Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 303

“What did you say?”

“If Crown Prince Seongwon were alive, what would you do, Brother?”

“……Well. What would I do.”

The Crown Prince wore a strange expression at my words.

Of course, the current Crown Prince was doing a pretty good job, befitting the male lead of the novel, but he hadn’t actually wanted to become the Crown Prince.

He never said it to his younger sister, but I knew he was always worried about something.

I didn’t want to upset him further by poking at it, so I never brought it up.

If he could quit, would he want to?

If the brother he liked so much came back alive?

The Crown Prince opened his mouth in a slightly lonely tone.

“Yes. If it were him… he would have been a better heir than me.”

“…….”

“Like you said before, unlike me, he was born as the firstborn, the grandson, and grew up as the Crown Prince. I have a weak maternal family to support me, was originally born to a concubine, and have been constantly plagued by ridiculous rumors since childhood, constantly having to prove my position. And…….”

The Crown Prince’s gaze turned to Sehwa, who was far enough away not to hear our conversation.

“If I weren’t the Crown Prince, it would have been much easier to be with the one I love.”

A small sigh was heard. But the Crown Prince’s voice didn’t waver at all, so I could guess his answer.

“But, I am the Crown Prince of Joseon now.”

“Brother.”

The lonely expression didn’t change, but the Crown Prince’s eyes didn’t waver.

They were the eyes of someone who had been constantly gritting his teeth and honing himself for the past few years.

The Crown Prince, who had said that studying and martial arts, which he had started following his favorite brother, were no longer fun after losing him, never neglected them.

He presented a stronger front so as not to be swayed by rumors of Chang Gui or anything else, and he never showed interest in women to avoid being caught up in unnecessary fault-finding by the officials.

‘I’m a little worried now that he’s lived too rigidly…’

Among those who knew the Crown Prince, no one dared to find fault with his ability or attitude.

‘So the only remaining flaw is that there is no Crown Princess or grandson.’

The Crown Prince’s gaze drifted far away, as if making a pledge to someone.

“Even if my brother comes back alive, I am the only Crown Prince of this country now. No matter how lacking I am, I have already walked this path for several years, and there are people who follow me, and there are things I have to do.”

With those words, the Crown Prince lightly stroked my head.

“Don’t worry. This brother is no longer the unreliable Grand Prince Yeongwon of the past.”

“Grand Prince Yeongwon wasn’t exactly unreliable either. It’s just that you got beat up by a bad guy.”

The Crown Prince’s body stopped moving.

“……No, do you even remember that?”

“Shocking memories last a long time.”

I once said that I remembered falling into the water a long time ago, so it’s not strange that I remember this, right?

However, the Crown Prince seemed worried about something else.

“Ugh. Don’t tell anyone else.”

“I won’t, so don’t worry.”

“You promised.”

“Yeah.”

I said I wouldn’t tell, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t record it.

‘I’ve already written it in my diary.’

Someone in posterity will find it interesting.

Although Prince Gyeong-eon was executed, there’s no knowing how much of what he did will remain in the Veritable Records [official historical annals] or historical materials.

So, as a victim, I decided to leave a detailed record. Of course, in doing so, I couldn’t leave out the story of the Crown Prince, so various stories were left together.

‘I hope it doesn’t burn down in the war. Should I create a separate archive for it?’

The Si-yeongwon children are also writing diaries, so there will be plenty of historical materials. Maybe it will become a frequent historical era in later historical dramas.

Then, the Crown Prince will really become a regular male lead in historical dramas.

There’s just the right amount of romance, too.

“Sehwa wouldn’t think much of it even if she heard about it since it was a long time ago.”

“You don’t know men’s hearts.”

“Well, I’m not particularly curious.”

What do I care about the hearts of blood relatives?

“Even though I look like this, I am the Crown Prince of the country. How can I show such an embarrassing appearance to others?”

“You’ve already shown it a lot…….”

Anyway, when a relationship gets long, you see things you shouldn’t see.

I was a little worried, but now that I see that he has a firm awareness of being the Crown Prince, was it an unnecessary worry?

Thinking that I didn’t have to worry so much, I decided to just tell him and pulled on the Crown Prince’s sleeve.

“Brother.”

“Why are you doing that again? It scares me when you do that.”

“Oh. Actually, there’s something important I haven’t told you yet.”

“……What is it?”

“Crown Prince Seongwon is among the rebels.”

“Huh?”

Ah. Somehow, I said it too coolly. I pretended not to hear the Crown Prince making a dumbfounded noise.

“Our first brother, Lee Hye, Crown Prince Seongwon. He was with the rebels.”

“…….”

My words were so shocking that the Crown Prince froze, speechless.

“Get a grip.”

“No, you…… then you met my brother?”

“Yeah.”

“Aren’t you mistaking him for someone who looks alike?”

“No, he recognized me, was happy that I had grown up, and came to me.”

The Crown Prince’s face contorted at my words.

“Wait, then did he just find you, or did he seek you out?”

“Hmm. Maybe?”

Come to think of it, I guess he ran away from there by now.

At the time, I was being chased and running away, so I couldn’t think of what to do.

‘Now that I think about it, maybe the reason I didn’t immediately report that there was a group of rebels there was because Seongwon was there…….’

Maybe the reason I lost consciousness as soon as I lay down at the tavern was because the shock was too great.

Of course, I was nervous, tired, and there could be various reasons.

‘Even if he’s caught as a traitor, Seongwon won’t be executed.’

I didn’t think the King would kill Seongwon.

It was a little different from Prince Gyeong-eon anyway.

Maybe if he’s caught, he’ll be exiled to some suitable place.

But living like that is not living at all.

Maybe it’s worse than the current Crown Prince being deposed.

The disposition of a Grand Prince who has been deposed from the position of Crown Prince and a Crown Prince who has plotted treason will not be the same.

‘Ugh, why do I have to worry about this?’

Of course, I’m not the only one, and the Crown Prince in front of me also had a complicated face.

“My brother is rebelling……?”

It must be shocking that the brother he liked so much has become a traitor and is aiming for his neck.

But I suddenly realized something was strange.

‘……But when I think about it, he doesn’t seem very surprised that he’s alive?’

“Brother.”

“Huh? Uh, yeah. Why?”

“Did you know that Seongwon was alive?”

“…….”

The Crown Prince didn’t answer my question.

Silence was affirmation.

“You knew.”

Before I knew it, a cold voice flowed out, and I grabbed the Crown Prince’s collar.

I barely managed to hold back the curse that was about to come out. It was thanks to the fact that I had been using only polite and beautiful words in the palace for years.

I felt the courtiers who were far away stirring, but the Crown Prince waved his hand towards Song Naegwan, meaning it was okay, and soothed my anger.

“No, that’s… I didn’t have any definite evidence.”

“So?”

“However, since I am the Crown Prince… I learned about Seongwon, his maternal family, and the settlement of his remaining property.”

“And?”

“……I just thought he might be alive.”

“…….”

“I thought he might come back someday…….”

Looking at the Crown Prince’s face, I had a feeling.

‘Ah~ Is this the reason why he strangely refused to hold a royal wedding and acted strangely?’

I wondered why he was postponing the wedding even though he knew what his position was.

“……Does Father also know?”

“If I was able to guess it, Father would definitely know.”

Well, that’s why the Crown Prince was allowed to hold out without getting married.

Gritting.

I involuntarily ground my teeth.

‘I’m going to get out of this house quickly.’

I was appalled by the betrayal of realizing that they were all aware of it and were deceiving me.

“You could have told me later! It’s not like I’m going to tell anyone!”

However, the Crown Prince answered immediately without hesitation to my dissatisfaction.

“No, if you knew, you might run away to find him. I know your personality.”

“…….”

I can’t say no.

The Crown Prince sighed with a face that looked somewhat refreshed, somewhat regretful, and complicated.

“I thought that there was no need to wait for my brother anymore because he didn’t show up even if I waited. But I didn’t know my brother was thinking that…….”

Is he thinking that it would have been better if he had appeared a little earlier?

Thud!

“Ah, it hurts. Si-ah.”

I was going to slap him with a loud noise, but the clothes were thick, so only a dull sound was made.

But now that the Crown Prince had confidently said that he was the only one, I couldn’t help but slap his back when I saw him wavering at the words that he was really alive.

“Who did you say was the Crown Prince of Joseon just now?”

“Ahem. Of course, wouldn’t it be me?”

“But why are you getting weak now?”

“Well, that’s right…… but it’s originally my brother’s place too…….”

I poked his side a few times because he was unnecessarily slurring his words, and he giggled and shook his head.

“No, ouch, it hurts, so stop it. I got it. I got it. Now there’s no one else in this country who can be the Crown Prince besides me, and I have no intention of giving it up, so stop poking me.”

“Is being the Crown Prince a joke? Huh? If you don’t want to do it, you push it to each other, quit, and then do it again when you want to?”

“I, I’m not quitting. If you’re going to argue, argue with my brother.”

“……That’s a good point.”

“Hoo.”

Even if it’s like this, I couldn’t overlook the fact that the Crown Prince was working while cutting down on sleep at night.

The Crown Prince stroked the place where I hit him and carefully asked again.

“So, you met my brother and had a direct conversation with him?”

“Yeah.”

When I told the Crown Prince what I had heard from Seongwon, the Crown Prince frowned.

“He doesn’t seem like the brother I knew.”

“Right? No matter how much time has passed.”

“Still, it’s fortunate that he doesn’t seem like he’s going to harm you.”

If the brother who left home harms his younger sister, who is more than 10 years younger and whom he met for the first time in about 10 years, he’s human trash and should be killed.