The Morning Star Baby Wants a Family - Chapter 50

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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 50
Seowan’s expression grew puzzled at the child’s sudden resolve.
But the moment she was about to ask Hae-na why, a Farmer who had rolled up his hemp sleeves came rushing toward her.
“Oh, my lady. Please take a look over there. That’s where the water used to spring up, but the flow is so weak it’s like an old man’s urine stream….”
Seowan’s face contorted in disgust as she covered Hae-na’s ears.
Once the Farmer finished speaking, she set Hae-na down on the ground.
“I’ll be back shortly. Stay here and don’t wander far.”
Seowan said this after a moment’s consideration. Hae-na nodded obediently, and the moment she confirmed her sister had moved a safe distance away, she turned around.
Hae-na approached Cheon-eul with quick steps. Her already brisk pace gradually quickened into a run.
“Hae-na? Why so suddenly….”
At the sound of hurried footsteps, Cheon-eul turned. Hae-na threw herself at him, grasping his collar and crying out.
“Cheon-eul, do you harbor affection for my sister?”
Cheon-eul, who had been bending down to catch the child, froze. His expression hardened—neither smiling nor blank.
Hae-na stared at him intently, waiting for his answer. At that, Cheon-eul’s lips curved upward.
“Why ask such a thing so suddenly, little one?”
It was an answer that neither confirmed nor denied. Hae-na bit her lower lip and opened her mouth.
“You’ve been courting my sister all along. When she said she would marry someone else, you opposed it fiercely.”
Cheon-eul did not answer. He merely gazed at Hae-na, his smile strained and barely maintained.
“I believed you harbored affection for my sister. That’s why I said what I did when you and she quarreled recently.”
“….”
“But these past few days, you’ve been avoiding her as if she were a stranger, and you haven’t spoken a word….”
Hae-na, who had been hesitating, lifted her head.
“Just now, you were looking at my sister again.”
The child’s transparent eyes were filled with questions.
Hae-na, her expression growing melancholy, continued.
“I wish for my sister’s happiness. If she has no one she loves, I at least hoped she would marry someone who loves her.”
“….”
“That’s why I secretly wished you would marry my sister. But now… I’m not sure anymore.”
Hae-na murmured along with a sigh.
Cheon-eul gazed down at Hae-na in silence. His face, drained of all warmth, had turned pale.
“…Did it seem to you…”
After a long silence, Cheon-eul spoke quietly.
“…that I harbor affection for Seowan?”
His words, which had begun somewhat hastily, came in fragmented bursts.
Cheon-eul’s voice trembled faintly. His expression was unfamiliar and confused.
Hae-na, observing his face with her eyes drooping slightly, quietly shook her head.
“Cheon-eul, I cannot answer that for you.”
“….”
“No matter how much I speculate, it wouldn’t be the truth. Because it’s your heart, Cheon-eul. Only you can answer that.”
Cheon-eul stared at Hae-na blankly. The child’s voice rang out clear and distinct.
“That’s why I came to ask. I wanted to know what Cheon-eul truly feels.”
Hae-na asked carefully, yet with unmistakable clarity.
“Do you harbor feelings for my sister?”
We were back to square one. Yet it was the same as when she first asked.
Until Seowan returned and called for Hae-na, I couldn’t offer any answer.
* * *
In the end, Hae-na left with lingering regret etched across her face.
After that, people approached me, making requests and asking questions.
I responded with reflexive smiles, yet my words faltered as though my spirit had departed.
It was because of what Hae-na had left behind.
The child’s question reverberated endlessly in my mind.
That small, delicate voice struck my head like a sharp blow.
‘Do you harbor feelings for my sister?’
It was an unfamiliar word.
In all my years of existence, had I ever truly contemplated such a thing?
I was like flowing wind—never possessed of fierce longing or desperation.
All I had was a thread-thin sense of duty. Life was far too long and tedious, which made anything captivating exceedingly rare.
Seowan was such an existence.
She had always yearned for life, and that will was something I could never possess.
From the moment she first set foot in the Palace, dressed in rags stained with blood and dust, until now.
Her deep blue eyes had always burned with longing for life.
It would have been easier to choose death over life. Yet it was fascinating how she clung to survival with such tenacity.
Seowan openly displayed hostility toward me, then unexpectedly offered a sliver of closeness at unforeseen moments.
It was enjoyable to observe her multifaceted nature. That was why I had begun speaking of marriage.
When I came of age and was about to marry the match arranged by my family elders, she suddenly came to mind.
At that time, Seowan had just become Tamlang Seongggun, bristling with defiance against the entire world.
I was curious how she would respond if I spoke to her of marriage.
It was an unfamiliar impulse, and I welcomed it gladly.
Seowan’s reaction was well worth abandoning the smoothly progressing marriage negotiations.
As I laughed aloud watching her recoil in disgust, I sometimes thought to myself:
It might truly be pleasant to marry this woman.
I had the duty to take a wife and produce an heir for my family line.
Seowan, having become the head of the Yul Family, should do the same.
Since marriage was inevitable anyway, doing so with Seowan seemed it would be enjoyable.
It was merely that much of a reason. Both Seowan and I knew this truth.
When Hae-na asked if I harbored feelings for Seowan, why couldn’t I answer?
“…eul, Cheon-eul.”
Then, a forceful hand gripped my shoulder tightly.
“Cheon-eul!”
I snapped from my reverie in an instant, flinching. Before me stood Seowan, her brow furrowed in apparent displeasure.
Seowan’s clear, upright gaze resembled the round eyes of Hae-na looking up at him.
“Get your head on straight. What’s wrong with you?”
A rebuke came from Seowan. Cheon-eul struggled to gather his wits.
“…I apologize. What were you saying?”
At his still-vacant response, Seowan clicked his tongue.
‘What on earth did he talk about with Hae-na to end up like this.’
By now, the sunset was painting the field in gentle hues. Watching him lose himself for over two hours drew an involuntary sigh.
I wanted to send him off to Gae-yang Fortress, but circumstances wouldn’t allow it.
“The land is parched.”
Swallowing his sigh, Seowan continued.
“There’s moisture remaining, but it’s woefully insufficient to cultivate rice. From what I’ve confirmed, both the stream and the river are nearly dry. As for the sky…”
Seowan trailed off with a tilt of his head. Thin clouds lingered faintly against the crimson sky.
Cheon-eul nodded in response. Though somewhat absent-minded, he hadn’t entirely wasted the day either.
“If both the river and stream have dried up… then water must be pooling underground.”
The power of the Seven Star Army is not creation.
All the stars, including Tamlang Seongggun, can only manipulate what nature has provided—they cannot create it.
When problems arose in Gaeyang, what Seowan and Cheon-eul had done was return Gaeyang’s water to its proper place.
During droughts, they drew water from wherever it pooled; during floods, they dispersed the excess to other regions.
There were typically two reasons why rain didn’t fall and the land dried out.
Either the water channels leading to the rice fields were blocked, or excessive water was pooling underground.
“That’s right. But I couldn’t sense its presence anywhere.”
Yet something felt off about this situation.
Walking all day and surveying this vast plain, I sensed no pooled water anywhere.
As Tamlang Seongggun, she could manipulate water like her own limbs.
The farther the distance, the fainter the sensation, but if I set my mind to it, I could find it regardless.
Yet today, in Gaeyang’s soil that I’d examined thoroughly, only the faintest trace of water remained.
As if someone had drained Gaeyang’s water in massive quantities.

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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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