Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 40

The lantern festival was enjoyable, so much so that it would have been nice if it had ended as just a memory.

However, with so many people, it was inevitable that young children would get jostled around.

“It’s dangerous, how about Sucheon rides the horse with me?”

“Pardon? But to ride a horse together, that’s such a burden…”

“He’s still young, so don’t worry too much. Jeok-ah can easily carry two children, right?”

As I stroked Jeok-ah’s mane, he proudly shook his head. Jeok-ah, who was carrying my change of clothes and a few simple belongings, seemed relaxed, as if he didn’t feel my weight at all when I got on.

Unlike Ji-hwa, who looked embarrassed at my suggestion, Sucheon raised his hand, saying he would ride the horse.

“I can ride alone, so don’t worry.”

“You can already ride a horse?”

“Of course, I can.”

Sucheon answered boldly to the Crown Prince and then hopped onto the horse by himself.

‘He’s quite talented.’

Seeing him grinning behind me, I felt the urge to pat his head, but I resisted.

We could ride horses while the sun was out, but as it began to set, there were more people, and it seemed dangerous, so we decided to leave the horses elsewhere and go sightseeing.

“I’ve been sightseeing before, so I’ll stay and watch the horses.”

“You look tired, so it would be good to rest.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

Consort Song and Eunuch Song declared their retirement, looking exhausted. It was understandable. That over there is Namdaemun [the Great South Gate, one of the Eight Gates in the Fortress Wall of Seoul].

Ji-hwa and the nanny who followed Sucheon decided to guide them to a place nearby where they could leave the horses and rest. It was a house where Ji-hwa’s family always stayed during the lantern festival.

Of course, the other servants knew the house as well, so they decided to join them later.

‘Wow, Namdaemun. It’s my first time seeing the fortress walls. It’s amazing.’

Moreover, like in modern times, a market had formed, making the surrounding area even more bustling.

Ignoring the Crown Prince, who disapproved of me eating street food, I grabbed Sucheon’s hand and ran to rummage through another new shop. Gai followed behind me.

“What’s that?”

“That’s a Manseok Jung Nori… a shadow play.”

“I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

I could tell it was a shadow play just by looking at it, but seeing those colorful puppet shadows moving reminded me of the animated movies I watched in my previous life, and it was quite entertaining, so I was a bit mesmerized.

“Do you like it?”

“Huh? Yeah. It’s definitely prettier at night.”

The content seems to be Buddhist, though.

“Wow!”

“?”

A cheer came from afar. I couldn’t see well because of the crowd, but it seemed like they were putting on a performance there too.

“What is it?”

“Let’s go!”

Sucheon pulled me and jumped into the crowd. The others must be worried. Well, he is a child.

“Roar!”

“Kyaaa!”

Pushing through the crowd, I saw a man wearing a tiger mask sticking his face out at the audience, trying to elicit reactions.

Thanks to him, screams and cries of children echoed from here and there.

“What’s wrong? Were you very surprised?”

“…No.”

And it seemed this little one noticed that I flinched and stopped as soon as I faced the tiger mask.

The child stood in front of me, blocking my view, and grabbed my arm.

“It doesn’t seem fun. Let’s go back.”

“Huh? No, it’s okay.”

“…I don’t know for sure, but you don’t like tigers, do you?”

Unlike what he seems, he’s quick to notice things like that. Judging by what he’s saying, it doesn’t seem like he knows about the Crown Prince’s work.

“…They eat people. A child like me can’t even run away and would be swallowed in one gulp.”

“Then I’ll protect you.”

I tried to laugh it off as a joke, but the child also smiled and assured me.

How admirable.

“Okay. I’ll look forward to it.”

“I mean it.”

“Okay, okay.”

To be surprised by a tiger mask that was made to look similar to a real tiger. It seemed that day had left a bigger impact than I thought.

‘But I probably won’t ever see a real tiger in my life, so it’ll be okay.’

Holding the child’s soft hand, we headed for other sights.

I felt sorry for Gai, who was trying hard not to lose us, but enjoying the outing was the priority since we had come out for sightseeing.

Eventually, I was caught by Gai and had to rejoin the group.

It was already dark, but the surroundings were not dark at all because they were surrounded by lanterns.

‘Is this the Buddha’s Birthday in the Joseon Dynasty [Korean kingdom from 1392 to 1897]?’

I couldn’t help but admire the unexpected scale of it all. Even the Namsan hill was lit up with lanterns, so it was understandable that everyone was so excited and enjoying themselves.

‘I hope it ends quietly like this.’

I glanced at the Crown Prince and Ji-hwa. I saw the Crown Prince pulling Ji-hwa to the side, as if he had something in mind.

‘It’s a good time, but…’

In the original story, while the Crown Prince was away buying lanterns, Ji-hwa gets into a ridiculous argument, and the Crown Prince saves her. At that moment, a servant from Ji-hwa’s house comes to inform her of an incident in the family, and she runs away.

Even in the original story, it was unclear how the servant found Ji-hwa, but being here together, I think I know.

‘It’s not the wide Cheonggyecheon [a stream in Seoul], but Namdaemun.’

During the lantern festival, people climb onto the city gates or walls to see the lanterns filling the capital.

She said there was a house they always stopped by to rest during the lantern festival. To find the young lady who had gone out to see the lanterns, the servants would naturally have rushed there, making it easy to find Ji-hwa.

The Crown Prince, who had returned with Ji-hwa, suddenly asked, showing what he had in his hand.

“I bought a sky lantern. Would you like to go up to the fortress wall and fly it together?”

“We’ll rest. How about you two go?”

“Wouldn’t you be disappointed?”

Seeing the Crown Prince tilting his head in confusion, I sighed.

‘Did he come out to play with me instead of trying to woo Ji-hwa?’

The two seemed to be getting along very well. They seemed to have feelings for each other and communicated well.

But Ji-hwa will not accept the position of Crown Princess.

She won’t give up her long-held dream for the sake of the affection she feels for someone she’s only met twice.

“Sucheon and I are tired, so we’ll rest. You two go.”

Of course, not just the two of them.

Ji-hwa’s nanny will follow closely with fire in her eyes, and Eunuch Song and the guards will naturally follow behind the Crown Prince.

‘But even so, it’ll be more of a date atmosphere than having a younger sibling to take care of.’

Leaving us behind, the Crown Prince and Ji-hwa headed to the fortress wall to fly the sky lantern they had bought together.

I heard that securing a spot there is so competitive that you have to reserve it in advance. Naive people like us, who only live in the palace (!), couldn’t even come out secretly to see the sights.

‘Flying a sky lantern on the fortress wall would be the perfect date spot.’

Perhaps because I had seen a similar scene in some historical drama, even though it wasn’t visualized, I could clearly picture the two of them looking into each other’s eyes and flying the sky lantern.

‘But is it okay to fly sky lanterns in Hanyang [old name for Seoul]? Unlike coastal villages, the area inside and outside the fortress walls is densely populated, so there’s a risk of fire. Even if you fly it in the mountains, there’s still a risk of fire.’

Come to think of it, is there any record of flying sky lanterns in Hanyang?

I thought it was a fictional allowance, but since they’re really flying them here, I’m worried in a different way.

‘It’s a bit like escapism.’

The lantern festival was enjoyable. It was so enjoyable, but I couldn’t shake off the anxiety, and my body, unable to overcome the tension, felt limp.

When we arrived at the house that Ji-hwa’s family rented every year, little Sucheon, worried about me, offered me cold well water.

“Sister, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Thank you. It’s my first time walking around for so long, so I guess I’m a bit tired.”

The palace is big, but if I seem a little tired, everyone carries me to my residence, so it’s my first time walking this long. …That is, after eating the poison.

Seeing me take a sip of the cool water and sigh, Sucheon whispered to me.

“But it was fun, right?”

“Yeah. It was fun. And pretty.”

“I heard that in the Han River [major river in South Korea], Confucian scholars launch boats and watch the Nakwa Nori [fireworks display on the river], and that’s beautiful too.”

“There’s something like that too. I want to see it someday.”

Those Confucian scholars don’t study and play along with Buddhist events?

A *꼰대* [kkondae: Korean slang for a condescending older person] spirit grows vigorously, and the little one next to me made a charming sound.

“Let’s go see it together later.”

Is this child trying to seduce me right now?

‘He doesn’t know what’s going on.’

You might die today.

In the novel, the child, who was being chased by soldiers who came to capture the son of a traitor, meets a tragic end by dying in an accident while trying to escape.

But I, who was a reader of the novel, knew best that this child was innocent.

Besides, he’s too young to be held accountable for guilt by association.

“Okay, let’s go see it together later.”

If I survive, I can do that much for him.

‘Ah, but he might resent me later.’

The fact that his family was ruined and his family members died due to treason means that the king suspected them of being traitors.

And I am the king’s daughter.

Well, he’s still a young child, so he might forget about today’s events.

The child, who was cleaning up the water bowl I had put down, grabbed my hand as if surprised.

“Your hands are cold. Are you not feeling well?”

“I’m not sick.”

I forced a smile. It would be troublesome if Gai found out and made a fuss.

Boom! Boom!

“Wow!”

I heard something exploding in the distance.

It was the sound of fireworks.

They say that on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, they light pouches filled with charcoal powder to play with fireworks. The scale is so large that the sound echoes like this.

“It would have been nice to go see the fireworks too.”

“Yeah.”

“Why are you shaking your hands like this?”

“…Maybe I’m not feeling well.”

No. This was trembling from fear and tension.

In the original story, along with the fireworks on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the servants of Ji-hwa’s family escape from the Geumgun [royal guard] and search for Ji-hwa.

If that happened the same way, they would soon come here.

And as if answering my waiting, someone’s desperate voice was heard.

“Young Lady! Young Master!”

It was the same as the description in the novel.

He’s quite talented, finding us so well in this chaotic place.

An elderly servant rushed into the main room, panting. Sucheon, who recognized him, jumped up.

“Haengnang-abeom [term of endearment for a male servant], what’s wrong?”

“Young Master! You were here! Where is the Young Lady?”

“My sister is up there… What’s wrong?”

“You must run away quickly. The mistress… has been accused of treason.”

He lowered his voice for a moment, as if he was aware of my presence, but he must have been careless, thinking he was just a child, because I heard everything right next to him. Gai and Consort Song, who were resting on the other side and had just gotten up, didn’t seem to hear the words because of the fireworks.

Sucheon, who was stunned by the servant’s words, shook his head.

“There’s no way my father would do that. Something must be wrong. I won’t run away.”

The one who needs to escape is in a panic.

Even if he’s really innocent, who knows what will happen if he’s dragged to the Uigeumbu [Joseon Dynasty’s supreme investigative agency], but he’s still young and naive.

I slapped Sucheon’s back hard enough to make a sound.

“Ouch!”

Um, that was a bit too strong.

“Why, why are you doing this…”

“Stop talking nonsense and run away quickly.”

“Ah, huh?!”

Only then did Sucheon realize my identity, and he made a complicated and subtle face.

He heard that his father was a traitor, and the Princess is right next to him. What should he do in this situation?

‘You should run away, what else can you do?’

We were currently resting in a private house near the fortress wall, where we had tied up the horses.

The homeowner, who lived near the fortress wall, was used to this kind of thing happening every year on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, so he had received extra income and leisurely went sightseeing, so only we were in this house.

Gai and Consort Song will listen to anything I say, so they won’t reveal this.

Besides, this place is close to Namdaemun, and today is the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, when many people light lanterns and spend the night.

If there are many people coming in and out of the city gates now, we can escape as much as we want.

This was also why the protagonist, Ji-hwa, was able to escape.

“You should go up to the fortress wall quickly. You’ll know better than anyone where the young lady has gone, right?”

“Yes?! Ah, yes, yes!”

At my words, Sucheon’s servant, who had accompanied us, jumped up and answered.

“Wait, if you’re going to run away, you’ll go north, right? It’s better to leave Namdaemun, take a ferry, go down the Han River, and detour to escape. Let’s meet at the ferry.”

“Ah, I understand!”

The servant ran out in a hurry.

Only Sucheon, who was bewildered, Haengnang-abeom, and my palace maids, who were not aware of the situation, remained in the yard.

For this child to escape safely now…

“Hey, take it off.”

“Pardon?”

I took off my outer garment and ordered the child.