SHYL 08

Chapter 8

“Sukjeong. That doll from earlier… what exactly is it for?”

Inside Chwiseondang Hall.

Sukjeong, who had been sitting across from Jang Huibin, answered as if it were nothing serious.

“It’s nothing of consequence, so please don’t concern yourself. When the time comes, I will explain everything.”

“Is that so?”

Huibin asked back, her eyes filled with suspicion.

But Sukjeong merely smiled and changed the subject.

“More importantly, this talisman is crucial. Please keep it safe. You must sleep with it under your pillow for one full month.”

“And with this talisman, I can truly turn a man’s heart back to me?”

“Of course. Have you already forgotten how I, with my sincere devotion, completely cured the Crown Prince of smallpox last time?”

“Very well. I have already seen its efficacy, so why would I doubt your words?”

Huibin tucked the talisman away and handed over a pouch of silver coins. Sukjeong’s face lit up as she accepted it.

“By the way, Royal Noble Lady Huibin. About that young girl—the one called ‘Agi Na-in’…”

“You mean Bongbong?”

“Yes. That wench Sukbin nearly had a pretext to cause trouble, but the child’s quick wit saved us. She’s quite clever.”

“She arrived at Chwiseondang a few days ago. Come to think of it, even during her entrance ceremony, she seemed strangely unchildlike—detached, almost.”

“Did she?”

After a moment of reflection, Sukjeong added,

“A child who is not like a child… That may not necessarily be a good thing… Wouldn’t you agree?”

Huibin stared fixedly at Sukjeong.

Her elder brother’s concubine.

Sukjeong was a grateful presence, serving as Huibin’s hands and feet in place of her exiled brother.

‘I am grateful, but sometimes she forgets her place.’

Meeting that piercing gaze, Sukjeong lowered her eyes.

“Whether she is like a child or not, does that truly matter? As long as a subordinate does what they are told, that is enough.”

Huibin smiled.

“At any rate, Sukjeong, thank you for your hard work. You may go now.”

“By the way, my lady.”

After returning to her quarters, Bongbong carefully asked Seolhyang, who was folding clothes.

“That lady Sukjeong who visited today… does she come often?”

“Ah. The younger madam of Magistrate Jang Huijae’s household… Why?”

Seolhyang asked back, her expression unenthusiastic.

“Just wondering. She seemed a bit scary…”

“Did she act that way even with you? She’s always been a bit like that, but…”

“Was she ever scary toward you, my lady?”

Seolhyang fluffed a starched jacket with a tak, tak and answered.

“Well. She tends to harass the court ladies with all sorts of superstitious talk. ‘Turning your back to the sunrise brings bad luck.’ ‘Killing a spider is highly ominous.’ ‘On nights when the full moon or the crescent moon rises, you must sprinkle salt.’ …She’s the kind of person who bothers others with all sorts of odd nonsense.”

“Ah. I see…”

It had been a casual question with little expectation, but she had gained useful information.

‘So Sukjeong is someone who blindly believes in superstitions.’

The implication was clear.

‘From the moment she orchestrated the curse incident, she had a clear intention to kill Queen Inhyeon.’

With her husband Jang Huijae in exile, Sukjeong might have been desperate, but perhaps she was even more wicked than Bongbong had thought?

“Bongbong. What are you thinking so deeply about?”

“Huh? Ah, nothing.”

“Anyway, I’ll be away for an hour or two. Don’t go anywhere else. Stay here and read that Korean alphabet book. Got it?”

“Why the Korean alphabet book?”

“Why, you ask? Because by the age of five, you should have learned to read and write. In a few days, you’ll be another year older. Five will come before you know it.”

“I have to learn to read and write by the time I’m five?”

Pretending to be illiterate, as she had been doing, Bongbong put on a shocked expression.

“I’m not a genius! How can I memorize the whole alphabet already?”

She knew perfectly well that Seolhyang was teasing her, but she had no choice but to play along.

“Why can’t you memorize it? Even a young girl-in-waiting should know Eonmun (Hangul). Do you know what happens if you can’t read in the palace?”

“……What happens?”

“You get kicked out of Chwiseondang and end up cleaning out the poop buckets!”

“Heek!”

To express extreme terror, she widened her eyes and parted her lips.

“So study hard. Unless you want to clean poop buckets!”

“No, I don’t! I hate poop buckets!”

Seeing Bongbong frantically open the Eonmun book, Seolhyang snickered and left the room.

‘Now then, what should I do with this hideous object?’

Left alone in the room, Bongbong fell deep in thought.

‘Should I throw it in the latrine?’

Beep— Not allowed.

Human waste was recycled as fertilizer. Even in the Joseon Dynasty, it was a valuable resource.

Latrine option: rejected.

‘Then, tie it to a stone and drop it into the pond?’

Beep-beep-beep! Absolutely not.

If something like that were to float up in the pond, the entire palace would be in an uproar.

Pond option: rejected.

‘Should I burn it?’

But where would she get a flame?

In Joseon, fire was precious enough to have a dedicated keeper.

‘Ah! I can toss it into the furnace when the ondol is heated!’

She scurried toward the furnace, but—

“Oh dear! What if you get hurt? Why is a little child poking around here?”

…She was immediately chased away.

So burning it was also impossible.

Only one option remained.

‘Bury it.’

There were risks, but she concluded it was the best method.

‘I need to go to the northern forest.’

The north of Changgyeonggung Palace led to the rear garden of Changdeokgung Palace—a forested area with no particular purpose.

‘Should I sneak out at night and bury it? Or wait a few days and see how things go?’

She hesitated for a moment but soon made up her mind.

There’s a saying: “Strike while the iron is hot.”

Rather than keeping such an object and inviting misunderstanding, it was best to get rid of it immediately.

‘Now is the chance, while Seolhyang is away.’

Taking a deep breath, Bongbong tucked the doll into her bosom and tiptoed out of the residence.

The northern forest of Changgyeonggung was quiet and desolate, just as she had expected.

Aside from the sound of dry branches swaying in the wind and the eerie cry of birds in the late afternoon, the only sound was—

Seogeok.

Seogeok.

Bukbuk.

The sound of a small, fist-sized child digging the earth with all her might.

She had sourced her tool on-site: a thick, sturdy branch she had found while searching the forest.

‘Just a little more digging.’

Who would have thought digging one tiny hole could be so hard?

Sweat beaded on her forehead and her arms trembled, but she gritted her teeth and focused.

That was when—

Bareurak—

‘Huk.’

It was different from the natural sounds she had heard until now. Definitely the sound of something stepping on the ground.

She froze on the spot.

A person? A patrol soldier? A court official? An outsider?

Or perhaps… an animal?

‘There are quite a few records of tigers even entering the palace grounds.’

Whether it was a person or an animal, both were trouble.

A chill ran down her spine. Her hair felt like it was standing on end.

Soon, the sound of dry leaves crunching came again.

Extreme fear washed over her, and she could not even exhale.

Ppaegeujak, ppaegeujak.

Tadadadadat—

“Eeu!”

Just as she, startled by the rapidly approaching sound, looked up—

“Yaong!”

…Yaong?

‘Whew. That really took ten years off my life.’

“Aish. You scared me!”

“Nyaong?”

Clutching her pounding heart, she stared at the uninvited guest.

A pair of eyes staring blankly back at her. A body like a nicely baked, golden loaf of bread.

It was what people commonly call a “cheese cat” (orange tabby).

But…

“Hey. What have you been eating to get so ttungttung (chubby)?”

She wasn’t so ill-mannered as to not know how incredibly rude that remark was.

Yet the words slipped out anyway.

“Are you a wild cat?”

No, a leopard cat?

No matter how she looked, it just seemed like an ordinary Korean shorthair.

But its size was truly imposing.

Just then, the chubby cat, which had been scratching its ear, approached her.

“Hey, no, don’t!”

Its target was the red ribbon hanging from her head.

The cat swung its front paw hwik, hwik toward her head.

…This little punk.

On first meeting, it goes straight for the hair? This cat’s personality was clearly rotten.

“You cat-scoundrel! I said no…!”

But the cat paid no attention to her cries.

Finally, she raised her ultimate weapon—the stick she had been holding.

“Hey, cat! Look at this!”

Hwik, hwik!

She waved the stick like a fishing rod.

“Yes! Good! That’s much more fun, isn’t it?”

“Nyaaaong!”

Enraptured by her dazzling hand movements, the cat fell into a trance.

Right, left, jumping around here and there, then leaping into the air!

In her past life, she had liked cats but never dared to own one.

‘Instead, I lived as a “lan cable butler” (online cat video enthusiast) who watched all kinds of cat channels.’

She never thought she would use that knowledge after being transported to the Joseon Dynasty.

“Okay, that’s enough. Let’s stop. Be good, alright?”

“Yaong!”

“How can you be so cheeky? What’s your name?”

She asked thoughtlessly, then shook her head.

There’s no way a mere small animal living in the palace would have a name.

…Or is there?

Suddenly, an important fact she had forgotten came to mind.

Namely, King Sukjong.

‘Sukjong was an enormous cat devotee.’

Sukjong was a true cat butler (servant to cats).

He adored cats so much that he kept them by his side even during state affairs, and records passed down through later generations even mention that he would give them side dishes of meat at every meal.

That cat’s name was either Geumdeok or Geumson.

“Nyaong?”

Finding her suddenly quiet strange, the cat meowed at her.

She looked at the cat and thought.

Wasn’t its bulked-up physique the result of all those meat dishes bestowed by Sukjong?

‘No way. Probably not. There must be more than one or two cats in the palace.’

At any rate, she had wasted far too much precious time playing with the cat. She needed to finish the job quickly and return to Chwiseondang—

“Yaooooong!”

Tadatadat!

“Hey! No! Come back!”

In a moment of carelessness, it happened.

The cat-scoundrel snatched the curse doll in its mouth and started running at full speed!

“Hey, hey! Give that back!”

There was no time to think of anything else. She went udadada after the cat.

The cat seemed to think it was a fun game of hunting, leaping and dodging around her, just out of reach.

“Give it back now! Right now!”

She finally managed to grab the doll’s leg, but the cat clamped its mouth tight on the doll’s head and wouldn’t let go.

After a tense tug-of-war with no compromise, she finally wrestled the doll away.

‘…What’s this? Has the sun already set?’

Suddenly, as if twilight had fallen, the surroundings grew dark.

It didn’t take long for her to realize that a towering shadow was looming over her.

“…….”

With an inexplicable chill, she slowly lifted her head.

And what came into her sight was…

A red silk robe rippling with an eerie, blood-red hue.

In other words, the Gonryongpo—the king’s ceremonial robe, the symbol of the king himself