Three Thousand Court Ladies - Chapter 23

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

Chapter Twenty-Three
The scent of flowers drifted through Byeolgung. Yongyong crossed the threshold and surveyed every corner.
‘Plenty of blind spots.’
Silver-leaf trees encircled the back of Byeolgung like a folding screen, making the structure easy to breach.
What’s more, only five palace attendants and eight soldiers remained at Byeolgung. From the atmosphere, it seemed that the four attendants and sixteen soldiers who had come with Gyesan had all departed, leaving only the original garrison.
‘So the King did use her as a discarded piece.’
Yongyong committed the layout of Byeolgung and the soldiers’ positions to memory as he followed Samcheon. Samcheon led him to the hot spring in the courtyard.
Gyesan, who had just emerged from the spring and was drinking cold tea, spotted them and raised a hand in greeting.
“Hello.”
“Yongyong pays respects to Princess Gyesan.”
Yongyong bowed appropriately and then lifted his head. Seen up close, Gyesan was still smiling brightly.
That clear, innocent expression made something twist inside him. He despised the thought that she might be a princess who didn’t understand her own precarious position—naive and artless. It irritated him even more that he had to match her mood.
‘It’s a mission. Just a mission.’
She was still young; she likely wouldn’t mock him the way that other princess he’d glimpsed once had. And unlike the first princess he’d served, she probably wouldn’t sell out her kingdom.
He was steadying himself when Gyesan suddenly sprang to her feet.
“Let’s spar! Come to the training ground.”
Yongyong moved toward the training ground at once.
Gyesan dismissed everyone around her, keeping only Samcheon and Yongyong. Yongyong presented the sword he’d brought as though it were his own, extending it with both hands.
“This is the blade.”
Gyesan took the sword and immediately unwrapped the cloth covering it, then swung it back and forth experimentally.
“It’s an excellent sword!”
Gyesan gazed at the blade with bright eyes, and Samcheon grinned widely.
“I’m glad it pleases you.”
“Of course it does—you picked it for me.”
Gyesan entrusted the real sword to Samcheon and grasped a wooden sword in her hand.
“Let’s spar.”
Gyesan’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
“Are you truly going to do this?”
“Of course. Don’t hold back.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
Yongyong replied with a gentle expression that belied his crooked thoughts, then picked up a wooden sword.
‘A bit of petty malice shouldn’t hurt.’
Yongyong watched Gyesan’s swift attacks, then swung his blade at the crucial moment.
“Agh!”
With an odd cry, Gyesan’s wooden sword flew from her hands. At the same instant, she was driven back by the force and tumbled to the ground.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she popped up like a spring toy and blinked several times.
“My apologies. I should have controlled my strength better.”
Yongyong apologized urgently and acted flustered. Having knocked over a member of the Royal Family, that much acting was necessary. But internally, he was genuinely startled.
‘The child’s got weight behind her strikes.’
Samcheon, eyes wide, hurried over to brush dust from Gyesan’s practice clothes.
“Your Highness, are you all right?”
“Fine. You’re strong. Let’s go again! This time, hold back to the same degree.”
Yongyong smiled while concealing his true feelings.
“If you insist, I’ll do my best.”
Gyesan launched five consecutive attacks and fell flat on her back all five times. Yet she managed to withstand the first blow on the final round. It was remarkable progress.
“Wow, my heart’s racing. This is the kind of sparring I wanted.”
Covered in dust, Gyesan smiled broadly.
Yongyong touched the back of his neck, caught off guard by her reaction. Then, turning carelessly, his eyes met Samcheon’s directly.
Eyes blazing with fury.
‘I’ve earned his hatred.’
Yongyong scratched the bridge of his nose with a finger.
He’d meant to merely go along with her, but Gyesan’s talent exceeded his expectations. At least she hadn’t learned swordsmanship as mere ornament.
It was honest and forthright technique.
“Again!”
At Gyesan’s spirited cry, Yongyong let out a sigh.
“This approach won’t improve your skill, Your Highness.”
“Then how should I improve?”
When Gyesan asked with a blank face, Yongyong found himself speaking without thinking.
“Shall I show you proper Swordsmanship technique?”
And so what began as sparring gradually transformed into a lesson in sword technique.
Gyesan charged at him using the methods Yongyong taught her, only to fall repeatedly. Each time Gyesan rolled across the ground, Samcheon’s gaze grew sharper.
‘Threw the princess down twelve times.’
Samcheon said nothing because Gyesan seemed to enjoy herself, but inwardly he was seething.
If it had been an accident during sparring, it would be unavoidable. But it seemed as though Yongyong was deliberately maneuvering Gyesan into falls. The slight curl of his lips each time she tumbled was proof enough.
‘Maybe I should stumble on him “by accident” and stamp on his foot.’
He was waiting for an opening to act when Yongyong’s expression hardened. Thinking his thoughts had been read, Samcheon hastily withdrew his foot.
“Don’t move.”
Sharp-eyed, this one.
Samcheon asked sourly.
“How did you know?”
But before Yongyong could answer, he vaulted over the wall of Byeolgung and disappeared. Samcheon’s pupils trembled as he watched his quarry slip away.
‘What? Did he run?’
In the instant Samcheon blinked, a shout erupted from beyond the wall.
“What?”
At the commotion, Gyesan, who had been sprawled flat on the training ground, sprang up and plastered herself against Samcheon’s side.
Both tensed for danger when Yongyong vaulted back over the wall, carrying a burly man across his shoulders like a sack of grain.
Yongyong dumped the man to the ground. Falling from shoulder height, the man twisted his back. Looking closely, blood was seeping from his ankle.
“This man was prowling around inside and shot an arrow. He aimed at a pillar rather than a person, but it could be a signal.”
People gathered at the sound of the disturbance.
A soldier arrived a moment too late and nudged the man with his foot to straighten him out. The soldier examined the intruder’s face and clothes, then furrowed his brow.
“He appears to be a local bandit.”
“A bandit?”
Samcheon echoed the word.
“Yes. We’ll strengthen our guard.”
It didn’t add up.
“What makes you so certain he’s a bandit?”
If the soldier had judged solely by clothing, he was a fool. Or perhaps he was a coward trying to gloss over the situation with a convenient excuse.
Or else—.
‘He knew the bandits would slip in.’
Samcheon’s eyes narrowed as he stared, and Gyesan realized something was amiss. But she didn’t betray her suspicion and issued orders.
“Interrogate him and find out his true identity and purpose. Strengthen patrols.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The soldiers dragged the man away and vanished.
Once the situation had subsided, Gyesan turned away with a hard expression.
“Let’s go inside to the inner chamber.”
Samcheon and Yongyong followed immediately and shut the door firmly behind them.
Gyesan exhaled a long breath.
“Good work, Yongyong.”
“I earn my keep.”
As Yongyong spoke with easy confidence, suspicion deepened in Samcheon’s eyes.
‘He’s too capable.’
None of the soldiers who guarded Byeolgung had noticed.
If a guard acquired by mere chance possessed such overwhelming skill, that would be fortunate. Yet there was something odd that prevented simple relief.
Everything had aligned too perfectly, as though it were all arranged beforehand.
Doubt had taken root in Gyesan’s mind as well. But the target of her suspicion was different.
“It’s strange that no one noticed until the intruder approached the palace. You don’t think the soldier and the bandit are in league, do you?”
“There are so few soldiers. It wouldn’t be difficult for someone to approach Byeolgung, situated as it is partway up the mountain.”
At those words, unease settled in both Samcheon’s and Gyesan’s chests.
Gyesan turned to look at Yongyong.
“If you alone were to infiltrate this palace and try to kill me, would it be possible?”
“Yes.”
The answer came back without a moment’s hesitation, clean and final.

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