Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 46

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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 lowly concubine.
Episode 46
“Your Highness!! Please, come to your senses!!”
Ah, that’s Gai’s voice. Is it already time to wake up?
‘But why is she calling me so urgently?’
I was mulling over whether I could ask for just a bit more sleep when the anxious voice of an unfamiliar man pierced through my drowsiness.
“Your Highness!!”
In that instant, a sense that something was terribly wrong jolted me awake, and I grasped the situation at once.
I’d thought I could feign consciousness, but it seemed I had truly lost it.
‘Or did I actually just fall asleep? If I’d really dozed off in that situation, that would be rather impressive.’
Of course, my body couldn’t endure such an ordeal when yesterday’s fatigue hadn’t even properly worn off. The horses were stampeding and I had plucked a whisker from a strange man’s beard and clutched it in my hand, but!
‘Have I really suffered some sort of shock?’
Setting aside my concerns about my own mental health, I needed to get the situation under control first.
I couldn’t let the Royal Family, who were so sensitive about my health, be alarmed any further.
“Gai?”
“Your Highness, are you awake?”
“Yes.”
Gai’s face, threatening to burst into tears, was a pitiful sight. When the horses were stampeding earlier, it looked like everyone had been rolling in the dirt, not just me.
But when I turned my head, the face of that Gyeongsa Official was right above mine.
Why was I still being held by this man?
More precisely, I was being carried safely and carefully.
And because of that, the spot where his whisker had been plucked was still perfectly, glaringly, visible.
‘Oh no. What am I going to do about that.’
Seeing the scene of the unintended crime I’d committed, I felt like fainting again.
I’m so sorry!!!!!
The skin beneath his chin where the whisker had been plucked was red and raw, and seeing how much it must hurt, I shuddered involuntarily.
But he seemed to interpret it differently, and his concern deepened.
“Are you… are you alright?”
“No, I’m fine. It’s just… “.
“Your Highness?!”
Just as I was about to apologize, we must have arrived at the Royal Medical Office, because startled voices of the physicians echoed from all around.
“Your Highness?!”
“Your Highness!!”
“Ah… ”
Ever since that incident with the poisoned dried persimmon, I’d been examined by every physician and medical woman in the Royal Medical Office, so familiar faces rushed toward me and began taking my pulse.
“What has happened?!”
“Ah, I think I just got frightened.”
I felt like I’d been tumbled about, but fortunately I found no injuries.
‘Not even a scratch.’
Since the Royal Medical Office at Gwolnaegaksa was near Sabok-si, it seemed the time I’d lost consciousness couldn’t have been very long.
While the physicians were taking my pulse, Gai and the Gyeongsa Official were watching them with serious expressions.
“It’s alright, so both of you calm down.”
How could they perform a proper pulse diagnosis if they were frightened?
As for this man—why was he like this?
It had happened suddenly; he shouldn’t be punished for failing to protect me, so he must have more compassion in him than expected.
‘He helped me yesterday, and now this. Perhaps he’s just weak toward children.’
In any case, he didn’t seem like a bad person.
Once the physicians of the Royal Medical Office had finished their examination, they concluded that I had simply lost consciousness from sudden shock, and prescribed me a calming herbal decoction and plenty of rest.
The moment the physician assured me I was fine, sighs of relief echoed around the room, and with that, the Gyeongsa Official abruptly disappeared from the Royal Medical Office.
‘Ah, I didn’t even get to thank him.’
After that, I was transported to my residence without a moment’s rest.
Thanks to that, I brushed aside the fatigue from yesterday’s events, bathed in warm water, became drowsy, and was able to fall asleep again.
Then, after sleeping deeply and waking, while I was basking in the life of privilege under the devoted care of the palace attendants, that very evening I received word that my father had sent for me.
‘He must have heard about what happened today.’
I’d thought he wouldn’t seek me out for a while because of the treason matter.
Treason, after all, tends to upset people and lead to bloody affairs, so avoiding close contact with young children makes sense from an emotional standpoint, doesn’t it?
But having heard that I fainted from fright, he couldn’t very well ignore it.
‘My mind and body must be exhausted, so I probably do need some comfort.’
I relaxed my facial muscles to emphasize that I was perfectly fine, then briefly considered the necessity of skincare before quickly abandoning the thought.
‘I’m still so young—why would I bother managing this soft, supple skin?’
Just as I figured he’d be arriving soon and stepped outside my residence, I spotted a group hurrying toward me in the distance.
“Father!”
“Didn’t I tell you not to come outside?”
The moment I threw my arms around him, a faint smile crossed the weary king’s face.
Though he looked exhausted, he bent down to meet my eyes and examined me carefully from all angles before gently lifting me into his arms and patting my back.
“Are you unharmed? Do you know how frightened I was when I heard you’d collapsed in shock?”
“I apologize for causing you such concern, Your Majesty.”
“You must never forget that your father worries about you always. If anything were to happen to the princess, how could I face the Lady Yun?”
“Yes, Father.”
I patted his back as he held me, trying to soothe his weariness, and when I lifted my head, I found the Crown Prince standing behind him—visibly exhausted himself, though he was doing his best to conceal it.
‘Long time no see.’
I wiggled my fingers at him, and I caught a faint smile.
‘From the look of him, it doesn’t seem like anyone noticed he snuck out.’
And standing behind the Crown Prince was that Gyeongsa Official I’d seen earlier.
His whiskers were still half-plucked.
“Ah…….”
“What is it?”
When I made an odd sound, the king looked puzzled until he noticed my gaze had drifted to the Gyeongsa Official, and then he stifled a laugh.
‘Heh heh. Is it funny?’
Of course it would be funny to him—he wasn’t the one it happened to!
The only ones who couldn’t laugh here were the victim, the Gyeongsa Official, and the culprit, me.
“I hear Seong Yun rescued you today.”
“Seong Yun?”
“The Gyeongsa Official Seong, I mean.”
So that man’s name was Seong Yun?
‘And the king knows his name? They’re that familiar with each other?’
Regardless of my confusion, the king commended the Gyeongsa Official.
“Without you, the princess might have suffered gravely indeed.”
“It was merely my duty, Your Majesty. If anything, I am ashamed for having startled the princess.”
“No. I am aware that you saved the princess from those remnants of the Treasonous Party who nearly harmed her. As her father, how could I not be grateful?”
“I am deeply honored, Your Majesty.”
“If there is anything you desire, speak freely.”
“I wish only to live at peace for a time.”
“Is that so…….”
Wait, something’s not right here.
This doesn’t feel like he’s just a Gyeongsa Official anymore???
“Continue as a Gyeongsa Official for now, and should your mind change, tell me whenever you wish.”
“I am deeply honored, Your Majesty.”
“……And perhaps attend to those whiskers—tidying them up would be wise.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After the Gyeongsa Official withdrew, the king and Crown Prince went inside, and the three of us drank tea together while they checked once more that I had no injuries.
In the end, I wasn’t able to even properly greet the Gyeongsa Official before he left. I’m sorry.
I explained what had happened earlier and asked about him.
“But what manner of person is that Gyeongsa Official?”
“The Crown Prince had hoped to employ him meaningfully, but it seems that will be difficult for a time.”
“……?”
Why summon him before me if you weren’t going to explain? Though I suppose the king did want to properly praise him for saving me in my presence.
I suspected the Crown Prince understood something I, still too young, was not being told.
In any case, my task was to be a comfort, so I sat beside the king, gently patting his shoulder while observing the Crown Prince’s expression.
He wasn’t entirely himself either, but his color was reasonably good—which suggested that Jihwa and her brother had likely not been captured.
‘All that effort was worth something, then.’
Though we couldn’t let our guard down entirely, the circumstances convinced me they had escaped.
***
It was several days later when I spoke directly with the Crown Prince and heard the full account of Jihwa and her brother, and of the Gyeongsa Official.
One would think a conversation between siblings shouldn’t be so difficult, but the Crown Prince was always surrounded by attendants, and above all, he was desperately busy.
Extraordinarily busy.
Whereas I had normally been allowed to sit quietly and observe his scholarly discussions, now he was occupied with the unpleasant administrative work of handling the aftermath of the treason plot—work I couldn’t possibly join in on.
Moreover, Gai and my other ladies insisted I needed rest, so they confined me to my chamber and fed me nothing but nutritious and delicious food until I couldn’t even leave my residence.
‘At this rate I’ll become an obese child!’

The food I eat is always tasted by my attendants and the lady-in-waiting in my presence.
It wasn’t an official rule originally, but it became the custom after the Dried Persimmon incident.
One might think we’d all grow plump eating the same meals, but unlike me lounging in my room and snacking all day, the others eat and then return to their duties—so it was plain as day that only I would end up round and soft.
Of course, by rights I’m still at an age where I should be eating well, but when I don’t grow much anyway, where else would it all go?
“Young Miss. You ought to rest a bit longer…….”
“Enough! I’m going to make sweets!”
After days of confinement, I finally ventured out and made my way to the Crown Prince, carrying the high-calorie treat I should have been eating myself, intent on bringing color back to his sickly pallor.
That prickly man rarely ate anything unless it was prepared by someone he trusted, which meant he had developed quite a taste for the confections I made.
Because of this, the attendants of the Crown Prince’s Palace had taken to quietly visiting my residence whenever he grew tired and irritable—but this time, with me under house confinement, they couldn’t come, and I imagined they were all growing anxious.
Those who knew the Crown Prince relieved his stress through sweets and conversation with me withdrew to a distance once the refreshment table was arranged, far enough that our voices wouldn’t carry.
“You have much on your mind, I see.”
“Yes.”
“You made this?”
“Of course.”
The Crown Prince began eating the honey-drizzled pudding I’d brought, and as he did, he answered my unspoken question.
For the record, I’d been too lazy to come up with a proper name for it, so I’d called it “jiggly,” but the Crown Prince refused to use the word “pudding” as a noun and insisted on referring to it only with demonstratives—”this,” “that,” “those.”
Such a difficult man.
“So those two have simply vanished without a trace?”
“Yes. It’s ironic—she who might once have become Crown Princess now flees as the daughter of a traitor.”
“She seemed to matter to you.”
As I said this, watching his reaction, the Crown Prince laughed awkwardly.
“It wasn’t so much that I liked her as that we understood each other. She was well-versed in medical texts, you see—we spoke the same language.”
“You must be busy with your studies, yet you still take such interest in medical knowledge.”
“There’s no harm in learning what one can.”
Besides, even the Queen was often ill.
The poison I’d ingested remained unidentified, leaving the royal physicians frustrated, and it was no wonder the Crown Prince had reason to pursue such knowledge.
Since there was little point in continuing to discuss someone who had vanished and could no longer become Crown Princess, I shifted the conversation.
‘Of course, since she’s the heroine, she’ll return.’
Naturally, the topic I brought up was about Seong Yun, the Gyeongsa Official.
As if the Crown Prince had anticipated I would ask about him, he nodded and asked directly:
“Do you know what a Tanchae-in is?”

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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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