Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 36

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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 minor concubine.
36
But I’ll say this: the Palace holds quite a few children.
Not infants—children.
Since the Privy Chamber Maids are selected and trained from a relatively young age, there are some younger than me.
But the boy standing before me now wore clothes that marked him unmistakably as something other than a Minor Eunuch from the Eunuch Bureau.
‘If he were one of those Eunuch Bureau boys, it’d be hard for him not to recognize me.’
Palace Maids my age don’t wear anything like this.
Since I enjoyed the concentrated affection of the royal family, even my everyday clothes tended toward the ornate.
It felt somewhat wasteful, though… there was only one daughter in the entire Palace now, and I had no reason to refuse what they wished to give me, so I accepted gratefully.
And there was no reason to dislike pretty clothes.
The boy watching me seemed to share that sentiment.
“Wow. You’re beautiful.”
Yes, beautiful indeed.
Fine clothes like these would be hard to see anywhere else.
Beyond the clothes themselves, my hair was arranged and styled each morning by the Palace Maids with painstaking care, so even as casual wear it was quite elaborate. Since I’d complained that braiding pulled at my scalp and grown tired of it, lately the maids had been experimenting with various hairstyles, putting their heads together.
I nodded and asked the boy a question.
“Little one, where did you come from?”
“Little one? Me?”
Though he looked younger than me by any measure, the boy thought otherwise.
I couldn’t help it—my height had always been larger than other girls my age, but I hadn’t grown since that day last year when I swallowed the poison.
‘This child looks to be about seven years old, maybe.’
Hmm, at this age don’t girls mature faster than boys?
In any case, he was old enough to understand consequences, so a simple question should tell me why he was here.
“Who did you come with?”
“With my sister and my aunt, but then they disappeared.”
So you’re the one who got lost.
I felt relieved seeing him unbothered enough not to cry—clearly he wasn’t the frightened type. But then…
“You came with your sister?”
“Yes. Father accomplished something, and he was summoned so they could congratulate him.”
“Where is your father?”
“I heard he’s at the Northern Military Camp.”
“Hmm.”
The Northern Military Camp—that would be the Military Commissioner’s base in Kyeongseong in Hamgyeongbuk-do, wouldn’t it?
So this boy’s father had accomplished something, but with only women remaining in the Capital, perhaps the Queen herself, as the head of the inner and outer officials, had summoned them to offer her congratulations.
‘But the Queen doesn’t usually meet people that often.’
She’d even told me there was no need to visit her regularly.
Though I wondered if it was alright for the Queen to be like that, there was nothing to say to someone in poor health, and above all—the shock of that poisoning incident involving Hong Suk-won, who had once been a Queen candidate, was not insignificant.
Thanks to that, no one harbored resentment toward the Queen for her cautious and temperate nature.
Being so careful by nature, the Crown Prince had no room for his father to criticize him over maternal relatives.
The very fact that the Crown Prince’s mother remained steadfast was enough to justify her existence.
In any case, this meant the boy’s guardian was currently in the Queen’s Palace.
‘But how did he end up here alone?’
I wondered if no one had caught him along the way, but I too was someone who’d slipped past everyone undetected, so I had no standing to criticize.
‘But then again, I know the Palace layout by heart. Wait—’
A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I asked the boy about it.
“Did you happen to follow me?”
“…Huh? Um, yeah.”
Seeing his uncertain answer, I felt certain.
“You got lost.”
……
Even for a child, pride seemed to exist, and he clearly didn’t want to admit he’d gotten lost.
‘So he wandered after getting lost, saw me, and followed along.’
Since I took a secluded path, he managed to avoid being caught.
“Ugh. I can’t even rest alone.”
“If you want to rest, don’t mind me and just relax. It doesn’t look like Sister and Aunt will return anytime soon anyway, so I’ll wait. Since I’m finally here at the Palace, it’d be no fun to leave right away.”
What kind of child was this?
Regardless of my bewilderment, the little one flopped down beside me.
I’d been sitting comfortably beneath a tree where the lake was visible, and now I examined this unexpected visitor closely.
His face was clean and carried an air of nobility; judging by his clothes alone, he was certainly the child of a yangban family. Though still young, his face was neat and handsome.
The child rolled her round eyes and asked me a question.
“But who are you?”
“……Nothing you need to know.”
“For a Palace Maid, you’re awfully pretty.”
“Since when do Palace Maids have to be plain?”
“So you are a Palace Maid?”
“……Let’s say that.”
Explanation felt like too much effort, and the thought of dealing with royal protocol pleasantries felt even worse, so I just shook my head and slouched.
Of course, that was a luxury of thought one could afford as royal blood.
‘If I hadn’t been born royal, I’d have had to bow and scrape my whole life anyway—maybe I should have let what the Crown Prince said slide.’
While the world generally harbored romantic notions about being a princess, the truth was that in every nation, princesses’ lives were rarely smooth paths.
In an age of weak female rights, political marriages often meant absurd unions, and not a few princesses suffered heartbreak from husbands of poor character.
Still, Joseon kings generally cherished their daughters enough to seek out decent matches from respectable families rather than exploit them for alliances, and a princess always held rank above her Prince Consort.
Of course, it depended on the king and the character of the Prince Consort, but absent political upheaval, it was a good fortune one could call among the finest in the world.
‘But I still won’t stand for it.’
I really do need to find a way to live alone somehow.
“Hey, why have you been angry since before?”
“These things happen. Little one.”
“I’m not little—you’re the one smaller than me.”
“I’m not small.”
Though I was still on the small side, the child sitting beside me was plainly similar to me in size, or perhaps slightly…… smaller? Maybe?
I sighed deeply and set aside my worries about my own future for now, deciding instead to pay more attention to the lost child beside me. The Palace was no place for a young child to wander about.
“Little one, your family must be worried. How about you head back? I’ll take you to the Queen’s Palace.”
“Sure, I’ll catch it from her something fierce, but she won’t actually kill me, will she? This place is fun. The buildings are huge, and fancy, and I’ve never seen a pond like this before, and I’ve seen such a pretty Palace Maid too.”
“Well…….”
That’s just how royal palaces look—built grand to display majesty.
And don’t go trying to charm a Palace Maid like that, child.
‘It sounds foolish saying this to an innocent, wide-eyed child.’
With no television in this era and the child experiencing the Palace for the first time, her wonder was only natural, so I took on the role of tour guide and led her along.
“Fine, if you’re prepared to get scolded short of death, there’s not much I can do about it. Nobody’s around here anyway, so I’ll show you what there is to see.”
“Really?”
The child, who had been staring at me with wide eyes, lifted her head eagerly at my words, then suddenly lunged forward and attempted an embrace.
Goodness, you’re like a puppy.
You really were scared of being lost, weren’t you?
“Let go, let go.”
“You’re kind of strange.”
“You’re the strange one—whoever your family is, doesn’t anyone teach you manners?”
“People often tell me I’m clever, though.”
What are you saying.
I dusted off my clothes and stood, offering the child my hand.
“Come now, little one. I’ll hold your hand so you don’t get lost again.”
“Holding hands is nice, but I’m not a child.”
“Sure, sure.”
The child, rising with my hand in hers, was actually…… slightly taller than me.
Very slightly.
“How old are you?”
“Me? I’m seven.”
Then why are you taller than me.
“Seven means you’re younger than me, so call me older sister. But are you sure you’re not actually older?”
“Huh? Was I really your younger sister?”
It felt strange to be called older sister after so long.
Well, it wasn’t an important hall, just the Royal Garden, so showing her around shouldn’t cause much trouble.
The Palace’s Royal Garden was certainly a beautiful place, and it was somewhere not just anyone could enter.
‘Maybe she’ll remember it later.’
I took the child’s hand and made a circuit of the lake area.
The spring flowers were in full bloom, and the scenery was lovely.
As the child looked around, she chattered on without pause.
“So I rode this horse, but it’s still just a colt, so older sister can’t ride it—only I can.”
“Ha ha. Lucky you.”
“But I can ride a full-grown horse too?”
“Is that so? I can ride it too—what a coincidence.”
There were plenty of young palace maids within the Palace who could have been my companions, but since they couldn’t help but maintain their distance from me, it had been a long time since I’d had such an unguarded conversation with anyone.
‘But he’s the Crown Prince, after all.’
Of course, I’m not one to hold back what I want to say, but as he grows older, it will become harder to treat him this way.
For now, the memory of the poisoning incident is still fresh, and since I’m young, I can get away with it.
‘Maybe it would be nice if he never grew up at all.’
Entertaining this pointless thought, I arrived at the pavilion by the pond and decided to unfold the Bojagi that had somehow slipped from my hands into the child’s.
“Are you hungry? Shall we have a snack?”
“Oh, this was a snack?”
At the mention of a snack, the child’s eyes sparkled. Whether he was seven or eight, he was at that age when everything was about eating.
As I unwrapped the carefully packed Bojagi, an exclamation spilled from the child’s mouth.
“Wow!”
Right, where else would you have seen something like this?
The top browned appetizingly, the body below golden and fluffy.
Today’s snack was Castella, baked the day before.
When slipping away in secret, bringing along a snack is always essential.
“What is this?”
“Just eat it.”
I couldn’t be bothered to explain.
The child took the food from this stranger without a shred of suspicion. I’d have to remind him to wash his hands afterward.
“Mmm! It’s delicious! Really delicious! What is this?”
“It’s called Egg Cake—the talk of Jang-an.”
“Oh, I’ve heard of that. They say only the Palace can make it?”
“Ha ha ha. That’s right, eat as much as you’d like.”
Watching him accept everything offered without hesitation was endearing—rather like a puppy.
‘Maybe I should keep a dog myself.’
The Crown Prince is already secretly doting on a cat, pretending he isn’t.
It’s fortunate, really. Otherwise he might have grown into one of those strange men obsessed with petting my head.
“We’ve made a full circle, so once you finish all this, I’ll take you back to the Queen’s Palace. Then someone will find your sister.”
“Huh? Why? Can’t we play a bit longer?”
“Why? Your family must be worried about you.”
“Oh…”
The child’s shoulders drooped with disappointment. I leaned against the railing and chuckled to myself.
Watching the child, whose feelings were written plainly across his face, filled me with a strange peace.
That’s when it happened.
Caw—
The pleasant moment was shattered by the sudden cry of a crow.
“There it goes again.”
“A crow?”
Crows were often seen in the Palace, and their habit of being drawn to shiny things made them a nuisance.
Probably this one had taken a liking to the glimmer of my clothes and ornaments and decided to approach.
Though they usually didn’t actually attack people, so it should be fine.
“Ah.”
“Wait, be careful!!”
It was not fine.
The moment the crow lunged at me, the child’s arm wrapped around my face.

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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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