Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 265

The palace maid from the Great Hall had a familiar voice and was quite close to me, as she had taken care of me when I was a baby.

I had made sure to acknowledge her since I was a baby, and she would send me snacks and such.

‘It’s never a bad idea to be on good terms with the palace maid from the Great Hall.’

Of course, she also had no reason to dislike being friendly with a Princess favored by the King.

Even if I made a mistake and was dragged out later, I would have someone to beg for help.

Since we had a long-standing relationship, even the King knew, and he would send the palace maid from the Great Hall, whom I was familiar with, whenever he had something to send me unofficially.

That was also a sign that he cared about me.

‘So, I need to get up.’

I was awake, but I didn’t want to move, so I decided to pretend to keep sleeping.

I could hear the maids chatting outside, telling me what was going on.

“It seems the Princess is very tired.”

“How could she not be, after such a big event just yesterday?”

“We are sorry that we couldn’t take better care of her.”

“The Princess is a strong-willed person. She will soon return to her usual self. Besides, His Majesty knows that this incident is not your fault, so don’t worry too much.”

“We are grateful for your kind words.”

Perhaps it was worth sending snacks and such through our maids, as the atmosphere was quite friendly.

Well, anyone would be kind to someone who survived an encounter with a tiger.

“I wanted to give these to the Princess myself when she woke up, but I guess I’ll have to leave them with you. Please take care of these.”

“Don’t worry. Oh dear, you came all this way, but you can’t even see the Princess before you leave.”

“I can always come back to see her when she’s feeling better. His Majesty has ordered her to stay inside the palace for a while, so it won’t be difficult to see her.”

Dazedly listening to the palace maid from the Great Hall speaking outside the door, I frowned.

‘Why can’t I go out?’

I could understand if I was causing trouble outside and they wouldn’t let me go out.

The problem happened inside this time!

‘Hmm. Of course, there’s no telling when or where another tiger might appear, and if I encountered a tiger outside, there wouldn’t be soldiers who could come to my aid right away like in the palace, but….’

Aside from being upset, I couldn’t completely disagree.

More than anything, it wasn’t strange that the King was worried; it was only natural.

‘Because of what happened to Crown Prince Seongwon.’

He had already lost one son to a tiger, so it wasn’t strange for him to be anxious when one of his only two remaining children was threatened by a tiger.

It’s just frustrating for me.

And our maids knew me well enough to represent my wishes well.

“But the Princess will be very stifled.”

“It would be good for the Princess to stay in the palace for a while. His Majesty is very worried.”

“I don’t know, as she is a very busy person.”

“She’s so busy, when does she even go out?”

I almost said something to the palace maid from the Great Hall, who was grumbling a little, but I decided to pretend not to hear, as it would be a hassle for both of us.

Actually, I’ve been busy lately too, so I don’t go out every day.

“Yesterday, His Majesty was so worried that something might have happened to the Princess. He received reports that a tiger had appeared, and while he secured the Crown Prince, he couldn’t find out where the Princess was, so he was very worried.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. The Princess has had a lot of ups and downs since she was young. And now she’s the only Princess left. He may not say much, but he’s always concerned.”

“His Majesty’s affection for the Princess is indeed deep.”

“Indeed.”

“But it’s still hard to compare to Crown Prince Seongwon, right?”

I, who was listening to the conversation from beyond the paper door, almost nodded in agreement, but unexpectedly, the palace maid from the Great Hall gave a firm answer of disagreement.

“No, it’s not like that.”

“Yes?”

“The Crown Prince Seongwon’s incident… of course, he was very distressed at that time, but it was different from now.”

“Is that so? But of course, he was more… during Crown Prince Seongwon’s time….”

Our maid, who had spoken that far, trailed off, realizing she had said something unnecessary.

It’s strange to compare such things. It’s not like we’re having a misfortune battle to determine who’s the most unfortunate.

The palace maid from the Great Hall overlooked our maid’s mistake and continued, pretending not to hear.

“It’s been many years, so it’s okay to say this now. His Majesty was more composed during the Crown Prince’s funeral than he is now.”

“That can’t be.”

‘There’s no way.’

Crown Prince Seongwon was His Majesty’s first child.

Even from the sidelines, I could see how dearly he cherished his son….

Perhaps he couldn’t show it properly because he was the Crown Prince.

But no one would criticize a parent for grieving over the loss of a child, unless they were a psychopath.

Was he too busy to grieve?

‘Come to think of it, I didn’t take much care of that side either.’

This couldn’t be helped either.

I was on good terms with Crown Prince Seongwon, but not so much with his close aides.

Perhaps the Imperial Guards of the Crown Prince were a little better….

‘Especially the palace maids of the Eastern Palace [the Crown Prince’s residence] at the time, they disliked me very much. I don’t even know the reason why….’

I wondered if there was any point in knowing now, and at the same time, I wanted to know even now.

And at the same time, I was complicated by the thought of what good it would do to know such things.

Outside, our maids were still trying to please the palace maid from the Great Hall and continuing the conversation.

‘It seems like they brought up the Crown Prince Seongwon story on purpose.’

It wasn’t strange since I had ordered them to gather information, but they were all working so hard that I felt like I should give them a bonus.

‘Encountering the tiger this time reminded me of Crown Prince Seongwon. Even if it’s impossible right now, should I go and comfort his close aides?’

After all, they were people who served Crown Prince Seongwon.

Of course, some of them, like Yeon Seon-o, were nowhere to be found, but couldn’t I find them if I tried?

‘Ah, come to think of it, I told Seong Gyeom-sabok to look for Yeon Seon-o as well, but the fact that he hasn’t returned means it’s hard to find him, right?’

But where did Seong Gyeom-sabok go that he still hasn’t returned….

‘Still, if rumors spread that I shot the tiger with an arrow, wouldn’t he be surprised and come running?’

***

“Did the work go well?”

“Don’t worry. There are no traces left, so no one suspects this side.”

The man bowed his head before the elder and answered.

The elder stroked his beard and said disgustingly.

“Jeong Mun-won was still young, it’s a pity.”

“But we couldn’t keep such a low-class person by our side, could we?”

“He was quite talented at making money. But certainly, as you said, he was too low-quality to keep by our side. He couldn’t even properly seduce a woman, and he even ruined a good opportunity by talking out of turn.”

“It couldn’t be helped. If he had been even a little decent, he would have entered Princess Suyeong’s inner circle and helped us.”

Who would have thought he would fall so quickly.

The elder nodded at the man’s words.

“It’s a good thing we can’t keep such a foolish person by our side any longer.”

“Who would have known it would go so well? Even the hunters gave up, saying it was dangerous, but it was that fool’s fault for wearing clothes stained with animal blood without fear.”

“He was a little helpful in the end.”

The man nodded at the elder’s words and asked, a little anxiously.

“He’s not alive, is he?”

“Even if he is alive, what can we do? We didn’t do anything.”

“Well, it’s just that someone who was jilted and held a grudge against the Princess made a foolish choice, so if there’s any responsibility, it’s with the Princess.”

Forgetting that they had plied him with alcohol and incited him, the two men raised their glasses.

And some time later, the two men met again and spread out a newspaper before their table.

It was a fresh, newly published newspaper brought by a servant.

If there was a major incident like a tiger breaking into the palace, it would naturally be reported in the newspaper.

That was to confirm the information.

Various rumors were already circulating in the capital, but the newspaper was much more reliable than such unsubstantiated stories.

So, regardless of their personal feelings towards Princess Suyeong, everyone couldn’t help but like the newspaper.

And unfortunately, the newspaper in their hands did not contain the content they wanted.

“Elder, is this content really true?”

“……Surely this content can’t be true.”

“But doesn’t the newspaper always publish verified facts?”

“Since Princess Suyeong makes it, she may have exaggerated the content related to the Princess…….”

“…….”

The man, confused by the somewhat reasonable words, could only look down at the newspaper again.

The newspaper had a sensational title: ‘Princess Suyeong, Shoots an Arrow into the Eye of a Tiger that Invaded the Palace!’

Of course, they didn’t just read the title; they also read the content.

It was clearly an article about a tiger that had invaded the palace. And there were as many as two of them.

But the person who made a great contribution to repelling them was none other than Princess Suyeong.

“Isn’t something…… wrong?”

It was something they already knew from rumors, but they still couldn’t believe it.

No matter how much Princess Suyeong had grown compared to before, she was still a small girl, so there was no way this could be possible.

As the elder said, wasn’t it more likely that the Princess had manipulated the information somehow?

“I’ve been avoiding going out to protect myself, so I’m only now finding out about this.”

“Elder.”

“……It’s okay. It’s not like I wanted the Princess to die.”

He seemed uncomfortable, but the elder didn’t say anything in particular.

But perhaps he wasn’t okay after all, as he soon threw down the newspaper and exploded.

“Damn it!!”

“Elder.”

“Does Princess Suyeong have a grudge against us? Why does she interfere with everything?”

“Isn’t it exaggerated? We will soon be able to find out the correct information through those working in the palace.”

“No, it’s no use even if we do.”

“Yes?”

“I might have doubted the rumors from those working in the palace, but since the same content is published even in the newspaper, this is already a fact. It has never published incorrect information so far, and it spreads across the country in a short time, doesn’t it?”

“That’s, that’s true.”

“Besides, foolish people will be more interested in the fact that the Princess shot the tiger than in the fact that the tiger invaded the palace. Perhaps this article was created with even this in mind.”

“!”

If they succeeded in getting the tiger into the palace, that alone would be enough to intimidate the Crown Prince. They thought that would be enough.

They didn’t think Princess Suyeong would be such an obstacle.

‘Now that it’s come to this…….’

As he thought that and the corners of his mouth twisted sinisterly, a letter arrived looking for him.

The elder’s face was soon filled with satisfaction as he read the letter.