LCSB 23

Chapter 23

The king’s voice, speaking of regret, carried a heavy weight of remorse.

He turned his gaze toward me.

“I have heard your honest answer. That is enough.”

At the softened tone, I cautiously raised my head.

The king looked at me and smiled gently, warmly, as if telling me not to be nervous.

The atmosphere seemed to ease a little, so I carefully asked a question.

I didn’t want to seem tactless, but my stomach had been in turmoil for a while now.

“Then, Your Majesty… may I eat some of the sweets?”

A quiet chuckle escaped the king’s lips.

“As much as you like. Eat to your heart’s content.”

Only then was I finally able to taste the splendid snacks laid out before me.

Nom nom.

“Is it good?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. It is truly delicious.”

I neatly devoured all six pieces of dasik in front of me.

Not a single one remained.

It was true that I was hungry, but I certainly hadn’t intended to put on a mukbang performance in front of the king…

I couldn’t help it, okay?

I had been so tense that my blood sugar must have dropped—I’d broken into a cold sweat, and my head refused to work properly.

Thankfully, after eating something sweet, I finally felt normal again.

But…

“Your Majesty. Why are you looking at me like that?”

I simply couldn’t stop myself from asking.

The king’s gaze as he watched me eat the sweets was far too wistful.

It was an expression I had never imagined I would see from the ruler I had always believed to be meticulous, cold, and impossible to read.

Surely it’s not because I ate all the sweets…?

…No matter what, he was still the king. There was no way he’d look like that over a few pieces of dasik.

And so, suddenly, I wanted to ask.

“Your Majesty… does your heart still ache?”

‘Still… it is a painful thing to remember.’

‘And something I regret.’

Recalling the words he had spoken earlier, I asked my question.

What sort of past was he remembering?

Why did his eyes look so distant, as though submerged in a swamp of sorrow?

Instead of answering, the king smiled bitterly.

“What grieves Your Majesty’s heart?”

At my repeated question, an answer finally came.

“That there are people I long for whom I can never see again. That grieves me.”

“Then… what do you regret?”

“What I regret is…”

The king repeated the words several times before eventually falling silent.

“Let us stop here for today. You may return now.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

Sneaking glances at him, I eventually added one more thing.

“But… you will keep your promise to visit Lady Heebin, won’t you?”

A low laugh escaped him.

I didn’t need an answer. That was enough.

Because he was someone who kept his promises.

After giving my farewell greetings, I carefully backed away and left the great hall.

***

The little court maid had left.

Heavy silence settled over the space where her lively voice had disappeared.

King Yi Sun quietly closed his eyes.

Within that darkness, a memory buried beneath a mountain of years slowly surfaced.

‘Your Highness the Crown Prince, I made these sweets myself.’

An old page of memory.

A young girl with unusually large eyes smiled brightly.

The heart of thirteen-year-old Crown Prince Yi Sun tingled strangely.

‘You made these yourself? Then taste them first.’

‘Taste them first? Are you worried I poisoned them? I might know swords and bows, but I know nothing about poison.’

Smiling silently, Yi Sun picked up a piece of dasik and held it out.

The girl accepted it and placed it into her mouth.

Their fingertips brushed, and his heart tingled again…

Her puffed cheeks as she chewed looked like those of a cute squirrel, making the corners of Yi Sun’s lips twitch upward.

At that moment came the creaking sound of a gate opening.

And through the doorway of that memory, another recollection appeared.

‘Your Highness, forgive my lateness. Training ran long and delayed me.’

The tall boy entering with a sword looked remarkably similar to the girl.

‘It is fine. Between friends, why would I scold you over being a little late?’

‘Friends, Your Highness? Such words are far too gracious for a mere bodyguard like myself.’

‘Of course we are friends. You, and your younger sister as well. You are both precious friends to me.’

Crown Prince Yi Sun gestured to the boy.

‘So sit down already, Cheok Gaya.’

The king reminiscing about his days as crown prince was now a monarch in his forties.

With a heavy sigh, the pages of memory closed.

***

“Court Lady Head Palace Maid, may I look around Changdeok Palace a little before returning?”

“There is no reason you cannot… but you must return to Chwiseondang within half a shijin—within an hour. Understood?”

“Yes! Understood!”

The head palace maid handed me a small bundle.

“His Majesty bestows this upon you. It is the same dasik you ate earlier.”

Pine pollen dasik was not only made with rare ingredients, but also required tremendous effort to prepare.

In other words, it was ridiculously expensive.

“Thank you very much!”

Holding the bundle, I left Huijeongdang and deliberately wandered toward a deserted area.

Partly to organize the information I had learned today, and partly to sightsee around Changdeok Palace.

Today’s meeting with King Sukjong could be summarized in one sentence.

I ended up with even more questions than before.

That was the perfect way to put it.

He never told me who it was that I supposedly “resembled.”

‘Is your mother’s surname, by any chance, Cheok?’

When he had asked that question, the king had seemed strangely tense.

Completely unlike himself.

Thanks to that, I was able to infer a few things.

That seeing me had reminded him of a woman with the surname Cheok.

And perhaps that woman had possessed the same red mark that I did.

If the king’s suspicions were correct, then that woman with the surname Cheok must have been my deceased birth mother.

‘Your Majesty. What grieves your heart?’

‘That there are people I long for whom I can never see again. That grieves me.’

Thinking that the object of his wistfulness might be Hwang Bong-bong’s mother made me feel strangely complicated.

There’s something about my origins.

Maybe it wasn’t some grand secret of birth, but clearly I hadn’t come from an entirely ordinary background.

For the first time, I became seriously curious about myself—about Hwang Bong-bong.

And besides… the Cheok surname.

The strongest clue regarding my maternal bloodline.

The Cheok family had disappeared long ago, their line extinguished, but that wasn’t the important part.

The Cheok clan were descendants of Cheok Jun-gyeong.

Cheok Jun-gyeong was an extraordinary figure.

A military commander of Goryeo, a monstrous warrior whose incredible strength and martial prowess had earned him a place in history as something akin to a “swordmaster.”

But…

Even if that were true, so what?

I was an orphan.

And now even my only blood relative—my older brother—was dead.

So what did it matter whether I was a Cheok or a Hwang?

It’s not like I possess superhuman strength or anything.

…Right?

Just then, I spotted a decorative stone beneath a wall, about the size of my head.

As for me, I was the type to act instead of overthinking.

I immediately rolled up my sleeves.

“Ugh—heave-ho!”

…Of course it didn’t move.

The moment I confirmed I possessed no abilities proving my descent from Cheok Jun-gyeong, I dusted the dirt off my hands.

I should head back now.

It seemed almost the full half-shijin promised to the head palace maid had already passed.

I was so lost in thought that I just kept wandering aimlessly.

Though seeing the blue-tiled roof of Seonjeongjeon nearby made it clear I had merely been circling around Huijeongdang the whole time.

That was when it happened.

“I’ve never seen that little court maid before.”

“You’re right. Was there really such a young child here?”

I had no idea where they had come from.

Before I knew it, four court ladies had surrounded me.

“What department are you from? How old are you?”

“I’m four years old, and I’m a little court maid from Chwiseondang.”

“….”

The atmosphere instantly turned cold, as though ice water had been poured over everyone.

Instinctively, I realized something.

The phrase ‘little court maid from Chwiseondang’—which I had been saying so casually out of habit—

was something I absolutely should never have said.

“Chwiseon… huh.”

Someone scoffed in disbelief.

“How dare a woman from Chwiseondang show her face here?”

The court lady standing at the front glared at me threateningly.

“Isn’t she that child? The little maid Seolhyang dotes on.”

“Ah… that child? She’s even younger than I expected.”

Before I knew it, I was completely surrounded.

I need to run.

Every alarm bell in my head blared danger.

“Then I’ll just be going—”

The moment I bowed ninety degrees and tried to flee—

someone grabbed the back of my neck!

“Where do you think you’re running off to? A maid from Chwiseondang has no business being here. Are you some kind of spy?”

“I’m not!”

“Shut your mouth. Lurking around someone else’s residence without even greeting anyone—just what I’d expect from people from Chwiseondang!”

While struggling against the grip on my collar, I caught sight of the plaque hanging from the nearby building.

Bogyeongdang.

Only then did I realize why these palace maids had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

And Bogyeongdang belonged to…

Royal Noble Consort Suk.

In other words, the people grabbing me were palace maids serving Royal Noble Consort Suk Choi.

I’m doomed.

Stories flooded back to me about how Lady Jang Heebin had tormented Sukbin Choi terribly after the latter first received the king’s favor.

In short, these maids utterly despised anything related to Jang Heebin.

“So you’re the child Seolhyang’s raising? Figures. That woman’s so ill-bred she even raises little maids like garbage.”

Uh…

That was hard to tolerate.

“Not greeting you was my fault, so scold me instead. Please don’t insult Court Lady Seolhyang.”

“What?”

The palace maids stared at me before bursting into mocking laughter.

But my resolve was firm.

“Court Lady Seolhyang taught me properly. She also told me never to bow my head when I haven’t done anything wrong.”

I bit my lip hard and glared directly at the palace maid.

“That settles it. Go fetch a switch.”

At the order from the apparent leader, one of the maids scampered off and quickly returned with a whipping stick.

They’re going to beat a maid from another residence? Is that even allowed?

But after thinking about it again…

Actually, maybe it is.

If I returned after being beaten by the maids of Bogyeongdang, Chwiseondang would naturally erupt into chaos.

Given the relationship between Heebin and Sukbin, the entire inner court might be thrown into uproar.

But that would be a problem for later.

And the maids before me didn’t look clever enough to think that far ahead.

Which meant the reality remained unchanged:

I was about to suffer child abuse disguised as discipline.

The maid swung the switch through the air. The thin branch bent like a whip, slicing through the air menacingly.

“Want it on your calves or your palms?”

The switch narrowly brushed past my cheek.

Grinding my teeth, I refused to answer.

“Not answering? Wow, such a tiny thing, yet vicious just like your mistress. Fine then. If you won’t answer, I’ll just hit wherever I please.”

Whiik!

The switch rose high into the air.

Even I squeezed my eyes shut at that moment, despite trying to stay brave.

…But why wasn’t it coming down?

“Gasp!”

At the startled cry of the maid, I opened my eyes.

Someone was gripping the wrist of the maid holding the switch.

And it was a face I recognized all too well.

“…”

The maid whose hand had been caught, the other court ladies, and even I—

all inhaled sharply in shock.

“R-Royal Noble Consort Suk.”

The palace maids’ faces turned deathly pale.

Mine was probably the same.

As if dealing with Sukbin’s maids wasn’t enough, now the woman herself had appeared.

…I should’ve just taken the hit and gotten it over with.