Chapter 1. The Summoning of the Gold Ring

"Woody mana, woody ma."

A warm, wriggling presence burrowed into her embrace.

"Kung kkeuya?"

Small, soft fingers brushed against her tear-streaked cheeks.

It was too warm to be a dream, so Yoonseo lifted her heavy eyelids.

The moonlight gently filtered through the paper window.

"Already night? How long have I... Mom!"

Yoonseo jumped back.

In front of her, a small child gazed at her like a ghost.

"Are you also crying, mommy?"

The child, about three years old, with long hair, had a voice too tender to be a ghost.

"Who are you?"

Before she could ask, the child buried its face in Yoonseo's embrace and whispered sleepily with a small hand.

"Woody ma, dada."

Then, the child clutched Yoonseo's sash...

'Huh? A sash?'

Yoonseo carefully lifted the blanket, leaving the child's grip on the sash, and saw a jade-colored jacket and a dark skirt.

She was sure she had been wearing a stretched-out T-shirt and baggy pants.

What is this?

Child, who are you?

She was about to shake the child awake and ask, but stopped.

Her psychological counselor's instinct told her not to startle a sleeping child.

As she withdrew her hand, her ring finger glinted.

'The gold ring!'

It was the gold ring that had been in the old sandalwood box with a letter.

Then, the scream she heard when she put on the gold ring out of curiosity echoed in her mind again.

-Protect him, Kwon-ga. Protect our Hongwi.

Hongwi.

Lee Hongwi.

The son of Queen Kwon, the 19th ancestor of the Kwon family, who was the consort of King Sejo.

And the ill-fated king, Danjong, who was killed by King Sejo.

No way!

It can't be.

It mustn't be.

Yoonseo gave the child the blanket instead of the sash and got up.

When she opened the sliding door, she saw a double-structured mansion with an inner veranda and a four-sided gate leading outside.

This was a structure typically found in royal palaces or the mansions of powerful families.

'Could it be that I time-traveled to Joseon?'

With a fearful heart, she reached for the door leading outside.

Thud. The sound of footsteps on the main hall floor and a man's voice reached her.

"Your Highness! Crown Prince Your Highness! If your unauthorized entry into the palace is discovered!"

A voice trembling with fear.

"Tsk. Look at the sky. The star Zhenxing is shining unusually bright."

A voice filled with authority.

"Then, quickly confirm the safety of the heir and leave. We need to return before dawn."

"You must remember the names of those on night duty and the guards of this pavilion. What is the state of the palace's defenses!"

The man's voice was heavy with anger, clearly determined to punish those who failed to detect his intrusion.

'The heir? Is this child really Danjong?'

She wanted to ask, but it didn't seem like the right time.

Just as Yoonseo turned around,

Swish, the door opened silently, and in the next moment, a rough hand grabbed her neck.

"Who are you? Why are you eavesdropping like a mouse?"

"Eaves, eavesdropping?"

Yoonseo desperately tried to think of a plausible excuse.

"The young master seems thirsty..."

"If he's thirsty, the water should already be prepared next to his bed!"

The man's grip tightened, as if to say that such an excuse was unacceptable.

Ugh.

As Yoonseo began to suffocate, a strange memory flooded her mind like a sharp pain.

I am Kwon-ga!

This body originally belonged to a distant relative, 'Kwon-ga Yoonseo,' who lived with the Kwon family, the in-laws of the Crown Princess.

When Kwon was chosen as the Crown Prince's concubine, Shenghui, and entered the palace, I followed as a sort of bodyguard because I was agile.

After the Crown Princess passed away, I became a nanny to the heir.

Kwon, who died four days after giving birth to a son.

A very familiar story.

"Can't you stand up straight!"

Crown Prince Lee Hyang, the future King Munjong, tightened his grip on her neck.

****

Yoonseo found herself being choked by a nobleman because she had put on someone else's ring, specifically the gold ring of her 19th ancestor, Queen Kwon.

I thought it would be fine since it belonged to an ancestor.

Yoonseo had come to her hometown in Hongseong to perform the 3rd anniversary memorial service for her parents.

After offering the memorial service with yellow croaker, soybean cake, and a cup of alcohol, she visited places filled with her parents' memories and even went up to the attic.

While looking at the bookshelf filled with fairy tales she read as a child and diplomas, a strange box caught her eye.

It was a sandalwood box intricately decorated with mother-of-pearl flowers and stems.

It looked valuable enough to fetch millions if submitted to an antique show.

When she opened the lid, she found a phoenix hairpin carved from white jade, a pair of gold rings with phoenix patterns engraved in silver, and a neatly folded piece of paper with a still vivid safflower color at the bottom.

After carefully removing the hairpin and rings, she unfolded the paper.

慈母棄世何怱怱 (Jimo gise hajung)

Why did my kind mother hastily leave this world?

The neat and powerful handwriting conveyed a restrained sorrow.

'This is the elegy written by King Munjong for Queen Kwon on her memorial day.'

A poem her father had taught her, having translated classical Chinese poetry and published several books.

Yoonseo, feeling the deep sorrow of losing the Crown Princess, slightly altered the poem as she stroked the paper.

父母棄世何怱怱 (Bumo gise hajung)

Why did my parents hastily leave this world?

Leaving me alone in this stormy world.

As she felt her heart breaking, she put the ring on her left ring finger.

With a heart-wrenching cry, a woman screamed.

-Protect him, Kwon-ga. Protect our Hongwi.

Suddenly, her vision turned white, and she lost consciousness, collapsing.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in Joseon, being shaken by the hand of the husband of the ancestor who had screamed.

This is really too much.

If you want to protect Hongwi so much, you should come back yourself.

Why did you send a poor descendant, a 19th-generation relative, who is worse than a stranger?

Fueled by a sense of injustice, Yoonseo twisted her elbow and jabbed Lee Hyang's sternum.

It was the second self-defense move to escape a grab.

Gasp, the man groaned, and the grip on her neck loosened.

Seizing the opportunity, Yoonseo quickly opened the door to the sleeping heir's room.

"Waking a sleeping child is not right!"

Yoonseo shushed with her finger and sat down next to the child.

"Cheeky!"

Lee Hyang, about to shout, clamped his mouth shut.

There was no time.

It would take two hours to return to Janghwa Hall.

Two hours earlier, Lee Hyang, exhausted from directing the royal procession all day, had dozed off in his tent.

In his dream, the beloved Crown Princess Kwon appeared.

-Your Highness, Your Highness. I have sent someone to protect Hong. Your Highness, protect Hong, protect Hong, Your Highness.

Awakened by the earnest plea, he ran out of the tent to find the stars moving strangely.

The star Zhenxing, which appears in the eastern sky at dusk, was shining unusually bright and flickering.

Zhenxing is a star related to the safety of the prince.

A bright and steady shine is a good omen, but a flicker is a bad omen.

'What has happened to our Hongwi?'

His heart sank.

Lee Hyang was on his way back from a trip to Onyang Hot Springs with the king and queen.

Seoul, left in the care of Grand Prince Anpyeong, was in the absence of the king and crown prince.

Even as the crown prince, entering the palace without the king's permission during this time could be considered treason.

However, driven by the urgent need to see his two-year-old son with his own eyes, Lee Hyang mounted his horse and rode 40 li.

Five of the best guards from the Crown Prince's Guard accompanied him.

When he arrived, the palace's defenses were unaware of the intrusion.

The pavilion where the heir was located was unguarded, and the maids who should have been on duty were nowhere to be found.

After a two-month absence from the palace!

"Who are you? Are you the nanny?"

Lee Hyang, keeping his eyes on the maid holding the child, lit the candle on the shelf.

In the spreading light, he saw a maid holding the plump-cheeked Hongwi.

"Kwon-ga?"

"Yes, I am the nanny, Kwon-ga."

"Why are you here alone? Where are the other maids?"

At the mention of 'other maids,' the faces of Park-ga and Han-ga, who should have been on duty, came to mind.

He also remembered that they had bribed the slightly dim-witted 'Kwon-ga' with ten dates to take their shifts.

'Kwon-ga' was the official caretaker of this pavilion where Hongwi was!

"They all had stomachaches, so I'm the only one left."

"Stomachaches?"

"Probably from bad water."

"Is it dysentery? What about our Hongwi?"

"He's sleeping soundly here!"

Her mouth answered mechanically, but her mind was in turmoil.

Lee Hyang approached.

Under the light, Lee Hyang was a handsome man.

Tall, broad-shouldered, and with a strong, chiseled face. If not for his abundant beard, he would have been a top contender for the world's most handsome royal prince by modern standards.

However, even as he took the child from her arms, Yoonseo looked at him with indifferent eyes, lost in her own thoughts.

'This ring! If I take it off and put it on again, can I go back?'

Using the moment when the child was taken, Yoonseo slipped the gold ring off her ring finger.

She closed her eyes, put it back on, and prayed.

'When I open my eyes, I'll be in the modern era. When I open my eyes, I'll be in the 21st-century attic. When I open my eyes!'

Mom, Dad, help me.

God, Buddha, all the gods of the world!

She opened her eyes with a fervent prayer, but saw black hair first.

Then, a rough hand twisted her wrist.

"What is this ring? Why do you have it?"

Damn.

Still in Joseon,

In front of the crown prince, who was a virtuous ruler but failed to protect his own son and died irresponsibly.

"I want to know too. This ring!"

"?"

Lee Hyang's lips tightened. His expression was one of utter disbelief at such insolence.

Then, an urgent call came from outside.

"Crown Prince Your Highness! You must leave now! Your Highness!"

The one who needs to leave is me.

Instead of Yoonseo, who wanted to cry, Hongwi, who had woken up in the crown prince's arms, burst into tears.

"Too noisy."

Really, it's very noisy, baby.

The