The Morning Star Baby Wants a Family - Chapter 57

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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 57
Seowan’s expression went blank. From that alone, Hae-na could tell that something had come to mind.
“But that’s….”
Her face grew complicated. Seowan exhaled softly and quickened her pace.
“This isn’t the place for such a conversation. Let’s head to Gaeyang Palace first.”
Hae-na nodded. Since they were already heading back that way, the two arrived at the Hall of Gaeyang Palace before long.
After seating Hae-na in a chair within the room, Seowan hesitated for a moment. Then she spoke.
“Beneath the Yeon-ga Estate, there was a water vein.”
At this unexpected revelation, Hae-na blinked.
“Then one day, the water vein severed. Since it was never particularly large, we didn’t think much of it… but afterward, an Underground Facility constructed from moonstone was discovered there.”
The Yeon-ga Underground Prison.
Upon hearing those words, Hae-na’s face stiffened slightly.
Though not quite as much as the children trapped behind those cold bars, I too carried no fond memories of that place.
The place where children’s cries had rung out sharply.
A prison of cold light, devoid of rest.
Having grown up within the Yeon Family my entire life, I often recalled that place.
Yet I had consciously buried those memories of the Underground Facility deep within.
My hands grew cold of their own accord. Then Seowan’s hands enveloped my small ones.
Her rough hands were warm.
They were the same hands that had pulled me out from the Underground Facility.
‘That’s right. I came out of there.’
Above all, Seowan was at my side.
The kindest person in the world, and equally as strong as she was gentle.
Color gradually returned to my face.
Seowan looked at me with concern.
“Will you be alright?”
“Yes!”
I nodded vigorously. My eyes sparkled with determination.
“The power of all Celestial Beings conflicts with lunar force. The Royal Family, which commands the sun, experiences a slightly different collision, but all others are the same.”
“….”
“Moonstone is a rock imbued with such lunar force. Not only can it not be easily destroyed by the power Celestial Beings possess, it cannot even be detected.”
At that, Seowan began speaking slowly. I listened intently to my sister’s words.
“Moonstone forms irregularly. Ordinary stones transform into moonstone, and veins of it form beneath the earth.”
My mouth fell open slightly.
I had heard of this before.
Water flowed through the Underground Facility, and wind passed through it.
Yet the reason the Seven Star Army could not find it was because it was constructed from moonstone.
“If the water hadn’t flowed to another region, it would certainly have pooled underground. And if a large vein of moonstone were blocking that water….”
Seowan exhaled shortly.
“I had no choice but to fail to find it.”
Hae-na’s face brightened. The child gripped Seowan’s hand tightly where it rested over her own.
“Then let’s find it!”
It was a simple and straightforward suggestion. Seowan’s expression grew uncertain.
“Hae-na. As I said, the moonstone cannot be located by Celestial power.”
“But it can be destroyed, can’t it?”
That much was true.
Though harmful to Celestial Beings, moonstone was a useful substance for commoners—a valuable alternative to expensive candles.
“Even if new moonstone forms afterward and seals the hole, there must be a passage through which water flowed in. If we excavate that passage and extract the moonstone, couldn’t we draw the water up?”
The child’s explanation continued. Seowan’s eyes widened slightly.
She fell into contemplation for a moment. Gaeyang was vast.
Even if a passage existed through which water had entered, as Hae-na suggested, there was no knowing where it might be found.
The same applied to the moonstone vein. Had it merely covered the groundwater, she would not have troubled herself so greatly.
It surely enveloped the groundwater with perfect seamlessness.
Perhaps beneath the earth lay an enormous cavern formed entirely of moonstone.
“…Yes.”
But she could not passively fall prey to the Second Prince and Yeon-bi’s schemes.
“It’s worth attempting.”
At the ready answer, Hae-na broke into a radiant smile. It was then that the child sprang from her chair.
“Then right now―!”
“What pleasant conversation are you two having?”
A gentle man’s voice drifted from the doorway.
Hae-na startled like a cat caught in rain.
Seowan too immediately sharpened her vigilance, her gaze turning toward the source of the voice.
There stood a beautiful man with silver hair loosely tied, leaning against the doorframe.
“C-Cheon-eul?”
As Seowan’s brow furrowed sharply, Hae-na’s startled voice called out the man’s name.
* * *
About half an hour later, at the Back Gate of Gaeyang Palace.
“Sigh…”
Seowan exhaled a melancholy sigh as she regarded those standing before her.
Hae-na, gazing up at her with bright, eager eyes, was of little concern, but the man beside her posed a problem.
“Let us depart. The sun will set if we linger.”
Cheon-eul spoke with a faint smile, dressed in a worn robe quite unlike his usual refined and elegant attire.
Hae-na’s appearance was even worse. The child, clad in coarse gray cotton and wearing crude shoes, looked utterly wretched.
To see the child—whom she had so carefully wrapped in fine silks and precious ornaments—now dressed as a beggar turned her stomach.
Seowan too wore modest clothing with her hair pinned up in a plain hairpin, yet her gaze fell upon Hae-na’s appearance with displeasure.
‘I shouldn’t have listened to that man’s words.’
Her narrowed eyes turned toward Cheon-eul.
Just moments before, Cheon-eul had arrived at their quarters and demanded to accompany them.
He claimed to already know all the circumstances and that his presence would facilitate the task considerably.
She had been about to refuse outright, but Cheon-eul coaxed her with gentle persuasion.
‘If you wish to move about in secret, there is no one more useful than I. Has Seowan not remained unaware of my presence all this time?’
Seowan could not deny those words.
Cheon-eul, who commanded the wind, possessed an exceptional talent for concealing his presence.
Even Seowan, whose senses were acute, had failed to notice his approach, and because of this, had Cheon-eul not overheard every word of her conversation with Hae-na?
To find ore veins, she would need to search through mountains and fields entirely.
That would be far more conspicuous than simply wandering through the marketplace.
‘If word reaches Hwa Yeon-bi’s ears, there is no telling what might happen.’
Because she could not leave the child alone, this was a journey she would have to undertake with Hae-na at her side.
It would be far more difficult than traveling alone.
The wounds on her back, not yet fully healed, weighed on her mind, but Seowan had no choice but to consent.
Cheon-eul was as capable as his own assurances suggested.
He possessed an extraordinary skill in slipping away unnoticed and vanishing into shadow.
‘If we walk about in such ornate garments, we shall surely draw attention. First, we must change our clothes.’
Having said this, Cheon-eul managed to procure three sets of clothing in short order.
‘If our appearance is too shabby and we resemble beggars, it would seem strange for us to be wandering lost. The garb of a declining Yangban household would be most suitable.’
Seowan and Cheon-eul were husband and wife, while Hae-na was said to be a young servant girl in their service.
Cheon-eul’s expression grew stiff and awkward as he spoke these words.
Only Hae-na smiled brightly and nodded in agreement.
And so now, the three of them walked along the road, convincingly disguised.
“Master—I mean, sir. Is your injury troubling you?”
“Thank you for your concern. It is well now.”
The figures of Cheon-eul and Hae-na walking ahead seemed as affectionate as father and daughter.
“Come here.”
When Seowan, suppressing a sigh, called to Hae-na, both of them turned around simultaneously.
Cheon-eul turned with a subtle expression, while Hae-na approached Seowan with quick, eager steps.
“Yes, madam.”
The child said this with a giggle and took her hand.
Seowan shook her head slightly, as if to say there was nothing to be done about it.
The foothills of the mountain came into view.
Crumbled leaves, earth, and stones scattered across the ground.
The moment Cheon-eul caught sight of this and gave a subtle signal, a transparent, gossamer-thin veil materialized beneath the feet of all three.
As they took their next steps, the faint sound of footfalls that had accompanied them vanished entirely.
“Tell me if it becomes difficult.”
Seowan murmured these words in a voice only Hae-na could hear, then stepped forward to lead the way.
The pale blue sky was gradually suffused with the warm glow of twilight.

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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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