The Morning Star Baby Wants a Family - Chapter 37

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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 37
Hae-na’s eyes widened at those words.
“Me? You mean me?”
“Yes.”
The child’s expression was ambiguous—impossible to tell if she was happy or sad. After a moment, Hae-na asked carefully.
“Then… does that mean I’m becoming your daughter now?”
“What?”
It was a nonsensical thing to say. Seowan’s brow furrowed.
A daughter? I had witnessed my own mother give birth to Hae-na.
‘Though others may gossip about it…’
My eyes grew cold. I asked in a low voice.
“Who told you that?”
At the question, Hae-na’s eyes darted about nervously.
“Well, it’s just…”
The hesitant child clamped her mouth shut. Her face twisted into an expression of distress.
“No, it’s fine.”
I sighed and waved my hand dismissively.
I didn’t want to frighten Hae-na unnecessarily. Besides, it was obvious who had spoken.
Chung-yeon would never carelessly tell the child such things, so there was only one suspect.
‘That fool Chung-su…’
I’d sent him to teach the child, and he’d apparently spouted nothing but unnecessary nonsense.
I would need to have a word with Chung-su later.
I clenched my teeth slightly, then relaxed my expression.
“No, you will be registered as my younger sister in the Yul Clan.”
“Is that… really alright?”
“Why would it not be?”
I answered calmly to the worried Hae-na.
“I am the head of the Yul Clan and the last direct descendant. At least within this household, all decisions rest with me.”
Hae-na’s eyes slowly widened. Her amber irises seemed to shimmer with light.
“That’s amazing…”
Her voice carried pure admiration. I nearly grimaced at those words.
“It’s nothing special.”
“No, it is! It’s incredibly amazing!”
When I demurred, Hae-na bounced excitedly and cried out. I calmed the child and sat her down, then asked.
“So, are you alright with this?”
“Yes!”
The answer tumbled out the moment I asked.
Realizing she’d been too excited, Hae-na’s cheeks flushed red.
“I’m sorry. It’s just… I’m so happy…”
Hae-na was already living in the Yul Household. Even if her name was registered with the clan, it would merely mean having her name inscribed in the family records. So why was she so delighted?
“It won’t change much from how things are now.”
“No, it will. It’s different.”
Hae-na firmly contradicted Seowan’s words.
Seowan was Hae-na’s sister. She knew that well enough.
But not sharing the same family name was lonelier than she’d ever imagined.
Hae-na had always been just Hae-na. Among all the servants of the Yeon-ga, she alone had no family name.
That was why she’d been so thrilled when she heard rumors that she might be registered into the Yul Household.
Hae-na had dreamed of bearing the same family name as Seowan.
After everything that had happened, I’d crushed that dream. And buried it deep within my heart.
So deep that even I wouldn’t look at it.
I’d been allowed to stay at the Yul Household, and Seowan remained my sister. That alone had been enough for me.
But the dream I’d thrown away had returned magnificently as reality.
“I’ll be called by the same family name as you. Just by looking at our names, people will know we’re sisters….”
It was wonderful. Truly wonderful.
Joy bloomed brightly across Hae-na’s face. Watching that expression, Seowan smiled softly.
She had never been particularly pleased about inheriting the Yul Clan.
Only the surface had become polished; the essence remained unchanged.
This place too was a quagmire where everyone was desperate to destroy one another.
Each time she heard whispers that she didn’t deserve her position, each time she broke those pointing fingers one by one.
It was exhausting.
Sitting in a place she never wanted, having to protect a honor that wasn’t even that remarkable.
But after meeting Hae-na, Seowan’s heart had gradually changed.
Hae-na had taken a particular liking to the garden of the Residence.
She would lose herself gazing at delicately crafted ornaments for long stretches, and whispered confessions about how soft the bedding felt.
None of these things would she have possessed if I weren’t Tamlang Seongggun.
And the strength Hae-na had shown me.
As a street mercenary, I could never have protected the child’s life, even at the cost of my own.
But as Tamlang Seongggun Yul Seowon, I had the power to shield her.
Hae-na’s lips moved silently. It seemed as though she was testing out her new name.
“So my name will be… Yul Hae-na now?”
After repeating it for a while, the child lifted her head with hopeful eyes.
Yul Hae-na.
The family name that had felt like shackles suited the child’s name perfectly.
Seowan nodded with a pleased smile.
* * *
The process of registering Hae-na into the Yul Household was surprisingly swift.
Seowan unrolled the Yul Clan’s genealogy and ground blue ink.
A fine brush moved fluidly, inscribing Hae-na’s name beside Seowan’s own.
Yul Hae-na.
The newly written name gleamed more brightly than Seowan’s, but as the ink dried and time passed, they would soon look the same.
Overcome with joy, Hae-na threw her arms around Seowan in a tight embrace.
For a moment, Seowan stiffened, but Hae-na didn’t notice and asked brightly.
“Can I go tell the others? I mean, the people at the Residence?”
At the child’s words, Seowan nodded awkwardly.
Hae-na, beaming with a radiant smile, dashed excitedly out the door.
The child hurried through the corridors of the Main Residence.
The first person she encountered was Young-seo, the Servant Girl, walking from the opposite direction with laundry in her arms.
“Oh my, Miss. Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
The freckled girl with her plain, honest features smiled warmly as she asked.
Hae-na’s face glowed with anticipation as she spoke.
“Young-seo, could you please ask me my name once?”
At Hae-na’s sudden request, Young-seo looked bewildered. But there was no reason to refuse, so she nodded readily.
“What is your name, Miss?”
“Yul Hae-na. I’m Yul Hae-na.”
To the gentle question, Hae-na answered with a radiant smile. Young-seo’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“Goodness, goodness!”
She dropped the laundry she was holding straight onto the floor and lifted Hae-na high into the air.
“I told you! I knew it would turn out this way!”
“Whoa!”
Hae-na gasped in surprise as her perspective suddenly rose. But seeing Young-seo’s bright smile, Hae-na burst into delighted laughter.
“Now you’re truly our young lady. You were always our young lady, but now you’re even more so!”
Young-seo spun around three times with Hae-na in her arms before finally setting her down. After parting with her, Hae-na trotted through every corner of the Residence.
“My goodness, she’s really become the young lady of this house? I won’t be able to make her do laundry anymore!”
“Getting all flustered over nothing? Off with you before the oil splatters!”
“Auntie, when would there be oil to add? Should we prepare celebratory feast foods instead?”
The women of the Laundry Room and the Kitchen Servants all offered their congratulations to Hae-na.
Delighted, Hae-na scurried over to Chung-su to share the news with him. He responded in a weary voice.
“…I already knew.”
His usually polished face seemed somewhat hollow for some reason.
The moment Hae-na tilted her head in confusion, Chung-yeon beamed with such joy and offered her heartfelt congratulations.
After sharing the news with everyone in the Residence, Hae-na returned to her room. There, she carefully opened the half-closed cabinet and retrieved her writing supplies.
Hae-na unfolded the paper and carefully grasped the brush. The child’s small hand slowly traced the characters.
Hae-na had learned to read and write during her time at Yeon-ga.
But since she rarely had occasion to write, her hand was still clumsy.
Yul Hae-na.
Gazing down at the crooked characters, Hae-na wrote her sister’s name beside them.
Yul Hae-na, Yul Seowan.
Two names that had been entirely different suddenly became similar.
Hae-na gently stroked the edge of the paper instead of the still-wet ink.
‘I’ll clean this up later.’
My handwriting was so ugly that I didn’t want to show it to anyone. Yet I desperately wanted to try writing.
“Miss, it’s Chung-yeon.”
“Oh, Chung-yeon. Just a moment!”
At the sound of Chung-yeon’s voice, Hae-na hastily folded the paper and writing supplies, shoving them into the drawer.
She didn’t even notice the water in the white porcelain pitcher on the table trembling slightly.

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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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