Chapter 07
“Your Majesty, who are you with?”
Wang Seonhwa seemed curious about the voice’s owner as she asked the eunuch.
“Ah, right now—”
“Please, come inside.”
Before the eunuch could answer, Cho Jinrae suddenly stepped forward.
Darn it, I wanted to know who it was, but now I couldn’t hear it.
But there was no need to be disappointed. As soon as Wang Seonhwa entered, the owner of the voice appeared.
Curious about the man with the handsome voice, I subtly raised my head. He was tall, so just slightly raising my eyes didn’t allow me to see his face.
Gradually, I lifted my gaze enough to see his face and silently admired it. His features were striking, as if a master calligrapher had drawn them in one bold stroke.
Even more remarkable was the light wheat-colored hair, rare in this era. Could he be a Semu person?
As if answering my unspoken question, his blue eyes met mine.
I realized I had raised my head far enough to make eye contact and hastily lowered it.
I hoped to act like I didn’t notice, but the man in luxurious leather shoes was approaching me.
Anhwa had warned me never to make eye contact with high-ranking people!
“Lift your head.”
“I-I beg your pardon—”
I was sorry for peeking at him, but honestly, he looked so compelling! Couldn’t he just let me pass?
“Hurry.”
Feeling like I wanted to run away, I raised my face, desperately keeping my eyes down to avoid contact.
“Hwaran?”
W-what’s that?
“Look at me.”
The tone implied serious consequences if I didn’t. I lifted my eyes slightly and saw a pitifully handsome face.
“How are you… here…?”
His words were tinged with tears. The voice that had been smooth and instrument-like suddenly sounded rough, as if a string had snapped.
I was confused and darted my eyes around. Does he know Shin-wan? Who is he?
“Me, me—”
His throat seemed to choke, and he closed his mouth.
The elderly eunuch who had been standing like a statue by the door approached carefully. In a gentle voice, he said:
“Prince Jeong (鄭王), this child is a maid who came from Garin with Royal Concubine Ma’am.”
A prince? And the highest rank of the Wang princes!
I nearly died from shock. I had stared so openly at a prince’s face! Luckily, Prince Jeong didn’t seem to plan to punish me for it.
“Yes, what is your name?”
“I am called Shin-wan, Your Highness.”
“Not from the Seo (徐) family?”
“Yes.”
Prince Jeong turned away, clearly disappointed. It was unfortunate, but I didn’t care. I had survived! From now on, I would never look at anyone’s face again.
By the time I calmed my racing heart, Wang Seonhwa had come out. But her expression wasn’t good. She seemed deeply shocked by something.
Returning to Seolmae Palace, I heard some shocking news.
The Crown Prince of Garin, Wang Hyeon (王慧彦), who had been staying in Hwon, had died.
He had supposedly had an accident while hunting, and no one was around, so the details were unclear.
“Does that make sense? No guards were with him?”
Impossible. Even as a vassal state, he was a nation’s heir. Besides, he was married to a princess of Hwon as her consort.
“Well, it’s fortunate that Wang A-seon is coming. But this really makes me furious at the distant uncle.”
Wang A-seon? Why? Was he supposed to be the new crown prince?
“Huh?”
I was curious about the first part, but Wang Seonhwa seemed to think of the latter.
“The distant uncle tried to push Wang Tadok as the crown prince with this opportunity. Your father is still alive, and there’s Prince A-seon, yet he schemed to make his son the heir.”
Wang A-seon’s incurable disease hadn’t been cured even with my master’s help. He was supposed to die before turning fifteen, so it was a miracle he survived this long.
Prince Sim seems to have argued that Wang A-seon was unsuitable as heir because no one knew when he might die, so he tried to make his own son the crown prince.
But the emperor recognized Wang A-seon as the crown prince, and once invested, he would come to Hwon as a Dokrohwa.
Dokrohwa refers to princes of vassal states or children of high officials sent as hostages to Hwon.
Since Garin was a consort nation, crown princes lived in Hwon and married Hwon princesses. They only returned to Garin when it was time to inherit the throne.
“Then, when Yanggang Daegun comes to Daedo… he will have to marry a princess.”
As far as I know, there are no unmarried princesses in the imperial family at present. How does that work?
“There is the Wonkuk Grand Princess, but since Wang Hyeon just passed, they wouldn’t hold a wedding immediately.”
Wang Seonhwa gently held my hand, as if comforting me. I looked at the pale hand patting the back of mine, feeling dazed.
Why was she looking at me so sympathetically when I had just asked out of curiosity?
“It’ll be fine.”
“Yes.”
“You can rest assured.”
Assured about what? Wang Seonhwa stroked my head with a knowing look.
…Could it be that ‘Shin-wan’ secretly liked Wang A-seon? What a hopeless crush.
Even if it was a real identity or a disguised one, there was no way a prince—or now crown prince—would end up with an orphan from Baeksan Sect or the daughter of a low-ranking military officer.
But it didn’t concern me since I was in this body.
I had no interest in romance.
Raised by monks, I never learned about love stories, and later I didn’t want to form attachments with anyone.
Even taking care of myself was hard enough.
Although the monks didn’t make me a nun, I had thought that after retiring from being an athlete, I might enter monastic life.
Now, I had missed both opportunities—though becoming a nun was still possible here.
“Ugh.”
At my sigh, Wang Seonhwa suddenly changed the topic.
“By the way, I worry whether your brother will reach Daedo safely.”
“Because of attacks?”
“More than attacks, I worry about his health.”
Ah, right. His incurable disease hadn’t fully healed. Though spring had come, it was still cold. Going north from Gaegyeong, it would only get colder, so concern was reasonable.
“Still, winter has passed, so it should be okay, right?”
“Winter might actually have been easier. I worry he might collapse traveling in summer…”
Hmm, hot weather would be tough on a weak body, but still better than winter. I tilted my head, unsure what more to say since I didn’t know Wang A-seon’s condition.
“You really have lost much of your memory. Your brother and Suo would be heartbroken to see this…”
Suo? Before I could ask, Wang Seonhwa waved her hand.
“Go take a look around. Your residence has changed, so you should check it.”
“Yes. I’ll stay in the room, so call me if needed.”
“Alright.”
I thought the first day at the palace would be hectic, but what did I do?
Of course, I had a duty to perform.
I clenched my fists. Qi circulation practice. Today, I would succeed no matter what.
For a concubine’s maid, there was a place you had to go first in the morning.
The Gondeokjeon (坤德殿), where the Empress resided. Every concubine was required to pay morning respects there.
To help Wang Seonhwa with her dressing, I had to wake even earlier. Maids assisting with dressing were essential to maintain the master’s dignity.
Since I lacked skill in grooming, and had previously drawn overly exaggerated eyebrows, Anhwa came at dawn. She redid my hair tightly, erasing my work.
After a whole night practicing qi circulation while almost falling asleep standing up, my eyes were forcibly opened by how tightly it was done.
“You’re really skilled.”
“It’s because you weren’t here.”
Even if I teased her, it was true, so it didn’t hurt her feelings.
“Teach me when you have time.”
“I’ll see how you do it first. Let’s go now.”
I knew she’d take the time to properly teach me soon enough.
We arrived at Gondeokjeon at the proper time—not too early, not too late.
Only Wang Seonhwa entered; Anhwa and I stood outside with the other maids.
The last concubine arrived late and stepped down from her palanquin. The atmosphere immediately changed. The surrounding maids stiffened.
Even without being told, I could tell. Among the previous arrivals, there was a strikingly tall figure, with swallow motifs on the sleeves and hems of the robes. Exactly as described in the novel.
The protagonist of the Sound of the Long Zither. Royal Consort Moyong Biyeon (慕容飛燕).
He seemed to just pass by but stopped precisely in front of me. Was it because I had never seen him before?
“Hmph.”
With a scoffing sound, the tip of his folding fan jabbed my shoulder. Hard enough to hurt. Had I lost balance, I might have fallen.
…Why did he pick a fight immediately? No, since he outranks me, it’s not a fight—abuse? Harassment?
Moyong Biyeon tapped my chin with the fan instead of withdrawing it, inspecting me thoroughly. I shivered.
“Interesting.”
With a single remark, Moyong Biyeon entered the hall.
