The Young Consort Wants to Live Quietly

Chapter 20

***

Despite my previous resolution, I found myself contemplating a thought I had dismissed. I had said that if I were to seek out the Empress on my own, it would be a sign I had gone half-mad. Yet, in the face of death, all things are equal.

The temptation was real, but I quickly banished the thought from my mind. It would be like demolishing a dam to stop a drought.

The wedding night is an inevitable event, and while one might somehow get through it, rumors of sharing a bed with the Empress afterward must absolutely be avoided.

Of course, if I truly felt my death was imminent, I might consider it, but fortunately, there was still one option left to me.

I watched Seoyeon as she busied herself arranging my bedding. She was wrapping heated stones in cloth and bustling about, preparing my sleeping area. When she noticed my gaze, she immediately turned to me.

Seoyeon was the leader among my maids. And if she held such a position, she must be a maid in whom the Empress had considerable trust.

As I felt once again when she carried me today, the maids serving the Empress closely were very strong.

Seoyeon’s body was all muscle, which likely explained why she was so solid. In this world, nobles with abilities did not serve as maids in the palace, but there were still illegitimate children. Children abandoned after a night of leisure by the head of a family were plentiful.

“My Lady, do you have something to ask?”

Seoyeon inquired politely. I cleared my throat, swallowed once, and then mumbled my request.

“…Would you sleep beside me?”

Even to my own ears, my voice sounded nasal and full of embarrassment, sending shivers down my spine.

Ah. I really sound like a child. Although I am one, it was embarrassing.

If Seoyeon were to sleep beside me, I would surely be safe. Thus, it’s the optimal solution. Even if it means I have to act like a shy child. The very thought made me dread the future.

Would I have to resort to such acts repeatedly in the future?

As I was engulfed in a deep sense of futility, Seoyeon hesitated with a troubled expression. Seeing her face, I instantly changed my expression, drooping my eyebrows like Puss in Boots.

“Having moved to a new palace, it feels unfamiliar… and I tend to have many nightmares when I sleep alone.”

I fidgeted with my hands a couple of times. Even I thought my small fidgeting hands looked cute. I decided then that the voice I was hearing couldn’t possibly be my own.

“But My Lady, sleeping with someone of lower status is…”

Seoyeon spoke with a voice full of dilemma. Internally, I scoffed.

I thought she found me quite adorable, but apparently, I wasn’t cute enough to sway her this easily.

Insisting further in such a situation wouldn’t be beneficial. A whiny child is only more likely to irritate to the point of refusal.

Instead of persisting, I hung my head low.

One, two, three.

Still not budging.

“…Is it really not possible?”

I lifted my head, making my face look even more pitiful, and my voice sounded sadder. My expression visibly shook Seoyeon. She seemed genuinely torn, biting her lip.

“No…”

“…”

“…Yes.”

Good.

***

“…”

“…”

“…Um, Seo-”

“It’s late at night. You should sleep.”

Seoyeon’s quiet voice cut me off.

I unwittingly flinched and closed my mouth. I thought if we were to sleep together, she would bring another bed or at least a blanket for herself, but she only brought a small chair and sat at the foot of my bed, seemingly determined to stay awake all night. I blinked at her resolute will.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“I am fine. Please do not worry.”

Yet, I couldn’t hide my uneasy eyes. I was worried she might be tired from staying up all night, but more so, I was anxious she might leave if I fell asleep.

Considering it was said to be around ten o’clock now, assassins naturally wouldn’t knock on the door at such early hours as nine or ten at night.

They would likely come around two in the morning, by which time a young body like mine would have easily succumbed to sleep.

Should I bite my tongue to stay awake?

“…If you can’t sleep, would you like me to tell you a story?”

Seoyeon whispered softly, noticing me rolling my eyes.

I bit my lip at her suggestion. Should I ask her to tell stories all night like the sultan in the Arabian Nights?

But I quickly changed my mind. Rather than resorting to such superficial tactics, I decided to play a bit more on the emotional side.

“…No, it’s okay. You don’t have to.”

“…”

“…It’s not that I can’t sleep. It’s just that… I’m afraid you might leave if I fall asleep…”

I felt like I was going to vomit. Who on earth came up with such a line?

I grimaced, doing my best to hold back the contortion of my face, and gazed earnestly at Seoyeon. In her eyes, unmistakable sympathy began to form.

“…Do not worry. I will be here.”

“Really?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

“But why aren’t you lying down…”

“How could I presume to share a bed with someone of your noble stature? I simply cannot.”

Hearing her answer, I finally relaxed. Her reason for not lying down wasn’t because she intended to leave, but because of propriety.

“I see…”

As my tension dissipated, sleep quickly overwhelmed me. I didn’t resist the closing of my eyes. My vision blurred a few times, and soon, I fell deeply asleep.

***

Seoyeon quietly watched Sanya, who had quickly fallen asleep. The child’s youthful face was peacefully at rest, and her breathing was steady and calm.

Seoyeon reflected again on the news she had heard a few days ago.

“Sanya Yeoran is not a spy.”

The voice of the Empress’s attendant who spoke those words was heavy with complexity. And now, Seoyeon felt the same. The child was endearing but excessively quiet.

Although Seoyeon had never cared for a child before, she could tell that Sanya was different from ordinary children. What child receives lavish gifts and behaves as if they’re not really theirs, hardly throwing tantrums and merely mumbling?

The difference in their statuses was clear, and Seoyeon could never share a room with Sanya under normal circumstances.

However, Sanya’s eyes looked so sad that Seoyeon broke that absolute rule just for today. How could she not be moved by such a child?

Originally, Seoyeon was supposed to stay by Sanya’s side for only a month. Yet, she pleaded with Yehwa to remain longer. All the maids who came with her felt the same.

They had never cared for a child like Sanya before, and though experienced maids accustomed to raising many children might be better for Sanya, they felt differently.

At least those maids couldn’t crush a person’s neck with their bare hands without supernatural powers, could they? The thought of using such force to protect a single child would make the numerous assassins who lost their lives to her hands wail in the underworld.

Yet, the room remained quiet and peaceful. Within that tranquility, Seoyeon sat motionless, not disturbing the air around her, when the bedroom door quietly opened.

“Are you still here?”

The entering maid looked surprised to see Seoyeon, who nodded in response. The maid smiled softly and approached her.

“Go rest. I’ll take over from here.”

“But…”

“Didn’t you overdo it today?”

Seoyeon swallowed her retort, realizing the maid was right. The transition to the new palace had indeed burdened her with too many responsibilities.

“You have to leave early in the morning for the household, don’t you? Please, go ahead.”

With such insistence, Seoyeon found no more reasons to refuse. She finally got up from her seat.

“Yeonsu, thank you.”

Yeonsu, the maid referred to, smiled lightly at Seoyeon’s words.

“It’s nothing.”

Ensuring not to wake Sanya, Seoyeon quietly closed the door behind her, and Yeonsu took the spot Seoyeon had vacated. It was a position directly in view of Sanya’s sleeping face.

Sanya lay there, defenselessly asleep. Despite her earlier worries, the young body demanded deep sleep. Yeonsu watched with a strangely settled gaze.

Outside, a bird chirped a few times. Then, at that moment, water droplets seeped through the window frame.

If it had been ordinary water, it would have immediately soaked the fabric or wood, but this water maintained its droplet form, slowly moving towards Sanya.

To anyone, the scene would appear bizarre, yet Yeonsu, as if not seeing it, stood up expressionlessly. She walked towards the door, and, just like Seoyeon before her, carefully opened it.

Pausing momentarily before leaving, Yeonsu then stepped out of the room without hesitation.

* * *

A burning sensation in my throat and nose woke me abruptly, as if I had been scorched by fire. My body instinctively coughed in reaction to the water that had rushed into my mouth and nose, bringing even more water flooding in.

‘…!’

I must close my mouth.

Despite my efforts, coughs kept forcing the water out. I clamped my hands over my mouth, scanning my surroundings.

Everything appeared as if overlaid with a blue filter. My eyes felt gritty as if something had brushed against them, and my limbs flailed uncontrollably.

Someone had filled my room with water to the brim. Surely, they hadn’t filled it for a midnight swim.

Ah, a bad premonition always comes true. Was it because of the words I had spoken, or was it this palace I had been given?

One thing was certain: someone intends to kill me tonight.