The Young Consort Wants to Live Quietly

Chapter 1

***

The feasts of the Kingdom of Seora were more splendid than those of any other nation. The smell of oil was overpoweringly strong. My ears ached from the sound of the music, and the dazzling jewelry of the people shimmering under the sunlight nearly blinded me. Yet among all these, the most splendid was my own attire. Quality red silk densely embroidered with peonies. Skirts layered and puffed. Hair elaborately coiffed atop a wig frame, makeup so thick it scented the air around my nose. The finery was so burdensome that I let out a small breath. It was a tiny sigh, but even that was noticed, and a maid scowled at me.

“Miss Sanya, how can you sigh so thoughtlessly when you are about to become a consort of Her Majesty the Empress?”

Right, I thought. I’m to be the Empress’s consort starting today, and yet how dare you speak so insolently to me? And to call my sigh frivolous. That’s like calling a hot Americano scalding cold. Instead of responding, I sighed again. The reality I was faced with still felt so alien to me.

Sanya Yeoran.

The youngest daughter of the Yeoran family. Now eight years old, sold off like property to become a consort to the Empress. And a supporting character in a reverse-harem novel. It’s almost a given that such a character would be “miserably murdered.”

And now, that’s me.

A third sigh escaped my lips.

* * *

There’s this reverse-harem novel. Its content wasn’t all that special. An Empress as the female lead and her consorts as the male leads. The novel highlighted the jealous infighting among the male leads and the indifferent female lead who showed no change in emotion. However, there was a supporting character who appeared occasionally throughout the story.

Sanya.

A child among the Empress’s female consorts, not even bearing the imperial surname. She was young and cunning, but desperate for affection. Sanya clung to the Empress, the first to ever treat her kindly. To gain her attention, she became pitiful, then clever, and sometimes even wicked.

The problem was that her actions excessively diverted the male leads’ attention away from the female lead, and the male leads in this novel were much smarter than a mere eight-year-old. Ultimately, at the age of twelve, Sanya was executed for treason.

Readers of the novel didn’t pay much attention to Sanya. She was just a fleeting supporting character, and by the latter half of the novel, readers were tired of her increasing misdeeds.

And I was the same.

“…If only I hadn’t been possessed into Sanya in this novel.”

Why her, of all characters? I felt deeply troubled.

“What a pity.”

The line that one of the male leads, Consort Mirinae, said when Sanya died suddenly came to mind. It would still be four years, but if the story goes as it originally did, I would die in four years. The thought sent a chill down my spine, and I shuddered.

“Lift your head.”

Just then, a dignified voice filled the banquet hall. At that moment, the music and laughter stopped abruptly.

I obediently lifted my head, meeting a pair of cool, jade-green eyes.

On the highest platform, seated on the throne, was a woman with black hair. Her golden ceremonial robe and crown were dazzling.

Yehwa Aryun. The Empress of this country. And the female protagonist of this novel.

Her eyes widened upon seeing me.

She would now rise and stride towards me.

My prediction was spot on. The Empress immediately stood up and descended the high steps swiftly.

The consorts—namely, the male leads—who were beside her tried to stop her, but to no avail.

The Empress kneeled before me, causing an instant uproar. It was an attempt to meet my eye level, but the mere fact that the Empress kneeled was shocking enough.

“Your, Your Majesty!”

“How old are you?”

Ignoring the startled inquiries of her attendants, she asked me directly.

I bowed my head respectfully and replied.

“I turned eight last month.”

In truth, I was well over twenty.

“Really…”

A grinding sound of teeth followed.

I understood her bewildered feelings. Yes, she knew a female consort was coming, but she probably didn’t expect the girl to be merely eight years old.

The Yeoran family, Sanya’s lineage, was one of the seven founding families that established the Kingdom of Seora.

Blessed by the dragons, these seven families inherited strong supernatural powers through their bloodline, stood at the pinnacle of power, enjoyed many privileges, but naturally, they also bore heavy responsibilities.

One of these was the obligation to offer a consort to the Empress upon his accession to the throne.

It was one thing if it was the Empress, but a consort whose status could be as insignificant as the twelfth or even a hundredth in line was a different matter. Offering a child, who could otherwise be used to continue the family line or be married off for political alliances, was a bitter pill for these families to swallow.

Of course, if a child caught the Empress’s favor with their outstanding beauty and became the father of the crown prince or was used as a spy, it could be advantageous. However, the likelihood of that happening was generally close to zero.

In a way, that was to be expected.

Just as the supporting character ‘Sanya’ who opposed the male leads died, the idea of the Empress being loved by everyone was merely wishful thinking.

Sending someone to gather information, only for them to end up completely devoted to the Empress, offering their heart and soul, was the last thing these families wanted when sending a consort.

The current head of the Yeoran family, Giyun Yeoran, thought the same.

Therefore, he intended to send the weakest child, but the problem was, perhaps as a blessing or a curse, there were no children with weak supernatural powers in this generation of the Yeoran family.

Unable to send anyone of value to the palace, he found a forgotten illegitimate child. The child closely resembled him but was devoid of any supernatural powers.

As if he had never hesitated, Giyun Yeoran sent Sanya off to the imperial palace without a second thought.

He feigned tears of grief for sending off his well-raised youngest daughter, while securing his interests and filling his pockets.

Until then, the Empress, believing he was resentfully offering his daughter after much hesitation, now realizes that the Yeoran family’s consort is merely eight years old.

“Rise.”

Lost in my thoughts, I lifted my head at the Empress’s voice. In her eyes, I saw a mix of bewilderment, compassion, and guilt. It was a very reasonable reaction.

After all, I had been kneeling in this uncomfortable ceremonial dress for two hours.

Having been made to kneel in the center of the banquet hall the entire time, realizing now how young the girl actually was, it was a situation warranting enough guilt.

Of course, if it had been a typical tyrant Empress, they wouldn’t have cared whether she was young or not, but the emperors of Seora were all beings of profound moral integrity, and this era’s Empress, Yehwa Aryun, was no different.

She disliked the disobedient Yeoran family, but she did not extend that resentment to a child.

Without any further comment, I got up at her command. Or rather, I tried to.

“…Ugh.”

Staggering.

As soon as I stood up, my body swayed. My legs were numb from kneeling for so long. To be more honest, I couldn’t feel my legs at all. Because of this, I quickly built up a fragile image, and biting my lip in frustration, I tried my best to support myself. However, my body falling and the Empress catching me happened faster than I could manage.

“Are you alright?”

Ah, damn it. I cursed inwardly while looking into the Empress’s surprised eyes, filled with unmistakable kindness. I shifted my gaze from her to the consorts behind her, and our eyes met instantly.

“Shit.”

The Sanya I had become had already been murdered once for seeking the Empress’s favor. Therefore, I had to avoid catching the Empress’s attention as much as possible. But just now, it was truly unavoidable. With no feeling in my legs, how could I stand firm?

And because of that, I had the “honor” of being supported by Her Majesty the Empress, and at the cost of that support, I immediately caught the attention of the Empress’s consorts.

“…I will send a doctor to your quarters.”

Even in this situation, the benevolent Empress offered this. The kindness was not at all welcome. Would you please pay attention to your husbands who are glaring at me as if they want to kill me from behind you?

But of course, I couldn’t just say that to the Empress’s face, so I gently removed my hand from the Empress’s arm with a forced smile.

“I’m fine. It was just a momentary stagger.”

That was a lie. I was not fine at all. Although standing had restored some feeling to my legs, they were now tingling horribly. I would undoubtedly walk like a wooden puppet later.

But my response was perfect, and the Empress hesitated in front of me. She seemed unable to simply overlook her mistake.

“…You may return to your quarters. I won’t make an issue of this.”

A double-edged blessing.

That was my thought on her kindness. Believe it or not, today’s main characters were the Empress and me, it being our wedding banquet, after all.

In this banquet, I was thoroughly ignored, or rather, insulted.

My legs hurt, but I didn’t really care. In fact, I preferred it. If I completely disappeared from their memories like this, the male leads wouldn’t pay me any mind.

However, the problem was that I knew the Empress would ask me to lift my head to see “what kind of person” I was and would feel guilty upon realizing I was just a child.

In the original story, Sanya heavily emphasized her frailty and sobbed.

Feeling guilty again, the Empress would visit Sanya’s quarters that night to apologize and, at Sanya’s request, asking if she could stay by her side to ward off nightmares, would comfort the child and spend the night there.

Naturally, the male leads wouldn’t just sit back and watch.

They started to keep Sanya in check for stealing the Empress’s attention from them, and Sanya blatantly showed her teeth to them. It was the beginning of a disaster.

So, why is the Empress’s order to leave the banquet problematic?

As I mentioned, today was my wedding banquet. As the protagonist, I was supposed to stay until the end, but the Empress’s kindness was shown. It meant I could potentially receive her favor.

In fact, it could mean I had gained her favor in the shortest time ever. Until now, no other consort had caught the Empress’s eye from the first day of their marriage.

The proof was the intense scrutiny from the consorts.

So, it ends up like this on the first day.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Without adding anything further, I replied cleanly and turned around, hoping my creaky steps would be concealed by the thick ceremonial gown and that the Empress wouldn’t embarrassingly have to support me again.