Three Thousand Court Ladies - Chapter 66

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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 Sixty-Six
When Buyeo Hui spoke of “younger brothers,” it meant the other party was a prince as well. Yet the innkeeper had only asked whether they would use the main quarters.
Was he hiding his rank?
Or perhaps—
“Impersonating royalty carries a severe penalty, doesn’t it?”
Sam-cheon’s gentle provocation made the man leap down from the roof.
The ease of his descent unsettled her. He landed without a sound, his movements economical and precise, then turned to face Sam-cheon directly.
A meeting that had never unfolded in her dreams.
Arang and Sancho could not have missed his presence. They had been efficient in leaving him alone, but that was only because nothing was supposed to happen tonight.
So the difference from her dreams stemmed from their absence, from being left alone with him?
He lowered his head, then leaned his face close.
“So this is what you look like.”
Sam-cheon did not flinch from his gaze. She met it with an air of composure, though cold sweat trickled down her spine. Up close, his eyes blazed with arrogance—but not the kind she knew.
Buyeo Hui’s arrogance came from confidence. This man’s arrogance seemed to stem from viewing others as insignificant.
“My younger brothers were merely curious about those who have been moving about. You needn’t be so tense.”
Again, he hinted at his status as a prince.
The problem was that among twenty-one princes, she had no idea which one he was. Many princes lived abroad or at frontier holdings, and she had not seen all their faces.
[That bastard hurt someone recently. Curses and resentment cling to him like dross. Be careful.]
Then she would change her approach.
Sam-cheon stepped back two paces and bowed deeply.
“I lack the learning to recognize you, and I beg your pardon. Buyeo Hui has stepped out. When he returns, I shall inform him of your visit.”
The man laughed, his cheekbones showing subtly beneath the smile.
“That will do. With so many brothers, there’s no need for constant courtesies. When do you vacate the Separate Quarters?”
“We mean to depart as soon as dawn breaks. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
Sam-cheon bowed deeper still.
“I myself move toward Sabi early, so our paths may cross.”
But he had just said there was no need for constant courtesies.
He seemed less to be proposing companionship and more to be testing her reaction.
“We are bound for Ungjin Fortress.”
“Ungjin Fortress?”
A flicker of curiosity crossed his eyes.
“I regret I cannot speak of the details.”
“Very well. We shall meet again soon, it seems.”
Sam-cheon did not wish to meet him again, yet she saw him off with a smile.
‘Who is he?’
No sane prince would speak of younger brothers unless he was royalty himself. Judging by his apparent age—mid-twenties?—he would be somewhere between the sixteenth and twenty-first prince. But which one? She was still puzzling over this when a dark shadow vaulted the wall and approached. Arang immediately dropped a heavy sack from her shoulder onto the ground.
Sam-cheon heard a muffled sound from within, but she ignored it. Her mind was still on the man who had just left.
Sam-cheon gestured for Arang to bring the sack inside. Arang, quick to understand, shouldered it again and carried it to a small room she had scouted earlier, depositing it carefully before closing the door. Then she came to find Sam-cheon in the courtyard.
“Why are you outside? The night air is cold.”
“A guest who rented the quarters before us just came to visit. A prince, he said.”
“Really?”
Another prince, appearing from nowhere.
Sam-cheon pointed over Arang’s shoulder toward a window visible in the darkness.
“He seems to have leaped from that open window onto this roof. He made almost no sound.”
“At this distance, either I or Sancho could manage it, but there would be noise.”
As they stared into the darkness beyond the open window, a tall shadow abruptly appeared. Slowly, he raised his hand and closed the window shut.
Arang, having witnessed this alongside Sam-cheon, asked:
“Is that him?”
“Likely.”
Sam-cheon turned from the window and continued, “We should leave the moment dawn breaks. Anything to report?”
“No. He conveniently went to the latrine at just the right moment, so all went smoothly.”
“Good. Let’s hurry.”
“Yes.”
Arang answered briskly and stepped first into the Separate Quarters. Sam-cheon followed and shut the door firmly behind them. She hoped the commotion inside would not carry outside.
Sam-cheon stared at the sack, which writhed with agitation.
She nodded a signal, and Arang untied the mouth of the sack, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper.
“I’m removing the gag now. Don’t make a sound.”
Arang removed the gag and peeled back the sack. The man inside emerged into view.
Sam-cheon’s first check was of his face. Her father had told her the bed’s position and given a description, but the possibility remained that they had brought the wrong man.
Fortunately, the pathetic man before her was indeed her father.
As Arang removed the gag, her father lay prostrate. His hands were bound behind his back, which was likely the most comfortable position he could manage.
“You need not have done this. I would have come anyway. I kept my promise.”
When no answer came, he found it strange and lifted his head slightly. Then he saw the hem of a skirt. Realizing his visitor was a woman, he slowly raised his head further.
Soon his eyes met Sam-cheon’s.
“No—you—you?”
“Are you shocked that the daughter you thought would arrive home and be kidnapped has appeared perfectly fine instead?”
Her cold voice revealed that she knew everything. Yet the moment he recognized her as Sam-cheon, his demeanor shifted.
“How dare you kidnap your own father?”
Sam-cheon looked down at her father with eyes that held no feeling whatsoever.
“You sold me, but I cannot do the same to you?”
“Even so, this is improper! Release me at once.”
Her father thrashed, his bound wrists flailing.
Arang, flustered by their exchange, stood uncertainly until she remembered her role. She brought the hilt of her sword sheath to his back. When binding his wrists, she had been careful not to mark him, but now, hearing their words, her grip tightened involuntarily.
“Be quiet.”
Arang’s low voice startled him into silence.
“Surely you don’t mean to kill me?”
“Perhaps that would be better.”
“…What?”
His face bore the shock of betrayal.
“What happened to those who proposed a deal with you?”
Only then did her father’s throat contract visibly.
“You are complicit in kidnapping and must face the same punishment. Yet as your child, I could not simply abandon you. You sold me twice, but I am bound by duty not to do the same. Am I not?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
His lips made appropriate sounds, but his eyes darted about, searching for escape.
Sam-cheon spoke with measured calm.
“A person I serve has agreed to purchase your identity. You will live henceforth as a commoner named Man-chun, shedding your name and station. What compensation would be acceptable?”
“A commoner?”
“If you refuse, you face trial for attempted kidnapping of a royal. Choose.”
Sam-cheon tilted her head slightly.
At her indifferent demeanor, her father’s eyes wavered.
“What—what do you mean? Kidnapping royalty?!”
Sam-cheon’s gaze moved slowly about the room, and her father followed it, noting the fine furnishings and pottery.
“This place is quite elegant, wouldn’t you say? I brought a prince here. You may have thought you were only selling me, but you became the instrument that lured him into kidnapping—a royal crime.”
Understanding crashed over her father’s face, leaving it stricken.
“N-no! I wasn’t part of any such thing!”
He shook his head desperately.
“That’s right. You only meant to sell a court lady—your daughter. You had no intention of conspiring in a royal kidnapping. You were merely deceived.”
Her father seized on this justification with the speed of desperation.
“Yes. Yes, exactly. I thought you were going alone.”

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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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