Even If Flowers Bloom on a Broken Branch - Chapter 107

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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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107.
The birth of the royal descendants threw the entire nation into a frenzy.
Within the Royal Palace, words of celebration were exchanged day after day, while outside the walls, the commoners rejoiced in the great fortune of the Royal Family, proclaiming that auspicious events were occurring one after another.
The news of not just one child, but three—and moreover, two princes and one princess—was more than enough to stir the people’s excitement.
“It seems Heaven has truly made up its mind to bestow its blessings upon us.”
In the Royal Court, discussions regarding immediate pardons and relief efforts were underway, and the Ministry of Rites was entirely absorbed in organizing the protocols and the list of royal gifts.
The Naeuwon was bustling with transferring records resulting from this childbirth, and Jinyul, for his part, was frantic trying to handle various matters he had put off in the meantime.
However, Lee Yeon, who should have been at the center of it all, remained a step removed from that clamor.
‘No, perhaps I am at the center of the loudest place of all.’
Inside Daehee Palace, there was never a moment of silence.
“Wah!”
“Ahhh!”
The cries echoed alternately, or sometimes even overlapped. There were many times when it was difficult to gauge which one had started first, or which child’s cry it was.
“Oh, my.”
Lee Yeon let out a sigh-like laugh while cradling a child in her arms.
Her arms were numb, and her waist had still not fully recovered. She could not even properly remember the last time she had slept deeply, and whenever she closed her eyes for a brief moment and opened them, someone was invariably crying.
“Who is it this time……?”
As she murmured and peered into the baby’s face, the tiny countenance entered her sight.
The tightly clenched fists, the belly rising and falling with every breath, and the thumping sound of the heartbeat. Even when she was exhausted, looking at this would cause her fatigue to melt away completely.
“Lee Yeon.”
Lee Yeon, who had been expertly soothing two of the children, turned her head toward the doorway. Jinyul was walking in.
He, too, split up whatever time he could to come to Daehee Palace. Although his day was packed tightly with schedules for every hour and every minute, he nonetheless strove to stay by the side of Lee Yeon and the children for even a single moment longer.
Once, he had stepped forward to try holding a child, only to provoke cries with his clumsy touch, earning himself a scolding from Lee Yeon.
“Your Highness, you must support the arms a bit more.”
“Like—this?”
“No, just a little more…… Ah, they are crying again.”
He looked down at the crying child with a troubled face before finally returning the baby to Lee Yeon as if surrendering.
“This seems more difficult than war.”
“Is that so?”
Lee Yeon smiled with a tired face.
Blended within that smile were joy, overwhelming emotion, and an honest exhaustion.
The two of them wished to care for the children personally, if possible, at least while they were very young. That choice reflected a large portion of Lee Yeon’s opinion.
Her heart desired not to leave the entire process of nursing, putting them to sleep, and soothing their cries solely to the hands of others.
However, there were three of them. Not one, but three.
“Waaah!”
When night fell, dozens of cries resounded within Daehee Palace.
Lee Yeon stood up holding a child, rocked them for a long while, and then sat back down. Fearing that she might drop the child if the strength drained from her arms, she often slept while remaining seated.
It was after such days had continued for some time.
“Milady,”
Court Lady Im carefully spoke up.
“We shall attend to the young masters and princess for a short while. We are worried that your health will suffer further at this rate.”
Lee Yeon hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. This was already the several-numbered request she had heard. Previously, she had declined, saying she was fine, but now it was truly difficult for her physically, so she could not just dismiss it.
When Lee Yeon nodded, the children were taken into the arms of the court ladies one by one and departed, and soon, a stillness settled inside Daehee Palace.
“Phew……”
As the saying went, no one could best a crying child, and it was truly no ordinary task. It was to the point where the silence without any crying felt awkward.
Lee Yeon let out a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. While her chest felt a bit lighter, a part of her also felt empty.
Just as she was about to call for a court lady to see if she could catch up on her missed sleep, a familiar silhouette suddenly caught her eye.
“Hong Ran?”
She was soothing the babies held in the court ladies’ arms with a smiling face.
As if sensing the gaze, Hong Ran turned her head, met eyes with Lee Yeon, and immediately bowed her head.
“Milady.”
“The silence felt lonely after a long while, so I am glad you came.”
Hong Ran smiled faintly and stepped into the room. When Lee Yeon requested for a refreshment table to be brought in, Court Lady Im and the palace maids quietly withdrew.
Lee Yeon looked at Hong Ran. It was not for any other reason. It was because of another emotion, aside from affection, that had harbored within Hong Ran’s eyes as she gazed at the children.
“You miss them, don’t you?”
“Pardon?”
Hong Ran, who had suddenly raised her head, met Lee Yeon’s gaze and lost her words for a moment.
Lee Yeon had not specified what she missed. It had been just that one short phrase, yet Hong Ran’s eyes instantly welled with tears.
Come to think of it, Hong Ran was not very old either. At the mere age of her twenties, a flower-like age, she had entered this palace and endured so very many things all on her own.
Unable to lean on anyone, standing tall completely by herself.
“Your merit in this childbirth is exceedingly great, so His Majesty the King bade me to grant whatever it is you desire.”
At that, Hong Ran immediately shook her head.
“I did not do it to receive a reward. It was naturally what I ought to do. And I was happy to be able to do so.”
“It is because you are such a person that I cherish you. You are truly a tender-hearted soul.”
She was the type of person who made one want to give more the more she declined. Because it did not feel wasteful at all.
“Therefore, I wish to grant you three days of joy every month.”
“……Pardon?”
Lee Yeon smiled.
“At my maiden home, meals might become a bit lonely for three days, but it must be endured. Since a mother is going to see her daughter.”
“……?”
Hong Ran stared blankly at Lee Yeon, wondering what those words meant, and then her lips gradually parted. And soon, she covered her face with both hands all of a sudden. Tears instantly rushed into her pitch-black eyes.
“Is it true? Truly, truly……?”
“Laughter will bloom in Yeonheidang as well. Will that suffice as a reward?”
“It is more than enough. No, it overflows, Milady!”
Hong Ran bowed her head with a wet face. She was so overjoyed that even her earlobes had turned red.
“I am truly fortunate to have you by my side.”
Hong Ran could no longer continue her words. She merely bowed her head several times over, expressing her deep gratitude.
Jinyul also agreed to that decision, and not long after that, a flower palanquin arrived at Yeonheidang. It was Juhwa, who had come riding on a carriage sent by the King.
And that afternoon, Lee Yeon sat by the window, enjoying the long-awaited reunion with Hong Ran and Juhwa, when she suddenly looked out the window.
“……?”
A single flowering tree caught her eye. It was a plum blossom tree.
“Was that branch…… originally bent like that?”
One branch of the plum blossom tree was twisted in a uniquely peculiar direction. It looked as though it had been artificially grafted together.
Lee Yeon called a court lady and asked.
“How did that come to be?”
“Ah, that is……”
Court Lady Im hesitated for a moment before answering.
“Some time ago, there was an incident, and a large branch of the tree was ruthlessly snapped.”
Lee Yeon understood immediately—both the court lady’s hesitation and the tree’s injury.
It was the doing of the Deposed Queen Chae Eun-oh.
“A graft was applied to that spot.”
“A graft?”
“Yes. Therefore, it became like that. Though the shape is a bit unsightly, the branch took well.”
Lee Yeon looked at the plum blossom tree with a renewed gaze.
Looking closely, although the branch was twisted, it was not black and dead. On the contrary, leaves had sprouted.
Hong Ran and Juhwa followed Lee Yeon’s gaze and looked at the plum blossom tree as well. The court lady smiled and said,
“It was impossible this spring, but next year, beautiful flowers will surely bloom.”
Hearing those words, Lee Yeon remained silent for a while.
‘The traces of being broken, the awkwardly connected joint, yet a tree that is still alive.’
A very faint smile spread across the corners of Lee Yeon’s lips.
“I see.”
It was a murmur so quiet it was almost inaudible. It was a joyful voice, sounding slightly choked with emotion.
Lee Yeon slowly turned her gaze to look at Hong Ran and Juhwa. And she thought of Jinyul and the children who would be asleep past the double doors.
‘My life was also broken once, but it was grafted and new flesh sprouted.’
And now, flowers had bloomed.
For a while, they would be in full bloom. Fragrantly, deeply.
“They will surely bloom.”
Even on a broken branch, flowers bloom. They have bloomed. So beautifully.
[Even on a Broken Branch, Flowers Bloom — THE END]

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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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