The Young Consort Wants to Live Quietly

Chapter 5

***

Yehwa let out a sigh and then gave permission to enter. One of the palace maids attending to Sanya approached quietly without making a sound.

“Everything is ready.”

That preparation was for the first night with Sanya. Naturally, there was no intention to lay a finger on the child’s body, but Yehwa furrowed her brows, feeling unjustly vile.

“Anything unusual?”

“There were no bruises, but there are slight scars remaining.”

Hearing this, the creases in Yehwa’s brows deepened. It was an unspoken rule to meticulously manage a consort before they were brought to the Emperor.

No, it was not just about that. Sanya was said to be the youngest daughter raised with utmost care in the Yeoran family. Naturally, they would not have touched her, and they would have tried to erase any scars that were previously there. Yet, the fact that scars faintly remained meant…

Yehwa bit her lip. But that was only for a moment, then she rose from her seat with an expressionless face.

“I will go to Floral West Palace.”

She left without saying anything else, going to Sanya’s palace, unaware that her thoughts had shifted from suspicion to compassion.

* * *

I absentmindedly watched the clear alcohol being poured into the cup across from me. It was for the Empress and her consort, placed on the table prepared for them.

And there I was, being served wine by the Empress herself. Though I hadn’t refrained from trying to pour the wine myself, the Empress stopped me with a simple gesture.

“Dare I even…” I thought to show more respect, but then I just gave up on the idea.

After all, there was no one watching, and there was no need for such formalities. The Empress wasn’t so heartless as to reprimand a child for such a minor issue.

A consort not serving wine, what would she do? I just sat quietly, looking down.

The table set for the Empress and her consort was interesting just to look at.

‘Mostly fruits.’

It seemed to be a snack for the late hour. Sweets, a little bit of confectionery, fruit, fruit, fruit…

‘Is that dragon fruit?’

The shape studded with seeds was exactly like dragon fruit, but it was yellow. I squinted to see what fruit it was when the Empress casually remarked,

“Eat.”

At those words, I unwittingly opened my eyes wide.

Was she watching?

But then I acknowledged it. The Empress, at the beginning, is quite kind to Sanya.

Guilt for having made her kneel without knowing she was a child, sympathy for her being too young, but above all, suspicion towards the Yeoran family. Because of this, the Empress shows an appropriate amount of affection to Sanya.

It was out of pity for Sanya but also with the thought of using her.

The youngest daughter of the Yeoran family, locked away at home. The scars on the child’s body suggested she wasn’t loved, but perhaps she was instead a well-trained spy.

It was a rather cruel thought, intending to unravel the heart of a young child.

Of course, that ends after the Empress realizes Sanya truly wants to escape that household and is sincere in her loyalty.

As for Sanya—

“Haah.”

My train of thought was interrupted by a sigh from the Empress. I was startled out of my reverie and shivered.

It was a purely reflexive response, but the Empress seemed even more perturbed by my reaction. Struggling to hide her expression, she finally spoke,

“…It wasn’t my intention to threaten.”

Of course, that would be the case. Your mind must be full of ideas on how to deal with me.

I thought so and quietly bowed my head.

“It’s okay. It was my insensitivity that caused it.”

I apologized and then blinked. Wait, hold on. I just realized I had committed a tremendous rudeness.

The Empress had ordered me to eat. Naturally, I should have complied. Yet, I didn’t, and on top of that, I received an apology.

I glanced at the Empress, guessing from her earlier apology that she wouldn’t punish me.

And as I expected, she didn’t punish me. Instead, she began placing fruits and sweets on the plate in front of me.

“This is yumilgwa. This is yugwa. This is saengyo, and this is…”

I was bewildered by the assortment of confections that kept piling up on my plate.

What is this, a punishment?

Regardless of my confusion, the Empress continued to stack sweets on my plate. Finally, when it was piled up as high as a mountain to the point no more could fit, she clicked her tongue as if displeased and said,

“Eat.”

I made a face that couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. I was truly grateful for her care, but I couldn’t possibly eat all of it.

Of the names the Empress mentioned, I only recognized yumilgwa, which I understood to be a labor-intensive traditional Korean sweet. I remembered it because I had seen a video where its layered appearance, similar to pastry, was impressive.

But the rest of the names were all new to me. What were saengyo and yugwa?

Besides not wanting to eat something unknown, the original Sanya before I possessed her had been strictly diet-controlled due to many days of starvation, leading to weakened organs. She was unhealthily thin, and although they tried to make her gain weight by forcing her to eat, they had to stop after it caused significant issues.

Eating so much at this time would surely lead to trouble.

However, I couldn’t just not eat something the Empress had personally picked for me, so I picked up the chopsticks.

Because it was the first thing placed on my plate by the Empress, the yumilgwa was at the very bottom. I really wanted to try it since it was the only one I knew by name.

Okay. The goal is the yumilgwa. I can eat all of it.

With that resolve, I picked up a piece of fruit from the top. It was a purple fruit, resembling a grape, and felt slightly squishy to the touch.

What was its name again… Jaepyun?

I pondered briefly before putting it directly into my mouth and chewing. Like an orange, the fruit burst with juice. It was slightly sweet, tart—

“Sour!”

“Cough!”

I inhaled sharply in surprise, which caused me to cough. Because of that, the bitter juice sprayed out of my nose, feeling like it burst through my nostrils and dribbled over my hand covering my mouth.

Ah. How embarrassing. And it hurts and tastes bitter.

The simplest way to express my situation was just that, and I was too flustered by these three reasons to explain further. I was trying to suppress my coughing as much as possible when suddenly, there was a thud, and the chair fell over.

Crash—!

Or did it break?

“Call the royal physician! Poi—”

“No!”

I grabbed the Empress, forgetting my pain at her thunderous voice. The Empress, who seemed about to dash off immediately, paused at my touch.

“It’s not poison, cough. It’s not poisoning. Ahem. I’m fine.”

I said that with a scratchy throat. The Empress examined me with bewildered eyes, confirming that there was no blood on my lips or hands.

“Then why….”

To that bewildered face, I rolled my eyes.

What I had eaten looked like a grape but tasted more like a grapefruit, only a bit more bitter, and to my childish palate, that fruit tasted incredibly bitter.

As I was trying to figure out how to summarize this, urgent footsteps were heard outside.

“Your Majesty!”

At that moment, the door burst open as if it was going to break, and a long-haired man rushed in. It felt like déjà vu, a very similar situation to earlier in the day.

Of course, the difference was that the person who had entered earlier did so leisurely and arrogantly, while this time, it was in a hurry.

Having heard ‘Poi—’, the quick-witted palace maids must have understood it as poisoning and hurriedly brought the royal physician. I glanced at his face only briefly before bowing my head again.

With my head slightly bowed, I saw fluttering platinum hair in front of my eyes.

“…Oh.”

At that moment, I forgot I was in front of the Empress and abruptly lifted my head, prompted by the sight of the long, platinum blonde hair.

Platinum blonde. That was the one hair color that absolutely should not appear in this situation. Red, black, green—all could be, but platinum blonde was off-limits.

Regrettably, my eyes filled with the sight of that radiant platinum blonde hair. It was so long it went beyond the waist, its color not losing its brilliance even in this room bathed in red hues.

“Your Highness!”

Oh, no.

One of the kind palace maids ended up confirming the worst. My mouth gaped open in dismay when those trembling, bright red eyes turned towards me.

Meeting eyes with those whose pupils were elongated vertically, I hurriedly bowed my head.

Did he see? Did he notice?

I desperately hoped he hadn’t realized I had looked him in the eyes. I didn’t want to add another reason to my demise.

But our eyes had already met.

My mind went blank. It wasn’t filled with the sight of his sculpted face or the fact that he, always perfect and elegant, had rushed here in his nightwear just upon hearing the word “poison.

The only thought occupying my mind was that I had looked into his eyes.

Eyes as red as blood. Pupils thin like those of a reptile. Those eyes were frightening, but that wasn’t the issue.

The problem was that this was the secret Consort Mirinae was hiding!

“Your Highness. You dropped your eye patch.”

“…Thank you.”

The voice of the palace maid I had heard earlier came again. Mirinae responded with a subdued voice. Unlike his hurried entrance, he seemed much calmer now that he had verified the Empress’s safety.

…And it was painfully clear he was sharpening his metaphorical blade in another direction.

He saw. Our eyes did meet.

Ah, damn it.