Surviving as Jang Hee-bin's Child Court Lady - Chapter 84

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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 84. The Wall
Crack!
The tenth stroke had ended.
Only then did a long breath finally escape from my clenched lips.
Salty tears streamed into my mouth.
“Answer me.”
Han Sang-gung’s stern voice cut through the silence.
“Will you not forget your duty as a Palace Maid?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You will never again put the Palace Maids of Chwisuondang in danger?”
“….”
“Hmm. Why do you not answer?”
“Yes, Your Majesty…. I will not do so again.”
A lump rose in my throat.
Hot tears threatened to spill over.
“You are a Palace Maid. Within the Royal Palace, you must obey the commands of your superiors. You must never forget that. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I understand.”
Fighting back my tears, I nodded.
“You may lower your skirts now.”
Han Sang-gung’s permission was granted.
Han Sang-gung, gazing at my tear-streaked face, extended a small jar.
“Take this. It is salve. Go to Seol-hyang and ask her to apply it for you.”
“…Yes.”
“Speak to no one of the crow. If anyone asks why you were beaten, tell them you were punished for failing in your duties as a Palace Maid.”
“…I understand.”
“Then go.”
Han Sang-gung withdrew her gaze from me.
I bowed deeply to Han Sang-gung.
My calves throbbed with unbearable pain, burning intensely.
As I turned to leave, my legs feeling impossibly heavy, Han Sang-gung’s face came into view.
Small tears glistened at the corners of Han Sang-gung’s eyes.
‘…I was wrong.’
I apologized sincerely in my heart.
I had not anticipated how grave the consequences of the spark I had ignited would become.
I was terrified of what lay ahead.
***
“Oh, heavens. What on earth is happening….”
Seol-hyang’s eyes glistened with tears as she applied salve to my calves.
“Han Sang-gung went too far. No matter what wrong was done, where is it right to strike a child like you….”
The wounds were severe.
The cane marks were vivid as serpent trails across my skin, and blood seeped from countless lacerations.
“Won’t you tell me why you were beaten?”
“No. I’m sorry, Miss.”
I shook my head firmly.
“Sigh. Very well. There’s nothing good about a beating. I wouldn’t want to relive it either.”
Seol-hyang’s expression remained deeply troubled throughout.
It was not solely because of me.
Word had come that the palace maids from Sung-gyeong Hall had been dragged away to the Uigumbu.
Seol-hyang had been close with those maids, so her worry was immense.
Then it happened.
The door burst open with a loud clatter of footsteps.
“Disaster!”
Sun-rye rushed into the room and blurted out without preamble.
“What? What now, sister? What’s happened?”
“You know the maid from Sesuggan I’m close with? Her brother is a soldier in the Uigumbu. So I heard….”
Sun-rye’s usually cheerful face was rigid with dread.
“The palace maids from Sung-gyeong Hall were tortured all night. The cruelty was so extreme that it was unbearable to witness.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. They even branded Yun Sang-gung’s limbs with hot irons. What are we to do?”
“…”
Seol-hyang’s mouth fell open in shock.
…
I listened to Sun-rye’s words in a daze.
Suddenly, Seol-hyang covered my ears with both hands.
“Sister. Regardless, how could you speak of such things before a child.”
“Oh, forgive me. I wasn’t thinking…. I’m sorry, Bong-bong. You must be frightened. I didn’t mean to….”
Yet neither Seol-hyang’s words nor Sun-rye’s apology reached me clearly.
Not because Seol-hyang was covering my ears.
My mind had gone white.
I could hear the screams of tortured maids ringing in my ears.
My hands trembled violently. Clasping them together, I rose abruptly.
“Bong-bong. Where are you going suddenly?”
I did not answer.
As I stepped outside, the wind caught the hem of my skirt.
My calves burned unbearably where they brushed against the fabric, but I clenched my teeth and pressed forward.
I had brought this catastrophe upon them.
As the one responsible for this catastrophe, I had somewhere I needed to go.
I was the architect of this calamity.
The King was the executor who had unleashed this bloodshed.
I had to meet with the King.
***
I ran forward in a frenzy.
I passed through the processions of servants drawing water, brushed past the Palace Maids beginning their morning duties.
I crossed from Changgyeong Palace into Changdeok Palace.
‘I have to meet the King.’
That single thought consumed my mind.
Even knowing I had no concrete plan, I rushed toward Hee-jeong Hall.
Soon, the magnificent Hee-jeong Hall revealed itself beneath the brilliant morning sunlight.
“Ha… ha…”
Breathless, I exhaled in ragged gasps.
And in that same moment, despair washed over me.
Was there truly anything I could accomplish?
I, a mere young Palace Maid who couldn’t even gain an audience with the King—what could I possibly do?
I gazed silently at the serene Hee-jeong Hall.
A place I had marveled at with wonder each time I visited.
Yet that Hee-jeong Hall now loomed before me like an immense wall.
With my efforts, with my wit, with my abilities.
With my station, I could never scale this formidable, unyielding barrier.
It was then.
“Young one. What brings you here?”
The voice was quite familiar.
When I lifted my head, the face of Park (Eunuch), who served the King, came into view.
His appearance felt like a glimmer of hope.
“I wish to see His Majesty.”
“His Majesty? My, my.”
Park (Eunuch) let out a soft chuckle.
“Young one. His Majesty is not someone we palace servants can see on a whim. You mustn’t be ignorant of such things simply because you’re young.”
“But perhaps…”
The helplessness I had experienced countless times before engulfed me once more.
Darkness crept into my vision, and I struggled to maintain my composure.
In that moment, I sensed the presence of palace attendants.
Thud. Thud. Slow but forceful footsteps echoed.
It was the King.
It was time for the morning audience; the King, dressed in his crimson official robe, was walking out of Hee-jeong Hall.
I bowed deeply toward the King.
The King’s footsteps came to a halt.
“Bong-bong. Why have you come here at such an early hour? Did you miss Geum-deok since this morning?”
“…No, Your Majesty.”
For once, I had no desire to make excuses about Geum-deok or offer other pretexts.
“I came because I have something to tell you.”
Perhaps it was because my expression differed from my usual demeanor.
The King gestured, and the palace attendants withdrew.
The King stepped closer to me.
“What is it you wish to tell me?”
“It’s….”
I hesitated for a moment.
For the first time.
Only now did I truly comprehend it.
How immensely powerful and towering a figure the King was.
My belief that Hee-jeong Hall was the barrier was utterly mistaken.
The problem was not Hee-jeong Hall.
The dragon dwelling within Hee-jeong Hall.
The King himself was a magnificent fortress wall that I could never surmount with my own strength.
“I heard that the palace maids of Sung-gyeong Hall were dragged away to the Uigumbu.”
“Already? Well, the Royal Palace is indeed a place where rumors spread swiftly. And?”
“What will become of them…?”
The King’s expression was subtle.
As if he could not fathom why a child would ask such a question.
“Well. If no one confesses to the crime….”
The King spoke quietly.
“They will all die.”
My breath caught in my throat.
All the fearful imaginings that had haunted my mind.
It felt as though they were all being completed by a single word from the King.
I could not help but acknowledge it.
My foolishness. My ignorance.
A piercing regret washed over me for having attempted to use the King as a tool.
He was not a sword that could be grasped in someone’s hand.
He was not the sword, but the swordsman.
A being who thinks for himself, judges, and cuts without hesitation.
That was what the King truly was.
“The palace maids of Sung-gyeong Hall…. Then they die because of me?”
The King furrowed his brow.
“Why do you think such a thing?”
“Because it was I who spoke of Suk-ui’s condition. Because I said those words…. Innocent palace maids are suffering because of me….”
“Bong-bong, you believe their deaths are your doing.”
“…isn’t that so?”
What answer had I been hoping for when I asked that question?
Words claiming it wasn’t my responsibility?
Words justifying it as a proper procedure to find the guilty?
In other words, words telling me I needn’t carry guilt…?
The King opened his mouth quietly.
“You need not entertain such thoughts.”
He continued with unwavering resolve.
“The Palace Maids are not dying because of you.”
“Your Majesty?”
“Suk-ui lives because of you.”
“But….”
“You have not killed—you have saved. Even if some perish in the course of righteous action, why should one who has done what is just concern themselves with such matters? Do not dwell on it.”
“….”
The King’s words: I had not killed the Palace Maids, but saved Suk-ui.
Words telling me that having acted righteously, I should not linger over the deaths of a few….
Even having heard every word I had anticipated, no comfort came.
Because the truth does not change.
Just as it is true that I saved Suk-ui, it is equally true that the Palace Maids will die because of me.
“Though you speak thus….”
My lips trembled as I formed the words.
“Your Majesty. Is there truly no way for both Suk-ui and all the Palace Maids to live?”
The King regarded me intently.
Slowly.
He shook his head.
“There is not.”
“….”
“There exists no method by which one may obtain all that one desires. Such is the way of things.”

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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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