Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 177

While Sehwa also caught my eye, I wasn’t too worried about her because she was surrounded by men.

But with only three of us, it would be difficult for Cheonho to take care of both Soi and me.

‘Should I suggest teaching martial arts to the palace maids? But the curriculum already seems quite rigorous.’

As I was thinking, the Crown Prince’s group came into view.

‘I thought they were catching up faster than expected.’

The Crown Prince and Sehwa were helping an old woman on the road; judging by her clothes, she seemed to have slipped on the snowy path.

‘Hmm. The Crown Prince seems to have forgotten that he himself is injured.’

I saw Eunuch Song carrying the old woman into a nearby house.

Sehwa will probably treat her.

“But why are you following them?” Cheonho asked.

“Just curious about something,” I replied.

“Is that so……”

I guess he thought I had some grand reason.

Soon after, the Crown Prince and Sehwa came out of the house, exchanging sweet words and affectionate glances.

Judging by their murmuring, they must have been treated to some snacks. Eunuch Song was holding a bundle that the old woman had been carrying. It seemed they were asked to do a favor.

‘Eunuch Song is having a hard time.’

Well, he is the Crown Prince’s closest aide.

Without any particular plan, the Crown Prince’s party went straight to the market, handed over the bundle to someone, and then started looking around.

“Ah, this is my first time at a market in another region,” I exclaimed.

“You’ve been too busy traveling here. Would you like something to eat?” Cheonho asked.

“Hmm.”

Even though it was winter, the market had various things to eat and see.

The merchants seemed to have spotted us and started soliciting.

“Young miss! Do you need any snacks? Our dried persimmons are so delicious that you wouldn’t even notice if your partner died eating one!”

“……I hate dried persimmons,” I said, cringing.

“……”

I quickly turned my head and clung to Cheonho.

No wonder the Crown Prince turned his head as he passed by earlier. Unfortunately, that cliché promotional line was very inappropriate.

“Oh, I’m sorry, young miss,” the dried persimmon vendor said.

The dried persimmon vendor, who was just trying to do business, felt sorry for some reason, as he had been ignored by the scholar (Crown Prince) and now by a child. He wondered if he had done something wrong.

Cheonho awkwardly asked, “Do you, by any chance, have *yakgwa* [Korean honey cookies] here?”

“*Yakgwa* is too fancy a snack…… Ah, would you dislike taffy too? There’s a taffy vendor over there.”

I could see the taffy vendor making a loud clanging sound with his scissors where the dried persimmon vendor pointed.

Cheonho politely greeted the dried persimmon vendor and walked away.

“Young miss. Shall I buy you some taffy?”

“Cheonho. Do you have money?” I asked.

I’m the kind of person who doesn’t carry money around.

In modern times, I only used cards and payment apps, and here, there’s always someone else who carries money.

“Of course. Her Highness gives me a generous allowance.”

I munched on the corn taffy that Cheonho bought and glanced over at the Crown Prince.

“Is it good?” Cheonho asked.

“Yes.”

There were quite a few people, so it wasn’t obvious even if I got close to the Crown Prince’s party.

People around us probably thought I was just a younger sibling with a big age gap or a servant attending to a young miss, so no one found it strange.

Soi had made me into a complete cotton ball in case I caught a cold.

“Young miss, it’s so fluffy,” Soi said.

“It’s nice because it’s not cold,” I replied.

We whispered quietly, checking what the Crown Prince and Sehwa were doing.

The two of them were already in front of a small trinket vendor, picking up the same trinket and looking at each other with subtly shy expressions.

The way they’ve been acting together since earlier was very unusual.

It was like watching a scene from a historical drama where the main couple is having a fun date, with only background music playing without any dialogue or other sound effects.

I was a bit unsure, but seeing them like that, I guess it’s true.

“Ugh, just get married already,” I muttered.

“Hoop. Puhuhu,” Cheonho chuckled.

“Ahem, quietly, quietly,” I scolded.

I put a piece of taffy in Cheonho’s mouth, who burst out laughing, and clicked my tongue, telling him to be quiet.

“Puhup.”

But what’s so funny about it?

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“No…… it’s nothing.”

“?”

Well, he’s only fifteen, so he’s at the age where he’d laugh just watching leaves rolling around.

While we were distracted, the Crown Prince’s expression turned sour again, as if he had overheard something unpleasant.

I discreetly asked a nearby merchant, “Is there anything ominous going on these days?”

“Yes? Ah, that’s true,” the woman selling dried fish (I couldn’t tell what kind) said, seeming embarrassed by my words and hesitant to speak.

Judging by her reaction, it’s probably something unsavory.

“Actually, a while ago……”

In summary, it was a story about a *gisaeng* [female entertainer] from a government office who was beaten with a club for refusing to serve the magistrate.

‘Oh…… trash.’

The Crown Prince’s angry voice was also heard.

“Did he rise to the position of magistrate just to do such a thing? How can a *mokmingwan* [governor appointed by the King to care for the people] do that!”

“Oh, scholar, lower your voice. If someone hears……”

“What can such a person do to me if they hear? The very fact that it’s being talked about among the people is a disgrace.”

The Crown Prince seemed very angry. Well, since we’re staying at the government office, it means someone we already know committed the act.

And I suddenly had this thought.

‘Ah, is this perhaps the cider [satisfying resolution] section?’

Is it possible that someone who heard those words will immediately snitch, and the Crown Prince will be dragged away, and the magistrate who met the Crown Prince will be shocked?

I struggled to keep my increasingly heavy eyelids open, yearning for a satisfying resolution.

“Young miss, young miss?”

“Ugh……”

Cheonho was startled to see the princess’s head suddenly drop and readjusted the swaying child’s body.

She had been saying she was sleepy all day, and it seemed she finally couldn’t hold it in and fell asleep. She had been excitedly observing the Crown Prince and Doctor Sehwa until just now, but falling asleep was instantaneous.

Cheonho wondered if the taffy he was eating had melted, and if the one the princess was eating had melted too.

‘Is she okay?’

As Cheonho awkwardly held the princess, the women around him laughed and offered advice.

“Oh my. Young man, you have to hold her properly. She’s going to fall.”

“Hahaha. Yes.”

It seemed that his posture had become disheveled from holding her in the crowded market.

Cheonho lowered his body and readjusted the princess.

Meanwhile, the commotion behind him grew louder.

“What did you just say?”

“No, how dare you touch me?”

“That’s enough. Stop it.”

Eunuch Song’s sharp voice was followed by the Crown Prince’s voice. The voices of people worrying were mixed in, making it even noisier than before, but Cheonho wasn’t too worried.

‘It’s not like His Highness the Crown Prince is alone.’

That person is practically a gangster with his status.

Unlike in the mountains like last time, he was someone who didn’t need to worry in a place where law and power were in effect.

“What’s going on?” Cheonho asked a passerby.

“Some scholar was cursing the magistrate, and well……”

People who belatedly learned about the situation gathered from here and there, and merchants began to explain what happened with half worry and half curiosity, so it wasn’t difficult for Cheonho to figure out what was going on.

“To get caught just when he was badmouthing him…… tsk, tsk.”

“I know. Is there anyone who doesn’t curse the magistrate among the people I know? Except for someone who sticks to him and eats with him? Anyway, that scholar is really unlucky.”

“……”

Cheonho quietly wished for the magistrate’s well-being (he probably wouldn’t die) and readjusted the princess before getting up.

“Oops.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Cheonho quickly apologized when he almost bumped into someone while turning around to avoid the Crown Prince’s party. The other person didn’t say anything to Cheonho, who was holding a child.

“No, it’s okay…… Ah?”

“What’s wrong?” Cheonho asked, subtly shielding the princess, as the man seemed to have recognized her face. She was a young child, but he felt uneasy for no reason.

And at the same time, he thought the other person’s voice sounded unexpectedly familiar.

So did the person behind him.

“Perhaps…… are you the people I saw in the mountains a while ago?” the man asked.

“……”

A few important words were missing from the sentence, but the meaning was clear.

The man with the scar on his face nodded and asked with a stiff face, “……Why is the young miss in that state?”

“She just fell asleep. The medicine she’s been taking recently is a bit strong, so she’s been feeling sleepy lately.”

“Medicine……?”

Both of them seemed to know something and exchanged a look of understanding.

‘I think I heard that the scarred man was Seongwon Seja’s *Jwasesma* [a high-ranking military position]. Did Ongju Jaga also tell him about the treatment?’

Well, it wouldn’t be strange to tell someone he knew.

But it wasn’t the scarred man who asked Cheonho the question, but the other one.

“……Is the young miss unharmed?”

“Yes. She met close acquaintances today and had a pleasant conversation.”

The two men seemed puzzled by Cheonho’s words, but Cheonho omitted the explanation and said what he had to say first.

“Um, you’re the one who helped pull people out of the pit back then, right? I was really grateful back then.”

“Ah, yes. It’s…… not a big deal.”

To help two adults climb out of a pit and say it’s not a big deal, that’s great humility.

‘This person doesn’t seem like an ordinary person either.’

Cheonho thought it was a good opportunity and stopped the two men.

“Why did you disappear so quietly back then? Everyone was looking for you to give you an award for saving people.”

The words ‘His Majesty the King’ were missing, but the other person seemed to understand.

“I didn’t dare to see him, so I hid myself. Ongju Jaga will know if you tell her that.”

Cheonho looked embarrassed as he looked at the man who spoke the words ‘Ongju Jaga’ in a voice that could barely be heard.

“So you were the former *Jwasesma*……? The young miss was very upset that you disappeared without a word.”

“That was a long time ago. But what’s going on over there?”

“Ah, you might be able to see something interesting, so follow me.”

“??”