Chapter – 08.
Please, Just Let Me Be
How on earth did things end up like this?
Even when I retraced my steps, no clear answer emerged.
Right, this is a dream.
‘Let me wake up quickly.’
Aman tightly closed her eyes.
She was being tormented by a ridiculous nightmare.
If she just woke up in the warm bed of Yeonyeong Palace, it would all be as if it never happened.
At least!
Filled with anticipation, Aman slowly opened her eyes and was horrified.
The scene before her eyes remained the same.
Empress So Ryeong-ah and Consort Yeol, Nanhwa.
‘Of all people, why them!’
Aman was utterly dismayed.
But she couldn’t openly show it.
If she did, she’d die even before she could consult with Emperor Mu.
Poisoning, or being framed for an assassination.
Either way, it was equally terrifying.
“Princess. Does the tea not suit your palate?”
“Huh?”
“You haven’t touched it at all.”
Because I’m afraid it’s poisoned.
She couldn’t bring herself to be honest.
She just stifled the words rising to her throat.
“N-no, how could that be!”
Aman hurriedly looked into the teacup.
The fully bloomed flower petals placed inside the cup slowly floated up.
The reddish tea looked just like poison.
‘It’s okay to drink this, right?’
Moreover, her opponent was the Empress of a tyrant.
Furthermore, as soon as her own court lady received the Emperor’s favor, she had everyone involved arrested outright.
Acting in a way that displeased such a tiger-like opponent…
…was an act of suicide.
‘Ah, whatever!’
This body was already possessed, it’s not like she could die again, right?
This small body was only ten years old!
Aman chugged the tea.
The warm liquid flowed down her throat.
Fortunately, nothing happened.
The Empress, looking at the empty teacup, smiled a satisfied smile.
Soon after, the court lady refilled the teacup.
‘This is insane.’
She was completely being played.
At least it was clear there was no poison in it.
Then again, it’s not like the Empress was a fool.
Aman sneakily observed the Empress’s demeanor.
The Empress seemed benevolent on the outside, but her eyes reminded one of a beast of prey.
In short, she was terrifyingly scary.
The Consort Yeol sitting across from her was somewhat better.
Of course, that woman had openly snubbed Aman.
‘Small dogs tend to bark the loudest, after all.’
So, in other words, Consort Yeol was a small breed dog like a Maltese or a Pomeranian.
And next to her, the Empress was a large breed dog.
Comparing people to dogs is a bit… but so what?
It’s not like the two of them could hear her inner thoughts!
Aman had seen plenty of people like Consort Yeol.
People who, when things don’t go their way, resort to all sorts of abusive language and vicious acts.
But if you give them the appropriate reward, they quiet down as if it never happened.
“A princess like you probably hasn’t had the chance to taste such precious things before, has she? Isn’t that right, Your Majesty?”
Her intentions were transparent.
A vile second-in-command, sticking close to the Empress, hoping to pick up even the crumbs.
Consort Yeol Nanhwa.
Although her rank was low, she had borne the Emperor’s first son.
‘A politically threatening figure.’
Aman recalled the prince she saw during the lecture.
He seemed small in stature and frail.
He lacked confidence and kept watching Consort Yeol’s mood.
He probably could barely answer the Emperor’s questions, right?
In a word, he was utterly unfit to be Emperor.
Aman, who had been slowly observing Consort Yeol, grinned.
“I find these things so mysterious, as it’s my first time tasting them!”
In that case, she’d push forward.
Play the part of the clueless, scatterbrained ‘I know nothing’ princess!
Aman acted as if she were seeing these things for the first time.
She picked up the teacup and put it down again, her eyes sparkling.
Yet, she didn’t drink a single sip.
“I didn’t know Aman would like it this much. Had I known, I would have summoned you more often.”
No. I must decline.
While the words themselves were affectionate, for some reason, Aman felt a chill.
The gaze fixed intently on her was unreadable.
That was precisely what made it scary.
‘A person whose thoughts you can’t guess.’
A person with a strangely good reputation, an Empress who trampled all sorts of people with schemes to climb to the top, So Ryeong-ah who was scrutinizing her as if she wanted to devour the ten-year-old princess.
Anyway, what was clear was that she gave the impression of someone you didn’t want to get involved with.
“Brother would probably like it too, wouldn’t he? Consort Yeol, why didn’t Brother accompany you?”
There was only one way to escape this crisis.
Divert their attention. And to Consort Yeol’s son, at that!
“W-why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“Well, because he’s my brother?”
“How dare you!”
Consort Yeol was visibly flustered.
Her face clearly showed what she was thinking.
Well, that made it easy for Aman to figure out.
‘She’s afraid.’
A Consort who bore the Emperor’s first son, even over the Empress.
With that achievement, she was worthy of being promoted to the rank of ‘Hui’…
The fact that she remained a ‘Yeolbin’ meant only one thing.
The Empress was blocking Consort Yeol’s path.
“I really want to become friends with Brother! Absolutely!”
It was perhaps natural that Consort Yeol couldn’t leave the Empress’s side.
If she crossed the Empress, she didn’t know what kind of retaliation she might face.
Her opponent was the Empress of a tyrant, someone versed in all kinds of vicious schemes.
Of course, it was possible the Empress was relatively mild.
But at the very least, the fact that she had survived in this imperial palace meant she was no easy opponent.
“H-how dare you! How can you bring up Ryang? What place do you think this is!”
Ah, so his name is Ryang?
Aman approached Consort Yeol, her eyes sparkling.
Consort Yeol stepped back, refusing Aman’s advance.
All the while, she kept an endless watch on the Empress’s condition.
Worried if her mood was spoiled, if her brow was furrowed.
The Empress showed not the slightest movement.
‘If I drive a wedge between their relationship, it should work.’
So that they never dare to even utter a word about Aman again.
Originally, the scariest people were the tactless ones.
Because no one knows what they might blurt out.
Aman was currently excelling at that role.
“Brother Ryang! Where are you?!”
One way or another, she was a dead woman walking, might as well act out boldly and then die!
The resolution she made on the first day to be cautious had long been abandoned.
Aman shouted loudly enough to echo through the entire imperial palace.
Unable to bear it, Consort Yeol covered Aman’s mouth.
Aman mumbled her words, drooling enough to wet Consort Yeol’s palm.
“Y-you ill-bred wretch!”
Seeing Consort Yeol flustered was quite satisfying.
On the other hand, she spontaneously felt solemn thinking about the bullying the ten-year-old princess must have endured all this time.
Just then, the Empress rose from her seat.
Consort Yeol and Aman, who were causing a commotion, froze on the spot.
Aman desperately tried to suppress the hiccups that escaped without her knowing.
Yet, the hiccups kept coming.
‘Is she angry?’
The Empress was childless.
She didn’t know the exact details, but at a glance, it seemed like a common reason.
Infertility.
Pregnancy complications.
Frequent miscarriages.
The Empress couldn’t bear children, so she couldn’t fulfill the fundamental duty of the principal wife.
She couldn’t elevate her family’s prestige, nor could she produce a successor to the throne.
It was just a hollow position.
“Why are you looking for Ryang?”
The corners of the Empress’s eyes curved like crescent moons.
She slowly approached Aman.
The hand Consort Yeol had used to cover the princess’s mouth fell away.
“That child is in Janyeong Palace.”
Ah.
Now she understood.
Why Consort Yeol had no choice but to become the Empress’s lackey.
The Empress’s position wasn’t just hollow.
As the one who governed the inner court, she could control everything.
That power was practically on par with the Emperor’s.
‘She was holding him hostage.’
All the children born to the concubines were considered the Empress’s children.
Especially the son of Consort Yeol, who had a high probability of becoming Crown Prince, was held under the pretext of protection in Janyeong Palace.
Thanks to the Emperor’s bombshell declaration about Geumjin, the position of Crown Prince was precarious, but…
Aman looked into the Empress’s pupils.
‘Am I really going to die?’
The hogaptu ring on her finger brushed against Aman’s cheek.
The cold metal felt itchy against her skin.
Did I act out too much? But Consort Yeol started it!
Struggling to suppress her emotions, Aman didn’t take her eyes off the Empress.
If she wasn’t careful, today might be the last day of her life.
“What kind of sweets does Aman like?”
Unlike before, the Empress’s tone had softened considerably.
To others, it would sound so affectionate they might mistake her for Aman’s birth mother.
But this was…
‘A trap.’
The court lady standing by the Empress’s side handed over a small box.
It was the same court lady who had poured tea for Aman earlier.
The court lady, adorned with lavish jade-colored accessories all over her body, looked just like a concubine.
The Empress opened the box and showed its contents.
Sliced red dates were arranged in the shape of a flower.
“Red dates look plump and tempting, but their flavor changes so quickly, it’s sad. So I made jeonggwa (candied fruit) with them. Let’s enjoy this elegance and taste for a long, long time.”
A sense of foreboding washed over her.
The jeonggwa before her eyes looked truly delicious, but that very fact made it seem like poison.
Hadn’t the princess in the old fairy tale suffered the same fate?
The princess who ate the apple given by the Queen disguised as an old woman and collapsed!
And of course, it had to be a princess.
Aman looked back and forth between the jeonggwa and the Empress.
“Go on.”
“Eat it at once! How dare you defy Her Majesty’s command!”
The Empress urged her.
As if telling her to eat this quickly.
From a distance, it might look like a loving mother coaxing a child.
But for the person involved, it was truly a taste of death.
‘If I don’t eat this, she’ll undoubtedly be angry.’
Thinking about it, it was unfair.
Hey, why are you only doing this to me!
Her desire to resist was immense, but Aman remembered.
Who she was now.
“Do you know how much effort goes into making jeonggwa?”
“Ah, I know, Your Majesty.”
“Good.”
A princess of Yeonyeong Palace, with no backing or power whatsoever.
The daughter of a deceased concubine, living quietly with a loyal court lady.
A ten-year-old child who could be treated recklessly without consequence.
This situation was truly the worst.
“Thank you, I will enjoy it.”
Even if she ate poison once, she probably wouldn’t die.
But it would be extremely painful.
Right, she’d just endure it. She had endured worse things before.
The moment Aman resigned herself and was about to put the jeonggwa in her mouth…
He appeared from somewhere.
“His Imperial Majesty the Emperor is entering!”
The new devil…
disguised as a prince on a white horse.
