Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 118

From behind me, and from all around, I could hear silent gasps of shock. This happened right after the kidnappers had threatened us to be quiet and stay still.

But my family isn’t someone you can just handle.

“Let go! Save me!”

The other women were startled and tried to cover my mouth, but I didn’t just stand still. Perhaps they weren’t serious, as they readily backed away from my resistance.

“That girl over there…?”

“Haha, ah, that slave girl has a fever and started acting a bit strange, even spouting nonsense, so we’re keeping her isolated. Hahaha.”

Unable to hit me in front of everyone, the man made up an excuse and handed the division head a heavy pouch of money.

‘You too… I’ll kill you later.’

As I quietly wrote a list of people to kill in my mind, one of the military officers who had followed the division head frowned, looking at me with a disturbed expression.

Meeting the eyes of the officer who was peering out from behind the bars, he blinked as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

“Huh?”

And actually, I had found this officer’s face familiar for a while now.

‘He looks like someone who used to work in the palace.’

I couldn’t remember his exact position, but I definitely remembered seeing him in the palace a few years ago.

‘Hmm, who was it? I can’t quite recall his name, but I think I… helped him with something.’

I had helped and given to so many people as I pleased that I couldn’t remember well.

There were so many people whose families were sick that I sent doctors to their homes.

Actually, it wasn’t that I was particularly a pushover, but I thought that someday, even in small ways, I might need their help.

Whether it was meaningful or not, who knows.

At the same time as I remembered, he seemed to have remembered who I was.

“Could it be…?”

“What’s wrong with you?”

Whether the division head looked at him strangely or not, the officer approached me as if possessed.

Then, he knelt down on one knee, meeting my gaze as I sat, and asked.

“Princess… Jaga?”

“What…?”

The atmosphere, which had been somewhat amicable among themselves, froze at the words that came out of the officer’s mouth.

In the continuing silence, only the officer’s and my voices rang out clearly.

“Yes. It’s been a while. Are the children growing up well?”

“Oh, thanks to Princess Jaga, they are growing up healthy. But…”

Hmm. It must be the house where the child was sick. I had sent someone to call a doctor.

The officer’s hand was trembling.

“How… are you in a place like this?”

“I was kidnapped.”

Whether he knew that the officer in front of me had worked in the palace or not, the division head threw down the wad of money he had just received and shouted.

“They are kidnappers of the royal family! Arrest them!”

“Yes!!”

Oh, the change of attitude is quick…

“Princess Jaga, please step back!”

Even if the officer hadn’t said it, everyone was drawing their swords, and I wasn’t brave enough to stand close.

I had often seen them training, but I had never seen anyone fighting for their lives like this.

Fortunately, I couldn’t see well outside because of the cloth that the kidnappers had covered, but the sounds alone were scary enough.

Clang! Clang!

Kkuaak!

Thud! Thwack!

Agh!

Everyone trembled at the gruesome sounds coming from outside.

The others probably felt much the same, but those who were trapped with me had blank faces, as if they didn’t understand the situation.

“Oh, were you Princess Jaga?”

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

I said that, but it seemed like it was important to them.

But in this situation, arguing about it was meaningless.

Bang! Crash!

“!”

Something hit the prison we were trapped in, and everyone couldn’t help but look uneasy as they heard the sound of wood splitting.

Moreover, the cloth that had been psychologically protecting us fell off due to the impact just now, and a brutal battlefield unfolded before our eyes.

“Hiiiik!”

First, we stuck to the inside as much as possible to avoid getting caught up in a pointless fight.

‘But what happened? I thought it was a bit too early for Soi or Cheonho to have come after receiving the message, so was it just another team?’

Sung Gyeom-sabok [a member of the royal guard] was still tracking them, so maybe something came from that side.

I don’t know if this is good or bad.

The important thing was who would win now.

Surprisingly, the criminal group was fighting well, but if the public power lost here, that would be a problem.

“Euaaak!”

Anyway, I was trembling as I saw the bloodshed unfolding before my eyes.

‘I’ve thrown up blood before, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone collapse in front of me. It’s scary!’

But even in the midst of that, something came to my mind.

“They said the slave market is scheduled to open today, so there will be guys coming to buy slaves! We have to catch those people too… Kyaak?”

Squeak-

Unfortunately, it wasn’t our side that heard my words in the chaos, but the human traffickers.

In particular, the kidnapper, who seemed to have been injured in the fight, looked at me with a resentful face and shouted.

“Damn it! Damn it! Why is a princess in a place like this!”

“……”

I wanted to argue that you kidnapped me while I was walking down the street, but I knew better than to provoke him now.

Besides, this might sound strange, but I was quite a celebrity.

“A royal! Damn it! How much trouble have we had because we couldn’t get the slaves we were going to sell because of that crazy princess!”

“…Is that what you’re upset about?”

“If I’m going to die anyway, I can’t die alone!”

It was an incomprehensible logic, but you can’t argue logic with someone who’s flipped out.

Besides, even if he hadn’t flipped out, he just seemed crazy.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been seeing crazy people since I was a baby, but once I realized that he was a crazy person who couldn’t be reasoned with, I didn’t feel the need to persuade him.

The guy who was shaking the wooden bars like crazy soon realized that he had the key, opened the prison door, and came in.

“Kyaaak!!”

“Ah, no…!”

The people who were trying to protect me had no choice but to cower in front of the gleaming blade.

His only target was me; he didn’t even look at the others.

I bit my lip and backed away, but there was nowhere to run in the small prison.

“Come here!”

“!!”

Thwack-!

And the moment the man reached out to me, unexpectedly, something hit the kidnapper’s head.

The man couldn’t even scream, crashed into the bars, and rolled to the floor, but thanks to that, the wooden prison shook precariously.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m… alright.”

The culprit who hit the kidnapper was Cheonho, who had appeared from somewhere.

And as I was about to approach Cheonho, who was reaching out to me, the kidnapper, who I thought had fallen, lunged at Cheonho this time.

“Dangerous!”

“!”

Cheonho, who shielded me and dodged, kicked the kidnapper’s hamstring and broke his arm.

“Agh!”

“Do you have anything like a rope?”

People tried to untie their clothes, but when they saw one of the kidnappers running towards them, they threw the man who had broken the arm.

“Don’t come this way; it’s dangerous.”

Saying that, Cheonho blocked the entrance and stopped the guys trying to come in.

The wooden prison was shaking a bit, but it was manageable because there was only one entrance thanks to the bars.

Cheonho was strong at first glance, and his movements were unusual.

I thought he was no ordinary person since he fought with Sung Gyeom-sabok, but what is he?

‘And why is he helping me, risking so much danger?’

Most of the guys trying to get into this place in the chaos were thinking of taking me hostage, so Cheonho was actually suffering because of me.

I was worried that Cheonho would get hurt because of me.

“Everyone stop!!”

Fortunately, a group of soldiers arrived soon after, and the human trafficking group, seeing the overwhelming number of people, gave up on escaping and surrendered.

Of course, some of them had already escaped, but the soldiers split up and chased after them.

“Hoo.”

“Are you okay?”

Only after the situation was barely calmed down and Cheonho confirmed that the human traffickers were being tied up did he collapse on the spot as if relieved.

“I was a little surprised, but I’m fine. Are you alright, Princess…?”

“Thanks to you, I wasn’t hurt.”

“I’m fine. I wasn’t hurt.”

Ugh. The color of his clothes doesn’t look okay, but he says he’s okay, so I can’t check it.

Cheonho, who soon got up, said that it was okay to come out now and led the women, including me.

Outside, I looked for a familiar face among the injured people. Fortunately, the officer who recognized me first seemed safe.

But there was also a familiar face next to the newly arrived soldiers.

“Brother?”

“Siya!”

Why are you here…

Whether I was flustered or not, the Crown Prince grabbed me and spun me around to check if I was hurt anywhere.

‘Hasn’t this happened before?’

While I was thinking that, I heard Cheonho’s laughter from the side.

“Pfft.”

“……”

I’ll let it go because he’s been through a lot.

“Where are you hurt, this young one…?”

Well, maybe it’s a good thing I’m young, brother.

That’s not what’s important right now.

“Brother. Is it okay for you to come to a place like this?”

“How could I sit still and wait when you were kidnapped?”

I said that because I was worried, but the Crown Prince got angry instead.

I feel like I should be the one getting angry…

My only! Crown Prince! Don’t! Come! To! Such! A! Dangerous! Place!

But I thought he must have been worried when he heard that I had been kidnapped, so I quietly let him pat me.

While the Crown Prince was having an emotional reunion with me, he faithfully gave instructions, and thanks to the hard work of the Ikwisa [likely refers to a specific military unit or group] and others, most of the human trafficking group could be tied up.

‘But the guys who were coming to buy must have run away.’

After all this commotion, unless they were complete idiots, they would have known that something was wrong and ran away.