Chapter 5

Sookbi (3)

– 'Taepyeong, you must survive at all costs.'

– 'Even if the probability is one in a hundred, one in a thousand, you must never stop trying to survive, Taepyeong.'

– 'Even if it seems dull and meaningless, you must never give up on life.'

– 'You can survive. You must survive, Taepyeong. Never doubt this fact.'

*

Yeonri started retching as soon as she came out of the central hall of the Cheongnyeong Palace. It seemed the aftereffects of the enchantment spell, which she was not used to, lingered for a long time.

“Ugh, gah… Ha…”

After a while, she managed to regain her composure.

As soon as she felt the gazes of the maids gathered around her, she blushed, embarrassed by the fact that she had retched in front of so many people.

“R-Really… I almost killed Sookbi…”

As soon as she regained her composure, she broke out in a cold sweat.

“How is your condition?”

“T-Thank you, Taepyeong… I’m feeling a bit better now… It felt like I saw my life flash before my eyes… and had some terrifying nightmares…”

“Nightmares? What kind of nightmares…?”

“Ferns… I had a nightmare about eating a bowl of soup with lots of blanched ferns in it…”

“…Nightmares to that extent?”

The hand that was patting Yeonri’s back stopped.

Seeing her fully regained composure, I felt somewhat relieved. If something happened to Yeonri, Elder Baekseon would be greatly worried.

“Alright, if you’re feeling better, that’s good.”

I stood up and looked around at the gathered maids.

Among them, the head maid of Cheongnyeong Palace was visible.

I walked steadily towards the head maid, who trembled in fear.

I grabbed the head maid by the collar.

The gathered maids all widened their eyes in shock.

“Kuh, cough. Cough.”

“Taepyeong! What are you doing!”

I dragged the head maid down from the veranda and threw her into the front yard.

“Cough!”

The head maid, thrown helplessly onto the dirt ground, started coughing.

Yeonri, startled, ran out into the front yard.

“Taepyeong! I said I’m fine! Even if that’s the case, you can’t treat the head maid like this… It won’t end with just a beating…!”

In the palace, the rank of a martial guard is generally much higher than that of a concubine’s maid. This is natural.

However, it would be absurd for a young trainee martial guard to punch the head maid.

A head maid of Cheongnyeong Palace is usually a woman of high status.

She is a person who must assist the Crown Princess, which is natural.

If it were known that a trainee martial guard had beaten the head maid of the Crown Princess, the main palace would be shocked and the trainee would be immediately expelled. In some cases, they might even face severe punishment.

Knowing this, Yeonri was startled and tried to stop me, but it didn’t take long for her to also feel the tension.

“…”

Yeonri swallowed and looked around.

It was strangely quiet.

Despite a mere trainee martial guard beating the head maid, none of the higher-ranking maids stepped forward.

It was as if they were acknowledging the martial guard’s anger as justified.

And as if they themselves were also guilty.

“Why didn’t you take my sword before I entered the inner chamber?”

This question would pierce the head maid’s heart like a dagger.

Yeonri, seemingly realizing something, held her breath.

Without any prior explanation, and without even taking away the sword, throwing me into the trap of the enchantment spell was… nothing short of madness.

Even if I resisted the Sookbi’s enchantment, Yeonri actually almost killed Sookbi.

“Did you use us to try to kill Sookbi?”

There was no other way to interpret it.

Before entering the inner chamber, the only one who tried to take my sword was a young trainee.

I turned around.

Numerous mid-rank and high-rank maids stood silently, like bundles of barley.

“I have committed a grave sin.”

At that moment, the head maid knelt and bowed, pressing her head to the dirt ground.

Even with her high status, being beaten and unable to say a word, it was because if I reported this to the high officials of the main palace, they would all face the death penalty.

“Good heavens…”

Yeonri’s eyes trembled, and her voice quivered.

“How could… the maids of Cheongnyeong Palace…!”

“This is because we believed it was the right thing to do.”

The head maid, tears streaming down her face, spoke.

“Since Sookbi took her position, there has not been a single day when I did not care for her. I took pride in being a maid of Cheongnyeong Palace and devoted myself to caring for Sookbi’s illness every day.”

Tears from the maid fell onto the dirt ground.

“After we learned about the fever, you cannot imagine how desperate we were. Still, we tried our best to save Sookbi in every way possible.”

“…”

“We could only clean the room with fresh water, try to feed her one more spoonful of porridge, and pray every night… but we worked day and night to try to cure Sookbi’s illness… but…”

The hand of the head maid, pressing the dirt ground, tightened.

“It has been a hundred and forty days since then. The seasons have changed twice. The illness has only worsened, and Sookbi has only continued to complain of pain… Eventually, she started begging to be killed, and for the past five days, she has been using an unknown enchantment spell…”

The other mid-rank maids surrounding her remained silent, unable to add a single word.

“Fever is practically a death sentence once it starts. While there is a one in a hundred, one in a thousand chance of survival… should we continue Sookbi’s suffering for that faint hope…? It would be even more cruel…”

“…”

“We have done everything we could. We clenched our teeth and supported Sookbi, trying to make her live one more day, despite the burning pain she had to endure in her small body. But if she herself can no longer bear the pain… what more can we do? It is nothing more than meaningless torture.”

“Then why didn’t you do it yourself, why did you involve us!”

Yeonri raised her voice.

She seemed angry. It was understandable.

The head maid had admitted to using us to kill Sookbi.

“Since you are from Baekseon Palace, if you were to do it… Elder Baekseon would protect you.”

Saying this, the maid pressed her head to the dirt ground.

“We are maids of Cheongnyeong Palace. If we did it, it would only be a serious crime, but if Elder Baekseon were to step in, it would be different.”

“…”

“You are said to be people Elder Baekseon cherishes. Elder Baekseon would testify that you could not resist Sookbi’s enchantment, as he is an expert in the art of enchantment. The high officials of the main palace would understand. The severity of the crime would be greatly reduced. Therefore… I thought it would be better for you to do it… and I tried to use you.”

“Ha… I’m really speechless!”

“I have committed a grave sin…”

The sight of a head maid bowing before a mere maid and a trainee martial guard was pitiful.

With a tear-streaked face, rubbing her head against the dirt ground, she looked more like a beggar than a head maid.

Her luxurious high-rank maid’s attire was now covered in dirt, looking like rags.

“Even if you beg, we cannot forgive you. You just wanted to make things easier for yourself!”

Yeonri clenched her fists and shouted.

“Taepyeong! There’s no need to stay in such a place! Let’s go to the high officials of the main palace and inform them of the situation! If we let this mad place be, it will only bring greater disaster!”

“That’s right!! I understand the situation!!”

“…What?”

I raised my fist and clenched it, speaking to the head maid.

“I will forgive you!!!!!”

“What kind of absurd thing are you saying, Taepyeong!!!!”

Yeonri, who had been shouting on my behalf, was taken aback.

*

I looked around at the gathered maids and attendants. They all had wide eyes.

The head maid was no different. She seemed to have not expected such an answer.

“Listen, Yeonri. The maids didn’t need to involve us to kill Sookbi.”

“What?”

“All we need to do is inform the high officials of the main palace that Sookbi is suffering from fever.”

Yeonri’s eyes widened at these words.

I went to the head maid, who was pressing her head to the dirt ground, and lowered myself to look at her face.

The head maid, with trembling eyes and a haggard face, looked at me.

“However, you didn’t do that. You kept it hidden, pretending it was just a simple illness, and didn’t reveal that she had fever.”

I closed my eyes and thought about the reason.

The high officials of the main palace think only of the Crown Prince.

Sookbi entered the harem as a Crown Princess but fell ill with fever.

Her proper education as a Crown Princess had not even begun, and she had just taken her position.

At this point, having fever is an unacceptable flaw for a Crown Princess who must be perfect.

She had not yet firmly established herself as a proper Crown Princess, and the young Crown Prince, who knew nothing, had not even formed an attachment to her.

It would be better to depose her before the Crown Prince forms an attachment.

If deposed, she would be expelled from Cheongnyeong Palace. Being thrown out of the palace while suffering from fever would mean certain death.

It would be better to depose her before the innocent Crown Prince, who knows nothing, suffers the pain of losing a beloved consort.

…But in reality, that wouldn’t happen.

The Crown Prince Hyunwon is completely infatuated with Seolran and wouldn’t even look at another woman. That’s a fact I know, but it’s beside the point.

In any case, almost no one survives fever.

It would be better to find a new Sookbi before the Crown Prince forms an attachment. That would be the conclusion.

A head maid of Cheongnyeong Palace would clearly see this trend.

That’s why she kept Sookbi’s fever hidden.

All she had to do was report it as it was, but the maids of Cheongnyeong Palace had grown attached to the young Sookbi and tried to save her.

However, the passing time eroded their resolve.

After two seasons, there was no sign of the fever subsiding.

Most importantly, Sookbi herself, whom they had grown attached to, had been begging to be killed for months.

Disease doesn’t just kill the patient; it kills the family and loved ones too.

When a family member starts battling cancer, the entire family often falls apart. The same was true for Cheongnyeong Palace.

Sookbi’s long illness had weakened Cheongnyeong Palace and was slowly killing it.

With the added effect of Sookbi’s enchantment, they had reached the point of facilitating a martial guard entering her bedroom with a sword.

“There was no one to understand.”

There was no place to vent their frustrations.

A moment of silence fell over the inner courtyard of Cheongnyeong Palace.

“You must have all suffered a great deal.”

I couldn’t understand the full weight of those words, but the strange wave of sadness that spread among the maids was palpable.

“I will take your suffering into account. I will not inform the main palace of the truth.”

“But… I… I tried to make you a murderer.”

“You did. You must pay for your crimes. There are many things I could ask of you, but let’s start with the urgent matters.”

I stroked my chin and spoke.

“Cooperate in saving Sookbi.”

“…What?”

*

– Thud.

A feeling as if all the bones in her body were breaking. Sookbi Jincheongrang retched again, spitting out blood.

She had fallen off the bed.

The pain from this alone was overwhelming, as if her brain was on fire.

‘Kuh, cough…’

With a body that barely had any strength, she moved to reach for the sword that had fallen to the floor.

The sword of the martial guard from Baekseon Palace, left on the floor.

She didn’t have the strength to bite her tongue and end her life, but with that sharp sword, she could commit suicide.

That’s why she had tried to get down to reach the sword.

She pushed herself up with her emaciated hands. Even this small movement made her hands tremble.

When she lifted her head, she saw a full-length mirror on the floor.

In it, she saw her haggard reflection.

Sunken eyes, wild hair, a red robe stained with vomit, and skin that reeked of illness.

She remembered the proud look in her parents’ eyes when she was selected as a Crown Princess and left her home.

To become the most beautiful flower in Cheongdo Palace and live a glamorous and dazzling life.

Thinking of her parents’ joyful tears, tears