Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 14

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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 the daughter of a lowborn concubine.
Chapter 14
“Young Bin. What brings you out here?”
It wasn’t only I who had noticed Young Bin—the arm holding me stiffened slightly.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty. Gyeong-eon-gun misses you so, and how could I have stopped him?”
“Is that so, Gyeong-eon-gun.”
“Yes, Father.”
In Gyeong-eon-gun’s neat bow, I found no trace of the cruelty I had glimpsed that day. To the unknowing eye, he appeared merely a well-mannered, dutiful boy.
‘He’s quite the actor.’
As I watched with a strange sort of admiration, I felt a prickling gaze.
Oh no. She’s looking this way.
With such a sharp, cutting stare.
Young Bin’s eyes, fixed on me behind the King’s back, burned with intensity.
It wasn’t my fault—not truly—but I couldn’t expect her to harbor warm feelings when I threatened to steal the favor she had cultivated.
‘Perhaps she ought to do something about her own son.’
She’d borne the King’s second son and already seemed to be eyeing the Queen’s throne itself, yet her son was proving to be quite the liability.
‘The way things are turning, it seems concubines can still aspire to become Queen in this era.’
Had it been forbidden for a concubine to become Queen only after Jang Hee-bin under King Sukjong?
For a concubine to rise to Queen, sons were essential. Young Bin had one, so she met that requirement at least.
‘Sister, it’s best if you don’t dwell on this.’
Getting caught between them would be like a shrimp caught in a whale’s quarrel—crushed without mercy.
But if that woman became Queen, things would grow treacherous for both sister and me.
‘For now, I should escape this moment.’
That was my resolve, and I tried to avert my eyes to avoid meeting her gaze. But as my biological father shifted in his arms, our eyes collided anyway. Young Bin smiled at me sweetly.
“I shall escort her to Chwiryeong-dang. See that refreshments are prepared for the young princess.”
“Whimper…!”
“…….”
A chill ran through me, and I began to tremble theatrically, gripping the hem of the King’s robe tightly.
‘She’s not going to take me with her, is she? If she is, go alone! No, wait—if I struggle, won’t that make him carry me off even faster?’
Seized by the fear of being dragged to Chwiryeong-dang again, I began to squirm, fighting to be put down.
“Whine!”
“What now? Why are you so frightened? You’re safe.”
I’m not safe. Just put me down….
But contrary to my wishes, my biological father did not set me down.
This man is hopelessly insensitive. I’m getting annoyed.
“My apologies, Young Bin. I have matters to attend to today and had no intention of visiting the concubine’s quarters.”
“Your Majesty is so devoted to affairs of state that your servant’s thoughts were imprudent. I merely hoped, in my humble woman’s understanding, that you might rest a little. Please, do not concern yourself with my foolish notions.”
As Young Bin spoke, her eyes remained fixed on me.
“Then I shall escort the young princess to the concubine’s quarters.”
“She needs a bit of coaxing before we send her off, so you needn’t trouble yourself.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Young Bin and Gyeong-eon-gun made no effort to hide their disappointment, yet they bowed respectfully and smiled all the while.
‘Once they turn around, they’re going to grit their teeth so hard something cracks.’
With an uneasy glance, I peeked backward over my biological father’s shoulder.
No, no, no. She’s glaring.
Please, just go. You don’t even have to take me with you!
“Whimper.”
“Now what’s the matter? What is it? What troubles you?”
“Ugh.”
Unable to pull my hair out in frustration, I buried my head against his shoulder and bumped it rhythmically.
But my biological father misinterpreted my distress.
“Ha! So being with your father pleases you?”
“Whimper.”
No, don’t find me cute. This is serious.
This man won’t care either way, so he won’t give it a second thought, but I’m the one who’ll pay the price with trouble ahead.
“Whine.”
“I can’t fathom what’s upset you now.”
“Sigh.”
The unease remained, but as I lay against him in this cradled position, my body grew heavy and lethargic.
It seemed that after all that fretting and rushing about, my body had instinctively sought out this stable support and was now demanding rest.
‘That’s right. Worrying about it won’t change anything now…… I should just sleep.’
And a few days later.
Song Bi and the other attendants who had cared for me that day were dragged to Chwiryeong-dang and beaten for having dared to treat Young Bin disrespectfully, returning with their wounds on full display.
‘So this is how she vents her anger.’
It seemed I’d been caught standing behind her that day.
Since she couldn’t possibly lay hands on the Royal Attendants who served the King, she’d targeted the easier prey—us.
“Your Highness, we are innocent.”
“You’ve done nothing wrong. It’s only that I appear to be receiving the King’s favor, so this is a warning to you all.”
As Song Bi and the other attendants voiced their grievances, my sister examined their wounds herself, her lips pressed thin.
I too was anxious, clinging quietly to Song Bi’s side.
“Don’t worry, miss. It doesn’t hurt so much.”
“Mm…….”
Perhaps seeing the gloom in my expression, they all groaned and ached, yet turned to comfort me instead.
“Since the Central Palace is empty now, she’s throwing her weight around, claiming it’s her duty to restore discipline to the Inner Court. If she actually becomes Consort, what will become of us?”
“Lower your voice. What if someone hears?”
Lady Min issued a warning at the attendant’s sorrowful words, but sorrow was sorrow.
“Even if that were true, what could I possibly do?”
“The King visits so often to see the young Princess. Why does Your Highness not think to win his heart?”
It was a common sentiment among the quarters’ attendants, but my sister simply shook her head with composure.
As far as I knew, that attitude never changed once throughout, and honestly, even I found it strange that I’d been born at all.
“As you say, the King comes only to see the child, so don’t entertain such thoughts. Call the physician and make sure she receives proper treatment.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The attendant seemed reluctant but soon fell silent.
For a while after that incident, the atmosphere in our quarters grew somber.
Watching it all unfold, my own mood darkened—my body sagged of its own accord.
“Sigh…….”
“Why do you sigh so much, miss?”
If I were truly just a small child, I might do something oblivious and endearing to lighten the mood, but that wasn’t something anyone could manage.
Fearful that they themselves might be the next to face a beating, the cowering attendants huddled close beside me, whispering gossip.
“Once the young miss learns to speak, might she not report all of this to the King?”
“Hush now. No matter if she’s a Princess, if she falls out of favor with the next Consort, her future grows hard. When it comes time for her marriage, it won’t be easy for the King to watch over her closely, after all. That’s why even Her Highness cannot act carelessly.”
“Did you see how the attendants from Chwiryeong-dang are already strutting about as if they belong to the Central Palace now? How can we stomach the sight of it?”
“I wouldn’t go there even if they made me Chief Attendant to the Consort. Do you know how murderous the atmosphere is there? No one says it outright, but everyone’s slowly avoiding that place.”
“Why?”
“You didn’t know? For someone so oblivious, how do you even survive in this palace?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you look closely at the attendants from Chwiryeong-dang, don’t you see bruises and wounds all over their bodies?”
“What? Who’s hitting them?”
“Who knows. Right now everyone’s keeping their mouths shut about it, but soon enough it’ll become clear…….”
Saying so, they all turned their gaze toward me, sitting quietly.
“Even our gentle miss here cries out and weeps whenever she gets involved with that place. How long have we been assigned here? I still haven’t heard our young miss cry once.”
“Oh, I’ve heard about that too. The rumors were spreading everywhere. That’s why those who got tangled up with that place are so delighted to see the miss suffer because of it.”
The chattering of attendants, loose-tongued before a child who couldn’t yet speak, proved quite useful for gathering information.
Indeed, Chwiryeong-dang’s reputation seemed poor. Though apparently it hadn’t reached the King’s ears yet.
‘No wonder it’s bad.’
Recalling how Gyeong-eon-gun had beaten his younger brother Gyeong-won-gun the last time, and how he’d assaulted the attendant, those sinister rumors seemed quite possibly to be the work of the still-young Gyeong-eon-gun. Of course, there was no guarantee his mother Young Bin didn’t share a similar temperament.
‘This is serious.’
Gyeong-won-gun would find it difficult to easily report this to his father either.
Even at his young age, he was quite mature. With Young Bin being eyed as the next Consort, should Gyeong-won-gun—the son of Seon Bin, who could be called her rival—say anything disparaging about her, he’d invite backlash no matter how true it was.
‘It’s not really my place to speak either.’
How much weight would anyone give to the words of a two-year-old who could barely speak?
They’d likely dismiss it as a bad dream.
In any case, thinking that Young Bin would become Consort at this rate filled me with dread.
What could I possibly do?
“Sigh…….”
As I sighed, the gossiping attendant’s gaze fixed on me once more.
“Perhaps the young miss is bored from staying indoors so much lately.”
“Would you like to take a walk outside, miss?”
“Will it be alright?”
“With the young miss there, they won’t dare act carelessly.”
The palace maids began preparing for the excursion, their whispered gossip continuing unabated.
The conversation turned to the animal carcasses that had been discovered with increasing frequency. Just when things seemed to have quieted, more dead animals had apparently been turning up near the Pond lately.
‘Is this some kind of sorcery the concubines are using?’
Of course they wanted the King’s favor and power that came with it.
Though my predecessor seemed to be the exception.
No one could easily dismiss a concubine whom the King visited often, but she showed no interest in his favor, and consequently the King didn’t spend his nights at Chwiryeong-dang anymore.
I didn’t particularly want to pressure her either.
So did that mean I would have to win some of the King’s favor myself for the sake of my future?
‘Ugh, I can’t manage this.’
Still, for now I was managing a sort of transactional filial devotion to my biological father, but no matter what, anything beyond this was pushing it.
Once I stepped outside and began walking with these thoughts swirling, I found the change of scenery did seem to lift my spirits somewhat.
‘People really do need to walk in the sunlight.’
It was an exceedingly wholesome thought, but within minutes I had to retract that opinion.
‘The world outside the bedding really is dangerous.’
Of all the rotten luck—how far had I actually walked before running into that madman?
The moment Gyeong-eon-gun saw me, he grinned with eyes like a wildcat spotting prey.
“Well, well—isn’t this my little sister? It’s been so long, let your brother entertain you.”
“Nngh.”
I took a step back and shook my head, and the attendants behind me promptly moved to shield me.
“Your Highness, the young lady is still far too small to play with you.”
“How dare a mere attendant talk back to a prince!”
But rank was unbeatable logic.
The staff from Chwiryeong-dang were already worn out from harassment, keeping to themselves and moving as little as possible—and I’d chosen exactly the wrong moment to venture out.
I thought it would be safe if I went out with them, but of all people, I had to run into Gyeong-eon-gun.
Though the attendants tried their best to stop him, they were no match for his rough handling.
“How dare you block my way!”
Gyeong-eon-gun dragged me out from behind the maids and seized my arm, pulling me forward—and even his own attendants looked flustered.
“Eek—”
“Quiet. I’m trying to correct my sister’s manners, so don’t follow. Yes, and you lot—don’t make trouble. Just keep those ones from interfering.”
“Y-yes, Your Highness.”
He even stifled my attempt to scream, then simply dragged me away!
Though I’d gotten better at running lately, my two-year-old body offered no resistance as he pulled me along.
“Mmph!”
I struggled with all my might, but there was nothing I could do against someone determined to drag me away.
The attendants who should have been protecting me were panicked, but they dared not disobey Gyeong-eon-gun, wavering in hesitation. Even if his nature was twisted, common sense told them he wouldn’t harm me—a palace maid wasn’t even what I was; I was a princess. That assumption clouded their judgment.
‘But this maniac doesn’t operate on common sense.’
If he had any sense, he wouldn’t forcibly drag away a small child—and his own younger sister, a princess at that.
Unlike my attendants, who didn’t understand what was happening, the ones following Gyeong-eon-gun seemed to sense something, their expressionless faces darkening further.
‘This can’t be happening……’
In the end, one of my attendants looked around and ran off in another direction. The rest tried to follow me, but Gyeong-eon-gun’s attendants blocked their way, and they couldn’t catch up.
In the meantime, I was helplessly dragged to the Back Garden.
‘Isn’t this where I ran away to last time?’
When the Crown Prince and Gyeong-won-gun asked me to spend more time with them, I’d escaped—and inadvertently witnessed a scene of animal abuse and violence born of hierarchy…….
‘Please don’t tell me this is that same stretch of pond.’
The memory of what I’d seen that day made my spine shiver.
Then one of the Chwiryeong-dang attendants who seemed to have been following us turned ashen and stepped in front of Gyeong-eon-gun, dropping to her knees.
“Your Highness, please—I beg you to stop.”
“Are you even a proper attendant of Chwiryeong-dang? How dare you defy me like this!”
“Your Highness, please……”
She faced Gyeong-eon-gun without a shred of fear, though her complexion had turned a sickly pale—and her face seemed familiar somehow.
‘Isn’t this that attendant who used to bully me—the one who got her hair grabbed when she tried to stop Gyeong-eon-gun?’
I hadn’t noticed when I was surrounded by so many attendants, but now it came back to me.
Gyeong-eon-gun, his mood darkened, let me drop and approached the attendant instead.
As he advanced, the attendant who had been backing away flinched—but now the Pond was behind her, and she could retreat no further.
“Ah. So the one who truly needs correcting was right here beside me all along.”
And he raised his hand.
A young boy and an adult woman stood facing each other—but the attendant, perhaps cowed by the difference in rank, cowered without resisting.

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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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