Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 31

Sneaking into Chwiyoung Hall wouldn’t be difficult.

In the past, there would have been guards to prevent entry, but now there would be no one.

‘Conversely, Grand Prince Yeongwon’s residence must be heavily guarded now.’

According to the rules, Grand Prince Yeongwon, as the only Grand Prince, would soon become the Crown Prince.

Right now, everyone is being cautious, watching each other’s reactions, but once the Crown Prince’s ceremony is over, people will flock to him.

And clearly, Gyeong-eon had no intention of standing by and watching that happen.

‘I haven’t been to Chwiyoung Hall since that day, so I don’t know the layout. Can I find Gyeong-eon?’

Hiding in the shadows as much as possible, I moved stealthily, heading towards the less frequented areas, surveying the surroundings of Chwiyoung Hall. But, contrary to my worries, a boy’s voice came from over the wall.

The only boy who would be in Chwiyoung Hall at this hour was Gyeong-eon.

I stuck close to the wall, moving as close as possible to where the sound was clearest.

“Did it go well?”

“Yes, as you ordered, the court lady from Grand Prince Yeongwon’s residence… Ack!”

Bang!

A sound of something being thrown.

“Who’s the Grand Prince? Gyeongwon is enough!”

“Yes, yes. I misspoke.”

There couldn’t be many court ladies left in the residence, but she was enduring his temper well.

No, there shouldn’t be such a young court lady among those remaining in the residence, right? Who could it be?

‘Come to think of it, in the novel, they kept calling the Crown Prince Yeongwon, Grand Prince Yeongwon.’

Thanks to that, I realized early on that this was a novel, so should I be grateful?

No, even if it’s like this now, will he accept being called Grand Prince Yeongwon again when Grand Prince Yeongwon becomes the Crown Prince later?

Anyway, since I found the person I was looking for, I quietly crouched behind the wall, covering my face.

“Secretly put this in Gyeongwon’s food.”

“What is this?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“Yes? Yes.”

“If I get out of here, I will put you in the position of a concubine as promised. You don’t want to rot away doing menial tasks in the palace for the rest of your life, do you? You must do it without fail.”

“Yes, yes, sir.”

Listening to the conversation, I could guess what he was using as bait. After all, no matter how high a court lady’s status rose, it was still lower than that of a concubine.

Of course, if you were the Royal Secretary, who was the king’s closest aide, rank wouldn’t matter, but that was only possible for a very small number of head court ladies.

“What are you doing? Carry it out right now!”

“N-Now, you mean?”

“Then, do you have the confidence to go in and out without being caught in broad daylight?”

“But it’s past the time for the evening meal.”

“Whether he eats a midnight snack or a *chojo rice* [early morning light porridge], food will be prepared! Do I have to tell you everything?”

“No! I’ll go right now!”

I could tell that the court lady, bowing her head, was hurrying away.

‘Thankfully, it’s not too late yet.’

I had to run to Grand Prince Yeongwon and tell him about the poison.

Even in the novel, the poisoning was avoided, so it seemed like it would be okay this time too, but you never knew.

Just in case, I was about to get up when Gyeong-eon went inside, pulling on my clothes, but unexpectedly, Gyeong-eon’s voice was heard again.

“Come out.”

“!”

I wondered if I had been caught and held my breath, but unexpectedly, a man’s voice was heard.

“Yes, sir.”

It seemed that he hadn’t met the court lady alone from the beginning.

With relief, I covered my mouth with my hand, afraid that even my breathing would be heard, and listened carefully.

“Follow that one as is, and when she comes out of Gyeongwon’s residence, call out the conspiring court lady and deal with both of them.”

“Both of them, you mean?”

It was an adult male’s voice.

A eunuch? He had been assigned a eunuch when he was ennobled as Gyeong-eon.

“Yes. You can’t leave any evidence behind. It was that foolish court lady who killed Gyeongwon. She’s not even a court lady from my residence, so I won’t be suspected. Besides, there’s a possibility of failure.”

“Indeed, you are wise.”

“Even if that bastard Gyeongwon doesn’t die from the failure, it’s not bad to think that he’ll be tormented by the fear of poisoning for the rest of his life.”

At the sinister laughter, I held my breath again and shrank back.

He wouldn’t have seen me over the wall, but if I was discovered, he would surely kill me too.

“That impertinent Yoon Suk-ui, and the lowly thing in her womb, are dead, so if only that bastard Gyeongwon disappears, the Crown Prince position will naturally come to me.”

Listening to the voice I didn’t want to hear, I prayed that Gyeong-eon would disappear quickly.

I had to go quickly, inform Grand Prince Yeongwon, and catch the court ladies to secure evidence.

“If they had put me in the Crown Prince position from the beginning, Yoon Suk-ui wouldn’t have died either. Isn’t it all Father’s great mistake?”

In an instant, my breath seemed to stop, and my vision went dark.

‘Just now, what did he say?’

Is it just that he didn’t like me, so he’s happy that my sister died?

No. But that was like Gyeong-eon was somehow involved in my sister’s death.

The meaning of those words was so clear.

“Why did you spare the princess?”

“How could a princess of lowly birth be an obstacle to me? And how could I easily kill that girl? I will see her desperately begging for her life in front of me.”

And as he spoke, Gyeong-eon chuckled as if he was truly happy.

“Besides, that thing makes food that’s quite useful. When I become the Crown Prince, she’ll have to crawl under my feet. What choice will she have?”

The events of that night when that strange thing retreated without killing me, and the image of the Crown Prince going to Chwiyoung Hall with the *castella* [a type of sponge cake] I made flashed through my mind.

Is that why I survived?

If not, would I have died that day too?

At the absurd truth, not even tears came out.

My head felt like it was about to explode.

“Heo…”

After the presence disappeared, I couldn’t even breathe for a long time, and I was frozen. Finally, I took a breath, held onto the hem of my clothes that were covering me, and hurried back to my residence, afraid that someone would see me.

“Gai! Songbi! Where are you?”

Waking up the court lady who was sleeping, I called out my palace maids.

‘I can’t be alone.’

***

Grand Prince Yeongwon was flipping through a book with a troubled heart.

After the funeral of his brother, he felt the gazes around him suddenly change, and avoiding people, he naturally had no choice but to read.

But even this had rarely caught his eye since the sudden incident with Suk-ui.

Nyaa-

“Oh, you seem bored.”

A reddish-orange kitten rubbed its head against his hand, acting cute.

He felt bad for them shivering outside as the weather got colder, so after bringing them into the room, the few young cats roaming around the room like it was their own home unexpectedly provided quite a bit of comfort.

The cat that saved him from being killed by Gyeong-eon when he was young shamelessly clung to him and got food from that day on, and eventually left even its own kittens to him.

‘Wouldn’t it be a little comforting if I took them to Sia?’

Following his brother, His Highness the Crown Prince, Yoon Suk-ui and the child in her womb also passed away one after another, so all sorts of ominous rumors reached even the Grand Prince’s ears.

‘How can such unfortunate events happen one after another?’

Why do those who admire Confucianism like ghosts so much?

*Chang-gwi* [tiger ghosts] is also a ridiculous story. It was clear that the tiger was simply feeling its scent and going to those who had recovered the bodies it had eaten.

If foolish people made a fuss, it was something that those who were scholars should be ashamed of.

He was about to read the Analects again when a hurried voice was heard from outside the door.

“Grand Prince. Princess Sia has come to visit.”

“Sia?”

Originally, she wasn’t the type of child to come without contacting him at this late hour, but now wasn’t the same as usual.

“Bring her in quickly.”

Surprisingly, before he could even finish speaking, the door opened and Sia came in.

The child, who had run in panting, had a pale complexion, so he told the court lady to bring warm water and took her small hand.

“Why is your body so cold? And you’re wearing such thin clothes. Did your palace people send you out like this?”

Now that Suk-ui was gone, who would take care of this child in the future?

As the kittens flocked to her as soon as a familiar person came, Grand Prince Yeongwon thought it was a good idea and grabbed them, hugging them to Sia’s chest.

They were sticking to the heated floor, so they would be warm.

But Sia, for some reason, reached out and checked Grand Prince Yeongwon’s cheek instead of hugging the cats.

“You’re alive.”

“Of course, I’m alive.”

Did she have a nightmare and run over?

The face of his young sister, who had become haggard in a few days, was pitiful.

“I’m alive, so don’t worry.”

“…Okay.”

Sia, who had collapsed to the ground, sighed and said in a rare weak voice.

“Is it okay if I sleep here tonight?”

“Of course, it’s okay.”

It might be against the rules, but she was still such a small and young child.

Two of her closest relatives had passed away like that, so she must have been scared and lonely.

He patted his younger sister, who was rarely making weak noises, and gently put her in his already spread-out blanket with the cats.

“Aren’t you sleeping?”

“I can’t sleep, so I was thinking of reading a book.”

“You’ll hurt your eyes.”

“Haha. You should go to sleep too.”

“…Okay.”

As he patted the child, Sia’s eyelids began to close little by little as she trembled with anxiety. Just as he thought she would fall asleep like this, he heard a mumbling voice from behind.

“Dried persimmon?”

“Huh? Ah, they brought it as a midnight snack earlier, but I didn’t really want to eat it…”

The court lady had brought it earlier, but he didn’t feel like eating it, so he had pushed it to a corner of the room.

It was a food that even the cats didn’t pay much attention to, so he had left it unattended, but it seemed to have caught her eye.

“…Can I eat one of these?”

“Sure.”

He would have scolded her for snacking before bed, but it seemed like it would be okay for one day.

Wasn’t she the one who said that you need something sweet when you’re tired?

“Were you studying?”

“…If I stay still, I only think bad thoughts.”

“…Can I eat one more of these?”

“Yeah.”

After his brother’s incident, he should have visited Sia often and taken care of her, but he couldn’t because it was painful to see her.

There were too many memories of the three of them together.

But now they were the only siblings left. He would have to treat her well in the future.

“I’ll eat one more.”

“Okay.”

Grand Prince Yeongwon, nodding casually at the continuing words, suddenly had a strange thought as he organized the scattered books.

‘Oppa [older brother], can I eat one more strawberry?’

In the past, when his brother and Sia were having refreshments together, wasn’t the situation of the ghost story Sia had told similar to now?

He didn’t believe in such absurd stories, but the rumors of tigers and *chang-gwi* [tiger ghosts] circulating in the palace these days overlapped, and he felt a chill down his spine without realizing it.

“…Sia?”

Grand Prince Yeongwon swallowed hard and turned his head.

And he had to face an unimaginable scene.

“Sia, Sia?!”

Holding a half-eaten dried persimmon in her hand, Sia, bleeding from the mouth, followed him with blurry eyes.

That appearance was scarier than a ghost or a tiger.

“Someone, is anyone there!! Bring a doctor quickly!!”

“…Oppa.”

“Yes, I’m your brother. Come to your senses!!”

Not knowing what to do, he grabbed Sia, who was staggering and collapsing, and struggled to understand the mumbling voice.

“…If possible… become a wise ruler…”

“…What?”