Surviving as Jang Hee-bin's Child Court Lady - Chapter 83

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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 83. What Do You Think You Are?
“….”
The King’s silence stretched on.
He stared intently at a crude straw doll.
The very doll that Hwang Bong-bong had carried about like a plaything.
Once, she had pressed it into his hands, saying that shaking it would delight Geum-deok.
‘How did Bong-bong’s doll end up in Suk-bin’s possession?’
It was a reasonable question.
Yet I could not entirely dismiss the possibility that this doll was a separate object, not Bong-bong’s at all.
Another question followed in its wake.
‘Then why would Suk-bin keep such a grotesque thing?’
As Kim Che-geon had explained, the doll’s purpose was unmistakable.
A curse doll.
An effigy employed for sorcerous intent—to inflict harm upon another.
That Hwang Bong-bong carried such a doll was hardly a matter of concern.
She was merely a child, after all.
But Suk-bin was another matter entirely.
‘Brooding alone will yield no answers.’
Perhaps this matter need not be so difficult to resolve.
I need only ask Bong-bong and Suk-bin directly.
“Hmm.”
The King lifted his head.
He fixed his gaze upon Kim Che-geon, who remained prostrate and silent in his place.
Now came a matter far more pressing than a curse doll.
“Commander of the Naegumwi.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Summon the Geumbu Dosa. Have all the palace maids of Sung-gyeong Hall brought to the Uigumbu for interrogation.”
A weighty royal command fell.
“Extract confessions by whatever means necessary. There must be no repeat of the calamity that befell us before.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I shall carry out your orders.”
As I listened to Kim Che-geon’s departing footsteps, I closed my eyes slowly.
***
The early dawn sky outside the window had turned a deep blue.
I woke early, before the rest of the palace stirred.
Half-asleep and drowsy, I hastily threw on my clothes.
Then I slipped quietly outside, careful not to wake Seol-hyang.
Over the past month, I had developed an important daily routine.
It was to visit the Western Storage before the palace maids awoke and feed Heuk-mak….
“Oh.”
Only when the cool dawn breeze touched my face did my mind fully awaken.
‘…Heuk-mak is gone now.’
Yesterday’s events came flooding back to me.
Heuk-mak soaring powerfully toward the heavens.
I gazed up at the sky, remembering the sight of Heuk-mak gliding through the night, but all I could see were the sparse stars scattered across the dawn sky.
I lingered for a long while, looking up at the heavens with a heavy heart, before turning to head back to my chamber.
“So it was you, Bong-bong.”
“Oh! Did you cough, ma’am?”
I quickly bowed my head upon seeing Han Sang-gung emerge from the private chamber.
‘Yesterday’s incident won’t simply be overlooked.’
Han Sang-gung, having served Jang Hee-bin for so long, possessed remarkably keen intuition.
The series of events that had unfolded in the Western Storage yesterday.
There was no way Han Sang-gung could have failed to notice that I was the one raising the crow.
“Bong-bong.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I hadn’t intended to speak of this so early, but since we’ve encountered each other, we must settle this now. Come into my chamber.”
A stern expression settled across Han Sang-gung’s face.
“…Yes, ma’am.”
Bracing myself for a scolding, I followed Han Sang-gung into her chamber.
“You were the one raising the crow in the storage room, weren’t you?”
Han Sang-gung asked directly.
I could have made excuses, however feeble.
But I decided to confess honestly.
I had stood against the Gold Guard who sought to kill Heuk-mak, and ultimately released Heuk-mak into the sky.
To deny it now felt far too contemptible.
“Yes. It was a crow I was raising.”
“Sigh….”
Han Sang-gung let out an exasperated breath.
Even upon reflection, she seemed utterly flabbergasted.
“A crow is an ill omen! A harbinger of misfortune! When flocks of crows appear in the Royal Palace, shamans are summoned to perform rituals of purification—such is the dread they inspire. How could you….”
Han Sang-gung, staring down at me as I knelt in silence, pressed further.
“What on earth were you thinking, keeping such a creature in that place?”
“It was pitiful….”
“What?”
“I felt pity for it. I found a baby bird that had fallen from a tree, and I was afraid it would be eaten by a beast if I left it there….”
A deep sigh escaped Han Sang-gung’s lips.
Han Sang-gung exhaled a profound breath.
“I understand you acted with a child’s innocent heart. However, the Royal Palace has strict rules and laws that must be upheld.”
“…I have erred, madam.”
Han Sang-gung fell silent for a moment.
Deep furrows etched her brow as she contemplated something weighty.
“Hwang Bong-bong.”
“Yes.”
“What do you believe yourself to be?”
“….”
What am I?
I am a child maid. A four-year-old child maid belonging to Chwisuondang—Hwang Bong-bong.
Yet Han Sang-gung had not asked ‘what are you?’
She had asked differently.
‘What do you believe yourself to be?’
How did I perceive my own existence?
As a four-year-old child maid?
As an innocent palace maid ignorant of the world?
No. That was not it.
I saw myself as someone who must survive.
Someone who must also preserve the lives of those around me.
Therefore, I must act, move ceaselessly, and intervene in the inexorable flow of history….
Such a person.
Yet I could not speak such things before Han Sang-gung.
“I am… a palace maid.”
Han Sang-gung nodded upon hearing my response.
“Yes. You are a palace maid. Though one might say you are a rather exceptional palace maid.”
“Am I exceptional?”
“Did you not realize? Jang Hee-bin holds you in the highest regard, and the King himself is quite fond of you, is he not?”
“….”
I chose silence over words.
I could not predict what Han Sang-gung intended to say.
“But tell me, Hwang Bong-bong.”
Han Sang-gung spoke again.
“Does receiving special favor change your station as a palace maid? Or should it change your station?”
Han Sang-gung was questioning my fundamental identity.
Whether I would live as a child beloved by the King and his concubines.
Or whether I would live according to my duty as a child maid.
“Surely you don’t think of yourself as that kind of person? A princess-like existence, treated with special favor, exempt from punishment even when breaking rules, indulged no matter what trouble you cause?”
“No, madam. I have never harbored such thoughts.”
“Is that so? Well, that’s a relief at least,”
Han Sang-gung nodded and continued speaking.
“You must have been asleep and missed the news. Last night, all the palace maids from Sung-gyeong Hall were dragged away to the Uigumbu.”
“…Pardon?”
It was entirely unexpected news.
“All of them…? Even Yun Sang-gung and the nursemaids—they were all taken to the Uigumbu?”
“Yes. Every last one of them, without exception.”
I could say nothing more.
It was shocking. And deeply troubling to comprehend.
If my suspicions were correct and Suk-ui Park’s symptoms stemmed from poison, wouldn’t it suffice to interrogate only those connected to the poison?
As I pondered this, realization dawned.
‘They haven’t identified the culprit.’
The poison had been discovered, but whoever had been administering it remained unknown.
And so the King must have decided.
To torture every palace maid in Sung-gyeong Hall until the perpetrator was revealed.
A chill ran through me. My body trembled involuntarily.
Then Han Sang-gung’s voice reached my ears.
“A palace maid’s life is simply like that. Whether your fault or not matters little. One small mistake from anyone can cost everyone their heads. That is the nature of the Palace.”
Only then could I understand.
Why Han Sang-gung had suddenly brought up Sung-gyeong Hall.
“You thought you were merely raising a single bird. But that small act could mean the palace maids of Chwisuondang suffered as a consequence. Do you comprehend?”
“…”
Each word from Han Sang-gung pierced my heart like a blade.
I understood perfectly how dangerous my actions had been.
“I… I was wrong, madam.”
My body shook uncontrollably.
It was not fear of Han Sang-gung’s punishment.
As Han Sang-gung had said, the spark I had ignited could lead to tragedy for everyone.
Only now did I truly grasp that informing the Royal Physician and the King of Suk-ui’s symptoms might have unleashed catastrophe.
“Show me your calves.”
Han Sang-gung issued a stern command.
“…Madam?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. Show your calves.”
Han Sang-gung withdrew a long, rigid cane.
“Since this is your first offense, I will let it pass with this. Be grateful for this light punishment, and reflect deeply on your wrongdoing. Do you understand?”
“Yes, madam. I understand…”
In that instant, a sharp whistle—
The cane cut through the air and struck my calves with a resounding crack.
Whack! Whack!
The strikes of the cane continued relentlessly.
There was no mercy shown for her youth—each blow fell with merciless precision.
“Ugh….”
It had been an eternity since I last felt physical pain.
Though I fought to stifle my cries, involuntary groans escaped my lips regardless.
One strike, then another….
It hurt.
Being beaten was far more agonizing than I had ever imagined.
Tears that had welled up began to fall, one after another.
Yet these tears were not born of physical suffering.
‘The Palace Maids of Sung-gyeong Hall will face death.’
Countless lives would vanish like morning dew upon the execution ground.
All because of me.
Because of those words I had spoken. Because of that….
A violent terror and crushing remorse crashed over me.
The tears flowed without end.

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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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