The Morning Star Baby Wants a Family - Chapter 56

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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 56
Yeon-bi held her breath, her eyes fixed on the shadow beyond the door.
A large, blurred silhouette drew closer, as if about to wrench the door open at any moment—yet inexplicably, it retreated.
Thud, thud.
The sound of footsteps fading away echoed through the silence. Until that sound grew fainter and finally vanished entirely, Yeon-bi remained rooted to the spot like a statue.
When a prolonged stillness had settled over the room, her stone-like composure crumbled in an instant.
“Gasp, hgh—!”
Yeon-bi clutched at her chest and drew in a sharp, ragged breath.
Her irregular breathing teetered on the edge of collapse.
‘It hurts, it hurts!’
The power she had bound within her heart thrashed wildly, threatening to break free.
Yeon-bi’s face had turned deathly pale, and she ground her teeth together with a low sound.
‘This is exactly why I didn’t want to come to Gaeyang…!’
Her power was weaker than that of the other Seven Star members, and the toll it exacted when overused was far greater.
The reason she had never directly confronted Yul Seowon, despite her animosity toward the Pagun Seongggun, stemmed from this very limitation.
It was a truth she despised admitting, but Yeon-bi could not defeat Seowan.
No matter how vast a conflagration she conjured, it would inevitably be extinguished by Seowan’s tidal wave of power.
Even yesterday’s events proved this.
Maintaining merely a ten-foot flame against the torrential downpour, and yet here she was, crawling across the ground in such a pathetic state.
And yet Yeon-bi had come to Gaeyang. No—she had no choice but to come.
Because Tae Hyeon-o, the Second Prince, had commanded it.
‘Father must have issued a royal decree regarding Gaeyang’s affairs to both Tamlang Seongggun and Geomun Seongggun.’
Hyun-o was as willful and impetuous as his fiery temperament suggested.
He had summoned Yeon-bi to the Palace without warning, and immediately declared:
‘Tamlang is one who committed disrespect toward me, and Geomun is the maternal relative of my elder brother. How could I allow both of them to gain merit?’
His dark eyes gleamed with ominous intent as he regarded her.
‘Go, Yeon-bi.’
The command was spoken lightly, yet its implications were anything but trivial.
Gaeyang, which produced an enormous quantity of grain, was a place the King watched with particular care.
A single misstep would result in severe punishment, and now there were two Seven Star members stationed in Gaeyang.
‘Please, Your Highness, withdraw this command. I am far too incompetent to accomplish such a task.’
She could barely overcome Tamlang Seongggun alone, let alone face Geomun as well.
Yeon-bi, her face drained of all color, prostrated herself at the Second Prince’s feet and pleaded.
But what met her trembling hands was the Second Prince’s wooden boot, pressing down mercilessly upon them.
‘When did I ask for your opinion?’
The nailed sole of his boot crushed the back of her hand without mercy as he spoke with utter indifference.
‘A dog that cannot carry out its master’s command is worthless. Is that not so?’
Yeon-bi clenched her teeth and stifled her cry of pain.
The Second Prince slowly lifted his foot and settled back into his chair with casual ease.
A short dagger had appeared in his hand, its blade dark as pitch.
‘Remember this, Yeon-bi. You hold your position only by my grace.’
Even now, I could vividly recall the mockery that had gleamed in those dark eyes as they looked down upon me that day.
Yeon-bi gazed down at the back of her left hand, hidden beneath her sleeve.
The swollen, bruised hand was a sickly shade of purple—grotesque and repulsive.
“Tae Hyeon-o, you damnable bastard….”
The curse spilled from between her clenched teeth like something being chewed and spat out. Her once radiant, beautiful face contorted into something hideous.
Scratch. Her fingernails raked across the floor.
Yeon-bi rose slowly from her seat, her fists trembling as they remained clenched.
It was humiliating. It was pathetic.
And yet, Yeon-bi had come to Gaeyang at the Second Prince’s command.
Because only then could she maintain her position, her identity as Pagun Seongggun.
‘I can never go back.’
Shameful though it was, it paled in comparison to what came before she became Pagun Seongggun.
A mere daughter of a minor house. Those days when she had to grovel for scraps and hide away like a rat.
‘Never again. I will never live that way again.’
Yeon-bi bit her lower lip until blood came.
Fortunately, the Second Prince desired more than merely the fall of Tamlang Seongggun.
He still wished to draw Yul Seowon to his side—a silver lining in her misfortune.
Those who have something to protect grow weak.
And now, Seowan possessed a small, delicate weakness above all else.
‘That impudent little thing.’
A small child with pale cheeks. So fragile that one could crush her with a single hand.
She could exploit an innocent child without batting an eye.
After all, she had done far worse.
Yeon-bi’s gaze turned terrifyingly cruel. She approached a large wardrobe in the corner of the room.
A rustling sound emanated from within. Simultaneously, a faint whimper escaped.
Yeon-bi withdrew a short blade from her bosom.
It was identical to the one held in the Second Prince’s hand, yet the rusted, blackened blade reeked of blood.
Creak.
With a merciless expression, blade raised high, Yeon-bi slowly opened the door.
* * *
Hae-na walked through the streets of Gaeyang, cradled in Seowan’s arms.
After leaving the inn, she had asked to be set down, but Seowan had shaken her head with an anxious expression.
Because that expression seemed so unusual, Hae-na dared not press further.
“My goodness, look at that young lady! Even grown noblewomen still get carried about in their mothers’ arms!”
The people of Gaeyang laughed as they watched Hae-na and Seowan pass, but Hae-na could only bow her head in embarrassment.
“Sister, are you truly so worried?”
Hae-na whispered her question.
“Surely there’s no need for this? You’re stronger than Pagun Seongggun, after all. Because….”
Hae-na had begun to speak of Yeon-bi’s spirit core that she had witnessed, but stopped herself. There were far too many ears in the marketplace.
“Of course it would be. But the situation is different now.”
Fortunately, Seowan answered without pressing Hae-na about her abruptly cut-off words.
“A bonfire cannot hold back a tidal wave. But the reverse is equally true.”
A small sigh escaped Seowan’s lips.
“Gaeyang is unnaturally parched right now. Had this been the Capital of Cheon-gyeong, it would have posed no difficulty, but here I cannot be certain whether I can truly stand against Pagun Seongggun.”
A faint shadow of guilt flickered across her blue eyes as she turned toward Hae-na.
“I apologize for speaking so, Hae-na.”
Hae-na’s eyes widened. Her small hand pressed against her sister’s shoulder.
“How can you say such things!”
The child’s high, clear voice rang out brilliantly.
In an instant, the attention of everyone present, including Seowan, converged upon her.
Hae-na’s face flushed crimson under the sudden scrutiny.
Hae-na awkwardly nestled her body into her sister’s embrace.
“Please don’t apologize. I’m already so grateful just to have you here, and so….”
With barely her head visible, Hae-na murmured steadfastly.
At that endearing sight, a gentle smile bloomed across Seowan’s face.
Her embarrassment was brief; soon Hae-na’s round eyes peeked out once more.
“But could the water have suddenly disappeared? Surely it must exist somewhere, doesn’t it?”
“It should. But no matter how I search, I cannot sense its presence at all.”
Seowan smiled wryly as she tidied Hae-na’s disheveled hair.
Hae-na fell into thought as she received her touch.
‘Could it truly be gone?’
Seowan had once told her that water was always in circulation.
If it wasn’t here, it must exist somewhere.
If such a vast quantity of water had flowed to another region, there would surely be consequences….
“What if it simply hasn’t been found?”
Hae-na’s head snapped up suddenly. Her enlarged sunset-colored eyes sparkled.
“Of course my sister is remarkable, but there is such a thing as the unexpected, isn’t there?”
Just as Seowan was about to shake her head, Hae-na continued.
“Has there truly never been a time before? A place where water flowed or pooled that my sister could not locate?”
In that moment, a memory flashed through Seowan’s mind.
A time when she, who wielded water like her own limbs, had failed to sense its location despite its proximity.
It had happened only once, but it had definitely occurred.
A place built entirely of moonstone from the main gate to the stairs.
The Yeon Family Underground Facility.

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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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