Home/The very suspicious chick of the Blue Dragon clan/ch 11

Chapter 11

"Pit…!"

(Hmm, the perfect balance of sweet and savory pine nut porridge. That rich, nutty flavor…!)

Two months later, Aran was once again in the midst of her daily appreciation of the Blue Dragon Palace's fine cuisine.

Knock, knock.

Someone tapped very softly at the door.

"Oh my, our young miss is so popular."

So-rim, who had been feeding Aran her porridge, put down the spoon and stood up.

"Now then, who could be coming to see our young miss?"

The moment the door opened, Aran was so startled she could only blink.

Because standing there was a child as small and lovely as a fairy, with short sky-blue curls perched like a little stem on top of her head.

The child who had come holding Cheong Hwi's hand had the same light earth-colored eyes as the rest of the Blue Dragon family.

She was clutching her other hand tightly into a fist, looking very nervous.

Aran sprang up and scampered to the door.

"Pi! Pit? Pipit!!!"

(It's Yeon! It's Yeon, right? You've obtained human form! Amazing! You're so, so pretty!)

Yeon had been lying down for days, saying she wasn't feeling well, so Aran had been worried—but it turned out she was just about to gain her human form!

Yeon, as if wanting to meet Aran at eye level, tried to crouch down but lost her balance and plopped onto her bottom with a thud.

"Ouch."

The doll-like child let out a tiny yelp, then smiled shyly.

"Arani."

At the same time, a small hand as delicate as a maple leaf carefully came to rest on Aran's head.

"Yes, Yeon-ie is here."

Aran widened her tiny eyes as much as she could and asked.

"Pi! Peep?"

(Yeon! Can you still understand beast-speech?)

This time, Hwi answered for her.

"When you've just obtained human form like this, you can still understand beast-speech. It seems Yeon is the same."

But Min, who had obtained human form a month ago, had immediately lost the ability to understand beast-speech, which had secretly made Aran a little sad.

Even though his speech was short and his pronunciation clumsy, Min had been one of Aran's few conversation partners.

So Aran hopped up and down on the ground with joy.

"Peep-peep!"

(As expected, our Yeon is the best!)

Of course, she also said it because she worried that Yeon might have been feeling down for the past month, after her twin obtained human form first.

But sweet Yeon seemed to have other thoughts.

"Until Arani gets her human form, I'll hold you a lot, a lot."

"Pit, peep!"

(Pfft, okay!)

Aran couldn't help but laugh at the clumsy hands that were now trying to support her body.

Even a baby dragon who had just obtained human form was already thinking of holding her—how could that not be amusing?

Just then, Hwi cut in, counting on his fingers.

"Let's see, it's only been about half a year since Aran was born… If, as Father says, Aran is a Vermilion Bird, then is she still about half a year away from obtaining human form?"

"Pip."

(Arani doesn't know!)

Aran quickly played dumb.

Having been born in a Blue Dragon nest, if she said she was a Vermilion Bird and that she still had over a year before obtaining human form—that would be completely suspicious.

Aran was already a strange enough chick as it was; she didn't want to add more suspicious points.

"Yeah, Aran can take all the time she needs to get her form. Bird beastmen have long infancy periods, after all."

Hwi smiled brightly and took Aran from Yeon's hands. It seemed he was uneasy with the still-clumsy Yeon holding Aran.

He added:

"Whether you're a Vermilion Bird or not, Aran is family. You know that, right?"

"Peep."

(Yes, Aran is Cheong Aran.)

Aran said her new surname proudly.

She was destined to become a great Vermilion Bird, but she had more than enough resentment toward the Vermilion Bird clan from her previous life.

The Joo surname? She didn't want to see it. Ptooey.

Just then, a loud commotion erupted from outside.

"Peep?"

(What's that?)

Amidst the scattered sounds of shouting and people running, Hwi's expression turned serious.

"I'll go check it out. Training Master, please stay with the children."

Hwi left, his pretty blue hair streaming behind him, and Yeon looked at So-rim with frightened eyes.

"W-what's going on?"

"It's probably nothing, young master."

Ah, it's probably nothing.

The Blue Dragon Palace never fell during this period, so…

Aran was lying there thinking casually, when So-rim—pretending to be fine but clearly tense—continued.

"Th-then, shall we do some leg stretches to relax?"

Aran shot up as if struck by lightning.

"Piyaaak—!"

*(Please, for the love of—! Who does leg stretches to relax?!) *

---

Hwi followed the running soldiers and quickened his pace when he realized that everyone's footsteps had stopped at the main palace.

Worried that something had happened to the main palace, he arrived breathless at the Cheongyeonji pond.

His father and Huirim were standing there, looking down at the pond with troubled expressions.

Hwi immediately lowered his startled gaze to Cheongyeonji as well.

The still pond, the large lotus leaves, the beautiful flowers—all were unchanged. So what was the matter?

The next moment, Hwi's earth-colored eyes caught sight of a strange animal.

It was a turtle, unusually large, with six eyes—clearly not a creature native to the Blue Dragon Palace's vicinity.

"Father…?"

As Hwi approached, flustered, Cheongun finally turned around.

"Ah, Hwi. I was just about to call for you. So, this is…"

Just then, Hwi's ability detected the turtle's speech.

"Go… ruruk…"

It was a very low, slow manner of speaking, but he could understand it.

Hwi looked up at Cheongun with surprised eyes.

"It's a six-eyed turtle? A stealth soldier of the Black Tortoise Palace?"

Huirim finally stepped between the two and opened the wooden box in his arms.

Inside were two letters in envelopes and a small ceramic jar.

"It came bearing gifts. But as you know, young master, six-eyed turtles have never served as messengers, so we were all a bit startled."

"Quite the stunt, I must say."

Beside Huirim, Cheongun clicked his tongue.

"Calling the Blue Dragon Guard just because a gift arrived—how embarrassing…"

So Huirim had been so startled that he summoned the Blue Dragon Guard.

Only then did Hwi calm his mind and lower himself to look at the six-eyed turtle.

"Explain in detail. Why have you come?"

"Kku, kkurup…"

No matter how closely he listened, the story was nothing much. Hwi gave a somewhat anticlimactic translation.

"It says the Black Tortoise Palace's youngest wanted to send a letter and gift to our youngest, so it brought them directly."

It sounded believable to the several people listening.

If the Black Tortoise Palace had intended some scheme, they wouldn't have sent just a single six-eyed turtle.

But one thing made Hwi suspicious, so he asked again.

"By the way, the Black Tortoise Palace's youngest—you don't mean Hyeon Taeo, who was born a few months ago, do you?"

"Kkuruk…"

Amazingly, the six-eyed turtle nodded.

With an uneasy expression, Hwi turned to his father.

"One of the letters is for you, Father—let's read that first."

---

A while later, another visitor came to Aran's temporary quarters, where screams had once run rampant.

This time, it wasn't Hwi but Cheongun.

"My lord, there was such commotion in the palace—why did you come all the way here? You should have called for me."

So-rim asked in surprise, but Cheongun shook his head as if it were nothing.

"Ah, that commotion was caused by your older brother. It was nothing."

"Ehh? That wretch of a water dragon, always embarrassing himself…!"

Just as So-rim flushed with embarrassment for a moment, Cheongun set down a small jar in front of Aran and Yeon.

When he opened the lid, a sweet-and-sour fragrance wafted out, and Aran stretched her neck forward.

"What is this, my lord?"

So-rim asked, still red-faced, conveniently answering Aran's curiosity.

"I asked both the head cook and the physician—they said it's cornelian cherry preserved in honey."

Cornelian cherry preserved in honey…!

Aran's eyes lit up.

Cornelian cherry in honey had been her absolute favorite snack throughout her previous life.

What a surprise!

Do they also enjoy cornelian cherry preserves at the Black Tortoise Palace?

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