Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 27

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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 concubine from the lowest ranks of the palace.
27
As the days grew colder, my sister’s belly swelled ever rounder.
“Oh. It’s moving.”
“Hehe. Whenever you speak to the young lady, the movements become especially lively.”
“That’s right, that’s right—I’m your older sister, you know.”
“We don’t yet know if it will be a princess or a prince. You’re rather impatient, aren’t you?”
“Hehe. Whichever it is, I hope the child is born healthy.”
Even as I said this, I had a feeling the child in her belly would be a boy.
‘Perhaps my younger brother will be born again.’
It might be baseless hope—that the brother who died before me, even earlier than my own untimely death from an accident, might be reborn as my sibling once more.
If I truly was reborn, this time I could do better by him.
“The young lady moves again whenever you call to her.”
“Goodness, settle down now. If you keep bothering your mother, your older sister will scold you.”
And I’d make sure that scolding was thorough.
As if the child understood my words and grew still, my sister rubbed her belly and sat up from where she’d been lying.
“It seems the young lady listens well to her older sister.”
“Your body must be so heavy—are you sure it’s all right to move around?”
“It’s fine, so please don’t worry yourself.”
“In winter, the paths are slippery, so you must be careful when you go outside.”
“Of course.”
With neither the King nor the Crown Prince in the palace, I spent my days in leisure, feeling the fetal movements of the child to come.
‘I wonder where the King and Crown Prince are now.’
They said they went to Gangwon Province?
Gangwon Province in winter—I should hope it doesn’t snow.
“Why do you not venture outside today? What brings you here?”
“I wanted to spend time with my sister.”
“Is it not because the weather has grown so cold?”
“Hehe. Achoo.”
“Are you quite all right?”
Yesterday I’d eaten cold noodles as a winter delicacy and frozen juice confections, running about with Prince Yeongwon—perhaps that was too much.
“Your cough has been frequent of late. You’re not neglecting your medicinal tonics, are you?”
“No. Of course not.”
It wasn’t quite a cold, but these days I’d felt chills now and then, and the cough came with them.
‘For a while, I should stop playing outside and stay calm.’
Perhaps because so many had gone to Gangmu, the palace felt emptier than usual.
It wasn’t the first time this year it was held, it seemed—last year I’d been ill with a cold, so I hadn’t noticed.
‘Now that I think about it, I’m not really all that healthy.’
Though I often forgot it, I’d been rather sickly since childhood.
My natural strength seemed good enough, but I suffered from frequent minor ailments.
Because of this, since I was young, I’d regularly taken the medicinal tonics sent from the Royal Medical Bureau without fail.
It wasn’t a cold yet, but to be safe, I thought it best to keep some distance from the pregnant woman, and I roused myself from where I’d been sprawled.
“Are you going to Prince Yeongwon again?”
“Yes. I thought I’d distract him from his studies a bit.”
“My goodness.”
Leaving my sister chuckling behind me, I stepped outside, and my attendants quickly rushed over and wrapped me thoroughly in my outer robes.
It seemed excessive, but if I fell ill, these women would be the ones reproached, so I decided to accept it without protest.
“Are you going to Prince Yeongwon?”
“Yes.”
Recently, with the Queen Mother’s full support, I’d made a profession of interrupting Prince Yeongwon’s studies, so my attendants naturally nodded in agreement.
As I walked, a white flash caught the corner of my eye.
“Oh, it’s snowing.”
“It seems to be falling rather frequently of late.”
“That worries me.”
I’d grown accustomed to a life without weather forecasts or a phone to check them.
Gangwon Province, which in my former life had been less than a day’s journey away, now felt impossibly distant.
***
“Are you quite all right? Your Highness.”
“It’s nothing. Don’t concern yourself.”
The Crown Prince, whose face and clothes were now spattered with blood from examining the bird his arrow had struck—the creature having thrashed about in its final moments—washed himself briefly at the water’s edge along with several of his attendants. Though the water hadn’t frozen over entirely, the winter stream ran cold as ice, and his entire body shuddered even from this simple washing.
Of course, it wasn’t a wild boar, and compared to the embarrassment of being shaken by a mere bird, it wasn’t such a grave matter.
It would have been easier if the arrow had simply killed it outright.
The memory of having to finish the beast with his own hands at the end made the taste in his mouth turn bitter.
The attendants beside him offered their hands, saying they would do it themselves, but he could not accept their help.
The bird he’d killed today would be sent to Hanyang and used in the rites at Jongmyo.
It was a life he had taken.
If having blood spattered on his clothes was the price, then it was something he deserved to pay.
“Looking at the sky, it seems snow will fall soon.”
“We’ll be descending shortly, so as long as the path doesn’t become impassable, we should be fine.”
“Your Highness wouldn’t stop the Gangmu for a mere rain or snow, after all.”
“Father enjoys hunting, so he must be savoring this rare sense of freedom. I wish I resembled Father in that way.”
Though snow hadn’t yet accumulated, the winter landscape of the mountain, its ground thick with fallen leaves, was desolate indeed.
He’d thought early winter would be manageable, but looking at the sky, it seemed snow would fall early this year.
Perhaps it was already snowing in Hanyang.
The younger children would be delighted to play in the snow, but he worried they might catch a cold.
Thinking of his siblings, whose absence made him miss them all the more, warmed the hollow ache in his chest.
Though the Gangmu included not just military officials but also royal relatives, so it was all familiar faces, he couldn’t understand why he felt so desolate.
Thinking that perhaps such a feeling might not come when Prince Yeongwon grew older and joined him in the Gangmu, he drew out a piece of paper neatly folded in his breast.
Yeon Seon-o, still standing at the Crown Prince’s side, shook his head as if he’d grown weary of the sight.
“Looking at it again?”
“Yes. It hasn’t been long since we parted, yet I find myself wanting to see them again.”
The unfolded paper held an image of Prince Yeongwon and Si-a playing with a cat.
He’d been too busy to visit his younger siblings for some time, and when he finally saw how much they’d grown, he felt a pang of regret. Since then, he often summoned painters to sketch them.
Children grew so quickly—if he didn’t preserve their images like this, he would soon lose the chance to see them as they were now.
“The painter’s skill is truly remarkable. Even in such a small work, the children’s expressions are vivid.”
“When Your Highness offers a reward, even hidden talent is revealed, it seems.”
The other escort officers nearby frowned at his deadpan reply, but the two seemed not to care.
Among the Crown Prince Escort Division, composed mostly of elite young men, Yeon Seon-o—a Left Attendant of the Sixth Rank—was a guard hand-selected by the Crown Prince himself based on merit alone.
The moment his expression, which rarely wavered at ordinary circumstances, grew tense was when they were processing the hunt and everyone had let their guard down.
From afar came a bone-chilling cry that sent shivers down the spine.
A low, resonant moan—
……!
“Your Highness.”
“We should return with haste.”
If it were still daylight, it might be different, but the sun was already setting. Moreover, everyone was exhausted from the day-long Gangmu.
And just then, something unwelcome began falling from the sky—white and light.
“And now snow, too…….”
“Please don’t be overly concerned. Isn’t our Left Attendant here a veteran of the Chakho Gapsa?”
The laughter echoed around them.
Though everyone was forcing smiles, Yeon Seon-o’s face was far from bright.
Chakho Gapsa background or not, if a tiger fight broke out while protecting the Crown Prince, he could never guarantee that both would come away unharmed.
With escort officers who lacked sufficient field experience, it was uncertain whether they would be a help or a hindrance in any emergency.
“The sound is quite close. We should hurry.”
“Forward.”
If the tiger was near, being separated from the main group with such a small force was perilously dangerous.
The party quickly mounted and drove their horses hard to rejoin the main column.
But the snow was growing thicker by the moment.
***
“You’ve come again?”
“You’ve come again, have you?”
Prince Yeongwon and his tutors no longer looked surprised when I arrived.
“And I’ve brought a bribe this time.”
“Ha, what sort of bribe would a six-year-old princess bring? Wait—surely you don’t mean the one we’ve only heard about in stories?”
Those who’d laughed at the idea that a six-year-old visiting her brother would bring anything worth calling a bribe all changed their expressions when I produced the Castella.
“Please take it and share it with your wife and children.”
“We are grateful, my lady.”
The stern-faced gentleman—one of many tutors whose name I’d forgotten despite being told (there were so many I couldn’t keep track)—worked to suppress a delighted grin, carefully accepting the box containing the Castella.
‘Before leaving for the Gangmu, when I gave some to the King and Crown Prince for when they felt peckish, everyone around them looked so envious.’
As the saying goes, there’s no one who dislikes something delicious.
The Crown Prince, who had entrusted the Castella I gave him to a palace attendant, drew a ring from his breast and offered it to me.
‘It’s something precious I received from Father, so will you keep it safe for me until Brother returns?’
‘Your Highness, surely this isn’t…….’
‘That’s right. It’s the ring you mentioned before, Si-a. I received it from Father. When I return, I’ll buy you something even finer, so hold onto it until then.’
‘Of course.’
It seemed he had heard the story I’d told him before and received this token of parental affection from the King.
No matter what anyone said, the King’s most beloved child was still the Crown Prince.
Apart from the King’s fondness for me, it was clear from watching closely how much deeper his love for the Crown Prince ran.
Perhaps that affection stemmed from his love for the Crown Prince’s mother, who had passed away so young.
Unlike me, who could think about it with some detachment because I had a different father in my previous life, the other concubines and princes who craved that affection must have grasped this truth far earlier and suffered for it.
‘Still, it’s good when father and son get along well.’
History showed that kings and crown princes sometimes viewed each other with suspicion or open hostility.
For a powerless princess like me to enjoy a peaceful life in the palace, this harmonious atmosphere was most welcome.
‘Though Chwiyeongdang would object, no doubt.’
A few days before leaving the palace for Gangmu training, the Crown Prince visited Chwiyeongdang with the Castella I’d made, just as he’d said he would.
But when he emerged from Chwiyeongdang some time later, his complexion was far from pleasant.
Concerned enough to venture nearby myself, I heard loud voices coming from inside—I didn’t want to imagine what kind of cruelty had been inflicted this time.
‘Were you tormented again?’
‘Oh, so Si-a was waiting for her brother.’
‘It’s a waste to give anything to such awful people. Please don’t give them anything anymore.’
‘Very well, I understand. From now on, I’ll keep it all for myself.’
The Crown Prince spoke those words with exhaustion, yet there was something refreshed about his expression.
‘I thought I heard the Crown Prince’s voice inside Chwiyeongdang too—I wonder if they fought.’
For such a gentle person to be provoked to anger—they truly were beneath contempt.
It was just as well that the Crown Prince would no longer visit.
I smiled contentedly and attended the lesson sitting beside Prince Yeongwon.
Together.
“Oh, so the rebellion failed?”
“Indeed, miss. You seem quite passionate about history.”
“It’s fascinating.”
Watching us two interact so pleasantly, Prince Yeongwon frowned and asked.
“You came here to cause a distraction, did you not?”
“Yes. A distraction.”
Saying so, I carelessly flicked the book spread open before Prince Yeongwon.
“…….”
“Well then, please continue your studies.”
I hurried him along without bothering to acknowledge Prince Yeongwon’s bewilderment.
Using Prince Yeongwon’s lessons as a pretext to understand how this world’s system worked was proving quite educational.
This was Joseon, the same Joseon I knew by name, yet distinctly different in its history.
Moreover, the neighboring nation wasn’t Ming or Qing, but Qi. I was intensely curious what had happened in that region. Was this a world where Zhu Yuanzhang was never born?
In this Joseon, Yi Seong-gye was never the founder-king.
‘At least the royal surname is still Yi.’
There was no Taejo Yi Seong-gye, no Taejong Yi Bang-won, no Sejong Yi Do—and of course, no Danjong and no Sejo either.
‘Remarkably, an event similar to the Gyeongyu Jeongnan did occur, but it ultimately failed in this world—how delightful.’
No Sejo in my ancestry!
Though Prince Yeongwon watched me with sharp eyes as my own sparkled with interest, he too remained focused on his studies.
The truth was, children like this don’t actually stop studying just because someone distracts them from the side.
So it was better to let him listen to the lesson properly and save the real playing for after class.
Wasn’t that more justified as well?
Besides, in a few years Prince Yeongwon would be the one participating in Gangmu training, so I should enjoy his company while I could.
‘About two months until the third lunar month. Next year there will be a baby even if the Crown Prince and Prince Yeongwon are gone, so I won’t be bored.’
Though I’d made these plans, that day the snowfall grew heavier than expected, and after the lesson ended, rather than venturing out to play, I had to return directly to my quarters.
Then, some time later, a messenger on horseback arrived from Gangwon Province, leaving footprints upon the white snow as he brought urgent news.

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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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