Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 13

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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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Born as the daughter of a concubine of the lowest rank.
Chapter 13
Gyeong-eon Gun’s gaze turned naturally toward the owner of the voice that had called him.
“Gyeong-won Gun? For you to call me first—that’s unusual.”
“Gyeong-eon Gun. What are you doing alone in a place like this?”
Irritation flooded Gyeong-eon Gun’s eyes as he beheld his younger brother, who had appeared so suddenly.
“What I do here is no concern of yours.”
“The Crown Prince has said he will come to this place today, so wouldn’t it be proper for you to join me in paying your respects to him?”
Crack—
“…!!”
Before Gyeong-won Gun could even finish speaking, Gyeong-eon Gun swung the wooden branch in his hand and lashed it across his brother’s arm.
The fact that the sound carried all the way out here, though they were some distance apart, made clear this was no light jest.
“Don’t be insolent before me.”
“…Brother.”
“Ha—brother? Is that so? You think if you hover around the Crown Prince, you’ll get something to eat? If you want to die without incident, it would be wise not to catch my eye.”
“…”
When Gyeong-won Gun fell silent without responding, Gyeong-eon Gun seemed to lose interest and simply turned away.
“I found such a fine toy, but now the fun is spoiled.”
With that, he tossed the wooden branch from his hand and left without hesitation.
After confirming that Gyeong-eon Gun had gone, Gyeong-won Gun removed his robe, fashioned it into a net-like shape, and fished a cat out of the pond.
Meow…
“It’s all right. I won’t hurt you.”
The terrified cat seemed to recognize its savior and clung to Gyeong-won Gun, trembling violently.
Though his clothing was now ruined, Gyeong-won Gun heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing the cat was unharmed.
Then he turned and approached where I was standing.
It seemed he had known I was here from the beginning.
“Are you all right? You must have been quite frightened.”
“Mm?”
I trembled, recalling what I had just witnessed.
‘Could it be that he was trying to kill the cat on purpose? Is that why he beat him like that—as an outlet for his anger at the obstruction?’
If I had rushed out then, I might well have become the target of that fury instead.
“Ja-san, are you here?”
“Yes, young master.”
At Gyeong-won Gun’s call, a young eunuch emerged from somewhere, his face flushed. He seemed to be an attendant serving Gyeong-won Gun, and he was trembling as if holding back anger, clearly having witnessed what had just happened.
“Don’t make a fuss. This isn’t the first time such a thing has occurred, is it? You must be careful not to speak of it before Mother.”
Sob.
“Her health is already poor, and we cannot cause her any further worry. Go and quietly fetch new clothes.”
“I have already given orders for it, so please have no concern.”
Gyeong-won Gun handed his wet robe and the cat to the eunuch.
Meow—
“Oh dear.”
But because the cat refused to let go and clung fast, the undergarment he wore beneath also became soaked through.
This child—still so young—and yet he rescued the cat and took a beating from that madman.
“Ow.”
When I gently touched the spot where Gyeong-eon Gun had struck him, Gyeong-won Gun shook his head with a stoic expression.
“It’s fine. He only strikes hard enough that it won’t leave marks that won’t fade easily.”
A habit, then?
“So from now on, you must not wander about alone. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Dressed in clothes that the eunuch had hurried to bring, Gyeong-won Gun took me with him back toward where he had been with the Crown Prince.
‘Now that I think of it—did he come looking for me because I had disappeared?’
The two of us had wandered off and avoided him, yet we had only wasted his time.
“Gyeong-eon Gun comes here often, so avoid this place if you can. Understand?”
“Yes.”
Now I understood why Seon Bin had been pleased when Young Bin suffered.
No matter how much he tried to hide it, if such things happened often, there was no way his mother could remain ignorant.
And yet seeing this child try to conceal it for the sake of his mother—a surge of anger welled up in me.
“Sigh. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes.”
“For such a young child to already be so troublesome—I wonder what will become of him in the future.”
Gyeong-won Gun let out a sigh as he looked at my troubled expression, then smiled with deliberate gentleness.
‘Sorry.’
Song Bi, who must have heard word of what happened, came rushing over to me with concern etched across her face.
“Young miss!”
“She was in the tall grass. Her face could get scratched by branches—don’t send her out alone.”
Gyeong-won Gun didn’t even mention that I’d been by the Pond.
Perhaps he hoped that Gyeong-eon Gun wouldn’t think of my existence if he could help it.
‘This child is far too shrewd for her years. Is it the environment?’
After that day, whether because of the incident or not, Gyeong-won Gun began seeking me out often.
And sometimes the Crown Prince was there alongside him.
“Little one.”
“Uu!”
“When will you start talking properly? Your brother, the Crown Prince, wants to hear you speak. Try calling me ‘brother.'”
“U!”
Annoyed at his pointless demands, I finally raised my hand.
Slap! Slap!
“What? You hit your brother again? Such a naughty thing you are.”
“Ha ha ha. Gyeong-won Gun is being stubborn, so Si-ah is sulking too. Isn’t that right?”
“Uu.”
“Not at all, brother. This little thing has quite a rough temperament. The child’s hands fly out at any moment—she needs proper discipline.”
“Yet she has never done such a thing to me. Haven’t you, Si-ah?”
“Mm.”
“……!”
As the Crown Prince said this and rubbed his cheek against mine, a look of shock crossed Gyeong-won Gun’s face, tinged with the faintest hint of betrayal.
‘There—you see? Mind your manners with him from now on.’
Beyond the fact that he was my savior, the Crown Prince was genuinely kind and affectionate; I had no cause to be cross with him.
Gyeong-won Gun, by contrast, was a good child but had an unfortunate habit of saying unnecessary things, which meant I tended to be a bit rough with him.
Like that time not long ago when he came with Seon Bin.
‘Though grabbing him by the hair was probably a bit much.’
Who tells a child she’s ugly, anyway?
Yes, this era had a superstition about calling babies ugly to ward off misfortune, but from the baby’s perspective, it was unpleasant to hear!
……Still, I do feel a little sorry about it.
Seized by the impulse to apologize, I approached Gyeong-won Gun, who was crunching through some pastries, and gently patted his head.
His face became even more contorted.
“Pfft.”
The Crown Prince, sitting across from us, couldn’t contain his laughter and turned his head away.
Which only made Gyeong-won Gun pout all the more.
‘There’s a certain fun to tormenting this child.’
But no matter how young he still was, wrinkles didn’t suit a face as handsome as his.
I stretched out my fern-like hands and smoothed the furrow between his brows, pressing gently—though I wasn’t always the best at controlling my strength.
“Wait, how does a child have such stre— whoa!”
As I lost control while pressing his brow and tumbled forward, Gyeong-won Gun tipped backward and naturally became my cushion.
“Hee hee hee!”
“You seem to be enjoying yourself.”
“Please don’t just watch, brother—help me. Si-ah is getting quite heavy.”
As Gyeong-won Gun whimpered that he couldn’t get up on his own, the Crown Prince burst out laughing again, and I raised my fist once more.
As if a toddler who’d just learned to run could possibly be heavy.
Thump! Thump!
“Stop, stop!”
“Ha ha ha. Gyeong-won Gun, I think you should train your body more. If you find Si-ah so heavy, you’re weaker than you think. Isn’t that so?”
“Uuu!”
Even as he said this, the Crown Prince lifted me away from Gyeong-won Gun and cradled me in his arms, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.
“Our Si-ah is so lovely, yet Gyeong-won Gun is being difficult. Don’t you agree?”
“U.”
“But I do wish you’d start speaking soon. Your father is waiting to hear you talk.”
“Uuuu.”
It was tedious.
‘It would be fine if I simply couldn’t talk, but this infant babbling is something else.’
If asked what the difference was, I’d call it a matter of preference.
To everyone else, it was simply that I spoke a bit late.
‘Just need my pronunciation to get clearer.’
I’d heard that plenty of children spoke late anyway, so it wasn’t really a concern.
Whether it was meant to please the King or not, everyone kept forcing me to say “father-mother,” which only made me less inclined to speak at all.
Only with my older sister—the one I’d have expected to worry most—did I sometimes, when we were alone, cling to her and call out “mother,” then cover my mouth with my hand and shake my head. She seemed flustered by it, but thankfully she didn’t seem worried. Though I suppose she had other concerns.
A concubine cannot call herself mother to the King’s children. So she’d tried teaching me to say “father-mother” more earnestly, thinking I might misunderstand and believe she was teaching me to call her mother. But I just laughed and ignored her, and now she seemed to have given up entirely.
‘I never listened to mother or sister anyway.’
***
So today too, I’d refused my private meal and wandered off on my own to eat with my sister.
“Will you be going out again today, Miss?”
“Mm.”
“Where do you hurry off to every day?”
“Hehe.”
I smiled brightly, finished eating, and after a glance at my sister, left her quarters.
Since becoming Sukyeon, my sister’s face had brightened considerably. After her conversation with Seon Bin the other day, she’d looked a bit drawn, but something seemed to have shifted in her heart—she appeared to have steeled herself.
‘I wonder what they talked about.’
Since I’d essentially made an enemy of Young Bin, perhaps she was trying to gain favor with Seon Bin’s faction.
‘The Crown Princess hasn’t been decided yet, after all.’
My sister didn’t stop me from wandering about. Partly because palace attendants followed me everywhere anyway, and partly because she knew I wasn’t the type to get into anything particularly dangerous.
‘These days we even take walks together sometimes.’
Sometimes she took me along when she visited Seon Bin. The concubines all seemed much of a piece, but who knows.
Still, using the fact that I was just a child, I’d poked around here and there and found that for the most part, the concubines posed no threat to me. Young Bin was the odd one out.
Moreover, somehow word of me had spread, and they all wanted to win my favor.
Some even had children’s snacks waiting for me.
Like now.
“How vigorous the young lady is—the Sukyeon is truly blessed.”
“Blessed, indeed. They say a mother gains status through her children, yet she conceived by chance one night and became Sukyeon in a single day without even bearing a prince. Such fortune.”
“Mind your words before the child. The young lady seems particularly fortunate.”
Fortune? No. I seized it myself.
“Young lady?”
“Oo.”
Having eaten everything worth eating, I turned away without hesitation.
I remembered to wave my hand in courtesy as well.
Were those two the Court Ladies from before?
They weren’t terrible people, but they weren’t particularly good either—just ordinary, nothing special.
After dealing with Young Bin, my standards had dropped so low that everyone else seemed pleasant by comparison.
Still, they all seemed to adore me, probably because they had no children of their own.
‘Is that why my sister lets me roam free like this?’
The young princes were difficult to approach since their mothers clung to them.
The concubines all seemed to come from good families unlike my sister, and naturally held higher ranks.
‘Sukyeon is the lowest rank. Better than a palace maid, but still.’
It seemed a bit petty, but since she wasn’t particularly favored and her station wasn’t impressive, I was grateful enough.
‘Besides, it’s better to stay out of sight and live quietly.’
Though I was born an Ongju, I noticed hands were scarce here, so the treatment wouldn’t be too bad.
‘And being royal means I can freely wander the palace grounds, which is nice too.’
This palace hadn’t gone through Japanese occupation, so buildings were packed densely together—I had no idea if this was like the Gyeongbok Palace or Changdeok Palace I knew, but it didn’t matter.
In any case, a walk that combined exercise with practical benefit wasn’t bad at all.
“Hmm? Si-ah, what are you doing here?”
“Uh?”
And so, in the midst of my bustling wanderings, I ran into an unexpected person.
Of course, it wasn’t strange for the master of the house to be home, but he’d been so busy that I hadn’t seen his face in quite some time—my biological father.
‘How far have I actually come?’
Judging by the entourage trailing behind him, he was on his way back (from State Affairs).
‘Oh, so if I go that way, it leads to the Main Hall. I’ve wanted to see what the Main Hall looks like directly.’
Recalling the image of the Geunjeongjeon Hall I’d once seen, I glanced around, and sure enough, there was a doorway in the direction my biological father had come from. I didn’t know exactly where the path led, but if I went, I’d find out.
I casually measured the distance between myself and my biological father, gauging his attention.
However he interpreted my expression, my biological father’s face took on a peculiar look.
“You’re my child, yet you shrink away from your father so?”

I scowled, keeping my distance, but there were far too many people hovering near the King. At this moment, there was probably no way to push past them all……
So I decided to focus on maintaining proper social graces instead.
“Mmm.”
“Ha. I’m the one who’s just come from reviewing State Affairs, yet somehow you look even more exhausted than I do.”
“Uh.”
Yes, work is hard.
Remembering the noisy old men I’d seen before, I patted the shoulder of my biological father, who clearly bore the weight of fatigue.
“My, are you consoling me now?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“So young, and already showing such filial devotion.”
No, it’s business.
“I should give you a reward for this.”
At this rate, I’m quite the dutiful daughter, aren’t I.
‘My legs are starting to ache, and I wonder if he’ll take me back to my Quarters without further delay…… wait?’
As I leaned comfortably against my biological father, some rather unwelcome faces entered my field of vision.

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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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