Chapter 32

I finally fully acknowledged that they care about me quite a bit.

Parents who love their children… it’s too much, but I’m more like a cute niece to them. And that’s quite a good thing. The fact that Mirina and Garam like me a lot has reduced the number of assassination attempts since they were favored by the emperor.

‘If only you don’t come here.’

I couldn’t help but still feel uncomfortable. Just yesterday, I felt tired after taking a walk with Mirina at his palace. However, due to nature’s law of equal exchange, it’s very peaceful today.

‘Come think of it, they said they’re preparing for a festival.’

Ah, that’s right. Aryun.

At the beginning of summer, a festival called Aryun is held at Seorak. It’s an national celebration for the founding of the country. The duration is three days and three nights, and it was held in Yongchun to thank the harvest, starting with the emperor’s ritual for the dragons.

There were tax cuts, release of lightly guilty prisoners, and envoy visits from other countries. Everyone was preparing, so they were busy.

‘The beginning of summer… the end of June.’

Of course I thought of this leisurely during the middle of busy preparations. They can’t make an eight-year-old do work. It’s like asking for there to be a mistake on purpose, and Aryun was not a light event where that can happen.

It’s a festival named after the first emperor and the last name of the imperial family, so it can’t be prepared in vain. I laid on the bed comfortably.

“Sigh.”

The sun is warm and the air is cool. The breeze from the open window felt like the last remaining part of spring. I just woke up from a nap, and I fell asleep again.

I reached out towards the table and chewed on the ice from the juice that Heesa had brought earlier. I love chewing ice, it’s nice because there’s no taste to it. However, Seo Yeon strictly forbade me from doing it, telling me I will get stomach aches and my teeth will also get worse.

It was unfortunate, but Seo Yeon isn’t here right now. I eat a lot of candy like other kids, and ice is a better choice for now. While I was chewing, I looked at Go Woon, who’s eating sweets in front of my eyes.

Maybe it’s also because he’s a child, for he liked the sweets. Whenever I pushed the plate in front of him, I pretended not to notice every time he would take something and eat it.

‘Your teeth will rot faster than mine.’

Heesa tends to add a lot of sugar in the food, but my tongue never hurts from it. Nothing here is as sweet as the caramel or chocolate in Korea, but it’s true that I’m a little worried. It’s hard to get proper dental treatment here.

Go Woon raised his head as soon as he felt my gaze on him, and he stiffened as his eyes widened. I was surprised at how he was acting, for he was holding a sweet in his hand as if he didn’t know what to do.

“…I’m sorry.”

I shook my hands at his apology.

“No, it’s fine. Eat!”

“But I wouldn’t dare do that…”

“I have this. Besides, there’s always more for me to eat if I want. It’s okay!”

I said as Go Woon finally put the sweet in his mouth. I got up and approached him.

“I was just afraid my teeth would rot if I ate too much.”

Go Woon, who was staring at me, nodded at my words. I smiled gently, and then yawned loudly.

“Are you tired?”

“…A little bit.”

I answered his question. But, why am I so tired? It’s not just today, for I’ve been feeling like this for quite some time. I was wondering if I was okay, because it got worse recently. Maybe it was from me playing with Go Woon at night, but I go to bed before 10 o’clock.

No matter how much children sleep, they shouldn’t be tired after sleeping for 12 hours plus taking naps. Besides, I’m not playing like normal kids.

I can’t even remember what I said last night…

“Miss! If you’re sleepy, go to bed!”

Heesa told me in a loud voice as I yawned again. I stumbled back as she approached me to life me up and place me on my bed. She’s really… fast and strong.

“I’m not going to sleep. I’ve already woken up from taking a nap.”

“It’s okay if you sleep more! Well, I’ll sing you a lullaby! Where is the music box from all those gifts…”

“Even if I go to sleep, I won’t listen to your lullaby.”

I spoke to Heesa while she was busy searching for the music box. She turned to me in tears.

“Don’t…”

I don’t know why she wants to sing me a lullaby, but all my court ladies like to do it too. I have no intention of listening to them trying to sing to me and I have no intention of sleeping now.

“If I sleep now, you won’t wake me up.”

“How could I violate Miss’s orders! Even if the sky falls, I’ll still protect you!”

Heesa said triumphantly as she raised three fingers. Are you swearing to heaven, earth, and god? I wasn’t sure but it seems like a very strong oath. Well, too bad since she does that pretty often.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Miss…”

When I looked away from Heesa, Go Woon pulled on my small sleeve. I turned my attention towards him, and he scribbled something in his small notebook. That was the method I chose during the day to communicate for it was difficult to learn sign language in a short time.

His hand that was writing stopped, and he drew two lines. He repeated that again and slipped the notebook into my hand.

[Secret ⬛⬛ you said you had ⬛⬛]

Traces of various characters were seen in the black part of the paper. Garden, flower garden? There was a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ at the end of the sentence.

“Secret garden?”

I asked while I was still roughly trying to understand. Go Woon nodded with a slightly flushed face. There is a… secret garden. I’m not sure if it was okay to call it that. There’s a small space behind the palace I used to stay at, but a lot of people are usually around there.

“Why?”

Go Woon took back the notebook and started scribbling again.

[You said you would take me.]

My eyes widened.

I did?

“…When?”

Go Woon hesitated at my question. After a moment of consideration, he wrote down his answer in the notebook.

[Last night.]

That’s what I said last night?

I frowned. No matter how much I tried to rack my brain out, I don’t remember it. When did I tell Go Woon about a place where I almost forgot about it myself? It’s obvious that he’s not joking, since that’s not the type of person he is.

Did I mumble in my sleep? Either way, I became embarrassed.

“I can’t go there because it’s not my palace anymore. I’m sorry.”

He nodded gently at my words. I was relieved because he didn’t look heartbroken, but Heesa gave me a suspicious glance.

“It’s Miss’s palace.”

“… What?”

“It’s still your palace. Since you moved here, that palace is like an extension of this place!”

Her lively words left me speechless. Regardless of how ridiculous I looked, Heesa happily continued.

“Of course, you don’t live there right now, so it’s being used for something else. But the owner is still you, Miss! Hya, if you don’t like that, I’ll get someone right away!”

“Oh, no. It’s okay.”

I hurriedly replied before she decided to run away. A concubine with two palaces? Although it was embarrassing, she continued to say that it was used as accommodation for the archers. That could be because my old palace was small.

As I got up, she helped me prepare to go out with Go Woon. The walking distance was short, and I smiled when I saw the gate of the palace that I hadn’t seen in a long time. Unlike before, the place was a buzz.

Judging from the sound, there seemed to be a lot of blacksmiths and escorts around.

…A knife won’t fly out if I open the door, right?

I had that thought in my mind as I opened the door, but the scene I encountered was much different from what I expected. The latter was right, for there were many guards. The beautifully decorated trees in the garden were still intact, so they were probably training in a different area.

As I slowly walked inside, people started looking at me one-by-one. Someone then surprisingly approached me and knelt down.

“You can’t come in here. The flower trees are outside, so you can play over there. Oh, did you lose your parents?”

I was a little embarrassed at his words. It seems like he didn’t know who I was. My clothes were simple, but…

Still, I can’t just get kicked out like this, so just when I was about to tell them who I was, the man looked next to me and stopped. I turned around and saw Go Woon.

…Why are you so angry?

“Huh, aren’t you the little Miss?”

It was then that the man spoke in a cautious voice. As I was about to ask Go Woon something, I turned my head and saw an odd twinkle in the man’s eyes.

I just nodded. I’m not sure what made him realize…

The man then jumped up at my confirmation. He whistled strangely from his mouth, and at that moment, everyone stopped what they were doing. Everything happened in a blink of an eye as they all surrounded me like big bears.

“It’s the first miss.”

“She’s an angel.”

What, what?

I was so surprised that I took a step back, and Go Woon stood in front to block me. The men who flocked here like bears, soon laughed.

Yeah, it would look funny. Go Woon is bigger than me, but in an adult’s eyes, we were around the same size. However… my anxiety faded as Go Woon stepped in front of me. Those men won’t be able to hit me out of the blue now.

Go Woon wasn’t afraid of them. This is probably nothing to him considering what he has to go through with his colleagues.

Is there another organization in the Imperial Palace besides the shadows…?