Surviving as Jang Hee-bin's Child Court Lady - Chapter 82

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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 82. Parting Ways
Cold sweat drenched my back, leaving it clammy and uncomfortable.
I had followed the Gold Guard and Han Sang-gung on impulse, but there was nothing I could actually do.
As a mere attendant, I had no way to stand against the Gold Guard.
‘Find a way. Please, just find a way….’
I desperately racked my brain for any possible solution.
But my mind was a tangled mess of white noise, yielding nothing.
‘What if the Gold Guard discovers Heuk-mak?’
Though still a young bird, Heuk-mak was a raven—a creature everyone regarded as an ill omen.
‘Heuk-mak can’t even fly yet….’
There was no chance the Gold Guard would gently release a young raven found in the storage room or return it to the forest.
Just then, the gleaming trident in the Gold Guard’s hand caught my eye.
My breath caught in my throat.
‘Please…. No, don’t….’
As if mocking my desperate plea, the door to the Western Storage creaked open.
Two Gold Guards immediately disappeared inside.
That was when it happened.
“Squawk!”
A sound that startled everyone.
It was Heuk-mak’s cry.
“Isn’t that the sound of a raven?”
“How can such an inauspicious sound come from inside the storage, my lady?”
At the Gold Guard’s question, Han Sang-gung shook her head with a bewildered expression.
“I’m not sure either. I don’t understand why such a sound would come from there….”
In that moment, a loud crash echoed from inside, followed by a piercing raven’s cry.
Soon, the Gold Guard emerged with heavy footsteps, and what he held in his hand was….
None other than Heuk-mak.
The Gold Guard gripped Heuk-mak’s wings firmly, as if holding a chicken.
Heuk-mak thrashed desperately, trying to escape, and cried out, “Caw!”
“There was a raven inside the storage. It didn’t even flee at the sight of people. Remarkable, truly.”
The Gold Guard lifted Heuk-mak high into the air.
“For Jang Hee-bin’s quarters to harbor such an ill omen is unacceptable. I must wring its neck at once.”
“No, wait!”
The words tumbled from my mouth before I could stop them.
The Gold Guard and Han Sang-gung turned their gaze toward me.
They seemed quite startled, as if only just realizing I had followed them to the West Side of Chwisuondang.
“What do you mean, ‘wait’?”
“B-but a raven is an ill omen. Wouldn’t killing an ill omen inside Chwisuondang itself be even more inauspicious…?”
It was an excuse I had improvised on the spot, but it sounded plausible enough.
Han Sang-gung, regarding me with suspicious eyes, spoke.
“That’s a fair point. Rather than here, why don’t you go further out and hunt the bird?”
Han Sang-gung then fixed me with a stern gaze.
“But Bong-bong, how did you even follow us all the way out here…?”
That was when it happened.
“Kyaaooong!”
Whoosh!
Something emerged from the darkness and lunged at the Gold Guard who had been holding Heuk-mak.
Between the flickering torchlight, what appeared was a large, plump yellow cat.
It was Geum-deok.
“Aaaagh!”
Though called a cat, Geum-deok possessed a frame so robust it could rival a wildcat.
Startled by Geum-deok’s assault, the Gold Guard lost his grip on Heuk-mak.
Flap-flap!
Heuk-mak tumbled to the ground after several frantic wingbeats.
…I had no idea.
Why I had done such a thing.
“Bong-bong, what are you doing…!”
Amid Han Sang-gung’s cry, I rushed forward without thinking and suddenly lifted Heuk-mak.
Passing the dumbfounded Gold Guards, I headed toward the corner…
“Go!”
With all my strength, with every ounce of power I possessed, I hurled Heuk-mak skyward.
‘Please, please…!’
In that moment, something I myself had not anticipated occurred.
“Caw-!”
Heuk-mak let out a resonant cry and flapped its wings, soaring into the air!
Heuk-mak shot straight up into the vast sky.
Caw—caw—!
The cry echoed once more, long and piercing.
I tilted my head back with all my might.
The night sky, steeped in darkness.
Against that black expanse, Heuk-mak—darker still than the night itself—circled through the shadowed heavens.
‘Go.’
Though my voice would never reach Heuk-mak.
‘You did well. You flew beautifully, Heuk-mak.’
I whispered fervently, hoping my sincerity would somehow reach him.
‘Fly far and wide. Don’t let yourself be caught by people, don’t be devoured by beasts. Live free for a long, long time.’
Caw-caw-!
As if answering the voice within my heart, Heuk-mak cried out loudly from the sky.
Soon after, Heuk-mak began flying toward the Northern Forest where he had first been discovered.
The silhouette of the black bird vanished into the distant sky.
“Meow! Screech!”
The sharp cry of Geum-deok pulled me back from my distant contemplation of the night sky.
“That blasted cat!”
A Gold Guard was approaching Geum-deok with a trident in hand.
“No, wait!”
I rushed forward and quickly positioned myself between the Gold Guard and Geum-deok.
“This isn’t just any cat—it’s Geum-deok. The one His Majesty adores!”
“What? That’s… that’s the royal cat?”
The Gold Guard stumbled backward, horrified at how close he’d come to killing the cat the King cherished like a child.
Phew.
A breath of relief escaped me.
My legs suddenly went weak, and I swayed slightly.
Even so, I gazed once more at the distant night sky.
‘Farewell, Heuk-mak.’
Would there ever come a day when we’d meet again?
…If that day comes, please remember me.
***
The search of Chwisuondang had ended.
Kim Che-geon and the Gold Guards departed from Chwisuondang.
Han Sang-gung looked as though she had much to say to me, but tending to Jang Hee-bin took priority, so she left for now.
“Sigh….”
Overwhelming exhaustion washed over me.
Relief that Heuk-mak hadn’t died.
Yet also the regret and hollowness of knowing I would never see Heuk-mak again.
I felt a complex tangle of emotions, but this was no time to be ensnared by such trivial feelings.
‘Pull yourself together, please.’
Steeling myself, I headed toward the Inner Courtyard where the Palace Maids had gathered.
With the Gold Guards gone, the Palace Maids in the courtyard were chattering freely among themselves.
“What are the Gold Guards searching for so thoroughly? They even flipped over the chests with undergarments inside. How mortifying.”
“I don’t know what they’re looking for, but just thinking about it frightens me. What if there was something suspicious in Chwisuondang? If they found any excuse to use against us….”
“Did you hear what the Naegumwi commander said? The Gold Guards didn’t just come to Chwisuondang—they’re searching Bogyeong Hall, Geonggeuk Hall, everywhere.”
One of the Palace Maids turned to address me.
“By the way, Bong-bong, you went to Jinsudan, didn’t you? How was the atmosphere there?”
I, who had been standing in a daze, finally came to my senses.
“Ah, Jinsudan? It was… quiet. There wasn’t a single Palace Maid from Sung-gyeong Hall there—only maids from the Royal Chambers.”
“Not a single maid from Sung-gyeong Hall? That can’t be right. Surely Yun Sang-gung and the Nurse Attendant must be there?”
“No. Yun Sang-gung, the Nurse Attendant, and the Nurse Attendant’s superior are all at Sung-gyeong Hall, they said.”
“Gasp….”
The Palace Maids fell silent, genuinely shocked.
“What on earth is happening at Sung-gyeong Hall?”
It was Seol-hyang speaking.
The face of Seol-hyang, who rarely showed fear, had gone deathly pale.
I was afraid too.
I was terrified of the incomprehensible situation unfolding before me, but what frightened me even more was….
The fact that I was the one who had set these events in motion.
It was I who had informed the Royal Physician of Suk-ui Park’s symptoms, and I who had orchestrated for that information to reach the King’s ears.
It had begun with good intentions.
What if Suk-ui’s condition wasn’t merely an illness, but someone’s deliberate scheme?
Suk-ui, who had been perpetually ill, then recovered over a hundred days.
And Gwi-in Kim, who had been confined for those same hundred days.
Could there not be some connection between the two of them?
I had wanted to uncover the truth, and if possible, to protect Suk-ui, Yi Hwon’s mother.
In short, it meant that I stood at the beginning of everything that had unfolded today.
Looking back, events were flowing exactly as I had desired.
The King’s active intervention.
That was precisely what I had wanted.
And yet….
‘Why do I feel so uneasy?’
If the culprit were caught, Suk-ui would suffer no more.
Yi Hwon would be spared the tragedy of losing his mother….
Even knowing this was a hopeful turn of events, an inexplicable dread gnawed at the edges of my heart.
“Bong-bong, you must be exhausted already. The Gold Guard must have startled you. My goodness, look how pale you’ve become. And you’re breaking into a cold sweat.”
Seol-hyang, who had drawn near without my notice, gently wiped the perspiration from my forehead.
***
“Your Majesty. The Commander of the Naegumwi requests an audience.”
“Let him in.”
In the deep of night, within the Private Chamber of the Royal Chambers.
Kim Che-geon stepped into the King’s private quarters.
“As commanded, I have thoroughly searched every chamber of the concubines’ quarters and the rooms of all palace maids in the Yuk-cheo Office and returned, Your Majesty.”
The King immediately got to the point.
“Well then, did you find the arsenic?”
The King had ordered a search of all quarters except Tongmyeongjeon, where the ailing Queen Min resided.
This was because they had failed to apprehend the culprit at Sung-gyeong Hall.
All that had been discovered at Sung-gyeong Hall was a single container of arsenic left in one corner of the Nae-so Kitchen.
They had ultimately been unable to determine whose it was.
It was inconceivable that a single palace maid could have procured such a large quantity of arsenic.
The King was certain that someone within the palace had supplied the arsenic.
“No arsenic was discovered, Your Majesty.”
Kim Che-geon answered calmly.
“You mean to say that despite searching every location thoroughly, no arsenic was found?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. It appears we must interrogate the palace maids of Sung-gyeong Hall to uncover the truth, Your Majesty.”
The King’s brow furrowed.
So in the end, they would have to resort to torture to extract answers.
He recalled the honey incident from before and let out a low sigh.
“However, Your Majesty. During the search, we discovered an object that seemed rather peculiar to simply overlook.”
“A peculiar object? What is it?”
Kim Che-geon handed the King an object wrapped in muslin cloth.
The King unfolded the cloth.
Upon seeing what lay within, the King’s expression grew subtly tense.
“It is a doll commonly used outside the palace for cursing people. This object…”
Kim Che-geon glanced cautiously at the King’s reaction.
“…was discovered hidden deep within the Private Chamber of Suk-bin’s quarters in Bogyeong-dang.”
“…Suk-bin, you say.”
The King’s expression as he uttered those words was one of utter bewilderment.
Understandably so.
The object that Kim Che-geon had brought, claiming it had been secretly hidden in Suk-bin’s Private Chamber.
It was none other than the grotesque doll named Bom-bomi that Hwang Bong-bong had been carrying around for some time.

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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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