The Five-Year-Old Baby Princess Rules the Palace - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#12. Grandfather’s Promise

Once he had made his decision, the old ghost felt even more sorry for the young princess’s tears that he had tried so hard to ignore.

The old ghost let out another long sigh and looked down at Eunhye with gentle eyes as he spoke.

[Child, from now on this grandfather will chase away all the wicked things that frighten you, so don’t fear anything and live proudly as a princess of Great Taeshin Kingdom.]

Since he had already manifested himself, he would stay with this child until her spiritual sight closed.

At the kind voice that reached her ears, Eunhye opened her closed eyes with a sparkle and lifted her head. Her tear-soaked black pupils shone like stars.

“Is it true?”

At Eunhye’s question asked in a voice heavy with tears, the old ghost smiled kindly and spoke with a voice full of dignity.

[This grandfather was the 6th king of Great Taeshin Kingdom. People of later generations called this grandfather King Gwangjo. Hundreds and thousands of enemies trembled beneath this grandfather’s feet! Child, from now on, trust only this grandfather!]

At the story of the old ghost who revealed his identity as the 6th king of Taeshin Kingdom, Eunhye’s eyes and mouth became as big as plates.

The pooled tears and all the sorrow and sadness remaining in her heart fled away, and Eunhye’s mind became completely alert.

No wonder! That’s why all the ghosts in the library had fled!

No wonder! Because he was my real grandfather, he wasn’t scary like other ghosts!

Eunhye looked up at Gwangjo with her mouth agape, unable to close it.

Now that she looked, grandfather ghost’s royal countenance really did contain much of Father’s and Crown Prince’s faces!

Eunhye slowly closed her gaping mouth and blinked her large eyes as she murmured.

“Now that I look, grandfather’s royal countenance has Father in it and Crown Prince too.”

At that sight of her staring directly at him with even her small nostrils adorably flaring, Gwangjo burst into irrepressible laughter.

[Hahahahahaha! Yes, yes, indeed, I am your grandfather.]

Following Gwangjo’s loud laughter, Eunhye also laughed with her cute voice.

Ghosts had always been objects of fear, but now, the strongest ghost in this world—in young Eunhye’s thinking—was on her side!

Eunhye, who had been giggling along with Gwangjo, folded her legs that had been stretched out and sprang to her feet. Then she spoke quite dignifiedly toward the contentedly smiling Gwangjo.

“This girl greets the great King Gwangjo, grandfather who was the 6th king of Great Taeshin Kingdom.”

Then she neatly placed her white, chubby hands together, raised them to her eyebrows, and bowed in an adorable manner.

[Hehehehehe, in over five hundred years of wandering the palace, I never knew I would receive a bow directly from such a lovely descendant. Hehehehehe.]

After bowing to the brightly smiling Gwangjo who seemed extremely pleased, Eunhye sat back down on the library floor with a face full of anticipation.

“From now on, grandfather will stay by my side forever, right?”

[Of course, and from now on I will never let you face scary things alone, so don’t worry.]

“Yes!”

Eunhye’s two eyes shone brighter than the morning star in the eastern sky as she answered loudly.

But then, Gwangjo, who was about to say something, suddenly turned his head toward the library entrance.

“Why is that?”

Eunhye followed Gwangjo’s gaze and asked while stretching her neck sideways as she sat.

[Hehehehe… From the commotion outside the door since earlier, it seems someone is desperately searching for you.]

At Gwangjo’s voice full of laughter, Eunhye’s eyes widened as she looked ahead and murmured.

“For me? No one knows that I came here.”

[Is that so? But it seems some palace maid is having an argument with the soldier guarding this place?]

Palace maid?

Only then did Eunhye look up at Gwangjo with an “Oh!” expression on her face.

“Ah! It must be Lady Han from my quarters! I didn’t know so much time had passed!”

Come to think of it, quite some time seemed to have passed since she had fled from her quarters.

If so, by now all the senior court ladies and maids of Hyesin Palace would be suffering because of her disappearance.

What if her nanny and the palace servants had suffered hardship?

With worry suddenly flooding in, Eunhye’s pretty eyes filled with concern.

Then, the outside of the library suddenly became noisy and the entrance door opened slightly. And what followed was a familiar voice.

“Princess, Princess Eunhye! This is Lady Han. Are you here by any chance?”

It was indeed Lady Han.

Along with guilt for having searched for her for so long, and irritation that rose without her knowing, a small sigh escaped from Eunhye’s mouth.

Why did it have to be now?

Grandfather was just about to tell some other story.

Couldn’t she come just one moment later!

As if understanding Eunhye’s feelings, Gwangjo nodded with a kind smile and spoke.

[Don’t worry, child. I’ll go to your quarters right away.]

Only then did Eunhye seem relieved as she smiled prettily and raised her right pinky finger.

“Really? You’re promising?”

[Hahaha! Of course, of course, I promise.]

Only after receiving Gwangjo’s confirmation did Eunhye rise from her seat, glance toward the library entrance where Lady Han’s voice could be heard, and continue speaking.

“Then, I will trust grandfather’s words and return to my quarters now.”

Seeing that her skirt, which had been soaked with fishy water, had dried stiffly, it seemed she had really been in the library for quite a long time.

“Ugh, bad smell…”

Eunhye grabbed her crimson skirt that smelled musty with both hands, lifted it up, and shook it downward. The dust that flew up in the process clamored in the faintly shining sunlight.

“Princess Eunhye, Princess?”

After the quietly called voice, Lady Han’s head cautiously peeked through the slightly opened library entrance.

Though only her shoulders and above were visible, her complexion was so bright and beautiful that the dim darkness of the library seemed to instantly clear.

“Princess, are you here?”

Lady Han called out softly once more searching for Eunhye, and now pushed her entire upper body into the library.

As if the sunlight coming through the skylight was the only light source, the musty smell of old paper and ink wafted from inside the library, which was much darker than outside.

As Lady Han peered around the quiet library interior with only her upper body inside the door, the gruff voice of the soldier outside reached her ears.

“See, my lady. I told you no one went in!”

It was the soldier guarding the Crown Prince’s Library.

But Lady Han kept her upper body inside the door and stretched her neck forward, muttering as if finding it strange.

“Strange. If Princess went toward the Crown Prince’s Palace, she surely would have come to the library?”

Lady Han well knew that Princess Eunhye liked this Crown Prince’s Library.

When Crown Prince returned from visiting Byeolgung, Princess Eunhye would always follow him out, and didn’t the two of them accompany each other to the Library of the Crown Prince’s Palace to spend time together?

Lady Han ignored the grumbling soldier behind her and put one foot into the library, then called for Eunhye again.

“Princess Eunhye, this is Lady Han. I’m coming in.”

Toward Lady Han who was determined to enter the library, the soldier grumbled with a very displeased expression.

“Ah, really, I keep telling you no one’s there. If you must check, please look quickly and come out. If the superiors see, we’ll just get in trouble again for nothing.”

Pretending not to hear the soldier’s words, Lady Han put her other foot into the library as well, and closed her eyes once more upon hearing the door close behind her.

Though only a thick wooden door separated the outside from this place, a silence that seemed to swallow all the world’s noise instantly enveloped Lady Han.

In the dim library where no presence could be felt at all, Lady Han slowly opened her eyes to adjust to the darkness.

Heavy silence that didn’t match the pale yellow sunlight shining faintly from somewhere.

Could our Princess really be alone in this dark place?

Before her eyes were only bookshelves full of books, and just as Lady Han’s steps began to move cautiously, not knowing which way to go,

“Is that Lady Han?”

At the end of the faintly reaching sunlight, my Princess was walking toward her step by step!

“Princess!”

Like a painting, my Princess Eunhye appeared in the dark library bathed in sunlight.

Lady Han unconsciously cried out loudly and rushed forward.

The quiet library seemed to shake with Lady Han’s cry and the sound of her running footsteps.

Watching that noisy scene, a sigh of amazement burst from Gwangjo’s mouth.

[Hehehehe, she looks like a beautiful flower fairy, but acts like a thunderbolt.]

Beautiful flower fairy?

At grandfather Gwangjo’s sigh about Lady Han, Eunhye’s small head tilted to the side.

But Lady Han, who had already approached, knelt down abruptly and began examining Eunhye.

“Oh, Princess! How did you come here all alone? Are you hurt anywhere? Do you have any pain?”

Then she felt around Eunhye’s hands, face, and various parts of her small body before making a tearful sound.

“Oh my, what shall we do? Our Princess’s pretty cheeks and hands are all scraped. It must hurt a lot? There, there.”

Lady Han held Eunhye’s scraped palm and blew on it, not knowing what to do, then looked up with a face about to cry.

“No, how can you just disappear so suddenly like that? If you want to take a walk, you can just open the door and come out. Why leave a perfectly good door unused and come out through the window frame?”

Toward Lady Han, whose eyes were brimming with tears, Eunhye spoke softly with an apologetic tone.

“I had no choice. I’m sorry, Lady Han.”

At Eunhye’s apology, Lady Han quickly shook her head and carefully touched the red scratches on her plump, soft cheeks and chin.

“Not at all. I should have attended to Princess better. But how much did it hurt…?”

“No. It’s fine now.”

As Eunhye shook her head from side to side saying it was fine, her chubby cheeks swayed along with the movement. Lady Han watched that adorable sight with pitying eyes, then gasped and cried out upon seeing Eunhye’s skirt that reeked of an unpleasant odor.

“Good heavens, Princess! What happened to your skirt? Ugh! What are all these stains and this smell?”

The front hem of her deep crimson silk skirt was completely stained and giving off an unpleasant odor.

“Well, this is… never mind, you don’t need to know.”

Lady Han looked with pained eyes at the young Princess who swallowed back what she was about to say, then nodded as if she understood.

Princess had experienced something she didn’t want to talk about. Just as the kitchen nain had said when coming to the Crown Prince’s Palace, she had surely suffered something terrible at the hands of Lady Gyeongbin.

Lady Han, who had been kneeling on the floor meeting Eunhye’s gaze, hid her sad expression and put on a deliberately stern voice.

“Princess, will you go around alone like this again today? If something serious happens while you’re wandering alone, what am I to do?”

“What serious thing could happen? Is there anyone in the Palace who doesn’t know me?”

Eunhye’s gaze, which had been directed at Lady Han as if it were nothing, briefly turned upward.

Ah, there was someone. What was his name… Jihoo?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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