Chapter 10 …
Unexpected News
As she repeatedly tilled the soil, sowed seeds, and carried water on her back, the amount of labor she performed increased significantly, and the effects of physical conditioning became clearly noticeable. Moreover, after drinking the water from the space, she could feel that despite her frail appearance, her inner muscles and overall strength had grown rapidly. It seemed that her current physical abilities had already surpassed her past self.
‘This spatial water… it’s incredible. I thought it was nothing special at first.’
By the time the first batch of medicinal herbs had grown considerably, the confinement of So Myeong-seol and Jin I-nang was lifted. At the same time, Shim On-seo was summoned by the Emperor and entered the palace.
According to rumors, Prince Chungshin had returned from an assignment outside the capital and intended to request the annulment of the engagement, and that he would personally confront and interrogate Shim On-seo. At last, something interesting was about to unfold.
Shim On-seo was nothing more than a mid-ranking official in the Ministry of Revenue in a provincial region.
After Wol-ryeong’s biological mother passed away, her maternal family, the Jeong clan, harbored deep dissatisfaction toward their son-in-law. They believed that the death of Wol-ryeong’s mother, Jeong Ram, was suspicious.
Since then, relations between Shim On-seo and the Jeong family had completely broken off, with no contact at all. At first, they had shown concern for their granddaughter Wol-ryeong, but because of her inherently timid personality, she never grew close to them, and over time, they drifted apart.
Early in the morning, when Shim On-seo was summoned to the palace, a dark cloud seemed to descend upon the Shim household. So Myeong-seol trembled anxiously in her room, while Jin I-nang shut herself in her quarters, able to do nothing but pray.
Unable to endure it alone, Shim Un-geum came once again to bother Wol-ryeong, only to run straight into Shim Seo-ui. As the saying goes, enemies meet on a narrow bridge. The two looked ready to start another quarrel at Cheonyeon Pavilion. Frowning, Wol-ryeong snapped,
“If you’re going to fight, get out right now!”
The two, who had never seen Wol-ryeong angry before, froze in shock and quietly sat down.
In truth, Wol-ryeong wanted to throw them out immediately. She needed to harvest and dry the medicinal herbs so she could continue studying the poison manual she had found on the shelf in the space.
This manual was her means of survival—her greatest asset. The process of preparing medicines required countless experiments, especially for new formulas she had never encountered before.
She found the work so fascinating and intriguing that she could barely contain herself. This wasn’t the assassin Bongryeong’s persona, but pure academic curiosity. She wanted to complete the medicines as soon as possible and test their effects. The frustration made her feel like clawing at her own skin.
But Un-geum and Seo-ui clung to her and refused to leave. Forcing them out would only arouse suspicion.
“You look much better,” Un-geum remarked.
For the past half month, she had been too preoccupied with her confined mother and her marriage concerns to carry out her plan to poison Wol-ryeong. But now, her malicious thoughts resurfaced as she examined Wol-ryeong carefully. Though still thin, something about her seemed different.
“I’ve been resting all day. Of course I’d improve,” Wol-ryeong replied casually.
After thinking it over, Un-geum realized that the past half month had indeed given Wol-ryeong a chance to recover. Still, she had no time to dwell on it. Her only concern was whether the marriage alliance with Prince Chungshin would fall through.
If it were canceled, killing Wol-ryeong would serve no purpose.
Shim Seo-ui observed Un-geum’s expression and said softly,
“After hardship comes happiness. Something good will surely happen. Your health is improving—it feels like heaven is helping you.”
There was a hidden barb in her words. Feeling pricked, Un-geum snapped back, and the two nearly began arguing again. Wol-ryeong cast them a cold glance, and both fell silent.
She then asked thoughtfully,
“Why is the matter of marriage only coming up now?”
Un-geum replied,
“I heard the Emperor assigned urgent duties, so the Prince was away for half a month and only just returned.”
“I see.”
An awkward silence followed until Bi-ra entered hurriedly.
“Miss Un-geum, the Madam is calling for you. Ok-chae is waiting outside.”
At once, Un-geum ran out without even saying goodbye. Seo-ui soon followed, smiling politely as she excused herself.
Just as Wol-ryeong was about to respond, hurried footsteps sounded outside.
‘That sound… don’t tell me it’s that useless father?’
The door opened—it was indeed Shim On-seo.
He entered with a dark expression, his usual gentle demeanor gone.
“Father, you’re back,” Wol-ryeong greeted with a smile.
He sat down and said bluntly,
“The marriage is not canceled. Prepare yourself—you will marry in half a year.”
‘What? Wasn’t it supposed to fall apart after that incident?’
Shocked, she asked,
“So soon? Why?”
Something didn’t add up. Prince Go Gyeong-chang wasn’t the type to overlook such matters.
“…Did the Emperor not take issue with what happened before?”
Shim On-seo’s face darkened further.
“How could he not? To preserve this precious marriage, I even offered our family heirloom.”
“Our heirloom? Which one?”
“That’s none of your concern. But remember this—our family has sacrificed a great deal for you. When you become the Princess Consort, you must protect your natal family.”
Frowning, Wol-ryeong replied,
“Wouldn’t it be better to cancel the marriage rather than sacrifice something so valuable?”
She had no attachment to this marriage at all.
Shim On-seo softened slightly.
“At least you have some conscience. But the decision has already been made. Prepare yourself.”
With that, he left.
Wol-ryeong felt a headache coming on. The marriage was now unavoidable. So Myeong-seol and her daughter were still scheming, and Go Gyeong-chang’s personality clashed completely with hers. Even if he was handsome enough to captivate anyone, she had no interest in appearances.
How could she redirect this marriage to someone else?
That night, when she entered the space, the faint fragrance of ripening herbs filled the air.
She rushed to the bamboo house and grabbed a sickle. It was made of an unknown material—neither jade nor iron—but incredibly sharp and cold to the touch.
Most herbs could be pulled out by the roots, but some had to be cut with this tool as specified in the records.
The herb field was about one mu in size—large enough to take an entire day to harvest. Thankfully, her strength had fully recovered, and the effects of the spatial water were evident.
After hanging the last bundle to dry, she stretched—and suddenly noticed a faint glimmer in the soil.
‘What was that?’
Her assassin instincts were faster than thought. She lunged toward it, reaching out—
—but grabbed nothing but dirt.
She was certain she had seen something shine.
After digging frantically for half an hour, she found nothing.
“…Sigh. I’ll give up for now.”
Though disappointed, she refocused. The most important thing now was to create some kind of medicine—whether a cure or a poison.
