The Morning Star Baby Wants a Family - Chapter 16

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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 16
Hae-na gasped in shock as the cold pond water rushed into her lungs.
“Help, help me, cough!”
She tried to cry out, but the Garden lay eerily silent—not a soul passing through.
The more she thrashed, the more the water-soaked silk garments coiled around her limbs.
The child’s head bobbed above the surface, then sank again, over and over.
Unable to breathe properly, her mind grew increasingly foggy. Hae-na’s flailing arms and legs grew weaker by the moment.
Just as Hae-na lost consciousness and began to sink, a splash erupted, and white foam filled her vision.
A powerful hand seized her firmly.
In an instant, Hae-na was wrenched from the muffled depths and pulled onto solid ground.
“Cough, cough, gasp!”
Hae-na instinctively clung to her rescuer with all her strength, expelling water. Her nose and mouth burned so fiercely that tears streamed down her face.
The one who had caught her quickly climbed onto the bank and vigorously patted Hae-na’s back as she coughed.
After expelling most of the water, Hae-na gradually steadied her breathing.
Her body trembled uncontrollably—drenched in the frigid water and gripped by the terror of nearly drowning.
Then, the person holding her suddenly grasped both her shoulders and pulled her back sharply.
“What in the world were you thinking!”
A thunderous roar echoed across the Garden.
Hae-na forgot her gasping breaths and stared up in shock at her rescuer.
It was Seowan. Her hair, which had been neatly pinned up, was now disheveled, and she glared down at Hae-na with a terrifying expression.
“Even games have limits! Who told you to do something so reckless? If I’d been even a moment later, you would have—!”
Seowan’s fury blazed like fire. Hae-na trembled violently, unable even to breathe.
I had never seen Seowan this angry before. The sight of her screaming with bloodshot eyes was absolutely terrifying.
My body shook like an aspen leaf. Gripped by fear, the child stammered out her words.
“I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
“….”
“S-sorry, I’m so sorry. I-I made a mistake. I won’t do it again.”
At those words, Seowan’s expression went blank.
The horrible terror she had felt watching Hae-na sink into the water receded, and now she saw only the ashen-faced child before her.
Seowan suddenly pulled Hae-na into her arms. A maddening wave of relief and self-reproach washed over me. The arms holding the child trembled violently.
Hae-na, nestled in my embrace, let out a small sob before bursting into tears.
“I’m sorry, sob, I’m sorry. Sniff, please don’t be angry with me….”
The child burrowed deeper into my arms. Her small shoulders continued to heave.
I felt hurt and sorrowful. I had wanted to do well, but I had ruined everything.
In the Laundry Room, in the Kitchen—I had only caused trouble, and now I had made my sister angry.
The sight of Seowan’s face was more frightening than nearly drowning. It seemed she would cast me out at any moment, calling me useless and bothersome.
“I’m not angry.”
Then, from above my head, Seowan’s voice came.
“I’m not angry. I just… I…”
Her voice trembled terribly. Seowan frantically caressed the child’s head and cheeks with her ice-cold hands.
It was an urgent gesture, as if checking something. Soon, she pulled Hae-na into a tight embrace again.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Those words unlocked something deep within Hae-na’s heart.
Hae-na clutched at Seowan’s collar and burst into tears.
“Sob, sob, wail, waaaahhhhh!”
It was the sorrowful cry of an orphaned child reunited with her parents.
Seowan continued to pull the child close, cradling her against her chest.
“P-please, don’t send me away. I won’t do it again. I was wrong, I was so wrong, hic—”
Her words tumbled out half-muffled between sobs.
Yet Seowan, holding Hae-na with all her strength, heard every word clearly.
“I, I wanted to ask sister if I could stay here because I was useful to you, because—”
Her voice broke between sorrowful gasps.
“Y-you’re family. You said I was your sister.”
At those words, Seowan’s body went rigid. Hae-na burrowed deeper into her embrace like a wounded creature seeking shelter.
“C-can’t I stay here, next to sister?”
The sound of servants rushing toward them echoed through the halls. But the child’s frail voice rose above it all.
“I’ll be good. I’ll eat just a little, sleep anywhere you want me to.”
Small hands gripped Seowan tightly, both arms stretched with desperate urgency.
“I don’t want to be apart from sister…”
Hae-na gasped for breath. Her tears seemed exhausted, and she alternated between sobs and hiccups.
Chung-yeon had drawn near without notice. She seemed quite startled by the sight of her two drenched masters and Hae-na’s wailing.
“My lady.”
At Chung-yeon’s call, Seowan remained motionless, as if nailed to the spot, still holding the exhausted, sobbing Hae-na.
“The young mistress may be injured.”
Only then did Seowan’s eyes refocus, as if returning from a distant place. Her navy eyes darkened with concern.
“Fill in the pond.”
Seowan’s voice turned cold as ice. She rose to her feet, cradling Hae-na in her arms.
* * *
Upon reaching the Separate Quarters, Seowan attempted to hand Hae-na to Chung-yeon.
But Hae-na refused to release her grip on Seowan’s collar.
No matter how much Chung-yeon coaxed, Hae-na only shook her head, her face wet with tears.
After much gentle persuasion, Hae-na whispered something barely audible.
“If you leave, you won’t come back…”
A single tear rolled down the child’s flushed cheeks.
In the end, Seowan took Hae-na’s hand and promised to stay.
Yet Hae-na remained anxious, unwilling to release her grip.
When Seowan had to let go briefly to change her wet clothes, Hae-na’s distress became painfully obvious.
After drying herself with her spiritual power, Seowan laid Hae-na down on the bedchamber’s bed.
The child’s eyes were heavy with exhaustion from the ordeal, yet Hae-na fought to keep them open, asking faintly.
“Will you leave when I fall asleep…?”
The small hand grasping Seowan’s was trembling with desperate force.
Watching that hand intently, I reached out and pulled the child’s blanket up higher.
“Don’t worry. Sleep now. I’ll be here when you wake.”
Unconvinced, Hae-na asked again and again.
Before I could even finish answering her last question, the child’s eyes fluttered shut.
Soon her breathing grew shallow and rhythmic, yet she still clutched my hand tightly.
Her small eyes and nose were raw and swollen from crying—so much crying.
My outstretched hand hovered helplessly above her face, unable to bring itself to touch her.
‘Sister, I… I wanted to ask if… if I could be helpful… if I could stay here…’
I knew what Hae-na had done all day.
Of course I did. The Laundry Room and Kitchen consumed more water than anywhere else in the Residence.
I’d thought it strange how she kept finding tasks to do. But the child had seemed content surrounded by the other servants, so I let it pass.
Should I have stopped her?
Should I have told her there was no need to work? But then she’d wear that frightened expression again, like yesterday.
I didn’t know how to comfort a child. My own mother had never comforted me.
She was always angry. Every memory I held was of her furrowed brow and raised voice.
When I first held Hae-na, I sensed I would follow the same path as my mother.
And today, my premonition came true—unfortunately.
I’d scolded her as she coughed up water, pale as death.
Fear had overwhelmed concern—the terror that she might have died had I been even moments slower.
I’d held her as she cried in shock, unable to speak. I didn’t know what to say.
I couldn’t understand Hae-na. What was mere blood that she followed me so devotedly?
I had never craved family. If anything, I’d despised it.
Blood ties were shackles that bound me relentlessly, a blade I’d tried desperately to sever from my precarious life.
I looked down at my hand holding hers. Compared to her small, pale fingers, mine were covered in scars.
I remembered each moment those scars were born. It felt as though fresh blood still clung to my skin.
The memory of becoming Tamlang Seongggun surfaced.

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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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