Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Chapter 29

Kyosul blushed her face a bit. When the concubine spoke to Oran, her voice was sharp and stern, but she spoke to Kyosul in a soft and meek voice, which reminded Kyosul of her mother Queen Yo in the Hwa Kingdom and made her eyes wet with tears. When Kyosul’s eyes were welled with tears, Sassi held the Crown Princess’s hands kindly, recalling that she came from another kingdom, and said, “If you don’t mind, Your Highness, would you come with me to my residence in the main palace and share tea and cookies?”

Kyosul nodded at her soft words.

After they got out of the flower garden, Kyosul and First Concubine Sassi had tea and cookies at the latter’s residence. Considerate of Kyosul’s position, Sassi kindly led the conversation, asking her the type of questions that might attract her attention and listening to her story.

Kyosul opened her heart to this kind woman.

Sipping tea with sweet fragrance, Kyosul said, “Well….”

When she hesitated a bit, Sassi nodded, signaling to her that she could feel free to talk.

Seeing Sassi’s warm smile, Kyosul blushed gently and opened her mouth again, “I’m afraid I might be discourteous to you in our first meeting like this, but….”

“Not at all, Your Highness. There is nobody who can stop you from talking as you’re the Crown Princess. Please make yourself at home and talk to me.”

“Well, may I get along with you well in the future?”

“Pardon?” Sassi asked back, surprised at Kyosul’s unexpected remarks.

Feeling shy about her response, Kyosul covered her lips with sleeves slightly and said, “What I mean is I would like to come over and share tea and cookies with you if you don’t mind. When I see you, I feel so comfortable as if I am seeing my mother face to face in the Hwa Kingdom.”

In the end, Kyosul shed tears. These days she has felt so homesick and lonely. As she missed her mother Queen Yo of the Hwa Kingdom so much and couldn’t see her, she immediately expressed her pent-up longing for her mother when she saw Sassi who kindly treated her.

“How pitiful you are!”

Embarrassed by her shedding tears, Sassi put aside the tea table and came closer to her. After hesitating for a moment, she hugged Kyosul.

Though Kyosul was the Crown Princess, she was still young. Sassi heard she just came of age and though she must have grown up showered with her parents’ affection in the Hwa Kingdom ruled by a benevolent king. Recalling her old mother in a private home outside the palace, Sassi also shed tears.

Wrapped in her arms, Kyosul smelled her light makeup, which reminded her of Queen Yo and made her feel at ease again.

“I have two daughters. They are really shrewd and smart, but I regret to say that I’ve never seen them doing cute things as they don’t have amiable characters. Your Highness, you’re so cute. How can I refuse your wishes to get along with me?”

“Concubine Sassi….”

“If you don’t mind, I would like to take side with you in this tough palace. If Princess Oran shows disrespectful behavior again to you, please let me know. I’m going to have her punished severely.”

When Sassi said that, Kyosu, who was shedding tears, suddenly giggled.

“Thanks, Concubine Sassi. By the way, I feel it awkward to call you Concubine Sassi as you’re much older than me.”

Touching her lips gently, she went on, “If you don’t mind, can I just call you Sassi Mom?”

Kyosul asked, tilting her head to one side. But Sassi was stunned to hear that.

“You want to call me mom? If somebody hears it, you’re in big trouble.”

“Isn’t it okay if I call you Sassi Mom when I’m with you only?”

Kyosul casually leaned her head on her, who was embarrassed for fear someone might overhear their conservation.

“Pardon?” Sassi asked back in surprise.

When she lived in the Hwa Kingdom, she used to act cutely before her parents and brothers at their request. Blushing at Kyosuls’ cute request, Sassi barely nodded and said, “Oh, I get it, Your Highness. If you feel comfortable about calling me like that, that’s fine with me.”

“Sassi Mom, please don’t use honorifics to me.”

When Kyosul said it so cutely, hanging on her arm, Sassi was at a loss for words, but nodded again.

“I get it. I really can’t stop you,” she said, smiling at Kyosul, who in turn smiled at her.

“As you say you haven’t seen your children acting cutely to you, let me take their place. So, be ready, Sassi Mom!”

“Oh my god. I’m beginning to be scared of you. I’m afraid I can’t share tea and cookies with you again,” said Sassi, making a hearty laugh as she couldn’t hold back laughter anymore.

Kyosul befriended Kyoyoung and Sassi by visiting their residences casually. As she made friends with them, she naturally began to regain vigor and liveliness in her daily life. She seemed to forget her painful memories of leaving the Hwa Kingdom.

But she couldn’t help but feel the sharp pain of not feeling loved. Though she could smile thanks to her newly found friendships with Kyoyoung and Sassi, she wanted to be loved, above all.

Was it because she received so much love during her childhood? She could not fill her empty heart with their warmth alone.

***

There was a strange silence in the Sochon Palace located in the west of the imperial palace. The atmosphere there was somewhat heavy and eerie, compared with the quietness of the Dongchon Palace. Court ladies serving the Sochon Palace were not as talkative as those at the Dongchon Palace.

“Your Highness!”

Court ladies’ lilting voice resonated across the Sochon Palace. Flushing, Oran walked across the palace yard with hurried steps. Stopping their work, court ladies lowered their heads when they saw her coming, but she didn’t glance at either of them.

Though she didn’t even look at them, they knew she would immediately give them a good scolding if they didn’t bow to her.

“The Prince’s Wife has arrived!”

The eunuch on standby announced to the people serving at the Sochon Palace. When she skillfully took off her shoes and stepped in, the door leading to the innermost room of Prince Dukwol was opened as the court ladies there were ready to meet her expectations, all the time wary about her words and deeds.

Passing by several doors to reach the prince’s room, she stepped into it and hugged him, acting coquettishly.

“Your Majesty!”

“Oran, my dear wife! It looks like you’re in a very good mood today.”

Noticing her coming in, he put aside the book and brush. As he always smiled, even his eyes were curved, and his pupil was hardly visible, which made it difficult to look into his glittering eyes clearly.

Cunning Prince Dukwol and arrogant Oran were a good match in the palace.

“Do you know who I just met before I came here?”

“Is there another person in this palace who could draw your interest?”

“Yes, I met the very Crown Princess rumored among the palace people.”

“The Crown Princess?”

His playful voice became subdued now. His eyes looked gloomy now, as there was no more smile on his face. But he asked when he saw his wife whose eyes were slanted upward at the moment.

“I don’t think you, as a proud and dignified princess, took the trouble of going to see the Crown Princess.”

“You know me too well, Your Majesty,” said Oran, bursting into laughter and gently patting him on the chest. With a smile, he took her hand then he put one of her fingers into his mouth and bit it gently.

“I wonder if the Crown Princess came to see you first.”

“No, not at all. I met her in the flower garden. I bumped into her at the flower garden of the Central Palace,” she snorted contemptuously.

“You know she is the so-called Crown Princess of the Mok Kingdom. Nonetheless, she was dressed in shabby clothes like a nameless concubine in the palace,” she added.

In a grumbling voice, she then told him in detail about what happened at the flower garden.

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While listening to her complaint with a smile all along, Dukwol patted and stroked her, and sometimes touched his lips to her body.

“She must be a pretty soft-tempered little woman.”

That was his first reaction when Oran told him about Kyosul. Just like the saying, “husband and wife are one flesh,” his despicable comment on Kyosul was the same as Oran’s.

Clapping her hands, Oran snorted, “You bet! She is just a little princess of the Hwa Kingdom, isn’t she?”

“I just can’t understand how this soft-hearted little woman won over Bipaan’s heart,” she continued. Already there was a wild rumor circulating about them in the palace. Even little court girls were aware that Bipaan’s second wife, who got married to him earlier than Kyosul, had been living alone in her residence since the Crown Prince deserted her on the wedding night.