Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 12

‘Why is Consort Seon here?’

After exchanging light greetings and chatting with my sister, Consort Seon paused, noticing me staring blankly. Then, with a serious expression, she asked if she could hold me.

“Baby, may I hold you?”

“Uu?”

Tilting my head, I looked at my sister. When she nodded, I nodded towards Consort Seon as well.

Consort Seon carefully picked me up and introduced the child sitting next to her.

“Grand Prince Gyeongwon. This is Grand Prince Gyeongwon’s younger sister. Please take good care of her.”

“Yes, I will.”

It was our first official meeting, but it wasn’t the first time I had met that child, Grand Prince Gyeongwon.

‘That child was the one who grabbed me in the Queen Mother’s palace that day.’

Come to think of it, I think I kicked him a bit with my feet while struggling…….

‘I feel a little sorry.’

As an apology, I reached out and patted the child’s leg.

“Woong.”

“Oh my.”

Misunderstanding my intentions, Consort Seon smiled contentedly and handed me to Grand Prince Gyeongwon.

‘No, no, no, no, I didn’t mean to go to him!’

I wanted to refuse, but I was afraid I would fall if I struggled in the hands of a child unskilled at holding babies, so I stayed still. Consort Seon and my sister smiled warmly.

“The siblings look so affectionate.”

“Indeed.”

Excuse me, can you ask for my opinion too?

After exchanging some polite conversation, Consort Seon said she had something to discuss with my sister and sent me and Grand Prince Gyeongwon outside.

‘What kind of secret are they talking about?’

Even the palace maids were dismissed, saying there was no need for attendants, so only the two of them were inside.

‘I’m curious!’

When I reached out towards the room, Grand Prince Gyeongwon, who was still holding me, coldly turned away for some reason.

“Uu!”

“You must not disturb their conversation.”

This child, called Grand Prince Gyeongwon, looked a little younger than that crazy guy—no, Grand Prince Gyeongeon—but he had a rather calm demeanor for a young child.

‘Hmm. He still looks like a little baby, but he’s handsome.’

Well, you can’t judge a person by their face. Grand Prince Gyeongeon looked fine on the outside too.

‘Surely he doesn’t have that kind of personality too.’

The still lingering distrust of people was enough to make me wary.

Surely not all the few princes would be like that…….

Suddenly, Seonjo’s sons, or rather, Gwanghae’s crazy brothers, came to mind, but I shook my head.

Even though there were those who beat and killed palace maids or other commoners, there weren’t many crazy people in history who would kill their own flesh and blood, unlike Taejong or Sejo who staged coups [violent overthrows of the government].

‘It has to be someone like Yeonsangun or Crown Prince Sado…….’

Thinking of Crown Prince Sado, who threw his own nursing child into the pond and beat his birth mother (Royal Noble Consort Gyeong of the Park clan) to death, I felt uneasy again.

‘This isn’t knowing is power, it’s knowing is fear!’

My spine tingled, and I shivered. The child looked at me with a surprised and serious face, checking my condition.

“Are you perhaps ill somewhere?”

“Uu.”

No.

“Or perhaps your diaper…….”

“UUUU!!”

No! I waved my hands in annoyance, unintentionally hitting the child’s face and shoulder.

Slap, slap!

“Oh my, how can you hit your older brother?”

“Uu!”

“Alright, I understand. You mean I’m wrong? A young child’s hand is quite fierce.”

The child, surprisingly, didn’t seem to mind being hit and smiled with a drooping brow as if he felt sorry. When he smiled like that, his impression was different from when he had a stern expression, and he looked a little cute.

‘Hmm, right. It’s not right to take out my anger on a young child.’

I had received an apology, so this time I carefully patted his face, and the child chuckled quietly.

From a child who looked like he was barely in elementary school, a truly childlike expression finally emerged.

“You don’t seem like a newborn baby at all.”

You seem a bit like an old man yourself.

Although his face was a little softer than before, the child still had a stern expression as he held me and patted me with sincerity.

“Don’t you feel frustrated that you can’t walk?”

“Uu.”

I’m dying of frustration.

“But even when you can walk, you will still feel frustrated.”

“Uu?”

The child held me and whispered in a small voice.

“The palace is a frustrating and dangerous place, so you must always be careful.”

Seriously, why are these brothers whispering such important things to a baby who can’t even understand?

The Crown Prince did that last time too?

“I heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince likes you. My brother is a good person.”

“Ooh.”

You know that too.

“But His Royal Highness is a busy person, so you must not bother him.”

Hey, it’s not like I can go find him, so how am I going to bother him?

“And Grand Prince Gyeongeon…… avoid him as much as possible.”

You look like you know something too? But can’t you tell that to my sister instead of me?

I can’t even walk yet, so how am I supposed to avoid him?

I strongly objected in my mind, but the only sounds coming from my mouth were babbling.

“Ooh.”

“It’s best to avoid him if you encounter him. I don’t expect you to understand these words anyway…….”

I came to understand the meaning of those words after I turned one and could walk on my own.

***

“Baby, be careful of your feet.”

“Uung.”

These days, the surroundings were peaceful, so naturally, my body and mind were at peace.

No one was bothering me, and the court ladies were extremely polite.

‘Well, my biological father visits often these days, so everyone must be paying attention.’

My biological father sent me to my birth mother and then visited every day to see me take my first steps.

And when he came, the two of them would usually have a pleasant conversation while looking at me.

Thanks to that, I learned that my birth mother’s family had passed away early, and she was in a lonely situation with no proper family and few acquaintances other than friends.

So, I was her only blood relative.

‘Things like this don’t have to be similar.’

I sighed and waddled with my still weak legs.

‘Ugh, other people walk briskly when they become young, but I lack energy.’

Thanks to that, the court ladies following behind me were walking slowly, watching me with anxious eyes.

‘It must look really funny from the side…….’

I’m still a baby, it can’t be helped.

I was walking while justifying myself when suddenly Songbi, who was walking behind me, gasped urgently and embraced me.

“Hiek.”

“?”

What is that?

She probably wanted to cover my eyes, but she was a little late.

On the ground, the corpse of an animal, presumed to be a deer, was lying scattered in a somewhat gruesome form.

“How can such a hideous thing be……!”

“Escort the baby away from here.”

“Were you not surprised?”

“Woong.”

I’d be more surprised because of you guys.

“Don’t make a fuss and call someone to clean it up quickly.”

“Yes, yes.”

Surprisingly, the most composed person among the court ladies was Songbi.

“You saw such a hideous thing, but you’re not even shaken?”

“I’ve slaughtered chickens before, so why would I be surprised by something like that.”

Songbi can slaughter chickens too…… She looks like she can’t even catch a fly.

Even as she said that, Songbi picked me up, blocking my view, and turned in another direction.

‘I’m not particularly surprised by things like that either, but it’s still not a good sight.’

In my previous life, I had unintentionally seen the corpses of pigeons hit by cars several times.

But the problem was that this was inside the palace, and there were no cars, and such incidents were not uncommon.

After that, the corpses of dead birds or animals were often seen.

‘Isn’t killing forbidden inside the palace?’

Usually, killing would be viewed negatively. Of course, things like mice or bugs that need to be cleaned up as soon as they are seen seem to be exceptions.

I was worried it would become noisy, but the palace maids in my residence seemed to be handling it quietly because they didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

Perhaps that’s why the palace maids didn’t seem to welcome me walking around, but my sister, who was still uncomfortable moving around, didn’t stop me from wanting to walk around after taking my first steps. Since the mistress didn’t stop me, the palace maids couldn’t stop me either.

And when you walk around, you meet people.

On another day when I went for a walk, I ran into Grand Prince Gyeongwon after a long time.

“Uaaa?”

“Are you walking now?”

He seems dissatisfied?

“You seem to have grown a lot in the short time I haven’t seen you.”

Next to the child with a sulky expression was my savior, whom I hadn’t seen in a while.

The Crown Prince, happy with the unexpected meeting, reached out to me.

“Our Sia is here. Come, will you come to this older brother?”

“Woong.”

I snuggled into the arms of the future ruler without hesitation.

“Look, isn’t she really small? Grand Prince Gyeongwon was this small when he was young too.”

“Is that so?”

“How cute. Yes, you’re wearing the clothes this older brother sent you.”

Hoo. I didn’t know that.

No wonder the clothes I’ve been wearing outside lately have become a bit more luxurious.

“Giggle!”

As a sign of gratitude, I smiled and clung to him, and a smile bloomed on the Crown Prince’s face.

A pretty boy smiling brightly was a good sight.

“I was playing tuho [a traditional Korean game similar to cornhole] with Grand Prince Gyeongwon. Would Sia like to join us?”

“Ueo?”

Tuho, well, there aren’t many ways to play gently with a young child with a big age gap.

But unlike the excited Crown Prince, the child seemed upset that his time with his older brother was being interrupted.

‘It’s natural to feel sad when a younger sibling is born.’

I know that feeling, so I’ll give way.

‘It’s not like I’m particularly craving the Crown Prince’s attention.’

Your sister is past the age of wanting her parents’ attention, baby.

I tapped the Crown Prince’s shoulder to signal him to put me down, but the Crown Prince’s opinion seemed different.

“Put you down? Can’t I hold you a little longer?”

A rare pretty boy asked with a sulky face, but I didn’t waver.

No! Look behind you! Look at your younger brother’s sparkling eyes!

“Uuuuh!”

Annoying! Let me go!

As I, who had become much heavier than before, twisted my body, the Crown Prince had no choice but to awkwardly put me down.

“Heucha!”

“Ah?! Sia-ya?”

And as soon as my feet touched the ground, I ran straight out. I heard a flustered voice from behind, but I didn’t stop.

“Baby!”

The court ladies were also flustered by my escape and followed behind me.

But, they couldn’t catch up.

‘To think they can’t catch a baby who just started walking.’

Of course, it was also because I was excited after running for the first time in a while and ran without looking ahead, entering a place that wasn’t a path.

‘Eing. Well, I needed some time alone anyway.’

I started to rationalize, thinking they would find me soon anyway.

It’s a natural thing when raising a baby this size, but it was too annoying to have someone following me 24 hours a day.

‘Oh, there’s a pond here too. If I rest here, they’ll find me soon, right?’

My legs were a bit sore, and I thought it wouldn’t be bad to rest alone for once.

Until I discovered someone standing by the pond.

‘What…… is he doing?’

I could tell who it was just by looking at his clothes. It’s that guy, Grand Prince Gyeongeon.

He was holding a rather thick and long branch, creating a rather ominous atmosphere.

Fortunately, he was facing the pond with his back to me, so he hadn’t noticed me. I reflexively lowered my body to avoid being seen by him.

Nyaa-

‘A cat?’

At the unexpected sound of a cat meowing, I looked closely and saw a small cat, seemingly still young, held in the boy’s hand.

Splash!

“!”

And that guy dropped the baby cat he was holding directly into the pond.

Too surprised, I was about to run out without realizing it when someone’s voice was heard.

“Grand Prince Gyeongeon, Older Brother?”