Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 45

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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.
Chapter 45
Neigh!
Displeased by the man’s demeanor, Jeok-a reared up on his front legs and threatened him fiercely.
“You’d do well to stop. His temperament is hardly ordinary—anyone but his master knows him to be difficult.”
“If he’s so particular about his rider, he’ll be useless as a military mount, won’t he?”
The Prospective Gyeomsa-bok beside me let out a low chuckle at the man’s words. Seo-ri, who had been tending the horses, added his own observation.
“In any case, this horse is greatly cherished by the princess herself, so your admiration will avail you nothing.”
“Indeed. Who would dare covet a gift that Seong-won Crown Prince left for his only sister?”
Yet even as he spoke, the man’s eyes never left the horse.
Why does he stare at my horse like that if he’s going to say such things?
Gai, catching my displeasure, stepped forward first.
“Why do you gaze upon the princess’s horse with such disrespect?”
“Your Highness.”
As Seo-ri lowered his head with practiced ease, the Prospective Gyeomsa-bok and the man alike startled and hurried to do the same.
“My apologies.”
You have not yet answered my question.”
“I, I am called Seong of the… of…”
He explained neither his name nor his position properly.
When I raised my brow, the somewhat familiar-faced Prospective Gyeomsa-bok beside me rushed to make excuses.
“My apologies, Your Highness. This man is an old friend of mine, and as he is soon to become a Gyeomsa-bok, I was merely showing him about the palace.”
“This is the Sabok-si, which oversees the royal carriage and horses. Should you admit outsiders so carelessly, you will not escape blame in the future. Do not forget that.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Both men merely bowed at my words.
“So, is there some problem with my horse?”
“My apologies. He is simply an excellent animal, and my eyes were drawn to him—please think nothing of it.”
Whether his claim of being a Prospective Gyeomsa-bok was true or not, there seemed nothing amiss in his manner, yet there was something about that man’s voice that felt familiar.
‘I’ve only ever known men within the palace, and they all blur together.’
Finding the matter too tedious to dwell upon, I approached Jeok-a, and the two men backed away.
“Jeok-a. Come here.”
Whinny.
Unlike before, Jeok-a came to my call eagerly, and the man lifted his head slightly.
“Jeok-a?”
“How dare you raise your head before the princess without permission?”
“My apologies…”
Despite Gai’s warning, the man tilted his head in confusion.
Even Gai seemed taken aback by the man’s voice, though she turned away as if she hadn’t noticed.
But the man spoke boldly.
“Is the horse’s name written with the character for red—jeok—and the character for child—a—rather than the character for raven, making it Jeok-a?”
In that instant, a conversation I’d had with a stranger yesterday flashed through my mind.
‘So that’s why his voice sounded familiar.’
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
It was definitely that man from yesterday!
But revealing that would be foolish.
Of course, yesterday I had been exhausted in body and spirit, and my behavior had been somewhat careless, but that was not the case now.
And I was not alone.
“How did you know that?”
“It is that…”
While the man hesitated in answer to Gai’s sharp voice, I turned to the familiar Seo-ri, who had been caring for Jeok-a.
“I should take Jeok-a for a ride.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
As though he had anticipated my arrival from the moment I appeared, Seo-ri finished his final checks on the saddle and led Jeok-a out toward the horse grounds.
I stroked Jeok-a a few times—he had been excited since catching sight of me, like a dog heading out for a walk—then mounted him directly.
My attendants, already accustomed to this, and Seo-ri remained composed, while the Prospective Gyeomsa-boks gasped in surprise.
“Your Highness, you have not even put on riding clothes.”
“I’ll be back shortly.”
Yesterday I hadn’t worn them either, but no one had said a word—so this remark seemed to be merely for the sake of the Prospective Gyeomsa-boks nearby.
Ignoring the hollow admonition, I was about to urge Jeok-a forward when I heard Gai’s sharp voice, pitched low.
“Do not start unnecessary trouble.”
I’m not listening. I didn’t hear a thing.
The man who’d pocketed yesterday’s bribe to smuggle Jeok-a out wouldn’t hear a word of it either.
“Surely it was that person yesterday…… How could you leave the young princess unattended in such a dangerous place?”
“It would be best to forget what happened yesterday.”
I pretended not to hear the voice calling from behind and urged my horse forward, keeping watch over Jeok-a’s condition.
Perhaps from so much traveling yesterday, Jeok-a showed no signs of fatigue—if anything, she seemed in better spirits than usual.
Slightly concerned, I asked Seo-ri, who handled Jeok-a’s care. Since Jeok-a had a somewhat particular temperament, the youngest among the Sabok-si staff had taken over almost her entire care.
“Jeok-a has a spirited nature. She doesn’t find this place confining, does she?”
“Unless she were taken to the Pasture itself, she would fare no better anywhere else, my lady.”
“Later, when I’m married off, I’ll need to take her with me. Won’t she be lonely once we leave here?”
“Given her firm and decisive temperament, if there is someone with whom she appears to share rapport, perhaps it would be wise to inquire whether they might accompany you, my lady?”
Wait—did he just tell me, in roundabout fashion, that my horse has no friends?
My horse with no friends!
As I circled the Sabok-si with a somewhat troubled mind and returned, Gai and the palace attendants handed over a bundle they’d brought with practiced ease.
“We’ve brought some food for you. Take it.”
“It is the princess’s gift, and I receive it with gratitude.”
“Look after Jeok-a well.”
“There is no question I shall do so.”
Seo-ri’s face brightened as he accepted the bundle.
Since I never arrived empty-handed, the staff didn’t shy away from my visits. They were also exceptionally diligent in caring for Jeok-a. Even those who work in the palace rarely had the chance to taste food from the royal table.
For the record, it wasn’t castella. Apart from the expense of certain ingredients, it was a matter of principle to maintain scarcity.
“I’ve brought plenty—the Prospective Gyeomsa-bok can take some with his colleagues as well.”
“You are most generous, my lady.”
There was no benefit in pretending to be closer than we were, but given that he’d helped me yesterday, this much seemed acceptable.
The times being what they were, I thought it unwise to linger long. I dismounted and approached Jeok-a one last time to bid her farewell.
“Jeok-a, I’ll be going now. Be good and stay out of trouble.”
“You spare few words, my lady.”
What—why, what’s the problem?
This man becomes oddly familiar just because he saw me once yesterday.
It’s not as though I’m the sort of person he can just casually address.
‘What is it with this man that he has no fear?’
If he’s a Prospective Gyeomsa-bok, he likely isn’t of particularly high rank, which might explain his lack of caution.
Or perhaps he thought me approachable because I’d been overly courteous yesterday.
That would be problematic in its own way.
In a place where the class system is strict, why would I create an issue? Yet I was troubled by my bow yesterday—that deep, respectful bow.
‘If that were discovered, I’d face some scolding, but this man could be dragged away, couldn’t he?’
It was the irrational logic of this world: even when a superior errs, the subordinate bears the punishment.
No matter how much the Prospective Gyeomsa-bok bowed his head, the inevitable difference in height meant he looked down upon me—and it seemed he was studying me intently.
‘They say those who serve as Gyeomsa-bok or Nae-geumwi in the palace are selected partly on appearance. This man is quite tall.’
I was hesitating whether to ask why he stared so much when a sudden commotion erupted from somewhere nearby.
“What is happening?”
“It appears to be from the Gwol-nae Gak-sa, my lady.”
The Sabok-si was close enough to the Gwol-nae Gak-sa that sound carrying this far wasn’t unusual. But was there reason for such a disturbance there?
‘Ah—could it be related to treason?’
I could think of nothing else that would cause such a commotion within the palace at this moment.
I pulled firmly on Jeok-a’s reins, which I hadn’t yet released into the enclosure, and stroked her neck to calm her. The horses were all trained, but unfamiliar chaos could spook them into bolting and injuring themselves in collision.
Other horses were also present for their regular exercise, and as the noise spread, several of the more temperamental ones began to show signs of alarm.
“My lady, leave the horse to me and withdraw at once if you—”
As chaos spread, the Prospective Gyeomsa-bok furrowed his brow and reached to seize Jeok-a’s reins in my place. But Jeok-a, visibly displeased, backed away and evaded his touch.
‘Horses are said to move poorly backward. When did Jeok-a learn such a trick?’
But the true crisis came in the next moment.
“Out of the way!!”
“Catch them!!”
The first voice belonged to a low-ranking official. Several others in similar dress followed in his wake, pursued by what appeared to be guards from the Ui-geumbu.
Anyone could see they were fleeing.
But why were they heading this way?
“……?!”
The claim that the Prospective Gyeomsa-bok had merit proved true—one of the fleeing officials who rushed toward us was caught in his grasp and went sprawling. The one who rushed after him didn’t see me and, audaciously, grabbed hold of Jeok-a and mounted her instead.
“Ah.”
Eeeeeeeee!!!
“Aaaaahhhhh!!”
In the next instant, I tumbled messily from Jeok-a’s back as he thrashed in evident distress.
And between Jeok-a’s writhing, the official’s screams, and the stable hands racing toward us, several nearby horses startled and bolted in different directions, which in turn spooked the others into panicking as well.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Nooooo!”
Jeok-a was a clever beast, so he nimbly dodged about without trampling anyone, but the other horses showed no such restraint.
“Gasp!”
In the chaos that erupted from Jeok-a and the fallen official, another panicked horse came charging straight toward where I stood.
If I stayed put, I’d be crushed beneath its hooves. With no time to flee, I instinctively curled into a ball—when someone snatched me out of harm’s way.
“…!”
“Young lady!”
When I came to my senses, I found myself cradled in the arms of a man—the Prospective Gyeomsa-bok.
“…?”
“Young lady, are you unharmed?”
“Y-yes, I’m fine.”
Just moments ago he’d been restraining a fleeing official—how had he appeared here so suddenly?
Thanks to him, I’d been spared, but the interior of the Sabok-si was in complete pandemonium with horses rearing wildly.
‘What on earth is happening?’
And there was no leisure for such musings.
“Behind—behind us!”
“Hold on tight!”
“Right!”
The man, startled by my shout, immediately rolled himself along the ground. I grabbed at whatever came to hand and squeezed my eyes shut.
It seemed the best I could do was obey and stay still.
“Ugh…!”
As we rolled across the ground and came up again, something cracked audibly, and a groan escaped from the Prospective Gyeomsa-bok’s lips.
“Are you hurt…? There’s—there’s another one coming!”
“Ghhhk….”
The injured man, still groaning, rolled once more at my warning and barely managed to dodge toward the empty horse grounds. Fortunately, thanks to the stable hands who worked up a sweat capturing and steadying the horses one by one, the chaos gradually began to subside.
As the noise died down and I cautiously opened my eyes to assess the situation, I suddenly realized what I’d been gripping in my hand was not cloth.
What I held was… black in color… like thread… but not thread… similar to hair, but much shorter…
‘Wait. Could this possibly be… that… surely not… whiskers?’
Could it be that when the man groaned just now, it wasn’t because he’d injured somewhere else…?
I rolled my eyes upward to look, and there it was—a distinct crater on the Prospective Gyeomsa-bok’s chin where his beard had been torn out.
Oh no….
“….”
Having inadvertently repaid his kindness with harm, I simply decided to feign unconsciousness and closed my eyes where I lay.
Besides, I was tired anyway… and sleep seemed to be coming over me….

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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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