The Morning Star Baby Wants a Family - Chapter 8

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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 8
Yeon-bi stood frozen, unable to form a response.
Hae-na, her ears still blocked, gazed up at Seowan with worry etched across her face.
Something was amiss in Seowan’s expression. Her features had taken on an unsettling detachment.
I had seen that same look once before—on a man’s face moments before death claimed him.
“Please, just leave now.”
This conversation could not be allowed to continue. I stepped forward, blocking Seowan’s path.
“Don’t be like this. If you have something to say, perhaps another time—oof!”
I was suddenly hoisted into the air.
By the time my feet touched the ground again, I found myself standing behind Seowan once more.
“You promised me with your own mouth that you wouldn’t cause trouble.”
The light in Seowan’s eyes as she regarded me turned glacial.
As I hung my head in silence, Yeon-bi’s voice cut through the tension.
“That’s enough. There’s little reason to witness this farce any longer.”
Seowan paid no heed to Yeon-bi’s words, bending down to examine me carefully instead.
Yeon-bi glared down at Seowan with irritation, then spun on her heel.
“I trust we shall hear good news soon. I shall take my leave!”
She departed with hurried steps, her exit as dramatic as the slamming of a door.
Seowan did not spare her a single glance of farewell.
Once she had confirmed that I bore not even the smallest scratch, she straightened.
Noticing that all the food on the table had grown cold, Seowan clicked her tongue softly.
“Bring fresh food. And you—”
After issuing commands to the servants, Seowan turned her gaze down to me.
I flinched under the weight of her concerned scrutiny.
“Do you understand how dangerous what you just did was?”
I bit my lip, cowed and ashamed.
Being scolded for causing trouble was one thing.
But hadn’t my sister been facing off against Pagun Seongggun all this time?
If she was calling what I did—something I’d done only briefly—dangerous, then that meant she herself had been doing something dangerous all along…
I should apologize.
I knew this, yet I could not stop the words that tumbled from my lips.
“Th-then… you shouldn’t do dangerous things either, sister…”
I mumbled softly, my head bowed low.
Seowan could not hide her astonishment.
Don’t do dangerous things? This tiny creature had the audacity to say such a thing.
Was I not a commanding general who stood at the vanguard of every battlefield?
“You will reflect on your actions. As punishment—”
Seowan sighed and began to speak coldly before she paused.
It would be unreasonable to make someone so small run drills in the training grounds.
Just then, the servants returned with the reheated food.
Seowan glanced at the overflowing table and spoke.
“Eat everything. Leave nothing behind.”
Seowan returned to her seat.
Under her silent gaze questioning why I hadn’t sat, I found myself settling into my place as well.
As if nothing had happened, Seowan resumed her meal.
Following suit, I picked up my utensils and began eating hesitantly, then ventured a careful question.
“Um, are you… all right?”
“No idle chatter while eating.”
Seowan cut me off sharply, placing a piece of perfectly flaked fish atop my rice.
I said nothing and put it in my mouth.
The sadness that had clouded my face began to brighten with each bite.
No matter how composed one tried to be, a child remained a child.
Because of the unexpected visitor, breakfast had been delayed, and I was famished.
Before long, I had cleaned my bowl completely, just as Seowan had instructed.
When I saw Seowan rise from her seat, I suddenly grew alarmed and hurried toward her.
“Wait, um… sister.”
At the title I had struggled to voice, Seowan looked down at me.
“Are you truly all right? Have I caused you trouble…?”
Though I hadn’t heard the entire conversation, I understood that nothing good had been said.
Most of all, hadn’t Yeon-bi said so from the very beginning?
‘The family of a traitor.’
To shelter a traitor was itself another form of treason.
No matter how young and ignorant I was, I could not fail to understand this.
If Seowan was suffering hardship because she had brought me here, it would be unbearable.
“There is no such thing.”
Yet Seowan spoke with utter indifference, as if nothing were amiss.
“Should anything arise, I bear responsibility for my own choices. It is not your concern.”
Her words were cold.
And yet, I could not fathom why they sounded so warm.
I hung my head dejectedly.
I understood neither what was happening nor how I could be of any help to her.
It was a familiar helplessness.
This situation had occurred several times even within the Yeon Family.
Each time, all I could do was pray.
“I wish nothing would happen…”
This time was no different.
“Not for me, but for you, sister. I wish nothing would happen to you.”
No matter how earnestly I prayed, nothing changed.
Yet because prayer was all I could do, I prayed every day.
In that moment, a rough hand descended upon my head.
Rough hands awkwardly stroked the child’s hair.
It was an inexperienced touch, as if being attempted for the first time.
“Whatever happens, you need not worry.”
Hae-na’s hair, which Chung-yeon had carefully arranged, was now completely disheveled.
Hae-na lifted her head without even noticing.
Seowan’s brow furrowed slightly.
The hand that had withdrawn hesitated before gently touching her head once more and falling away.
Hae-na’s eyes widened as she gazed up at Seowan.
Seowan appeared impossibly large, capable of granting whatever Hae-na might ask of her.
It was the first time a prayer of hers had been answered.
Tears threatened to spill forth.
Hae-na rubbed her eyes frantically, unwilling to appear a crybaby before her sister.
“Did it hurt?”
A grave voice came from above her head, and Hae-na burst into laughter.
Seowan, whose expression had grown serious, exhaled softly at that laughter.
Hae-na gazed up at her sister’s face and smiled.
Silently, she prayed that things would remain as they were in this moment.
But as always, Hae-na’s wishes proved powerless.
The next day, a summons arrived from the Royal Palace.
The Fourth Prince had awakened, and he wished to see Hae-na.
* * *
Upon receiving the summons, Seowan prepared to enter the Palace immediately.
It took less than two hours to entrust the child to Chung-yeon and don her formal attire.
The child who emerged, dressed impeccably according to protocol, was visibly tense.
She sensed that something was amiss.
‘I certainly didn’t explain it properly.’
The child was remarkably perceptive.
She had quickly read the unsettled atmosphere of the Residence.
Before mounting her horse, Seowan knelt before Hae-na and met her gaze.
Anxious, trembling eyes the color of sunset fixed upon Seowan.
The child often wore a gaze so blind with devotion that one could scarcely fathom why she followed the one who had abandoned her.
“I am merely going to the Palace for a brief time. Do not be so frightened.”
Though Hae-na must have heard these words countless times before, she now nodded with a somewhat reassured expression.
Seowan confirmed that Hae-na had entered the palanquin before mounting her horse.
The journey to the Palace did not take long.
The procession halted before the great Main Gate, and Seowan, dismounting, lifted Hae-na into her arms.
“I-I can walk!”
“This way is faster.”
Hae-na protested in startled refusal, but Seowan curtly declined and carried the child forward.
In the end, Hae-na gripped Seowan’s shoulders tightly.
The Palace, which I beheld for the first time, was breathtakingly magnificent.
Beneath the elegant tiles, delicate painted patterns adorned the eaves.
Below them, the Palace attendants moved silently in their neat attire, their footsteps making no sound.
‘They said I was to meet the Fourth Prince.’
Chung-yeon and the other servants had spoken only of this.
They had not told me who the Fourth Prince was, nor why he sought me out.
Yet somehow, I could discern it was connected to the Yeon Family.
‘Could he be one of those children?’
I had heard the Fourth Prince was my age.
Chung-yeon had said all the children had been rescued and were receiving treatment, but….
‘Perhaps he resents me.’
I had witnessed their suffering yet done nothing to help them.
He may have summoned me to exact revenge.
I could bear that readily enough. My only concern was whether innocent Seowan would be punished as well.
The Fourth Prince’s Palace lay in the deepest recesses of the Western Palace, where the Royal Family dwelt.
Before the grand Hall, Seowan helped me down from the carriage.
“Come this way.”
A stern-faced Court Lady attempted to lead me away, but Seowan blocked her path.
“I shall accompany her.”
“The Prince has summoned only this child.”
“I entered the Palace as this child’s guardian. If my attendance is not permitted, neither shall I allow the child to go.”
At his resolute stance, the Court Lady’s eyes widened sharply.
Yet unable to defy the will of Tamlang Seongggun, she reluctantly took the lead.
Even after entering the Hall, we passed through several more doors before arriving at the Fourth Prince’s Bedchamber.
The Court Lady respectfully announced our arrival, and shortly after, the door opened.
A canopied bed came into view. Following the Court Lady’s direction, I approached cautiously and bowed in proper courtesy.
The sound of fabric brushing against fabric echoed as I moved through the curtains.
“Tamlang Seongggun. Is this the child?”
A boy’s voice reached me from above my bowed head.
‘What?’
That voice was startlingly familiar, and I lifted my head abruptly, all propriety forgotten.
“You…!”
The Court Lady’s angry voice sounded.
I paid her no mind, my gaze fixed upon the face of the one seated upon the bed.
Sharp eyes that were refined yet unkind. A firmly set mouth and a small mole beneath the left eye.
It was a face I knew well.
Yet it was someone I had never imagined would be here.
“Hwi-seo…?”
Disbelief escaped from my lips.

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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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