Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 29

Even the cool night air sent a chill down my spine.

“Who’s there!”

My voice cracked, betraying my fear.

The court ladies behind me didn’t seem to hear anything at first, murmuring amongst themselves. But as their voices faded and silence returned, the eerie voice echoed again, as if it had been waiting.

“Sia, Sia…”

“Huk.”

This time, the court ladies definitely heard it, gasping in unison behind me.

“Sia…”

Though it called my name, the unfamiliar voice made me frown. It felt wrong.

The court ladies, however, seemed to interpret it differently.

“T-The Crown Prince, Your Highness…?”

“Sia…”

As if answering the court lady’s call, the voice seemed to draw closer.

The court ladies’ faces grew paler with each echoing syllable.

“Hieeek!!”

“Kyaaaak!!”

As the court ladies screamed in terror, a large shadow suddenly leaped from the darkness, as if it had been lurking in the building’s shadow.

“Come here. I’m your brother.”

The court ladies, rigid with fear, instinctively stepped back, blocking my path.

We were alone on this path, with no one to call for help.

The strange standoff didn’t last long. A creature that looked like a four-legged beast growled and charged towards us.

The shape, vaguely illuminated by the lanterns the court ladies held, resembled a tiger’s face.

“Kyaaaaak!!!”

Ga-i, who was holding me, and the other court ladies screamed and scattered.

The only light in the darkness came from the lanterns, but in their panic, the court ladies dropped them as they fled, plunging our escape route into near-total darkness.

Hugging me tightly in her arms, Ga-i was the only one who allowed me to see the unknown thing in detail. But even in the dim light, I couldn’t make out what it was.

‘What is that? What is that?’

Could monsters actually exist in this world?

There was the strange poison, but I didn’t recall any such creatures being part of the story. Was I confusing it with another novel?

Prioritizing Ga-i’s safety, I heard screams from the nannies running behind us.

Without looking back, Ga-i ran, panting and close to tears, but she soon stumbled and fell, either from exhaustion or slipping on the icy ground.

“Ah…!”

Ga-i, who had rolled onto the floor, hugged me tightly and cowered, thinking it was too late to escape.

Soon, the creature was right in front of us, raising what might have been an arm or a paw. At that moment, something reflected the moonlight and sparkled.

“Young Miss! Are you all right?!”

“Young Miss!!”

Suddenly, men’s voices rang out, startling the creature. It seemed to flinch, stop moving, and then hurriedly retreated.

“Ah, Young Miss!”

“Young Miss!!”

The nannies who had fallen nearby rushed to check on me.

The owner of the voice who had saved us was also approaching.

“…Jwaseseuma [Royal Guard Officer]?”

“Yes, it’s me. What on earth is going on… Are you all right?”

It was Jwaseseuma and the on-duty doctor from the Royal Clinic, whom we had just parted ways with. They must have heard the court ladies’ screams and rushed over.

“I’m fine. What about the others?”

Turning my head, I saw the court ladies struggling to get up. Some were unable to move, having bumped into something. The doctor ran over, checked their pulses, and sighed in relief.

“It’s okay. They just fainted.”

“We, we are fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

Everyone seemed to have been knocked over by the creature, but no one was seriously injured.

Confirming everyone’s safety, I finally relaxed, leaning against Ga-i’s arms and sitting down.

“I’m glad you two came when you did.”

“We just happened to be nearby.”

“You shouldn’t be running yet…”

The doctor couldn’t bring himself to scold Jwaseseuma and just sighed. He probably would have been terrified if he had been alone.

I knew why they had been able to arrive so quickly without having to ask.

Because we had run back towards the Royal Clinic.

I was glad no one was hurt. But wasn’t this all too strange?

‘Why is everyone okay??’

If it had intended to harm us, it could have done so long ago. Yet, no one was seriously injured.

Besides, how fast could the court ladies run, especially while carrying me? They should have been caught quickly.

And…

‘It was like it was targeting me specifically.’

Was there a reason for that?

“What’s going on!!”

While the doctor checked on the court ladies, more people arrived with torches.

It was the Royal Guard.

‘Now that I think about it, the Royal Clinic is in the palace, close to the Royal Guard Office. They must have heard the screams.’

It was only natural, given the location.

The Royal Guards seemed flustered when they saw me sitting on the floor and the fallen court ladies.

“Princess Young Miss?”

“What on earth happened?”

One of the court ladies, relieved to see help arrive, spoke in a still-confused voice.

“The, the Crown Prince, a ho…”

“Be quiet!”

I shouted, startled, realizing what she was about to say.

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s delirious from fear. Don’t listen to her.”

Everyone looked puzzled, but I shook my head.

“A suspicious person threatened us and ran away in that direction. But it’s been a while, so I don’t know if we can catch him.”

“…! I understand.”

Everyone’s faces changed at the news that someone had threatened the royal family within the palace walls. They began to move quickly.

Since such a thing had happened, they couldn’t just leave us. We returned to our residence under the Royal Guard’s escort. The court ladies were relieved but still whispered uneasily.

“But, but Young Miss…! If that was a Chang-gwi [ghost or vengeful spirit]…!”

I sighed at her frightened tone.

I had been flustered at first, but… ‘that’ couldn’t have been the Crown Prince.

“The voice was different.”

“Yes?”

“Wouldn’t I recognize my brother’s voice? That wasn’t my brother. And it wasn’t a tiger, of course.”

“Hieeek!”

She cowered in horror at the mention of a tiger.

It was a kind of taboo to speak of tigers at night, as there was a saying that tigers would come if you talked about them.

Especially in a situation like this, where it was believed that we had been attacked by a tiger.

“That wasn’t a tiger.”

Tigers existed in this era, but few people had ever seen one.

Because the chances of surviving an encounter were slim.

But I had seen live tigers at the zoo in my previous life. I had seen pictures and videos of them countless times.

‘That was definitely a tiger, but… it didn’t move like a real tiger.’

But perhaps if you had never seen one in person, it wouldn’t be strange to mistake it for a tiger.

“Jwaseseuma, did you see it clearly?”

“I’m sorry. By the time I arrived, it had already run far away, so I couldn’t get a good look.”

“It had a blade.”

“Yes?”

“I saw something sparkling in the moonlight. It wasn’t like an animal’s claws. It must have been a person.”

At first, I had thought it was some kind of monster.

I muttered to myself and frowned when I felt someone staring at me.

“Why?”

“No. I was just reminded of how the Crown Prince always said that Young Miss was bright.”

Ah, I had been too forward.

But if I didn’t explain it properly, I didn’t know how the story would spread.

Many people in the palace knew that the Crown Prince had died in a tiger attack.

If the dead Crown Prince’s beloved younger sister was harmed by a tiger (or something resembling a tiger), they would think like the court ladies.

That the dead Crown Prince had become a ghost attached to a mere beast.

And that the tiger would target those close to the Crown Prince.

“Young Miss, just a moment.”

“?”

The Royal Guard stopped me and the court ladies. Someone was running towards us.

“That person is…”

The people running with lanterns were the nannies from my birth mother, Consort Suk’s residence, and a familiar-looking eunuch.

The nanny, running frantically, seemed flustered when she saw us.

“Young Miss? Why are you here… No, more than that, please go to Mother right away!”

“Huh?”

“What’s going on?”

“M-Mother is… Doctor!!”

The nannies, stamping their feet with tearful faces, grabbed the doctor as if their eyes had changed.

“Ugh??”

“Hurry! Mother is hemorrhaging!”

“What…!”

Even I, half out of my mind from the strange attack, was shocked.

If a pregnant woman was hemorrhaging, it was serious. And they were running up crying like that.

The Royal Guard, who was escorting us, also seemed flustered.

“S-Sorry, I’ll go first.”

“Go quickly!”

The doctor, who had intended to follow us to my residence to check on me and the nannies, ran off with a changed expression.

Relieved that they had found the doctor sooner than expected, I grabbed the nannies who were collapsing and sobbing, asking what had happened. One of the Royal Guard soldiers ran to call more doctors and female physicians.

“What happened? What happened that she suddenly hemorrhaged!”

“She was fine until dinner, and we gave her the herbal medicine. She said she wanted to take a walk, so we took her out, but, but suddenly…”

“M-Monster…”

“!?”

It was unexpected, but we immediately understood.

“Somewhere, a young man’s voice called Consort Suk’s name. A, like Se…”

“Are you sure it was a human voice?”

“Yes? Yes! T-Then suddenly something rushed at… us. Mother, she, she was surprised and fell, and then she, she hemorrhaged…”

I asked the nanny, covered in tears, to confirm.

“What happened to that monster?”

“I don’t know. It disappeared while we were panicking and taking care of Mother.”

She started trembling again, as if reliving the fear.

The eunuch said he had been on duty because of the Crown Prince’s funeral procession and came out after hearing the commotion because the court ladies were scared, so he accompanied them.

Ga-i, who had grasped the situation, urged me.

“Young Miss, it’s best to go and see her. I will take you.”

“Okay.”

That meant she would run if I hugged her. I hugged Ga-i without hesitation.

As Ga-i started running with me in her arms, the court ladies and the Royal Guard followed.

When we arrived at Consort Suk’s residence, many palace people who had heard the news were pacing around.

I could hear the court ladies whispering.

“Ah, she said her stomach felt tight these days…”

“She was also shocked by the Crown Prince’s death…”

I grabbed one of the residence’s court ladies at the unexpected words.

“What are you talking about? Did she have any strange signs before?”

“Yes?”

“I heard you say her stomach was tight.”

“That was, well, because she was worried about the Crown Prince’s death. She had been feeling unwell since the funeral procession began.”

“It seemed to get worse after she took the herbal medicine, so I told the Royal Clinic several times, but…”

“I had her pulse checked several times, but they said it was psychosomatic. After she received a newly prepared herbal medicine, it seemed to get better for a while, but then again…”

“Aaaah-!”

Everyone fell silent, cowering at the scream from inside the room, cutting off the court lady’s words.

‘It’s my sister’s voice…’

Ga-i hugged me, who had stiffened, and muttered softly.

“Young Miss. It will be okay. She will be okay.”

The baby might be in danger.

No, it would be fortunate if only the baby was in danger.

‘Are they targeting me, and even my sister and the baby in her womb?’

It’s not a monster. It wasn’t a tiger, and it wasn’t the Crown Prince’s ghost.

But who would benefit from harming me?

“Aaaah!!”

As another scream echoed, my mind, which had been trying to grasp something, went blank.

I vaguely knew.

She was giving birth prematurely.

Whether they had received a call through the Royal Guard soldiers, several female doctors and doctors rushed into the room.

The court ladies couldn’t enter and were pacing outside.

“Ah, Young Miss! You can’t be here. Your body is like an ice block.”

Ga-i comforted me, as if just remembering, while everyone held their breath in the winter wind.

“…No. I have to be here.”

I had no sensation in my body, but my lips, trembling with anxiety, seemed to say that.

The intermittent screams were gradually fading.

“Mother!!”

“Mother!!!”

The voices of the palace people inside were mixed with sobs.

A bad feeling washed over me.