Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 23

I was born as the daughter of a low-ranking concubine. (23)

‘I succeeded.’

It took longer than I thought, but I achieved a fairly satisfactory result.

“Hehehe.”

“You seem to be in a good mood, Princess.”

“Yeah. I think it turned out well.”

“I was embarrassed when you kept rejecting it, saying, ‘This isn’t it!’ How did you even come up with this kind of food?”

“Well, it just happened?”

I feel a little sorry for the maids in the Saenggwabang [Royal Kitchen], but after several trials and errors, I was finally able to make what I wanted.

‘It seems like there are people who know my sister.’

Among the gazes directed at me, some were subtly mixed with friendliness, and others, not so much.

‘Some people seem to see me as the daughter of a former colleague who suddenly rose in status……’

Still, Song Bi, who was also a former colleague of my mother, acted like she knew me, so everyone greeted me with a more or less welcoming face.

‘I failed a few times, but it turned out exactly as I wanted.’

When I said I wanted to make a sweet and soft steamed egg, everyone thought it would be easy, but it took some time to create the texture I wanted.

‘Thanks to that, the palace maids had to forcibly taste the sweet steamed egg, a new dish.’

I’m sorry!!

Still, thanks to Song Bi, who used to work in Saenggwabang and had a knack for it, I succeeded faster than I thought.

It was a bit difficult for my young hands to do it, so I just directed from the side.

‘It’s still difficult to control the heat.’

I don’t even expect an electric oven, but I still missed the gas stove or microwave. But there’s nothing I can do about it.

After cooling it in well water, I tasted it, and the result was better than I thought.

It lacks the bouncy texture because there is no gelatin, but this is good enough.

‘Making caramel sauce looks like I’m burning precious sugar, so I feel a bit self-conscious. I should just use honey next time, right?’

It threatened my life when I was young, but now it’s considered a health food.

In the first place, desserts in this era cannot be discussed without honey.

After returning to my residence, I handed the cold pudding to my birth mother, now called Yoon Suk-ui [Royal Noble Consort of the Second Rank], after dinner.

“Oh my, Princess. What is this?”

“Something delicious.”

“Is it steamed egg?”

“It’s similar, but a little different. I made it with Song Bi.”

I quickly added an explanation so she wouldn’t worry, and she seemed relieved.

“I’ve never thought of this combination, but it’s sweet and soft and delicious.”

After savoring the taste for a while, my sister covered her mouth as if she was uncomfortable. She seemed to be gagging.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Then, she blinked as if thinking about something and added this.

“It tastes a bit fishy because of the eggs. How about adding some fruit syrup?”

“Ah, that’s a good idea.”

Usually, I would add vanilla essence because of the eggy smell, but I couldn’t get it here, so I was worried. I clapped my hands at the unexpected answer.

“When I was in Saenggwabang, I used to secretly make snacks and share them with my friends. It’s been a long time since someone made something for me like this. I never thought you would make it for me, Princess.”

The pudding unexpectedly stimulated old memories, and my sister’s face was filled with longing as she ate the pudding.

And she looked at me again and smiled happily.

“Maybe you resemble me, Princess.”

“Everyone says we look alike just by looking at our faces.”

“Huhu. That’s right.”

Suk-ui put down the pudding, hugged me tightly, and gently stroked my head.

Even between parents and children, the royal family strictly followed etiquette, but since there were only two of us here, we stuck together and whispered like an ordinary mother and daughter.

From the time when it wasn’t easy to act like a child, it wasn’t difficult to be affectionate with my birth mother, who resembled my sister. Of course, I had to be careful with honorifics.

“Did Mom make snacks since she was young?”

“Snacks are precious food, so I made them for the first time after entering the palace. Um. When I was young, I couldn’t even dream of sweet food, so secretly picking up snacks from Saenggwabang was my pleasure.”

“When I was young…….”

Come to think of it, she must have entered the palace as a court lady when she was young.

‘I’ve never asked because she’s never said anything about her family.’

Even though she has become such a beloved concubine, I have never seen her contact her relatives.

“Did you have any other family?”

“I lost them all when I was young and was relying on relatives. But everyone was not well off, so I entered the palace as a court lady to reduce the burden.”

“Okay.”

When I hugged her tightly as if to comfort her, my sister rubbed her cheek as if she was happy.

“My relationship with my relatives was so estranged that it was quickly cut off, but I still had a friend who was closer than family. A child of my age who lived next door…… knew that my relatives didn’t give me my share when there was a shortage of food, so she secretly shared her food with me. That child would never have been from a wealthy family either.”

“That’s a good friend.”

In an era where food is not abundant, commoners who are not well off may have times when they go hungry. It wouldn’t have been easy for a complete stranger to do that when even blood relatives don’t share food.

“Right? One day, she promised to earn a lot of money later and let me eat to my heart’s content, and then she disappeared. After that, I ended up entering the palace as a court lady, so I couldn’t keep my promise.”

“Hasn’t that friend ever come to see you?”

“……She came to see me pretending to be my relative, my brother.”

Ah, it was a boy?

My sister, who said that with a face soaked in memories, suddenly came to her senses and brought her index finger to her mouth with a flustered face.

“You must not tell anyone about this. Do you understand?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded.

I don’t usually cause trouble as a child, but what she just said was a bit dangerous.

I thought it was a girl, but it was her brother.

‘Um. Were they kind of dating?’

No wonder she shared food like blood.

It’s an old story, so it’s not something that would be a flaw, but if she came to the palace pretending to be family, it was something that shouldn’t have happened to a court lady.

Even now that she is a concubine, it was better to avoid being caught for no reason.

But if she is the only one who came to visit when even her relatives didn’t visit, wouldn’t she miss her?

“Have you ever met since then?”

“……It’s better not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings. You must never tell anyone, Princess. Do you understand?”

“Yeah.”

After being affirmed several times, the topic returned to the pudding I made.

“May I make it with you next time?”

“Okay.”

“If you make it and give it to His Majesty, he will be happy.”

“Wouldn’t it be a little… not right to give it to Father?”

The food, clothing, and shelter of the king and crown prince are a bit tricky.

“Isn’t it food made by the Princess? Give it to him when he comes next time.”

“Okay.”

In the past, she didn’t seem to have a very good relationship with the king, but their relationship seems to have become stronger as he came to see me.

‘If I think about it, was it from when Youngbin was bothering me?’

Maybe she doesn’t really want to, but it doesn’t feel good that she jumped into the competition for favor because of me.

‘These days, there’s nothing to compete about.’

The Queen is still weak, and the King is not very interested in women.

Since I and Grand Prince Yeongwon are the only children in the palace, he visits us more often.

“Can I take it to the Queen?”

“She won’t dislike sweet and soft food.”

Paying greetings to the Queen was one of the daily routines of the princes and princesses, but the Queen, who was weak and sensitive, declined the greetings, saying that there was no need to come in person, so she just sent someone to greet her.

Even before becoming the Queen, she had not had any children since Grand Prince Yeongwon and had been taking care of her body, but seeing that her attitude was still the same, she was a very consistent person.

She is weak, but she also seems to be timid.

Fortunately, she had a good relationship with our mother and daughter.

‘I’m also close to Grand Prince Yeongwon.’

Whether we are close or not, there are only three siblings now. The Crown Prince is bound to be busy, so even if there is an age difference, the two of us have no choice but to spend more time together.

Even Grand Prince Yeongwon had to study as a Grand Prince.

‘Should I make new pudding and go to greet the Queen Dowager and the Queen?’

To live in the palace, it was necessary to maintain a friendly relationship with them.

***

It was a few days later that I visited the Queen’s Palace with cold pudding.

“Oh? Crown Prince.”

“Um? To meet Sia by chance, today is a lucky day.”

I sometimes think, but this human has a natural charm that is no joke.

Of course, the Crown Prince’s Palace is separated from the concubines, so you can’t see him often unless you go to see him on purpose, but aren’t we actually seeing each other relatively often?