Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 7

The Crown Prince and the King quickly rose and bowed.

“I heard Sia was crying loudly again. Is she alright now?”

“Please don’t worry, Father. I happened to be visiting the King’s quarters and heard Sia crying, so I went to see her, and she stopped crying.”

Suddenly, her biological father had arrived.

‘My and the Crown Prince’s biological father is the King of this nation. And when someone of high status arrives, the good atmosphere is bound to be broken.’

The Crown Prince’s teacher, who had been watching us with a pleased expression, quickly left, excusing himself. The King sat down in front of the Crown Prince.

‘He was playing well with the baby, why did he have to come?’

But since the other party is the King, wouldn’t it be better to cater to his whims? While I was contemplating this, the King reached out to the Crown Prince.

“You must be tired from looking after the child all day, so this father will take her now.”

“What are you saying? How could I not know that you, Father, are the one who is tired from taking care of Sia every day? I will keep her a little longer. Fortunately, Sia is very fond of me, so how about letting her sleep in the Crown Prince’s residence for today?”

“It is not good for a baby’s environment to change frequently.”

“It will be fine if I am with her. Isn’t that right, Sia?”

“Eung.”

I don’t really care who I’m with, as long as my safety is guaranteed.

But if I go with the Crown Prince, I feel a little sorry for my biological father, who has been taking care of me diligently.

‘And I don’t think the palace staff in the Crown Prince’s residence like me very much.’

Besides, one way or another, it was my biological father and his court ladies who had been taking care of me until now.

I was wondering if I should just give in and go to the King when they started doing something strange.

“Then shall we see who Sia goes to?”

“Hmph. Do you think she will choose the Crown Prince over this father who has been feeding and raising her?”

Then, my biological father and the Crown Prince sat side by side at a distance from me and started calling me to come to them.

‘What are you two doing?’

‘Humans haven’t changed much even in the Joseon Dynasty [Korean kingdom from 1392 to 1897]…’

Has humanity not evolved?

I alternately glared at the father and son, who were engaging in a pointless competition with me beside them, with a sullen look.

If I had to choose between my savior and my biological father, there’s no way I couldn’t choose. But knowing the smartest answer in this case, I pretended to go in the direction of the two men and changed direction.

Outwards.

“??”

“Sia-ya?”

“…Royal Princess?”

Among those standing guard outside the pavilion, the ones who rushed over, surprised that I might fall, were the Crown Prince’s guard from earlier and the eunuch who always followed the King.

And one person who was a step behind the two was the head court lady of the King’s quarters.

“Uuu!”

I reached out and grabbed the hem of the clothes of whoever was easily within reach.

“…Why Seon-oh…”

Now that I grabbed him, it was unintentionally Seon-oh, the Crown Prince’s bodyguard whom I met for the first time today, who was chosen by me.

His name must be Seon-oh. The young bodyguard called Seon-oh awkwardly bent down to meet my gaze.

“Uuu!”

Holding onto his clothes and pointing outside the pavilion with my finger, he understood my words perfectly and asked back.

“Do you perhaps wish to go out of here?”

“Woong!”

“If that is what the Royal Princess wishes, then I have no choice but to follow.”

This person knows how to read the atmosphere.

Although he is bowing his head, he is definitely smiling.

“However, His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince are waiting, so wouldn’t you like to reconsider?”

I turned to look at the two people who were in a daze and frowned.

Then, I approached the two of them, sat right in the middle, and protested by slapping the floor.

“Uuuuu!”

“Alright, I understand. We won’t do it if you don’t like it.”

“Father, this is the first time I have been scolded by a child.”

“This is also my first time.”

The meaningless game of the father and son, who were only high in status, ended, and the two took a walk while talking about the classes they were recently taking.

‘Put me down…’

Why bother carrying me.

And of course, I eventually returned to the King’s quarters that day.

The Crown Prince sent me away with regretful eyes, but I’ll see him again tomorrow when he comes to greet the King anyway.

I waved to the Crown Prince and the Crown Prince’s bodyguard, who was used, and returned to the King’s residence, which was now familiar, in the arms of my biological father.

‘Why don’t you just send me back to where I was originally?’

It’s so sad that I can’t speak yet.

And after that day, my biological father stayed by my side even more than before.

He was already always keeping me by his side while working, except when I was sleeping, but he must have been surprised to hear that I screamed and cried while the King was away.

I felt sorry for the court ladies who were not related to Yeongbin, so I decided to treat them a little better from then on.

‘But I was also surprised.’

Those people, whom I had been seeing for months since I was born, even though I didn’t follow them very much, were truly a threat to my life.

I couldn’t feel at ease unless it was someone who genuinely cared about my safety.

But that doesn’t mean I can stay here like this.

‘I can’t keep doing this!’

It’s stable, but if I keep staying here quietly, I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to my sister.

Surely I won’t be sent to another concubine, will I? I won’t keep staying here, will I?

No matter how well-behaved the baby is, it’s not right to keep her by your side while working!

Anyway, whether it’s the Crown Prince who took the baby to class or the King who keeps the baby by his side while working, they’re both the same because they’re father and son.

‘I have no choice but to cause some trouble to make them realize that taking care of a baby is not easy!’

The videos of children making a mess of the house and smiling brightly, which I sometimes saw on TV or the internet, came to my mind.

‘Well, they wouldn’t kill such a young baby just for making a mess, would they?’

I clenched and unclenched my small hands and made my final resolve.

“Hoo.”

Having made up my mind, I took a deep breath and moved my body.

I checked that my biological father was not looking at me because he was looking at the memorial [official document], and I moved forward.

‘Come to think of it, this must be the King’s bedchamber, right?’

It was truly a place that could only be seen in historical dramas. It was also difficult to verify whether the historical accuracy was correct.

Anyway, the interior of the room was filled only with things that should be in a drama set or a museum.

‘Well, if I’m going to cause trouble, let’s fulfill my personal desires.’

I was curious about what was in that cabinet over there.

Crawling on my hands and knees, I approached it and saw a mother-of-pearl cabinet that showed the touch of a master craftsman.

‘Mother-of-pearl cabinet… I want to have one too.’

And the porcelain on top of the cabinet too. I couldn’t help but swallow hard at the sight of the blue dragon painted on the white porcelain that I had only seen in museums.

‘I wanted to have something like that…’

And as if possessed, I grabbed the cabinet, stood up, and reached out my hand.

At that moment.

“He, he stood up?!”

“U?!”

Turning my head, I saw my biological father pointing at me with surprised eyes, wondering how long he had been watching.

“Ehehe.”

I reflexively smiled sheepishly.

Creak-

And at the same time, the drawer of the cabinet I was holding suddenly slid open.

***

‘What should I do with the Royal Princess… Sia?’

The King stopped looking at the memorials and pondered for a moment.

She was a child he had tried not to give affection to as much as possible since he found out she was born.

In the end, he ended up keeping her by his side, so truly, things in the world did not go as he wished.

‘It would be good to decide who to entrust the child to and not pay attention to her as much as possible. After all, I am a terrible father who can’t even take care of her properly.’

Even if it wasn’t him, the weak-hearted Crown Prince already had affection in his eyes when he looked at the young Royal Princess, so he would take good care of her without him having to worry.

‘Should I entrust her to her biological mother, Court Lady Yoon? To raise the Royal Princess, it would be good to appoint her as a concubine.’

It was not common to immediately issue a concubine title just because she gave birth to a Royal Princess, not a prince, but it was not impossible.

However, if Court Lady Yoon was appointed as Suk-won (淑媛: a title for a concubine of the 4th rank in the inner court. The lowest position among the King’s concubines), he could already see the annoying people making a fuss.

‘The officials are already saying a lot about the selection of the Queen, and they will make a fuss saying that I am issuing a concubine title before deciding on the Queen (正宮:中殿) [the King’s primary wife].’

He sighed as he thought of the child who had woken up from her sleep a while ago and burst into tears as if she was about to faint after he had accepted the Chief State Councilor’s private audience and left his seat for a while.

It was fortunate that the Crown Prince was there; otherwise, he didn’t know what would have happened to the child. She was always a quiet and dignified child who didn’t even cry, but she was still a young baby. He always had to be careful in case she fainted from crying.

Thanks to this, he was able to avoid being harassed by the officials for a while because he couldn’t leave the child’s side, but he didn’t know how long it would last.

‘After all, the answer they want is already decided.’

This time, instead of losing momentum due to Youngbin’s failure to properly care for the Royal Princess, they were even busier covering for Youngbin.

‘Are there even any of them who are worried about the Royal Princess?’

Chubby cheeks, soft arms and legs, small fingers.

The child, who was at the age of crawling around, always rolled around on the blanket, fiddling with the toys brought by the court ladies with a look of annoyance.

Then, when she got bored, she would come over to him and look at the memorials, but surprisingly, she would just watch from the side without touching them recklessly.

Thanks to this, he could leave her in the room without bringing in someone else to take care of the child even when he wanted to be alone.

Because she was too quiet, he would often play with her and soothe her while working, worried about her.

Then, the baby would impudently smile and tap her father’s hand before laughing.

‘How cute she is when she smiles.’

She was a child who bothered her father, but he couldn’t help but smile when he thought about her.

He suddenly turned his head to follow the child’s trail.

For some reason, the child, who never strayed far from that spot, was nowhere to be seen.

‘Where did she go?’

The baby, who couldn’t even walk yet, couldn’t have opened the door and left on her own, so he was more curious than worried.

The King shifted his gaze again. He was sitting in a position where he could see the scenery of the room at a glance, so it was easy to find the child.

“?”

The child was holding onto a cabinet on one side of the room and raising her body.

There was nothing wrong with that, but there was porcelain where the child’s hand was reaching. Just as he was about to get up in surprise at the thought that the porcelain might fall and hurt the child, the child’s short legs stepped straight onto the floor.

“He, he stood up?!”

“U?!”

Sia, startled by the voice that came out without her knowing, turned her head and smiled brightly at her father.

“Ehehe.”

Creak-

And at the same time, the handle of the cabinet that Sia was holding was pulled open, and the child’s feet, which were barely supported, slipped off the floor.

The child’s body began to tilt backward from the head.

It happened in an instant.

In an instant, his body moved without him knowing.

Thump! Thud! Bang!

Creak-!

As a loud noise echoed in the room, Eunuch Kim, who was standing guard outside, roughly threw open the door.

“Your Majesty! What’s wrong… Huh!”