Surviving as Jang Hee-bin's Child Court Lady - Chapter 64

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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 64. Benefactor
His first love.
Upon hearing those words, the King chose silence.
Jang Hee-bin, who had been gazing intently at him, continued speaking.
“There was such a time, was there not? When Your Majesty swore you would cherish only me eternally, that you would make me your first and last woman.”
“….”
“As Your Majesty is sovereign, I have never harbored resentment that those words did not come to pass. However….”
Tears welled in Jang Hee-bin’s eyes.
“Nevertheless, the fact that I am Your Majesty’s first love. The truth that I am Your Majesty’s first concubine—is this not an unchanging reality?”
The King maintained his silence with unwavering composure.
A single tear traced down Jang Hee-bin’s cheek.
“Why do you impose such cruelty upon me, whom you called your first love?”
Only then did the King speak.
“Is upholding propriety truly so harsh a command for you?”
“Do you not believe it is?”
In that brief moment, the sky darkened.
The brilliant sun vanished behind clouds.
Jang Hee-bin’s eyes, which had gazed upon the King with love as scorching as the blazing sunlight, now grew clouded with bitter affection.
“Though I speak with utmost disrespect, I do not refuse to visit Junggung Palace out of hatred for the Queen.”
Her voice trembled with tears.
“The Inner Palace, filled with memories of Your Majesty—I cannot bring myself to step foot there, for I fear to face those recollections….”
Jang Hee-bin could speak no further.
Patter.
A fallen tear darkened the deep violet silk of her skirt.
A sorrowful tale.
A heartbreaking one.
Had we been beyond the gaze of others, I would have rushed to embrace her and soothe her anguish.
But….
‘Please. Please stop.’
I longed to cry out thus to Jang Hee-bin.
The King was a man of unparalleled pride, one who repaid any affront to his honor with blood.
Though I understood Jang Hee-bin’s wounded heart, the other party was King Sukjong.
Fear of the King sent a chill down my spine.
Watching their relationship, which had grown tender again through spring and summer, crumble in an instant felt as though my own world was collapsing alongside it.
‘I must end this conversation somehow.’
Yet there was no way.
Had there been a pond nearby, I would have thrown myself into it without hesitation this time as well.
Not only I, but all the palace attendants held their breath.
We all sensed the King’s wrath was about to erupt.
In that moment, the King slowly closed his eyes.
It was an unexpected reaction.
I had anticipated him erupting in fury or inflicting severe punishment upon Jang Hee-bin.
Yet the King remained silent.
A long, measured breath escaped him.
He exhaled deeply and deliberately.
And then….
A tremor.
The King’s body swayed violently.
‘What is happening to him?’
The King pressed his hand to his temple.
His face and neck glistened with perspiration, and his hand trembled uncontrollably.
“Your… Your Majesty…?”
The moment I called out to him without thinking.
The King collapsed to the floor as though his legs had given way.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
Jang Hee-bin rushed to steady him.
The attendants of the Royal Chambers hastened to support him.
“Your Majesty!”
“I… cannot see. I cannot breathe properly….”
“Summon the Royal Physician at once!”
At the cry of Sang-seon, the eunuch who served the King, a young attendant bolted toward the Royal Medical Bureau.
Most of the palace attendants held their breath, not daring to utter a sound.
“….”
I stood in the midst of the chaos.
The distance between the King and myself was scarcely two or three paces.
Thus I could observe his condition with perfect clarity.
His royal countenance had turned ashen pale.
His body drenched in cold sweat.
Ragged breaths escaping between lips drained of all color….
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! This humble servant has erred. Please, do not lose consciousness. Your Majesty!”
Jang Hee-bin’s voice broke with tears.
“…Ugh.”
In that moment, the King, eyes still closed, let out a low groan.
Fortunately, he had not lost consciousness entirely.
Yet his body remained difficult to control.
“My throat is parched. Cold sweat pours from me, and darkness clouds my vision.”
The trembling in the King’s hands intensified.
I watched him intently.
Just before leaving Chwisuondang, the King had gulped down an entire bowl of water, complaining of thirst.
Now, cold sweat cascaded like rain, and his hands shook violently.
His words: “He has xiaoke.”
“Xiaoke is… another name for diabetes.”
A memory from my past life—one I hadn’t recalled in ages—suddenly surfaced.
There was a day when I’d worked through the night without eating properly for several days.
I’d stepped outside the research institute and simply collapsed, my strength abandoning me.
I had experienced something similar then.
My vision darkened, my hands trembled, and cold sweat poured down my face.
A passerby found me and rushed me to the hospital. The diagnosis was…
“Hypoglycemia…!”
It had been hypoglycemia.
“If this happens frequently, you should carry candy or something similar with you.”
The doctor’s indifferent words came back to me with crystalline clarity.
“Your Majesty!”
I rushed toward the King.
In one hand, I clutched the pouch I always carried with me.
I frantically pulled out a sweet from the pouch.
“Jang Hee-bin! This! You must feed this to His Majesty!”
“W-what are you saying?”
“Quickly! M-my father collapsed the same way once. He could only wake if he ate something sweet. Please, hurry!”
I had never even seen my father’s face. Of course, those words were not the truth.
But there was no time to worry about consequences later.
The King’s complexion was growing increasingly ashen. His consciousness seemed to be fading; he now breathed only in ragged, labored gasps.
“I’m telling you the truth. Please believe me. The Royal Physician said so too. When someone collapses like this, giving them something sweet will revive them. Please!”
Jang Hee-bin’s lips, which had been trembling with doubt, set firm and resolute.
She lifted her gaze toward the Royal Medical Bureau.
But the eunuch who had gone to summon the Royal Physician had not returned.
No shadow of a person appeared.
“Give it here. Quickly!”
Jang Hee-bin snatched the sweet from my hand.
Just as she brought it to the King’s lips—
“That cannot be, my lady! We cannot allow His Majesty to consume something unverified!”
Sang-seon stopped Jang Hee-bin.
But Jang Hee-bin stood her ground without hesitation.
“Did this child not say her father experienced the same affliction? The physician does not come, and His Majesty loses consciousness—how can I, as his consort, simply stand idle and watch?”
“But this is a forbidden matter…”
Jang Hee-bin glared at Sang-seon.
“Hold me responsible. I, Jang Hee-bin, take full responsibility.”
“…”
“If His Majesty comes to harm, I have no reason to live anyway.”
Jang Hee-bin’s voice was terrifyingly resolute and grave, yet desperate.
In the moment Sang-seon hesitated in confusion.
Jang Hee-bin knocked away Sang-seon’s hand and pushed the confection into the King’s mouth.
“Your Majesty. Please eat. You must eat. Only then will you survive.”
Jang Hee-bin’s desperate voice rang out.
The brief moments as the confection dissolved slowly on his tongue.
That fleeting instant felt like an eternity.
‘What if His Majesty doesn’t wake…?’
Anxiety and dread consumed me.
In that moment, my knowledge that King Sukjong’s death lay in some distant future offered no comfort whatsoever.
Watching the motionless King, regret flooded through me.
‘I should have fed him myself. I shouldn’t have burdened Jang Hee-bin….’
Just as tears threatened to spill, I bit down hard on my lower lip.
“Mm….”
A low groan escaped the King’s lips.
…And the King’s eyes, which had been shut tight, fluttered open.
The King’s hazy gaze first fell upon Jang Hee-bin, then slowly drifted to me, where it lingered.
“Your Majesty! Are you regaining consciousness?”
Jang Hee-bin, Sang-seon, and the Royal Chambers attendant asked nearly in unison.
…The King had awakened.
All tension drained from me, and I collapsed onto the floor where I stood.
“Your Majesty. Do you recognize this servant?”
At Sang-seon’s words, the King finally responded.
“My vision is clearing somewhat now. Yet my strength still eludes me.”
“You must eat more confections! Your Majesty, please have this.”
Still seated on the floor, I shook out the confections from my pocket and offered them to him.
No one among the palace attendants dared attempt to stop me any longer.
The King, closing his eyes once more, slowly opened his mouth.
“Jang Hee-bin. Feed me that.”
“…Yes. This servant shall feed you.”
Jang Hee-bin took the confection from me and carefully placed it in the King’s mouth.
One more.
And then another….
When three confections had disappeared, the King opened his eyes again.
And….
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
Only then did the Royal Physician and eunuchs come rushing in.
Toward the Royal Physician who reached to take his pulse, the King waved his hand.
“I am well enough for now. I am merely fatigued. Bring the palanquin. I must return to the Royal Chambers.”
The King gestured toward Sang-seon.
“Help me up. I believe I can stand now.”
“Yes. Yes, Your Majesty.”
Sang-seon, who had seemed half-dazed, promptly obeyed the King’s command.
“Mm.”
The King rose from his seat.
Though his body still glistened with perspiration, his hands no longer trembled, and a lucid light had returned to his eyes.
It was the moment Jang Hee-bin, who had been watching him with anxious eyes from his side, stepped closer to him.
The King grasped Jang Hee-bin’s hand.
“Your Majesty….”
“Though I could neither open my eyes nor speak, my ears remained unshut.”
“….”
Squeeze.
The King’s grip tightened with deliberate force.
“Jang Hee-bin.”
“Yes…. Your Majesty.”
“You and Hwang Bong-bong are my benefactors.”
“Your Majesty….”
“My beloved consort—you have saved me.”

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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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