The Morning Star Baby Wants a Family - Chapter 52

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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 52
The tree was a dying ancient oak.
Branches extending from its thick trunk were skeletal and bare of leaves, jutting upward toward the sky in jagged angles.
One of the thicker branches had been struck by lightning and snapped clean off. Smoke rose from the severed end, carrying red embers with it.
Hae-na’s anxious gaze could not tear itself away from the tree.
The gloomy weather made the dying oak appear deeply ominous.
“The tree was struck by lightning and caught fire. With the rain falling, it should extinguish soon.”
Seowan tried to soothe Hae-na. Yet even beneath the torrential downpour, the embers refused to die.
The smoke that had been crackling softly grew increasingly dense.
The small embers transformed into flames, gradually clinging to the tree’s trunk.
The fire spread across the entire tree in an instant. The massive oak, so wide that a full-grown man could not encircle it with his arms, began to burn fiercely.
Crack, snap!
“What—what is this!”
“Ahhh! Get away, quickly!”
Sparks erupted from the burning tree.
Startled people fled from the tree.
Seowan also hastily retreated, cradling Hae-na in his arms.
Her face as she gazed up at the burning tree was filled with bewilderment.
‘Why won’t the fire go out?’
No matter how lifeless and desiccated the tree had become, torrential rain was pouring down upon this place.
Yet instead of being extinguished, the fire had spread with such alarming speed—it made no sense.
The charred tips of the branches swayed as if they might fall at any moment.
When Seowan took another step back, the protective barrier that had been surrounding her vanished.
Cheon-eul had released his power to prevent her from being engulfed by the flames.
His face equally grave, he strode purposefully toward Seowan.
“Hae-na. Don’t lift your head until I call for you.”
Seowan held Hae-na tightly against his chest and wrapped her in his dampening clothes.
As Cheon-eul approached, Seowan caught sight of him and bit his lower lip.
“Seowan.”
“Yes, let’s handle this first.”
Right now, extinguishing the fire was more important than understanding the cause of this strange phenomenon.
The tree would not withstand the raging flames much longer. If the burning branches fell onto the Rice Fields or struck people, it would be catastrophic.
With a click of his tongue, a small sphere of water formed in Seowan’s palm. The water mass, barely the size of an adult’s fist, swelled rapidly in size.
‘I’ve drawn all the surrounding water together.’
The aftermath would be troublesome, but for now, extinguishing this urgent fire took precedence.
Just as Seowan was about to envelop the tree with the water in his hands, another branch gave way and snapped with a sharp crack.
A large, ember-laden branch fell toward Seowan.
Seowan retreated quickly, but the brilliantly burning branch was already upon him.
Seowan pulled Hae-na close, bracing himself for the pain to come, when a blue robe swept across his vision.
Whoosh!
Flames surged high, then subsided.
Seowan’s wide eyes fixed upon the man before her.
It was Cheon-eul.
The face that always wore such a lovely smile was now contorted in agony. Cold sweat dripped steadily from his pale, delicate forehead.
“Ugh….”
A pained groan escaped between Cheon-eul’s teeth.
Thud.
A wooden fragment still smoldering with embers rolled helplessly across the ground.
Water extinguishes flame, but wind feeds it.
The burning branches would have left their marks etched across Cheon-eul’s back without mercy.
“You…!”
Seowan gasped in shock. But when she tried to examine his wounds, Cheon-eul clenched his teeth and shook his head.
“No, Seowan.”
He wavered slightly as he took his place beside her.
A large hand, gripped so tightly that fingernail marks had appeared, slowly extended outward.
“First, we must contain it.”
Cheon-eul’s voice came in halting gasps, as though he were enduring tremendous pain.
Wind spiraled upward from his trembling fingertips.
“I cannot do this alone. So please, follow my lead.”
Cheon-eul’s spiritual energy wrapped around the wood in a circle. The flames, meeting the wind, began to burn with even greater ferocity.
Startled, Seowan looked at Cheon-eul. She wielded formidable spiritual power, yet lacked the finesse to control it with precision.
It was impossible for her to spread water as thinly as Cheon-eul had done, wrapping the wood in a delicate veil. But this was no time for such concerns.
She bit down on the tender flesh inside her mouth, then gathered water into her palms.
Soon a thin membrane of water began to settle over the invisible force enveloping the wood.
A curtain of water descended over the raging flames.
As Seowan covered the wood with her own strength, Cheon-eul smiled faintly, his face drained of color.
“Well done. Now… please, hold on just a little longer.”
The moment his power withdrew, the flames that had been partially contained erupted wildly.
Seowan clenched her teeth, maintaining the water’s barrier even as it threatened to dissipate into steam.
Fire exists only when there is fuel to consume.
So all she needed to do was endure until every last piece of that wood had burned away.
The massive wood burned on until the sunset had completely faded and the moon rose in the sky.
Finally, when the roiling water barrier grew still, Seowan slowly released her grip.
The ash that remained where the wood had been flowed away, mingled with water.
From the strain of such intense concentration, her head spun dizzily.
“Sister, sister!”
Then, an urgent voice called out from within her embrace. The child quickly lifted her head.
“What happened? I heard a loud noise. And Cheon-eul’s voice too.”
Hae-na lifted her head. Over her pale, worried face, Cheon-eul’s visage seemed to overlap.
“I apologize for lifting my head without permission. But I was so very worried….”
Seowan’s expression transformed into something indescribable.
She stood frozen, staring at Hae-na without even thinking to comfort the child.
“You’re not seriously injured, are you?”
At those words, Seowan’s gaze was drawn toward Cheon-eul.
A blue robe, darkened by water and clinging to his skin, came into view.
Cheon-eul, his face drained of color, looked back at her with a gentle smile.
* * *
After leaving the cleanup to the Farmers, the three of them returned swiftly to Gaeyang Palace.
Cheon-eul tried to act as though nothing were amiss, but he couldn’t entirely ignore the searing pain that consumed him.
As he was carried in Seowan’s arms toward Gaeyang Palace, Hae-na watched him the entire way with eyes mingled with worry and suspicion.
“Are you truly all right, Cheon-eul?”
“Of course. I’m fine.”
Cheon-eul answered with a faint smile toward Hae-na. He could have sworn he heard Seowan click her tongue softly.
When they arrived before the Hall where Seowan and Hae-na stayed, Cheon-eul exhaled a long breath where no one could see.
The burn wounds were agonizingly painful.
The places where the branches had touched still felt as though they were burning.
“Go inside now, Seowan. I’m tired as well, so I should rest. You rest well too, Hae-na.”
Cheon-eul spoke with an air of composure. Seowan simply set Hae-na down without responding.
“Go on inside.”
At her words to Hae-na, Cheon-eul smiled faintly. He was struggling to maintain his composed expression, but he was reaching his limit.
The moment Seowan turned away, he would return to his own Hall.
It was just as Cheon-eul exhaled quietly.
“And you.”
Seowan approached him with long strides. Then, just as she had done earlier, she grasped his wrist.
“Seowan?”
“Come inside for a moment.”
Seowan answered curtly and pulled him up the Hall’s stairs.
Cheon-eul, taken aback, couldn’t bring himself to shake off her grip.
Her pace was slower than usual, as if considering his pain.
As she passed through the long Corridor, she stopped before a certain door.
From beyond the door came the soft patter of small footsteps. It was a familiar sound.
Soon the sliding door opened, and a small, round head with chestnut-brown hair appeared.
“Sister! What…?”
Hae-na, who had naturally assumed Seowan had come alone, widened her eyes in surprise.
Seowan gave Hae-na a small smile, then led Cheon-eul into the Room.
Even amid his confusion, Cheon-eul tried to maintain his composed expression.
But the moment Seowan led him to the Bedchamber deeper within the Room, Cheon-eul’s smile crumbled away.

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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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