Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 10

My sudden outburst of crying, after having been crawling around and smiling, startled the concubines who had been watching me out of the corners of their eyes.

“She was just smiling a moment ago. I don’t understand why she’s suddenly like this.”

The innocent concubines bowed their heads in dismay.

Amidst them, the owner of the hand that had stopped me from leaving spoke up.

“Father, it seemed my sister was looking for someone.”

“Looking for someone? What do you mean by that, Prince Gyeongwon?”

Only then did I realize that the one holding me was the only boy in the room.

“She was moving between the concubines, checking each of their faces as if searching for someone.”

And following Prince Gyeongwon’s words, a woman with a slightly pale complexion spoke.

“Your Majesty, could it be that the little princess misses her birth mother?”

“…Perhaps.”

“Your Majesty, I dare to request that Court Lady Yun be allowed to attend to the little princess. I heard that when the newborn princess suffered from a high fever, Court Lady Yun cared for her with all her heart, neglecting her own well-being. How could the bright little princess easily forget Court Lady Yun’s devotion?”

With those words, the woman bowed deeply.

“Indeed, Consort Seon is deeply concerned for the princess.”

Since she was called Consort Seon, she must be a Consort of the 1st rank, like Consort Yeong.

‘Is she trying to send me to my sister? She seems like a good person… Ah?’

As I sniffled and raised my head, I saw a faint smile on Consort Seon’s lips as she lowered her head. It was a smile that seemed visible only to me, looking up from below.

‘Oh. So, you have to be this skilled to be a Consort of the 1st rank.’

She wasn’t just an ordinary ‘good person’.

By praising me like that and emphasizing maternal love, she was earning points by sending me to my birth mother, while subtly undermining Consort Yeong, who had tried to take me but failed to care for me properly.

‘Quite the strategist, isn’t she? Are Consort Yeong and she not on good terms?’

In any case, it wouldn’t harm me.

Consort Seon hadn’t done anything to harm me like Consort Yeong had.

‘Could it be that she has a son, and that’s why they don’t get along?’

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so it might be a good thing.

I shook off the hand of the boy who was holding me and slowly returned to my biological father.

“Heeing.”

“Yes, you seem disappointed.”

“Woowoo.”

“It’s alright. I’ll let you meet her soon.”

Really? I trust you? Huh? Trust you?

I clung tightly to my biological father, my eyes sparkling.

In this world, the only ones I could trust were my biological father, my life’s savior, and my biological mother, who was also my sister.

The first two were too busy to take care of me constantly, so I could only feel safe if I went to my sister.

However, despite the King’s confident words, I didn’t get to see my sister for many days after that, for whatever reason.

As I waited, I slowly began to feel the limits of my patience.

‘I’m going to become a troublemaker.’

Boouuk-

“Oh my, little princess! Were you bored? Here, this paper tears easily.”

Thwack thwack!

“Oh dear, little princess. You can throw this thin book. The big books are too heavy, aren’t they?”

Crash-

“Here, little princess. Here are brushes of various thicknesses. Feel free to play with them.”

“Kkiyawoo!”

My sudden rampage, rolling around on the floor and throwing my whole body around, surprised only the King, who asked the court ladies.

“Do you know why Sia is acting like this?”

“Please do not worry, Your Majesty. It is a natural part of the developmental process. Rather, she has been too quiet until now.”

“Bbieeeeeng!”

No!!

‘No way… Even when I cause trouble, they look at me with fond eyes, as if it’s a good sign that I’m finally acting my age…!!’

In frustration, I pounded the blanket, but it was so fluffy that only dust flew up.

Watching me, the head court lady and eunuchs praised me in pleased voices.

“The little princess is so mature and well-behaved.”

“She only throws books into empty corners and doesn’t tear or dirty important documents.”

Ah. I’ve been found out…….

Compared to real babies, my troublemaking was too weak…….

I couldn’t help it. It was my human conscience…….

My dignity as someone who had lived to adulthood…….

I couldn’t bring myself to dirty important official documents, let alone the books of this era, which were made by hand.

In my past life, I hated underlining or folding mass-produced books! How could I damage even more precious books here!

‘Only those who have caused trouble can cause trouble.’

I didn’t like ruining perfectly good things, I didn’t like making a mess, and I didn’t like wasting precious food, so my options were too limited.

“Bbaeeeeng!”

“It seems the little princess is getting sleepy.”

After acting like a troublemaker for several days, I was the first to get tired.

I thought I could do it because I had the stamina of a baby…… But it was impossible with the mind of a normal adult.

When I, who had been causing a ruckus for days, suddenly became quiet again, my biological father was worried and touched my forehead.

“You don’t have a fever. Are you not going to do it today?”

“Awoo woo.”

To treat me like a troublemaker! I should just pluck out that beard!

‘Oh, that sounds like a good idea.’

But since we were together 24 hours a day, and aside from occasionally playing with me in a boring way, he was working like a workaholic, I decided to refrain from even plucking out the beard of this uncle.

I couldn’t cause trouble, and the things worth seeing in the room had already been removed during my troublemaking period, so there was nothing to see. Eventually, I got annoyed, rolled around the room, and fell asleep face down. I vaguely felt my biological father picking me up and laying me on the blanket.

And when I woke up, there were many people in the room for some reason.

‘Seeing the Seungji [Royal Secretariat] and historians here, it must be something about state affairs…….’

I rolled around, wriggled out, and raised my head, just as one of the historians who was writing down my biological father’s words raised his head at the same time, and our eyes met.

“…….”

“…….”

After a few seconds of silently meeting eyes, the historian looked away first.

Is he going to pretend not to notice instead of telling my biological father?

I tilted my head and turned to the side, and there were a lot of grandfathers instead.

‘Oh, it’s like a scene from a historical drama.’

I checked that the King was reading the memorial and moved my body diligently.

But for some reason, the eyes of the grandfathers looking at me seem to be shaking?

***

Kwon Sang-ik, a proofreader of the 9th rank in the Office of Royal Decrees, avoided the baby’s gaze that was staring at him and focused on writing the historical record again. Even though he wasn’t recording alone, it would be unacceptable for a historian to be distracted and miss something.

But this little princess wasn’t an ordinary princess.

She was the one who had grabbed the Prime Minister of the Left’s beard with her tiny hands and mercilessly struck his face not long ago. Kwon Sang-ik, who had been present as a historian at the time, still vividly remembered the scene.

In particular, among the literary officials and scholars who disliked the Prime Minister of the Left, who was acting as if he were already the father-in-law of the nation, there were those who secretly toasted and chuckled over the incident, using it as a snack.

Although the Prime Minister of the Left’s face was somewhat damaged, everyone joked, ‘That was the Prime Minister of the Left’s fault,’ because the opponent was a weak and young princess who couldn’t even walk yet, and they couldn’t openly get angry, which made it even more satisfying.

Well, even if that little princess pulled out His Majesty’s beard, who would say anything?

The memory of being busy for a while, avoiding people who had heard the rumors and wanted to hear vivid accounts, hadn’t faded yet, so Kwon Sang-ik justified himself by saying that it was inevitable that his hands would freeze at the princess’s movements.

And it seemed that the other officials who had witnessed the incident directly or had heard the rumors knew about it as well. As the princess began to move while His Majesty was focused on the memorial, the officials who noticed this tensed up and subtly covered their beards.

It’s fun when others suffer, but it’s not fun when I suffer.

Thanks to this, Kwon Sang-ik had to control himself so that the corners of his mouth didn’t twitch.

And at the same time as worrying about whether he should inform His Majesty that the princess had woken up, he briefly wondered if he should record this as well.

For reference, the assault case that day was recorded in the historical draft (史草: the draft written by the historian. Later, this draft is collected and the Veritable Records are compiled.). He didn’t know if it would be recorded in the Veritable Records later.

The princess checked behind her as if looking at His Majesty’s expression, and as soon as His Majesty took his eyes off the memorial, she slipped behind the Right Prime Minister.

“?!”

“?!”

The prime ministers, who were half-covering their faces to protect their beards, had awkward expressions, not knowing whether to be relieved that the princess had disappeared from their sight or to be anxious about what might happen behind them.

And only His Majesty, who didn’t know the circumstances of the officials, opened his mouth seriously.

“What is the reason for opposing the dismissal of the magistrate and judge of Jeonju?”

“Your Majesty. Kim Hwan-sik, the magistrate of Jeonju……”

And the officials had no choice but to pretend not to know.

While diligently writing the historical record, Kwon Sang-ik, who was following the princess’s whereabouts in between the pauses in the conversation, confirmed one small finger appearing from between someone’s clothes and quickly lowered his eyes.

But his gaze naturally went to where the little finger was.

As the King turned his attention to the next memorial, the little finger moved as if waiting, and the princess’s face popped up from among the officials.

“!”

This time, when he made eye contact with Inspector Kwon, the princess smiled silently and disappeared back into the old ministers.

It seemed that those in the front didn’t know what was happening, but those in the back seemed to have noticed the princess’s prank and had faint smiles on their faces.

By the time they were high-ranking officials, it was rare for them not to have children or grandchildren.

Perhaps they thought this was better than crying and whining, no one was seen stopping the princess.

“It is said that a fire broke out in Pyeong’an Prefecture, and about 300 houses were burned down.”

“Implement relief measures to distribute government rice to the victims and exempt them from corvée [unpaid labor owed to the state] for one year.”

The princess, who couldn’t walk yet, was diligently moving between the officials. She was also seen smiling and making eye contact with officials who seemed to have good impressions.

It was a rare sight, but if he wrote this down, his seniors in the Office of Royal Decrees would not leave him alone. Kwon Sang-ik decided to keep the scenery he saw in his mind.

And in contrast to the princess’s smooth tag, the atmosphere in the main hall was becoming fierce.

“Your Majesty. That cannot be.”

“Why do you always repeat that it cannot be done without thinking of alternatives?”

“However, Your Majesty.”

“I don’t want to hear it!”

The princess, who was playing tag, seemed surprised when the King raised his voice. Inspector Kwon, who saw the princess’s face with wide eyes and thought that she might burst into tears this time, unexpectedly crawled towards him.

“?”

“Ehehe.”

The princess, smiling, dipped her tiny hand into the inkstone filled with ink with a loud splat, and then slammed her palm down on the historical record that the historians were writing.

Tatadadak! Tangtang!

And she couldn’t hold on any longer and just sat down.

There was a moment of silence in the royal court.

“……Sia? When did you get there?”

The ministers, who couldn’t say that she had been playing well since earlier, just kept their mouths shut.

And the next moment, the King was surprised for another reason.

The princess, who had stood up again holding onto the desk where the historians were writing the historical record, stretched out her ink-stained hand as if asking to have it wiped and began to walk towards the King.

“Awoo.”

One step, two steps, three steps, four steps, five steps.

While even the officials were holding their breath and watching. The princess’s first steps ended in five steps and she fell forward again.

“Awoo?”

The court eunuch, who had rushed over, wiped the princess’s hand and held her in the King’s arms.

The King’s anger was gone, and his eyes were sparkling with joy.

“Yes. Sia has now started taking her first steps.”

“Woowoo.”

“Hehehe.”

It seemed that warmth was suddenly flowing into the ice-cold royal court.

The old ministers, who remembered the King’s fiery temper in the past, couldn’t help but realize that the King’s love for the princess was deeper than they thought.