LCSB 40

Chapter 40 – The Big-Eyed Mister

Heebin’s shoulders seemed to tremble slightly.

When the King comforted her and whispered something, Heebin buried her face in his embrace once more.

‘Beautiful.’

Watching the affectionate scene that looked like the ending of a historical drama, I caught my breath.

I felt dizzy from blowing so hard.

‘Phew… I should catch my breath for a moment before going back.’

I had burned myself out and done my absolute best.

It was time for the special-effects extra to quietly exit the stage.

After taking several deep breaths, my ragged breathing finally settled.

Just as I was about to stand up after brushing flower petals off my skirt—

“Eek.”

Good grief!

I nearly let out a scream.

Because I had suddenly noticed a man staring at me from only five or six steps away.

‘How did he hide his presence so perfectly from this close?’

…A martial arts master?

It wasn’t an entirely ridiculous guess. The man was dressed as a military officer.

Moreover, instead of the plain sword commonly carried by military officials, he wore an elaborately decorated longsword.

‘He looks like an officer from the Royal Guards or one of the military camps… He must be someone fairly high-ranking.’

Thinking about it, that was only natural.

There was no way the King would come this deep into the rear garden without an escort.

Still…

‘That’s quite an extraordinary-looking mister.’

The officer appeared to be in his late thirties or early forties.

He had a lean yet solid physique.

The eyes silently observing me were remarkably large and intense. They looked like the kind of eyes that would be terrifying if he deliberately glared.

‘Big-Eyed Mister. How long have you been watching me?’

It was a little embarrassing to think he had seen me blowing flower petals with my face bright red, but I decided to be confident.

That had been a blood-and-sweat effort to reunite the King and Heebin.

Compared to the embarrassing acting performance I had put on in front of Prince Yeoning, this had been a truly noble undertaking.

Then—

Wink.

The Big-Eyed Mister smiled slightly at me.

It wasn’t just an ordinary smile.

It was a smile that seemed to say I had done an excellent job, as if he were giving me a giant thumbs-up.

‘Oh. So you wanted Heebin and the King to reconcile too?’

That probably explained why he hadn’t stopped my strange behavior.

‘Is this mister from the Namin faction?’

It was a bit of a leap, but not an unreasonable deduction.

If he supported Queen Inhyeon and the Seoin faction, there was no way he could be smiling so contentedly at the sight of Sukjong and Heebin together.

In any case, I felt certain he wouldn’t interfere with me.

I smiled brightly at him.

Then, pointing quietly toward Heebin, I whispered in a voice barely audible:

“Please tell her I left first.”

“…”

He silently nodded.

Those large eyes seemed to sweep over me.

“Goodbye.”

After giving a silent farewell with only my lips moving, I carefully slipped away from Ogryucheon without making a sound.

Step by step, I headed down the slope and glanced back.

Two figures stood beneath the brilliantly pouring sunlight.

A crimson dragon robe.

A jade-green skirt.

Their garments were still intertwined as one.

‘Your Majesty, Heebin Jaga. This extra is making her exit now.’

I hoped they would shake off all the love and resentment of the past years.

I prayed they would no longer ignore the sincerity they felt toward each other.

‘I’ve experienced it myself, so I know—life is really short.’

So I hoped they wouldn’t let this moment slip away.

I hoped they would cherish the brilliance of the present.

It had been a long journey.

Starting from Changgyeong Palace, then all the way to Ogryucheon deep within the rear garden of Changdeok Palace.

After blowing wind until I became dizzy, I had then trudged back through the garden and across Changdeok Palace to Chwiseondang…

‘Someone save me…’

By the time I finally returned to Chwiseondang, I was utterly worn out.

“Bongbong, how did your face become half its size? And where is Heebin Jaga?”

At Court Lady Han’s concerned question, I pounded my aching legs and replied:

“Jaga will be a little late.”

“Late? Why?”

I quickly leaned close to Court Lady Han’s ear and whispered:

“She’s in the rear garden with His Majesty right now.”

“Oh!”

Court Lady Han’s face immediately brightened.

It was the widest smile I had ever seen from her.

“So… my legs hurt so much. Can I rest for a little while?”

Court Lady Han nodded readily.

“Of course. There’s still time before the bonfire festivities begin. Go rest in your room. Are you hungry?”

“A little.”

“Go inside. I’ll send something to eat.”

She patted my head affectionately.

“Thank you, Mama-nim.”

After thanking her, I was about to enter my room when—

I spotted Yonghee entering the courtyard of Chwiseondang.

As if she had been somewhere far away, her face was flushed red.

“Yonghee. Where have you been without saying a word?”

“Ah, well… I was taking a walk…”

Not expecting to run into Court Lady Han, Yonghee visibly panicked and stammered.

“The Royal Kitchen is short-handed and in chaos. Hurry over there.”

“Yes, Mama-nim.”

Yonghee glanced at me before hurriedly leaving.

‘Where did she go?’

I was curious.

It wasn’t that I had forgotten about Yonghee.

She had simply been pushed down the priority list by the perfect opportunity to repair the relationship between the King and Heebin.

Three days had passed since I gave Yonghee my ultimatum.

During that time, she had remained silent, claiming to be bedridden with a cold.

‘She’s definitely plotting something…’

I was exhausted and wanted to rest, but thoughts of Yonghee occupied my mind.

Just then—

“Bongbong, I brought some sweet rice.”

The owner of the now-familiar voice was Bokhee.

I quickly opened the door.

On the tray she carried were medicinal sweet rice, sweet rice punch, and beautifully peeled chestnuts.

“Bokhee Hama-nim.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s eat together.”

“…S-should we?”

Bokhee and I chatted while enjoying our snacks together.

Bokhee was as talkative as ever.

“You know, this morning the Crown Prince greeted me.”

“You must’ve been happy, unnie!”

I had quietly started speaking informally and calling her unnie.

Bokhee actually seemed pleased.

“Yes. My heart nearly burst.”

Although the Crown Prince was only thirteen, he was still a married man with a Crown Princess, so I felt a little conflicted about whether it was okay for her to like him…

‘Let’s just call it socially acceptable for this era.’

I carefully observed Bokhee’s expression.

Right. This was a good time to settle that issue.

The matter concerning Sukbin.

“Unnie.”

“Hm?”

“Don’t listen to Sukbin Jaga anymore.”

“Huh…?”

“I’ve thought about it carefully… The Crown Prince always says this, doesn’t he?”

“His Highness? What does he say?”

“He says the worst things in the world are deceiving others and betraying your own side.”

“Ah…”

As always, it was a complete lie that the Crown Prince had ever said that.

And as always, the magical words “the Crown Prince” were like divine revelation to Bokhee.

“So, unnie. Be good to Heebin Jaga from now on, and don’t go to Sukbin Jaga anymore.”

To my surprise, Bokhee nodded immediately.

“I will. It wasn’t something I wanted to do either. I just got swept along with everything… I’ve always been scared and anxious.”

She tightly held my hand.

“Ever since I became friends with you, Yonghee won’t even acknowledge me. Earlier today we passed each other right outside, and she just walked right past me.”

…Yonghee had been lingering around my quarters?

Yonghee’s room was near the Royal Kitchen.

There was no reason our paths should naturally cross.

‘Maybe she came by on an errand because everyone is busy preparing for the Full Moon Festival.’

That was certainly a more reasonable conclusion than immediately becoming suspicious.

“Oh, Bokhee unnie. Let me show you the doll the Crown Prince gave me.”

I opened my chest and took out the Barbie doll I had carefully placed on top.

“Oh my. It’s so cute. The clothes are silk too?”

“Yep. This doll even has a name.”

“What is it?”

“Barbie.”

“Rice?”

…Bokhee, do you also think of me as a glutton?

“Not rice. Barbie! Barbie doll!”

“Mm… What a delicious— I mean, cute name.”

Bokhee really had no talent for lying.

But she was a good girl.

Actually, I had worried a little that showing off the doll might be excessive.

A child might have become jealous upon seeing Barbie.

But Bokhee simply sat there cheerfully crunching chestnuts.

As I opened the chest again to carefully put Barbie away—

“Hm?”

The inside of the chest, where old clothes and miscellaneous items were stored, looked subtly different.

Seolhyang might have taken something out, but just in case, I reached deep inside and felt around the bottom.

‘…It’s gone?’

The item I had hidden beneath the clothes.

‘Boomboomie.’

My hideous cursed doll had completely vanished.

Making an excuse about being tired, I quickly sent Bokhee away and overturned the entire chest.

Even then, Boomboomie was nowhere to be found.

A name immediately flashed through my mind.

‘Yonghee…?’

Bokhee’s words about seeing Yonghee near my quarters echoed in my ears.

So did the image of Yonghee’s flushed face as she hurried back from somewhere.

Could Yonghee really be the culprit?

‘Even if she is… it’s only suspicion. I have no proof.’

The problem wasn’t that Yonghee had taken it.

The real problem was what she intended to do with it.

…Or so I thought.

But I would soon learn that an entirely different threat was approaching.

Because before the Full Moon Festival had even ended, an enormous backlash came crashing down upon us.