Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 263

‘Are you alright?’

From afar, Ongju Jaga seemed to have a pretty energetic stroll, but up close, she looked precarious. As soon as she returned to her chambers, she seemed to lose all her energy, immediately spreading out her bedding and slipping under the covers.

Cheonho, sharing a look of understanding with the bewildered court ladies, excused himself, saying he needed to see His Highness the Crown Prince.

Recalling Ongju Jaga wriggling into her blankets, a chuckle escaped him.

‘We’ve spent quite a bit of time together; it seems we’ve become too informal.’

She was clearly raised preciously within the palace walls, but sometimes her actions resembled those of a child from a common household.

Perhaps she picked it up from seeing and learning from the children while frequently going outside because of Siyeongwon [a medical institution].

But thinking about it, she seemed to have had that personality before, so maybe it was just her nature.

‘But it doesn’t seem like she treats me too much like a man.’

Of course, Cheonho himself hadn’t exactly treated Ongju Jaga like a woman either. She looked like a child no matter how you looked at it, so how could he?

‘But……’

Cheonho recalled the image of Ongju Jaga aiming her bow at the tiger yesterday.

It was truly a heart-stopping sight.

‘Actually, treating her like a child would be rude, no, disrespectful.’

He was so surprised at that moment that his heart still raced when he thought about it.

Goodness, you really never knew what she was going to do.

Cheonho sighed and looked around.

‘I think I’m starting to see some familiar faces.’

An Ikwisa [military unit] officer who had fought alongside him yesterday recognized him and greeted him.

They were both in a situation where they hadn’t been able to leave work since yesterday, so a look of sympathy naturally crossed their eyes.

“You’ve come?”

“Yes. I heard His Highness the Crown Prince was looking for me, but is it true that His Highness called for me?”

“That’s right. Someone else is inside right now, so please wait a moment.”

“Yes.”

He came because His Highness the Crown Prince had called for him, but honestly, he didn’t know why His Highness, who must be busy because of yesterday’s events, would call for him now.

Ongju Jaga told him to come and report if His Highness the Crown Prince said anything strange, but how easy would that be?

‘Did I do anything yesterday that deserves a scolding……? Honestly, I only did things that deserve a reward.’

He was called in to be praised, but how could he take that at face value?

Of course, logically speaking, spending the night in Ongju Jaga’s chambers yesterday was something he could be reprimanded for.

‘But that was something His Highness the Crown Prince had allowed in the first place.’

Ongju Jaga, who had lost consciousness, was holding onto him tightly and wouldn’t let go, and now His Highness the Crown Prince couldn’t carry Ongju Jaga like a child as he used to, so Cheonho escorted Ongju to her chambers as she was.

Fortunately, because of the situation yesterday, no one blamed him for it or mentioned it negatively.

It wasn’t strange for someone who had faced the fear of death to tremble and rely on someone.

And if the person they were relying on was the one who caught the tiger, the cause of their fear, it could even be said to be natural.

No matter how great a person was, it was something to be surprised about.

In fact, there were people who were so frightened just by facing a tiger that they became listless and ill, but Ongju Jaga saw it coming right up to her and even shot an arrow, so she couldn’t be more daring.

‘She probably grew up pampered in the palace, but she’s really…… a strange person.’

Of course, Cheonho had heard rumors that she had gone through many hardships as a child, but this was a different matter.

While Cheonho was thinking that, those who had business ahead of him passed by, and Cheonho was able to meet with the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince’s face showed signs of slight overwork.

After all, two tigers had roamed around the palace, so the aftermath was the responsibility of the Crown Prince, who was acting as regent.

“Your Highness, you were looking for me.”

“Yes, you’ve come.”

The Crown Prince was looking at a map, presumably of the palace, with a tired face.

It was best to politely lower his gaze, as glancing around aimlessly would only invite unwanted suspicion.

‘I can feel a lot of eyes on me.’

Among those around the Crown Prince, there were familiar faces and unfamiliar faces, but they had never stared at him so intently before.

The complex gaze, mixed with admiration and jealousy, was probably due to the fact that the news of him catching the tiger had spread.

‘Annoying……’

It was never good to be noticed by someone high up.

Of course, no matter how high up they were, they couldn’t compare to the Crown Prince and Ongju, but the immediate superior was more troublesome than someone he couldn’t even meet.

“I heard you were injured while protecting Ongju. Is your injury alright?”

“I was lucky, so my injury is just a scratch.”

Saying it was just a scratch was honestly a bit of an exaggeration, but it was truly fortunate that he had only been scratched by a claw, considering he hadn’t set a trap and had faced the tiger almost head-on.

Besides, he was so tense at the time that he couldn’t even feel the pain properly.

It was only after arriving at Ongju Jaga’s chambers and putting her down that he felt the pain and received treatment from Physician Sehwa.

‘The court ladies were so kind because it was an injury sustained while protecting Ongju Jaga; it was a little scary.’

They were affectionate and gentle in front of Ongju Jaga, but they were usually very cold to others.

The palace was a place with strict hierarchy, so there was always that aspect.

The Crown Prince in front of him also showed a very different appearance in front of Ongju Jaga and in front of his subjects.

“I heard the report about yesterday. You caught the first tiger, and the scar on one eye of the second tiger was also your doing, right?”

“The scar on the second tiger’s eye is indeed my doing, but I did not catch the first tiger alone, so it is an overstatement to say that I caught it.”

“You’re still young, but you’re amazing. Can you tell me exactly what happened?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

From Cheonho’s perspective, the order of the first and second tigers was actually reversed.

The tiger he encountered with Ongju Jaga was the second tiger to die.

‘Until then, I didn’t even think there would be two.’

He guided the tiger’s attention away from the court ladies and made Ongju Jaga run away first, then had to face the tiger alone for a while.

Saying it like that, it sounded like he fought the tiger, but in reality, they were just trying to find an opening while engaging in a long-term battle of nerves without attacking each other first.

The tiger wasn’t stupid either, so it wouldn’t come down to the humans’ territory and attack a large human holding a blade head-on.

‘At first, I thought it was giving up and going back when it turned its body.’

But it wasn’t. The tiger gave up fighting Cheonho, but instead turned its body and continued to chase Ongju Jaga.

Of course, Cheonho had no intention of letting it do that, so in the process of desperately stopping it, he was able to scar one of the tiger’s eyes.

Of course, he was also injured.

The Crown Prince, who was listening to the story, asked as if something was strange.

“So you faced the tiger with only a sword in your hand?”

“I knew it was reckless, but I had no other choice.”

“And you survived after scarring the tiger’s eye?”

He dropped his sword in the process, so if he had been unlucky, he could have been killed by the enraged tiger at that time.

But fortunately, the soldiers who had discovered the tiger first and were chasing it heard the screams of the court ladies and rushed over, so the tiger growled at Cheonho as if it was wronged and ran away.

“I believe the soldiers chased the tiger after that.”

“Hmm. So that’s how it happened.”

In fact, the reason why the court ladies came to call Ongju Jaga at that time was to inform her that a tiger had invaded. But no one knew that they would actually encounter the tiger.

“I left chasing the tiger to the soldiers and went to find Ongju Jaga. Fortunately, the Ikwisa officers heard Ongju Jaga’s words and came to find me, so I went to reassure Ongju Jaga, but…….”

He didn’t expect a tiger to come out there.

‘Ongju Jaga flinched even at the sound of trees shaking when she was taking a walk earlier.’

After such an incident, she was likely to become sensitive for a while.

She had a nonchalant expression, but she checked several times to see if Cheonho was behind her and felt relieved.

Perhaps that’s why that energetic person got tired so quickly even after taking such a short walk.

“Tigers climb trees?”

“Yes, they climb up silently without a sound.”

Perhaps because there were military officers from the Chakhogapsa [elite military unit], they didn’t talk much about this, so the Crown Prince listened to Cheonho’s story with an interested face.

When the tiger jumped down from the tree, Cheonho thought that the tiger, whose eyes were injured because of him, had shaken off the soldiers and come in.

With that much, it was enough to hold a grudge and chase after him, wasn’t it?

That was why he realized something was wrong when he caught the tiger that had been shot by Ongju Jaga at the time.

‘I wondered if the scar on its eye wasn’t properly made.’

He clearly had a sensation in his hand, so he should have seen bloodstains, but the moment he realized something was wrong because there was nothing, Ongju Jaga discovered the tiger rushing at them first.

Maybe it really did come to take revenge on Cheonho.

The other Ikwisa officers knew more about what happened after that than Cheonho, so Cheonho’s explanation ended there.

“It would have been better if that tiger had just returned to the mountain when it was chased by the soldiers.”

“No, since it had already tasted human blood, it would have attacked someone.”

“Yes?”

Cheonho made a puzzled face because he hadn’t heard that there were any deaths.

“I didn’t explain it in detail to Sia…… Suyoung Ongju, but those tigers had already attacked people.”

“!”

“No, maybe one of the two was wronged. But it would be difficult for us to distinguish them, and it wouldn’t make sense to distinguish them.”

“Was there…… anyone who died?”

“There were traces of someone attacked by a tiger outside the palace, not inside the palace.”

“!”