Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 111

Teaching the newly acquired slaves to read and write is proving to be exhausting.

It seemed some people believed that having many slaves would lead me to oppose the abolition of slavery to the King or Crown Prince, even though I’ve made no such promises.

‘Just to be safe, I’m restricting their access to key facilities within Siyoungwon [a government agency]. But managing too many becomes cumbersome, so I should discuss emancipation with the Crown Prince later.’

I was aware of illegal transactions due to the restrictions on increasing the number of slaves, but I didn’t expect such discussions to be happening so openly in Hanyang [the capital of Joseon]. How audacious.

Surely these transactions wouldn’t be conducted openly in the capital.

And I was even more embarrassed for mistakenly thinking they were desperately trying to avoid giving me some strange book.

‘A little sincerity is needed for reconciliation.’

“Haa.”

I should acquire a new book.

The Crown Prince inquired about Sia’s well-being through Eunuch Song the next day.

“She has been staying indoors lately. Seong Gyeom-sabok [a royal guard] occasionally visits to check on her and converse with her. Otherwise, she continues to care for the concubines and palace staff as usual, with nothing out of the ordinary.”

Sia seems to be keeping to herself these days.

From the start, I entrusted her with matters concerning the medical officials, so she shouldn’t have much free time to wander about.

Since she was young, she has been bustling around the palace, attending to various tasks, and I’ve heard she always looks after the concubines.

His Majesty doesn’t pay much attention to the concubines, and they are all childless, which I find regrettable, but I’ve never considered caring for them myself. No one taught or ordered her to do such things; Sia always naturally cared for those around her.

‘Sia has been unusually mature and considerate since she was young.’

She must be deeply saddened by her lack of growth, but she never shows it, always making those around her feel comfortable with her energetic and smiling face.

She consistently brought food to her brother, the Crown Prince, worried about him, urged him to sleep early, and sometimes genuinely assisted him with his work.

Listening to her cheerful voice, sharing interesting stories from time to time, helped me forget about headache-inducing matters for a while.

She is such a child, so perhaps I was too harsh?

“…I should go out.”

“Yes?”

Using his younger sister as an excuse, the Crown Prince decided on a sudden, secret excursion.

It wasn’t the first time for the Crown Prince to sneak out of the palace.

Not as frequently as Sia, but he had come out secretly like this on occasion.

He had also secretly visited Sia’s residence when it was completed.

Sia calls her house a private residence, but it was truly a palace that showcased the King’s favor at a glance.

Perhaps the King is contemplating abdicating the throne early and spending his old age in Sia’s palace.

‘It’s a useless thought, though.’

Coming out after a long time naturally stirred up old memories.

The brief memory of spending time with the girl who might become the Crown Princess on Buddha’s Birthday lingered in his heart for a long time.

What became of her? Did she escape safely?

So much time has passed that he wouldn’t recognize her even if he met her again, but would there be a chance encounter?

“Where did they say they sell that book?”

“The Jongno secondhand bookstore would be the best place to start.”

While indulging in sentimentality is pleasant, he only came out with Eunuch Song and his trusted guard, so he had to prioritize the most important task.

However, the Crown Prince’s mission failed at the first secondhand bookstore he visited.

When he showed the torn book and asked for the same one, the owner of the secondhand bookstore began to lament at the sight of the damaged book.

“Oh my, how could this precious book be torn like this… I’m sorry, but this book is a reserved copy, so there is no other stock.”

“I just saw someone buying it. I can pay any amount of money. Can’t you just print a new one?”

“But this book is a first edition with the author’s signature, so it will be difficult to obtain another.”

“I must get it. Is there no way?”

“That’s…”

While the owner of the secondhand bookstore hesitated, another person briefly interjected.

“Excuse me, I’m sorry, but may I pick up the book?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Just a moment. Here’s the book… Ah.”

The owner of the secondhand bookstore looked back and forth between the woman who had just spoken and the Crown Prince, who was dressed as a nobleman, and then called the woman and whispered something as if he had remembered something.

“How is it?”

“I’m not in such a hurry for money, so I have no intention of doing that.”

“They say they can give you any amount of money. Isn’t it okay? The number of signed copies is limited, but…”

The Crown Prince couldn’t hear the conversation properly, but he could infer the situation from the atmosphere.

That woman possesses the signed copy of the book he seeks, and she needs money.

And she is refusing the offer.

“I’ve received the book, so I’ll be on my way.”

“Yes, please come again next time.”

Having given up on pressuring the owner, the Crown Prince cautiously addressed the woman leaving the secondhand bookstore.

“Excuse me, do you have a moment?”

“What’s the matter?”

“Um, if you happen to have a signed copy of ‘Flower Shadow’, would you consider selling it to me?”

“Yes?”

Woo woo woo.

My precious new book…

I ran into my room and collapsed onto the floor in a depressed mood, struggling to vent my frustration, while Soi, who had prevented the other palace maids from entering, followed me in and comforted me.

“Ongju [Princess], please calm down.”

“I can’t calm down! I can’t calm down!!”

I screamed, hitting the floor.

Ugh! What a waste! My book! It even had the author’s autograph! Just because he’s the Crown Prince, does he think he can do anything??

That guy… I’m running around trying to prevent a rebellion, but he doesn’t even know how I feel!

He should get married soon and have descendants!

I’m really going to make up a castration story!

‘……I should withdraw the request for a romance novel and commission a novel about the Crown Prince falling in love with a man.’

For a moment, I entertained such a twisted thought that deviated from the genre, but I immediately dismissed it because the author could be charged with royal defamation the moment it was distributed.

So, if I’m going to write it, I should set the background as a Crown Prince, no, a King, in a virtual East Asian country, not Joseon… No, that’s not the point right now.

Thanks to the stream of consciousness, I regained my composure for a moment and got up and organized my thoughts.

‘Maybe this is a good thing?’

Since I got so angry, the Crown Prince probably won’t look for me for a while. He was surprisingly timid, so he couldn’t bring himself to find me first after fighting with me since he was young.

So, now that things have turned out this way, it would be good to finish this matter for sure in the meantime.

“……Ongju, please don’t suddenly calm down like that.”

“Get used to it.”

Soi, who had been trying to calm me down without any effect, handed me a bowl of cold water with a tired face after seeing me suddenly regain my composure.

I got angry again when I thought of the Crown Prince, so I took the cold water that Soi handed me and gulped it down, and then organized my thoughts again.

‘I’m angry that the book is torn, but I bought several copies for collection besides that.’

It’s a good thing I’m a gold spoon [born into wealth].

And Soi, who knew that fact from the beginning, asked with a puzzled look.

“Didn’t you deliberately buy several copies of this book as a 기념 [commemorative item] since it’s the first edition? You said you would keep them in the palace and in your private residence. But why are you so angry that one copy is torn?”

“Of course I’m angry. Do you think it’s okay to break one if you have ten jade rings?”

“……No.”

“Right?”

Soi made a face that seemed like something was wrong, but soon agreed.

She might have argued that it wasn’t okay in a modern society with a mass production system. But in this era, books were also precious items.

“Soi, go and rest now. But if you get a call from Seong Gyeom-sabok, let me know right away.”

“I understand. Will Gyeom-sabok be okay?”

“He’ll be fine.”

If he’s not okay, I’ll have to start searching right away.

In fact, Seong Gyeom-sabok was a person who had experience in such dangerous work just by looking at his career as a Chetamin [police officer], and he had many connections here and there while working as a Gyeom-sabok [royal guard] for several years, so he would take care of it himself if it was dangerous.

Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t worried.

I couldn’t fall asleep easily that night for various reasons, but I couldn’t hold out for long and fell asleep.

And the news of Seong Gyeom-sabok arrived early the next morning.

It was a message that he would visit to deliver something about Siyoungwon today.

It seemed that he deliberately disguised it as Siyoungwon’s work because the news was delivered through another person.

I was relieved that there was nothing wrong for now and made snacks while waiting for Seong Gyeom-sabok.

“Ongju, did you have any 별고 [unusual events] yesterday?”

“Yeah. So-so.”

Saying that, I scanned Seong Gyeom-sabok here and there. He doesn’t seem to have any injuries on the outside.

“I was fine, so don’t worry too much.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Yes. But Ongju, those guys seemed to be more dangerous than I thought. It would be best if Ongju didn’t get involved in this matter anymore.”

“……What’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you without anything definite revealed yet, but they were people who took human lives lightly.”

“?”

What on earth did he overhear there. This person.

I asked carefully.

“Um. Is it perhaps something like treason?”

“Yes?”

But Seong Gyeom-sabok looked puzzled at my question.

Looking at that reaction, is it not treason?

‘Come to think of it, they mentioned the Crown Prince even in the gibang [traditional Korean house of entertainment], but they didn’t say they would do anything to the Crown Prince. Did I perhaps bark up the wrong tree?’

But the fact that those guys were bad guys was a well-known fact.

“I didn’t hear anything about that… but I’ll check it out further.”

“If it seems dangerous, I don’t think it’s a good idea to get too involved.”

“What power do I have to get deeply involved? However… it seems that they will have more accurate talks when they meet next time, so I’m thinking of asking for help from my old colleagues this time.”

“Um. It’s better than being alone. Are they people in Siyoungwon? I’ll let Court Lady Min know in advance, so don’t worry about that.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll give you a danger allowance too.”

“Yes. Ongju.”

Seong Gyeom-sabok chuckled at my joke-like words.

Yes, it was reassuring that it wasn’t just him doing it.

Frankly, I wasn’t very trustworthy to mobilize public power clumsily until I found a clearer situation.

“If it’s dangerous, just give up and run away quickly. Okay? No one should get hurt or anything. Okay?”

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

In that way, some former Chetamin were suddenly put on additional work.

And some time later, he told me something scary.

“Illegal human trafficking?”

“Y-yes……”

Seong Gyeom-sabok had a face that said he wasn’t sure if he should tell me this, but what could he do.

“So you’re saying they’re making people slaves and secretly buying and selling them.”

“Yes. It’s originally prohibited, but selling one’s wife and children due to debt, or selling orphans with nowhere to go as slaves, is happening secretly.”

“It’s punishable by death if caught. They must be doing it because they’re confident they won’t get caught.”

Um, it seems like there’s something behind this.

“Even the slave market was prohibited by His Majesty.”

“Thanks to that, trading slaves like goods in the market is prohibited.”

It was said to be because of a rebellion that was discovered before I was born.

Of course, there was also the reason that it was excessively inhumane. Personal transactions themselves are not prohibited, though.