Chapter 10

He was walking at a heavy pace, but then suddenly stopped. I was wondering why but soon forgot about it. There’s no need to understand.

Instead, I stayed under the shade until Garam had disappeared from my view and followed the court lady. I thought I was further away, but after a short walk, the palace I’m staying at came into view. I was about to face the tall stone steps like a gatekeeper but someone from behind grabbed me by the shoulder and turned me around.

“You’re here now. I’ve been waiting for you.”

She pretended to be as bright as possible, but it was very clear that her teeth were clenched. The same was true with her face, she was smiling, but her eyes were red. I frowned, and moved my arms. My shoulders hurt. The more I moved, the more strength she put to hold me down. What are you trying to do?

I didn’t hide my expression this time. The maid flinched for a moment at my face, but soon her corner of her mouth went up. What should I do? I feel like I could hear her think.

“Let go.”

The voice was as cold as frost. The same was my face. I glanced back at the maid, saying that with a porcelain – like face. Garam is gone now, meaning there’s no witnesses. I haven’t seen her while I was here earlier, so she’s probably not someone important.

Now, how can I beat this lovely maid?

“Hey! How dare you touch her!”

While I was thinking that, the court lady next to me moved me away from the maid’s grasp. Okay, even if I say something, who would listen to an eight-year-old child?

I’m going to kill you, if you threaten me, I’ll rip your limbs. I hate being in a child’s body. (Damn girl.) I felt something missing from my fingers, but then I heard a loud voice.

“How dare you yell at me now! I’m someone that serves the Master! (Mirina) You really want to fight -”

“What?”

I cut her off. My tone sounded urgent. The maid turned her eyes on me, I feel like I’m seeing a demon.

“I’m here to give you orders that you will be called, and I can’t believe I am being treated like this! Do you think he’ll stay still once he finds out?”

I couldn’t hear the last part properly. Instead of sighing, I pressed my sick head on my temple.

Yeah, I can’t let this go. It’s coming.

(To clear this part up, Sanya was going back to her palace, then a maid from Mirina’s palace grabbed her and was hurting her, and one of the court ladies under the emperor that serves Sanya saw it happen and intervened. Then the maid blabbed about how Mirina sent her and Sanya was thinking oh here it comes…)

***

When it came to the selection of court ladies, Mirina was very tough and particular. There was no one great enough to try to hurt him. Even the court lady that served him was personally assigned by himself.

Besides that, the others do chores just killing mice or birds without being embarrassed. Now, the court lady who served him would never be this cheeky. She would never mock him by bragging about her position.

The reason why this maid’s face was unfamiliar was not because she has a low position, it was because she’s not from the palace.

This time, it was inevitable. If it was a quiet, plain court lady, she would’ve just said ‘Oh, I was sent in advance’. But a stupid person came in.

In fact, all of Mirina’s court ladies were calm in the novel, even the person who brought him his blindfold. It’s surprising that this maid hasn’t been kicked out yet. Did she lie flat on her stomach believing she’s someone influential? She was full of excitement when the order given to her was from Mirina.

Maybe he was being too careless thinking that the daughter of the Yeoran family won’t be on good terms with the emperor. But, at least he knew now that the court lady did not know who that maid was.

He didn’t know much about Sanya, but he could tell that she was weak. Once again, it was surprising that the maid was still here, and it was not his responsibility that he didn’t recognize her first.

I lowered my body and immersed my nose underwater. Steam rose from the lightly scented water. As I sighed, the water droplets rose swiftly. I then looked at the court lady, who seemed to be fumbling around for a comb, she was the one who gave me the cool nectar juice. And the lady in front of her is called Seo Yeon. When she turned around, her eyes went wide as it met mine.

“Miss! Don’t drink the bath!”

“What?”

“No!”

The cry drew attention from everyone in the room. My shoulder shook from clumsiness.

“Oh, I didn’t.”

“Oh my! Did you eat the flower?”

No, I didn’t eat it. She said so herself that she was a little talkative while others were more quiet. But why are we so busy now? One of the court ladies ran somewhere and started rummaging through the books. I saw her hand stopped at one page.

“Ah! These are toxic flowers!”

“What? That crazy bitc -, oh. Some crazy person put it in your bath! Miss, you need to come out!”

“Do you want to die?”

What? What’s wrong with you?

“…There.”

I raised my hand slightly and spoke quietly. At that moment, all the noise stopped and all eyes were focused on me. I opened my mouth at that time.

“I didn’t eat it.”

I probably will never forget the look on their faces for the next 10 years. Finally, they went back to where they were in the room quietly. Only the court lady who was washing my arm was smiling.

The door opened, and Seo Yeon came back. After asking for my understanding of her being late, she looked around the room at everyone else and frowned.

“Tone your voices down.”

“But ma’am -”

“They have been waiting for a while now.”

Their eyes went wide open. It’s rare to see court ladies act like regular people, for many would think they’re dolls on a display. In the original, Sanya was attached to the emperor and fought with the concubines, so I didn’t know what her court ladies were like. There was no narrative in the beginning and in the second half, there were only a couple of lines where they clicked their tongues with a spiteful look on their faces.

I didn’t have any intention of trying to be loved by acting childlike, so I was a little surprised by how nice and lively they’re treating me.

“Miss, will you stand up?”

Seo Yeon asked me and I got out of the bathtub.

…What are we going to talk about?

***

No matter how high you fly or how low you crawl, you cannot surpass the emperor. This was emphasized more in the imperial palace where the emperor lived. But why did she give me such a big palace?

My question was answered as soon as I entered Mirina’s palace.

…This is one man’s palace? Isn’t this a castle? I mean, not just one person’s place, but a castle where all royal families live.

When I was young, and when I was still in Korea, I would be so surprised when visiting the university campus that my cousin goes to. She would always smile at me and say there are also buses.

This place right here feels like that. The era was a fictional world created by the writers with a oriental feel, but things like the architecture and lifestyles were closer to those in China than Korea.

My palace is much smaller compared to this. I feel a little more ease now that I found out I didn’t receive special treatment.

“Oh my gosh! Hurry up! How long are you going to keep him waiting!”

The cheeky maid grabbed my arm, which began to throb. When I arrived at Mirina’s palace, the maid threatened that my court ladies could no longer enter, and since I’m the only one invited, only I could enter.

In the first place, the concubines did not take the court ladies with them, and because my status was weaker, my court ladies had no choice but to retreat. Until earlier, Seo Yeon was ready to even fight the maid, but now that I’m alone with her, she took no time to try defeating me as much as she wanted.

She began to ramble on about how happy I should be to be invited by Mirina to go to his palace. She continued to hold my arm and drag me. The reason why I was slow was because I’m still a child, and my stride can’t match up to hers, who’s an adult.

I really just want to kill her. She’s more annoying than the maid that Garam brought back.