The Survival Story Of A Fallen Lady - Chapter 3

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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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The Fallen Illegitimate Daughter’s Survival Record — Episode 3
He concealed his face beneath a Mask, emanating an eerie presence.
The Fourth Prince of the Lyeo Empire.
Seo Heon, the Mute Prince.
Beneath the Black Veil, his head tilted slightly askew.
Hidden from view, yet his gaze toward Mok Yeon seemed to burn with piercing brilliance.
Everyone knew it.
That the Mute Prince spoke no words at all.
Yet his desolate silence was itself his language.
‘He heard everything we said outside the door.’
So Ah bowed her head quietly before his silence.
“I, I…….”
Meanwhile, Mok Yeon, drained pale, gasped like a fish.
Her eyes darted, searching for any excuse to escape the moment.
That gaze caught sight of a black horse standing beyond the gate.
She had to praise it somehow.
Mok Yeon sidled up beside him and gestured toward the animal.
“What a magnificent steed—befitting the dignity of the Mute Prince! Such a horse must be rare even in the Imperial Palace……!”
The glossy black horse towered over Mok Yeon by height alone.
“Truly, it suits the Mute Prince most admirably.”
The moment Mok Yeon stepped forward with a smile toward the horse.
Neigh-h-h-h!
The horse reared, lifting its front legs high with a piercing cry.
“Get those filthy hands away. Before I crack your skull open!”
“Shriek!”
Mok Yeon stumbled backward and landed hard on her backside.
The horse pranced as though about to trample her flat.
“Whoa, whoa!”
The startled stablehand struggled in vain to calm the animal.
“Shriek!”
Frightened servants scattered in all directions, crying out.
Yet the noise and commotion only agitated the horse further, and it thrashed more violently.
As the Mute Prince reached to seize the reins—
A small, slender hand grasped them fearlessly.
In one fluid motion, a slight figure mounted the rearing horse and leaned low.
Beneath the Veil, his brow furrowed.
“Good heavens, how dangerous……!”
The stablehand gasped at the sight.
The Mute Prince’s horse, Poongnae, had been a Wild Horse.
Among its kind, it was vicious—so unruly that even seasoned Horse Masters struggled with it.
The Mute Prince alone was the only one it permitted on its back.
‘If the Jin Clan’s daughter should fall and be injured……!’
A chill ran down the stablehand’s spine—
“Easy…….”
So Ah stroked Poongnae’s neck with practiced ease.
“There, I understand.”
As So Ah whispered soothingly, caressing the horse, Poongnae’s snorting softened and its agitation subsided.
So Ah ran her fingers gently through Poongnae’s mane and smiled.
“A noble steed indeed.”
When she lightly touched the horse’s cheek, Poongnae seemed pleased, shifting its weight with easy steps.
The stablehand’s jaw dropped at the sight.
“What, what……?”
Could it be that beast actually prefers women?
No, that couldn’t be it. Even at the Mute Prince’s Residence, it had been rough with the serving women more than once, giving them quite a fright.
While the stablehand stood bewildered, So Ah descended smoothly from Poongnae’s back.
“Hmph, seems you’re someone who can speak to horses!”
Though Poongnae grumbled its words, it lowered its body so she could dismount safely.
Beast Communication.
That ability, which had made her Empress in her past life, remained invaluable.
Especially since beasts grew quite generous toward humans who could speak their tongue.
Perhaps it was only natural.
After all, a person would perk up their ears if a dog came to speak to them.
And if the dog approached with kindness, they’d find it all the more endearing.
Once So Ah dismounted, she adjusted her disheveled clothes, and the stable master came running.
“How in heaven’s name did you tame Poongnoe with a single touch? Even the finest Horse Masters gave up on him! I’ve worked with him for years and wouldn’t dare handle him carelessly, but this is the first time I’ve felt wronged by a horse.”
The stable master patted his heaving chest and took hold of the reins.
The guards escorting Seo Heon exchanged glances with one another.
“How could a frail woman like her…”
“That beast rears up the moment I touch the reins.”
None of them had ever managed to handle Poongnoe.
So Ah bowed respectfully before Seo Heon after dismounting.
“I was hasty and presumed to ride Your Highness’s horse without permission.”
……
It was an apology of courtesy.
There would be no reply from Seo Heon, who could not speak……
【You fear nothing.】
A low, quiet resonance sounded.
So Ah looked up at him in shock.
The Black Veil rippled long in the wind.
Beyond the dark gauze.
A man silent, not moving his lips.
【I shall take the woman of the Jin Family now.】
Yet it was unmistakably his voice.
At the same moment, a large hand gripped her wrist.
The strength that guided her was firm but not rough.
So Ah followed and began to walk.
* * *
Yanghwa Tower—the most splendid establishment in the Imperial Capital.
On its highest floor, where only the privileged could enter, rare delicacies and fragrant wine were laid out.
“By the way, the Emperor has commanded that the Mute Prince take a Concubine, or so I hear.”
Among the thick smell of wine, a burly martial artist opened his mouth.
To bestow a concubine upon Seo Heon, whom the court had so long neglected.
It seemed the young prince had embarrassed the Emperor rather deeply by not yet taking a woman into his household.
The Emperor had always regarded the Fourth Prince, Seo Heon, as a troublesome thorn.
“In the end, they say he’s to take a daughter of the Jin Family.”
“If it’s a Jin daughter, you mean Mok Yeon? I’ve heard she’s quite the beauty.”
“No, it was originally meant to be Mok Yeon, but today it suddenly changed.”
A man sitting at an angle, tilting his wine cup, furrowed his brow faintly.
“Changed, you say?”
At the soft, refined voice, all the eyes of those enjoying wine turned toward him.
“Ah, now that you mention it, the Third Prince surely has deep ties with the Jin Family.”
The burly, bearded man laughed.
Seo Gon—the Third Prince, the Warrior Prince.
A prince born of the Empress, second only to the Crown Prince in the Emperor’s favor.
His childhood tutor was now the head of the Jin Family.
Because of this, he had visited the Jin Estate frequently as a boy and maintained active relations.
“The Jin Family suddenly decided today to switch daughters, or so I’m told.”
For a moment, Seo Gon’s expression turned cold as frost.
But the nobles were too engrossed in their own chatter to notice.
“Does that family have another daughter?”
“Of course—that illegitimate servant girl!”
At a noble’s remark, everyone nodded as if they’d remembered.
Even if her name was unknown, everyone knew of that family’s ‘illegitimate servant girl’.
Washing clothes at the well, carrying trays, sweeping the courtyard, scrubbing floors.
Even the Jin Family’s own attendants looked down on the illegitimate daughter and made her work.
“The Jin Family must have found binding themselves to the Mute Prince deeply uncomfortable.”
“Since the Emperor himself approved it, they likely thought any woman would do for a cursed prince.”
They whispered, recalling the cursed prince.
“Come to think of it, didn’t that illegitimate girl admire the Third Prince?”
The nobles’ gazes turned toward Seo Gon once more.
Seo Gon raised his cup to his lips in silence.
That the Jin Clan’s illegitimate daughter harbored feelings for the Seo Gon was common knowledge among those who mattered.
“I hear whenever the Prince visits the Jin Estate, she bolts out despite knowing she’ll be punished for it.”
“Didn’t she once pluck flowers for him as a child?”
“Whether to call it innocence or foolishness, I really couldn’t say.”
The nobles laughed.
Seo Gon was an imperial prince favored by the Emperor himself.
An illegitimate daughter who served like a slave was hardly his equal.
And yet.
Clink.
Seo Gon set down his cup with a sharp, deliberate sound.
“You all seem to be enjoying yourselves.”
He smiled, eyes narrowing with menace.
But his mouth remained hard as stone.
The nobles fell silent, exchanging nervous glances.
‘Could the rumor be true? That the Prince meant to take her as a concubine?’
‘Not just a plaything because she was pretty?’
The glances darting across the table grew frantic.
Among them, Seo Gon traced the rim of his cup loosely.
‘The Mute Prince’s concubine, then……’
He recalled the child who had brightened at the sight of him.
“Are you all right?”
That flushed face as he helped her to her feet.
The illegitimate daughter, raised in contempt, had crumbled helplessly at a single gentle smile.
“How dare the servants of this house speak so carelessly.”
Irritated by the sight of her being tormented, he stepped in, and So Ah swallowed her tears, bowing her head low.
“Thank you, my lord……”
The illegitimate daughter, having nothing, gave her heart easily to small kindnesses.
It was endearing, he’d thought.
The way she hung on his every word was almost amusing.
“Still, that illegitimate daughter will weep the entire journey to the Mute Prince’s Residence. Imagine leaving behind someone so refined for him.”
The nobles erupted in laughter.
Seo Gon, the older prince, and Seo Heon, the Mute Prince.
Half-brothers, and Seo Gon had resented him since childhood.
But was it only Seo Gon?
The imperial family itself had treated him as a pariah, openly and without shame.
“Who knows if that monster even knows how to keep a woman. We can only pray he doesn’t pass on a curse.”
The nobles drained their cups, using the Mute Prince as fodder for mockery.
Seo Gon rested his chin on his hand, turning the words over in his mind.
‘So Ah has become the fourth brother’s concubine……’
He emptied his cup in a single swallow.

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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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