The Morning Star Baby Wants a Family - Chapter 24

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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 24
In an instant, Hwi-seo’s face tilted upward. Both his cheeks were pinched, causing his lips to pucker slightly.
With surprising boldness, Hae-na had seized the Fourth Prince’s cheeks and lifted them, her expression blazing with indignation.
“Why are you apologizing?”
Her tone was remarkably stern. Yet almost immediately, the sharpness in her eyes softened.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t apologize.”
Her eyes glistened as though tears might spill at any moment, but her voice remained resolute.
“That person is the one at fault. The cruel words, the injury to your wrist—all of it came from them. You did nothing.”
At her words, Hwi-seo offered a bitter smile. The boy gently lowered Hae-na’s injured wrist from his grasp.
“That’s why I’m sorry. Because I couldn’t do anything.”
…
“Because I’m weak. If I had strength like my First Prince brother, or at least like ordinary members of the Royal Family…”
The Tae Clan were all born as celestials, and thus possessed robust constitutions unmarred by chronic ailments.
But Hwi-seo had been frail from birth.
Since childhood, he fell ill at the slightest provocation.
The body is a vessel that holds strength.
It was only natural that a weakened body could not properly channel celestial power.
Even the seemingly omnipotent celestials of the Tae Royal Family could not heal their own blood.
The King and Queen loved their youngest son, born weak as he was, yet they could not devote all their time and affection to Hwi-seo alone.
All they could do for him was elevate the modest Royal Medical Bureau to its greatest heights in history.
As political strife intensified over the Crown Prince’s position, Hwi-seo was pushed further into the shadows.
A young, frail youngest prince was a matter requiring no attention whatsoever.
In the serene Nok-yo Palace, Hwi-seo felt a bitter desolation.
Yet no moment had ever been as terrible as this one.
“Is being weak so wrong?”
Just as Hwi-seo’s head began to bow again, Hae-na’s aggrieved voice reached him.
“It’s not something you can help. Being weak doesn’t hurt anyone or cause harm.”
…
“Should you just accept being tormented because you’re weak? The person who torments the weak is the one at fault.”
It was an idealistic sentiment, perhaps too much so.
Yet it was undeniably true—a righteous truth.
“What happened today wasn’t because you’re weak. It happened because that person is wicked.”
Hae-na spoke with deliberate clarity. Hwi-seo stared at her in a daze.
No one had ever spoken such words to him. Not even Hwi-seo himself.
“Do you understand?”
Her back, as she asked again, gleamed with unmistakable light. Hae-na appeared delicate, yet she possessed a strength that could startle anyone.
Somehow, that quality stirred something peculiar within Hwi-seo. He felt an emotion he could not name, and nodded.
Seeing his response, Hae-na broke into a radiant smile.
Her large eyes disappeared into crescents as her face shone with warmth.
Gazing upon that countenance, his heart fluttered with an inexplicable sensation.
It was similar to the symptoms I felt when seeing Hae-na on the day of her escape from the Yeon Family.
My earlobes burned with heat. My face must have turned an unsightly shade of crimson.
It was when Hwi-seo, unable to face Hae-na any longer, averted his gaze.
“…Ah.”
Hae-na let out a small gasp.
Now that I thought about it, I had kept calling the Second Prince “that person.” I had forgotten to use proper honorifics in my frustration and indignation.
“Um, Second Prince, would you keep it a secret from His Highness that I called him that person…?”
At Hae-na’s cautious request, Hwi-seo’s golden eyes widened. Soon the boy broke into a radiant smile.
The sensitive and delicate impression vanished in an instant, replaced by gentleness.
Hwi-seo, who had been chuckling softly, nodded his head.
“Yes. Don’t worry.”
Hae-na promptly extended her pinky finger.
Hwi-seo readily brought his finger to meet hers.
The two children gazed at each other and laughed, bound by their shared secret.
* * *
After that, Hwi-seo gave me a jar of wound salve.
It was the finest grade the Royal Medical Institute had to offer—the kind that money alone could not procure outside the Palace.
When Hae-na protested that she could not accept something so precious, Hwi-seo brazenly lied, claiming it was merely an expensive salve.
Hae-na, who did not readily suspect others, fell for the deception entirely, and Hwi-seo personally applied the salve to her wrist.
Having instructed her to apply it daily and pressed the entire pouch into her hands, Hae-na left Nok-yo Palace carrying the sachet of wound salve.
Seowan, who had come to fetch Hae-na, grew suspicious of the small pouch that had not been there that morning and the strong scent of salve that clung to her.
She discovered the marks on Hae-na’s wrist without difficulty and asked in a low voice what had happened.
Hae-na, feeling somewhat like a mischievous child, confessed everything. As the girl’s account continued, Seowan’s expression grew cold.
Seowan cast one chilling glance toward the Western Palace before taking Hae-na home.
Chung-yeon, who had been waiting for the child, quickly noticed the marks on Hae-na’s wrist and, startled, embraced her, insisting she needed treatment.
“I’ve already applied the salve, so it’s fine―”
“It’s not fine, Miss! Goodness, how hard must someone have gripped this tender flesh…!”
As Chung-yeon examined Hae-na’s wrist in distress, her expression suddenly turned cold.
Hae-na, oblivious to everything, simply laughed.
Chung-yeon scolded her for laughing when she was injured, yet Hae-na could not help but smile.
It felt wonderful to have someone who cared about her wounds.
In the Yeon Family, even injuries twice as severe would have gone unnoticed and uncared for.
“My goodness, Miss. Why is your wrist like that!”
“Heavens, where did you get hurt so badly? Who did this to you?”
As I emerged from my room after treatment, the servant girls passing by widened their eyes and asked.
Their worried gazes and tender words were sweet. The bruises beginning to darken on my wrist did not ache at all.
Hae-na drifted to sleep, wrapped in the warm concern of the Yul Household.
And the next day, Chung-yeon spoke to Hae-na with a stern expression.
“Miss. Today you must only play. You absolutely cannot go to places like the Laundry Room or Kitchen to help with chores. Do you understand?”
Chung-yeon’s words carried hidden meaning. It seemed she knew that I had been frequenting the Laundry Room and Kitchen to find work.
“Of course, I will.”
I flinched slightly, but forced myself to appear unaffected and nodded obediently.
Chung-yeon applied medicine to my wrist, changed my bandages, and helped me prepare to leave.
The pale yellow single-layered skirt that reached my ankles and the crimson robe embroidered with butterflies suited me perfectly.
Chung-yeon braided my hair in neat plaits, fastened a pearl hairpin, and slipped delicate embroidered shoes onto my feet.
She had taken particular care with my appearance—a deliberate choice to encourage me to be cautious and protect my clothing from damage.
As expected, I stepped carefully out of the Separate Quarters. The midday sun blazed fiercely. The summer solstice was drawing near.
Standing in the corridor and gazing outside, I darted forward the moment the sun slipped behind a cloud.
I paused to admire the intricate patterns carved into the outer wall of the Residence, and even ventured beyond the back gate to dip my hands into the cool stream that flowed there.
After wandering here and there for some time, I arrived at the Garden—as I always did.
The magnificent old tree still stood firm in its place, welcoming me. Summer flowers that had been mere buds just days before now bloomed in full splendor throughout the Garden.
The Pond still frightened me somewhat, but Seowan had built a sturdy fence around it, which eased my concerns.
A breeze swept in at that very moment, rustling the hem of my skirt. Unlike the oppressive heat of the sun, it was refreshingly cool.
“How lovely…”
I stood still, letting the breeze wash over me. The beads of perspiration that had dotted my forehead from wandering in the heat had vanished.
The gentle breeze felt like someone tenderly fanning me. The fragrance of summer flowers drifted on the wind.
But only for a moment—I tilted my head in confusion.
‘The flowers are blooming deeper inside the Garden.’
The outer edges of the Garden held only trees and shrubs. It seemed there must be flowers I had yet to discover.
I turned my body, intending to seek out those flowers at once.
And the instant I turned around, a pale finger flicked gently against my cheek.

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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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