Chapter 15
“Pardon?”
Did I hear that right just now? Is my Mongolian still not good enough? I must have misheard.
Who is protecting whom?
“Did I understand correctly? From today, you will be guarding Her Highness?”
“Yes. It is His Majesty the Emperor’s order. Even after returning to the capital, I will continue to guard Seolmae Palace.”
“…Until when?”
“Until His Majesty gives a different command.”
“I… see.”
Was last night’s intruder really that shocking? Wang Seonhwa woke up just fine this morning, so I thought everything was already settled.
Well, if Geopseol stays by her side at all times, both Wang Seonhwa and I can feel at ease… but still, having Cho Jin-roe around all the time feels uncomfortable.
If Jin Su-o had not warned me again and again not to let anyone find out that I practice martial arts, I would not be so nervous. But the thought that Cho Jin-roe might have figured out my identity in some way made me uneasy.
From today on, I won’t even be able to do my night breathing exercises, let alone dawn training! I had just begun to learn how to push inner energy into the hundred meridians.
Still, I couldn’t exactly drive away Cho Jin-roe, who came by imperial order. No—this was something even Wang Seonhwa herself couldn’t do.
“Haha, then please go inside—”
“No. I cannot casually step into Her Highness’s residence. I have informed you, so I will stay outside.”
Stay outside under this blazing sun? Even if the capital is cooler than Daedo, it’s still summer.
Maybe he read the look in my eyes, because Cho Jin-roe spoke first.
“I am not sensitive to heat, so you need not worry.”
What… has he reached the level of being unaffected by heat and cold? Someone like me, who was nowhere near that level, could only run inside to escape the heat.
“Then I’ll go in now. I have work Her Highness entrusted to me…”
“Yes.”
When Wang Seonhwa heard that Cho Jin-roe would be guarding her, she did not look pleased. Rather, she looked annoyed.
“Hah. I suppose they can only feel at ease if they wrap the cage in thorny vines.”
Her tone was sharp. She thought for a moment, then spoke to me in a small voice, as if hesitating.
“Wan-ah, do you think you could sneak out once in a while without him knowing?”
“Sneak out? Um… is there something you need done?”
“Not often. Only when I tell you to. You just need to go meet Gyeonryong for a bit.”
Gyeonryong—that was Jin Su-o. It wouldn’t be bad to see senior brother once in a while. I often had questions whenever I practiced martial arts.
Was she trying to contact Wang A-seon through Jin Su-o… through me?
“I don’t know if I can avoid being noticed, but I’ll try. Even if not secretly, I do go outside sometimes.”
Unlike Wang Seonhwa, who couldn’t go out alone, I was just a maid and could leave without much trouble—though the areas I could go to were limited. If I went out, wouldn’t I find some way to meet him?
It seemed I just had to avoid being seen by Cho Jin-roe. Was she asking me to do something that must not reach the emperor’s ears?
Surely she wouldn’t ask me to do anything dangerous.
“Thank you. I really only have you.”
“It’s nothing.”
It wasn’t such a difficult request. Since entering the palace, I’d noticed that Wang Seonhwa expressed gratitude more easily than other high-ranking ladies. Usually, people didn’t thank you for such small things.
Maybe because of that, everyone working in Seolmae Palace felt sincere. Maids brought from one’s family were often close, but those assigned by the palace were different.
Meeting a good superior mattered, whether in modern times or here. Not that I had work experience—but thinking of Dang Woo-jin, who used to complain about professors, made it obvious.
Come to think of it, I wonder how they’re doing. I thought of friends I had no way to contact anymore. It would be nice if I could make a friend here too.
But in the imperial palace, where everyone lived hiding their true feelings, such connections were hard to come by.
“Really… how would I have lived in this palace without you?”
…Turns out there was someone here even worse than me at making friends. On top of that, she had lost her memories, so she truly had no one to share the past with. No wonder she wanted to contact Wang A-seon.
Still, you never know. Sometimes, friends made in difficult situations are the truest ones.
I did hope Wang Seonhwa would find a new friend she could open her heart to—but I did not mean this person, Buddha.
Mo Yong-biyeon was a crazy main character who might poison Wang Seonhwa at any moment.
Not knowing what I was thinking, Wang Seonhwa was smiling brightly and chatting with Mo Yong-biyeon. The way they laughed together made them look like sisters.
Wait—now that I looked closely, their faces really did resemble each other. Once I noticed how much they looked like blood relatives, Mo Yong-biyeon’s face started to seem strangely unnatural.
Could she be using some kind of human-skin disguise…? No, surely not in the imperial palace. Besides, Mo Yong-biyeon entered the palace before Wang Seonhwa, so it wasn’t like her face suddenly changed to resemble Wang Seonhwa.
If that had happened, the palace would have been in uproar. And Mo Yong-biyeon wasn’t someone who lived without presence—she was the most powerful woman after the Empress.
As I watched them with a troubled expression, Mo Yong-biyeon’s maid, who was standing beside me, tapped my shoulder.
“Hey, how old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“Wow, we’re the same age! What’s your name?”
…Why is she suddenly acting friendly? Since she served Mo Yong-biyeon, I found everything suspicious.
“Shin-wan. And you?”
“Yeon Chae-un.”
“Chae-un?”
That name sounded familiar. Where had I heard it?
“Pretty, right? I didn’t have a name originally, but my lady gave me one when she took me in.”
“Ah.”
As I nodded, something suddenly came to mind.
Chae-un—that was the author name of <Sorijangdo>! There was a similar setting in the novel too. The narrator of Sorijangdo was Mo Yong-biyeon’s maid, but her name was never mentioned.
In the story, Mo Yong-biyeon kept her closest, often speaking to her, yet the protagonist’s name never appeared. It was always just described as “she called me,” without showing what name Mo Yong-biyeon used.
“By any chance… Sorijangdo…?”
“Yes?”
I tested the waters, wondering if she might know about novels or the modern world, but Chae-un only widened her eyes.
“Ah—no, it’s nothing.”
“There are only older sisters in Yeongchun Palace, so it’s been a long time since I met someone my age.”
“I see. Anhwa over there is also our age.”
“Oh my, let’s have tea together sometime.”
I couldn’t tell if she was just happy to meet someone her age, or if she had another motive. Despite my suspicious gaze, Chae-un kept chatting cheerfully.
“You must have passed through Liaoning when coming from Garin, right? Did you stop by Shenyang too?”
“Yes.”
“My lady’s family, the Mo Yong clan, is based in Shenyang…”
“I heard that.”
Even though I gave short answers, worried I might say something I shouldn’t, Chae-un kept talking nonstop.
“In Liaoning, people eat sanxian dishes around this time of year. They’re made with ingredients from the earth, trees, and water—three from each. I used to only eat land-sanxian like amaranth and broad beans, but after entering the clan and serving my lady, I tried all kinds. They were so delicious. If you go to Shenyang again someday, you should try them.”
…None of that was useful information.
As if I, a maid, would ever return to Shenyang.
I listened to Chae-un with an awkward expression. She kept making conversation so earnestly that it felt rude not to respond properly.
“What do people eat in Garin’s capital during summer?”
“Um… naengmyeon?”
She asked how it was made, so I explained roughly. Chae-un clasped her hands in excitement.
“Wow, it sounds delicious. Do they make it sometimes in Cheongsangjeon’s kitchen?”
“No. I haven’t had it here yet.”
After that, the trivial chatter continued. Chae-un seemed to love cooking and kept asking about food. Unlike at first, I tried to respond sincerely.
If she had asked about many different things, I would’ve suspected she was fishing for information. But since she was only enthusiastic about food, I almost felt bad for doubting her.
Maybe I was being too biased, judging someone I barely knew. Nothing had even happened yet.
Maybe Mo Yong-biyeon truly became friends with Wang Seonhwa and wouldn’t poison her. Just like how Chae-un, who moved emotionlessly like Mo Yong-biyeon’s hands and feet in the story, turned out to be a lively girl, perhaps Mo Yong-biyeon herself was different from what I knew.
“In Daedo, aiwowowo is famous—it’s…”
Chae-un had just started explaining excitedly after my first question, when Cho Jin-roe, who had been standing below the pavilion, came up.
“The Prince Yanggang of Garin, His Highness the Crown Prince, has arrived.”
