Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 115

“No, that can’t be… it’s impossible.”

Though he said so, the man’s voice trailed off. Since there wasn’t any particularly noticeable feature, he couldn’t be sure if I was the same child he’d seen briefly that day.

“We’ve already brought her, so there’s nothing we can do. Little one, if you stay quiet, we won’t hurt you. Understand?”

I nodded pitifully, sobbing.

“If we put her there now, the other kids will start crying too, and it’ll get noisy. Let’s take her later.”

“Yes, sir.”

As I kept dropping tears and could only sob without speaking properly, they untied my wrists, perhaps telling me to wipe my tears, and then both left with uneasy expressions.

‘Hoo.’

It was fortunate that the tear skills I had honed since I was a baby were still in good shape.

‘Though it’s also true that I’m just sad.’

What sins did I commit in my life to get caught up in something like this? Seriously.

I wiped away my tears, still sniffling from the lingering emotions of my outburst.

But then, a sound came from an unexpected direction.

Toc, toc, toc.

“?”

Turning my head toward the sound, I saw someone’s hand beyond the small bars in the storage room window.

When I spoke in a small voice, an equally small voice replied.

“Is anyone… there?”

“Young miss, it’s me. Cheonho.”

“?!”

Cheonho? Cheonho, the child I saw at the *gibang* [a traditional Korean house of entertainment] that day?

“Are you alright?”

“Why are you here?”

“I saw a man taking someone who looked like you in front of the *Hyeminseo* [a Joseon-era medical relief agency], so I followed just in case.”

Seeing that he mentioned the *Hyeminseo*, it must be him. But how did he follow me all the way here?

“…Are you really not involved with these kidnappers?”

“I’m really not. I went to the *Hyeminseo* to see you, young miss, and happened to… no, more importantly, are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m not hurt.”

“Weren’t you crying?”

“I was crying on purpose.”

“?”

I omitted the detailed explanation because it was too much of a hassle to explain.

But then, that child said something unexpected.

“I’ll sneak in and rescue you when it gets dark.”

“…No, that’ll be difficult. This is an illegal slave trade site, and they’re planning to sell me off as a slave today.”

“!”

I knew from the start that there would be a transaction today, and I even specified the region and passed it on through Soi. But since I didn’t know the exact location, it would take time to search.

“But if you remember this location and pass it on, they might be able to round them up before it’s too late.”

“But if something happens in the meantime, wouldn’t you be in too much danger, young miss?”

“It’s the same for the other people who are captured. And since I’m a young girl, I have market value and no strength to resist, so they won’t kill me easily.”

Originally, female slaves who could bear children were more expensive. But since they need time to grow up, they don’t particularly prefer young children.

‘So, as I said before, there’s a high possibility they’ll try to sell me to a *gibang*.’

*Gisaengs* [female entertainers] who need artistic skills have to be taught from a young age.

I clearly heard that *Siyoungwon* [an orphanage] dried up the supply of girls.

I had heard something similar from Maehyang before. The number of parents selling their children to *gibangs* has decreased.

Rather than selling their children for a pittance, it’s much easier for them to abandon them in *Siyoungwon*, and they also think that they can take them back later, claiming they are their lost children, so many people abandon their children in *Siyoungwon*.

It’s a financial burden, but if it ultimately reduces the number of unhappy children, then it’s a good thing.

Even now, there are quite a few people who flee into *Siyoungwon* to escape their husbands’ or fathers’ debts.

‘Wait, now that I think about it, could that be why the children of *Siyoungwon* have no thoughts of marriage?’

I heard that victims of domestic violence, just before being sold as slaves, rush in because it protects people more reliably than running into any government office.

I wish they would come sooner, before that happens, but some awful people who sell off their wives and children still believe in their families.

With a sigh, I threw the only possession I had to the window.

It was fortunate that they didn’t thoroughly search a child’s body.

“?”

Cheonho, who received it when I threw it, seemed bewildered, but there was no time since I didn’t know when those guys would return.

“Take that to the *Hyeminseo* and tell them about my situation. Underst….”

I stopped speaking when I heard footsteps outside, and I crouched back in the corner as I had been sitting before.

Cheonho seemed to have hidden himself, sensing the situation.

Creak-

“Are you done crying now?”

“Come out.”

I swallowed hard, trying to stifle my sobs.

‘I said that, but I’m scared. Seriously.’

I spoke so confidently, but if things went wrong, I might really be sold off as a slave.

The men, seeing me trying to suppress my tears and wiping them with my sleeve, didn’t do anything too violent.

They only hit the man who had tied me up one more time when they saw me falling over because of my tied legs as I tried to get up.

“Can she even walk? You better carry her carefully.”

“Yes.”

“Give her some water too. Her face has to be decent to get a good price.”

The kidnappers didn’t treat me violently, seemingly satisfied that I was docile and frightened.

But all that meant was that I would be going into one of the wooden prisons I had seen earlier.

‘I’m glad I sent Cheonho back. This isn’t a situation where he can rescue me when it gets dark or anything.’

Even as I thought so coldly, all sorts of negative thoughts flooded in.

What’s going to happen to me now? Will I be able to return safely?

‘Hmm, if I had known this would happen, I should have made up with the Crown Prince before coming.’

He would blame himself so much if something happened to me.

As I thought about it and recalled the people around me one by one, I couldn’t help but sigh.

What should I do?

Even I thought there were too many people I had to take responsibility for.

‘I hope Sia’s anger has subsided a bit?’

The Crown Prince’s steps were the lightest they had been in recent times as he finished organizing the work he had to do today and returned to his residence.

He had taken some time to visit Sia, and he had also finished the troublesome tasks that he thought would take a long time to deal with earlier than expected.

Thanks to that, he had some time to rest comfortably for the first time in a while, even before the sun had set.

Normally, he would have called Sia out and asked her how she was doing these days, and spent time eating the food she brought, but Sia was still holed up in her residence.

But Eunuch Song said that Sia didn’t seem angry.

Eunuch Song had been watching Sia for many years, just like him, so if he said so, it must be true.

She had been angry for so long, so it would be a little embarrassing to come back right away as if nothing had happened just because he had bought her books.

But perhaps before long, she would come back with her eyes sparkling again, chattering, ‘Brother, Brother.’

‘Well, I won’t deny that I raised her a bit spoiled.’

Within the strict palace, Sia was the only exception.

The only younger sister who fearlessly ran around, fluttering her skirt, where His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen were not present.

Even when he had a headache from unsolvable problems, he couldn’t help but feel better when he looked at her.

‘Hyung-nim [older brother] must have felt this way too.’

When he was young, he sometimes sulked, thinking that *Hyung-nim* only liked Sia too much.

Now that he had grown up like this and looked at the still small Sia, he couldn’t help but understand why *Hyung-nim* loved Sia so much.

At that time, Sia was even smaller and younger than she was now, so she must have been a younger sister that *Hyung-nim* couldn’t bear to hurt.

He seemed to have adored Sia quite a bit too, but it was so long ago that he now had a slightly vague memory of what Sia looked like back then.

Of course, even without such memories, he was aware that he was indulging his younger sister, who didn’t grow up and was more like a child than her actual age.

Realizing the smile that naturally appeared on his lips as he thought of Sia, the Crown Prince smiled a little bitterly.

‘I, as a human being, really don’t have much joy in my life.’

Sia’s words that he was a boring person suddenly hit home.

But he had lived like this since he was born.

When he thought about it, he used to find studying and martial arts fun when he was young, but after suddenly rising to the position of Crown Prince, it wasn’t as enjoyable as it used to be.

‘Is it because I feel like I stole *Hyung-nim’s* place?’

The most enjoyable memories were always in those days when *Hyung-nim* was around.

He had never once thought about wanting to become the Crown Prince. Because it was naturally *Hyung-nim’s*.

How foolish and immature he was in those days.

He was almost embarrassed when he thought about how anxiously the people around him must have been watching his foolish self back then.

‘No, let’s not think about it.’

He couldn’t spend his time off being self-deprecating.

Should he play with the cats for the first time in a while?

Thinking so, he returned to his residence, but for some reason, even the cats, who always occupied other people’s rooms like their own, were nowhere to be seen.

“That’s unusual.”

Usually, they would scatter the things in the room and run away, giving the palace people a headache, but when he actually tried to play with them, they were nowhere to be seen.

Thinking of reading a book for the first time in a while, he strangely only thought of things other than the books he usually read.

‘It was… fun.’

Before he knew it, the Crown Prince’s hand was reaching for a tattered book with torn parts pieced together.

He had always looked down on Sia for reading novels, but he never thought he would be so engrossed in reading them himself.

Perhaps he had been too narrow-minded all along.

The Crown Prince read the book several times after that, even though it was somewhat messy because the palace people had added paper and copied the letters to try to fix it somehow, but it didn’t make it any less messy.

The Crown Prince, looking down at the book that was undeniably a mess no matter how he looked at it, suddenly thought of the woman he had met that day.

***

“Um, if you happen to have a Flower Shadow, would you consider giving the signed copy to me?”

“Yes?”

At the Crown Prince’s words, the woman hugged the book she was holding and backed away.

Seeing her clearly wary, the Crown Prince was flustered and took a few steps back, clearing his throat.

“I’m sorry if I startled you. I’m not a suspicious person, I just really need that book. I can pay you any amount. Would that not be possible?”

“You can find as many unsigned illustrated copies as you want.”

“But it has to be a signed copy.”

After listening to the people around him, he heard that the author’s signed copy was a particularly meaningful item to the readers.

There were many people who wanted to have the writings of famous people, so if he thought of it as a similar psychology, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

Sia liked to collect this and that anyway.

So if it wasn’t the same book with the signature, Sia probably wouldn’t forgive him.

But honestly, it was a little embarrassing to tell such a situation to other people.

“Why do you need a signed copy?”

“Why do you ask such a thing?”

“If you don’t tell me, I can’t give it to you either.”

She was an audacious woman.