Surviving as Jang Hee-bin's Child Court Lady - Chapter 31

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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 31. The Crown Prince’s Preferences
The courtyard, which had been filled with the baby’s cries, fell silent in an instant.
At the same time, every eye turned toward me.
“Has the young master stopped crying?”
“Could it be… because of that young maid?”
“Right. Did you all hear it? The way she said ‘stop’…”
Yes, I heard it too.
The way I said ‘stop’…
It was true that the Crown Prince had stopped crying at that exact moment, but…
‘It must have been mere coincidence.’
Though he was called two years old, Lee Hwon was still not even a full year old.
Such a tiny baby naturally had a habit of bursting into tears and stopping them repeatedly without rhyme or reason.
That was when it happened.
“Oh, you…?”
The nursemaid holding Lee Hwon’s gaze turned toward me.
“You… aren’t you that young maid from back then? The one who ran away like an arrow?”
Uh, um, ah…
I hadn’t committed any crime, yet why did I feel so flustered?
“It was exactly like this last time too. The young master suddenly stopped crying, and when I looked around out of curiosity, there you were!”
“Well… it just happened that way…”
I didn’t have the audacity to lie outright with a witness standing right before me.
“It happened like this last time too?”
“My, how curious.”
“Look, look. The young master isn’t crying at all.”
The whispers of the palace maids that followed were merely an added bonus.
But then, an entirely unexpected development occurred.
‘…Why do you keep staring at me like that?’
Last time too, he had stared at me like that before bursting into bright laughter.
I had an intense premonition that ‘that incident’ was about to happen again.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
“Giggle!”
My prediction proved accurate.
With tears still streaming down his face, Lee Hwon broke into a radiant smile.
“Oh my! The young master is laughing!”
“That’s right. He’s definitely laughing at that young maid!”
“Look! He’s still staring at her right now!”
In an instant, the palace maids surrounded me in a circle.
It felt as though I had stepped onto a stage.
The leads were Hwang Bong-bong and Lee Hwon, who was radiating an endless smile.
‘…This is truly burdensome.’
I was developing stage fright—something I’d never experienced in my entire life.
Meanwhile, Yong-hee continued to giggle at the sight of me.
I had no idea what was so amusing.
‘Children like things like hamsters or penguins, after all.’
She must have taken a liking to my face, which bore an unmistakable resemblance to a hamster merchant.
“Child.”
“Yes?”
“Go hide behind that palace maid over there for a moment. Quickly now.”
It was an abrupt request from the nursemaid.
What on earth was this ridiculous training for….
I trudged over and concealed myself behind the large frame of a palace maid.
At that very moment, Yong-hee’s laughter ceased abruptly.
“My, the smile vanished instantly?”
“She’s looking around—it seems she really is searching for that little maid!”
“Oh dear, her lips are trembling. Is she about to cry…?”
Soon after, a whimpering sound emerged.
Yong-hee began to sniffle.
“Quickly! Come out here at once!”
The nursemaid gestured urgently toward me.
With no choice, I trudged back out to the center of the stage once more.
“Caw!”
Upon spotting me, Yong-hee’s whimpers ceased, and she burst into laughter again.
…What is wrong with her. Is she manic?
I began to worry about the emotionally unstable genes that might flow through the Joseon royal bloodline.
But the palace maids seemed entirely unconcerned with such matters.
“Goodness! All this time, whenever the young princess cried for no reason, we suffered so!”
“Indeed! The answer was here all along!”
The answer?
…Could that answer possibly be me?
“Seol-hyang. Could we not transfer this little maid to Sung-gyeong Hall?”
‘Wait.’
Another transfer….
“Yes? No, please don’t speak of such things. Our Hwang Bong-bong is not that sort of child.”
…Failed.
“What sort of child is she?”
“Jang Hee-bin cherishes her like her own daughter, the Crown Prince adores her like a younger sister, and besides….”
No. I had to prevent the King’s name from slipping out.
I shook my head desperately toward Seol-hyang.
“Ahem. In any case, our Hwang Bong-bong holds such a position in Chwisuondang.”
“So the child was so beloved? What a pity…. If only we had her, soothing the young princess would be child’s play.”
“Yes. Our Hwang Bong-bong can never leave Chwisuondang. Even if the heavens split in two, Jang Hee-bin would never permit it!”
Seol-hyang declared this with tremendous pride.
Though she meant it as a boast, the more I heard it, the sadder I felt. What was this emotion?
‘I abandoned any thoughts of escape long ago, but… did she have to state it so definitively?’
I lifted my head, my expression growing downcast.
Even now, Lee Hwon gazed at me with those bright, attentive eyes.
‘He’s incredibly adorable.’
I smiled softly.
‘Lee Hwon. Do you have a preference for older women?’
I chuckled to myself.
‘This child. He certainly has discerning taste.’
I laughed again.
‘Stop smiling like that… I’m growing attached.’
If I grow attached…
It will hurt when the time comes.
I quietly turned my gaze away from Lee Hwon.
In the courtyard, Seol-hyang’s boasting continued with unusual enthusiasm.
“Palace maids, do you know what nickname Jang Hee-bin gave our Hwang Bong-bong?”
“A nickname? What is it?”
Seol-hyang placed her hand proudly on my shoulder and proclaimed:
“A blessing! Our Chwisuondang’s blessing!”
***
Time truly flew by at an astonishing pace.
By the time I returned to Chwisuondang with Seol-hyang, the sun was already sinking below the horizon.
Seol-hyang’s chatter flowed as smoothly and relentlessly as a wide-open highway, showing no signs of stopping.
“Our little treasure. The King summons her, the Crown Prince adores her, and now even the royal princes have fallen under her spell!”
…Please, enough. I’m exhausted.
“Well, our Hwang Bong-bong certainly has it all. Beautiful, adorable, clever, and obedient as a lamb. If the other palace maids had even half your qualities…”
Seol-hyang trailed off.
She was clearly referring to Bok-hee and Yong-hee, the two ten-year-old palace maids.
I didn’t bother contradicting her and simply waited for her to continue.
“Bok-hee bursts into tears at the slightest thing, and Yong-hee—tiny as she is—is already becoming cunning. I worry about their futures, truly I do…”
Hmm.
Realizing I was standing beside her, Seol-hyang suddenly slapped her own mouth.
“Why am I talking so much today? What am I saying in front of a child…”
Right. I agree. It appears you’re in need of a period of silent meditation.
But then again, we’re hardly ordinary people.
We’re close companions who share snacks and evening meals together.
“What was that?”
I widened my eyes as if I’d been lost in thought, feigning confusion.
“I didn’t hear anything at all.”
“Oh my… you’re quite perceptive, aren’t you?”
Seol-hyang smiled warmly and stroked my hair.
“Just wait a moment, pretty one.”
Having promoted me from “treasure” to “pretty one,” Seol-hyang rummaged through the bundle that the Sung-gyeong Hall attendant had prepared.
Soon, she popped a single walnut preserve into my mouth.
“Delicious, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s delicious.”
“Sung-gyeong Hall has a maid from the Saeng-gwa Workshop, and she makes these preserves beautifully. Have another.”
Another sweet preserve that crumbled delightfully melted on my tongue.
“The First Full Moon Festival is coming soon, so they’ve prepared all sorts of treats for us.”
Seol-hyang murmured.
“Hwang Bong-bong, the First Full Moon Festival will be so much fun. There’s delicious food to eat, and we’ll play the fire games. Aren’t you excited?”
“…Yes.”
I was excited—though perhaps not in the same way Seol-hyang was.
The full moon day was approaching.
It meant Suk-jeong’s return to Chwisuondang was imminent.
‘What preparations will Suk-jeong make this time?’
What Suk-jeong might attempt was an unknown frontier to me. Naturally, I felt my nerves tightening.
‘I can’t keep deceiving Suk-jeong with tricks like wall-gazing and grave-digging forever.’
What I needed was a way to completely eliminate Suk-jeong.
Of course, I hadn’t been idle all this time.
I had gained Jang Hee-bin’s trust and discovered that Suk-bin was monitoring Chwisuondang.
I had laid the groundwork to bring Bok-hee to my side, and though it wasn’t what I’d intended, I had somehow acquired a reputation as a child under the King’s protection.
Just as Seol-hyang had talked my ear off, my position within Chwisuondang was secure.
But….
‘The real problem is that Suk-jeong is an unpredictable wildcard.’
To counter the malevolent unknown that was Suk-jeong, I needed to risk danger and confront her directly at least once.
The Lantern Festival.
That day would be my D-Day.
***
The loud, clanging sound of bells. A thick, cloying fragrance.
A sinister voice muttering as if chanting an incantation.
After shaking the bells for a long while, the shaman O-rye suddenly pulled out the five-colored flag staff.
A bright yellow banner fluttered through the air.
“Yellow!”
“Again, again…!”
Suk-jeong, trembling with a pallid face before her, let out a desperate scream.
Something incomprehensible was happening. The five-colored flags were producing only yellow and black.
Five yellows. And one black.
The same pattern repeated with terrifying precision.
It had begun that very day.
The day five yellow flags had been drawn in succession before Suk-jeong, who had entered the palace with her divination tools.
The day that suspicious young maid had scrawled the character for “yellow” on the dirt floor.
The day that girl had issued a warning with eyes rolled back as if possessed by a spirit: “Do not go west!”
“This is truly enough to make even ghosts weep. O-rye, say something!”
At Suk-jeong’s outburst, O-rye, who had been keeping her eyes closed, lifted her eyelids.
A flicker of something unusual passed through the shaman’s eyes.
“The spirits will not grant me an answer.”
“What do you mean? Why not?”
“Something seems to be obscuring the spirits’ vision. Yet since they repeatedly grant the yellow flag, surely heaven has a purpose in this matter.”
Suk-jeong gnawed at her already ragged fingernails.
“O-rye. This won’t do. There’s only one way.”
“What way is that?”
“You must come with me to the palace.”
“To the palace? How could someone as lowly as I ever enter the palace?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll arrange the procedures myself. If we….”
Suk-jeong counted off the days.
“The Lantern Festival approaches, so the sooner the better.”
Before the holiday, many people come and go from the palace.
Suk-jeong planned to use that opportunity to smuggle O-rye into the palace.
“Then let it be as you wish.”
O-rye bowed slightly toward Suk-jeong.
“Yes. I shall pay my respects to Jang Hee-bin and….”
Suk-jeong, her words trailing off for a moment, met O-rye’s gaze and continued.
“There is a peculiar child bearing the Hwang surname. Do watch over that child carefully. Very carefully.”

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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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