🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 46. After the Storm
The storm that had swept through Chwiseondang finally passed, and things were quickly brought under control.
Even though it had become clear that Yonghui was a spy of Subin, she never confessed the truth until the very end.
She did admit to setting fire to Chwiseondang.
However, she insisted it was an accident—that she had been playing with a small firework game and the spark had spread.
In any case, Yonghui’s fate was already decided.
A palace maid who was clearly a spy and had also started a fire could not remain in Chwiseondang.
Setting fire to the palace was an enormous crime, even if it was an accident.
If Yonghui had been an adult, she could have been sentenced to a hundred strikes of corporal punishment—or even execution.
However, Heebin showed her own kind of mercy.
Yonghui was expelled the next day to the vegetable field belonging to the palace.
Working in the vegetable field was one of the hardest and most grueling jobs in the palace.
Not only did one have to weed under the scorching sun every day, but also carry human waste used as fertilizer.
It was practically not even considered a palace maid’s duty.
“I was wrong. Please, Lady Heebin! Just once, show mercy… I hate that place. Please…!”
She cried and begged for forgiveness too late, but in the end, Yonghui was dragged into a place even the lowliest labor slaves despised.
One of the senior court ladies strictly kept the matter secret that day.
Because of that, most of the palace maids did not know exactly why Yonghui had left Chwiseondang.
They only assumed it was due to her misconduct along with the fire incident.
And on the evening when Yonghui was dragged out struggling.
Bokhee came to me looking extremely restless.
“Bongbong… you know, right? That Yonghui was sent to the vegetable field…?”
“So what?”
“Yonghui… wasn’t she revealed to be Subin’s spy?”
I was newly impressed that Bokhee was such a smart kid.
Acknowledging her correct conclusion, I nodded.
“Yes. Lady Yonghui did bad things. A lot of them.”
“T-then… what about me?”
Bokhee looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“Why you?”
I asked with wide eyes, as if I truly didn’t understand what she meant.
“I mean… I, I also…”
“Hm? You didn’t do anything wrong. You were just a little, just a very little close to Lady Yonghui, right?”
“…Huh?”
“I thought that was all.”
“…”
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“…sob!”
She was like a broken faucet.
Bokhee’s tear glands burst open again.
“Thank you… Bongbong… really…”
Bokhee sniffled.
“You don’t need to thank me, unnie.”
I said what I had wanted to tell her.
“We’re still young. At our age, it’s okay to make mistakes and do wrong things. But we must not repeat them.”
I patted her shoulder importantly, and Bokhee suddenly hugged me tightly.
Is hugging Bongbong becoming a trend in Chwiseondang or something…?
“I want to do anything for you… really. I want to be useful to you, Bongbong.”
“Sure. If I ever need help, I’ll ask you. But before that, can you do me a favor?”
“Yeah! Anything!”
“Stop crying.”
I wiped Bokhee’s tear-stained cheeks.
“I’m four years old and I don’t even cry, but you’re ten and crying all the time. You should only cry when it’s really, really sad. Okay?”
“Okay!”
Bokhee answered loudly and wiped her tears away.
……From that day on, Bokhee became the official “Bongbong’s subordinate” of Chwiseondang.
The next day after Yonghui left Chwiseondang.
Taking advantage of Seolhyang’s absence, I spent some time alone organizing my thoughts.
It had been a chaotic day.
Starting with the fire in Chwiseondang, and ending with Subin shedding bitter tears after being slapped by Heebin during the Daeboreum night.
Thanks to the careful handling of Han Sanggung, everything that happened that night was strictly kept secret.
Even the maids who had indirectly seen or heard the chaos were ordered to remain silent.
“I wonder what Subin is thinking right now.”
Subin’s trembling voice as she humbly begged Heebin for forgiveness.
Her bloodshot eyes filled with tears as she left Chwiseondang were chilling to remember.
In any case, Heebin did not officially report Subin’s actions.
It was not mercy, nor a soft-hearted decision.
It was actually a clever choice.
In a time when jealousy between women was branded as one of the Seven Grounds for Divorce, and the Western faction was actively trying to paint Heebin as a “goddess of jealousy,” bringing the incident to light without solid evidence could backfire.
So Heebin likely decided to bury the matter for now.
Satisfied with having gained leverage to tighten control over Subin.
“But Subin won’t think the same.”
Of course, this would remain a lifelong grudge for Subin.
Not only toward Heebin, but also toward me, who had provided the initial clue that destroyed her carefully crafted scheme using Yonghui.
“Enemy.”
I, Hwang Bongbong, had made Subin my enemy.
It was an undeniable truth.
Considering how precise and cunning Subin had always been, it was a frightening realization.
The only relief was that there had been no news of my other “enemy,” Sookjeong.
“Am I… cursed to have enemies whose names start with ‘Sook’?”
Sookjeong. Subin. Sook-j…
Stop it.
Anyway, Subin would not retreat like this.
Even if she appeared to be lying low now, she would be watching carefully, waiting for the right moment…
“She’ll be ready to bite the moment she sees a weakness in me or Heebin.”
When I thought about the word “weakness,” there was one troubling matter.
The whereabouts of Bumbum, which had officially gone missing and was almost certainly taken by Yonghui.
Yonghui had not taken anything except a few clothes and undergarments.
Because of that, I was able to inspect the items from her room.
Honestly, I expected Bumbum to suddenly appear somewhere.
“…It wasn’t there.”
Where on earth had that damn ugly thing gone?
Subin’s face suddenly came to mind, making me uneasy…
“Whatever. It already happened. No use worrying about what can’t be changed.”
I steadied my mind and stood up.
In just a few days, I had become a kind of national hero in Chwiseondang.
“The brave child who saved Heebin from the raging fire.”
As a result, I was temporarily excused from work and placed under a kind of forced vacation.
Why it felt like punishment was because…
This was the Joseon era.
There wasn’t really anything a child could do.
Since I was still maintaining the “illiterate concept,” I couldn’t openly read books either.
And it wasn’t like I was going to play with dolls.
Bokhee seemed to want to play house with me, but I couldn’t spend this tense time pretending to plant roots or something pointless.
Moreover, the royal court had even sent medicinal decoctions personally made by the royal physician.
“I only have a slight scratchy throat from the smoke…”
In the end, I got tired of doing “nothing” and decided to visit the absolute ruler of Chwiseondang—Heebin.
“Child. What brings you here? How is your body?”
Heebin’s voice was soft and gentle like the flutter of butterfly wings.
“It melts… it really melts.”
Our Heebin really did have a voice like a dream.
From now on, she had started calling me “child.”
It was still a bit embarrassing for me.
But it wasn’t just the way she called me. She treated me like her own daughter.
She would pat my cheeks and head, feed me snacks, and take me on walks.
Sometimes, I felt something strange watching her like that.
A thought I kept only to myself.
At times… she felt like my real family.
Not just Heebin, but Seolhyang, Bokhee, Sunrae, and even strict Han Sanggung felt the same.
Anyway, I told Heebin my intention.
“Lady Heebin, I want to work again. I want to run errands for Jeoseungjeon and help the maids.”
“Already? Child, you should rest more. You’re still taking medicine.”
“But I’m really strong. Want to see?”
Yah!
Haap!
With a loud kiai, I demonstrated punches and kicks, showing off my Taekwondo skills I had learned in my previous life.
Heebin burst out laughing and pinched my cheek, amused by my small body trying so hard.
“Do as you wish. Just don’t overdo it.”
“Yes, Lady Heebin. Thank you.”
At last, I was freed from my “forced vacation punishment”!
Excited, I headed outside looking for errands and soon ran into a familiar face.
It was the Crown Prince.
Thanks to Han Sanggung’s strict silence order, the Crown Prince only knew that there had been a fire.
And I was still seen as the admirable child who saved Heebin’s life.
“Bongbong…”
Again. That look again.
Those sorrowful, slightly teary eyes that looked like they would spill like jade beads at any moment.
Crown Prince, please… no. Actually, just stop with that gaze.
“Your Highness, I’m really fine.”
Just as I was wondering if I should show him Taekwondo again, he spoke.
“Bongbong… you are truly a strange child. It is as if you fell from the heavens.”
He spoke gently.
“To save my mother… she is the most precious person in the world to me.”
“….”
The meaning of his words felt heavy.
I remembered the Crown Prince’s future—how Heebin would eventually be executed by royal order, recorded in history.
And how he would beg to die alongside her.
His deep affection for his mother was painfully clear.
“I owe you an unrepayable debt, Bongbong.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“If someday, in the future…”
The Crown Prince spoke with a very serious expression.
“I will surely help you. As the Crown Prince of this nation, I give you my solemn vow.”
