Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 19

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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 the daughter of a lowly concubine.
Chapter 19
That day, I found myself lost in thought, clinging to my biological father who had rarely visited my quarters in daylight.
“Now, why do you keep trying to climb up onto my shoulders?”
“Mm.”
If it’s high enough to climb, then I climb.
……But I don’t like it, so there’s no real need to go up.
After frowning for a moment, I stopped climbing and simply plopped down instead.
My biological father, looking a touch disappointed that I’d refused to climb after he’d asked why I wanted to, lifted me up as I sprawled there helplessly.
“Shouldn’t it be about time your voice found its way out?”
“Mm-hmm.”
When I turned my head away from a question I didn’t want to answer and pulled free from my biological father, the older woman watching us spoke up with an apologetic air.
“A physician from the Inner Medicine Bureau visited earlier, but he found nothing amiss—please do not worry yourself.”
My older sister seemed to find it strange that I barely spoke except for those rare moments when we were alone and I called her “mother” in halting tones, yet she didn’t dare voice such an observation.
There had once been a concubine who’d referred to herself as a mother to a royal child and nearly faced exile for it; a concubine of palace maid stock who’d only just begun receiving Royal Favor couldn’t possibly broach such a dangerous topic.
“Well, I’m relieved to hear it, though I do long to hear you call me father soon.”
That stung a little.
Not wanting to make that sound, I pretended I hadn’t heard and turned away from them both.
Right, it’s time to let those two have some time alone……I should go.
I couldn’t know exactly what my older sister was thinking, but the King’s Royal Favor was an unparalleled weapon within the palace walls.
For now I was receiving that favor as the youngest daughter, but truthfully, the future was unknowable.
As I began to move away quietly, the two of them—who hadn’t taken their eyes off me—let out soft laughs.
“It seems you’re eager to leave.”
“Mm.”
Bye-bye.
I was about to slip out, waving from the doorway, when my biological father said something unexpected.
“Since I’m here, perhaps we might walk together?”
“Eh?”
“Does Sia dislike her father?”
“No-no.”
I paused for a moment, then shook my head firmly.
Well, it’s not that I particularly like it. It just feels like he’s been trying to act closer lately.
“The Crown Prince told me to spend a little more time with Sia. He said he himself is too busy mastering statecraft to visit.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, your elder brother.”
How considerate of the life-giver.
‘Isn’t he still young himself?’
I still didn’t know the exact ages of these people, but he was certainly younger than me.
If a child had bothered to show such consideration, I couldn’t very well disappoint him.
Well, since it’s come to this, why not play family for a bit?
The King had a rather rigid bearing most of the time, but I suspected he might enjoy something like this, so I positioned myself between them and took each by the hand, leading them forward.
“Ah, young lady.”
“It’s fine. When else will I get to walk like this, holding her hand as she grows?”
The two of them, walking with their bodies awkwardly tilted because of me, were unexpectedly warm together.
But where are we going, anyway? I didn’t really have anywhere in mind……
As I led them forward without purpose or direction, something suddenly came to mind.
‘Gyeong-won Gun told me not to go near the Pond.’
He said it was dangerous.
Which meant that Gyeong-eon Gun—that rotten thing—was up to no good at the Pond.
‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’
I couldn’t let an opportunity like this slip away.
“Have you thought of somewhere you’d like to go?”
“Yes!”
I reached back into memory for that Pond I hadn’t visited in some time and steered us toward it.
And there, waiting for us, was an unexpected figure.
“Your Majesty!”
“Yeong-bin. What brings you here? Out for a walk?”
No—it wasn’t an accidental meeting at all.
‘If the King had run into her by chance, she’d seem delighted, or if she’d noticed my older sister and me walking together, she’d look subtly displeased. So why does she look so anxious?’
There was only one thing that came to mind if Yeong-bin was this unsettled.
‘What if Gyeong-eon Gun is doing something right now by the pond that he shouldn’t be caught doing with the King?’
As I met Yeong-bin, the two of us naturally released my hand.
I withdrew slightly behind them, as if avoiding Yeong-bin. By now, everyone in the palace knew I disliked her, so no one found it strange.
Taking advantage of the moment when their attention had scattered in conversation with Yeong-bin, I bolted toward the pond.
“Wait, Sia?”
“Your Majesty. This concubine’s daughter has urgent words to speak to you.”
“What is it?”
Just as I’d expected, Yeong-bin seized the King’s feet.
My older sister couldn’t slip away from where the King and Yeong-bin were either—her feet were anchored.
‘And…….’
Noticing that one of the palace attendants following behind had come with me, I didn’t stop but kept running.
‘I ought to know roughly where he goes frequently near the pond.’
After that day, I’d heard our palace maids desperately gathering information and sharing it to avoid crossing paths with him.
It seemed he was doing that sort of thing often near the pond.
Perhaps it was because animals gathered there frequently, and it was a convenient place to clean up afterward.
“Ugh.”
Whether to call this bingo or not.
In a secluded corner where people rarely came, Gyeong-eon Gun was doing exactly as I’d suspected—holding a small animal.
‘Once he’s caught the creature, it shouldn’t be hard to do what he wants with it, but tormenting it like this—that’s a character problem.’
The boy, who’d been focused on the animal struggling in his hands, heard the groan that escaped me and turned his head this way.
But his eyes were covered with something like a bandage. Had he caught an eye disease?
“You, you wretch. How fortunate to meet you. Do you know what happened to me because of you that day?”
Gyeong-eon Gun shrieked in a voice trembling with fury and tore away the cloth covering his eyes. Then the bruises around Gyeong-eon Gun’s eyes—vivid blue marks—were laid bare.
‘Is that why he hasn’t been going out much lately? But why does he blame me……. Oh.’
It was dark enough that I hadn’t noticed, but it seemed the Sweet Rice Drink Bowl I’d hurled that day had scored a direct hit on his eyes.
No wonder his screams had been so loud that day.
A small “yes!” of delight nearly escaped me before I caught it, and fortunately Gyeong-eon Gun didn’t seem to notice.
“Just tormenting this little thing isn’t enough to settle my anger, and how lucky that you’ve shown up at last. This time I’ll teach you some proper manners.”
Whatever he’d been doing, with eyes bloodshot as could be and a face that looked utterly insane, Gyeong-eon Gun advanced toward me. I retreated backward, creating distance between us.
I’d caught a glimpse earlier—one of the eunuchs had followed well.
‘But will that person actually report this scene properly to the King?’
The Crown Prince had said he’d assigned someone to watch over me—but had they followed all the way here?
I’d deliberately sought out this place, but I was still somewhat anxious.
After all, it wasn’t uncommon for the doings of princes to be quietly buried.
Moreover, the victim was just an animal. In this era, such a thing wouldn’t be considered a proper crime.
‘Of course, suspicion will harden that he’s the one throwing animal corpses into our quarters, but as a young prince and a child, he won’t receive serious punishment.’
Perhaps seeing me lost in thought, he thought I was afraid.
Gyeong-eon Gun touched his bruises and approached me slowly.
His eyes weren’t smiling, but his mouth was torn wide open in a grin.
“How dare you give me such shame?”
To say ‘You’re just reaping what you’ve sown’—that would be throwing oil on the fire.
Besides, the real danger here was me.
My opponent was a vicious boy who mostly tormented helpless little animals.
‘Someone will come looking for me soon.’
Still backing away, I glanced in the direction I’d come from and spotted the silhouette of a eunuch beyond.
He was one of the King’s attendants—a eunuch with a familiar face.
‘Such perfect timing. It seems heaven has finally caught him after all.’
A smile rose unbidden to my lips.
“Are you mocking me right now?”
“Yes.”
“You lowborn wretch——!”
Gyeong-eon Gun’s hand grabbed my collar. Though I was said to run well for my age, my small body—barely having mastered walking—was lifted effortlessly by the hands of a nine-year-old boy.
I’d thought so before, but these children ate well and were strong.
‘Maybe I’ll take a little gamble.’
The thought came suddenly, because dangling like this brought back the crude insults this boy had hurled that day.
“Listen.”
“What?”
“You can’t even compare to a Grand Prince, right? You’re not one—and your mother can’t compare to the Queen either, and of course neither can you.”
With my tongue still not rolling smoothly, I enunciated each word as carefully as I could.
“What……are you saying.”
“So you’re saying you’re still just a child of a concubine in the end. This common concubine’s. Child. Aren’t you?”
Even I had to admit it was a cutting remark.
But you threw the first punch, didn’t you?
Whether she’s a Selected Concubine or a Favored Concubine, does it really matter how they’d treat her child if he never becomes Crown Prince?
‘I’d rather die than watch you become Crown Prince, so I thought I’d try to stop you.’
As a parting gesture, I smiled.
And in the next moment, my body spun, and I was airborne.
The sky was clear today. A truly beautiful day.
“Sia!!”
I heard someone calling my name.
‘Wait—is that Gyeong-won Gun’s voice?’
Then all sound vanished for a moment.
Splash!!
Through the sound of water, I could faintly hear murmuring, though I couldn’t swear whether it was coming from outside or inside the surface.
‘If no one pulls me out soon, this is going to be a problem.’
This is bad.
He must have thrown me harder than I thought.
I hit the surface hard enough that my body aches—I can’t move.
I thought I could swim, but my clothes weigh me down so much, and—
I figured if I just stayed still for a moment, I’d float back up, but the impact was worse than expected.
‘If I’d known, I should’ve tried to drag him in instead of this.’
But that seems impossible on every front.
Lost in such regrets, I was flailing helplessly when something seized me.
Then, moments later, a powerful force hauled me upward.
“Gasp!”
As I caught my breath, the quiet world suddenly roared with noise. Voices calling my name came from everywhere.
I lay limp against whoever held me as their voice grew closer.
“S-Sia!”
“Cough, cough—huh?”
I opened my eyes, gasping for breath, and saw Gyeong-won Gun.
His face was wet—I thought water had splashed on him, but the more I looked, the more it seemed like he’d been crying.
‘Oh dear. What do I do—I’ve made this child cry.’
I wasn’t trying to trick you into anything—why did things end up like this?
As the arms holding me lifted me lightly from the pond, Gyeong-won Gun caught me. Only then did I see the face of my rescuer, and a small gasp escaped me.
“Ah?”
“Yes. Your brother. Can you imagine how frightened I was?”
Where did he even come from? They said they’d stationed people around, so I guess it was true.
My savior—someone I hadn’t seen in ages.
“Cough, cough.”
“S-Sia?!”
“Ugh.”
When I fell into the water, I’d tried to hold my breath, but I’d been submerged so long that I’d taken in water, and breathing was difficult.
Watching my handsome brother suffer as I coughed and gasped, I felt a bit sorry.
I raised a weak hand and patted his head lightly, and Gyeong-won Gun looked like he might cry again.
“Sia! Crown Prince! Are you unharmed!”
I turned and saw my biological father and older sister looking as if they might faint.
And Gyeong-eon Gun, sitting back there—he realized something had gone wrong, his face hardened as he clutched one side of his cheek.
“Cough, cough… hah.”
“Sia, are you conscious!”
“Ah… yes…”
There was something I wanted to confirm, but looking at everyone surrounding me, my heart eased, and relief brought tears streaming down my face.
‘Ah, something… I feel tired.’
I’d spent longer flailing in the water than I’d expected. My body had no strength left.
But seeing how things stood, my ordeal hadn’t been wasted, which gave me at least that much comfort.
What comes after, I’ll manage one way or another.
“…Fa…ther…”
“Sia!?”
With stubborn determination right to the end, I reached toward my biological father and lost consciousness.

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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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