Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Kid Ghost
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‘Who could it be at this hour?’
Someone was knocking on my door.
‘The only one who knows I’m here is the Young Cult Leader, right?’
But does anyone have business with me?
Thinking that, I became very wary of whoever was beyond the door.
It’s too early for the Tang Clan of Sichuan guys to make a move….
One reason I hid my identity and joined the Heavenly Demon Cult was to prepare for the possibility that the Tang Clan of Sichuan might target me earlier than in the novel.
‘I’m not the original Cheon-seong. So it wouldn’t be strange if the story changes.’
But I just joined the Heavenly Demon Cult today. Even if rumors spread fast, it’s too soon for them to reach the Tang Clan of Sichuan.
Anyway, if it’s not the Tang Clan of Sichuan coming for me now, then?
It must be… the Young Cult Leader?
No matter how I thought about it, he was the only one who could come here.
What does he want now, coming all the way to my quarters?
I considered pretending to be asleep for a bit, but since I’d still feel lonely sleeping alone, I decided to answer his call to change my mood.
“Is that the Young Cult Leader?”
I threw on an outer robe over my nightclothes and opened the sliding door.
Then, a translucent beak poked out from between the doors.
‘…Wait, a translucent beak?’
“Pippy?”
“Pip! Ppip! (Aigoo! I got scolded for following around.)”
Pippy, having had as exhausting a day as I did, flopped onto the floor with a thud as soon as it entered the room.
“Pippy, where have you been?”
The moment I saw Pippy, a wave of joy hit me like meeting a compatriot abroad.
Overcome with affection, I picked up the sprawled Pippy and hugged it tight.
“Ppip! Ppik! (Eww, why so suddenly gross? Let go! Won’t let go?)”
I felt Pippy struggling to escape my embrace, but I ignored it and headed to the bedding with Pippy in arms.
“Good thing I was feeling lonely sleeping alone! Pippy, let’s sleep under the same blanket tonight!”
“Ppip? Ppik-pik! (Sleep together? Eww, why should I?)”
Pippy freaked out at the suggestion of sleeping together.
“In this world, I always sleep with Daddy, so I’ve never fallen asleep alone. And this isn’t even home….”
I made a pitiful face, and Pippy, who had been kicking off the blanket as if it would rather die than sleep together, obediently lay down on the pillow.
“Ppip ppik! (You know wings are a bird’s life? That’s why I can’t sleep without a pillow, got it!)”
“Yeah! We can share the pillow!”
“Ppip! (Ack! My wing!)”
“Oh, sorry. My mistake.”
I guess I accidentally used Pippy’s wing as a pillow in my excitement.
As I looked apologetically at Pippy, it lifted its drooping wing in front of me.
“Ppik. Ppipi! (Me… wing seems broken. If I can’t fly anymore, you take full responsibility! Got it?)”
‘Such a dramatic bird!’
“Drama queen!”
I laughed happily and lay down under the blanket, hugging Pippy.
Did Pippy’s presence bring me peace?
Sleep came over me gradually.
Thus, I fell into sweet slumber with Pippy in my arms.
“Hmmnya…. Daddy, the carrot’s too big….”
“Ppik. Ppik. (You snore loudly in your sleep.)”
In the dead of night, Pippy looked at the sleep-talking Cheon-seong with pitiful eyes.
‘I ended up in this kid’s arms somehow….’
Contrary to expectations of awkwardness or displeasure, it felt more comfortable and calming than ever.
‘I’ve always lived tense, on guard….’
Cheon-seong’s embrace was so comfortable that my stiff muscles melted like snow, leaving me languid.
‘And it feels familiar. Like I’ve slept stuck to this kid like this before.’
A vague scene flashed in Pippy’s mind.
A dark space, something wriggling.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A steady heartbeat.
Pippy didn’t know what it was, but it felt affectionate.
‘Sleepy.’
Pippy fell into deep sleep with the pleasant throbbing.
“Huff…. Pant…! Young Cult Leader, I’ve brought breakfast.”
As soon as day broke, I was drenched in sweat delivering breakfast to the Young Cult Leader.
After waking up, unlike before sleep, I was alone; Pippy had silently vanished from the pillow we shared.
‘We definitely slept together, where did Pippy go? Out for a stroll nearby?’
I opened the door looking for Pippy and saw the maids bustling with breakfast trays.
Right, I’m staying in the Heavenly Demon Cult as the Young Cult Leader’s servant now?
Better hurry before I get scolded for being late!
I quickly took the breakfast tray from the maids and headed to the Young Cult Leader’s room.
Sweating bullets, that is.
But what came out of the Young Cult Leader’s mouth was outrageous.
“Too salty.”
He picked at a side dish, then set down his chopsticks discontentedly.
“You’re not going to eat?”
“No, I plan to. Your words yesterday struck a chord. To work long with a healthy body, I need to eat well.”
Then why put down the chopsticks?
As I stared blankly at him, he stared right back at me.
‘Just eat. Why stare like that? It’s burdensome.’
“Then bring another one.”
“What?”
“A tray that suits my taste.”
‘He says it’s a bit salty for him, so bring a new tray?’
“All of this again?”
Carry this heavy tray back and get a new one?
“Yes.”
Fire blazed in my eyes, but meeting his blood-red gaze, I had to back down.
It’s just my imagination that he’s deliberately tormenting me, right?
Cheon-seong, stay calm. If I mess up with him, I’m out of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Good little me will endure a bit more.
“Yes, I’ll bring another.”
Gritting my teeth, I hoisted the tray as big as me to relay his demand to the maids.
Real talk, if I didn’t have to hide my identity, I’d devour a Young Cult Leader like him!
The weight crushing me made my blood boil; I glared at him while grinding my teeth.
“Something else to say?”
Why did our eyes meet exactly then?
He usually doesn’t even glance unless giving orders.
Of all times, when I’m glaring!
“No. Nothing.”
To defuse, I awkwardly smiled at him.
But he scrutinized my face even more intently.
“That face says you have a lot to say to me?”
‘Does this Young Cult Leader read minds?’
Avoiding his sharp gaze, I pretended ignorance.
“The tray’s heavy, so I was straining, that’s why. I was glaring at the tray.”
“Am I the tray?”
Despite my efforts, he pointed at his own face with slender fingers.
“Then I’ll be off.”
Unable to respond further, I turned and quickly opened the door as if nothing happened.
Even as I stepped into the corridor with the tray, his piercing gaze followed, but I kept my composure.
‘Fortunately, he didn’t say more.’
What lingered was, as I closed