The Morning Star Baby Wants a Family - Chapter 39

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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 39
Seowan’s hands turned white as she gripped the letter, her knuckles pressing hard against the silk-lined paper.
The veins in her clenched fist became prominent as she crumpled the document with a sharp crackle. Chung-su, who had been watching anxiously, jumped back in alarm.
“Wait, wait! Just a moment! I understand your feelings completely, but this is a letter from the Palace. You cannot damage it!”
At his words, Seowan slowly released the tension in her hands. Yet her gaze remained glacial, as though she might tear the letter to shreds at any moment.
Seowan threw the letter onto the table. Her brow furrowed with undisguised fury.
“Tae Hyeon-o, this….”
A grinding sound escaped her teeth. Hae-na looked up at Seowan with concern.
Just moments before, the two sisters had been enjoying a peaceful, drowsy afternoon.
Seowan had been reviewing the few documents she had, while Hae-na had been eagerly feeding her older sister spoonfuls of candied kumquat that Chung-yeon had brought.
Since Seowan did not care for sweets, the preserve was meant for Hae-na.
But the child insisted she could not eat alone, so instead of Seowan’s hands holding the scroll, Hae-na brought the candied kumquat to her sister’s lips.
Seowan found Hae-na’s earnestness both touching and endearing. After accepting a few spoonfuls, she declined, saying it was enough.
Just as Hae-na was about to place another spoonful into her own mouth after asking several more times—
‘My lady!’
‘Ow!’
The office door burst open, and Chung-su cried out loudly. Startled, Hae-na bit her own tongue instead of the preserve.
Seowan immediately checked the inside of the child’s mouth.
Confirming that she had only bitten it slightly, Seowan’s eyes turned cold.
‘I apologize. No, but there was no choice. Look at this, please look at this.’
Chung-su stammered as he thrust what he was holding toward her.
It was a letter bound with crimson thread and wrapped in teal silk.
Recognizing it as something sent from the Palace, Seowan’s expression stiffened slightly.
When she heard it came from Noksagung Palace, where Hyun-o resided, her face darkened considerably. The moment she learned the sender’s name, she snatched the letter from Chung-su’s hand and unrolled it.
And so to the present moment. Hae-na, still holding the preserve she hadn’t yet swallowed, looked back and forth between Chung-su and Seowan.
‘Tae Hyeon-o means the Second Prince….’
Chung-su had taught the child diligently, and Hae-na had studied hard.
Thanks to his efforts, she now knew the faces and names of all the Royal Family members, including the King and Queen.
The Second Prince was the one who had tormented and mocked Hwi-seo in Cheonlim Garden.
Seeing how savage Seowan’s expression had become upon reading the letter, it was clear the contents were unfavorable.
‘He said it came for me.’
Remembering Chung-su’s words, Hae-na carefully reached toward the table. The letter, carelessly spread out, fell into the child’s hands.
Seeing Hae-na unfold the letter, Seowan was startled and took it back from her.
Hae-na’s hands suddenly empty, she looked up at Seowan with wide eyes.
“You don’t need to see this.”
Seowan spoke firmly, rolling up the scroll so Hae-na could not read it.
But in that brief moment, Hae-na had caught sight of several words in the letter.
Yul Hae-na. Marriage.
“Did the Second Prince send a marriage proposal for me…?”
Hae-na asked carefully. At her words, Seowan’s face, already rigid with fury, became even more menacing.
“It’s the nonsense of a madman. Forget about it.”
Seowan tried to speak gently. But it was not easy.
‘Insane bastard.’
She swallowed the curse she could not voice aloud in front of Hae-na.
The Second Prince was past twenty years of age. In comparison, Hae-na was merely eight.
That fool despised her because Seowan would not bend obediently to his will.
Yet he coveted and feared the power she possessed.
His lofty pride prevented him from submitting to Seowan, but he seemed to believe he could treat the docile, young Hae-na as he pleased.
The baseness of it, the revulsion of proposing marriage to a child young enough to be his daughter—it made her stomach turn.
Had she not been of royal blood, I would have killed him long ago. Grinding my teeth once more, I seized the letter.
Rip, tear.
The letter, reinforced with silk on paper and quite sturdy, tore like thin parchment in Seowan’s hands. Chung-su’s face drained of color at the sight.
Seowan snapped the wooden frame in half as well, then crumpled it carelessly. She thrust it into Chung-su’s hands.
“Take it and burn it.”
“…Yes. If it comes to this, it must be burned. Burn it completely so no one ever knows!”
Chung-su, who had been standing dazed, cried out as if seized by a fit and left the room.
Seowan steadied her breathing and looked at Hae-na.
The moment their eyes met, she could not help but laugh softly.
Hae-na, visibly tense, was holding a plate of candied kumquats.
* * *
‘Why, I wonder…’
The next day, Hae-na stood in the front courtyard of the Main Residence, lost in thought as she gazed at weeds growing between the foundation stones.
Yesterday, Seowan had seemed truly, deeply angry.
The moment Hae-na saw it, the Second Prince vanished without a trace from her mind.
Her sister’s uncontrolled fury mattered far more.
She saw a faint light gathering toward Seowan’s heart. Not knowing what to do, Hae-na quickly fetched the plate of candied kumquats.
In Hae-na’s thinking, it was the fastest way to lift Seowan’s spirits. Sweet things made one feel better, after all.
But Seowan had laughed. Without eating a single candied kumquat.
With a faint smile, Seowan stroked Hae-na’s head. Telling her not to worry, that everything was fine.
When Hae-na looked inside Seowan again, her turbulence had settled as if it had never been.
‘What made her feel better?’
Hae-na fell into thought. The candied kumquats she had merely offered.
Tart and sweet, chewy and soft, their fragrance rising sweetly even to behold…
‘It must have been the scent!’
Hae-na, having leapt to this grand conclusion, broke into a wide smile. But her face soon darkened.
Solving one problem had brought another to mind. The marriage proposal from the Second Prince.
Hae-na understood marriage proposals, however imperfectly.
She had overheard the servants’ conversations when she worked at the Yeon Family.
‘Say, isn’t O-wol getting married this month?’
‘Don’t even mention it. The groom is eight years older, they say.’
The servants clicked their tongues disapprovingly, muttering that the groom was nothing but a thief.
Hae-na recalled the Second Prince she had seen in Cheonlim Garden. He appeared to be around the same age as Seowan.
And Seowan was twenty-four years old—a sixteen-year gap between them and Hae-na.
Hae-na’s face darkened involuntarily.
I knew he was a bad person, but I never imagined he would be so utterly devoid of common sense.
“Ugh.”
Hae-na exhaled a small sigh. Today had been such a beautiful day. I didn’t want to ruin it by dwelling on a bad person on such a perfect afternoon.
‘Today is market day, isn’t it?’
Yesterday, Hee-won, who had been putting Chung-yeon to bed, had mentioned it. She said the kitchen was short-handed and she would go to the market.
‘Could I go with her?’
Hae-na had never seen the market before. Since she said they were short-handed, perhaps she would take me along.
Hae-na sprang to her feet from her crouching position. She was about to ask immediately.
Just then, a strange sound came from beyond the Main Gate.
It was the slow clatter of hoofbeats. Multiple footsteps could be heard alongside it.
But it didn’t sound like the footsteps of ordinary people.
The approaching sounds halted before the Main Gate. Soon after, someone knocked forcefully on the door.
Everyone outside froze at the sound.
Seowan, sensing something amiss, stepped out onto the veranda.
“Who—who is it?”
Elder Lim, who had been sweeping near the Main Gate, asked in a trembling voice.
Then a sharp voice rang out.
“Open the gate. The Second Prince is arriving.”
Seowan’s expression grew cold. Chung-yeon approached Hae-na, who stood bewildered.
“Miss, come here. Since we have a guest, it would be best if you waited in the Separate Quarters for now.”
At those words, Hae-na looked toward Seowan. He nodded, urging her to go.
After a moment’s hesitation, Hae-na took Chung-yeon’s hand.
Once Seowan confirmed the child had disappeared from sight, he spoke with an irritated edge to his voice.
“Open the gate.”

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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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