Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 43

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Born as the daughter of a concubine of the lowest rank.
43
‘Calling them “bandits” seems a bit grandiose.’
In the Capital City, not even far from Sungnyemun Gate—there didn’t seem to be any proper bandit gang around these parts.
‘What I mean is, they’re the type to shake down someone like me who’s wandered off the path on a night like this…… what do you call people like that? Thugs? No, in this era’s terms, would it be ruffians? Is that right?’
They’d jumped out of nowhere in the middle of the night. My heart nearly stopped.
I dropped my innocent facade and asked as if I knew nothing.
“Who are you?”
“Little miss. You seem to have lost your way—how about we take you home? Don’t be scared. We’re actually quite close with your parents.”
“That can’t be right.”
Even looking charitably at them, they seemed like nothing more than illegal debt collectors. And yet they were saying such ridiculous things.
“We really are well acquainted with your mother, I’m telling you.”
‘Wait, voice phishing in this era……?’
It’s true that the history of fraud impersonating relatives goes back a long way.
But I had no one to be defrauded of—my maternal relatives had been decimated. Even after I’d risen to become a concubine, no one came looking for me, and when my funeral was held, I was reduced to borrowing someone else’s house from among my own kinfolk just to hold the rites.
“My mother passed away a long time ago.”
“Oh, uh, really?”
“And I have no relatives at all—I’m an orphan alone in the world, or so I’ve been told.”
“I see…….”
The rowdy men suddenly seemed deflated, their spirits dampened.
They huddled together, muttering and exchanging opinions among themselves.
I wondered for a moment whether I should just slip past them or turn around and flee, but the men seemed to reach agreement and addressed me again.
“Well, actually we’re old friends of your mother’s.”
“But the thing is, we’re in a bit of a bind right now, so would you mind sharing something valuable with us—something we could turn into money?”
It was proper extortion.
But what did I have? Unfortunately, even if I wanted to give something, there was nothing to give.
Since I’d had attendants looking after me since I learned to walk, I’d never needed to carry anything myself.
And today, on top of that, I’d already handed everything over to Su Cheon.
“I’m sorry. My mom died when I was little, my dad passed in an accident so I never got to see him again, our house fell apart so I got separated from my sister, and I gave all I had to her because she was stuck without anything…….”
…….
At my words, the men tilted their heads in disbelief, as if questioning their own ears.
“You didn’t get conned by some weird kid, did you?”
“I’m telling you the truth!”
One of the thugs, feeling like he’d been outmaneuvered, spoke with a note of grievance in his voice.
But I, who had spoken only truth, was the one who felt wronged.
“Sure, sure. You’d all say it’s true.”
“Is this kid you gave money to—is he good-looking and polished?”
“……Well, yes, he is.”
Though still young, Su Cheon had objectively handsome features. Young as he was, he was material with a promising future ahead.
“Good heavens, even a little kid running cons like that already—tsk, tsk.”
“Handsome men are just trouble, I tell you.”
It seemed they all had some bad memories connected to attractive men.
But thanks to that, the atmosphere somehow softened a bit.
“Then maybe, if you could give us that horse…….”
“That’s something my dead brother left behind…….”
“……But your father is alive, right?”
“I do have a stepmother. She’s not my brother’s biological mother, though.”
“I see…….”
Now that I said it aloud, our household sounded terribly complicated.
Though the darkness kept their faces from being clearly visible, it was obvious what strange expressions the men must be wearing. I couldn’t help but sigh.
I also felt a creeping depression, thinking that my life had been rougher than I’d realized.
Mother dead, father dead, separated from my sister, and now Su Cheon facing a life ahead even more difficult than mine—the thought of it somehow made fresh tears spring to my eyes.
Sob.
Neigh!
As I began to cry, Jeok-a grew restless and threatened the men in front of me.
“No, we were just asking for a little money, that’s all…….”
Why were these extortionists even panicking?
Were they really just neighborhood thugs out of some old drama? Common street ruffians?
“Then how about those clothes you’re wearing?”
He was a bad guy, no doubt about it.
The words tumbled out before my mind could catch them.
“Huff. Seems like something’s changed…….”
“What, no! No, I haven’t!!”
“You—you’re that kind of person?”
Even his own companions backed away, but the man kept shouting his denials.
Denials. Right.
By my standards, child predators deserved to be trampled to death by hoofbeats—and I wouldn’t count it as murder.
Though he’d probably survive it anyway.
I took a deep breath and gripped the reins tightly when, unexpectedly, laughter drifted from behind me.
“Puh-heh.”
“Who—who’s there?”
“I was thinking of just passing by since the mood didn’t seem as grim as I feared, but I suppose that won’t do.”
It had been too dark to notice, but someone had been approaching from behind.
The man who came forward, deliberately circling away from Jeok-a, had a voice older than the thugs who’d been threatening me.
“Whatever gang you crawled out of, how could you terrorize a child and make her cry?”
“We were just trying to scrape by—seems you’re being stingy about it.”
“We haven’t done anything violent since she’s just a kid. But with you, mister—that’s different, wouldn’t you say?”
“You’re right, you’re definitely more—urgh?!”
Thwack! Crack!
It was too dark to see clearly, but the thugs were definitely taking a beating.
‘What on earth is happening?’
Where did such a skilled fighter suddenly come from?
The man who’d apparently finished a four-against-one fight without breaking a sweat laughed as he sent the fleeing thugs on their way, then dusted off his hands and turned his head toward me.
“I’m headed to the Capital City by way of Namdaemun Gate. Where were you headed, young lady?”
“Oh? Ah, I’m heading to Namdaemun as well.”
Damn—I’d answered too honestly.
“Then I’ll walk ahead and you can follow at a distance. That horse looks rather menacing, to be frank.”
“Ah? Um, yes.”
The man who set off at a quick pace kept glancing back as if checking my condition.
“And to explain myself, those fellows weren’t trying to do anything strange to you—they probably wanted to steal your clothes and sell them. Silk clothing is valuable, after all.”
“Ah.”
Now that he mentioned it, I’d told Su Cheon to sell mine as well.
“Bandits bold enough to harm a young lady from a noble family traveling in silk clothing and on horseback seem unlikely, but it’s dangerous for you to be out alone at this hour.”
“Yes. Thank you for your help.”
I bowed my head without dismounting. The man smiled oddly.
“……?”
“It’s strange to see someone of your standing bow to someone like me.”
“Ah.”
Right. There were few people of sufficient standing to make me lower my head.
I childishly covered my mouth and shook my head. If I needed to flee, it was better to seem underestimated.
“Father and my brother would make a fuss if they found out, so please keep it secret.”
“Ha ha. Of course.”
Amused by my words, the man stopped walking and laughed, and Jeok-a, following behind at a distance, halted as well.
“A remarkably clever animal.”
“Jeok-a is very intelligent.”
The man, sensing Jeok-a’s wariness, maintained his distance and continued walking.
A wise choice—better than having his ribs broken by a horse’s kick.
“Is the name Jeok-a, meaning the Red Crow—a poetic reference to the Three-legged Crow that dwells within the sun, which metaphorically represents the sun itself?”
“Originally I named her Jeok-a, meaning ‘red child,’ but that earned poor reviews, so I decided to change it to Jeok-a instead.”
“Is that so? Ha ha ha ha.”
“When I first got her, she was much smaller than she is now.”
I kept making idle conversation to avoid awkward silence, and the mood didn’t turn particularly sour.
After all, there’s a saying that if you speak to a would-be criminal in a friendly manner, they start to see you as a person and hesitate to harm you.
Though of course that doesn’t apply to stalkers, domestic abusers, or psychopaths targeting people they know.
‘But then what’s the point?’
Relying on the humanity of criminals.
Sex offenders think a girl seduced them even when she’s a child—so wouldn’t talking to them just invite more nonsense?
My mind churned with thoughts irrelevant to this kingdom’s laws, but my lips kept up the small talk naturally.
“The Chi Tu Ma is a red hare too, after all.”
“You’re familiar with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, then.”
“That’s not boring at all.”
The ending was so unconventional that’s why. Honestly, if it had been an original novel, the author would’ve been pelted with stones.
As we pressed on, we found ourselves on a path where people moved about freely, and lights flickered here and there, which eased my mind considerably. With the Capital City drawing near, locating the Namdaemun Gate proved simple enough.
Moreover, the person on horseback glancing around nearby was certainly someone I knew.
“Gai!”
“Young Miss!”
Gai heard my voice and called out to me in a tone that seemed close to tears. It appeared he’d heard the story from Song Bi.
“Your guardian has arrived, so I shall take my leave now.”
“Yes, thank you so much!”
With light spreading around us, I caught a brief glimpse of the man’s face who’d been at my side moments before. The same must have been true for him.
‘But since we’re unlikely to meet again, it doesn’t matter.’
As Gai approached, Jeok-a naturally moved toward him as well.
“Young Miss, are you unharmed?”
“Yes. Don’t worry.”
“And that person was…?”
“A kind person who helped me.”
If I gave him all the details, Gai would surely faint, so I omitted the beginning and only told him about being guided along the path. He let out a sigh and pressed a hand to his chest.
I glanced around before approaching and asking.
“Did it work out well?”
“I gave out one horse as instructed, so he must have escaped safely.”
“Good. Thank heavens.”
Su Cheon must have gotten away safely then.
“What about Ji-hwa, who was with the Crown Prince?”
Judging by that servant’s behavior earlier, there was no way he’d helped Ji-hwa escape.
“Young Miss, I’m only saying this to be cautious, but—”
“I know. If he’s already been caught, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
I didn’t have that kind of skill to begin with.
‘But I don’t think Ji-hwa will be caught.’
The protagonist isn’t a protagonist for nothing. He surely escaped well, and the Crown Prince helped him at least.
“He should be safe.”
“Please don’t worry yourself too much, Young Miss.”
“All right.”
If they succeeded in escaping like this, it would be difficult to recapture them.
Even if they mobilized servants who remembered the child and circulated a Facial Composite Sketch, the child’s face was still young enough that it would be hard to recognize after a few years had passed.
‘But I never expected things would develop this way.’
Why was that? Had the exiled Left Prime Minister really done something?
Whether I pondered it or not, Jeok-a was following Gai through the Namdaemun Gate.
“Ah, it’s the Crown Prince.”
And waiting for me in front of us was the Crown Prince, pale-faced.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————