Chapter – 04.
Why Did You Come to My House?I Came for a Consultation….
So it was.
Yeong-eun was still Amang.
Far from returning to the real world, her dainty limbs were busy wriggling under the blankets.
‘I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have to go to work.’
Anyway, it was clear now.
Yeong-eun had to live as Amang for the rest of her life.
The person named Han Yeong-eun no longer existed.
In this imperial palace, only Princess Amang remained.
‘Did I, perhaps, die?’
The scene Amang had seen when she lost consciousness on the subway was vivid. She couldn’t go back. What should she do now? Did she have to live forever in this body?
She hadn’t even considered death!
“Your Highness, did you cough?”
“Ah! You startled me.”
“Did you sleep well last night?”
“Sort of…?”
“But, Your Highness. You were moaning and groaning in the early morning.”
“Huh?”
“You were crying out, ‘No, I don’t want to!’ so I laid you back down.”
No matter how hard she tried to remember, it just wouldn’t come back to her.
Her neck area was damp with cold sweat, and tear stains had dried on her cheeks.
It seemed she had had a nightmare during the night, but her mind felt utterly clear.
“I did that?”
Nan nodded vigorously.
Amang entered the bathhouse to quiet her complicated thoughts.
She washed her face with cold water to clear her head, then soaked her body in the warm water.
“How about this one? Or perhaps a duck?”
“Thank you, but I’ll pass.”
“Please let me know anytime if you need anything. Ah, shall I scatter some flowers for you?”
“Nan.”
“Yes!”
“I’d like to be alone.”
The overly loyal Nan was about to float toys on the water.
Hearing that chattering voice first thing in the morning was making her mind feel hazy again.
‘I need to plug that mouth or something, for heaven’s sake.’
After Nan left, Amang was alone in the bathhouse.
She was finally given time to think by herself.
She couldn’t go back.
Why on earth not?
The more she struggled to retrieve the lost memories, the more the back of her head throbbed.
Amang, with the water up to her nose, exhaled.
Bubbles gurgled from her nostrils.
‘What do I do now?’
This was a world from a book she had only read the first chapter of.
Amang was in a state of knowing nothing.
She had to live in the Yeonyeong Palace with that chatterbox, Nan.
What greater hardship could there be?
‘Wait. If I use it well…?’
Being talkative meant she had endless information!
For a princess who lived almost in hiding without a birth mother, this was one way to learn the inside stories of the imperial palace.
‘It’ll be useful for survival.’
Amang sprang up.
A cold breeze brushed over her shoulders.
Amang, who had crouched back down, cleared her throat.
“Hey, Nan!”
Her tone was soft yet authoritative.
It was quite fitting for a princess.
“Did you call for me?”
“Help me out. I tried to get out by myself, but it’s no use.”
“How can you ask such an obvious thing? This is your servant’s duty!”
“Ahem.”
Amang had never borrowed anyone’s help in her entire life.
Wasn’t “Your own work, do it yourself!” the modern rule?
At ten years old, it was an age where one could do things by themselves without others’ help.
But Amang wanted to stir Nan’s heart.
‘Naturally, the child you want to care for is the one who’s a bit clumsy but independent.’
Right now, Amang was sufficiently stimulating Nan’s maternal instincts.
A princess who wanted for nothing, struggling alone, and then finally asking for help.
Amang, biting her lip and quietly letting herself be held by Nan, entrusted everything to her soft hands.
Nan dried the princess and dressed her as if playing with a doll.
Amang squirmed when the towel touched her itchy body.
When she couldn’t hold it in, she covered her mouth and giggled.
“If only Her Highness Hwanyeongbi were here, it would have been so good…”
“Hwanyeongbi? Who’s that?”
“There was a concubine who once resided in Yeonyeong Palace, a very beautiful Her Highness.”
“Prettier than me?”
“Of course. She looked exactly like you, Your Highness.”
Hwanyeongbi.
Amang slowly let the word leave her lips.
The face of Nan, who had been chattering away, grew somewhat sorrowful.
‘She must have been Amang’s birth mother.’
It seemed she passed away right after Amang was born, and it was a hushed-up matter even within Yeonyeong Palace.
The young princess needed time to accept her birth mother’s death.
How did she die, this woman named Hwanyeongbi?
Amang’s hand rested on Nan’s cheek.
A lukewarm warmth was transmitted.
“Your Highness.”
“I’ll… try hard to live.”
That was sincere.
What else could she do? Even trapped in a 10-year-old’s body, she still had to live.
The only problem was that Nan had a deeply moved expression on her face.
Nan hugged Amang tightly.
Amang felt suffocated but couldn’t bring herself to push her away.
‘First, I need to build up my grip strength.’
She simply didn’t have the strength for it.
The Amang in the mirror was decked out entirely in pink.
The ends of her twin braids had thin ribbons attached.
Whenever she turned her head, the ribbons brushed against her cheeks.
“Oh my, Your Highness! You are so beautiful!”
“Indeed.”
“The weather is nice, how about going out to see the flowers?”
“What about climbing trees?”
The expression on Nan’s face, which had been fussing, darkened.
As expected, even characters in novels don’t like the princess doing parkour!
Amang had realized a new fact.
Nan bent down to meet Amang at eye level.
“Your Highness. Climbing trees is a very dangerous thing to do.”
“Why?”
“Because if you fall, it will be a big problem!”
“Then I’ll climb carefully so I don’t fall.”
“It is absolutely not permitted, Your Highness!”
Nan’s eyes were burning fiercely, as if she intended to watch Amang 24/7.
That was exactly what Amang had wanted.
‘Anyway, she’s a princess no one cares about. If Nan watches over me, I probably won’t die.’
If there was even one pair of eyes on her, she could endure great danger.
Nan would surely be a sufficient backer.
She decided to trust her for now.
“Who was that kid from yesterday?”
“Are you speaking of Geum Jin, the only grandson of Senior Tutor Geum?”
Ah. So his name was Jin.
“What’s a ‘Senior Tutor’?”
“He was in charge of His Majesty the Emperor’s education since before His Majesty was even a crown prince.”
In short, it was an honorary position.
A government post, not a high rank, but one received as recognition for merit, granting corresponding treatment.
Sometimes, they even presided over meetings assisting the Emperor.
Amang, who had no way of knowing this fact, just blinked her big eyes.
‘It must be a good thing, right? He probably knows the tyrant’s temperament.’
Amang’s first goal, for now:
Somehow gather information and use her brains.
Especially, becoming friends with that kid named Geum Jin couldn’t be a bad thing.
‘Carelessly, I might even lose my life.’
From the moment Emperor Mu singled out Geum Jin and declared he ‘might even seat him in the Crown Prince’s position,’ that child’s fate was turned upside down.
The concubines who had sons wouldn’t just sit still.
A grandson of Senior Tutor Geum, who wasn’t even born of noble blood, could not become the crown prince.
They might even try to eliminate him.
‘This is too scary.’
An imperial palace that seemed endlessly peaceful but where people were actually dying.
Amang clenched her fist tightly.
A person who had gone through the fiercely competitive college entrance exams could survive.
Absolutely!
As Nan said, the weather was truly lovely.
The sky was clear, and the wind blew gently—it was undeniably spring.
Amang found herself unconsciously humming a tune.
Unlike yesterday, her body felt light.
‘It’s good to be young, after all.’
Her past life, going to work with creaky joints, felt like a previous lifetime.
Her wrists bent freely, as if lubricated.
Her steps were so light it felt like she could fly away at any moment.
Had she ever felt this good in her life?
It would have been a perfect day, if not for the crying sound coming from somewhere.
‘Who’s crying on a nice day like this?’
Her young ears could hear even distant sounds well.
It was on a completely different level from the ears that had developed tinnitus due to earphones and all sorts of noise.
“Your Highness! Where are you going?!”
It was a speed Nan couldn’t possibly catch up to.
The swift Amang soon disappeared from Nan’s view.
And soon, she found it.
“Who are you?”
“Wh-Who are you?”
“I asked first.”
The sniffling palace maid met Amang’s eyes.
It was a face she was seeing for the first time, but it felt familiar somehow.
Her attire, overflowing with elegance despite her petite appearance, caught the eye.
“What are you doing! Hurry and greet Her Highness Princess Amang!”
“I-I am Myeong, serving Her Lady So Mi-in!”
Nan, who had chased after her, shouted.
Only then did Myeong flatten herself on the ground.
Seeing her whole body trembling, she seemed to have not been in the palace for long.
Was she about fourteen? Only a handspan taller than Amang.
“So Mi-in?”
Amang carefully recalled the faces of the concubines she had encountered at yesterday’s lecture.
Just those present there seemed to number over twenty.
“Sh-Two years ago…!”
“She received His Majesty’s favor two years ago and was granted the title of Mi-in. She originally belonged to the Jayeom Palace staff.”
Jayeom Palace was the Empress’s residence.
Meaning, she was inevitably someone from the Empress’s side.
‘Ah, that’s a bit scary.’
Amang wanted to back away.
Even if she didn’t know who So Mi-in was, she didn’t want to get involved with this palace maid at all.
Just as Amang was about to turn away, a memory surfaced in her mind.
‘Ha, haven’t we always done things among ourselves?’
That was exactly what So Mi-in had said.
Although those words were immediately rejected by Hwajeongbi.
When she thought about the expression the Empress had made at that time, the answer was clear.
‘The Empress has no interest in So Mi-in.’
Why? Even though she was a maid from Jayeom Palace.
Ah.
The Empress was also a woman. A woman who needed to receive the Emperor’s favor.
She had the duty to lead the inner court and possess the qualifications for it.
Sharing favor was an unthinkable act.
Moreover, the Empress had no children.
‘Also, Mi-in isn’t a very high rank.’
If So Mi-in had been someone from the Empress’s side, Hwajeongbi wouldn’t have interrupted her.
‘She would have scolded Hwajeongbi instead.’
But the Empress was indifferent from start to finish.
As if the words of the concubines had nothing to do with her.
Amang thought deeply.
She trusted Nan, but she was still just a palace maid, wasn’t she?
She needed a trustworthy adult.
‘And one who has no children!’
“I see. But why were you crying in the middle of the day like this? My heart ached so much I couldn’t just pass by.”
Amang gently helped the trembling Myeong to her feet and asked.
Her words tickled the heart of the young palace maid.
She had never experienced a moment of kindness since entering the palace.
Amang waited for Myeong to open her mouth.
‘She must surely have some worries.’
If she listened to them, stories about Amang would reach So Mi-in’s ears.
A perfect opportunity to draw in So Mi-in, whose position was unstable!
The princess, who had been acting all innocent just moments ago, had vanished without a trace.
Before Myeong’s eyes stood a rookie counselor who had majored in countless counseling theories….
