Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 165

I was born as the daughter of a low-ranking concubine.

I probably got scratched by dry branches and rocks while falling, but thanks to wearing thick winter clothes, I didn’t sustain any major injuries.

‘My clothes must be in terrible condition.’

Feeling around, I found tears and rips everywhere.

Fortunately, there was no major damage. My head didn’t seem to hit anything, either.

‘Even in the midst of all this, I was holding Barang [likely a personal item or object of sentimental value] tightly. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem to be torn.’

Sehwa slowly got up.

“Ah… my back.”

Fortunately, I could get up. I would definitely have bruises all over, but for now, I was grateful just to be alive and able to move.

‘Where am I?’

The surroundings were all dirt walls. The floor was covered with fallen leaves and branches, and high above, I could see the sky.

‘A pit? How deep is it…?’

Sehwa suddenly recalled what the herb gatherers had said earlier.

‘There are quite a few traps set up in the mountains to catch tigers. Outsiders need to be careful not to wander around alone because they don’t know where they are.’

Could this deep pit be… a tiger trap?

Sehwa felt aches all over her body but somehow managed to move.

If it was a tiger trap, there should be bamboo spears or something similar at the bottom, but fortunately, there were no such devices or blades.

‘Is it to prevent damaging the tiger’s skin…?’

Or maybe it was in preparation for someone falling in like me.

“Ugh… ugh.”

For now, I didn’t have to worry too much about wolves or other wild animals jumping in here.

‘However, I might have to worry about freezing to death….’

Even though it was still early winter, spending the night in the mountains was suicidal.

If it rained or snowed….

Shaking off the negative thoughts, Sehwa suddenly recalled the face of the royal physician who had pushed her.

‘He definitely pushed me on purpose.’

Did he want to kill me?

I didn’t think I had earned that much resentment.

No. Maybe he was aiming for Princess Ongju’s medicine instead of me.

I had the herb that could cure the Princess.

‘If Seonghui found the herb, they might be in danger too.’

***

While the Crown Prince was busy preparing for the military exercise, he received an unexpected visitor.

“Who is it?”

“That is….”

The men who had been sent to protect Physician Sehwa while she was searching for herbs had urgently come to report.

“…Sehwa is missing?”

“Yes, Your Highness. According to the physician who was with her, she slipped into the bushes because she was tired from searching for herbs.”

“That can’t be.”

The Crown Prince’s face darkened.

“We must find Physician Sehwa. I will lead the search myself. Inform His Majesty of this.”

“But, Your Highness.”

“Now!”

“Yes, yes.”

The Crown Prince’s aides also looked grim at the news.

However, some were puzzled.

“It’s understandable that he’s so serious since he values Princess Ongju’s medicine, but I didn’t expect him to move personally.”

“Considering His Highness’s usual character, isn’t it not unusual? He is known for caring for his people.”

Since he was not one to treat his subordinates carelessly, everyone soon agreed.

“If you insist on going, we will go with you.”

“The mountains are dangerous, Your Highness.”

“There is still time before nightfall. We must find her before it’s too late, even if we have to mobilize the military.”

“Yes!”

While preparing the soldiers, the Crown Prince rebuked those who had come to report to him.

“Why weren’t you by Physician Sehwa’s side!”

“We are sorry. It happened while we briefly took our eyes off her.”

“We must find her. If we don’t find Physician Sehwa, I will not let this pass.”

“Yes!”

The Crown Prince said that and mounted his horse.

Neigh!!

“Ugh?!”

“Your Highness!!”

Unexpectedly, as those who were following the Crown Prince mounted their horses, the horses suddenly began to riot.

“What’s going on?”

“We… we don’t know either.”

“…Only those who can follow, follow me first.”

“Your, Your Highness!”

Fortunately, the Crown Prince’s horse and a few of the military officers’ horses were unharmed, so they decided to leave first to assess the situation.

And shortly after the Crown Prince left, while they were still trying to calm the horses, someone arrived.

“Princess Ongju has sent me with an urgent message for the Crown Prince.”

“Are you Guard Cheon?”

“No, I am not.”

“Then how do we know that you are the person Princess Ongju sent?”

Song Naegwan [a high-ranking eunuch] and the Royal Escort officers, who were barely calming down the still agitated horses, looked puzzled.

“The horse he is riding is definitely Princess Ongju’s horse. There are only a few people who can ride that horse.”

“Ah… then that must be right.”

Princess Ongju’s beloved horse, Jeok-ah, was quite well-known among those in the know.

No one could deny that it was a fine horse, but because of its extremely picky nature, there were only a handful of people who could ride it.

‘It’s a good horse, but it’s a pity.’

Neigh!

And that good horse was threatening the other excited horses with its front hooves, expressing its displeasure.

“…Why is he so angry again?”

“It seems he is unhappy with carrying something heavier than usual.”

“Cheonho?”

Most of the Royal Escort officers knew Cheonho, but they were all looking at the suddenly appearing Cheonho with awkward expressions.

Because of what happened last time, they already thought of Cheonho as Princess Ongju’s person, but since it was outside the palace, everyone was a little nervous.

Cheonho noticed that fact, but he didn’t show it much.

‘Is there still resentment from the hide-and-seek game last time?’

Thinking that it didn’t matter since he wasn’t going to join the Royal Escort anyway, Cheonho decided to finish what he came here to do first.

“Where is the Crown Prince? Princess Ongju said she urgently needs to tell him something.”

“The Crown Prince… went to search for Physician Sehwa because something happened to her.”

“Yes?”

If Ongju had heard that, she would have lamented, ‘The Crown Prince is going to find her himself? Is he a main character or something….’, but those who remained in the camp were just troubled by the Crown Prince’s recklessness and were preparing to follow him in a hurry.

Cheonho also turned pale and shouted.

“It’s dangerous!”

“We know that. But he’s not going alone, he’s going with the Royal Escort officers and soldiers, so it’ll be alright.”

“The Crown Prince has a strangely reckless side to him.”

“He cares about his people, so many people follow him, but from our perspective, we can’t help but worry.”

Song Naegwan sighed. And in contrast to the relatively calm atmosphere, Cheonho shouted in an anxious voice.

“No, that’s not the problem!”

“Is there a problem?”

Cheonho hesitated for a moment whether he should tell someone other than the Crown Prince, but considering the location and that he was a close aide to the Crown Prince, he thought that there were not many people as trustworthy as Song Naegwan, at least when it came to the Crown Prince’s safety, so he opened his mouth.

“Not only Physician Sehwa but also the Crown Prince may be in danger.”

“What do you mean?”

“Recently, those who are dissatisfied with the Crown Prince have gathered and are showing ominous movements.”

“Wh, what are you talking about!”

Cheonho told him in detail what he had heard before leaving.

If nothing had happened, he might have just laughed it off, thinking, ‘Surely not.’ But considering the strangely unfolding situation, it was difficult to laugh it off like that.

“We, we need to send soldiers… no, we need to inform His Majesty of this fact!”

But the sky was beginning to darken.

It wasn’t time for the sun to set yet… it was a sign that it would snow.

***

“Around here?”

“Yes.”

“Considering the direction she fell, she should have been nearby, but we couldn’t find her even after searching the area.”

The Crown Prince’s face hardened at the words of the herb gatherers who had been with her.

“It’s possible that she rolled down to another place. I’ll have to go and check it out myself.”

Since it was difficult to continue moving on horseback in the mountains, he was about to get off the horse.

Thud-

“Neigh!!”

“!”

“Your Highness!!”

The Crown Prince’s horse, stabbed by something sharp, began to rampage and run wildly.

“No, calm down, calm down!!”

The Crown Prince tried to calm the horse, but it wouldn’t listen.

A horse running wild on a rough mountain path meant one thing.

‘Damn it. I’m going to fall off like this.’

There was no way the other horses behind could catch up with the rampaging horse, and it was even a mountain path with many trees and rocks.

If the horses were in normal condition, they wouldn’t have followed.

Since it was not a situation where he could receive anyone’s help, it was better to fall as safely as possible.

Above all, how far had he run in the meantime? The ground was not visible ahead. It meant that a cliff was approaching.

‘Not a cliff, but a place without trees….’

The Crown Prince, barely clinging to the runaway horse, saw a place with piled-up branches and fallen leaves along the way, gritted his teeth, and threw himself off.

Fortunately, the fallen leaves were piled up quite a bit, and the ground cushioned his body without even a loud noise.

‘A, am I alive?’