Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 101

‘Acting as regent, huh….’

Crown Prince Yi-hwa’s mind was filled with complex thoughts, stirred by the subtle hints his royal father had been showing lately.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand his father’s feelings.

His royal father was already exhausted.

Ever since losing Crown Prince Seongwon a few years ago, his father had looked visibly weary. From that day on, he had devoted all his energy to molding his sole remaining son into a flawless Crown Prince.

As if it were his last duty.

Perhaps that was why he tolerated the Crown Prince’s refusal to choose a Crown Princess.

‘Is he telling me to secure my position first, and then bring in the Crown Princess I want?’

More than anything, the Queen Consort had to be someone he could trust. Otherwise, he would spend his life feeling uneasy.

Because of this, the Queen and the young Princess Suyoung were taking on the duties that the Crown Princess should have been doing.

Reaching that point in his thoughts, Yi-hwa unconsciously raised his head.

Inside the Gyujanggak [Royal Library], young talents selected by the Crown Prince himself were gathered. Some of them, like the Crown Prince, had stopped their work and were looking towards the door.

“……”

“……”

Realizing that their eyes had met the Crown Prince’s, they were startled and quickly lowered their heads, resuming their tasks.

‘I understand why they’re doing that, but still.’

It was almost Shinshi (3-5 PM), so everyone must be getting hungry.

Around this time, a court attendant usually brought snacks, and every few days, they would have something special, different from the usual fare. And today was one of those special days.

Seeing everyone eagerly waiting for the treat, regardless of age or rank, made him realize how simple humans were, which was a little amusing.

“Your Highness, Princess Suyoung has arrived with refreshments.”

What they were eagerly waiting for were the snacks brought by the Princess.

The door opened, and Sia appeared with a small tray, followed by court ladies.

Originally, this was something the Crown Princess should take care of, but the Princess was doing it instead, which made him feel a little sorry.

Today’s snack was a dish made by wrapping meatballs with meat and vegetables in bread.

‘When I told her to come up with a name, she said she was too lazy and suggested calling it meatball bread, but I refused because it sounded awful, and she grumbled that I was still being picky.’

Later, when he asked his ministers, they all tried to suppress their laughter and responded, ‘That name is a bit… lacking,’ which reassured the Crown Prince that he wasn’t being too picky.

“I told you that you don’t have to bring things like this, so why do you keep bringing them?”

“You may not need it, Your Highness, but others do. If you don’t like it, I’ll take your share back.”

“Hey, when did I say I didn’t need it?”

No matter what he said, the snacks Sia brought were delicious.

And more than anything, he could eat them without worry, unlike the things others brought.

In fact, the Crown Prince himself was looking forward to the snacks brought by the Princess more than anyone else.

“Your Highness, Princess Suyoung has come, so why don’t you take a break?”

“It’s not good to interrupt the flow of work.”

“No, it’s not! You came at the perfect time for a break, so you don’t have to worry about that!”

Everyone was blinded by the snacks.

He felt a little pathetic, but the Crown Prince reluctantly agreed to go with the Princess to a more comfortable place, as suggested by those around him.

‘They’ll be able to relax more comfortably without me here.’

Come to think of it, the Princess was the one who had said that first.

After settling down and sitting face to face, Sia, who had even brought her own share of snacks, began to talk about the ingredients in today’s snack, naturally eating first.

She always ate the food first, as if she were tasting it for poison, which didn’t feel very good.

The Crown Prince sighed and took a bite of the meatball bread.

‘Delicious.’

The food Sia brought was always delicious. It was only natural since Sia herself was such a picky eater.

“How is it? Should I add more pepper?”

“This is just right, don’t you think?”

They started with food talk and continued with unimportant small talk until Sia opened her mouth.

“Nothing special going on these days?”

“Why?”

“I was wondering if you were going to hold another banquet?”

“Not for a while.”

Of course, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t hold one at all.

“Hmm.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I saw some of the royal relatives the other day, and it seemed like they had some complaints about me.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Lord Yeongcheon.”

“Ah, Lord Yeongcheon.”

Lord Yeongcheon seemed to still be dwelling on the marriage he had arranged that fell through because of the young Princess. It was an immature attitude.

He should be feeling sorry for not being careful about his niece’s marriage and instead be grateful to the Princess.

As if deciding to pour out all her complaints, Sia continued.

“Lord Papyeong also seemed to have a lot of complaints about me.”

“Hmm. That’s a bit strange. There’s no reason for the Lord to dislike you. You don’t even run into each other that often.”

“Yeah, right? Is there something I don’t know?”

“I wonder.”

Come to think of it, the people in Crown Prince Seongwon’s residence hadn’t liked Sia either.

‘It was within the realm of understanding that they didn’t particularly like me, but.’

If Crown Prince Seongwon had disliked Sia, that would be one thing, but there was no reason to dislike a powerless princess born to a concubine so much.

‘…Perhaps Mother knows something.’

The Queen, who had been living in the inner court longer than he had, was more likely to know something, but it felt strange to bring it up now.

“How are things with Father these days?”

“What is there to say? I’m just a little worried because his health seems to be failing.”

Even this little sister must know that the King was considering acting as regent.

If you were to pick the person the King favored most in this country right now, it would probably be Princess Suyoung, even more than the Crown Prince.

The heir and favor were separate matters.

And the Princess was too young to be jealous of that fact, and the Crown Prince was already an adult.

Of course, this little Princess was already doing a lot of work, contrary to her appearance.

“Come to think of it, there have been quite a few royal relatives comparing themselves to you lately.”

“Who’s making such meaningless comparisons?”

“Thanks to that, some people are having strange delusions.”

Even that young Princess was doing so many things, so if they didn’t have the constraints of being royal relatives, they could have built their own reputations, too.

‘The person herself doesn’t seem to care much about reputation, though.’

Perhaps wealth, instead.

But she was using that wealth to feed the homeless and create ways for them to live, so her character couldn’t be compared to those petty royal relatives.

Besides, this little sister was worried about her own brother.

“If you don’t get married, Brother, there might really be royal relatives who have those delusions. Are you really okay with this?”

“If such people appear, we can just nip them in the bud early on.”

“If this continues, the royal relatives with sons might start dreaming those dreams.”

Really. She seemed like a child, but when she spoke, she was anything but.

Well, quite a few things had started because of the Princess.

From the application of numbers and charts to the separation of the medical office and the compilation of medical books.

Looking back, they were surprisingly significant things.

‘Perhaps it’s better for this child to stay in the palace without getting married.’

She herself was insisting that she didn’t need to get married and would just move out to a private residence and become independent.

“Well, this brother is paying attention to some extent.”

“Even if you don’t want it, there will be people around you who encourage it.”

“Even if I have a consort, there’s a chance I won’t have children, but either way, they’re not the decision-makers.”

The Crown Prince was vague because he wasn’t the decision-maker yet, but the Princess looked a little relieved at his words that he had no intention of being swayed by them.

“Oh, I heard that Eunhwa-gun’s wife is pregnant.”

“Eunhwa-gun, the son of Heunghwa-gun? His wife is pregnant? I haven’t heard yet, but you have fast news, Brother?”

“Well, if you have acquaintances among the officials, news travels faster. It’s better to tell the royal family after things have stabilized.”

“Hmm. Eunhwa-gun is a little older than you, Brother, isn’t he?”

Sia seemed to be pondering something.

It was a pleasure to talk to this little one, who had so many thoughts in her small head that something interesting would come out if you poked her.

“So, what have you been up to these days?”

“Hobbies.”

“Hobbies?”

“Yeah. Actually, recently…”

Sia’s hobbies were quite broad.

She even referred to running Siyoungwon [a charity organization] as a hobby.

‘Besides, she does a lot of strange things, too.’

The food they were eating now, and the playground equipment she claimed to have made for children’s punishment, too.

It was a shame that she wasn’t growing up, but it was a strange feeling to think that she could run around so freely thanks to that.

‘If Sia grows up and gets married, it would be lonely in its own way.’

While he was lost in thought, his sister’s resentful voice continued.

“So, the police couldn’t catch the guys who tried to scam me and let them get away.”

“Ah… I think I heard about that, too.”

It was a high-value scam, although they didn’t know she was a princess.

Unfortunately, most of the victims involved were denying that they had been deceived by such people, which delayed catching the culprits, but Sia suddenly reported it.

‘She uses her identity badge for strange purposes.’

Sia’s identity badge was given to her by the King after hearing that she had encountered some scoundrels harassing courtesans on the street. Originally, he had planned to make it for her when she got married, but he didn’t know when that day would come, and he gave it to her in case Sia went out of the palace again.

It was an jade badge engraved with four-clawed dragons, signifying that she was a direct descendant of the royal family, so the police chief who received it must have been quite shocked.

Seemingly indifferent to what she had done, Sia was still venting her anger at the scammers. It seemed like she had come to complain about this.

“…Those heinous bastards.”

“Yes, I heard. They even kidnapped a child. Although they returned safely, how can the security of the capital be so lax….”

“Shouldn’t we tighten the discipline a bit?”

“You mean the police?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm. That’s a good idea, too.”

She wasn’t usually so actively offering opinions on such matters, but she seemed really angry this time.

“You didn’t even lose anything, so why are you so angry?”

“I couldn’t find the thing I wanted to buy.”

“The thing you wanted to buy?”

“I was expecting a Goryeo Dynasty artifact! But there were only fakes!”

“Ah.”

Indeed. Even if she didn’t lose anything, she felt like she had lost something in her heart.

She already had quite a few antiques collected, but she was surprisingly greedy in that area.

“How much are you planning to collect?”

“I didn’t buy that much….”

Contrary to his expectations, a timid answer came back to his words, which he had said to tease her a little.

The Crown Prince was even more flustered and quickly waved his hand as Sia’s previously lively demeanor disappeared and her voice suddenly became gloomy.

“No, I’m not saying anything.”

“But a limited edition novel is coming out soon, so I’ll have to take comfort in that.”

“Oh, okay….”

“Then, Brother, I’ll be going now.”

Sia smiled and got up, making the hand he had reached out to comfort her feel awkward.

Watching Sia disappear like the wind, Court Attendant Song, who had been following the Crown Prince, smiled contentedly.

“Princess Suyoung is always so full of energy.”

“She’s like a child.”

She always went around with such a bright face, so how scary she became when she was quiet.

No one else knew, but he knew.

The face of his sister eating persimmons filled with poison that day.

If he had to pick the scariest day of his life, he couldn’t think of any other day besides that one.