Surviving as Jang Hee-bin's Child Court Lady - Chapter 19

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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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Chapter 19. A Promise
King Sukjong’s arrival was wholly unexpected.
Even as I hastily bowed my head, I could not conceal my bewilderment.
A king was not meant to appear in such a manner.
‘How did he arrive without a sound?’
Only when I glimpsed Han Sang-gung and the other palace maids stationed near the entrance, visibly on edge, did I understand the reason.
The attendants accompanying the king were also waiting in that direction.
It was evident that His Majesty had issued orders for his arrival to go unannounced.
‘But… why on earth?’
The Crown Prince seemed to harbor the same bewilderment as I did.
“Father, how did you arrive so quietly?”
“I came to visit Hoo-hwun and stopped by here briefly on the way.”
So he had gone to Changgyeong Palace to see his youngest son, Lee Hoo-hwun, and had made a detour to Chwisuondang as well.
“But Crown Prince, is this not the hour for your daytime lecture?”
“Ah, yes. I was just about to depart for the Crown Prince’s Educational Institute.”
“Then go at once. The heir apparent must not neglect his studies.”
“…Yes, Father. Your son shall take his leave.”
The Crown Prince offered his farewell with a somewhat flustered expression.
‘He dismisses the Crown Prince with such ease…’
As I grasped my predicament, my legs trembled in earnest.
I now found myself alone in a private audience with the king.
Sensing his penetrating gaze, I summoned my courage and lifted my head.
As expected, two eyes blazing with a tiger’s ferocity fixed upon me intently.
“I hear you were gravely ill. Has your fever subsided entirely?”
“Yes… I am deeply sorry for the concern I have caused you, Your Majesty.”
Why would a king of all people concern himself with the ailment of a mere child?
In that instant, a single hypothesis flashed through my mind like lightning.
‘Could there be some obscure historical account of King Sukjong having a hidden daughter?’
…No. That was not it.
I searched through every memory, both official records and obscure tales, yet no such melodramatic narrative existed anywhere.
Meanwhile, the king, who had been observing me at length, finally spoke.
“There is something I wish to ask of you.”
“Yes… Please ask, Your Majesty.”
King Sukjong’s expression was grave. Moreover…
‘Where is he looking?’
His gaze was directed not at my face, but somewhere upon my body.
Had something soiled my garments? His eyes seemed fixed upon my sleeves—had I spilled soup?
As I pondered such thoughts while awaiting his question—
“Bong-bong, would you like some mugwort rice cake…? Oh! Your Majesty!”
Sun-rye, a palace maid who had entered without awareness of the situation, immediately prostrated herself upon seeing the king’s robes.
King Sukjong’s face twitched subtly. He clearly found this situation most displeasing.
“Say nothing. Simply withdraw in silence.”
“Yes, Your Majesty—”
“Do not even answer.”
“….”
Sun-rye drew a sharp breath, her expression turning grave as she shuffled backward and departed the chamber.
‘Good heavens… I’m truly done for.’
The king’s silence stretched on. His displeasure radiated with unmistakable clarity. The air itself had turned suffocating.
The overwhelming pressure he emanated seemed to crush my entire body.
‘At this rate, I’m going to burst into tears.’
I was a child, after all.
I could think like an adult, but my physical stamina and emotional capacity had definite limits—those of a four-year-old.
To escape this crushing tension, I ultimately resolved to take a bold, reckless gamble.
“Your Majesty. How is Geum-deok faring?”
It was utterly abrupt, yet I had to shatter this oppressive atmosphere somehow.
I could feel my composure reaching its breaking point.
“Geum-deok?”
The childlike question seemed to work. The king let out a low chuckle.
At last, the frozen air began to thaw ever so slightly.
“Geum-deok is well. However, in my presence, he does not play as freely as he does before you.”
“Even when you wave a stick for him?”
“Indeed he does not. Hmm…”
He seemed to be pondering something for a moment.
“Yes. I think this would be best.”
“What do you mean, Your Majesty?”
“You must come to Hee-jeong Hall sometime. Come, play with Geum-deok, and teach me the method as well.”
“…Hee-jeong Hall?”
Wait.
Hee-jeong Hall? That very hall where the king conducted his affairs and kept his private chambers?
Was I being invited to a historically significant place?
I had been trembling moments before, yet this extraordinary proposal made me momentarily hesitate—
Though honestly, what was there to deliberate?
When the king commands, one obeys.
“Yes. I shall come at once when summoned. But today, perhaps…”
“Perhaps?”
“Well… since you’ve come all this way, would it not be fitting to visit Jang Hee-bin before you depart?”
It was hardly the sort of thing a four-year-old would say. Yet it was spoken with genuine earnestness.
I could not simply let King Sukjong leave in disappointment as he had before.
“You ask me to see Jang Hee-bin… now?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
His eyes froze over in an instant, turning glacial.
“Did Jang Hee-bin order you to say this?”
“No! Absolutely not!”
“Then how do you explain it?”
“I….”
My words caught in my throat.
How could I possibly justify why those words—”go see Jang Hee-bin”—had tumbled from the mouth of a mere four-year-old child?
‘Think. Just think….’
Flashes of Chwisuondang came to mind in that instant.
Among them, what surfaced was the image of Jang Hee-bin as I had observed her all this time.
Adorning herself with meticulous care each day, bathing, painstakingly selecting ornaments and hairpins, applying and removing rouge repeatedly, gazing endlessly beyond Changdeok Palace….
“Because….”
Though fear gripped me, I spoke calmly, meeting King Sukjong’s gaze.
“Jang Hee-bin…. misses Your Majesty very much.”
The king fell silent for a moment.
His eyes seemed to waver slightly.
“Jang Hee-bin misses me….”
He repeated my words softly to himself.
“Is that truly so.”
“….”
“Not me—but those glorious days of old she yearns for, is it not?”
An unexpectedly melancholic tone.
Naturally, he must have assumed that I, being merely a child, could not comprehend the meaning behind his murmured words.
Yet I could understand. The countless meanings woven into those few words steeped in regret.
A cold-blooded politician.
A merciless sovereign beneath the blade of factional strife.
A ruthless strategist.
…And simultaneously, a man who had wagered everything for love.
“Your Majesty.”
I opened my mouth quietly, suppressing the tremor in my voice.
“Jang Hee-bin yearns for Your Majesty every single day.”
Anxious lest her beauty should fade, desperately grasping at time that slips away like grains of sand with each passing moment.
“Not a single day without fail. Yesterday, today, and even now….”
“….”
King Sukjong slowly closed and opened his eyes.
The fierce light that had burned in his gaze dimmed for a moment. A long sigh escaped his lips.
Yet it was only fleeting.
“You are truly…. a peculiar child.”
The king who had been tracing the years gone by vanished.
In his place stood the sovereign once more—formidable, impassive, inscrutable—gazing down upon me.
A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes, and his gaze swept over me with the sharpness of a blade.
‘…I’ve been acting far too clever for a child.’
Had my greed caused me to bungle the entire affair?
Worry began to creep in at that very moment.
A soft chuckle escaped the King.
“To see Jang Hee-bin. That is your request, then?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
With desperate earnestness, I clasped my hands together without thinking, causing my sleeve to slip down my arm.
“….”
In that instant, the King’s eyes narrowed.
…Why is he staring at my arm again?
“Today I am burdened with matters of state and have no time. However, I shall grant your request within the next few days.”
“Truly, Your Majesty?”
…This is actually happening?
“In exchange, you must grant me one request as well.”
“Yes! Please, just tell me!”
I answered eagerly, my voice bright. There was no need to deliberate over such an offer.
“When I summon you to Hee-jeong Hall, I shall pose an urgent question to you.”
“A question, Your Majesty?”
“Yes. You must swear to answer that question without reservation. If you do, I shall grant your request.”
…What sort of question could be so momentous?
Now that I thought about it, just as he was about to ask that very question before, Sun-rye had appeared.
To be honest, I was dying of curiosity myself.
“Yes, I swear to it, Your Majesty!”
“Good. I understand.”
He added one more thing.
“Speak of this to no one. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I shall keep it close to my heart, Your Majesty!”
The King nodded.
At his gesture, the palace attendants waiting at a distance stirred into motion to escort him.
“Your…Majesty.”
He turned back to me.
I hesitated, knowing it was perhaps unnecessary to press further, but I despise uncertainty.
“Could you tell me how many nights constitute ‘a few days’?”
“…Hmm?”
“Two nights or three nights, even four nights—those are a few days. But ten nights surely cannot be called a few days, can it?”
Heh.
The King’s laughter rang out softly.
“You are right. Ten nights is indeed too long to be called a few days. So observe carefully over the coming days.”
His gaze, now considerably warmer, brushed past me.
“Whether the King of Joseon is a man of his word, or not.”

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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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