Surviving as Jang Hee-bin's Child Court Lady - Chapter 24

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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 24. Suk-bin’s Method
“What is the meaning of this?”
The very air shifted with Suk-bin’s arrival.
I had encountered Suk-bin before.
The Suk-bin I knew was a woman who concealed a sharp, calculating nature behind an elegant facade.
Now, another certainty crystallized within me.
‘Suk-bin is truly a terrifying person.’
From the moment she appeared, the Palace Maids of Bogyeong Hall trembled like aspen leaves in the wind.
Recognizing me, Suk-bin’s expression shifted to one of curiosity.
“Is this not the young maid from Chwisuondang? Was your name Hwang Bong-bong?”
Moreover, she was sharp.
She remembered my name from that brief encounter.
“So then, were you all tormenting this young maid?”
“We weren’t tormenting her, ma’am. We’d simply never seen her before, and she was so… so adorable…”
Before the maid could finish, Suk-bin’s fury erupted.
“How dare you insult the Crown Prince’s companion? Speak. Why do you hold that rod?”
“I… this…”
The maid stammered, unable to form words.
“Suk-bin, if I may…”
Calm yourself. Steady.
I took a breath, composing my racing heart before speaking.
“May I say something?”
“…Speak.”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. The gaze that swept over me was sharp enough to pierce through bone.
“I failed to greet these maids properly when I saw them. It wasn’t intentional, but that was certainly my fault.”
I spoke to Suk-bin as deliberately and clearly as I could manage.
“However, these maids cursed Chwisuondang and my superior without cause. Later, they brought a rod and attempted to strike me.”
For the record, I was furious.
I had experienced something similar before—when I encountered those young maids on the West Side of Chwisuondang.
I had been hurt when they insulted my parents, but I had not dwelled on it afterward.
Though their behavior was wrong, they were merely children.
But this was different.
The maids of Bogyeong Hall were all fully grown adults, and I was merely a four-year-old child.
Four grown women cornering one small child, threatening her, intimidating her, attempting to strike her.
It was utterly unforgivable—despicable and contemptible.
“Ha…”
A low sigh escaped Suk-bin’s lips.
“There is nothing to say. It is clearly the fault of my maids.”
It was unexpected. I had not anticipated Suk-bin would acknowledge her maids’ wrongdoing so readily.
“What would it take to ease your heart?”
To Suk-bin’s question, I answered without hesitation.
“How could I, a Palace Maid of Chwisuondang, presume to speak on matters of Bogyeong Hall? I merely wish to receive a proper apology for insulting Seol-hyang.”
“….”
The look in Suk-bin’s eyes as she regarded me was peculiar.
At her glance, the Palace Maid who had been brandishing the rod crept toward me.
“I’m… I’m sorry…. I insulted Seol-hyang because she’s insulted me before….”
“That’s irrelevant to what happened now. I want a sincere apology.”
“…I was wrong. I’ll apologize from the heart.”
The Palace Maid was clenching her teeth.
I could hear the grinding sound, but I hadn’t started this without being prepared to bear at least this much resentment.
“I’ve accepted the apology.”
I said, looking at Suk-bin.
“Then I should take my leave….”
That was the moment I thought I should leave.
“Well then, now I must administer punishment in Bogyeong Hall’s manner.”
Suk-bin snatched the rod from the Palace Maid’s hand.
“Show me your hands.”
At Suk-bin’s firm voice, the Palace Maids couldn’t even resist and hurriedly extended their palms.
Whoosh!
Crack!
The rod flew like a whip, striking the Palace Maid’s palm with force.
Suk-bin’s beating didn’t end with one blow.
Whisk— the sound of air being cut.
Immediately followed by the cruel friction of flesh tearing.
“You couldn’t restrain a single personal emotion and caused this trouble.”
“I was wrong, my lady!”
“You were wrong? Knowing that, how dare you Palace Maids of Bogyeong Hall bring shame upon my face?”
Crack! Crack!
The Palace Maids couldn’t endure the pain and burst into tears. Their torn palms were already drenched in blood.
…This had gone too far.
The cruel beating that split the skin was one thing, but Suk-bin’s manner of wielding the rod—as if making a point for me to witness—was chillingly excessive.
The beating that had continued for some time finally ended.
The Palace Maids withdrew into Bogyeong Hall, sobbing.
I, who had been standing motionless in that storm of blood, also bowed to Suk-bin.
“Child. Wait a moment.”
Suk-bin was serene.
Despite having delivered dozens of blows with all her strength, her face was kind, as if nothing had happened.
“…Yes, my lady.”
“I have a request for you. Will you hear me out?”
A request…?
Suk-bin doesn’t know me well.
I found it suspicious that she would ask anything of me, but truthfully, I was in no position to refuse.
“Please, speak freely.”
“There’s a child called Bok-hee in your quarters, isn’t there?”
“Bok-hee? Ah….”
That was the child’s name.
Among the two ten-year-old attendants, the shorter one’s name.
“Tell Bok-hee this message from me.”
Suk-bin leaned closer.
She whispered softly against my ear.
“The full moon night.”
“….”
“She’ll understand if you say it that way.”
I froze in that instant.
The full moon night.
I understood far too well what those words meant.
But now I had to appear utterly composed no matter what.
“I simply tell her that, and nothing more?”
“Yes. Make sure you tell her.”
“Yes. Then I shall take my leave now.”
I bowed and turned to go.
Tap.
Suk-bin’s hand gently gripped my shoulder.
“What I’ve just said is a secret between us two. Do you understand?”
“…Yes, Suk-bin.”
Fighting the urge to flee, I forced my quickening steps to slow, moving with deliberate care.
The back of my head prickled. Suk-bin was definitely watching me.
In Chwisuondang, “the full moon night” held only one meaning.
‘The day Suk-jeong comes.’
Only then did the thread of that overheard conversation among the attendants finally make sense.
‘We must find evidence quickly….’
‘Once we find proof, we’ll receive a great reward….’
Those attendants who had been suspiciously poking around the West Side of Chwisuondang.
‘They were acting on Suk-bin’s orders.’
A chill ran through me, and I trembled slightly.
I was reminded anew that it was Suk-bin who had reported the “Queen Inhyeon curse incident” to King Sukjong.
Which meant….
‘Suk-bin knows. There’s something hidden on the West Side of Chwisuondang.’
But…how?
It was strange.
This was before Shin-dang had been established.
An ominous possibility flickered through my mind.
The assumption that Suk-bin knew far more about Chwisuondang’s affairs than I’d realized.
Or perhaps.
The assumption that even without knowing Chwisuondang’s circumstances, she had willingly fabricated a false denunciation to destroy her political rival.
‘Which one could it be?’
I couldn’t know for certain right now.
Only one thing was clear.
Preventing it was my responsibility.
***
Trudging my way back to Chwisuondang.
My mind was impossibly tangled.
The King’s new facet that I’d encountered at Hee-jeong Hall.
His demeanor that seemed to hint my origins were far from ordinary.
And on top of that, the bombshell Suk-bin had handed me.
I’d left for Changdeok Palace with a light heart, yet I was returning laden with burdens of every kind.
Among them, the problem that genuinely threatened me was none other than….
‘Bok-hee.’
That was the most critical matter.
Little ten-year-old Bok-hee.
By all accounts, that child maid was undoubtedly Suk-bin’s spy.
If I relayed Suk-bin’s words to Bok-hee…?
‘Then wouldn’t I become a spy too?’
Yet letting Suk-bin’s message go undelivered left me uneasy.
Suk-bin didn’t seem like the type to let things slide easily.
‘Her gaze felt like she was testing me.’
I considered feigning forgetfulness by exploiting my youth as a four-year-old, but….
‘I’d been far too composed just moments ago.’
This was a trap of my own making.
Of course, there was another option: ‘coming clean.’
Eavesdropping on the child maids’ conversation, and Suk-bin secretly instructing Bok-hee to relay the word ‘full moon.’
If I confessed everything to Jang Hee-bin…?
‘Jang Hee-bin wouldn’t let it rest.’
Jang Hee-bin was emotional. Moreover, she despised Suk-bin with visceral intensity.
In short, mere suspicion that Suk-bin had planted a spy could provoke such fury that she’d bungle the entire affair.
‘Think. Use your head.’
I was deep in anguished deliberation, tugging at my innocent scalp, when.
A familiar child came toddling toward me from somewhere.
Upon spotting me, the child maid faltered and stopped in her tracks.
They say enemies meet on a single-log bridge, and the day you leave is always market day.
‘Bok-hee. What perfect timing.’

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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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