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Chapter 11
He has left.
Ahh… my king… well, not exactly my lover or anything, but still, my king has gone.
After King Sukjong departed, I became completely downcast.
‘Lady Hee-bin must be terribly disappointed.’
I was afraid to even look at Hee-bin.
Explaining how I ended up accompanying the king was already troublesome enough, but what worried me even more was the cold attitude Sukjong had shown.
Seeing Hee-bin’s face bloom so brightly the moment she looked at him made me feel even worse.
‘…My scalp feels prickly.’
Just as I was nervously turning my head because I felt someone’s gaze—
“Ahh, our lucky charm!”
Huh? I’m not a lucky charm. I’m Bongbong.
Hee-bin was smiling brightly.
‘What is this? Is she the type who smiles through emotional damage…?’
Eek. That kind of person is scary.
Then it happened.
“Where did such a lucky charm roll in from? How can you be so adorably well-behaved?”
Hee-bin’s hands began mercilessly squishing my cheeks.
“Our Bongbong already knows how to play with Geumdeok, don’t you? His Majesty absolutely adores Geumdeok, so I’m sure he’ll come see you again because of Bongbong. Oh yes, absolutely.”
While she was patting my head, she gave an order to a court lady.
“Court Lady Han. The child seems undernourished. She’s too small for her age. Go prepare a decoction of deer antler.”
“Yes, my lady. I shall do so.”
Deer antler? That’s medicine, right?
‘I don’t like bitter things.’
…No, wait. Deer antler is expensive tonic medicine.
‘Then I should eat it!’
While the childlike dislike for bitter food and the national instinct for nourishing tonics clashed inside me, Hee-bin grabbed my hand.
“Come, child. Let’s go to my quarters. You did a good deed, so I’ll reward you with sweets.”
Sweets? Those are really delicious!
“Ma’am.”
“Ahh, our lucky charm, what is it?”
Seolhyang pinched my cheek and giggled.
Lucky charm.
After the storm brought by King Sukjong passed, that became my new nickname.
“Do you happen to have a mirror?”
“I do. Why? Want to borrow it?”
“Yes. Just for a moment.”
Seolhyang carefully took out a mirror from deep inside a lacquered cabinet.
“It’s something we court ladies share, so don’t break it, alright?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
More important than gaining Lady Hee-bin’s favor was the thought that kept bothering me—what Sukjong had said.
“You resemble someone.”
Those words, spoken after he had stared at my face for a long time.
I was dying to know who I supposedly resembled.
‘Come to think of it, I don’t really know what I look like.’
I had only glanced at my reflection in water before, never really studied my own face.
Ah, there was one thing I recently learned.
A red dot right in the center of my arm.
“Wow, you have a really unique birthmark. It looks like a plum blossom.”
Seolhyang had been the one to point it out.
Only then did I realize I had a strange, flower-like mark on my arm, like a seal stamped in ink.
Anyway, I took the mirror Seolhyang handed me and faced Huang Bongbong for the first time.
‘…She’s really cute.’
It sounds narcissistic, but I still didn’t feel a strong sense of identity as “Hwang Bongbong.”
So my judgment felt fairly objective.
Hwang Bongbong was a very pretty child.
Her eyes were large and round, her cheeks plump like a squirrel. Her small nose had a nicely defined bridge. Her lips were small, soft, and vividly red, like…
‘Hwang Bongbong. You look like a hamster.’
Now I understand why everyone keeps squishing her cheeks.
“Ma’am Seolhyang. Is there anyone in the palace who looks like me?”
“Someone like you? Hmm… I don’t know.”
At her answer, I asked more seriously.
“Don’t I resemble Lady Hee-bin at all?”
“What did this kid eat wrong?”
…Tch.
In the end, I couldn’t find an answer and returned the mirror.
“Ma’am, can I ask something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why aren’t baby court ladies allowed in the western side of Chwiseondang?”
“There’s no special reason. Lady Sookjeong—well, the junior lady just doesn’t like crowded places.”
She added casually, then suddenly asked back.
“How did you hear that? Don’t tell me it was those ten-year-olds again?”
“Yes.”
“Hah… those troublemakers…”
Seolhyang rubbed her temple.
It seemed the child court ladies had quite a history of causing trouble.
‘We need to find evidence quickly…’
‘If we find proof, we’ll get a big reward…’
I recalled fragments of their conversation, but there wasn’t enough information yet.
Even if I suddenly said, “They’re definitely spies!” no one would believe me.
‘I’ll have to keep observing them.’
I was thinking this seriously when—
“Bongbong, are you scared of the junior lady? Don’t worry too much. Just avoid her on nights of the full moon and the new moon.”
“Why those nights?”
“Oh, that’s when she comes to Chwiseondang. She says she purifies things by sprinkling salt or something… The cleaners suffer the most, really.”
…Wow. She really does everything.
Seeing my exhausted expression, Seolhyang patted my back gently.
“She comes often anyway, so don’t stress yourself. Just stay in your room when she’s here. I’ll tell others you’re studying calligraphy, alright?”
“Yes. Thank you, ma’am.”
As I bowed, Seolhyang smiled warmly.
…The more I see her, the more I think she’s a good person.
‘Anyway, the new moon is soon, so Sookjeong will come again.’
My goal was clear.
Stop the shrine installation and prevent the “Inhyeon Queen curse incident.”
‘First, I need to stop Sookjeong from freely entering Chwiseondang.’
But how?
I recalled what I had learned about Sookjeong.
‘She torments court ladies with superstitions… “It’s bad luck to face east at sunrise,” “killing spiders brings misfortune,” “you must sprinkle salt on nights of the full and new moon”…’
‘Oh! That might work.’
A spark of an idea flashed in my mind.
“Ma’am. Can I use this cloth pouch?”
“Of course. But what for?”
“To store the snacks you give me…”
“Oh my, is that so?”
Seolhyang patted my head affectionately.
All the while, I was thinking of Sookjeong’s emotionless gaze.
‘An eye for an eye. A superstition for a superstition.’
On the night of the new moon, west of Chwiseondang.
Sookjeong was performing her usual ritual.
She scattered salt, chanted spells, and purified the energy of the ground.
‘I’ve invested a year into this. It should be enough. Soon I should bring a shaman and build a shrine.’
…But what is that?
On the wall of an abandoned pavilion, there was a white sheet of paper fluttering in the wind.
Sookjeong approached it.
“Hmm?”
The paper was filled with dense Hangul writing.
‘What is this supposed to mean…?’
Her eyes caught the next lines.
“If you wish to read your fortune, proceed immediately. Take two steps to the right, two steps back, then stomp three times!”
Fortune-telling was something Sookjeong deeply believed in.
Without realizing it, she followed the instructions.
Two steps. Two steps back. Stomp stomp stomp…
‘Am I possessed? Why am I doing this?’
As she stopped in unease—
Crunch.
Something squirmed beneath her feet.
“W-what?!”
Looking down, she saw it—
“A-a spider! Aaaah!”
A mass of crushed spider bodies under her foot.
She jumped back in shock, causing the paper to flutter again.
At the very bottom, she saw the final line.
“You who have encountered misfortune, do not harbor evil thoughts or curse others!
PS: To avoid great misfortune, destroy this letter immediately!”
“Great misfortune? No! Absolutely not!”
Somewhere west of Chwiseondang.
Hidden between buildings, I watched Sookjeong with a satisfied smile.
‘It’s going exactly as planned.’
That flyer was my official warning to her.
Someone as obsessed with superstition as Sookjeong would never escape the fear of “great misfortune.”
As expected, her hands holding the paper were trembling visibly even from afar.
‘It’s about time she tore it up or burned it…’
So my plan would be complete.
‘…Huh?’
But I was wrong.
What I saw next was something I could never have imagined.
Sookjeong stared at the paper, then—
…chomp, chomp.
She crumpled it and shoved it into her mouth!
Her face was burning red in the dim light.
Gagging, she chewed the paper furiously and swallowed it whole.
‘Even if she believes in superstition, this is beyond insane…’
After she left coughing and staggering—
“Ha…”
I let out a long breath, forgetting to breathe for a moment.
‘She’s truly madness…’
A chill ran through me.
I was dealing with a far more bizarre enemy than I had expected.
Still, there was work to do.
After confirming no one was around, I carefully stepped out and buried the dead spiders.
Thus, all evidence disappeared.
Spiders in the ground. The letter in her stomach.
After a sincere moment of silence for the spiders, I hurried back to my room.
