Even If Flowers Bloom on a Broken Branch - Chapter 43

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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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43.
Lee Yeon walked slowly through the palace.
She remembered when she first entered this place. Back then, everything was so new and unfamiliar.
‘I was so terrified that I might get lost.’
Hurriedly following behind the court lady, she had tried her best to familiarize herself with everything around her.
Because she didn’t want to be regarded as a fool who lost her way in her own home.
However, that was a needless worry. The only place she had any business going outside the Queen’s Palace was its front courtyard.
“Um, My Lady.”
Lee Yeon turned her head. Hong Ran, who had been following behind with short, quick steps, tilted her head and whispered.
“Is it right that there is no one here to guide us?”
The court lady who had accompanied them from the Seo Family Residence to the palace had quietly vanished at some point. Because of that, Lee Yeon and Hong Ran had been walking by themselves ever since they crossed the palace gates.
Lee Yeon smiled bitterly.
“No, normally, someone should have been here to receive us.”
There was no way a guest from the outside would know the interior of the palace. Moreover, since the destination was precisely set, it was only right for a guide to be waiting at the palace gates or for the accompanying court lady to lead the way.
Furthermore, Lee Yeon was someone who came at the invitation of the Queen. Even so, allowing her to walk alone like this made the intention clear.
‘To play a petty trick.’
The intention was to deliberately make her wander inside the palace. It was a scheme to damage her reputation by ensuring as many people as possible saw her looking perplexed and troubled.
‘And one more thing.’
The Queen had clearly specified the time she must arrive in the letter. If she arrived past that time, it would be used against her.
‘Since she cannot openly insult the Grand Prince Consort, she probably plans to use that as a pretext to criticize me.’
However, it would not go according to Chae Eun-oh’s plan.
Lee Yeon chuckled to herself and took a step forward without hesitation.
‘To think there would come a day when I would receive help like this from the memories of a past I wanted to completely forget.’
It was absurd in many ways.
And after a short while, a spacious courtyard where execution frames were placed came into view. The cross-shaped execution frames were not the color of wood, but entirely blood-red.
At the ghastly sight that seemed to reek of blood, Hong Ran flinched in terror and pressed close to Lee Yeon’s side.
“My Lady…….”
“A cold wind has already blown through once.”
Lee Yeon murmured softly. The palace maids of the Queen’s Palace who spotted the two of them looked this way with startled expressions, and then they were seen hurriedly walking inside with short, quick steps.
Their expressions showed that they had not expected Lee Yeon to arrive so quickly.
Lee Yeon concealed a bitter smile and walked slowly toward the front of the palace. Then, she pulled out the Queen’s letter from her bodice.
“I have entered the palace at the summons of Her Highness the Queen. Please announce my arrival.”
The palace maid who received the letter from Lee Yeon bowed her head with a flustered expression and went inside. And it was only after a very long time that she came out with someone.
“Ah?”
Hong Ran let out a short exclamation and then tightly pressed her lips together. This was because Court Lady Seo, who had accompanied them to the palace, came out with a hardened face.
She spoke with a stiff face, as if seeing the two of them for the first time.
“Her Highness the Queen has instructed that she cannot receive you yet as she has not finished her preparations.”
It meant she had arrived earlier than the designated time. However, it was obvious that if she had been even a little late, they would have used that as an excuse to deny her entry.
“Therefore, she has commanded that you show proper etiquette here until she finishes her preparations.”
With a bewildered face, Hong Ran looked back and forth between Lee Yeon and the front of the Queen’s Palace.
To show proper etiquette meant to kneel and bow her head just as if she were facing the Queen.
Lee Yeon replied that she would do so without showing the slightest bit of surprise. Then she turned around and walked to the exact center of the front courtyard of the Queen’s Palace.
“M-My Lady!”
Hong Ran came behind her with short, quick steps. While smoothing down her clothes, Lee Yeon suddenly asked the palace maid.
“Must the servant girl who came with me also show etiquette?”
The palace maid, who had gone to Court Lady Shin, spoke in a frozen voice.
“Her Highness the Queen said that the only one she wishes to receive greetings from is the Grand Prince Consort.”
Lee Yeon asked once more.
“Is that certain? There must be no trouble later, so I will get a firm confirmation from you and the court lady.”
At those words, the palace maid went to confirm with an even paler face, and only after receiving a definitive answer did Lee Yeon finally nod her head.
Then she spoke to Hong Ran.
“Hong Ran, I am the only one who will kneel, so do not be startled.”
“My Lady…….”
Hong Ran looked at Lee Yeon with tearful eyes. Lee Yeon spoke softly.
“No matter what happens, do not make a fuss and stand silently behind me. Now is the exact time to recite the scriptures.”
Hong Ran looked at Lee Yeon with an expression that showed she didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.
Lee Yeon gave her a brief smile and adjusted her clothes. Then she knelt down with both knees on the courtyard floor.
“……!”
The palace maids turned their heads away, hiding their startled expressions. It was an expression showing that they never expected someone of the status of the Grand Prince Consort to follow such an order so calmly.
‘If it’s Chae Eun-oh.’
Lee Yeon knew Eun-oh. The memories of being thoroughly tormented by her in the past were not just one or two.
She was a person whose temper could only be appeased if she trampled over her opponent and climbed above them by any means necessary, and if she couldn’t win in the open, she would pull strings from behind.
Like an immature child who must have her way and win every single bet, Eun-oh absolutely had to break her opponent.
‘If I hesitate or refuse and delay here, she will trample me even more than this.’
However, if she knelt first, the flow would change.
At first, Eun-oh would be satisfied, but soon she would find it strange, and out of sheer stubbornness, she would want to hear words of apology from her lips.
‘So she probably plans to keep me kneeling for a long time, but will the conclusion truly go as you wish?’
Lee Yeon guessed it immediately upon seeing the faces of the palace maids of the Queen’s Palace and the blood-red execution frames. The palace maids of the Queen’s Palace were currently terrified by Eun-oh’s behavior.
Seeing that she behaved this way even to an outsider, their hearts would only become more troubled.
“…….”
After that, time flowed helplessly.
A great deal of mud clung and tangled onto her fine silk skirt. The area below her knees was becoming soaked through, but Lee Yeon’s expression did not waver in the slightest. The cold wind of early spring disheveled her hair, but beads of sweat were forming on Lee Yeon’s cheeks and forehead.
Lee Yeon composed her breathing and thought.
‘She will not come out easily.’
Eun-oh would only open that door and come out after every single palace maid of the Queen’s Palace, and even the palace attendants outside this palace, had heard about this fact.
The afternoon sunlight fell mercilessly upon her delicate shoulders and the nape of her neck. The chilly wind of early spring made the hem of her clothes, soaked in mud, feel even colder.
Not knowing what to do, Hong Ran looked at Lee Yeon and then bit her lip hard.
‘My Lady…….’
The nape of Lee Yeon’s neck was red. Her hands, neatly placed on top of her skirt, were pale. Her back was straight, but it was trembling faintly.
‘She must be suffering.’
Rather, the situation of the palace maids standing on the stone floor was better. She felt pity for Lee Yeon, who was kneeling on the muddy ground.
The hem of her skirt was already completely soaked. Her legs would be numb and her waist would be aching as if it were about to fall out. Furthermore, the gazes of those who looked at her as they passed by would also be bothersome, yet the fact that she could do nothing for her made her sad.
Looking at the upright Lee Yeon, Hong Ran tightly clasped her two hands together.
‘Can I not be of any help to Lady Lee Yeon?’
However, she was merely a servant girl.
Even if someone like her, who was neither a palace maid nor anything else, opened her mouth here, there was no one who would listen, and it was clear that it would only put Lee Yeon in a difficult position instead.
‘That must be why she said those words to me.’
Hong Ran recalled what Lee Yeon had firmly urged her before kneeling down.
‘No matter what happens, do not make a fuss and stand silently behind me. Now is the exact time to recite the scriptures.’
If so, did it mean there was really nothing else she could do except recite the scriptures?
Hong Ran had never felt her own helplessness to this extent before. It was even more despairing than when she was kidnapped by the man named Chung.
It was so painful to watch the person who had rescued her and saved her life being insulted so helplessly.
‘Please.’
Someone please save her. Anyone, please stop this.
Hong Ran prayed. Reciting the scriptures in her heart, she wished desperately. If there was someone who could grant this, no matter who it was, she felt like she could give whatever she had.
‘Please.’
Hong Ran closed her eyes tightly and bowed her head.
It was already approaching two Shijin since Lee Yeon had knelt.
* * *
“Her Highness the Queen.”
Court Lady Shin spoke quietly. Her expression was stiffly hardened.
“It has already been quite a long time since the Grand Prince Consort knelt. Since the scheduled time has also passed, it seems it would be best to bring her inside soon.”
“Leave her be.”
Eun-oh said in a cold voice.
“The one who committed a discourtesy first was that side, so is it not proper to hand down a punishment?”
“However, Your Highness.”
“Why, did you perhaps grow attached to her while coming all the way here together?”
At Eun-oh’s sharp voice, Court Lady Shin shut her mouth and lowered her head. Eun-oh twisted her lips.
“If you do not want an identical scar to form on your opposite cheek, keep that mouth shut.”
At the warning laced with a sneer, Court Lady Shin’s eyes turned cold. She lowered her head without a word.
Only then did Eun-oh lift her teacup, satisfied that it had become quiet.
‘Serves you right, Lee Yeon.’
It was enjoyable that everyone had seen her kneeling. The fact that she had been bowing that stiff head of hers to her for several hours was also satisfying.
Her self-esteem must have been smashed to pieces. Moreover, since she had been kneeling for a long time, her entire body would be aching and numb.
However, the silence was bothersome.
‘She didn’t even say she did wrong.’
If she had begged, saying she was deeply sorry and asking for forgiveness, she would have brought her in with a smile. But Lee Yeon was calmly enduring the punishment until the very end without saying a single word.
‘Let’s see how far that pride of yours goes.’
It was just when Eun-oh thought that and was about to take a sip of her tea.
“Your Highness!”
From far away, the sound of urgent footsteps could be heard. Eun-oh’s brow furrowed heavily all at once. She glared fiercely toward the door.
“In whose presence dare you…….”
“Your Highness! Disaster has struck!”
However, she couldn’t say anything further.
This was because of the words shouted by the palace maid who had run in with a pale face.
“It is said that His Majesty the King is coming this way!”
What?
Holding the teacup, Eun-oh’s face turned completely white and froze.

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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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