The Youngest Daughter of the Snake Family - Chapter 5

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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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Episode 5
What if I gave you a bubble bath? You’d smell wonderful, wouldn’t you? And your fur would become so soft.
I hummed to myself, feeling the cool breeze against my face.
“You’re that excited?”
“Chirp!”
“Then shall we hurry?”
“Chirp!”
When I urged her on, Rozaria laughed quietly and quickened her pace.
Looking ahead, I could see a vast forest stretching wide before me—a view I’d never glimpsed from the ground.
Just moments ago, I’d had nothing but stones at my feet.
As I turned my head about, taking in the sights all around me, I realized something.
Just as Baon had said, I could sense no living presence here at all.
How was that even possible in a forest so immense and deep?
“This is your first time seeing the forest, isn’t it, young master?”
“Chirp.”
“This is private territory of the Astropel Family. As you can see, no living creatures exist here. We’ve prohibited access entirely, since there’s always the possibility that beastkin might infiltrate by concealing themselves.”
Ah, so that’s why. Now I understood—this was indeed an extraordinary forest.
“Because it’s safe here, the young lords also come to train. I believe there was a training schedule today as well, but…….”
Rozaria tilted her head thoughtfully.
“They’re not here today. Perhaps they’ve gone hunting.”
“Chirp?”
For a moment, I thought I’d misheard.
It seemed they weren’t that different in age from when I was born.
And they were already going hunting?
My mouth fell open in surprise, and Rozaria smiled brightly.
“The young lords have already completed their Humanization. You don’t know what that is yet, do you? It’s the ability to take human form, just like I do.”
“……Chirp.”
“You’ll be able to master it soon enough, I’m sure.”
“Chirp.”
Not only were they hunting, but they’d already completed Humanization.
Those young lords must possess absolutely broken abilities.
But if I work hard enough, I can do it too!
I steeled my resolve and clenched my wings tightly. And yet…….
“Chirp?”
What in the world is that?
“What’s wrong, young master?”
“Chirp.”
A colossal tree lay devastated on the ground. Then another. And another after that.
Massive trees—each easily several decades old—had toppled in clusters across the earth.
How could perfectly healthy trees be uprooted like that?
Rozaria glanced at where I was pointing and spoke matter-of-factly, as though it were nothing.
“Ah. It looks like they finished their training and headed back.”
What?
“This was probably the eldest young lord.”
How on earth could a young beastkin barely past birth ravage trees like this?
I opened my mouth in shock.
“Once you grow, you’ll be able to do the same. In any case, that young lord really is something.”
Rozaria clicked her tongue and walked toward the center of devastation. The view up close was far more appalling.
He must have a truly terrible temper.
There’s no other way he could have slashed through everything like this!
But then—why did we come all the way to where these trees are fallen?
“If you’re going to make such a mess, the least you could do is clean it up afterward. I suppose he hasn’t learned to think about that yet.”
Rozaria placed one foot atop a fallen tree.
Thud.
Her footwork was impossibly light, almost as if she were merely tapping a branch.
But the result was astonishing.
The massive tree—thick enough for two or three grown men to barely wrap their arms around—began rolling away.
As I watched the wondrous sight of logs stacking neatly in the corner, I rubbed my eyes with my wings.
“Chirp, chirp?”
What in the world is happening here?
“There we are, all tidy now. My apologies. Young master, you’ve been waiting?”
“……Chirp. Chirp chirp.”
Not at all. I hadn’t been waiting.
I straightened my posture obediently.
Mother, this older sister was a frightening older sister.
* * *
In Kaide’s hands lay a doll that seemed entirely out of place.
It was the Snake Doll that Rozaria had prepared to match the young chick’s eye level.
“Amusing.”
Kaide’s lips curved upward with interest as he recalled what had just transpired.
In the Astropel Family, where it was unthinkable to part with one’s own possessions, such a gift was beyond imagination.
Kaide, who had unexpectedly received the chick’s first hunt as a trophy, fell into thought.
“So that’s why everyone keeps prattling on about daughters.”
It was a quiet murmur, but with Baon’s acutely developed hearing, there was no chance he’d missed it.
While discussing something important, Baon glanced at Kaide in surprise at this tangential remark.
Not long after, upon catching sight of the doll Kaide held, Baon’s shoulders trembled.
It was an entirely mismatched combination.
“Heh.”
At the escaped laugh, Kaide’s gaze settled on Baon.
“Baon.”
“Ahem. Yes, sir.”
“If you value your life, I’d suggest you stop that.”
“Would I?”
Life is precious to anyone. Baon straightened his expression with solemnity.
“Why this sudden talk of daughters, when you have two sons?”
“We’ve never given anything like this before.”
Kaide held up the doll. Colorful and decidedly adorable.
Baon hurriedly lowered his eyes.
No, I mustn’t laugh. Think sad thoughts. Sad thoughts.
“Well, ahem. Quite brave, wouldn’t you say? To think of hunting a snake, even if it is merely a doll.”
“Commendable in its own way.”
Kaide recalled the young chick slamming the snake doll—one he’d never seen anywhere else—against the floor.
“Just like the family head, it seemed.”
“Mm?”
“Remarkably ferocious, wouldn’t you say? The hunting method especially.”
Though it was a different sort of ferocity.
At Baon’s words, Kaide’s eyes narrowed. The young chick hunting was…….
“The eyes were certainly red.”
Red irises were a trait unique to the bloodline of the Astropel Family alone upon this land.
Influenced by the founding family head’s potent Pheromone, the appearance of the Astropel Family was largely consistent.
Black hair and red eyes.
And though only temporarily, the young chick’s eyes had indeed been that color.
“It seems the young master received the family head’s Pheromone.”
“Yes. And that’s precisely the problem.”
As Kaide returned to the subject they’d been discussing, his eyes narrowed.
It was impossible to know who had dared breach the Astropel Family and lay an egg there.
How could such a thing have been possible.
If it were somehow connected to Estella, who had died bearing an heir, matters would spiral beyond control.
Kaide’s expression grew cold.
“Investigate. Everyone who was involved when Estella bore the heir. Every single guard who stood watch at the manor that day—leave nothing out.”
“You suspect a spy has infiltrated the Family?”
“It’s not impossible.”
“Then the scope of the investigation will be quite extensive. It will take time.”
Baon’s expression hardened with gravity.
If a spy existed within the Family, a covert investigation would be necessary to identify them.
“Take all the time you need. Hunt down every rat lurking in the shadows.”
“Understood.”
Watching Kaide give an unusually lenient order regarding time, Baon cast a bitter glance around the study.
When Estella breathed her last, Kaide hadn’t blinked an eye.
Because of that, there had been rumors that he and Estella were poorly matched, yet her presence lingered unmistakably throughout the study.
Kaide had given his heart to Estella to the extent that he would show her his weaker self.
Knowing this, Baon felt his chest tighten.
If the newborn chick and Estella’s death were connected…… then a tempest of blood would soon sweep through.
Baon cleared his throat to shift the heavy mood and opened his mouth.
“In any case, the young one has already absorbed the pheromone—what shall we do? It’s far too late to dispose of her beyond the territory now.”
“For now, we’ll observe.”
“Rozaria seems quite taken with the young one too.”
“……Can you stop using that term already?”
“Rozaria started calling her that, so I thought I’d try it as well. Isn’t the term rather endearing?”
“It’s revolting. Why would you call her that?”
“The patriarch hasn’t given her a name.”
He’d only commanded them to cast her out beyond the territory upon birth, so it was impossible she had a name.
And no one dared presume to give her one themselves.
The patriarch’s pheromone was unmistakably present; only a madman would dare such a thing without having lost his mind entirely.
‘Rozaria might actually manage it, though.’
If anyone could, it would be Rozaria. Besides, she seemed quite pleased with caring for the young chick.
For now she appeared to be observing the situation, but once her judgment was made, she might very well move independently.
Baon’s eyes gleamed.
“If the patriarch doesn’t give her a name, someone else might seize the opportunity.”
“What of it?”
“The young one might follow that person and accept gifts from them.”
Something about this needled at Kaide, and he let out a low sound. He hadn’t particularly wanted a daughter.
To be honest, he’d had no interest at all.
As long as a proper heir was born to the family—where hands were precious—that was enough.
But the thought of the chick following someone else and receiving a gift from them twisted something inside him.
“A name, then.”
“Do you already have one in mind?”
“I don’t.”
It came out bluntly. For a moment, Baon was left speechless.

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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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