Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I was born as the daughter of a low-ranking concubine.
Chapter 12
‘Why has Seonbin come here?’
After exchanging light greetings and chatting with my sister, Seonbin paused when she caught me staring blankly at her. Then she turned to me with a serious expression and asked for permission.
“Young Miss, might I be permitted to hold you?”
“Mm?”
I tilted my head and glanced at my sister. When she nodded, I nodded toward Seonbin as well.
Seonbin carefully lifted me into her arms and introduced the child sitting beside her.
“This is Gyeongwon-gun. Your older brother, Gyeongwon-gun. Please take good care of him from now on.”
“Yes. I shall do so.”
Though it was our first formal meeting, in truth I had seen this boy called Gyeongwon-gun before.
‘It was this child who grabbed me that day in Daebi Hall.’
Now that I thought about it, I must have thrashed around and kicked him a bit.
‘I should probably apologize for that.’
By way of an apology, I reached out and patted his leg gently.
“Mm.”
“Oh my.”
Mistaking my intention, Seonbin smiled warmly and handed me over to Gyeongwon-gun.
‘No, no, no, no—that wasn’t what I meant at all!’
I wanted to protest, but feared that struggling in the inexperienced grip of a young child would only cause me to fall, so I remained still—which made both Seonbin and my sister laugh warmly.
“What a tender bond between brother and sister.”
“Indeed, so it appears.”
Excuse me, but wouldn’t it be nice to ask this side’s opinion as well?
After exchanging some pleasant surface conversation, Seonbin soon said she had something to discuss with my sister privately and sent both Gyeongwon-gun and me outside.
‘What secret could they possibly be discussing?’
She even dismissed the attendants, saying there was no need for service, leaving only the two of them inside.
‘I’m so curious!’
When I reached my arm toward the room, Gyeongwon-gun, who had been holding me all this time, turned away coolly.
“Mm!”
“You mustn’t disturb their conversation.”
This child called Gyeongwon-gun seemed a bit younger than that madman—or rather, Gyeongeon-gun—and despite his young age carried himself with considerable composure.
‘Hmm. Still looks like a tiny baby, but his face is quite handsome.’
Then again, one couldn’t judge a person by appearance alone. Gyeongeon-gun had seemed perfectly fine on the surface too.
‘Surely this one doesn’t have that same temperament?’
My lingering distrust of humanity was more than enough to make me cautious of people.
Surely not all the princes in the realm could be like that—or could they?
The mad brothers of Gwanghae-gun suddenly came to mind, though I tried to shake the thought away.
There were certainly princes who beat and killed attendants and commoners, but unlike Taejong or Sejong who carried out coups, it was rare in history for anyone mad enough to kill their own blood relatives.
‘Unless they were something like Yeonsang-gun or the Crown Prince…’
When I recalled the Crown Prince—who threw his own newborn son into the Pond and beat his mother, the concubine Gyeongbin Park, to death—my unease returned.
‘This isn’t knowledge being power; it’s knowledge being terror!’
As a chill ran down my spine and I trembled, the boy looked startled and examined my condition with sudden seriousness.
“Are you hurt somewhere?”
“Mm.”
No.
“Or perhaps you need a change of clothes….”
“Mm-mm!!”
No! As I waved my hand irritably, I inadvertently ended up hitting the boy’s face and shoulder.
Slap, slap!
“My, what is this? Raising your hand against your older brother?”
“Mm!”
“Alright, I understand. You mean my words were wrong? The hand of a small child can be quite sharp, can’t it?”
The boy seemed barely bothered by the blows, and instead smiled apologetically, his eyebrows drooping slightly. With that smile, his expression was quite different from when he was stern, and he looked rather endearing.
‘Yes, well. It’s not right to take my frustrations out on a small child.’
Having accepted his apology, I carefully patted his face this time, and the boy let out a quiet, stifled laugh.
From a child who looked barely old enough for elementary school came at last an expression of genuine childishness.
“You don’t seem like a newborn at all.”
Though you seem a bit too grown-up yourself.
His face was somewhat softer than before, but still composed, the boy held me with considerable care and patted me gently.
“Doesn’t it frustrate you, being unable to walk?”
“Ugh.”
I’m suffocating here.
“But even when you can walk, you’ll find this place suffocating.”
“Ugh?”
The child held me close and whispered in a small voice.
“The palace is a cramped and dangerous place, so you must always be careful.”
Wait—why are these brothers telling such important things in hushed tones to a baby who can’t even understand words?
The Crown Prince did the same thing last time, didn’t he?
“I hear the Crown Prince takes a liking to you. He’s a good man, our elder brother.”
“Ooh.”
You know that much already.
“But his highness is a busy man, so you mustn’t trouble him.”
How am I supposed to trouble him when I can’t even seek him out?
“And Gyeongeon-gun… avoid him whenever possible.”
You look like you know something about him too, but couldn’t you tell our older sister instead of me?
I can’t even walk yet—how am I supposed to avoid anyone?
Inwardly, I voiced every objection, but all that came from my mouth was baby babble.
“Ooo.”
“If you encounter him, it’s best to avoid him if you can. Though I doubt you’ll understand what I’m saying…”
It wasn’t until after my first birthday, when I could walk on my own, that I came to understand his meaning.
***
“Young Miss, do watch your footing.”
“Mm-hmm.”
These days the surroundings were peaceful, and my body and mind had naturally grown calm.
No one troubled me, and the attendants were unfailingly respectful.
‘Well, my biological father visits often these days, so everyone’s on their best behavior, I suppose.’
After placing me with my biological mother, my biological father came every day to watch me learn to walk.
And when he visited, the two of them mostly shared warm conversations while watching me.
Through this, I learned that my biological mother had lost her family early and had no proper natal home, with few acquaintances besides her friends—a lonely existence.
So I was her only blood relative.
‘I don’t need to have things in common with her.’
I sighed and toddled forward on legs still weak with exertion.
‘Sigh—other children apparently prance about when they’re young, but I don’t have the stamina.’
The attendants following behind me watched with anxious eyes, moving at my sluggish pace.
‘From the side, this must look hilarious…’
I’m still a baby—it can’t be helped.
I was rationalizing this to myself as I walked when Song-bi, who had been following behind, suddenly gasped and wrapped her arms around me.
“Eek.”
“…?”
What on earth was that?
She’d apparently tried to shield my eyes, but a moment too late.
Sprawled on the ground was what appeared to be the fresh carcass of an animal, arranged in a rather gruesome form.
“How could such a hideous thing be here?”
“Take the Young Miss this way.”
“Was she startled?”
“Mm.”
Your fussing is startling me more.
“Don’t make a fuss—send someone to clean this up at once.”
“Yes, yes.”
Surprisingly, Song-bi was the most composed among all the attendants.
“You’ve seen such a gruesome thing, yet you show no disturbance?”
“I’ve plucked chickens before—I’m hardly going to flinch at this.”
So Song-bi can kill chickens… though she looked like she couldn’t swat a fly.
Even as she said this, Song-bi lifted me into her arms and turned away, keeping my sight blocked from the scene.
‘I’m not particularly startled by such things either, but it’s certainly not pleasant to look at.’
In my past life, I’d happened to see roadkill—pigeons struck by cars—more than once.
But the problem was that this was inside the palace, there were no automobiles, and this wasn’t the first or second time such a thing had occurred.
In the days that followed, the carcasses of dead birds and animals appeared frequently enough to catch my eye.
‘Isn’t taking life forbidden within the palace?’
One would normally view such killing negatively, of course, though there seemed to be exceptions for visible vermin like rats and insects that needed immediate disposal.
I worried it might cause a commotion, but the palace attendants in my quarters seemed equally reluctant to escalate the matter, handling it quietly instead.
Perhaps because of this, the attendants appeared none too pleased at my wandering about, yet my sister, whose movements were still limited, made no effort to stop me—I’d only just begun to toddle, and the urge to explore was irresistible. With our mistress offering no objection, the servants had no choice but to permit it.
And one cannot wander long without encountering others.
On one such outing, I came upon Gyeongwon-gun after an absence.
“Oh?”
“You’re walking about now, are you?”
He sounded displeased, somehow.
“You’ve grown quite a bit in the time since I’ve seen you.”
Beside the pouting child stood someone I hadn’t seen in a while—my benefactor, the one who’d saved my life.
The Crown Prince, delighted by this unexpected meeting, spread his arms wide toward me.
“There’s my little sister. Won’t you come to your elder brother?”
“Yes.”
I rushed without hesitation into the arms of my future master of power.
“Look, how small she is, yes? Gyeongwon-gun was just as tiny when he was little.”
“Was he indeed?”
“Charming too. Yes—I see you’re wearing the clothes this brother sent you.”
Ah, I hadn’t known that.
No wonder the clothes I’d been wearing outdoors lately seemed finer than before.
“Giggle!”
As a show of gratitude, I laughed and clung to him, and the Crown Prince’s face bloomed with a smile.
It was a lovely sight—the beautiful youth beaming so openly.
“I was just playing Tuho with Gyeongwon-gun. Would you like to join us?”
“Hmm?”
Tuho—well, with such an age difference between us, there weren’t many dignified ways to entertain a little child.
But unlike the Crown Prince, whose face was bright with excitement, the boy seemed disappointed that his time alone with his elder brother had been interrupted.
‘That’s what it’s like when a younger sibling arrives, I suppose.’
I understood his heart well enough to yield the moment.
‘It’s not as though I’m desperately seeking the Crown Prince’s attention.’
Your sister has outgrown the age when she needs her parents’ affection, dear child.
I patted the Crown Prince’s shoulder to signal that he should set me down, but his feelings ran differently.
“Put you down? Can’t I hold you a bit longer?”
The beautiful youth made his plea with a sullen face, but I remained unmoved.
No! Look behind you! Look at those bright, sparkling eyes of your little brother!
“Ugh!”
Bothersome! Let me go!
As I’d grown considerably heavier since before, I twisted free, and the Crown Prince had no choice but to set me down awkwardly.
“Whoosh!”
“Wait—Seonbin?”
The moment my feet touched the ground, I dashed away. I heard startled voices calling from behind, but I didn’t stop.
“Young Miss!”
The palace attendants scrambled in alarm, rushing after me.
Though they couldn’t keep up.
‘Can’t even catch a toddler who’s just learned to walk.’
Of course, in my excitement at running for the first time in a while, I’d raced thoughtlessly and veered off the path entirely.
‘Well. Though a bit of solitude would have been welcome anyway.’
I reasoned with myself, knowing they’d find me soon enough.
When you’re minding a little child, it’s inevitable—but having someone shadow your every moment of the day had grown unbearably tedious.
‘Oh, there’s a pond here. If I rest here, won’t they find me quickly?’
My legs were aching anyway, and a rare moment alone didn’t seem like a bad idea.
Not until I spotted someone standing by the water’s edge.
‘What is he… doing?’
One glance at his clothes told me who he was. That boy—Gyeongeon-gun.
He was holding what appeared to be a thick, long branch, and the sight of him struck an ominous chord.
Fortunately, he faced the pond with his back to me, so he hadn’t noticed my arrival. Instinctively, I crouched low to avoid catching his eye.
Mew.
‘A cat?’
At the unexpected sound, I looked closer and saw a small kitten, still quite young, held in the boy’s hand.
Splash!
“……!”
And then he let go—dropping the small kitten straight into the pond below.
Just as I was about to dash forward without thinking, seized by shock, I heard someone’s voice.
“Gyeongeon-gun?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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