The Morning Star Baby Wants a Family - Chapter 75

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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 75
Without realizing it, I widened my eyes in shock.
My golden-red irises, stripped of all warmth, bore down on the child with a terrifying gaze.
Hiccup. I stammered hesitantly, my breath catching.
“H-how did you know…?”
Yeon-ri let out a cold laugh.
“Did you think I wouldn’t?”
I tried desperately to suppress the nod that threatened to escape me.
“When you’ve been confined for long enough, your senses naturally grow sharp. No matter how carefully you tread, if you’re rummaging through rooms like that, how could I not notice?”
My wide eyes trembled aimlessly.
I had been certain no one knew of my wanderings, yet I had been discovered from the very first night.
“Then why didn’t you say anything…?”
“I wanted to see what you were up to.”
Yeon-ri’s lips curled into a cruel smile as she spoke coldly.
“Since you were so recklessly rummaging through my room while I slept, I was prepared to make an example of you if you attempted anything foolish…”
At her chilling words, my face drained of all color.
“Yet you did nothing. I even expected you might have poisoned the water.”
Tsk. Yeon-ri clicked her tongue.
“But today you helped me with that strange power. Did Tamlang Seongggun order you to do so?”
“No!”
I jolted in alarm, waving my hands frantically. Yeon-ri’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“Then why?”
Her tone was so frigid that I lost all courage and stammered.
“I… I was worried…”
Ha. Yeon-ri let out a hollow laugh.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I was wandering, and I happened to see Pagun Seongggun suffering…”
“…”
“He looked so tormented that I thought perhaps I could help, even if only a little…”
I pressed on earnestly, refusing to yield. Yet even after my full confession, Yeon-ri’s expression remained unmoved.
“You’re far more foolish than I gave you credit for.”
Yeon-ri spoke with icy precision.
Though my spirit was crushed, I felt a flicker of indignation.
“I’m serious. I never told my sister, and I acted alone…”
“Exactly. Which is precisely why you’re foolish.”
Yeon-ri’s voice cut through my faltering excuses.
“Do you not understand what you revealed by helping me today? And all for such trivial pity?”
Her words were merciless.
As my head bowed, Yeon-ri seized my chin and lifted my face.
Her serpentine visage gazed down at me with a bitter smile.
“Child. I am not your sister.”
“….”
“Now that I know your strength, do you think I’m fool enough to let you walk away like this?”
Yeon-ri’s eyes gleamed with an unsettling light. Hae-na, who had been trembling, finally managed to open her mouth.
“…But you said I was your benefactor.”
She had sworn by the name of Pagun Seongggun that she would repay the debt.
“You said you would never forget that I helped you…. I believe you’ll keep that promise.”
Though she spoke with forced composure, Hae-na’s voice wavered at the end.
Silence settled over the room.
Yeon-ri, who had been staring intently at Hae-na, slowly withdrew her hand.
“Yes. I did say that.”
The voice that followed was somewhat softer than before.
“It seems I’ve become indebted to you for my life not once, but twice. I’ll pretend I saw nothing tonight.”
When her cautious, sunset-colored eyes widened, Yeon-ri added one final remark.
“But this is the last time.”
“….”
“Don’t let yourself be caught again. Next time, your luck won’t be as good.”
Having delivered this chilling warning, she smiled beautifully.
Hae-na remained frozen. Yeon-ri whispered to the girl, her words carrying a handful of goodwill.
“Become ruthless, child.”
“….”
“Kindness without cost only fills others’ bellies. They will never be satisfied, and they will tear you to shreds.”
Having finished her brief counsel, Yeon-ri straightened her rumpled clothes.
“Go now. Tonight, neither you nor I will toss and turn—we’ll sleep soundly.”
Hae-na remained silent with her lips pressed firmly together until Yeon-ri lay back down.
Fortunately, the girl left the room before Yeon-ri could issue another command to leave.
Fatigue settled into Yeon-ri’s composed features. She was closing her eyes to seek sleep.
Click.
The closed door quietly opened.
Hae-na, dressed in sleeping clothes, had returned to the room carrying a clean cloth.
“Did you not understand what I said?”
Yeon-ri’s brow furrowed sharply. Hae-na shook her head.
“I understood.”
Even as she answered, Hae-na walked softly toward the kettle resting atop the sliding cabinet.
She tilted the kettle to dampen the cloth slightly, then wrung it out thoroughly to ensure it was evenly moistened.
“Are you worried about me?”
Yeon-ri asked with exasperation, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
Hae-na, her lips pressed together, nodded.
“Ha.”
A short, hollow laugh escaped Yeon-ri’s lips.
Hae-na gripped the cloth tightly in both hands.
“…Isn’t there another way?”
“What?”
“You already know everything, and you said you’d turn a blind eye today… so I came back.”
Yeon-ri looked at Hae-na as if she found her absurd. Hae-na, who had been fumbling with her words, spoke.
“I know I did something foolish. But Pagun Seongggun.”
“….”
“If I hadn’t presumed to worry about you, you would already be dead by now.”
It was an audaciously bold statement.
It was hard to believe such words had come from the lips of a child who had been trembling and cowering.
“So? Did you come here to demand a reward for that?”
At Yeon-ri’s words, Hae-na shook her head once more.
“I’m not entirely sure myself. I just… came because I was worried.”
It was a refrain she had repeated countless times.
But Hae-na found herself utterly unable to properly explain the complex emotions churning within me.
“What you said was right, Pagun Seongggun. Truth be told, I regretted it a little too. I wished I had never come to this room.”
“….”
“But even if time could turn back, I don’t think I could have stayed still. Because you looked so much in pain, and also….”
“….”
“Because you nearly died.”
Hae-na was not particularly virtuous.
I valued myself more than others, and I feared pain and death.
Even when I secretly hid in Yeon-ri’s room, what concerned me most was not her health, but my own safety.
Yet at the same time, I could not become so wicked as to watch someone suffer without batting an eye.
So I sought out Yeon-ri every night. There was no particular reason for saving her.
Yeon-ri was dying before me, and I possessed the means to save her.
So I did.
There was no plan to escape the situation safely. It was an act born of momentary impulse.
Yeon-ri’s words were painfully accurate.
Hae-na could not offer a single rebuttal and instead condemned myself.
But the moment I heard Yeon-ri’s words to become callous, something within me suddenly lifted its head.
“It’s just… it’s just something that can happen, isn’t it?”
The sunset-hued eyes gazing up at Yeon-ri trembled faintly.
“I did something foolish, but that doesn’t make it a bad thing, does it?”
Hae-na carefully extended her hand. The small cloth in the child’s hand gently wiped away the sweat from Yeon-ri’s forehead.
For no reason other than that it seemed necessary, I often made foolish choices.
It had been the same at the Yeon-ga Estate.
Opening the back gate in secret, I wept, tears streaming down my face.
If Hwi-seo failed to escape, I would be punished as well, and if he managed to slip away safely, he would surely exact revenge upon the Yeon Family.
Even thinking such thoughts, I kept watch at the back gate until the promised hour.
An act that brought me no benefit whatsoever.
A foolish act born of impulse and compassion.
Yet that action had saved Hwi-seo’s life, and it had saved Yeon-ri’s life.
“I simply hoped that Pagun Seongggun would not suffer.”
“….”
“And… I was grateful that he remained unharmed.”
That alone was enough for me to harbor no regret for what I had done.

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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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