Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 261

When I opened my eyes again, bright daylight filled the room.

Wondering how long I had slept, I glanced beside me and noticed the arrangement of people from the night before had shifted slightly.

It seemed some had already left for work.

‘I feel bad they couldn’t sleep properly…’

As I was contemplating whether I should give them some kind of bonus, I turned my head and saw Cheonho’s face. He had fallen asleep sitting up.

Immediately, memories of yesterday and the previous dawn flooded back. I checked to see if I was still holding Cheonho’s hand and quickly released it.

‘No, I can’t act like this just because I was a child for so long.’

It would be one thing if I wasn’t growing up, but constantly treating him like a child was becoming a nuisance.

I relied on him too much yesterday…

Cheonho was the one who suffered a lot yesterday, yet he couldn’t even rest properly because of me. My face flushed with embarrassment.

‘Ugh, how embarrassing!’

I thought this was a workplace with good employee benefits, but it turned out to be a black company [exploitative company] where lives were at stake, and I kept everyone up all night without rest.

I have to give them bonuses and vacations…

It’s inconvenient for me if Cheonho isn’t around, but there’s no helping it.

While I was lost in these random thoughts, Cheonho stirred and opened his eyes slightly, perhaps because I had let go of his hand.

“Ah, did you wake up, Princess?”

“Yes. Cheonho, go and get some rest now. I’ll have a room prepared for you.”

“It’s alright. It’s not like I’m seriously injured. And staying up all night sitting down isn’t that difficult.”

It’s not good to overestimate your stamina just because you’re young.

Well, he was still a vibrant teenager, so it was understandable.

“Princess, have you woken up?”

“Yes.”

Just then, I heard Gae’s voice from outside.

With the sound of the door opening, the court ladies who had been guarding me also quietly opened their eyes.

‘I don’t know if they were actually sleeping or just pretending.’

“Cheonho worked hard yesterday. He must be tired because of me, so let him rest.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Come to think of it, I had heard it when I woke up during the night, but it was even more obvious when I saw it in the daylight.

‘Hmm. I expected it, but his physique is impressive.’

I wondered if it was appropriate to expose such a sight to the court ladies, but to them, Cheonho was still just a child.

But the clothes I was wearing are gone, so what should I do now? It seems like it was even winter clothes, so they were quite thick.

“He can’t keep looking like that. Does Cheonho have any clothes to wear?”

“Yes. Don’t worry. I sent someone this morning to get some.”

“As expected of Gae. Cheonho, go and get some rest first. Oh, if you’re hungry, have a meal first.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Cheonho doesn’t refuse unnecessarily and accepts what he’s given, so he’s easy to deal with.

After Cheonho left, I tidied myself up enough to save face, and Sehwa came in as if she had been waiting.

“Have you woken up?”

“……Sehwa.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Seeing Sehwa’s face, which clearly showed signs of exhaustion, I said this.

“Didn’t you sleep? I think it would be good to get some sleep…”

“……Thank you for your concern, but it is my duty.”

“Well, there’s no helping that.”

It seemed like there were a lot of injured people yesterday, so the royal physicians must have been quite busy.

“Still, I am glad that you seem to be unharmed, Princess.”

“Thank you.”

Smiling brightly, Sehwa took my pulse once again.

“You may seem fine on the outside, but you must have been very surprised yesterday, so I will add some tonic to nourish your qi and blood [vital energy and blood flow].”

“Yes. But there’s a bigger problem than that.”

“What is it?”

“My arms and legs hurt.”

“Ah.”

Sehwa smiled knowingly, as if she understood.

“Muscle pain, I see.”

It seemed that I had been running more intensely than usual yesterday, and I was trembling and nervous from fear, so my body was shocked.

“You are surprisingly strong-boned, but what happened yesterday was shocking.”

“Still, I survived without being eaten, so that’s good.”

“I only heard about it, but I heard that Cheonho and you were amazing.”

At Sehwa’s words, the court ladies, who had no time to hear rumors because they were guarding me all night, looked incredulous.

No, do I still look like a child to these people, so they’re acting like this?

“Sehwa, you worked hard yesterday treating the injured.”

“It is my job.”

“Were there any seriously injured people?”

“Surprisingly, no. But there were some who were shocked and wanted to quit being soldiers, but this time, thanks to you, there may be no one who wants to quit.”

“Me? Why?”

When I asked back in confusion, Sehwa smiled brightly.

“I heard that you personally shot arrows and hit the tiger’s mouth and eyes.”

“It was just luck.”

“They say you aimed at the weakest part of the tiger’s face that was trying to attack people and hit it. How could that be luck? It must be your skill.”

“Hehehe.”

“No one would want to hear that they are worse at archery than you, who is still young. Everyone.”

Well, if they’re worse than me, who is small, they should think about their job again.

“And the Crown Prince was very worried about you.”

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, I seemed to have heard the Crown Prince’s voice before I lost consciousness yesterday.

“I’m fine, so you don’t have to worry.”

“How can I not worry? You are my only sibling.”

Besides, the Crown Prince’s guards were injured because of the tigers yesterday, so the Crown Prince’s loss was enormous.

“The Crown Prince watched you sleeping soundly for a long time yesterday before returning to the East Palace [residence of the Crown Prince].”

“Hmm. Is my brother okay?”

For now, just listening to Sehwa, it didn’t seem like anything had happened, but I asked just in case.

“Yes. After confirming that you were unharmed, he was busy cleaning up the aftermath of yesterday’s events.”

“Oh dear. That’s what it’s like to be the Crown Prince.”

I wonder if he got any sleep.

At the same time, I remembered the scene of yesterday’s incident, and I felt a chill down my spine again.

‘What is it?’

Why am I suddenly scared again?

Perhaps not noticing that I felt strange, Sehwa massaged my shoulders and arms and checked when the next activity was.

“Why?”

“You must have been very surprised, so it would be good to stay inside and rest for a while.”

“Hmm… I’m too lazy to go around anyway because it’s winter.”

“Yes. I’m glad if that’s the case.”

“By the way, should I tell my brother that I’ve woken up?”

“I will tell him.”

It meant, ‘I’ll go see the Crown Prince,’ but the Crown Prince was faster.

Even before Sehwa left my room, I heard the voice announcing the Crown Prince’s visit.

“Is it true that Sia has regained consciousness?”

“I just woke up after sleeping well, so why is he like that…?”

The Crown Prince, who had no intention of resolving my question, first checked on my well-being and then began to nag.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I told you I’m not.”

“Why are you such a fearless child?”

“Brother, I’m not old enough to be called a child anymore.”

“A tiger appeared, so why didn’t you hide quietly? Why did you shoot an arrow? An arrow.”

It seems like it’s going to be difficult to have a peaceful conversation.

“Hmm. I shot it because I thought I could hit it.”

“Do you think I taught you to do that?”

“It wasn’t you, it was Brother Seongwon who taught me?”

“When was that! I taught you after that, so I taught you!”

Among the court people who were looking at us arguing with troubled eyes, Sehwa bravely took the lead and stepped between us.

“Your Highness, I understand that you are worried about the Princess, but please keep your dignity…”

“……Ahem.”

When Sehwa said that, the Crown Prince stopped talking and averted his gaze, perhaps realizing that it was embarrassing to fight with his young sister.

I actually had something I wanted to ask the Crown Prince.

‘The Crown Prince said he cleaned up the aftermath of yesterday’s events.’

If there was something strange, wouldn’t the Crown Prince be the first to discover it?

“I want to ask you something about the tigers coming into the palace yesterday.”

“Hmm.”

The Crown Prince looked displeased at my words, but he didn’t deny it.

“What do you want to know?”

“No, I just thought that yesterday’s events couldn’t be simply overlooked?”

“Hoo.”

“Oh, is there really something?”

“Yes. It’s strange.”

At the Crown Prince’s words, the atmosphere of the others in the room naturally became heavy.

“It was a bit difficult because it snowed yesterday, but I roughly figured out which paths the tigers took to enter the palace.”

“Wow.”

I gave a soulless reaction.

By the way, how do they figure that out when it snowed yesterday? I wonder about things like that.

“But somehow… There were quite a few human footprints.”

“Human footprints?”

“Yes. Thanks to that, there was even speculation that someone might have deliberately led them…”

“Is that possible? And is there someone who has a reason to do that?”

The Crown Prince shook his head ambiguously at my words.

“Well… It’s a dangerous thing, so unless there’s a lot of resentment, they wouldn’t… be able to do it.”

“That’s true.”

I heard that there were many opinions that the tigers had invaded through a collapsed wall that was in a place not easily seen. There was a path as if it was done on purpose, and there were also traces of blood left…

‘Traces of blood. No, what on earth happened…’

There was too much blood to be the blood of wild animals.

Torn pieces of clothing were also found, but the problem was that the search was stopped due to the difficulty of continuing the search because of the snow.

“A coincidence…?”

“Well.”

“Even those from the Tiger Hunt Unit denied that there could be someone who would do such a foolish thing, but they didn’t say it was impossible.”

It is said that if there is no food in the mountains in winter and the smell of blood is present, tigers are often drawn down.

“It was similar to when Brother Seongwon was around.”

“Hmm.”

“Besides, we haven’t been able to pay much attention to tiger hunting lately. There are many things to do.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Once we catch them, it’s quiet for a while anyway. Should we do some hunting again?”

It’s not a fundamental solution, but is there no other way?

But even if it’s quiet for a while, the problem is that tigers are refilled from the north…

While I was lost in thought, the Crown Prince got up.

“Oh, are you leaving already?”

“Yes. This brother is busy.”

“Oh dear…”

“Send Cheonho to me for a moment later.”

“Why?”

When I made a sullen face, the Crown Prince clicked his tongue.

“I’m not going to scold him. I’m taking him to praise him, so don’t worry.”