Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 253

“So, everyone looked for things that the Ongju [princess] would like when they came. Since they don’t have money, they wondered if there was anything they could give.”

“But it’s a famine, so there’s nothing to eat.”

“You idiot. The Ongju eats delicious things every day anyway, so what’s the point of bringing food?”

“Still!”

Some of the children drifted away from the conversation again, but some continued to explain.

“I heard that the Ongju likes old things, so everyone looked for something.”

“…So, did you find anything?”

“Yes!”

Some children answered energetically, while others hung their heads sadly.

It wasn’t something they had promised each other, and it couldn’t be helped since there were regional differences.

The children looked around, took something out of their pockets, or slyly picked up something that was naturally displayed in the restaurant and proudly held it out in front of me.

Most of them were small and simple things, so they weren’t very noticeable.

“How did you all find and bring these?”

“Hehe. I deliberately searched everywhere to find them.”

“Do they just appear if you look?”

“Rather than looking for them, sometimes these things turn up while farming.”

“We also pick them up in the mountains. There are sometimes Buddha statues, but we just pretend we don’t see them.”

“If something comes out of the ground, we don’t want to announce it and have them dig more, so we can’t farm. So we just throw it in the shed. If it looks expensive, we sell it secretly.”

“We found what was left unsold and brought it.”

I looked at the things the children were holding with a dazed face.

They looked rough, but they were definitely from a past era.

‘These things? Just lying on the ground? Could it be that these kids live near Gyeongju [a city known for its historical sites and artifacts]……?’

Surely they didn’t rob a tomb, did they?

I was so dumbfounded that I lost my words for a moment, and then I heard Cheonho’s laughter behind me, ‘Ahahaha!’

“So, you brought those things?”

Cheonho didn’t mean it that way, but the children thought he was making fun of them and shouted angrily.

“But the Siyoungwon [a charitable institution] teachers said so! The Ongju likes these things!”

“My older brother also came here and secretly gave her a jar!”

……Okay. These guys were the culprits.

Listening to the children, it seemed that the older children brought the big things, and the smaller children took turns secretly leaving the small things.

‘The people who brought them didn’t look like nobles, it’s just because they weren’t nobles.’

They said they found things that looked valuable while plowing the fields, picking herbs in the mountains, or hunting, and brought them to me directly.

“But can’t you just give them to the Siyoungwon teachers?”

“We gave them to the Siyoungwon teachers.”

One child answered like this. Of course, I remembered receiving them through the Siyoungwon children.

“But the teachers are always busy.”

“And it’s difficult to ask which land it came from…….”

Surely they didn’t pick it up from someone else’s land……. Surely it’s not stolen goods, is it?

“And they might say we brought useless junk.”

“What if the Ongju doesn’t like it because we brought something useless?”

“We also put things that looked good to us in the Ongju’s house…….”

In other words, they couldn’t tell if it was a good thing, so they didn’t know how to give it to her, so they decided to deliver it to the arcade, which was owned by Suyoung Ongju but relatively accessible to anyone.

Not to mention Siyoungwon.

Since Siyoung Park is outdoors, they thought that things that might break would be thrown away, so the children secretly left small things in the arcade.

‘It would have been okay if they just gave it to me honestly.’

I don’t know what my image is like, but I guess I was a little scary to the children.

Well, since it’s a class society, if you tell commoners that you’re royalty, they’ll feel scared because you’re so high up that they can’t even dare to look at you.

The Jongchin [royal family members] in each branch will also keep their distance from the commoners, so there will be a psychological distance.

‘Even if everyone fawns over me, there must be people who act scary in front of the powerless commoners.’

Even the Siyoungwon teachers, who use elegant language, could be difficult people for these children.

“Okay. Then shall we tell the Ongju to accept them?”

“!”

The children’s eyes widened at my words.

“Really? Can we give this to the Ongju?”

“Won’t she get angry because it’s not pretty?”

“She won’t get angry.”

“Wow!”

The children got excited and started talking among themselves.

Talking to kids who don’t know I’m an Ongju reminds me of the early days of Siyoungwon.

Now that they know my face, they all know my status.

‘I’ve been too busy lately to go to Siyoungwon often. I don’t know the atmosphere well.’

Come to think of it, these children live in Siyoungwon, but they don’t know Cheonho?

“Cheonho, have you ever seen these kids at Siyoungwon?”

“I only stop by in the early morning unless there’s something special. I don’t go to the side where there are many children in the first place, and there are so many people that I don’t know the children well.”

“Hmm.”

Well, even if you live in Siyoungwon now, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you live in Siyoungwon like before.

‘Since there are so many secrets, they must be careful of people from outside.’

I first called the manager through the staff and explained the situation appropriately.

The manager, of course, knew that the children were visiting the arcade.

However, he was a little embarrassed because he was surprised that the children had been secretly bringing antiques all along. Still, he quickly brightened up as the questions were resolved.

Following the guidance of the staff called by the manager, the children put down what they had brought one by one in the warehouse.

“Now you can take it with peace of mind.”

“Oh, there’s so much.”

I chuckled as I looked at the small medicine box that the child had secretly taken out of his arms earlier.

Some of them held what they thought was important in their arms, which was cute to think about.

“Should we just accept things that come in anonymously now?”

“Agassi [young lady/miss].”

“There are still many people who don’t know how to read, and it’s not easy to find the right tools to write.”

I heard that some people secretly leave messages of gratitude, but when I think about it, there must be many people who can’t.

I can’t say that there aren’t people who think similarly to these children.

‘I heard that some people who secretly leave their children at Siyoungwon write their birthdays or ages on their clothes with fruit juice.’

These days, there are many people who bring their children in, but there are still many people who abandon their children.

Now they can’t even come to Siyoungwon and secretly leave them in any house nearby and run away.

I won’t catch them because they must have their own reasons.

No matter how good the rumors about Siyoungwon are, it must be burdensome for people who haven’t experienced it themselves.

Anyway, this matter seemed to be resolved to some extent.

But there was also something that was not resolved.

“But what happened to the thing you said we stole?”

“It’s not here. I can’t see it.”

“After all, the uncles took it…….”

“I told you, it’s not.”

“We’re not interested in that kind of thing.”

The most important suspicion that was the beginning of this situation was still unresolved.

“But the box is gone. Everyone said it might be precious, so I kept it with me.”

“That’s right. So I didn’t leave it behind and kept carrying it around.”

Ah, so that’s why they carried it around.

The child was excited for a moment because the atmosphere was resolving, but he was quite agitated when he couldn’t find his own thing.

Apparently, it was a ‘very precious thing’ to anyone who saw it.

‘Maybe he wanted to deliver it himself rather than entrusting it to someone…… or maybe he just liked it and wanted to carry it around.’

He’s still a young child, but he couldn’t bring himself to say that he wanted to have the thing that he was going to give to the high-ranking person who was also his benefactor, so he insisted that he wanted to deliver it himself.

And if he liked it so much, he would have taken it out and looked at it many times.

“Have you ever opened that box in the arcade?”

“……Yes.”

The expressions of the other children around him became fierce at the child’s answer.

“Are you stupid?”

“Why are you opening something like that in a crowded place like this?”

“That’s why someone took it.”

“Sob…….”

When I was about to comfort the child who was crying because of the surrounding criticism, one of the staff members who was listening to our story approached cautiously.

“Excuse me, are you looking for a box about this size, made of black wood?”

“!”

“That’s right!”

The children nodded enthusiastically at the staff’s words.

Unlike the expectation that it might be in lost and found, the staff gave a slightly embarrassed answer.

“I saw someone taking that box.”

“Huh?”

It was an unexpected testimony.

‘I should say that there were many staff members because the children were watching archery.’

In the first place, there weren’t many things that these small children could be so engrossed in.

In addition, sometimes people with a sense of humor would buy a drink for the spectators when they won, so there were bound to be many spectators.

And there was another advantage.

“Do you remember his face?”

“Yes. He comes often.”

“Then can we find out who he is?”

“I recorded it once because he had a high score a while ago.”

“Wow!”

The faces of the people who were listening brightened.

‘Here, if you leave a record, you write down your personal information to some extent.’

That way, you can properly check the identity of someone later and give them a prize.

Unless they refuse to reveal their identity. People who want prizes or fame didn’t avoid it.

The newspaper doesn’t just write down the first place in a stingy way.

No one disliked having their name written in the newspaper in a good way, even if they weren’t in first place.

You can also brag to your relatives and friends.

“If you remember when it was, can you find it?”

“Yes.”

The staff soon brought the list and checked who it was.

As expected, there is no personal information protection in the Joseon Dynasty [Korean kingdom from 1392 to 1897].

‘Of course, that’s because I’m the owner and powerful person here.’

I should tell them not to show it to others carelessly.

“From his clothes and the way he writes, he seemed to be a nobleman. He also visits here often.”

“Then it will be easier to find him.”

It would be even better if he lived in the capital.

‘If I leave it to Siyoungwon and ask them to check if anyone knows him, I think they’ll find him.’

Anyway, there are quite a few Siyoungwon officials here, so I don’t think I need to give separate instructions.

But there was no need to do that.

“He comes regularly, so he’ll be back in a few days.”

And a few days later.

We were shooting arrows in the arcade, waiting for the suspected thief.

“Why are you here again, Uncle?”

“I almost got framed as a criminal, so I’m here to see someone’s face.”

The uncle did not give in to Cheonho’s blunt voice.

Whatever…….

“Ah, that’s him.”

Just as I was putting down my bow and resting, the staff pointed to someone who was just coming in. I also turned my head slightly to check his face.

“Where, where. Huh?”