The Five-Year-Old Baby Princess Rules the Palace - Chapter 23

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

#23. I Can… Taste It!

“Now, Lady Han, why are you doing this?”

Lady Park asked in bewilderment as Lady Han grabbed her sleeve and dragged her out of the room.

“I’m sorry, Your Ladyship. I’ll explain everything in just a moment.”

After confirming the door was closed, Lady Han smiled apologetically at Lady Park, then turned her gaze to the nains standing obediently in front of the door.

“This is Princess’s order. Lady Park and I will be here, so those who haven’t had lunch should go eat, and the rest should have tea or something and return after about one meal period.”

At Lady Han’s sudden mention of Princess Eunhye’s order, the nains all looked at each other, then turned to Lady Park with questioning eyes.

“Ahem, that’s right. Princess Eunhye has given the Hyesin Palace servants about one meal period of rest time, so everyone go and rest.”

Once Lady Park’s permission was given, the young court ladies’ lips curved upward slightly as they finally answered in understanding.

After confirming that all the palace servants guarding the door had gone outside, Lady Han smiled broadly at Lady Park, who was looking at her with curious eyes.

“Were you surprised? I’m sorry.”

“My being surprised isn’t the problem. Why did you do that? Even if it’s Princess’s order, how could you just leave with hot tea and refreshments on the table?”

At Lady Park’s lowered scolding voice, Lady Han glanced toward the room and spoke with a faint smile.

“Lady Park, I think you can put your mind at ease.”

“What do you mean?”

At Lady Park’s expression asking what she meant, Lady Han looked toward the closed door and said quietly.

“Earlier, since the Library of the Crown Prince’s Palace, Princess has been… different. Anyway, I’m not sure exactly, but it seems a precious being who helps our Princess has appeared and is by her side.”

“What? Is that true?”

Startled, Lady Park covered her mouth with both hands at her involuntary exclamation, looking back and forth between Lady Han and inside the room.

What on earth did she mean?

Together with a precious being!

Had Princess been able to not only see the deceased but even converse with them all this time?

Lady Park burst into tears at the fact she had tried so hard to deny, and Lady Han gently took her hand.

“Don’t worry. No matter how precious a spirit is in that room, we can protect Princess Eunhye.”

Lady Han nodded with a gentle smile as if comforting her. Lady Park looked up at her, her lips trembling as if holding back tears.

Is Heaven finally helping our poor Princess now?

Then will our Princess no longer have troubled sleep or be startled by seeing strangers?

Hot tears that had flowed down were thoroughly wetting Lady Park’s face.

Lady Han took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and offered it while nodding, and in the palace quarters that had become quiet with all the Hyesin Palace servants gone, only two women who truly cared for the Princess stood comforting each other.

Though there was an order for everyone to go outside, how could they themselves leave this place? She had said she would tell them everything when the time came, so until then they just needed to guard Princess with eyes closed and ears shut.

The eyes of the two women standing at the door sparkled more than ever with loyalty and love for their young mistress.

* * *

Meanwhile, as soon as Lady Park and Lady Han left the room, Eunhye jumped up from where she was sitting and smiled broadly at Gwangjo standing before her.

[Why are you smiling like that?]

At Eunhye’s cute smile, Gwangjo burst into hearty laughter.

“It’s nothing. Please sit at the head seat.”

Gwangjo looked at the food placed on the refreshment table and sat in the seat Eunhye had vacated.

Then Eunhye quickly sat beside the table, picked up the silver skewer placed neatly on the table, and asked with expectant eyes.

“Does Grandfather also like Guseon-wangdogo like our Great-grandmother?”

Eunhye’s eyes sparkled with anticipation as she spoke, even nodding her head excitedly.

Moreover, her plump white cheeks that seemed to bounce up and down with her nodding were unbearably cute.

At that sight, Gwangjo deliberately coughed, then immediately frowned as if to say no.

[Hmm… isn’t that old people’s rice cake that reeks of medicinal herbs? Bah, that was the rice cake I hated most when I was alive!]

Hearing Gwangjo’s grumbling, Eunhye’s face turned flustered as she slowly lowered the silver skewer she was holding. Then, with an expression about to cry, she pursed her lips and blinked her eyes before looking at the cherry glutinous rice cake next to the Guseon-wangdogo.

“Then, do you perhaps dislike glutinous rice cake too?”

Then Gwangjo, barely holding back his laughter, coughed loudly again and spoke as if shouting.

[Bah, would an old man choke to death? I haven’t eaten sticky rice cake since I turned sixty.]

Eunhye’s face looked like she would burst into tears at any moment from great disappointment.

Her lips, trembling as she held back tears, were already protruding and quivering.

At that sight, Gwangjo finally couldn’t hold back his laughter and began laughing loudly.

[Hahahaha! Hahahaha! You’re going to cry at this rate.]

What could be so amusing?

At Gwangjo’s sudden loud laughter, Eunhye dropped a tear that had formed in her eyes and raised her arm to wipe it away.

Feeling slightly sorry at that sight, Gwangjo coughed unnecessarily while stroking his abundant beard.

[Ahem, ahem, this old man was joking. It was a joke, a joke. Actually, the rice cake this old man loved most when alive was Guseon-wangdogo. And glutinous rice cake was also something I enjoyed eating very much in my lifetime.]

Surprised by mischievous Gwangjo’s prank, Eunhye’s eyes widened, then chicken-dropping-like tears immediately fell from them.

Gwangjo, who had been laughing with amusement, was startled by Eunhye’s appearance of crying with only her lips protruding, and gulped down his saliva. Then he didn’t know what to do.

[Oh my, child, grandfather was wrong, okay? Why cry over such a thing? Oh, don’t cry. This grandfather was wrong.]

Had he ever seen a crying child before him?

When even his own children couldn’t meet his eyes when he was alive, when could he have had a chance to comfort a crying child?

While Eunhye stopped crying, Gwangjo, who had been at a loss, finally muttered apologetically as he watched Eunhye wipe her tears and purse her lips.

[Child, were you… startled? This grandfather was trying to joke… I won’t make such jokes again.]

At Gwangjo’s apology mixed with embarrassment and awkwardness, Eunhye nodded.

The teardrops hanging delicately on her long eyelashes, not yet wiped away, were like small pearls.

“I was so sad thinking Grandfather really disliked both Guseon-wangdogo and glutinous rice cake. But since you said it was a joke, it’s fine.”

At her appearance of wiping her eyes once more with her sleeve and smiling broadly in relief, Gwangjo sighed in relief and laughed heartily.

[Hehehe, dislike them indeed. How much I love them! Do you know how much this grandfather enjoyed eating this rice cake when alive, loving the subtle medicinal fragrance and the gentle sweetness that comes with it?]

At Gwangjo’s boasting, Eunhye sniffled and picked up the silver skewer again, stabbing it into a piece of rice cake.

“Is that so? But it doesn’t taste very good to me.”

Eunhye shook her head so much her cheeks wobbled, showing she really didn’t like it.

[Hehehe, yes, for a young child to eat, it has a strong medicinal scent and isn’t very sweet, so you might dislike it.]

Watching Eunhye nod as if agreeing, Gwangjo pointed at the rice cake with his finger.

[And this rice cake, you see. Once you make it, you can crumble it finely and dry it, then make porridge when you have no appetite, or put the powder in honey water and drink it cool.]

“Ah…”

At Gwangjo’s detailed explanation, Eunhye, whose tears had dried and eyes were sparkling, held the rice cake she had picked up with the skewer on a small plate and offered it toward Gwangjo.

“I’m glad you like it. Please try some.”

[Hehehe, yes. Let me try the rice cake our Eunhye is giving me.]

Gwangjo received the rice cake offered by her tiny hands with a joyful expression.

The rice cake moved from Eunhye’s hand to Gwangjo’s hand while still on the elegantly crafted silver skewer, but mysteriously, the rice cake on the skewer remained in Eunhye’s hand as well.

In the semi-transparent spirit Gwangjo’s hand was the rice cake Eunhye had offered, held in a transparent and hazy form like Gwangjo’s spirit body.

Gwangjo smiled at Eunhye, who was watching him with eyes full of anticipation and curiosity, then opened his mouth wide and bit into the Guseon-wangdogo.

[Huh?]

Then he opened his eyes wide as if they would tear and looked at Eunhye.

“Why, why are you doing that?”

Gwangjo stared intently at Eunhye’s face as she asked in surprise, then slowly shook his head instead of answering.

Then he began chewing the rice cake in his mouth slowly, even flaring his nostrils.

[Hmm, hmm, hehe.]

Gwangjo’s eyes glittered like a madman’s as he made incomprehensible exclamations. Then he hurriedly stuffed the remaining piece of Guseon-wangdogo in his hand into his mouth.

“Grandfather?”

Gwangjo, who had been chewing rapidly enough to make his bushy white beard flutter finely, swallowed the rice cake and looked at Eunhye with the eyes of a beast before prey.

“Is that rice cake so delicious?”

Eunhye, who was stabbing cherry rice cake with her skewer, slowly blinked and asked Gwangjo, whose eyes were bulging.

But Gwangjo gave no answer and raised his trembling hand. Then he pointed at the cherry rice cake with his hand and opened his large mouth wide.

“This… shall I give you this too?”

The large mouth gaping between his bushy beard was like a cave in the mountains.

In the somehow solemn atmosphere, Eunhye reached out her tiny hand again and picked up the glutinous rice cake filled with pickled cherry filling with her skewer.

[Ah, ah.]

Ah, so you truly want me to put it directly into your mouth.

Eunhye, who had swallowed her dry saliva, carefully lifted the cherry glutinous rice cake skewered on a silver stick and placed it into Gwangjo’s mouth.

Snap!

As soon as the glutinous rice cake came close, his mouth shut immediately like a crocodile snatching its prey!

The rice cake in her hand remained intact, yet Grandfather Gwangjo was chewing deliciously with both eyes gently closed.

The sight was so fascinating that Eunhye stared at Gwangjo with a dazed expression, her small red lips half-parted.

[Mmm… mmm!]

Eventually making groaning sounds of pleasure, Gwangjo slowly swallowed what was in his mouth and finally opened his eyes wide.

[Child!]

“Yes?”

After calling her, Great-grandmother said nothing and just stared intently at the rice cakes on the table.

“Great-grandmother? Does the rice cake taste strange?”

Could there be something wrong with the rice cake I offered? Why is Great-grandmother acting like this?

Puzzled by Gwangjo’s strange expression, Eunhye reached out and picked up a glutinous rice cake, taking a bite. The sweet and fragrant pickled cherry harmonized beautifully with the chewy glutinous rice cake, creating an excellent flavor that danced in her mouth.

It tastes good though?

This time, Eunhye tore off a small piece of Guseon-wangdogo and put it in her mouth, frowning slightly as she quickly swallowed what was in her mouth.

Ugh! This one really doesn’t taste good.

Gwangjo, who had been silently watching Eunhye’s reaction, now grabbed a rice cake with his own hand and stuffed it into his mouth.

[Mmm…!]

Then he immediately let out a sigh mixed with groaning, slowly shook his head, and opened his eyes.

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