SHYL 04

Chapter 4

Evidence confiscated.

I stealthily picked up the crumpled chuncheopja.

A chuncheopja is a precious document, each character handwritten by an official of the Seungmunwon.

‘Damaging palace property? You’ve got some nerve.’

But the young court ladies, thinking I was frightened, grew even more smug.

“Only a few court ladies and Lady Sukjeong are allowed to enter the west side of Chwiseondang. A little brat like you shouldn’t be here!”

“That’s right. If we report that you were lurking around here, you’ll get a taste of water caning right away.”

“…….”

My mouth fell open for a moment. A chill ran down my spine.

Not because I was scared of their threats.

‘She said ‘Sukjeong,’ didn’t she?’

‘Sukjeong’ was a name that appeared in every record of Jang Hee-bin’s death.

Specifically, as the mastermind behind the ‘Curse on Queen Inhyeon Incident.’

‘The shrine hasn’t been built yet, but something is definitely starting.’

Thwack.

“Hey. What are you thinking about with that dumb look on your face?”

A finger poked my forehead as I was deep in thought.

“Looks like you’re scared we’ll tell the Head Court Lady.”

I turned my gaze toward the giggling young court ladies. I was desperately trying to dodge a knife-edge situation, and their leisurely bullying of a child was starting to get on my nerves.

Hoo. I steadied my breath and lifted my head.

“You said young court ladies aren’t allowed into the west side, right? Then why are you ladies here?”

“What? That, that’s….”

Their faces flushed bright red—I’d hit the nail on the head.

“I’ll tell on you too. You’ve been wandering around here this whole time! Then we’ll all get water caned together!”

“How dare you talk back?”

The tall court lady squawked.

“But it’s strange. Kids as young as you usually aren’t accepted as court ladies.”

A malicious smile, anything but childlike, rose on her face.

“Your parents abandoned you, didn’t they? They clearly dumped you in the palace because they didn’t care about you. Poor thing. Abandoned by your own parents…”

This is…

A parent insult?

I don’t care about anything else, but this I cannot stand!

“I won’t forgive you! Don’t talk bad about my mom and dad!”

“What if I do?”

The tall court lady shoved me hard.

I tried to keep my balance, but with this tiny body, there was no way I could match the strength of a ten-year-old.

As I flailed my arms, my hand grabbed onto something.

Rip!

“Ah, agh! Let go!”

…I only realized it was a clump of hair a moment later.

But I swear, I didn’t grab it on purpose. It was just a desperate struggle to survive.

That was when—

“What on earth is all this commotion? You there, break it up!”

An imposing voice shook the air.

“Lady Seolhyang…!”

Seolhyang had been quite kind to me, but I wasn’t sure enough to believe she would take my side.

‘Get a grip.’

I quickly shook off the hair I’d been clutching, then drooped my shoulders pitifully.

“What are you doing to a little child like this?”

Her sharp voice rang out loud and clear.

“Well, Lady Seolhyang! She attacked me first! Look, she pulled out my hair!”

“That’s right! She’s no ordinary kid. She was sneaking around suspiciously, and we were just trying to stop her…”

“If you knew sneaking around here was suspicious, then why are you here?”

“That, that’s…”

Hah. The mouths of the ten-year-old court ladies snapped shut.

‘Now’s my chance!’

This was my opportunity. I pulled out the crumpled chuncheopja and held it up where it could be clearly seen.

Rustle, rustle.

I bowed my head, let my lips tremble, and pretended to struggle to smooth out the paper.

“That wouldn’t happen to be a chuncheopja, would it? How did such a precious thing end up like this…!”

Seolhyang looked genuinely taken aback.

At that moment, my painstaking efforts finally bore fruit.

Plop.

A single tear fell onto the crumpled paper.

“Those ladies… they kept bullying me, and they crumpled up the chuncheopja… and it was so precious…”

“Ha.”

Seolhyang let out a sigh of disbelief.

“And they said I was abandoned by my parents…”

“What?”

Seolhyang looked almost faint.

“My parents are dead, but I’m not abandoned. I was raised with lots of love. From my parents, and from my brother…”

At the end, I accidentally let out my true feelings.

The young court ladies started making frantic excuses, but Seolhyang shut them down with a fierce glare.

“You girls… this is absolutely unacceptable.”

“Lady Seolhyang! We were wrong!”

“Please spare us! Just this once!”

But Seolhyang was merciless.

“Head Court Lady Han will deal with you. Not only did you damage a precious item, but you also tormented a young child. You will pay the price.”

After that cold pronouncement, Seolhyang took my hand.

“Bongbong. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yes… I fell, but I’m okay.”

“You fell? Let me see.”

She lifted my skirt slightly and frowned.

…I hadn’t even noticed. My knee was scraped and bleeding.

“Let’s go to the room and put some medicine on it.”

As I toddled after Seolhyang, I could hear the young court ladies sniffling behind me.

‘But… something feels off.’

Those two young court ladies had already been there by the time I arrived at the west side of Chwiseondang.

‘This area is off-limits to ordinary court ladies. Why would they risk punishment to loiter here?’

Nothing in this world happens without a reason.

What was their reason?

“Bongbong.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“You must not come here alone. Do you understand?”

“Yes. I understand.”

Looking at Seolhyang’s firm-set mouth, I was certain.

…There is definitely something on the west side of Chwiseondang.

“Ow!”

“I’ve put it all on. Just bear it a little longer.”

“…Yes, my lady.”

After the ointment came a stream of small scoldings, but my mind was elsewhere.

‘I still don’t have enough information.’

What state is Jang Hee-bin in right now? And what is she plotting?

The ending is solidly fixed in history: ‘Jang Hee-bin dies by poisoned royal decree.’

I need to figure out where the present moment falls within that narrative—the beginning, the middle, or the end.

‘I’m also curious about what kind of child Hwang Bong-bong was.’

How did such a young girl end up in the palace? What will she do here?

And could I—just a minor, insignificant character in history—actually change the course of events?

“Haaam…”

…On top of everything, a wave of exhaustion washed over me.

It had been a half-day filled with far too much for a young body to handle.

“Oh my, are you sleepy already? A child is a child after all.”

Hands gently laid me down as I started nodding off while sitting up. They felt quite warm.

“Sleep tight, sleep well, Hwang Bong-bong, sleep well…”

Seolhyang’s voice drifted into the distance.

As I fell into a sleep like fainting, a fragment of the Joseon Wangjo Sillok (Annals of the Joseon Dynasty) I’d read once came to mind.

Sukjong Sillok, Year 27, Tenth Month.
Chwiseondang court ladies Seolhyang, Sukyeong, and Sukjeong were sentenced to death by decapitation.

…I hope Seolhyang doesn’t die.

When I woke from a deep, dreamless sleep, the area beyond the door was tinged with blue.

Is this really the time to be lazing around sleeping?

Just as I was about to scold myself and sit up, I heard a familiar voice.

“…I had no idea such a young child would come. I thought she’d be at least six or seven…”

I wasn’t alone in the room.

The owner of the voice was Seolhyang. Beside her sat Head Court Lady Han, whom I’d met during the ‘rat-mouth cleansing’ ritual.

It sounded like they were talking about me, so I pretended to be asleep and listened quietly.

“She’s meant to be a jimi (confidential attendant). It’s only right to start teaching her from age four or five. Gradually teach her letters and properly instruct her in palace etiquette.”

“Yes, of course. But, my lady, how did Bongbong become a court lady?”

“Isn’t she the one who will serve Her Majesty the Queen once His Majesty is reinstated? I couldn’t just bring anyone, so I made inquiries. I heard there was a noble family’s child with nowhere to go, so I brought her here.”

“Oh my, Bongbong is from a noble family?”

Oh my, I was a noble?

“That’s the case, but let this stay between us.”

“Yes, of course.”

In principle, a noble’s daughter could not become a court lady. That was the rule of Joseon.

That was why Head Court Lady Han seemed keen on keeping it quiet.

“So what if she’s a noble? She’s an orphan without a single soul to care for her. If not for the lady next door, she wouldn’t have even gotten rice porridge. If I hadn’t brought her here, she would have been sold off to a gisaeng house.”

At Head Court Lady Han’s words, Seolhyang asked in surprise.

“Goodness. Are you saying she was living all alone?”

“She had an older brother who was much older until last year, but apparently he suddenly disappeared. He mostly kept company with warriors, so he’s likely dead as well.”

“Oh dear… Head Court Lady Han. Bongbong really is a pitiful child…”

Tsk tsk.

Behind Seolhyang’s clicking tongue came the low laughter of Head Court Lady Han.

“Haha. Which court lady doesn’t have a pitiful fate? It’s our destiny to be trapped within palace walls our whole lives and wither away.”

“Come to think of it, that’s true. I also came to the palace when I was six…”

Seolhyang’s voice sank bitterly.

“…….”

I closed my eyes again.

The life of the child named Hwang Bong-bong seemed quite harsh.

Hadn’t she already been struggling to survive even before entering the palace?

It was a sad story.

But what truly saddened me was that one phrase: ‘her brother is dead.’

‘So even Hwang Bong-bong… had an older brother.’

A deep ache throbbed in my chest.

Because it made me think of my own brother from my previous life, whose face I’d tried so hard not to remember for so long.

Just like Hwang Bong-bong’s brother, my brother had also died, leaving me an orphan behind.

‘Live well.’

The words my brother left me.

‘You have to live well. For my share too.’

That was the last voice of my brother I ever heard.

‘New Year’s is coming soon.’

The season when I sent my brother away—spring—was approaching again.

Neither in the modern Republic of Korea where I once existed, nor in this Joseon period where I now live, does my brother exist.

Plop.

Tears fell without my realizing it.

It was as if I could hear my brother’s voice again, buried deep in my heart.

‘You have to live well. For my share too.’

‘…I will.’

I repeated to myself.

‘I’ll live well.’

No matter how brutally difficult this world I’ve fallen into might be.

No matter how little a small child’s body can do.

‘Brother. I’ll survive, no matter what.