Home/The very suspicious chick of the Blue Dragon clan/ch 44

Chapter 44

At dawn, a commotion arose at the eastern pavilion where the Blue Dragons were staying.

So-rim, her face flushed red as she ran about, prostrated herself before Cheongun, who had come out at the noise.

"Please kill me, my lord. L-Lady Aran is nowhere to be found. Her clothes are left behind, so it seems she went out in her true form…"

"What?"

If she'd flown away as a bird, the guards wouldn't have been able to stop her.

Cheongun, with a grave expression, summoned the Blue Dragon Guard while focusing all his attention on his hearing—but because of the restraint, he couldn't hear as clearly as usual.

Just then, Min appeared, rubbing his eyes and asking.

"W-what's going on?"

He'd woken up to find the Training Master prostrate before the master, crying—he seemed startled awake.

"Well, Lady Aran is…"

When the Training Master couldn't continue and began to sob, Cheongun answered instead.

"Yes, Min. Aran is nowhere to be found. Did you happen to hear her say she was going somewhere?"

"Arani?"

Min didn't seem surprised that his younger sister was missing—he just tilted his head.

Cheongun, frustrated, barely suppressed a sigh and asked again.

"It seems she transformed into a bird and went out. I'm worried. Of course, nothing serious is likely, but I don't even know when she left…"

"Eh?"

Min blinked in bewilderment and said.

"Arani is sleeping with Yeon…"

"What? Is that true?"

Min nodded with a confused face.

"Yes, I saw her sleeping with Yeon when I came out."

Cheongun hurried to check—and indeed, there was Aran, wrapped in a blanket, asleep on Yeon's bed.

Apparently, the trip to the imperial palace had been tiring; only Yeon's gentle snoring filled the peaceful room.

Cheongun's tensed shoulders finally relaxed.

"Oh, that little one…"

At Cheongun's sigh, So-rim bowed her head, at a loss.

"I'm sorry, my lord. I'm a deep sleeper—I had no idea the young miss had gone out…"

"How could you know when that little one planned it? She must have woken in the night and come to Yeon…"

So-rim, relieved, answered with a sigh.

"Those two are so close it's a problem."

After reassuring So-rim, Cheongun turned away—his brown eyes darkening.

Recalling his visions of the future, there was surely a reason Aran was needed in the imperial capital.

What could that reason be?

---

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince's palace greeted an unusually quiet morning.

"How unusual, sleeping so late…"

Head Nanny Nam, who had been practically driven from the Crown Prince's room in the middle of the night, found this strange silence unsettling.

By now, the Crown Prince would normally have been awake and screaming.

Nanny Nam had originally worked in the dispensary; after her predecessor, Nanny Do, had abruptly returned to her family two years ago citing health reasons, she had been suddenly appointed as the Crown Prince's head nanny.

It was a tremendous opportunity for her—a woman with no influential family backing—to serve the imperial family directly, but she couldn't simply rejoice.

Rumors of the Crown Prince's cruelty had spread even to the lowliest palace attendants.

It was common knowledge among the nannies that her predecessor, Nanny Do, had been disfigured by a medicine bowl thrown by the Crown Prince.

Nanny Nam had been at a loss until the moment she was summoned by Academician Hwa—but the all-powerful man, who was both the Crown Prince's maternal uncle and the emperor's strategist, had said dryly.

"He is not just the Crown Prince—he is also my nephew. To care for him, one doesn't need a distinguished background. What he needs is someone like a mother."

Someone like a mother?

"Pardon? How could I possibly…"

As Nanny Nam was even more surprised and tried to decline, Academician Hwa gripped her wrist firmly.

Just as she shuddered at the strangely cold touch of his hand—

The Academician asked in a low voice.

"Is the child you left at your family home growing up healthy?"

Nanny Nam gasped.

She had been married once and was now widowed.

Afterward, with no way to make a living, she had left her child with her married sister and come to the palace.

The Academician sneered at the pale-faced Nanny Nam.

"Surely you didn't think your secret was unknown to anyone in the palace?"

Despite her age and humble origins, she had become a nanny precisely because the Academician's influence had already touched her.

After seizing power, he had systematically cultivated palace attendants whose weaknesses he could exploit.

So that he could use and replace them as needed.

"Please. He's about the same age as your child."

Though he said "please," it was not a request.

After becoming head nanny and caring for the increasingly violent Crown Prince for over a year, Nanny Nam came to realize something.

Perhaps Nanny Do hadn't really returned to her family. She had merely served her purpose and been replaced.

After pacing in front of the Crown Prince's bedchamber, Nanny Nam finally gathered her courage and spoke.

"Your Highness, did you cough?"

The demon-like Crown Prince was, of course, terrifying.

But if she failed to care for him properly, her own child and her sister's family would be in danger.

Just then, a clear voice came from the quiet room.

"Yeah, I just woke up."

Nanny Nam was startled.

The calm voice was so unfamiliar.

Had he ever opened his mouth for conversation rather than screams?

She cautiously opened the door and entered—a child sat on the bed, looking unfamiliar, as if she'd never seen him before.

No, it was unmistakably the Crown Prince, but…

His face, which had always been sallow and unchildlike, now glowed with a rosy peach hue.

His eyes, always dim as if stained, now shone with the golden light of a yellow dragon.

With a face so different, the Crown Prince was twirling a small feather with his pale fingertips.

"Wh-where did you get that…"

Nanny Nam, utterly bewildered, started to ask but stopped and fell silent.

Any attempt to speak to the Crown Prince would only result in something being thrown at her face—it would be foolish.

But as Nanny Nam squeezed her eyes shut and bowed her head, an almost innocent answer came to her ears.

"I dreamed of Mother. When I woke up, this feather was lying on my bed. It smells like Mother here."

Nanny Nam didn't try to find any meaning in the child's fanciful story.

She was simply astonished at one fact.

Had the Crown Prince just answered her question without getting angry?

Blinking stupidly, Nanny Nam quickly replied.

"Sh-shall I bring a box so you can keep it safely?"

"Yeah, okay!"

The Crown Prince's lips curved into a beautiful crescent as he glanced up.

Nanny Nam felt as if she'd been bewitched.

The Crown Prince had only ever screamed, convulsed, cried, raged, broken things, or—very rarely—laughed insanely as if possessed.

They said he was just grieving his mother's loss, and that he was a good child at heart.

Could the Academician's words have been true?

Had she kept the Crown Prince waiting too long, lost in her thoughts?

Like any ordinary child, the Crown Prince whined.

"What are you doing? You said you'd bring a box. Hurry up!"

Nanny Nam snapped back to her senses.

"Yes, Your Highness. I'll bring it at once."

She gestured to the palace maids to bring in wash water.

The nightmares that had continued every single day for over a year—just one day without them was such a relief.

Nanny Nam hurried off to fetch the box, careful not to upset the Crown Prince.

Perhaps today would be a lucky day when no one got hurt.

---

That same evening, another banquet for the divine beast families was held. It was said the emperor, who had been absent the previous day, had once again expressed his intention to attend.

Apparently, his mood had been somewhat soothed by the afternoon's audiences with each of the clan heads.

Just as Aran sat between the twins as usual and tried to listen to the adults at the head table—

A voice came from outside.

"His Imperial Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince arrive."

Everyone in the banquet hall rose to greet the imperial family.

But the eyes of the divine beast beastmen, heads bowed, were all fixed on the small child following the emperor.

It was the first time they'd seen the Crown Prince this close.

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