Chapter 25: An Absurd Royal Order

Cheong and Gahwa both turned their heads toward the sound at the same time.

A large man stood there.

Judging by his blue robe and the white apron over it, he seemed to be a low-ranking physician.

“Uh, hello…”

As their gazes fell on him, he looked embarrassed and stammered a bit, his face flushing red.

Because of his tall height and large build, Cheong had initially assumed he was older, but his round and cute face made him seem much younger than expected.

He looked like he had just reached adulthood.

‘He reminds me of something…’

Cheong squinted and studied his face carefully.

His thick eyebrows, as if someone had chopped off half of them, and his large round black eyes looked oddly familiar.

His eyes were so big that there was barely any white showing.

“A seal!”

Cheong was so lost in thought that she accidentally said what she was thinking out loud.

Just as she realized her mistake and quickly covered her mouth—

“H-How did you know? That my family is from the Seal Clan…”

The man looked at Cheong in surprise.

“Uh, just… I could tell.”

How was she supposed to explain that?

It was just obvious at a glance.

Cheong glossed over it and quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, you said you’d help us?”

“Oh!”

As if he had just remembered, the man exclaimed and spoke to Cheong.

“You need medicinal herbs, right?”

“Yes. But the person in charge is on leave, so we were told we can’t take anything out.”

Just thinking about that ridiculous excuse made her angry all over again.

“So I was planning to go speak with the chief physician.”

The man looked at Cheong with concern.

“First, follow me.”

He motioned with his eyes for Cheong and Gahwa to come with him, then turned and started walking.

After leaving the Royal Medical Bureau (Ja-uiwon), Cheong walked to a secluded spot before taking out the bundle she had hidden in her clothes.

A faint bitter scent drifted from the coarse hemp pouch.

It was filled with medicinal herbs, a gift from the man she had met at the Ja-uiwon a short while ago.

He had said they were just leftovers used for study, so there weren’t many, and the types were limited — but to Cheong, they were incredibly helpful.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t even ask his name.”

He had handed her the herbs and left in a hurry, so all Cheong managed to do was thank him.

She hadn’t had the chance to ask his name, what kind of work he did at the Ja-uiwon, or anything else.

“This could’ve been a great opportunity to make a connection…”

Cheong clicked her tongue in disappointment.

No one had told her, but she could easily guess that the person who had ordered her access to the herbs to be restricted was Byeoljubu.

That’s why she needed to make allies within the Ja-uiwon — and fast.

But today, she had let that opportunity slip through her fingers.

‘Next time, I’ll make sure to talk to him properly.’

As Cheong walked while lost in thought, Gahwa suddenly stopped and pointed ahead.

“Isn’t that your residence over there?”

Following the direction of her finger, Cheong nodded.

“Yes, that’s my place.”

The familiar pavilion visible in the distance was indeed Cheong’s residence.

“Then why is there such a commotion around it?”

Now that she looked more closely, Cheong saw palace maids dressed in blue jackets and violet skirts — like Gahwa’s — bustling around the area.

“Let’s go take a look.”

Cheong took the lead and headed toward her quarters.

But the closer she got, the more confused she became.

“Ma’am, what should we do with this?”

One maid held out the clothes Cheong had worn when she first arrived at the underwater palace after falling into the Indangsu and asked the head court lady.

“Take everything from inside. Don’t leave a single thing behind — not even the trash.”

“Yes, understood.”

The maids, under the head court lady’s direction, were going in and out of the pavilion, loading items onto carts.

But the items were all Cheong’s belongings.

“What on earth are you doing?!”

Cheong, stunned, ran forward in shock.

Not only had they entered her quarters without permission, but they were also touching her things without asking.

Even though she hadn’t brought much with her when she arrived at the underwater palace, it was still infuriating.

“Oh, you’re finally here.”

The head court lady greeted her without so much as a blink, acting as if nothing was wrong.

“You were taking so long, so we started packing your things ahead of time.”

Her tone implied she was doing Cheong a favor rather than apologizing, which was outrageous.

Cheong felt a heat rising from deep within.

“What I’m asking is — why are you packing someone else’s things without their permission?!”

She snapped at the insolent head court lady.

Until now, she had endured unfair treatment because she was merely a lowly human.

But now, she was officially appointed as a royal physician, someone who received the king’s salary — she had no reason to put up with this anymore.

Yet the answer that came back was completely unexpected.

“We were only following His Majesty’s royal command to relocate your quarters near the main hall.”

“I’ll go verify that with His Majesty myself.”

Without another word, Cheong turned and ran out of the residence.

She told Gahwa to keep an eye on the court ladies and stop them from moving anything further, then set out alone.

“A royal command to move near the main hall? This has to be a mistake.”

Cheong walked quickly, repeatedly turning over the head court lady’s words in her mind.

At first, she thought she had misheard.

It made no sense. Haewon, the king, had no reason to give such an order.

She wasn’t a court lady assigned to serve the king, nor was she someone favored by him.

“I’m just a royal physician. Why…?”

And a brand-new one at that — just appointed today.

Sure, she had treated Haewon once, but that was it.

“Then why is this happening?”

She couldn’t understand why Haewon would issue such a bizarre order.

If she had cured his chronic illness with a single treatment and was being rewarded extravagantly, maybe she could accept it.

But that wasn’t the case.

It wasn’t like he was dying of an illness that required a physician to be on constant standby, either.

“There’s definitely been some kind of mistake.”

Cheong concluded that either Haewon had issued the order by mistake, or something had gone wrong during the delivery of the message.

Even if that wasn’t true — she had to believe it was.

“I just want to relax in peace, at least when I’m resting.”

That was why she was so adamantly against moving her quarters.

Now that she was a royal physician, she was technically part of the Ja-uiwon.

That meant she would inevitably have to clash more often with the chief physician, Byeoljubu.

Handling Haewon alone would be overwhelming — and now she might have to deal with Byeoljubu too? Every day would be exhausting.

To be pushed around everywhere, and not even have peace in her own quarters?

Just the thought of it was terrible.

“That’s why I have to stop this.”

With a determined look, Cheong quickened her pace toward the grand building in the distance.

Her steps toward the main hall were full of resolve.

“No matter how long you stand there, my answer won’t change.”

“That’s why I’m asking—just please pass along my message, at the very least.”

“I’m sorry.”

The eunuch bowed his head toward Cheong, but his face showed not a hint of apology.

She had come boldly to the main palace, only to be stopped at the entrance without even stepping over the threshold.

No matter how much she explained her situation, it was useless.

Like a parrot, the eunuch kept repeating the same thing—that without a prior appointment, it was impossible to meet Haewon.

“Do you know who I am? Is that why you’re doing this?”

Cheong tried to assert that she wasn’t someone who deserved this kind of treatment.

She hadn’t wanted to resort to this sort of tactic, but she had no choice.

“No matter that you’re a royal physician, what’s not allowed is not allowed.”

But the eunuch wasn’t an easy opponent.

His emotionless face, looking back at her, revealed the composure and experience of someone well-trained.

“Please. I have to see His Majesty.”

When intimidation didn’t work, Cheong tried appealing emotionally instead.

But the eunuch’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest.

His serious face was so stiff, it felt as if he were a statue devoid of all emotion.

Still, Cheong wasn’t someone to back down so easily.

“If I don’t see His Majesty today, something really bad is going to happen. If you want to spend the whole night with me here, by all means, keep this up. Because I’ll be standing right here until I get to see him…”

“I didn’t know you were so desperate to see me.”

A low voice sounded from behind, cutting Cheong off mid-sentence.

Her words came to an abrupt stop.