Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 292

‘Why does it feel so familiar?’

Even at a glance, it wasn’t particularly high-quality jade.

Just like the late Crown Prince Seongwon’s keepsake I used to have…

“……”

Eh, no way.

Even while thinking that, I began to examine the jade ring in my hand closely.

“Is something the matter, Princess?”

“Um, there’s something I need to check.”

I didn’t think it was possible, but the jade ring in my hand had markings that seemed to connect it to the two jade rings I had before.

And besides that, even the minor characteristics I remembered were there.

At this point, it was hard not to be certain.

‘It feels like there are a few more scratches than I remember… but this is definitely the jade ring I lost that day.’

I still remembered it.

After Crown Prince Seongwon died and his funeral was held, this jade ring was said to have been placed by my bedside while I was collapsed from eating poisoned persimmons.

It was an item I had with me even when I collapsed from the poison, and Gai and Songbi, knowing it was something Crown Prince Seongwon had left behind, left it by my side as I was on the verge of death.

They hoped that the dead Crown Prince would protect me, his beloved younger sister.

I had already died and been reborn, so I didn’t have such beliefs, but after hearing their desperate words, I smiled and thanked them, wearing the ring around my neck.

When I was alone, I would take it out and look at it, thinking of the dead Crown Prince and the two who were anxious about my possible death.

No matter how long ago it was, there was no way I could mistake such an item.

‘I thought it would be difficult to find again.’

I clenched the ring in my hand tightly.

However, instead of the joy of finding the lost ring, I felt a sense of bewilderment that made my body lose strength.

“This… belongs to Cheonho?”

“Yes? Yes. I saw Cheonho drop it. Besides, Cheonho has been staying in the palace a lot lately and has had many opportunities to change clothes. Thanks to that, I saw it around his neck once, so I’m sure it’s his.”

“……Is that so?”

“I tried to follow him to return it as soon as I saw it, but he was walking too fast to catch up. I figured he would come back to see you anyway, so I brought it here.”

“I understand.”

My head went cold as if I had been splashed with cold water.

Soi, noticing that my mood wasn’t good, asked carefully.

“Princess, is something wrong? You don’t look well.”

“No. It’s nothing.”

Soi wouldn’t know.

When I was on the verge of death, Soi was still young, and Gai and Songbi, who hadn’t recovered from the unexpected fear of poisoning, were constantly taking care of me in a semi-neurotic state, so she wouldn’t have seen this jade ring much.

Besides, it wasn’t easy to look at this jade ring and think it was the same one from back then.

Even Gai and Songbi probably wouldn’t recognize it.

‘After I woke up, I kept wearing it around my neck on a string, so no one would have looked at it closely.’

The day I lost the precious item was the day Ji-hwa and Su-cheon left Hanyang [present-day Seoul] and ran away, on the eighth day of the fourth month.

After the siblings ran away, I returned to the palace and realized that I had lost the jade ring I was wearing around my neck.

‘Actually, I briefly thought that Su-cheon might have taken it.’

However, if that were the case, the chances of finding it were so slim that I tried not to think about it. I didn’t really mention it to anyone else either.

At the time, I took off the clothes I was wearing and gave them to Su-cheon to help him escape.

I also gave the child small accessories that I had bought in advance in case he needed to run away.

‘Right, I spilled them on the floor back then.’

If the necklace came undone while I was changing clothes, the jade ring would have fallen to the floor.

There was a good chance that it naturally got mixed in with the accessories I spilled afterwards.

When I first met Su-cheon, I cut the string because of the crow and temporarily tied it back together, so it must have come undone.

‘Thinking about it, the possibility that Su-cheon took it back then is probably the highest.’

And Cheonho said he was from Hamgyeong Province.

What are the chances that Cheonho, who is from Hamgyeong Province, would have such an item?

Unless Cheonho is Su-cheon himself.

‘Su-cheon saw the jade ring and string I had when he came to the palace, so he probably recognized it as mine… that’s likely.’

He would have quickly realized that the jade ring itself was a common item.

Is that why he still had it? Or was there another reason?

Maybe he thought that showing it to me would prove that he was Su-cheon.

Of course, if he had thought about it more, he would have realized that no matter how high-quality the thread or string tying the ring was, it was absurd to prove his identity with such a common jade ring.

‘It’s strange that I remember something like this; usually, people don’t remember.’

Looking closely, I could see that the thread tying the two rings together was too old and worn out, so it had been clumsily re-tied with another thread.

I clenched the jade ring in both hands and bit my lip.

‘…But Cheonho was Su-cheon after all.’

It wasn’t something to be disappointed about, but I felt strangely disappointed.

‘Well, risking danger to save someone you’ve only met a few times… isn’t normal.’

Other than that, wasn’t it a bit much to jump in to save me during the illegal slave trade incident?

Thanks to that, Cheonho and Cheonho’s uncle were able to enter and work in the palace, and it became possible to appeal to the Crown Prince to clear Grand Scholar Kim Seon-ik’s name, so it was a pretty successful result in many ways.

‘Hmm. Thinking about it like this… it seems like a deliberate approach after all.’

Now that I thought about it, the way Cheonho had treated me wasn’t pure kindness, and I felt a bit stuffy.

Of course, I didn’t think Cheonho had approached me with any bad intentions.

I just thought it was highly likely that he had approached me deliberately.

‘No wonder he suddenly started appealing to me, saying he would protect me, even though we hadn’t known each other for long!’

Did I let my guard down too much because he was just a big, clumsy kid!

Actually, he felt a bit similar to Seong Gyeom-sabok, so I just brushed it off, and these days….

Thud!

Thinking that far, I unknowingly slammed my hand on the desk.

“Oh, Princess?”

“…Ah, sorry. I was just thinking about something. Oh, and don’t tell Cheonho about this ring.”

“Yes?”

“There’s a reason. Keep it a secret from the other kids too.”

“Yes, I will.”

Perhaps because my face looked serious, Soi nodded and stepped back to spread the word.

After confirming that I was alone in the room after Soi disappeared, I thrashed around comfortably.

‘Ugh, embarrassing! And here I was thinking, maybe he likes me…….’

I need to prevent excessive self-consciousness and regain a healthy life!!

I clenched my fist again, but fortunately, I was able to stop my hand just before slamming it on the desk again.

‘Maybe he really was just trying to repay my kindness.’

Even if it was a deliberate approach, it was too dangerous of an incident. It’s not like Cheonho or Cheonho’s uncle could deliberately instigate illegal slave trading.

I thought it was a bit much to risk their lives for that, but in this era, maybe it’s possible to risk your life to save someone.

I’ve only been living in the palace, so it seems like I still don’t understand the common sense of this era.

‘If Cheonho is Su-cheon, it makes sense in many ways. Like avoiding success or not actively looking for his sister.’

I quickly started to rationalize.

‘Well, hiding his identity is unavoidable.’

‘Actually, he hasn’t harmed me, and I’ve even received help from him. And as a result, I found the jade ring.’

Thinking that far, I somehow sighed.

“Hoo.”

Looking down at the jade ring with a small sigh, I felt a strange feeling.

‘Back then, the jade ring looked big because my hands were small. Now it looks like it fits.’

I already felt bad after meeting the palace maids who served Crown Prince Seongwon.

Should I just be thankful for that?

‘It’s been a while since I saw them, and they looked a bit older than before, and thinner than when they were in the palace. I almost felt sorry for them, thinking about the dead Crown Prince. They were surprisingly the same as before.’

If their attitude had been even slightly different, I would have felt sorry for them.

But since they like it that way, it’s not my place to say anything. Or, in a way, it’s not bad that people are consistent.

If I had hired them out of pity, I would have definitely regretted it later.

‘I’ll definitely need more palace maids.’

I put down the documents I was looking at and lay down on the mattress.

Anyway, the Crown Prince needs to bring in a Crown Princess or concubine, so palace maids belonging to that side are needed.

And if they have children, there need to be palace maids to take care of those children too.

“Oh, then maybe it would be better for me to leave before that……?”

If I leave, it will be easier to transfer the palace maids who serve me.

After all, the kids in our residence are trustworthy. They’re also tight-lipped, and the Crown Prince can trust them.

‘It would be better for Se-hwa to have familiar palace maids.’

Especially the kids in our residence are polite to Se-hwa, calling her ‘Doctor, Doctor,’ saying she’s the benefactor who cured my illness.

It wouldn’t be bad for our kids either, since it would mean they get promoted.

Of course, if Se-hwa doesn’t like it, there’s nothing I can do.

Thinking about Se-hwa and the future, I suddenly realized one important fact and jumped up.

‘Ah? Come to think of it, Cheonho and Se-hwa still don’t know that they’re siblings, do they?’

Well, even if they wanted to find each other, they’re hiding so well that they can’t find each other.

Still, isn’t it a bit much that siblings who were separated at birth are right next to each other without recognizing each other?

I had to make sure they could recognize each other somehow.

‘Oh. But if this is also me getting ahead of myself, it would be embarrassing…….’

I’m now 99.999% sure that Cheonho is Su-cheon! But just in case, no, in one out of ten thousand, there’s a 0.001% chance, so I have to approach it carefully.

And above all, the fact that I know about Se-hwa’s identity is absurd, so it’s something I have to hide.

‘How can I give Se-hwa a hint naturally?’

Come to think of it, Se-hwa was also putting hints in her novel that’s being serialized in the newspaper, but she hasn’t had any results at all.

And the fact that Cheonho doesn’t know that…….

‘This guy doesn’t even read the newspaper…….’

I was a little annoyed for a slightly different reason.