
Jewel-like eyes mixed with gold and blue.
“…Meow?”(…Huh?)
It was the baby kitten he had seen before.
Danhwi and the cat’s gazes met directly in mid-air.
Moa tilted her head, then jumped in surprise at how incredibly tall Danhwi looked.
“Kyaong!”(Eek!)
However, Danhwi didn’t scream in surprise or step backward.
Instead, as if entranced, he bent his knees to match eye level with the small creature buried in the pile of clothes.
“You….”
His eyes flashed with a strange light.
It was that cat from before, the one he had taken to his room.
“You’re that cat from back then?”
Instead of wariness, Danhwi’s voice held a strange sense of joy.
Moa was surprised once that Danhwi recognized her, and twice that he didn’t think she was a monster.
‘He could have run away after seeing a person turn into a cat….’
Moa briefly considered playing dumb, then nodded her head with a “whatever” attitude.
“Meow, meow.”(Yeah, it’s me.)
When Moa meowed, Danhwi’s stiff expression softened slightly.
Last time, when uninvited guests suddenly barged into his room and he had to send only the cat out through the window.
He didn’t know how desperately he had hoped the cat would be safe after that.
He had made it escape hoping it wouldn’t die meaninglessly like Kkabuyi, but he couldn’t be certain whether such a fluffy baby kitten would be safe.
“Thank goodness.”
“Mew?”(What is?)
“You were safe going back and forth between human and cat. Really, thank goodness.”
Danhwi carefully reached out his hand.
His fingers, rough and scarred from gripping swords, approached Moa’s forehead.
Moa, who had instinctively thought to dodge, decided to accept Danhwi’s touch without rejecting it.
‘He’s not a bad kid.’
To worry about a cat he’d only met once to the point of making such an expression, he was definitely a good child unlike his villain older brother.
Swoosh.
Danhwi’s fingertip touched Moa’s soft fur.
The downy white fur tickled Danhwi’s fingertips.
Danhwi trembled slightly at his fingertips, feeling warmth so vivid it was almost hot.
“…Warm.”
Unlike Kkabuyi, she was perfectly alive and breathing.
That gave Danhwi great comfort.
The murderous intent completely disappeared from his eyes, revealing deep loneliness.
Moa sensed sadness in Danhwi’s eyes.
‘He must have been very lonely.’
Moa licked Danhwi’s finger with her tiny tongue.
When the rough tongue touched his fingertips, an unconscious smile appeared on Danhwi’s face.
Moa rubbed her small head firmly against Danhwi’s palm and purred with a rumbling throat.
‘It’s okay, I’m here.’
It was then.
Perhaps because she found stability in Danhwi’s touch.
The divine power that had been raging inside Moa’s body began to calm down.
Pop!
“Ptui ptui! I got fur in my mouth!”
With a cheerful sound, white smoke rose up, and Moa returned to human form.
Danhwi looked dazed at Moa, who had returned to human form, as if the sensation of cat fur had been a fantasy.
“You, you…,”
Taking advantage of the rising smoke to quickly put her clothes back on, Moa pouted her lips.
“Phew, what a surprise! I transformed because oppa startled me!”
Moa grumbled brazenly while adjusting her clothes.
Danhwi still looked down at his hand as if he couldn’t believe it.
“What are you? A demon?”
[A demon, how dare! Do you think you can say anything with that mouth, you impudent human!]
At Danhwi’s words, Somi hissed angrily from inside the bracelet.
Thanks to this, Moa’s head became dizzy, and she rubbed her temples with her palms before snapping back sharply.
“You’ll be in big trouble if you say things like that.”
If it were Somi, she might play pranks to get revenge on Danhwi for saying such mean things.
Danhwi realized that Moa disliked the term “monster” and closed his mouth.
“…Anyway, you saw it, right? It’s a secret.”
Moa put on a stern expression and placed her index finger against her lips.
“Uh, yeah… who would I tell something like that to anyway.”
He had no one to tell Moa’s secret to.
“Still. Now I know one of Older Brother’s secrets, and Older Brother knows one of mine.”
Moa giggled.
Danhwi recalled being caught practicing assassination by Moa and nodded obediently.
Come to think of it, he should have threatened her not to tell anyone, but somehow he felt like he’d been drawn into something.
“What does it feel like… to become a cat?”
Would it be better since you could live freely even if you had to survive on the streets?
Danhwi asked carefully, thinking of his own situation trapped within the palace.
Moa didn’t understand Danhwi’s true intention and tilted her head before answering.
“This is only the second time I’ve transformed, so I don’t really know.”
Having said that, Moa fell into thought.
‘Maybe my family could accept that I can turn into a cat too?’
Seeing how Danhwi, a complete stranger, had accepted it so casually gave her hope.
The memory of panicking and running away for fear of not being accepted by her father still remained terrifyingly vivid.
It also felt uncomfortable, like she was lying to them.
“But doesn’t something change? You’re a human turning into a cat.”
“Hmm….”
At Danhwi’s question, Moa, who had been lost in thoughts about her family, waved her hand dismissively and answered casually.
“I can see ghosts.”
“What? Ghosts? You mean spirits?”
Danhwi, who had believed that humans could become cats and cats could become humans, but didn’t believe in ghosts, widened his eyes in surprise.
Moa thought that Danhwi’s face looked like that of a peer for the first time, and grinned.
“Yeah, there’s one right now. Next to Older Brother.”
At Moa’s words, Danhwi’s face hardened.
“Right now, you’re saying there’s one right now?”
Danhwi’s face turned pale.
“Older Brother, are you perhaps afraid of ghosts?”
At Moa’s question, Danhwi shook his head. But his complexion grew increasingly ashen.
“By any chance, what does it look like? Does it resemble me? Is it really resenting me?”
Danhwi’s questions were strangely specific.
Moa tilted her head in confusion, then gently grasped Danhwi’s uninjured hand.
“Older Brother, what’s wrong? It’s not like that.”
“But, Older Brother, Older Brother said that our parents died because of me, so they would resent me even from the afterlife…. If ghosts really exist, then I….”
At Danhwi’s rambling words, Moa’s face hardened.
Suddenly filled with rising anger, Moa shot up from her spot.
“What a truly evil villain!”
Realizing she was referring to his older brother, Danhwi stared at Moa blankly.
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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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