Chapter 13 Making Allies

“Ah, that was tiring.”

Cheong stretched and flopped onto the bed.

She had acted confident, but maybe she had been tense without knowing it—her neck, shoulders, arms, and legs all felt stiff.

“But still, I’m glad I’m alive.”

She had worried about what kind of patient she might have to treat.

After all, this wasn’t the world she used to live in, and the patients here weren’t even human.

She could’ve ended up facing a disease she had never seen before.

“I was lucky. Of all things, it was facial paralysis.”

Facial paralysis was something Cheong was confident in treating when she was a traditional Korean doctor.

Plus, she had even used acupuncture needles with Haewon’s divine power. Of course, that was lucky.

As a reward for treating the patient successfully, she saved her life and was even given a better place to stay than before.

Cheong looked around the room while lying down.

This room was bigger than the one she used to stay in.

Before, there was only a simple wooden bed and table, but now there was also a drawer and a window.

Not only was the room bigger and had more furniture, but its location had also changed.

“It’s still a bit far out, but compared to before, it’s a huge improvement.”

Her old place was at the far end of the palace and felt creepy. The new place was just quiet—not scary.

That alone made her happy.

“But if I’m going to treat someone today, I need to know some basic information.”

But there was one problem.

She didn’t know anything about Haewon’s chronic illness.

Of course, she could ask questions during the check-up and figure it out.

But that was the next problem.

“Why did I act like I knew everything?”

When she first met Haewon, she had pretended to know all about his condition.

She had even bragged loudly and provoked the turtle chief. So now she couldn’t suddenly ask basic questions.

“Ugh, whatever! I’ll just not worry for half a sijin (about an hour). Let me rest.”

With that, Cheong rolled around on the soft bed.

She decided to stop thinking for now and just rest.

She needed to save her energy to deal with whatever came her way tonight.

Cheong looked out the window from her bed.

It was amazing to see the waves moving.

At first glance, it looked like the sky, but when she watched closely from far away, the rippling waves reminded her that this place was under the sea.

“I’ve brought your lunch. I’ll come in now.”

While she was rolling around, a court lady’s voice came from outside.

“Wow, the treatment I get now is so different.”

Cheong sat up quickly.

When she was treated like a prisoner, she only got boiled octopus eggs for every meal.

But now, since she was treating the king, she finally got a proper meal.

As Cheong was fixing her messy clothes and hair, the court lady came in with a tray of lunch.

But she suddenly stopped walking.

“…You again?”

Cheong looked up at the familiar voice.

The round eyes and smiley mouth—it was definitely…

“Court Lady Gahwa?”

The one holding the lunch tray was none other than Gahwa.

“It’s nice to see you again!”

“Hah… so this is why everyone pushed this job onto me.”

Even though Cheong greeted her happily, Gahwa just sighed deeply.

Cheong pouted.

“That’s too mean. You could at least pretend to be happy to see me. Am I that bad?”

“It’s not that. I’m just annoyed that they all dumped this job on me.”

It seemed the other court ladies had passed the task to Gahwa.

“What job? Don’t tell me you mean bringing me lunch?”

Cheong looked at the tray Gahwa was holding.

Gahwa shrugged with a bored face.

“Of course that’s what I mean. Serving a lowly human probably feels very humiliating to them.”

Cheong realized she had misunderstood things.

Just because her room was nicer didn’t mean her status in the palace had improved.

She was still treated like dirt.

That made her angry for a moment.

“What’s so humiliating about it? I’m a doctor personally chosen by His Highness.”

“And you’re still hated by Elder Soo.”

Cheong closed her mouth at Gahwa’s sharp reply.

She felt like the path to return to the human world would be really hard.

Even if she got Haewon’s trust, if the ministers opposed her, it would be a headache.

She needed to make allies in the Dragon Palace quickly.

“At least I’m lucky that you’re different from the others.”

Cheong smiled sneakily at her first target.

“I don’t like this either. If I had known you were here, I wouldn’t have come.”

Her first try was already going badly.

Gahwa gave her a look like, “What nonsense are you saying?” and shut down her compliment.

Time to change plans.

“Court Lady, you don’t have any friends, do you?”

“I—I do!”

“Come on, that’s a lie. It’s obvious. That’s why you’re stuck with the jobs no one wants.”

“They’re just jealous because I’m pretty and good at my work.”

Gahwa tilted her chin up proudly.

Cheong could guess why the others gave her all the work.

“That’s your problem. You’re too annoying.”

“What did you just say?!”

“But I like you, Court Lady. That confidence is exactly my type.”

“What do you mean, your type…”

Gahwa glared at Cheong, who was smiling brightly. But she didn’t seem to hate the compliment.

Even though she sounded annoyed, she still placed the lunch tray in front of Cheong herself.

“I really like how kind you are.”

“Hmph, stop talking nonsense and just eat.”

Gahwa crossed her arms and turned her head away.

But she couldn’t hide the red blush on her neck and ears.

“Ah, I was so hungry. It looks delicious.”

Cheong picked up her spoon, pretending not to notice Gahwa’s embarrassment.

The tray had neatly arranged seafood dishes, including octopus eggs.

There weren’t many side dishes, but compared to what she used to eat, this was a feast.

Cheong had learned something after living in the Dragon Palace:

Here, they ate octopus eggs—shaped like tiny rice grains—as a rice substitute.

They would mix the soft octopus eggs with side dishes, and that was their traditional food style.

“Mmm, so good.”

She picked up some grilled fish and smiled in satisfaction.

She wasn’t normally a fan of seafood, but after days of bland food, this tasted amazing.

Just as she was about to eat a piece of squid—

Gulp.

She heard someone swallow. Gahwa was sneaking glances at her food.

“Court Lady, are you hungry?”

“No. Just eat so I can clean up quickly.”

“Okay.”

But Gahwa’s eyes kept following Cheong’s chopsticks.

Cheong ignored her and ate a piece of squid.

“I’m curious. Where do court ladies eat?”

Gahwa blinked in surprise at the sudden question.

“U-Usually, after our master finishes eating, we go to a kitchen corner and eat what’s left.”

“What if you don’t have a master, like you?”

“Then we get food delivered to our rooms during lunch time and eat there.”

That lunch time was oshi—between 11am and 1pm.

If Gahwa went back after clearing Cheong’s food, she’d miss it.

“Ah, there’s a lot of food here, now that I think about it.”

“You were begging for more octopus eggs earlier. What are you talking about now?”

Gahwa laughed at Cheong putting down her chopsticks.

Just a few days ago, Cheong had complained about the small amount of food.

“Guess my stomach shrank from not eating.”

As Gahwa snorted at her silly excuse—

“Then why don’t you eat with me, Court Lady?”

Cheong patted the spot next to her.