Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 259

“What are you doing? You dazed fool.”

The door opened, and an unfamiliar voice spoke.

Outside, it was already completely dark, and with the torch behind him, I couldn’t tell who was at the door.

But the answer came unexpectedly from above my head.

“…Uncle?”

“Yes. It’s your uncle. The uncle of a crazy bastard who’s running wild against tigers all alone.”

“Ha, haha. That was unavoidable, you know?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I taught you not to do such dangerous things… You dazed fool.”

Rough words were exchanged, but I could tell that Cheonho was relieved.

‘Just now, he clearly said that his uncle was chasing the tigers.’

Perhaps because he was from the Tiger Hunt Unit, Cheonho seemed to trust his uncle’s skills without a doubt.

“Cheonho’s uncle?”

“Yes… Huh, is that the Princess?”

Cheonho’s uncle, who had been answering without thinking, seemed to realize who I was and bowed his head in embarrassment.

“Are the others safe?”

“Yes?”

Cheonho’s uncle, surprised by my question, glanced back before answering, still bowing.

“Ah, for now, no one is dead.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Haa.”

Thank goodness. Perhaps because the tension had been released, all the strength drained from my body.

“Be careful, Princess.”

“Okay.”

Leaning halfway on Cheonho, I came outside to see soldiers with torches busily moving around.

“Is it over?”

“It seems so.”

It seemed like we should move so the injured inside could be transported and properly treated, so Cheonho and I decided to leave.

If I had stayed any longer, I might have developed claustrophobia.

“Be careful.”

“Okay.”

As I went down the stairs, I felt strangely weightless.

I still didn’t feel quite real.

On the ground, there was another large, bloodied tiger carcass. Just looking at it sent shivers down my spine.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah.”

Still feeling a chill down my spine, I clung to Cheonho’s sleeve.

“…Ahem. But Cheonho, how long are you going to keep doing that?”

“?”

“?”

“Hot.”

“Ah.”

Cheonho and I, who had been blankly wondering what he was talking about, were soon startled and quickly moved apart.

Cheonho’s uncle seemed like he wanted to say we were hopeless, but he just pretended not to notice, aware of my presence.

“Th-those things aren’t moving anymore, are they?”

“Yes. They’re dead. One was already dead, and the other resisted quite a bit, but it was already half-dead before I got here, so it wasn’t difficult.”

“That’s a relief.”

It was hard to see in the dark, but the stench of blood was overwhelming.

‘It must have been bad since earlier, but I was too tense to notice anything.’

Well, when your life is in danger, who cares about the smell of blood?

‘Come to think of it, what happened to the arrow I shot into its eye?’

Curiosity made me glance over, but suddenly, the tiger’s body twitched and moved.

“Eek!”

“Princess!”

Cheonho, who had also been watching the tiger, shielded me.

And at the same time.

Thwack!

“Oops, my bad.”

“……”

“……”

It was Cheonho’s uncle who nonchalantly stabbed the tiger’s neck with a spear.

‘It already has enough wounds…’

The tiger’s body seemed to be trembling slightly, but thanks to that, it wasn’t as scary.

The tiger was dead.

“It’s so tough. I stabbed it several times earlier, but it’s still moving.”

“……”

Unlike me, Cheonho seemed used to it and sighed, rebuking his uncle.

“Uncle, the Princess is getting scared!”

“Well, you have to make sure it’s dead, you fool. Ah, no. I apologize, Princess.”

Cheonho’s uncle suddenly came to his senses and politely checked my expression before pulling out the spear stuck in the tiger, looking flustered.

Was it that easy to pull out?

Thanks to pulling out the spear, blood was pouring from the wound…

I staggered again and grabbed Cheonho’s arm. I’m glad there was something to hold onto nearby.

The fact that I felt nauseous from the reek of blood made me feel more real.

‘I feel like I’m going to faint.’

But if I faint now, everyone will panic…

Besides, I wanted to check if the others were safe.

‘I need to check on Soi and the other court ladies too.’

I hurried to take a step, but my body swayed, contrary to my thoughts.

“Ah.”

“Princess!”

Cheonho supported me again this time.

“Are you really alright?”

“Yeah. Ah, haha. I strangely don’t have any strength in my body.”

“It’s probably because you’ve relaxed. Or, perhaps you’re hurt somewhere?”

“I don’t think so.”

Even now that the tension had been released, my body felt heavy, but nothing particularly hurt.

But compared to me, Cheonho still looked well enough to support me, so I was worried about him instead.

“Ah, Cheonho, you’re hurt. Get treated quickly.”

“The injury I sustained is almost embarrassing to mention here.”

As he said that, Cheonho helped me move away from the tiger carcass.

Of course, it was still the same there, so the stench of blood didn’t fade at all, but it felt a little better since I couldn’t see it.

There were familiar physicians from the royal infirmary because many people were injured—no, it seemed like most of the royal infirmary staff were out—but I didn’t have the energy to acknowledge them.

Of course, they couldn’t help but be concerned about me and spoke to me, but I was also human and had a conscience.

“Princess, please allow me to take your pulse.”

“There are people bleeding over there, and you’re telling me to get my pulse taken? Do I look like such a shameless person to you? Please take care of the injured first.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Don’t be so impressed by something so obvious and leave.

Seeing the physicians and palace staff busily taking care of the injured made me feel relieved, but from time to time, I felt a chill down my spine for no reason. Is it because it’s cold?

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, I’m fine.”

“……”

He didn’t seem to believe me much.

“Is Cheonho alright?”

“This isn’t even the first time I’ve seen something like this.”

No, me too… It’s not the first time I’ve seen it.

I’ve seen it a few times at the zoo or something. It wasn’t scary at all to see it in a safe place.

‘Cheonho must mean it’s not the first time he’s caught one.’

If I didn’t have someone to protect and had proper weapons, could Cheonho have caught it much easier?

‘He already caught one earlier, too.’

Come to think of it, I’m a little curious about how Cheonho’s uncle caught it.

“The Ladies will probably come to escort the Princess soon, so please rest a bit.”

“Okay.”

Since the Royal Guards were safe, they would have already told them that I was here.

Ah, then not only the palace staff will come.

Soon, noisy voices and familiar voices were heard.

“Princess! Princess!”

It was the voices of Soi, Gai, and Songbi, including the court ladies of our residence.

‘It sounds like I can even hear the voices of people who are off duty today.’

Their voices sounded tearful, but they seemed to compose themselves after finding me.

I pretended not to notice and checked on their well-being with my eyes.

Fortunately, no one seemed to be hurt on the outside.

“Are you all safe? Weren’t you hurt earlier?”

“We, we are safe, Princess.”

“No one was hurt?”

“Yes.”

“…Okay. That’s a relief.”

Everyone’s face was bright.

“O-oh, Princess!”

After confirming the important things, I felt the strength leave my body, and my eyes closed.

“Sia!!”

Hmm? I could hear the Crown Prince’s voice too.

He must have been stuck because of the news that tigers had appeared and only just arrived.

‘It would be a disaster if something happened to the Crown Prince.’

He must have been worried if he heard that I was in danger.

But perhaps it was because I was relieved that everyone I knew was safe.

I just felt like I needed to sleep.

“I’m going to… sleep now…”

“Pardon?”

My consciousness was cut off just like that.

***

‘Sia already has such good arm strength; she’ll be good at archery.’

A large hand stroked my head.

I knew who the owner of this hand was.

‘Then will I be better than you later, Brother?’

‘Haha. Maybe? She rides well, shoots well, and is even smart.’

‘Don’t indulge her, Brother. She’ll think it’s real and become arrogant.’

And I knew the owner of this voice too.

‘Didn’t Sia grumble before that her grip strength was strong?’

‘Th-that’s different.’

‘If this brother holds your hand and teaches you, you’ll be as good as me.’

‘Of course, the arrows you shoot are always on target, Brother.’

‘The Grand Prince Yeongwon’s archery is also formidable. He’s still young, but his future is promising.’

‘I, I want to shoot as well as you, Brother!’

Seeing the Grand Prince Yeongwon grabbing the bow with sparkling eyes, I inwardly clicked my tongue.

What a clueless guy.

I don’t care, but you shouldn’t say things like that!

‘I’m going to shoot better than you, Brother Yeongwon.’

‘Do you think you can do it just because you’re a little strong?’

‘Idiot.’

‘I, idiot? How can you say that to your brother…’

Seeing me and the Grand Prince Yeongwon acting like fools, the Crown Prince laughed happily.

‘Alright, alright. Let’s stop. Both the Grand Prince Yeongwon and Sia will definitely shoot better than me later.’

‘How can you be so sure?’

The Crown Prince smiled and replied to the Grand Prince Yeongwon’s childish grumbling.

‘Haha. That way…’

They won’t be eaten by tigers.

“Huk.”

What I saw in front of me was the familiar ceiling of my room.

‘What kind of dog dream is this again [a nonsensical or absurd dream].’

Seeing that it was dark outside, it seemed like it was still the middle of the night.

As I caught my breath and looked around, Soi, Gai, Songbi, and… Why is Cheonho here?

Perhaps sensing my presence, Cheonho also opened his eyes.

It seemed like he hadn’t fallen asleep. Well, sitting on the floor like that, it would be uncomfortable, so how could he sleep properly?

Through the faint light of the candle illuminating the dark room, I saw Cheonho’s worried face.

“Are you alright? You lost consciousness as you were.”

“Ah, yeah. I did.”

The afterimage of the strange dream still lingered, making me a little confused, but I was able to quickly recall the shocking events before falling asleep.

Perhaps because I was used to not showing surprise on my face, it seemed like I didn’t show that I had a strange dream.

‘My heart is beating like it’s about to burst.’

Fortunately, he probably didn’t notice even this.

As I tried to calm my surprised heart and get up, something came along with my hand.

‘What is it?’