Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 33

I was born as the daughter of a low-ranking concubine. (33) [This likely refers to her birth order or some other ranking system within the palace.]

To cut to the chase, I didn’t get to see my sister again.

‘Well, the ceiling looks familiar.’

If it *has* to be familiar, I’d prefer one with fluorescent lights or LEDs.

I blinked a few times, and there was an immediate reaction.

“My lady…?”

“My lady!!”

Gai and Songbi, looking haggard, clung to me and burst into tears.

Well. Guess I didn’t die.

Bang!

“What happened to the young lady… She’s awake!!”

The palace maids who had burst in, probably because of the two’s crying, made eye contact with me and turned around to run out.

‘Close the door on your way out…’

Kids these days have no discipline.

While I was having spaced-out thoughts, the royal physician rushed in and checked my condition.

And soon after, my biological father appeared with a thumping sound.

‘Why does it feel like it’s been so long since I’ve seen him?’

The king, as haggard as my maids, hugged me, who was lying down unable to get up, and couldn’t speak for a while before bursting out in anger.

“Tell me, how could you worry your father like this!!”

“I’m sorry… Cough.”

“Don’t speak if it’s difficult!”

But… you told me to speak…

Following the king, the queen also arrived, checked my condition, and wiped away tears.

Seeing the queen panting as if she had run, I was more worried about her.

It was refreshing to see the queen so agitated for the first time, though.

The king asked the royal physician many questions, and only after confirming that I was eating rice porridge and herbal medicine, did he return to work with heavy steps.

I felt a bit sorry that he had rushed over during the Daejeon meeting. [Daejeon refers to an important royal court assembly.]

“Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

“No.”

According to the royal physicians, it was a miracle that I survived so unscathed.

While listening to vague speculations that the herbal medicines I usually took must have had some good effect, the king got angry, and I stopped my royal father by saying I had a headache.

‘What crime did the doctors commit?’

The one who put the poison is the criminal.

I wanted to ask what happened afterward, but the atmosphere was too heavy, so I couldn’t bring myself to ask.

In fact, the scariest thing was the Grand Prince Yeongwon, who had arrived earlier and continued to sit silently next to me even after the king and queen had left.

He didn’t say anything and just stared at me, his eyes gleaming, which was honestly a bit scary.

His face was gaunt enough to make me shudder, as if he had suffered a lot while I was unconscious, but he was holding a cat in his arms, which was unbalanced and a bit horrifying.

After the maids left and the room became quiet, Grand Prince Yeongwon finally opened his mouth when our eyes met.

“You.”

“Huh?”

“…Never mind. Here.”

Grand Prince Yeongwon, with a face that seemed angry and about to cry, handed me the cat he was holding.

‘It’s grown a lot.’

Was the cat there that day too? I think it was. In my last memory, it was a really small baby cat, but now it’s quite heavy.

Thinking about it now, I think I wasn’t quite in my right mind that day because the blood rushed to my head.

Or maybe it was because I ate poison. I don’t remember the things I said or did that day very well.

To me, Grand Prince Yeongwon said something out of the blue.

“Apologize.”

“?”

“For doing bad things in front of the kittens.”

“Bad things?”

“Have you forgotten what you did in my room?”

Eating poison?

Come to think of it, I had kittens in my arms back then.

‘I completely forgot.’

Bad things… it *was* bad things.

“Say you’re sorry.”

“Sorry.”

Nyaa-

The cat cried, meowing as if answering my words.

“Say you won’t do it again.”

“I won’t do it again.”

Nyaa-

The cat, meowing as if following my answer, as if knowing something, was so cute that I chuckled.

“You’re smiling now.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been expressionless all along.”

Was I?

But there was nothing to smile about.

‘I wasn’t exactly happy to wake up either.’

I was just sorry, though.

“…Your clothes have changed.”

It wasn’t the Grand Prince’s attire. It was the same color as the deceased Crown Prince, Lee Hye, used to wear, a dragon robe with four-clawed dragon emblems.

“I’ve been appointed as the Crown Prince.”

“Oh? Congratulations.”

“What meaning does an appointment received while losing my brother and my sibling is on the verge of death have?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Only then did emotion appear on Grand Prince Yeongwon’s face for the first time.

He told me I was expressionless, but he was even more expressionless.

“Do you know how I felt when you were vomiting blood! But you’re so carefree…!”

“Sorry, I was wrong.”

As I reached out my arm, Grand Prince Yeongwon, who was already shedding tears, leaned on my shoulder and began to wail.

‘I’m a patient…’

But since I had done something wrong, I had no choice but to comfort the crying child.

After finally calming down, the child suddenly said this.

“Did you perhaps know and eat it?”

“Know and eat what… huh?”

I shook my head at the suspicious look.

“Then why are you apologizing?”

Everyone else glossed over it, but he’s the strictest.

Everyone didn’t give much meaning to the actions of a six-year-old child. Well, siblings who are closer than parents often know more about each other.

“You told me to apologize. I probably just ate it because I was hungry.”

“Don’t lie.”

Even while sobbing, he began to question my actions that day.

‘He usually acts dumb, but why is he so quick-witted in these situations?’

Well, he’s about to jump into the political arena, so being quick-witted is a desirable trait.

“I heard you came to my residence alone without the maids who always followed you. And those maids caught the maid who brought me persimmons and went to the Queen’s Palace. You ordered them to do that.”

Gai and Songbi followed my instructions well. I felt a little relieved to hear that.

“There was also a palace maid I hadn’t seen before, and her behavior was suspicious.”

No matter how many palace maids there are, everyone knows the faces of the head maids in the royal family’s residences.

There aren’t many royals in the palace these days. It’s just the Daejeon, the Queen’s Palace, the Queen Dowager’s Palace, and the Grand Prince’s residence, so everyone knows the faces of the head palace maids in each residence. I’m sure everyone else is the same.

“…What happened?”

The King and Queen didn’t say anything and left only Grand Prince Yeongwon, now Crown Prince Lee Hwa, so he was the only one I could ask.

“That day…”

The Crown Prince finally opened his mouth with a reluctant expression.

I entered Grand Prince Yeongwon’s residence, and Gai and Songbi faithfully followed my instructions and took the palace maids to the Queen’s Palace.

“I don’t know why, but since you’re not usually one to do nonsense, Mother kept those palace maids in the Queen’s Palace according to your head maids’ words and sent palace maids to look for you.”

“Hmm…”

And she would have found out that I ate the persimmons that the palace maids brought in Grand Prince Yeongwon’s residence and collapsed from poisoning.

‘The Queen, who found out that her son was originally supposed to eat those persimmons, wouldn’t have stayed still.’

The Queen would have immediately told the King about it.

Following the Crown Prince, the concubine he cherished and the royal child she was carrying were lost, and even his only daughter collapsed from poison, but in fact, the poison was intended to kill the one and only Grand Prince.

“That night, the palace was turned upside down.”

The palace maids who brought the poison claimed they didn’t know anything, but it was no use.

Some of the palace maids in the Grand Prince’s residence remembered that they had brought the persimmons.

At first, they lied, but after harsh interrogation, they finally revealed the name of Lord Gyeong-eon.

It was said that torture was allowed because I was on the verge of death at the time.

‘I only put in the medicine that Lord Gyeong-eon gave me, I don’t know what it is!’

No matter how they excused themselves, the fact that they put something suspicious in the food that was going to the Grand Prince did not change.

And the palace maid in the Grand Prince’s residence who cooperated denied any connection with Lord Gyeong-eon until the end, but she could not deny that she had brought the persimmons for money. Lord Gyeong-eon probably promised something else, but there was no time to question her about it.

Before that night was over, soldiers rushed into Chwiyeongdang. [Chwiyeongdang was likely Lord Gyeong-eon’s residence.]

“Poison was found in Lord Gyeong-eon’s room. I don’t know where he got it from, but… it seems he had it for a long time, not recently.”

“Ah, there were also some animal carcasses that looked okay on the outside sometimes.”

Before Lord Gyeong-eon was confined, I had encountered grotesque animal carcasses, so we both seemed to have the same thought and let out a small sigh.

“New facts were revealed as the soldiers searched Chwiyeongdang thoroughly.”

“What is it?”

“They were cursing His Highness the Crown Prince… your brother, in Chwiyeongdang.”

At the same time as those words, I heard the sound of teeth grinding.

I was also speechless at the unexpected fact.

‘Oh. He’s crazy.’

Wugus like curses in this era are not treated as simple superstitions, but are actually punished if caught. [Wugu refers to a type of black magic or curse.]

And that was Wugu aimed at the king or crown prince? It was an act of treason.

Moreover, the Crown Prince really died at some timing, so there was no way out.

‘It turned out like this.’

I clenched my fist without realizing it at the unexpected jackpot.

“Consort Hong denied it, but then animal carcasses used in the curse were found buried in the backyard of Donggung Palace, and it was also revealed that animal carcasses were found in my residence.”

“Hmm. It’s not surprising since she’s done it before.”

“And…”

The child, who had been speaking so well, suddenly trailed off and looked at me. I felt like I knew what he was going to say, so I spoke first.

“Is it related to the royal child’s matter?”

“…A tiger skin came out of her residence. Someone, a subordinate, must have put it on and pretended to be a tiger, leaving traces and harming people.”

Ah, that thing that was somewhat awkward to be a tiger.

‘It was just a skin, how anticlimactic.’

Even if I couldn’t know who put on that heavy tiger skin and committed the act himself, it was obvious who planned it.

“Consort Hong denied it at first, but what fool would believe those words.”

I barely managed to stop myself from saying that the attempted poisoning of Grand Prince Yeongwon might not have been done by Consort Hong.

‘Honestly, this poisoning attempt was a bit sloppy compared to the others.’

It’s fortunate how stupid Lord Gyeong-eon was.

“What happened to those two?”

“His Majesty was greatly angered and tried to execute them immediately, but…”

The incident happened during the Crown Prince’s mourning period.

No matter how much there was a conspiracy, it was a situation where ominous things continued to happen in the royal family.

The officials barely dissuaded him, so both of them were demoted and exiled, and the people on the Left State Councilor’s side, who couldn’t deny that they were related to this matter, were also exiled in droves.

‘Hmm. Well, even in the Joseon Dynasty, fathers who killed their own children were rare.’

Brothers, maybe.”

Thinking that, I looked at Grand Prince Yeongwon, who had become the Crown Prince.

He’s still a child, and if the king doesn’t make a decision during his reign, that bloody choice will be this child’s responsibility.

“They have been confined to different regions, so even if they live, it won’t be living.”

Saying that, Grand Prince Yeongwon, no, the Crown Prince, stroked my head as if comforting me.

For a moment, I thought it would be better if they were dead.

But perhaps because my head had cooled down a bit, I calmly accepted that it couldn’t be helped.

Even if it’s confinement, being demoted and exiled from a body that lived comfortably in the palace, even confined with fences, wouldn’t be living.

Even if you commit a crime and go into exile, in most cases, you interact with local residents or have the freedom to roam up to a certain area.

But confinement with fences means building a fence around the house where the criminal lives with thorny trees or trifoliate orange trees so that no one can approach. [This describes a particularly harsh form of imprisonment.]

They build it so high that almost no sunlight comes in.

You have to live inside, relying only on the supplies given from the outside, so you might go crazy faster.

Even if it’s not as spectacular as the novel’s original ending, it was right to be satisfied with this much.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

Considering that this was the result of giving such a shock to this young child, it was a bit disappointing, but maybe this is more cruel.

‘There’s nothing more I can do than this.’

More shocking than that was that the Crown Prince’s and my sister’s funerals were all over while I was on the verge of death.

The sound of birds sitting on flower branches rang out beyond the open window.

It was already spring.

Leaving the dead behind, I survived.

I wasn’t happy.