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Chapter – 02
This is Why Professional Deformation is Scary…..
After finally managing to sit down, Amang caught her breath.
She still couldn’t discern where this place was or what kind of world setting this was.
Geu, isn’t the pace a bit too fast?
Amang glanced sideways at Hwajeongbi Myo-hee sitting across from her.
Hwajeongbi Myo-hee.
Who was that again?
‘For sure, she passed by in Episode 1. She was one of the few imperial consorts.’
Which meant there was no way to know exactly who she was.
No, you unkind world setting! Why are you giving me such a trial!
Despite all the content I’ve read, I ended up in the imperial palace from just Episode 1!
‘Get a grip. I mustn’t stand out even a little.’
The people here were too busy ignoring and looking down on Amang.
Remembering the cold treatment from earlier, her body trembled involuntarily.
‘Especially that Empress.’
That woman, draped in all kinds of expensive silks, sitting there so nobly.
Empress Soryeong-a.
‘From the prologue, it showed just how vicious she is.’
She was none other than the tyrant’s Empress.
In a palace where political scheming and secret strife were commonplace, she was the Empress.
In other words, it meant she was a victor who had climbed up by trampling others.
To protect her position, she would eliminate anyone who got in her way.
Even if they were a royal grandchild.
“Your Majesty personally looking after our mother and son, how joyful we are. We are overwhelmed by Your Majesty’s grace, deep as the sea, and do not know how to repay it.”
“Is this not all thanks to His Majesty’s benevolent virtue?”
“Thanks to these lectures, Ryang grows day by day. Would he not be growing into a child as intelligent as His Majesty, whom he resembles?”
It’s here, the concubines boosting up the Emperor!
Emperor Mu-je, seemingly uninterested, was feigning indifference.
Yet, his ears were wide open.
‘I can see right through him.’
Why, in this serious situation, did she feel like laughing inappropriately?
Amang pinched her thigh and held it in.
“Are not all the royal grandchildren children of Jaeam Palace? So, how can Yeolbin be so sure?”
“Ah, I suppose so? I will keep that in mind, Your Majesty.”
Jaeam Palace referred to the Empress’s residence.
The Empress had never borne a child since entering the palace.
Every time she became pregnant, she miscarried.
‘Even a single conversation is deadly.’
Amang almost hiccupped right then and there.
Hearing ‘those’ dialogues in person, which she had only read as text.
She felt fortunate it was her hearing them and not someone else.
“The Empress still hasn’t managed to break the habit of polluting the air.”
“My apologies, Your Majesty.”
Mu-je tutted, clicking his tongue.
He seemed indifferent to everything.
If so, why did he even organize this lecture?
He looked like someone who would gather everyone for a death game.
‘Well, I suppose it’s because they’re his children.’
No matter the content of the lecture, it would probably suffice to give reasonably clever answers.
This body may be the 10-year-old Princess Amang, but inside is the 25-year-old Han Young-eun, isn’t it?
A talent who toiled through a full 12 years of compulsory education.
Plus, a counselor who crammed four years of psychology theory into her head.
‘Come at me, problems.’
Whatever it is, I’ll figure it out.
Ah, but if I do too well, will I stand out?
Then… I’ll just do moderately well. Suitably for a 10-year-old.
“This lecture is not just for us. Eunuch Yu, tell him to enter.”
Instantly, the hall buzzed.
Not only the concubines but also the royal grandchildren, who had been shrinking in their seats, turned pale.
Among them, one concubine abruptly raised her hand.
Her fingers trembled like aspen leaves.
“B-but, haven’t we always done it amongst ourselves?”
“Lady So. It is His Majesty’s will. How dare you object.”
“But, Hwajeongbi Your Majesty…”
“Wouldn’t a change in the lecture be better for the royal grandchildren?”
Why on earth are they so afraid?
What’s so special about this lecture?
Amang looked around at the dismayed people.
The only ones maintaining their composure were Hwajeongbi and the Empress.
‘When the doors open, a million assassins aren’t going to pour in, are they?’
And then, under the pretext of testing the royal grandchildren’s courage, they’ll hand them swords.
Amang shook her head to dispel the thought.
Just imagining it sent a shiver down her spine.
Soon, the doors opened.
Striding through the middle was…
Neither an assassin nor anyone who seemed threatening.
A child?
He looked about Amang’s age.
His upright posture and intelligent eyes contrasted with his petite height, which stood out.
He looked like the son of a wealthy family at a glance.
The child knelt before Mu-je and paid his respects.
“Your subject, Geum Jin, pays his respects to Your Majesty.”
It was a youthful voice, not yet having hit puberty.
The murmuring among the concubines stopped.
‘They were afraid of just that kid?’
She felt a bit let down.
No, quite a bit.
Geum Jin looked well-off, but he didn’t seem like a royal grandchild.
He gave off a strong vibe of a favored court official.
Don’t tell me.
‘Is he planning to raise him to be a treacherous minister?’
That couldn’t be.
Amang was overestimating her own imagination.
No matter how tyrannical the Emperor’s world setting was, would he really let a mere child do such nonsense?
“From today, he will join the lectures. I favor him so much I might even consider passing the throne to him.”
He did it!
Amang, who had been reaching for tea, started hiccupping.
‘Tha-, that madman.’
Seated here were Mu-je’s numerous wives and children.
Since ancient times, it was the law and custom to pass the throne to blood relations, yet now, unbelievable words flowed from Mu-je’s mouth.
To pass the throne to someone who didn’t share a single drop of his blood!
The Empress’s gaze toward Geum Jin sharpened.
“Your Majesty! Please retract your words. This humble subject only wishes to succeed his father in assisting Your Majesty from the side.”
“I jest.”
With a single word, people’s faces turned pale again.
Mu-je knew it well.
Manipulating the little boy before him to his liking was all too easy.
Especially in this imperial palace.
Just throw some bait, and they all come rushing.
“Even the Crown Prince’s position is not necessarily reserved for a royal grandchild. If anyone can emulate me, I can give it away. This throne, the Jade Seat.”
Those words meant that the blood running in one’s veins was utterly useless.
The motives of the concubines who had sons were as clear as day.
To place their own son as the next Emperor and become Empress Dowager.
Although, even that would be reduced to being a Dowager Consort if the Empress remained firmly in place.
Still, it meant they could survive, right?
The eerie feeling didn’t fade.
She had clearly decided not to stand out, but seeing that pitiful child and just staying still was…
A clear violation of counselor ethics.
In the end, Amang stood up, weighed down by her thick clothes.
No one stopped her.
While they probably thought she was trying to leave this spot,
Amang’s steps headed toward Geum Jin.
“Here.”
“Princess Amang.”
“Come sit with me.”
Princess Amang, who knew no etiquette; the disliked royal granddaughter of Yeonyeong Palace, whose birth mother died long ago; Amang, who always did unconventional things like nimbly climbing trees.
In this chilly atmosphere, her offering a hand to Geum Jin wasn’t surprising at all.
‘Since I’m already a disliked princess anyway…’
Amang didn’t know this story.
Not this world setting, nor the people sitting here.
If she had no knowledge in her head, she had no choice but to experience it directly.
Chapter 1. A counselor must prioritize assessing the client’s condition.
‘I’m doing it my way!’
Of course, it was just theory, and she had only applied it in practice two or three times.
But she had practiced countless times during her undergraduate years.
They say only ghosts can read people’s minds!
It was then.
“This Princess truly has no fear!”
A hearty laugh echoed through the banquet hall. Mu-je, who had maintained an impassive face until now, was beaming.
‘What is it, has he finally gone mad?’
That gaze was like a predator spotting its prey.
‘Am I going to get eaten? On my first day of possession?’
Mu-je, who had languidly risen from his seat, slowly approached.
He pulled a sword from a guardsman’s waist and dragged it along the ground.
It was a sword as tall as Amang’s body.
‘Don’t chicken out. If he stabs me, it’s patricide.’
Amang had seen countless people who acted like that.
They were desperate, sometimes plaintive, and selfish.
They wanted to plunge everyone into terror, and many were actually fooled.
The tip of the sword grazed Amang’s shoulder.
Goosebumps rose.
The blade that had touched her shoulder lifted her chin.
A drop of blood trickled from where her tender skin was slightly cut.
“Amang-ah. Are you not afraid of me?”
Amang looked straight into Mu-je’s pupils.
Sincerity filled his eyes.
Words could be fabricated, but not the look in one’s eyes.
That could never be hidden.
‘He looks sad somewhere.’
His mouth was smiling coolly, but beyond his pupils was an abyss.
It held a deep sorrow.
‘So this man…’
The man who, just to gain the throne, had even his own mother killed.
When the sword tip pierced his birth mother’s heart, he did not cry.
He just stared at the pool of blood at his feet and grinned.
‘He’s consumed by a terrible loneliness.’
Amang didn’t feel the minor pain of her skin being cut.
Understanding the state of mind of the man holding the sword before her was more important right now.
What were the words this person needed most?
Words strong enough to trigger a defense mechanism.
“Yo-Your Majesty! Princess Amang is still just a child. It’s an age where it’s natural not to know right from wrong…!”
“Speak now! Shall I cut your neck?”
Hwajeongbi tried to rush forward, but the court ladies blocked her.
As she struggled against them, Hwajeongbi tightly closed her eyes.
She simply couldn’t bear to watch this brutal scene with open eyes.
The opponent was just a ten-year-old princess!
The blade pressed a little deeper against Amang’s neck.
Beads of blood formed and trickled down the sword.
And what flowed from Amang’s mouth was,
“My, oh my. Our Father must have had a very hard time.”
It was a truly unexpected statement….
