Chapter 5……
“Y-Your Highness!”
“Speak truthfully.”
“She… she went to the storage.”
“The storage?”
“I’ve never been taken there myself, so I don’t know exactly, but I heard that sometimes when she scolds the palace maids… it’s just a little walk past the north gate of the Crown Prince’s quarters.”
The Crown Prince stared at the young maid for a moment before withdrawing his sword. With a glance at the royal guards, one nodded and immediately vanished toward the storage.
“Deal with this girl according to palace law.”
In a detached voice, he handed the maid over to the chief court lady, then followed after the guards. The nurse hesitated, wondering if she should return to their chambers.
“Paah! Gaah!”
But with Hong-ah’s continued fussing, she quietly followed after the Crown Prince.
Though the Prince had never been to the place the maid mentioned, he roughly knew where it was.
He prayed desperately. Please, let it be nothing serious. Please, let nothing disastrous have happened.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
The guards who had already arrived were lighting up the front of the storage. The Prince strode forward without hesitation.
“You wicked woman! Beating you to death isn’t enough!”
“Aahhh!”
Alarming sounds came from inside. At the Prince’s signal, the guards flung open the door.
“Did I not say I was not to be disturbed!”
At the sudden flood of light, a sharp voice lashed out. The woman, sweating as she raged, turned pale when she recognized who stood beyond the light.
“Y-Your Highness!”
“What do you think you’re doing!”
It was, without doubt, the loudest, most furious voice ever heard from the Crown Prince.
At the sudden appearance of her husband, the wooden club she held clattered to the ground. With a dull thud, the Prince advanced, his gaze cold as he fixed it on Lady Sunbin.
The scene was appalling. A woman lay collapsed on the ground, a sack covering her head and shoulders. Several maids, who had been holding her legs down to prevent escape, scrambled back in fear.
The Prince knelt and pulled the sack off the woman’s upper body himself.
Thankfully, the nurse had stopped several paces behind. She instinctively raised her hand to cover Hong-ah’s eyes. The child could see nothing, but every sound rang clear.
“Her Ladyship is bleeding!”
Voices rose in a flurry. Ladyship, blood, skirt, legs—the words blurred together. Amidst them, the nurse gasped, and the shock carried straight to Hong-ah.
The Crown Prince’s face hardened as he gave swift orders.
“Move Seunghwi at once and summon a physician. Confine Lady Sunbin, and lock away every maid of the Crown Princess’s quarters.”
Snapping out of her daze, Lady Sunbin desperately clung to his arm.
“Y-Your Highness, please hear me out!”
“What exactly am I supposed to hear!”
The Prince, who had been keeping his composure, exploded at her plea.
“You’ve beaten a person into a pulp, and you think you have an excuse?”
Shrinking at his fury, Sunbin quickly pressed on while he paused for breath.
“Am I not the mistress of the Crown Prince’s household? I was merely disciplining a subordinate.”
“What?”
“If I went too far, I will repent. But this falls within my authority.”
“You—!”
The always composed Crown Prince’s face flushed crimson with rage. He raised his voice once more.
“Send the Crown Princess back to her chambers immediately! No one is to enter or leave!”
He refused to even look at Lady Sunbin again, as though the very sight of her sickened him.
Meanwhile, Lady Kwon was carried away on the back of the chief court lady of the Crown Prince’s quarters.
Only after the chaos settled did the Crown Prince realize Hong-ah had been present the whole time. With a stricken expression, he glanced at his daughter, then breathed in relief when he saw the nurse’s hand covering her eyes.
After a sigh, he quickly sent Hong-ah back to Yeonggyeong Hall.
Once there, the nurse tucked her straight into bed. Even without seeing clearly, the dreadful scene was enough. She hoped the child would simply forget and fall asleep. But Hong-ah couldn’t sleep so easily.
Blood.
She had heard someone say blood was flowing from her mother’s legs. It couldn’t have been just bruises.
Blood… from below? That wasn’t normal. Being beaten couldn’t have caused that.
“The physician has been urgently called.”
The nursemaid’s voice came from the doorway. She had sent another maid to Lady Seunghwi’s quarters for news. Hong-ah perked her ears.
“It seems certain she is hemorrhaging.”
“How could such a thing happen? Ah, the poor Lady Seunghwi…”
The nurse’s lament reached her, but Hong-ah knew who the true cause was. Sunbin had wielded the club, yes, but the reason…
If only I hadn’t insisted on having Mother sit beside Father.
No matter that she was a girl—she was still royal blood. No one would have dared harm the Crown Prince’s only daughter. But a low-ranked consort like her mother was an easy target. And Sunbin could claim her right as the principal wife to discipline her.
No one in the Crown Prince’s household knew Mother was pregnant. It was certain Sunbin had not known either.
But ignorance was no absolution. She had dragged Seunghwi out of bed, beaten her, and now the royal heir was lost.
“They say His Majesty is enraged. The Head Court Lady herself came to check on Lady Seunghwi’s condition.”
“Is Her Ladyship alright?”
“The physicians and female doctors come and go, but no one will say for certain.”
What if she didn’t survive?
Fear clutched Hong-ah’s chest. What if her small selfish wish—her petty whim—dragged her mother to death, just as it had cost her a sibling?
It’s all my fault.
Having always been alone, Hong-ah was painfully sensitive to partings. Even a trivial argument with a friend or a minor quarrel with her father would leave her blaming herself. It was the only way she knew to ease the sting of distance.
Of course, her anger toward Sunbin boiled over too.
That woman, who had lorded over Seunghwi as the official wife, never once came to see Hong-ah, not even to acknowledge her existence. And now, this monstrous birthday gift.
Yet the deeper cause… was still herself.
She could imagine how Sunbin must have seethed—resenting that a mere daughter basked in such affection, mocking a concubine’s child for daring to enjoy her father’s favor, and in the end, raging at the thought that she coveted the lofty place of Crown Princess.
I only wished, just once on my birthday, for Mother to stand by Father’s side…
Because the birthday was hers, yes—but it was also Mother’s.
Hong-ah sank into darkness. Always the same conclusion: shut herself in, build walls, and let no cracks remain.
That was Kwon Hong-ah’s life. And as long as those memories endured, Yi Hong-ah’s life would be no different.
Her eyes grew hot. Tears welled without her noticing and spilled down her cheeks.
“My lady?”
The nurse, coming to check on her, gasped and hurried over. She gathered the child into her arms, gently patting her back.
“Why do you weep so? Are you worried for your mother?”
But the more she tried to soothe, the harder the tears flowed.
“Don’t worry. Her Ladyship will be fine. With you worrying so dearly, she will surely recover.”
Ah… I am not truly alone.
The nurse’s warmth gave a small comfort. Yet it pierced deeper too, until Hong-ah could no longer hold back the urge to cry aloud.
“Huwaaah!”
At last, the little mouth released a wail. She had been so quiet and patient until now, never throwing tantrums—so the sudden outburst startled the nurse.
“You were so frightened, weren’t you? Soon, good news will come. So please, don’t cry anymore.”
The nurse rocked her gently, but Hong-ah’s red-rimmed eyes poured endless tears. That night, sobs echoed without cease through Yeonggyeong Hall.
Good news, however, did not come quickly. For three days now, Mother had not opened her eyes.
Some said it was from the blood loss, others that it was the shock of losing the baby. The physicians agreed she was fortunate to have been found before it was too late.
The nurse carried Hong-ah to Lady Kwon’s quarters two or three times each day. Though her mistress lay deathly pale and still, she believed it was her duty.
And Hong-ah too found solace in at least seeing her mother’s condition.
But every time she saw her face, the dreadful sounds echoed again in her ears. Thinking of her mother, beaten senseless in that dark, narrow storage, brought fresh tears.
So each visit ended with Hong-ah crying herself to sleep.
“Hong-ah is here.”
“Your Highness.”
The Crown Prince entered, his face heavy. He glanced at the sleeping child and asked the nurse:
“Did she cry again today?”
The story of Hong-ah’s sobbing had already spread through the palace. The quiet, gentle girl, said to be the very image of her mother, had never cried so loudly since the day of her birth.
It embarrassed her in some way, but as an infant she had no way of stopping such rumors.
In truth, the gossip even helped her. People pitied her more—if even such a mild child had wailed herself faint.
Even Lady Hong Seunghwi and Lady Jeong Seunghwi, with whom she’d had little contact before, came several times at the Crown Prince’s request to watch over her until she slept.
“Yes, but she seems calmer than at first.”
“I see. Thank heavens. If something had happened to Hong-ah too, I would have had no face left to meet her eyes when she wakes.”
The Crown Prince understood well. Though he had not admitted it, all signs pointed back to the incident at the birthday feast.
