The Morning Star Baby Wants a Family - Chapter 44

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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 44
Hwi-seo’s face hardened into sharp, rigid lines. The brilliant gold of his eyes, once gleaming with beauty, turned desolate.
“…What?”
“Ah, the Second Prince, Your Highness—”
“Never mind that. What did he do?”
Hwi-seo pressed forward with his interrogation. At his intensity, Hae-na carefully lowered her voice.
“Is it alright if I call him that?”
“Do you really think that matters right now? If it were up to me—”
The boy growled the words like a beast. Hae-na hastened to soothe him.
“Yes, I understand. He brought a marriage proposal to me.”
Hae-na spoke each word with deliberate clarity.
At those words, Hwi-seo’s expression grew even colder. Simultaneously, the sunlight that had flooded the room vanished without a trace.
‘It must have been covered by clouds.’
While I was thinking nothing of it, Hwi-seo asked in a low voice.
“Did Tamlang Seongggun permit this?”
“No, he absolutely refused.”
At those words, sunlight slowly began to pour back into the room.
Hae-na continued.
“He will refuse. But because it comes from the Royal Family, it seems he cannot simply reject it outright.”
“….”
“He seems to be considering various methods… and one of them involves my marriage.”
Whether the clouds that had blocked the sun had descended upon Hae-na’s face, the child’s expression darkened.
“It appears he intends to marry me off to just anyone. I wish my sister would marry someone good….”
Hae-na released a small sigh.
“No matter how much I plead, he won’t listen. He simply says he’ll choose from among the sons of families supporting the First Prince… I don’t know what to do.”
The resentment toward Seowan that had lingered had vanished without a trace. Hae-na’s face was filled only with worry.
Hwi-seo tried to organize the words he had heard in his mind. But it did not go particularly well.
He kept thinking only of the fact that Hyun-o had brought a marriage proposal to Hae-na.
Hwi-seo, grinding his teeth, seized Hae-na’s hand.
“There is a way.”
Hae-na’s dark expression suddenly brightened. Hwi-seo continued without releasing her hand.
“Marry me.”
At that, Hae-na’s mouth fell slightly open. Hwi-seo spoke with stubborn insistence.
“Then it would be resolved. You are registered in the Yul Household, and I am close with the First Prince.”
In truth, Tamlang Seongggun’s marriage mattered little to me. What mattered was that Hyun-o had done that cursed thing to Hae-na.
This foolish girl had mentioned it so casually. That had turned my insides upside down.
Hae-na, her eyes wide with surprise, laughed brightly.
At that clear and innocent face, Hwi-seo felt his insides being scraped raw.
“Thank you for saying that.”
Hae-na spoke with genuine sincerity. Then she placed her remaining hand over Hwi-seo’s hand, which gripped hers tightly, and patted it gently.
“But marriage is such an important matter. Wait until you come of age, and marry a woman you truly love.”
I was grateful for his consideration, but I didn’t want to sacrifice my friend for the sake of my sister.
“And don’t decide something so hastily like this. You’ll regret it later.”
Hae-na spoke with a gently admonishing tone and laughed. At that, Hwi-seo’s eyes narrowed with displeasure.
“You do know I’m a year older than you, right?”
“Oh, yes. I know that.”
Her tone was as if she were coaxing a younger sibling.
Hwi-seo, who had been glaring at Hae-na, withdrew his hand. Then he flicked his finger against her forehead.
“Ow!”
“Who’s treating whom like a child? You came crying to me saying you didn’t know what to do.”
Hwi-seo spoke sharply, his expression displeased.
Hae-na laughed as she rubbed her forehead absently. It hadn’t hurt at all.
“Tell Tamlang Seongggun to figure it out himself. Since your maternal uncle followed him around so closely, why not marry him instead?”
His tone suggested he didn’t care either way. But Hae-na’s eyes widened at those words.
Hwi-seo’s maternal uncle was Cheon-eul. I recalled that beautiful face that had smiled at my sister as gently as a spring breeze.
“Hwi-seo, what kind of person is Geomun Seongggun?”
Hae-na grasped the boy’s hand firmly with both of hers and leaned in closer.
“You’ve seen him often since he’s your maternal uncle, haven’t you? And there was that time when Geomun Seongggun came to the Yul Household to relay your words to him.”
Startled, Hwi-seo flinched and stepped back as he spoke.
“I don’t know him well. We’re not that close. He’s kind, but….”
Hae-na’s eyes gleamed as she nodded eagerly.
“So he wants to marry my sister? When did he first say that?”
“I’m not sure. It’s been a while. Probably since around the time Tamlang Seongggun became the head of the Yul Household….”
“Really?”
Hae-na’s face brightened.
Seowan had inherited the Yul Household at nineteen.
If Hwi-seo was right, Cheon-eul’s courtship had been ongoing for nearly five years.
Cheon-eul was a somewhat enigmatic person. But he didn’t seem like a bad man.
I recalled the time when he had brought me to Nok-yo Palace.
Back then, Cheon-eul had held my hand so I wouldn’t stumble.
When I was captivated by the sight of the tall bamboo, he waited patiently, and even stirred the wind to sway the bamboo grove for me.
Whether he came to the Yul Household suddenly or took me to the market.
In Cheon-eul’s eyes as he looked at me, there was neither malice nor favor.
But he was always meticulous and kind.
It is not something anyone can do—to be kind to someone who doesn’t particularly welcome it.
‘Most of all, Cheon-eul cares for my sister.’
It was clear. Whatever else might be uncertain, I could be sure of that much.
Hae-na’s sunset-colored eyes sparkled brilliantly. Soon the girl’s eyes crinkled as she broke into a wide smile.
“Thank you! Thanks to you, I think I’ve come up with a good solution!”
All traces of her gloom vanished as Hae-na’s expression became radiant.
Hwi-seo’s awkward expression gradually softened.
“I haven’t done anything, but… I’m glad to hear that.”
“No! You reminded me by mentioning it. I need to go tell my sister right away…”
Hae-na looked ready to leap from her seat and dash out of the Palace.
Hwi-seo’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Cough.”
He coughed softly—yet the sound reached Hae-na’s ears with unmistakable clarity.
And as expected, Hae-na turned to him with an alarmed expression.
“Are you alright? You’re not actually ill, are you?”
Hwi-seo was so frail by nature that he perpetually battled colds, but not now.
“I don’t know. My head hurts a little.”
Yet Hwi-seo answered without so much as a blink.
I had known since my confinement in the Yeon-ga Underground Prison that Hae-na possessed a weakness for ailing children.
She followed Tamlang Seongggun well enough, but even in her own quarters, she spoke of nothing but her sister—it grated on my nerves.
“So you…”
“I should go now!”
But Hae-na sprang to her feet. My downcast eyes suddenly flew open.
“If you’re in pain, you should have said so. No, wait—I’m sorry for not noticing sooner. Rest now, alright?”
Hae-na fussed over me anxiously, squeezed my hand firmly, then released it just as quickly.
“I’ll go. And from now on, if you’re not feeling well, you can just leave—it’s fine!”
“No, that’s—”
Hae-na waved in farewell and hurried from the room.
My kind-hearted friend seemed to want to protest, but Hae-na refused to let me strain myself for her sake.
“My, Miss. Are you leaving already?”
Chung-yeon, who had been waiting in the corridor with the attendants of Nok-yo Palace, spoke to Hae-na.
Hae-na nodded, then paused.
“Oh, Kwon Court Lady.”
At Hae-na’s call, the Kwon Court Lady looked at the child questioningly. She would surely care for him properly, yet Hae-na, seized by concern, opened her mouth.
“Hwi… the Fourth Prince coughed. I think it would be good to warm the room and have him drink medicinal broth.”
At those words, a grave expression flickered across the Kwon Court Lady’s face.
“Yes. Thank you for informing me.”
Thus Hwi-seo, perfectly healthy, found himself surrounded by braziers and forced to drink bitter medicinal broth—all while Hae-na, oblivious to her own mischief, nodded with a worried expression.
Upon leaving Nok-yo Palace, the sunlight blazed brilliantly. Summer was drawing near, and the days were growing longer.
As I returned to the Residence with Chung-yeon, I organized my thoughts about what I needed to tell Seowan.
Upon arriving at the Residence, I rushed inside and caught hold of the old man sweeping the courtyard.
“Um, grandfather. Is my sister in the Office?”
“Eh? Yes, well… she is.”
The old man’s answer was uncertain.
The moment Hae-na tilted her head in confusion, a familiar scent reached her nostrils.
“We have a visitor…”
It was a scent that emanated from Geomun Seongggun Yeo Cheon-eul.

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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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