Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 286

“Ah, but I remember Deputy Commander Jwa wasn’t like that back then.”

The Queen nodded in agreement.

“The palace servants attending Prince Seongwon were originally those who served the late Queen, the Prince’s birth mother, but Deputy Commander Jwa was someone the Prince brought in himself, so the atmosphere must have been different.”

Hmm. Now that I think about it, there was quite an age gap.

Moreover, among the Eastern Palace servants at the time, the younger ones were often confused, unsure how to react when the senior servants acted strangely.

Their master, Prince Seongwon, was kind and affectionate to his younger siblings, but the senior servants attending him were cold to the princes and princesses for reasons the younger ones didn’t understand, leaving them in a quandary.

Because of that, some of them remained in the palace, but all those considered close to Prince Seongwon had since left.

They could have been recalled if needed, but that never happened.

‘Since he wasn’t on good terms with anyone, it couldn’t be helped…’

If he was even hostile to the current Queen, she would have preferred to bring in young, inexperienced maids who didn’t even know basic etiquette and train them from scratch, rather than go through the trouble of recalling the former servants.

The King hadn’t increased the number of concubines, and the Prince couldn’t even bring in a Princess Consort and didn’t even look at women, so there was no need for more palace maids.

‘But listening to the Queen, it seems like the late Queen Seongwon’s birth mother, no, the palace servants who served his birth mother, are the problem.’

She was already dead, someone I had never met, but she was Prince Seongwon’s birth mother.

I naturally assumed she was a good person, but perhaps not?

‘The Royal Father mentioned it a few times when I was young…’

I think I thought she was a good person back then, too.

Of course, you never truly know a person until you’ve experienced them…

‘She’s already gone.’

I composed myself and offered a plausible excuse.

“Although I wasn’t very close to them, they served my brother, so I’m a little concerned about their well-being.”

“…I see. The Prince might not care, but the Princess might be okay with it.”

What…? Her tone is very not okay…

I was unnecessarily bothered by the Queen’s tone, but I had achieved my immediate goal.

“If you already know where they are, it won’t be difficult to find them. Be careful on your trip.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Don’t worry.”

I didn’t anticipate any real difficulty, but I obtained permission more easily than expected.

“Princess, I said it was okay, but shouldn’t you inform the Prince in advance and increase the number of guards as much as possible…?”

The Queen seemed to want to elaborate, but she couldn’t speak plainly out of consideration for her royal dignity.

I hadn’t realized the Eastern Palace servants had such a bad reputation.

‘It wasn’t just me they were prickly with.’

Anyway, my business at the Central Palace was concluded, and next was the Prince’s turn.

I intended to tell the Prince that I was going to find and meet those who had been close to Prince Seongwon.

Of course, I went to the Prince and recounted all the stories I had shared with the Queen.

The Prince listened with interest, nodding, and seemed more or less convinced.

“I don’t know much about what happened when I was young, but thinking back to the atmosphere at the time, I suppose that’s how it was…”

“My brother realizes that now, too…”

“Why ‘when I was young’?”

“…If you didn’t know, then it’s fine.”

That clueless little kid had definitely matured a lot.

He used to be so tactless, almost foolish.

Is it because the position shapes the person? Or is it the effect of the intense heir education he received after becoming the Crown Prince?

“If the Grand Prince and Royal Concubine Hong were, so to speak, in the same faction… the Grand Prince must have suffered quite a bit.”

Hmm… If I talk about this, it might lead to the story of me being poisoned.

“It’s pointless to dwell on the past.”

“It’s truly a thing of the past now, I suppose.”

Many of Prince Seongwon’s people were executed for being involved with Prince Gyeong-eon rather than Prince Seongwon himself, but many still remained.

“Do you remember all the times you were bullied, brother?”

“Well… It’s only natural for me to remember… How do you know about it? You were so young back then.”

“I have a good memory.”

I offered a quick excuse, and the Prince didn’t press me further.

“You remember strange things well… Well, you were always a strange child.”

“Why are you suddenly criticizing me? I don’t remember things from that long ago very well either?”

“That would be normal…”

The Prince didn’t seem to dislike reminiscing about the old days with me after a long time, and he kept me there for quite a while.

Maybe he just didn’t want to work.

“Should I provide you with more guards to accompany you on your trip?”

“They don’t have any power or influence anymore; would they really harm me?”

“That’s true, but…”

The Prince looked uneasy.

“If you’re that worried, you can just tell me not to go.”

“You’re not the kind of child who would stay put just because I told you to.”

That’s true… Because they knew each other well, the Prince quickly accepted it.

I’m sure he’s thinking that it’ll be okay since I’m not going to commit a crime anywhere… Or something like that.

I ate snacks and casually teased the Prince.

“If my brother gets a Princess Consort, I’m going to go out and live freely, so you need to get used to this.”

When that time comes, there would be no need to contact me unless I was going on a long trip somewhere.

But the Prince clicked his tongue as if he felt sorry for me and gave me a pitiful look.

“I wish that were the case, but I don’t think Father would allow it…”

“Brother, don’t say such ominous things…”

“No. He’s delegated a lot of work through the regency, so he might want to spend some quality time with his only daughter…”

“I prefer having free time more.”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

The Prince just shrugged his shoulders with a look that said it was someone else’s problem.

Of course, it was someone else’s problem.

And as if he suddenly remembered something, he changed the subject.

“By the way, there was a story I was going to tell you last time, but I forgot.”

“What is it?”

I chewed on a snack and asked.

“Didn’t Seong Gyeom-sabok go to Hamgyeong Province this time?”

“Yeah.”

“The Chief’s uncle went with him too.”

A middle-aged man combination.

“I heard last time that Cheonho’s uncle was promoted for catching a tiger, but brother, did you like him that much? Well, catching a tiger is amazing.”

“Hmm, of course, his martial prowess is great, but it’s not necessarily that…”

The Prince deliberately paused, as if he wanted to build suspense.

“It turns out that Cheonho’s uncle was actually a sworn brother of Lord Kim Seon-ik.”

“What?”

I asked, taken aback by the unbelievable combination of words, and the Prince slowly repeated.

“Are you surprised too? I’ll say it again. Cheonho’s uncle was actually the sworn brother of the deceased Lord Kim Seon-ik. He confessed this to me a while ago and pleaded for Lord Kim Seon-ik’s innocence.”

“…???”

No, what is all this, all of a sudden?

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand what the Prince was saying.

But strangely, the words just didn’t quite register properly.

Frankly speaking, my first thought was, ‘Why is this coming up now?’

Lord Kim Seon-ik, the father of Ji-hwa and Su-cheon.

And the sworn brother of that Lord Kim Seon-ik.

But that sworn brother is actually the uncle of Cheonho, whom I took in.

‘This is too… rapid of a development, isn’t it?’

But considering the ages of the Prince and Se-hwa, and the historical context, it was also a time when we could no longer back down.

‘Well, a fast development is good…’

Although I was a little hesitant, I decided to listen to the Prince for now.

The Prince seemed to be enjoying my confusion, and he continued to explain with excitement.

“He said that they lived together in the Northern Military Camp, and that if Lord Kim Seon-ik had plotted a rebellion, there was no way he wouldn’t have known, and that it must be a false accusation. It was convincing that if he had been plotting a rebellion, he wouldn’t have overlooked a talent who could catch tigers like that.”

“…Then what about Cheonho?”

“Well, I can’t prove whether it’s true or not, but he claimed that Cheonho wasn’t his own nephew, but the child of an acquaintance. He didn’t want to involve Cheonho if he was wrong.”

Cheonho’s uncle wasn’t actually his real uncle?

‘The kid seemed a little distant with his uncle, so was that why?’

I didn’t want to get too involved in other people’s family affairs, but the thought crossed my mind.

But the fact that Cheonho’s uncle, whom I happened to bring, was an unexpectedly important person… what kind of development is this?

“Does Cheonho know any of this?”

“He knows that his uncle left for Hamgyeong Province, but I don’t know if he knows anything else.”

“Hmm…”

“…Don’t worry too much. Isn’t Cheonho the child who saved your life? I know very well that he was the one who faced the tiger alone to protect you, among other things. I have no intention of harming the child you cherish.”

I appreciate the thought, but is it really okay?

“Hmm. It would be okay if my brother didn’t think it was suspicious.”

“Don’t worry. He wouldn’t dare say such a thing in front of me at the risk of his life, so it wouldn’t be nonsense. Besides…”

“Besides?”

“If he really is Lord Kim Seon-ik’s sworn brother, there’s a reason why he can’t betray him.”

“Not because of Cheonho?”

“Didn’t he say that Cheonho wasn’t his real nephew?”

Hmm. That’s true.

‘Even if he’s not his real nephew, he’d probably have affection for the child he raised.’

Well, I couldn’t judge the world just by my own common sense.

Of course, it’s a little disheartening to think that way.

‘If he was thinking about Cheonho, he wouldn’t be able to do that, no matter how important his sworn brother is.’

I sighed, thinking that Cheonho’s heart would be complicated if he found out about this, but the Prince’s triumphant attitude bothered me a little.

If it’s not because of Cheonho, the reason why the Prince is so confident is probably Se-hwa?

‘Se-hwa must have confessed the truth.’

And seeing that Se-hwa’s face has been bright lately, there must have been something between them that doesn’t need a detailed explanation.

“I hope things work out well this way.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry.”

The Prince’s face was very bright as he said that.

On the other hand, I felt a little reluctant when I thought about telling Cheonho, who was probably waiting outside right now.