🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 17
Lady Kim stared intently at Heebin before finally speaking.
“It has been a long time, Lady Heebin.”
“Indeed, it has.”
At first, the noble consort’s greeting sounded perfectly ordinary.
…Which meant the bomb exploded immediately afterward.
“At your age, the journey all the way to Aeryeonji could not have been easy. Still, it seems you arrived safely enough.”
Gasp.
I almost let out a shout right then and there.
‘Did she just… attack her age?’
In truth, Heebin was in her early forties, about ten years older than Lady Kim.
Her way with words truly made one reflect on her long history of crimes.
And yet, Heebin remained astonishingly composed.
“Are you worrying about me, Lady Kim? I am the one pleased to see you taking a stroll through the rear garden.”
Smiling brightly, Heebin continued.
“Your residence is in such a remote corner that it receives hardly any sunlight. Since you are already here, perhaps you should breathe some fresh air and bask in the sun for a while. It would surely be good for your health.”
Lady Kim’s face instantly turned scarlet.
“Who says such things? My residence gets plenty of sunlight. I am living quite comfortably, lacking nothing!”
“Oh? Is that so? Though I do not recall ever saying you lacked anything… Still, I am relieved to hear it.”
“Ugh…!”
Lady Kim could not hide her emotions at all.
Heebin openly swept her gaze up and down over the woman.
Only then did I notice the stark contrast between them.
While Heebin wore extravagant robes embroidered with gold and silver thread and adorned herself with all manner of ornaments, Lady Kim dressed so modestly that, if not for the ceremonial hairpiece, one would hardly realize she was a royal concubine.
Lady Kim glared viciously at Heebin before suddenly turning her eyes toward the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince. You work so tirelessly every day, do you not?”
“A-Ah, no, Your Ladyship.”
“Of course you do. I know well how devotedly Your Highness attends to Her Majesty the Queen’s illness each day.”
“……”
Both the Crown Prince and Heebin fell silent at the same time.
Unbothered, Lady Kim continued speaking.
“Even while bedridden, Her Majesty cherishes Your Highness so dearly. Seeing a mother’s love for her son moved me deeply. Her Majesty praised your filial devotion endlessly.”
…Wow. That was truly cruel.
‘She knows she cannot defeat Heebin directly, so she is redirecting the arrow toward the Crown Prince.’
A cunning tactic meant to wound Heebin by dragging the Crown Prince into the matter.
“…I am merely fulfilling my duty.”
The Crown Prince’s voice was heavy.
“Exactly. What duty could be more important than caring for one’s only mother in this world?”
Lady Kim spoke as though she cared nothing for the Crown Prince’s position, and even I felt anger rising inside me.
By then, Heebin’s face had gone cold.
A crooked smile appeared on Lady Kim’s lips. Looking triumphantly at Heebin, she addressed her attendants.
“Aeryeonji is no longer what it once was. Its prime has passed, and its beauty has withered away into something pitiful. Let us return.”
…Her words did not merely contain thorns—they were blades.
After giving the Crown Prince a polite farewell, Lady Kim departed from Aeryeonji.
Dust swirled around the feet of her and her attendants as they disappeared into the distance.
‘That woman seems made entirely of malice toward Heebin…’
I knew better than to judge someone solely on first impressions, but I definitely disliked Lady Kim.
‘And later on, there were even suspicions that she tried to harm King Gyeongjong.’
Even if I were reborn another time, I could never bring myself to like you, Lady Kim…
“…Mother.”
The Crown Prince’s voice rang out.
When I glanced over, my eyes landed on his hand.
Poor Crown Prince.
His fingertips were trembling ever so slightly.
“Yes, Your Highness. Speak.”
“Please do not take Lady Kim’s words to heart. She has never been one to restrain her tongue.”
For the Crown Prince—a man officially certified by Hwang Bongbong himself as a saintly gentleman—to say something like that…
It made me realize just how stormy the relationship between Heebin and Lady Kim must have been.
‘On the other hand… you really are amazing too, Your Highness.’
Lady Kim would later be named the mastermind behind countless conspiracies even after the Crown Prince became king. Yet every single time, he protected her.
‘I honestly can’t tell whether that’s kindness or indecisiveness.’
Our Crown Prince definitely was not a “refreshingly decisive” character.
“Yes. Your mother is fine. Lady Kim has always been like this.”
Oh… Heebin’s magnanimous side.
“However… Crown Prince.”
The voice of the woman I had believed magnanimous began trembling faintly.
“Under heaven, I alone am your mother. Even if circumstances have become difficult, you must never forget that undeniable truth.”
“…Yes, Royal Mother.”
The Crown Prince’s eyes darkened sorrowfully.
I understood Heebin’s situation, but I still could not accept that attitude.
‘Please think about your son’s feelings. Stop confusing him…’
In the first place, Sukjong—the source of this entire disaster—Lady Kim who used the Crown Prince as a weapon, and the Queen who filled him with guilt were all terrible.
‘But no matter how hard things are, at least you, his birth mother, should comfort his heart.’
Yet contrary to my hopes, Heebin’s voice only grew more agitated.
“Crown Prince, you must never forget it. The humiliation I suffered because of Lady Min, the insults Lady Kim hurled at me…”
Ah, please! Stop tormenting the poor kid!
The Crown Prince already had tears gathering in his eyes!
No matter what, somehow, by any means possible, I needed to shut Heebin up.
So I…
Though I absolutely hated the idea, I decided to use my ultimate move.
“Waaah!”
Splash!
With the heart of Sim Cheong throwing herself into Indangsu…
I truly believed my actions to be nothing short of grand and noble self-sacrifice.
Pretending to lose my footing, I slipped and hurled myself straight into Aeryeonji.
“Bongbong-ah!”
I heard the Crown Prince shout, Heebin cry out in alarm, and the screams of the court ladies.
But then…
‘Am I insane?’
There were two facts I had overlooked.
First, Aeryeonji was not actually a very deep pond.
However—
‘I forgot this body is only four years old.’
And second…
‘This water is freezing!’
No matter how mild the weather was, it was still winter.
In other words, I was doomed.
I sank immediately beneath the water’s surface.
The icy temperature wrapped around my body, numbing me instantly.
I struggled desperately, but my feet could not touch the bottom. The more I thrashed, the more lotus stems tangled around my tiny body.
Sticky mud flooded into my mouth.
As though a water ghost were dragging me downward, I could not escape the current.
‘Ah… I can’t breathe…’
Suddenly, chaos erupted around me.
I thought I faintly heard a man’s voice.
Then a massive disturbance shook the pond.
My body, tossed about like it had been caught in a giant wave, was suddenly hauled back above the surface.
“Gasp!”
I coughed violently, spitting out muddy water.
“I’ve rescued her!”
Some man holding me in his arms spoke.
This guy looked familiar. Ah, the Crown Prince’s attendant that Seolhyang liked…
As I stared blankly at the wet fabric fluttering before my eyes, my gaze shifted toward the edge of the pond.
‘…A dragon robe?’
Why was that here?
What entered my vision was the dazzling golden five-clawed dragon emblem shining in the center of a vivid crimson royal robe.
…Which meant Sukjong was here right now.
“Cough! Your Majesty, I only fell in while playing around, cough! I’m fin—”
…I was not fine.
After mumbling a few more words, I promptly lost consciousness.
The king’s presence there had been nothing more than coincidence.
His visit to Aeryeonji at the very moment Heebin and Lady Kim quarreled.
His displeased decision to turn away from the tense atmosphere between the two concubines.
And then, at that precise moment, noticing the little court maid peeking out from behind Heebin’s skirts.
‘That child.’
The king’s eyesight was poor. Even so, he recognized her immediately.
The little maid who had handled Geumdeok so skillfully.
Just as he was about to leave, he changed his mind.
There was something about the child that drew his attention.
Her easygoing manner that stirred old memories—and above all…
‘She resembles…’
Though he knew the thought was absurd.
The image of someone buried in the faded corners of his memory overlapped with the child’s bright face.
Then it happened.
Splash!
“Bongbong-ah!”
The Crown Prince’s cry echoed across Aeryeonji.
Lost in thought, the king abruptly raised his head and strode quickly toward the pond.
Before he could even issue an order to the Royal Guards, the Crown Prince’s attendant had already leapt into the water and rescued the child.
“Cough! I only fell in while playing around, Your Majesty, cough! I’m fin—”
Even after nearly dying, the child did not cry or throw a tantrum. She only kept insisting that falling into the pond was her own fault and not Heebin’s.
But the king was not listening to her words.
‘…That is.’
His gaze fixed on the child’s arm.
Beneath the soaked sleeve rolled up to her elbow, right in the center of her arm, was a red mark shaped like a plum blossom.
The king stared at it with wide eyes.
Step. Step.
The king strode toward the child—
And at that very moment—
The child’s body suddenly went limp.
The red flower slipped quietly into view.
