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Chapter 25
Keeping about ten steps of distance between us, I stared at Bokhee with wide, unblinking eyes.
“……”
Bokhee awkwardly avoided my gaze.
It wasn’t as though a ten-year-old would truly be frightened of a mere four-year-old child, but ever since the incident on the west side of Chwiseondang, Bokhee had been avoiding me.
Though to be fair, she wasn’t the instigator that day so much as an accomplice.
And afterward, the events surrounding me had become far too dramatic.
After I fell into the pond, even the King himself had come looking for me.
On top of that, Bokhee had surely heard that I’d been summoned by the King today.
Sure enough, she kept glancing at me nervously, carefully reading my expression.
“Lady Bokhee.”
“……Hm? Whaaat?”
Licking her lips anxiously, Bokhee sneaked a glance at me.
I slowly approached her.
And she slowly backed away.
“Are you still really angry? I-I was wrong back then……”
All I’d done was take a few steps toward her.
This kid was more timid than she looked.
“That’s not it, Lady.”
I swept my eyes around the area.
Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be anyone nearby.
“Just a second.”
Pattering over to her, I grabbed her hand and dragged the whimpering Bokhee into a secluded corner.
“Lady.”
“Yeah?”
“……”
The silence was intentional.
After all, there was only so much authority a cute four-year-old appearance could project.
Just as I expected, Bokhee—twisting herself anxiously under the growing silence—eventually broke first.
“Y-you’re going to tell His Majesty, aren’t you? That I bullied you? Hic… Please forgive me just this once. I didn’t mean to say such horrible things, but Yonghee kept—”
“Stop.”
I cut off Bokhee’s rambling.
“I’m not telling. I just have something to say.”
“What is it……?”
Fixing her with the fiercest stare I could manage, I said:
“I met the Sukbin.”
I intentionally left the sentence ambiguous.
“I met her” and “Did you meet her?” sounded nearly identical.
And it worked.
“I-I did meet her……. H-how did you know?”
Just as I thought.
Bokhee really was Sukbin’s informant.
Still, Sukbin’s true intentions remained deeply unsettling.
Recruiting children barely ten years old as spies—no matter how you looked at it, that wasn’t normal behavior.
No… maybe it was genius.
Children were easy to manipulate psychologically.
And even if suspicion arose, their age alone could serve as an excuse.
And it’d be easy to cut ties with them later, too…….
The memory of Sukbin calmly speaking to me after beating someone bloody sent chills down my spine.
But I quickly pulled myself together.
“I’ve got something for you.”
Whispering as though I were revealing an enormous secret, I carefully unfolded a small bundle from inside my clothes.
The moment Bokhee saw the dasik inside, her eyes widened.
Naturally so.
Dasik made from pine pollen was such an expensive delicacy that ordinary palace maids could scarcely dream of tasting it.
“D-dasik?”
“Yeah. Sukbin gave it to me. She told me to eat it all by myself.”
It was an unavoidable lie to win Bokhee over.
The sweets had actually been bestowed by the King.
But Bokhee had no way of knowing that, and she swallowed the story whole.
“I’ve never even tasted dasik before……”
“Take it.”
Acting as though it were nothing special, I placed one piece into Bokhee’s hand.
……Seriously, it was just a snack. Did her hands really need to tremble like that?
Her drooping eyes shimmered with emotion.
“I’m sorry……. You’re such a good person……. And I said all those awful things……”
“It’s okay.”
Ten years old was an age easily swept along by others.
Of course, being young didn’t excuse every wrongdoing, but Bokhee hardly seemed like a true villain.
She was just… painfully gullible.
“It’s soooo delicious. Hiiing……”
And after tasting the dasik, she practically looked possessed with bliss.
Here, have another one. I’m feeling generous!
When I handed her a second piece, Bokhee looked at me like she’d go pluck stars from the sky for me.
“To receive something this precious… you’re really lucky. I always just get scolded harshly……”
“I’m a little special.”
I couldn’t deny how shameless I sounded, but I decided to push through with confidence.
“Is Sukbin really scary? I don’t really know…….”
“She is. I can barely even speak properly in front of her……”
“I see.”
Pat, pat.
As a gesture of comfort, I lightly patted Bokhee’s back.
“Then Bongbong, are you investigating that thing too?”
By now completely disarmed, Bokhee asked casually.
That thing.
I wasn’t certain, but I decided to throw out a guess.
“The west side of Chwiseondang.”
At once, Bokhee nodded.
“Ah, so I was right. Then that’s why you were there that day too. Yonghee and I had no idea……”
“Shh. It’s a secret.”
“A secret?”
“Yeah. Don’t tell Yonghee.”
I furrowed my brow seriously, trying to convey the gravity of the matter.
“Yonghee……. Suspicious.”
I whispered softly into Bokhee’s ear.
“Can’t be trusted.”
I deliberately phrased it that way so it would sound like Sukbin herself had said it.
“Gasp, really……?”
“Shh.”
“Okay, shh.”
Bokhee clamped her mouth shut.
That was enough talk about Yonghee.
Dragging it out with too many details would only backfire.
Now it was time to deliver Sukbin’s “message” and observe Bokhee’s reaction.
“Lean closer. I’ve got something to tell you.”
“Okay.”
“……The full moon day.”
“Mhm. That again.”
“……”
That again, she’d said.
Meaning she’d received the same order before.
Bokhee’s mouth was so loose that I considered digging for more information about Sukbin.
But I stopped myself there.
Today’s goal was simply to win her over.
And even that alone had already yielded more than enough.
“Anyway, be careful. Don’t tell Yonghee about me.”
“Okay. I absolutely won’t. Honestly, it’s not like I even stay close to Yonghee because I like her.”
The relationship between the two had felt strangely hierarchical from the start.
Apparently, cracks had already begun forming between them long ago.
“But Bongbong……. You went to see His Majesty, right? Everyone in Chwiseondang is talking about you right now.”
Considering everyone had seen me leave with the Head Court Lady of the King’s palace, there was no point denying it.
I nodded calmly.
“Yeah. I did.”
“I’m so curious……. Can I ask why His Majesty summoned you?”
Bokhee was already carefully gauging my reaction.
Magnanimously, I granted her an answer.
“He said I look like Princess Myeongan. His late younger sister.”
It was true enough.
The King really had said I reminded him of Princess Myeongan.
“Ah, so that’s why he takes such good care of you. Ever since you fell into the pond, everyone thought it was incredible. A little court maid catching the King’s eye……. And all the noble ladies adore you too. I’m so jealous……”
To completely secure Bokhee’s admiration, I delivered the final blow.
I pulled out the ribbon tucked inside my pocket.
It was a beautiful silk ribbon Seolhyang had given me before I headed to the royal palace.
“The King gave me this.”
Without batting an eye, I bragged shamelessly.
Honestly, I was starting to feel like my nose ought to grow longer from all these lies.
“Gasp! That’s amazing!”
Bokhee covered her mouth with both hands.
Now she was practically looking at me with reverence.
“You can touch it if you want.”
After generously indulging her, I tested the waters one last time.
“Lady.”
“Mmhm!”
“Do you have a wish?”
“A wish?”
I’d only asked on the off chance it might help me recruit Bokhee later, but her face immediately flushed bright red.
“I……. I have exactly one wish. To become a maid of Jeoseungjeon……”
Huh?
That was definitely not the answer I expected.
“I want to become a court lady serving the Crown Prince……. I’ll work really hard and definitely make it happen……”
Well, the Crown Prince was exceptionally handsome.
It wasn’t surprising for a ten-year-old girl to develop a crush on him.
Still, one thing about Bokhee’s words particularly bothered me.
The part about working really hard to become one of the Crown Prince’s maids.
“What do you mean by working hard?”
“Ah. Well…….”
Bokhee hesitated, unsure whether she should continue.
Not missing the opportunity, I slipped another piece of dasik into her hand.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Bokhee began spilling secrets I hadn’t even asked about.
“Sukbin promised me. She said if I found something suspicious on the west side of Chwiseondang, she’d send me to Jeoseungjeon……”
Ahh.
So that was how it worked.
I’d uncovered why Bokhee had fallen under Sukbin’s influence:
her feelings for the Crown Prince.
Which meant……
What exactly had Yonghee been promised?
I found myself intensely curious.
