Surviving as Jang Hee-bin's Child Court Lady - Chapter 92

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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 92. The Squirrel and the Thread
“Sigh….”
After parting ways with Park Moon-soo, I paused to catch my breath.
The western sky I gazed upon without thought was ablaze with a sunset painted in rich shades of crimson.
‘I want to be alone.’
I was alone now, but I wanted to be alone even more intensely.
It was the thought that continued to circle through my mind after parting with Park Moon-soo.
While it was true that I needed time to organize my thoughts, to be honest, my energy had been completely drained.
Meeting Prince Yeonning and Park Moon-soo simultaneously was bad enough, but then having to deal with Yi Hwon throwing a sudden tantrum on top of it all had exhausted me.
‘I desperately need to recharge.’
For a while, I didn’t want to encounter the Palace Maids either.
I was looking around for a place without people when it happened.
“Meow?”
“Oh, Geum-deok.”
A cute and plump furry creature approached silently, rubbing its forehead against my skirt.
I had said I wanted to be alone, but….
‘I can’t resist a cat.’
I petted Geum-deok for a while and even gave him some playful pats.
“Meow.”
Geum-deok suddenly sprang to his feet.
The feline rascal, having completely satisfied his desire for affection, abandoned me and began to leave.
“Geum-deok? Where are you going?”
“Meow.”
“Going to eat?”
“Meow.”
I watched Geum-deok disappear into the distance with a forlorn expression.
But that creature….
‘He’s heading toward the Northern Forest. Is he going hunting?’
I had visited the forest entrance earlier for a private conversation with Park Moon-soo.
Deep within the Northern Forest, I had a special secret place all my own.
It was a stone mound I had built to honor my brother.
That was when I realized something I hadn’t considered.
‘That’s right. It’s been the rainy season this whole time.’
During the monsoon rains, there had been heavy downpours and fierce winds.
‘What if the stone mound has completely collapsed?’
Worry suddenly gripped me.
“Geum-deok! I’m coming too. Let’s go together!”
I hurried after the swaying form disappearing into the distance.
***
My assumption had been correct.
The hastily constructed stone cairn had crumbled into a heap of rubble.
I gathered the largest and heaviest stones I could manage, building a sturdy new cairn in their place.
Once the cairn was complete, I fashioned a bouquet of wildflowers and laid it before the grave.
“Meow.”
They say cats are spiritual creatures—could Geum-deok sense something too?
Geum-deok sat beside me as I gazed silently at the cairn, kneading my lap with her paws.
“….”
When I think of my brother…my heart still wavers.
I took a slow, deep breath.
Just as I had promised him when I first built this cairn, I didn’t want to shed tears for him anymore.
Instead, I prayed with all my heart.
‘Brother, please help me find Hwang Jin-gi.’
Above the fiery crimson sky, a deep blue darkness gradually spread.
Leaves rustled in the wind, and insects chirped softly in the grass.
Listening to the quiet sounds of nature, I spoke to my brother in my heart.
‘I know you cherished me like your own life. Hwang Jin-gi seems like that kind of person too. So please, let him reunite with his sister.’
With my hands clasped in prayer, I observed a moment of silence.
Then I rose to my feet.
With a lightened heart, Geum-deok and I left the forest together.
It was just as we were about to emerge from the trees.
“Caw!”
“Huh?”
At the sharp cry of a crow echoing from somewhere, both Geum-deok and I looked up at the sky.
Could it be…?
“Heuk-mak…?”
I called out the name before I could stop myself, but…
“Caw!”
The crow flying high in the sky was clearly a much larger bird than Heuk-mak.
‘Heuk-mak doesn’t seem to have gone far, but I wonder if she’s doing well?’
Though I knew little of crow behavior, I hoped she hadn’t been driven from her flock or suffered any misfortune.
‘No, Heuk-mak must be doing fine.’
I shook away the dark thoughts.
‘If we ever meet again…will Heuk-mak remember me?’
…Probably not.
The thought of Heuk-mak having forgotten me entirely stung, but there was nothing to be done about it.
I wished Heuk-mak well and left the forest with Geum-deok.
***
Several days had passed since then.
“Bong-bong, what do you think of this?”
Jang Hee-bin and I were engaged in a most serious undertaking.
“Hmm….”
I shook my head slowly.
“The color doesn’t match the jeogori at all.”
“Is that so? Then, what about this? A tteolsam made of coral and pearls.”
“Well….”
I tilted my head uncertainly.
“It seems decent enough…!”
“Hmm.”
Jang Hee-bin put the tteolsam she’d been holding back into the half-open drawer.
“Merely decent won’t do. Then…. How about this?”
What Jang Hee-bin pulled out was a tteolsam adorned with pure white jade ornaments.
At last, I rendered my verdict with absolute certainty.
“It’s beautiful!”
“Oh! Excellent!”
Jang Hee-bin’s face brightened as if a lamp had been lit within it.
“Then we shall settle on this. This is something the King bestowed when the Crown Prince was born. Indeed, you have a discerning eye, Bong-bong.”
“Hehe. Thanks to you, I got to see something precious!”
The sight of Jang Hee-bin receiving grooming advice from a four-year-old child.
It may seem absurd, but it had become an officially established routine at Chwisuondang.
Whenever Jang Hee-bin had to appear at an important occasion, she would invariably summon me.
Whether it was clothing, jewelry, or makeup.
The final arbiter of her appearance was none other than Hwang Bong-bong.
‘Other palace maids just heap on flattery, saying everything is lovely, but Bong-bong is too childlike to tell lies,’ was the reason Jang Hee-bin gave.
I confess it now, but truthfully, I had never been particularly interested in adornment….
Yet as Jang Hee-bin’s expectations grew ever greater, I found myself approaching this task with genuine sincerity as well.
“The tteolsam, norigae, and back ornament are decided. I’m thinking of wearing this for the shoes—what do you think?”
“Perfect!”
Marveling at Jang Hee-bin’s beauty, I gave her a standing ovation.
“It’s been so long since a banquet was held that I’m quite nervous. Is my makeup too heavy?”
“Not at all. You’re as lovely as a celestial maiden, so there’s no need to be nervous, Jang Hee-bin.”
“Your words alone are a comfort.”
Jang Hee-bin gently stroked my hair.
For some time, the Royal Palace had held almost no banquets or celebrations.
It was because Queen Min’s health had been very poor.
The Queen’s condition worsened with each passing day. The Medical Bureau was repeatedly established and dissolved.
Thus, this was a palace ceremony held after a truly long interval.
And so, what was today, you ask….
“It seems like only yesterday that the young prince was born, and now he’s already celebrating his first birthday. Time truly flies.”
Today was Yi Hwon’s first birthday celebration.
It was the day his first birthday feast would be held in grand fashion.
In an era of high infant mortality, a prince’s first birthday was an extraordinarily momentous occasion.
Yi Hwon’s celebration would be held in splendid style at Changgyeong Palace Yanghwa Hall.
“The young prince has grown so beautifully, and half the credit belongs to our Hwang Bong-bong. You must be delighted as well.”
“Yes, of course! I’m very happy!”
I answered with spirited enthusiasm.
Whenever I thought of Yi Hwon these days, my feelings were distinctly different from before.
For a long time, every time I saw him, I would recall his fate of dying young at twenty-one, and my heart would grow heavy.
But then the truth emerged—Suk-ui Park had been poisoned by arsenic, and a storm of blood swept through the palace.
The Sung-gyeong Hall incident left me with an indelible sense of guilt.
Yet sorrow and guilt were not all that remained.
Hope existed as well.
Seeing Suk-ui fully restored to health kindled that hope within me.
It was the hope that Yi Hwon, too, could escape his tragic fate.
Because of that, I no longer gazed upon Yi Hwon with only sadness.
‘I may be excessively fixated on Yi Hwon’s health, but there’s nothing I can do about that.’
In any case, despite my constant worrying, Yi Hwon was growing into a remarkably robust child.
He had begun walking quite early, was quite large for his age, babbled constantly, and occasionally even mimicked people’s words, however clumsily.
“I wonder what the young prince will grasp during the first birthday divination.”
Hearing Jang Hee-bin’s words, I smiled knowingly.
‘I already know what Hwon will grab.’
I hoped he would seize the thread of silk that symbolized “longevity.”
No—I was certain he must.
So…
I had secretly been training Yi Hwon for this moment.
Whenever I visited him, I always carried the silk thread I’d obtained through Seol-hyang.
‘Grab this! This one! That’s right!’
‘Byaa?’
‘This is good! This is pretty! Yes, well done!’
‘Ahhh?’
‘One more time. You’re doing so well!’
The “silk thread grabbing” training had continued for the past month.
Yi Hwon had reached the point where he reflexively reached for the thread whenever he saw it.
‘So naturally, the first birthday divination will be the thread! Absolutely!’
My shoulders lifted with confidence that my persistent “thread writing” would succeed.
“Hwang Bong-bong, we should depart now.”
“Yes, Jang Hee-bin!”
I left Chwisuondang with Jang Hee-bin, my face bright with anticipation.
***
Changgyeong Palace Yanghwa Hall came into view in the distance.
“Sigh….”
Jang Hee-bin stopped in her tracks, exhaling a long breath as she pressed a hand to her chest.
Though it was a joyous occasion, her face betrayed a sharp, underlying tension.
‘There’s no way around it, I suppose.’
At grand banquets, the entire Royal Harem Administration attends without fail.
Though Queen Min, who was ill, could not attend, it meant that Suk-ui—Yi Hwon’s birth mother—along with Jang Hee-bin, Suk-bin, and Gwi-in Kim would all gather in one place.
‘The atmosphere is going to be absolutely treacherous…?’
I had no desire to face Suk-bin and Gwi-in, but I couldn’t possibly absent myself from Yi Hwon’s first birthday celebration either.
‘I am both a Palace Maid of Chwisuondang and the proper nursemaid of a royal prince.’
So I resolved not to lose my nerve and to carry myself with confidence.
‘Please, let today pass without incident.’
As I stepped through the entrance to Yanghwa Hall, I offered a silent prayer.
Yet my earnest wish proved futile, for the moment I crossed the threshold, I realized it.
The atmosphere was decidedly ominous.

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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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