CHAPTER~07
Su-ryeon’s face darkened as she recalled the events from earlier.
Lee Jun spoke first.
“I heard about what happened at the hospital.”
“…….”
“You said there was a problem with the name sent by Empress Dowager Min?”
“……Yes. I was hoping this could be discussed at the royal meeting.”
Lee Jun let out a short sigh at Su-ryeon’s request and replied.
“You must not be at odds with Empress Dowager Min.”
And, as expected.
The words from her father were not comforting—they were a reprimand.
Frustration surged through Su-ryeon, and she spoke.
“You know what Empress Dowager Min was planning to do to my daughter, and you say that? This child is your granddaughter before she is a princess.”
Lee Jun shifted his gaze briefly to the baby Su-ryeon was holding and responded.
“I know. But even so, openly clashing with Empress Dowager Min would not benefit Her Majesty the Empress.”
His tone was colder than one might expect from a father speaking to his daughter.
“Inside the palace, you must be like the tongue in the mouth—pliant. As soon as you can move freely, go and greet Empress Dowager Min first.”
Su-ryeon’s eyebrows twitched at her father’s advice to approach the Empress Dowager first.
“You even canceled the welcoming ceremony for the baby, didn’t you? That’s practically a protest against Empress Dowager Min herself.”
“…….”
“That Secretary Jo will soon be leaving the palace. I spoke with Empress Dowager Min to have it done quietly, without the royal meeting.”
This meant that the Empress Dowager had no influence over the matter.
“So Her Majesty the Empress should first greet Empress Dowager Min upon entering the palace.”
Su-ryeon remained silent.
Her father’s advice was correct.
The Empress, who had not borne a son, had a precarious position; she could ill afford to fall out of favor with Empress Dowager Min, the de facto ruler.
‘But Father, she tried to kill me. She tried to kill me and my daughter because of this forced marriage.’
Su-ryeon swallowed the words she could not speak.
There was no point telling her father about past events; he would neither believe her nor could it change anything.
Her expression darkened.
Lee Jun handed over a piece of paper from his bosom after a short sigh.
“What is this……?”
“Naming princesses or royal daughters usually falls under the Department of Internal Affairs, but I brought it in case it helps Her Majesty the Empress choose a name.”
Su-ryeon carefully set the baby down in her cradle and opened the paper.
[Yi Sahee (이사희 / 李洗凞)]
The characters mean pure and bright.
It was a name meant to embody the meaning of growing up rightly.
Suddenly, memories of the past resurfaced.
‘Right, it was Father who first noticed that “Lee Young” was a bad name before.’
Without her father’s help, renaming the princess would have been difficult.
It was also her father who gave her the name Sahee before her reincarnation.
As old memories returned, Su-ryeon asked something she had not thought to ask before.
“But where did this name come from?”
She wondered if he had consulted a famous expert in naming or geomancy.
“……It was given by the late Lady Tae.”
Su-ryeon looked up in surprise.
“By Mother……?”
“When she was alive, Her Majesty the Empress entrusted me to give this to the princess when she was born.”
Su-ryeon’s grip on the paper tightened, feeling the pangs of missing her mother who had never seen her wedding.
Her eyes reddened as she thought of her mother.
Lee Jun, having completed his task, rose from his seat.
Su-ryeon placed the paper down and said.
“At least hold her once. She’s your first granddaughter.”
“I met many people before coming here. I’ll come back later so as not to burden the baby with anything unpleasant.”
After saying this, Lee Jun left the room, and Su-ryeon whispered to herself.
“Please, drink less. Think of your health now.”
As soon as he left, Su-ryeon let the tears she had been holding back fall.
“Mother…….”
She held the letter her mother had left for her close to her chest.
“If only you were still alive, Mother. I want to see how you would have cared for Sahee.”
The longing for her already-deceased mother overwhelmed her as she gently wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
—
The Jagyeongjeon, located in the northwest of Injeongjeon, was the residence of Empress Dowager Min, Lee Jun’s mother.
The pine trees surrounding Jagyeongjeon remained green year-round.
Having been discharged from the hospital, Su-ryeon headed straight to Jagyeongjeon, leaving the baby with the nanny without taking time to rest.
Originally, there should have been a small welcoming ceremony for the princess.
However, Empress Dowager Min had said Su-ryeon’s body was not yet fully recovered, so it was canceled.
Without turning her head, Min, polishing orchids, muttered.
“I wondered when Her Majesty the Empress would come to see me.”
An indirect rebuke for staying too long at the hospital.
“I’m sorry. My movements are still limited, so I came late.”
“That’s fortunate. I thought you might be upset with me for some reason.”
Su-ryeon apologized, and Min finally gestured for her to come closer.
She seemed to be looking for someone.
“You came alone? I thought you’d bring your granddaughter.”
Even though it was in the same palace, she could not have brought a baby barely 20 days old.
‘So she’s criticizing me for coming alone.’
Empress Dowager Min had always found ways to pick on Su-ryeon.
Su-ryeon smothered a laugh at her mother-in-law’s unchanged behavior.
“The baby can’t go outside yet, so I left her to take a nap in the quarters.”
“Even so, it’s the palace. How hard can it be?”
Min briefly clicked her tongue and set down the towel she was using to wipe orchids.
“Anyway, good timing. I was just about to show you something.”
She gestured to Chief Secretary Han, who handed Su-ryeon a bundle of documents.
“What’s this……?”
“These are the shortlisted candidates for the nanny supervisors.”
Su-ryeon’s eyebrows twitched.
She had known that Empress Dowager Min would select the nanny supervisor, but she had not expected the candidates to have been shortlisted already.
“……Nanny supervisor candidates?”
“Yes. You went through so much during childbirth that I took it upon myself to find hidden talents for you.”
Outwardly, it seemed she was helping her daughter-in-law, but it was meant to suppress Su-ryeon’s authority.
‘I, as head of the Department of Internal Affairs, should select the nanny supervisor. This is blatant overreach.’
Moreover, the child to be cared for was the princess herself.
‘It makes no sense that I cannot select who takes care of my own child.’
Even more concerning to Su-ryeon was the speed at which the selection was being done.
‘Why so soon?’
Originally, the selection would occur after she had been back in the palace for about a month.
Was this accelerated timeline because of the incident at the hospital?
As Su-ryeon’s thoughts tangled, Empress Dowager Min spoke again.
“Take a look. You’ll surely like someone here.”
Under Min’s urging, Su-ryeon reluctantly began to examine the resumes.
As expected, the first person she saw was Kim Jeong-ah.
Before reincarnation, she had been the woman who caused the death of Su-ryeon’s daughter.
