LCSB 03

Chapter 3

Back in the modern world, I had been what people called a history nerd.

“That didn’t mean I actually wanted to get dropped into the Joseon Dynasty.”

And to make matters worse, the body I’d possessed belonged to a child with no family at all.

“Bong-bong. Why aren’t you coming out already?”

“Ah, okay.”

Seolhyang’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

‘What’s the point of dwelling on my past life? I need to focus on surviving right now.’

It seemed the court maids had gathered to celebrate the beginning of spring; chatter drifted in from outside the door.

‘The atmosphere among the palace maids is probably terrifying, isn’t it?’

Just thinking about meeting the maids of Chwiseondang for the first time made my whole body tense up.

At this point in time, Lady Jang Hui-bin had already suffered the humiliation of being demoted from queen back to royal consort, and her relationship with King Sukjong had grown distant as well.

Naturally, the maids serving her must have felt like they were walking on thin ice.

‘Everyone’s probably on edge. I just need to stay alert and behave myself. Hopefully I won’t get beaten or anything…’

Thinking about the abusive customs of Joseon that would absolutely count as child abuse in modern times made me uneasy, but I forced myself to steady my nerves.

‘Don’t forget. The goal is survival.’

After all, I had survived under a notoriously demanding professor in my previous life.

Taking a deep breath, I reached for the door handle.

Baby court maid Hwang Bong-bong’s first debut into the world called Chwiseondang.

Please, just don’t let it turn into a disaster from the very beginning.

Something was strange.

When I stepped outside expecting a freezing, oppressive atmosphere, what greeted me instead was—

“Oh my goodness! Are you Bong-bong?”

“Look at those chubby cheeks!”

“How are your eyes so big and round? She’s tiny but absolutely adorable!”

“She’s only four, right? It’s been forever since someone this young entered the palace as a court maid!”

The maids practically melted over me.

One pinched my cheeks, another patted my head, another slipped a piece of yugwa candy from her sleeve straight into my mouth.

“Hewwo.”

As I bowed while chewing on the sweet, the maids erupted into squeals.

“Kyah!”

“So cute!”

Honestly, I couldn’t understand the situation at all.

‘This is Chwiseondang, right?’

Had I somehow wandered into the wrong residence?

By my calculations, only one year and nine months remained until Jang Hui-bin’s death.

At this point, she was living through the darkest period of her life.

She had lost Sukjong’s favor, the Southerner faction supporting her had essentially collapsed, and even her older brother—one of her closest allies—had been exiled.

And yet, the maids of Chwiseondang…

‘How can everyone be this cheerful?’

Soon enough, Queen Inhyeon’s death would bring a bloody storm crashing down on them.

And that storm would eventually drag most of the maids here to their deaths as well.

“Bong-bong! Look over here!”

“Her jeogori’s practically hanging off her!”

“She reminds me of my youngest sibling. So cute…”

But my thoughts couldn’t continue for long.

The maids had begun passing me around like a rag doll.

‘…This is the real disaster.’

Part of it was anxiety, but more than anything, I couldn’t stand being touched from all directions anymore.

It felt as though not only my body but even my mind had become childish; irritation surged through me in an instant.

So this is how they’re going to play it?

In a situation like this, there was only one escape method a child like me could use.

Hic.

Hic.

“Waaaah!”

…Though I hadn’t intended to burst into tears quite that dramatically.

Anyway, the moment I started bawling, the maids froze in surprise.

Though even then, they quickly started laughing about how cute I was.

Still, thanks to one spectacular crying fit, I managed to escape their relentless hands and recover on the wooden veranda.

Someone had shoved a stick of taffy into my hand.

“Did you hear the news from the Queen’s Palace?”

At one maid’s words, my tears instantly stopped.

If I wanted to survive here, gathering information had to be my top priority.

My ears perked up immediately.

“Of course I did. Apparently she developed a huge boil on her leg, and pus just kept pouring out of it.”

“They say even the royal physicians can’t do anything anymore.”

“So the rumors that she’s on her deathbed must be true.”

There was neither sympathy nor respect in the way they spoke about the queen—the woman history would later remember as Queen Inhyeon.

From the perspective of the maids of Chwiseondang, that was only natural.

This was a palace where the fortunes of one’s superiors determined one’s fate.

To them, Queen Min was practically the enemy who had dragged Jang Hui-bin down from the position of queen.

‘Even though both Queen Inhyeon and Jang Hui-bin were just victims in the end…’

A bitter thought crossed my mind, but what could I do?

Joseon was especially cruel to women.

“Anyway,” one maid whispered quietly,

“once the queen passes away…”

“Her Ladyship Hui-bin will naturally become queen again. Then we’ll return to the Queen’s Palace too.”

“Exactly. It’s only a matter of time.”

…Excuse me? You’re all seriously mistaken.

At last, I understood why the maids were so carefree.

Every single one of them firmly believed it.

That once the queen’s seat became vacant, Hui-bin would reclaim it.

“Whew…”

I lowered the taffy stick I’d been sucking on.

More than candy, I suddenly wanted a bowl of cold water.

Or better yet, soju.

Slowly, I rose to my feet.

In my tiny hands were several slips of spring calligraphy papers scattered across the floor.

‘First, let’s move.’

Hanging spring blessing papers on the palace pillars was an essential tradition for Ipchun, the beginning of spring.

From now on, I intended to faithfully carry out the duties of a court maid celebrating the season.

Of course, that was just an excuse.

My real goal was exploring Chwiseondang.

The maids were still completely absorbed in gossip.

None of them noticed the baby court maid sneaking away from the corner.

‘Hup!’

For a moment I nearly despaired at the fact that my legs were too short to climb down by myself, but somehow I succeeded.

Step by step.

Once I escaped the courtyard, I immediately broke into a run.

My goal was clear.

I didn’t know the exact location, but history had left behind a definite record.

‘The western side of Chwiseondang.’

The place where a shamanic shrine had been built to curse Queen Inhyeon.

The very incident that would become the fuse leading to Jang Hui-bin’s death.

I intended to find that shrine.

‘There’s nothing here.’

Chwiseondang was far larger than I’d expected.

I ran around until sweat formed on my forehead despite the cold wind, but I couldn’t find anything suspicious.

There had been a close call.

Two young court maids had been sneaking around nearby and whispering suspiciously to each other.

Luckily, my tiny size made it easy to hide.

‘Still, I’ve searched enough by now, haven’t I?’

An empty hall, the maids’ quarters, near the bathhouse…

Aside from private places like Hui-bin’s sleeping chambers, I had checked nearly everywhere.

There were no traces of rituals or shamanism anywhere.

“Haa…”

Panting, I sat down on the stone step for a moment.

‘The shrine built to curse Queen Inhyeon was the decisive crime that led to Jang Hui-bin’s execution.’

But what if the shrine hadn’t been built yet?

For the first time since arriving in this era, something like hope bloomed inside me.

‘If I stop the shrine from ever being created… then maybe I can prevent Jang Hui-bin’s poisoned-death ending too.’

Stop the shrine from being built.

→ Prevent the curse against Queen Inhyeon.

→ Prevent Jang Hui-bin’s death.

→ The maids of Chwiseondang won’t be massacred after Hui-bin dies.

→ Conclusion: Hwang Bong-bong survives!

“Yeah. This is it!”

I clenched my tiny fist and shouted.

The thought of having to turn this tiny body into the protagonist of a survival story made me feel suffocated, but what choice did I have?

The sky had already fallen.

That meant I had no option but to search for an escape route myself.

Just as I steeled my resolve and tried to stand up—

“Hey! What are you doing here?”

“A tiny thing like you is already slacking off?”

Two child court maids around ten years old suddenly appeared in front of me.

I recognized their faces immediately.

‘They’re the girls who’ve been lurking around nearby.’

In fact, ever since I first met the maids earlier, those two had been glaring at me.

‘Even if it’s our first meeting, why are they staring at me like that?’

As I blankly looked at them, the taller one suddenly said,

“She looks weird.”

…Me?

“Her eyes are way too big. Creepy. And her cheeks are all pudgy. Why’s everyone acting like she’s cute?”

“Seriously. She’s probably lowborn too. You’re a servant girl, right?”

Wow.

The insults came so suddenly that I was briefly speechless.

‘…Let’s understand them. Until I arrived, they were the youngest maids in Chwiseondang. They must be jealous.’

I decided to exercise the generosity of a mature adult.

But only if they stopped at one round.

“So, how old are you?”

I wasn’t about to meekly answer their questions like a pushover.

“What would you do with that information anyway?”

“Hah, what kind of brat is this?”

The taller girl glared at me arrogantly.

“We’re ten.”

“Oh… really?”

I answered flatly.

‘I’m currently busy trying to figure out how to save not only myself but also you two and everyone else in Chwiseondang.’

So please stop bothering me…

“Hah. She doesn’t even get it.”

The taller one snorted.

“Hey. Back in my day, when elders passed by, I was too scared to even raise my head. But you’re standing here with your chin up in front of us?”

Oh.

A boomer?

“Exactly. No wonder she’s lowborn—lazy too!”

“I’m not playing around! I’m hanging these up!”

I waved the spring papers around, but all I got back was a cold sneer.

“Ohhh, is that so?”

The taller girl snatched the papers from my hand.

They crumpled instantly.

Then she tossed the wrinkled paper right into my face while the shorter girl burst into laughter.

‘So it’s not school bullying—it’s palace bullying. Rotten kids really do exist in every era…’

With a weary heart, I stared at Big Ten-Year-Old and Small Ten-Year-Old cackling in front of me.

‘But you girls realize this, right?’

You two are in serious trouble right now.