Chapter 15
Danbi strode through the palace, holding up the hem of her skirt.
The palace staff whispered and parted like the Red Sea at the sight of her brash, unrefined gait, as if court etiquette were of no concern to her.
"Good heavens, look at that."
The gazes piercing the back of her head were stinging, but that was the least of Danbi's worries right now.
Som grabbed Danbi, her face pale with panic.
"M-my lady! Where are you—"
"Where do you think? I’m going to settle this."
"Pardon? Settle what?"
"Am I supposed to just sit here and endure such a disgraceful label as being cast aside? They’ve got the wrong person if they think I’ll take this lying down."
Danbi bit her lip.
"If he won't come to me, so be it. I’ll just have to go find him myself."
However, finding Hyun was not as easy as she had thought. One moment they said he was in one place, but by the time she arrived, they claimed he was somewhere else.
With every place she went, she was one step behind, and Danbi’s pace grew increasingly frantic.
As if playing a game of hide-and-seek, his constant evasion was already wearing her patience thin.
After pacing the palace grounds in circles while clutching her innocent skirt, Danbi finally plopped down right in the middle of the path.
"My lady, are you alright?"
"Ugh, I can't walk another step. Where on earth is that jerk Lee Hyun wandering off to?"
"Shall I call for a palanquin?"
At Som’s worried inquiry, Danbi waved her hand and sprawled out on the grass.
"Forget it. I’m just going to lie here for a moment."
"My lady, you’ll ruin your health if you lie on the ground."
Danbi stared blankly up at the sky.
"Why is the sky so clear? It’s only more annoying."
White clouds drifted across the blue sky like a flock of sheep. Danbi felt the breeze tickling the tip of her nose and slowly closed her eyes.
It felt just like that day, a year ago.
"Is this yours?"
Lying side by side with Hyun under the shade of a tree, something had bumped against her foot.
Danbi tilted her head slightly. A small ball was rolling near her feet.
A short distance away, she saw a child staring blankly at the ball. When Danbi asked, the child nodded.
"Here."
Danbi smiled and tossed the ball. The child caught it instantly and bowed their head.
Just then, she heard someone behind her. Hyun was already sitting there, leaning against the tree.
"Are you awake?"
"I was just dozing."
As she turned her gaze back to the front, she saw the back of the child walking away, holding the hands of a man and a woman.
"Our child would be so cute, wouldn't they?"
"Suddenly?"
"Have you never thought about it?"
"You didn't really like kids."
"……I've changed my mind."
Danbi let out a soft chuckle.
"Am I getting old now, too?"
"Two children would be nice. It’s good for them to grow up playing together."
Hyun muttered in a low voice. When she turned to look at him, she saw his face, feigning indifference.
"You've already imagined that far?"
"Imagined what? I’m just saying."
Danbi beamed and embraced him.
"……Damn it."
"My lady, what is the matter?"
"I just remembered something unpleasant for no reason."
Stung by the sudden flash of the past, Danbi jumped to her feet. Every second spent thinking about that wretched man felt like a waste.
Just forget it, forget it.
As she brushed the dirt off her clothes, she heard someone nearby. Danbi quickly pulled Som’s arm behind a thicket of bushes.
"My lady? What—"
"Shh!"
Danbi hurriedly held her index finger to her lips.
In the distance, she saw three people walking hand in hand. They were familiar faces.
One was Hyun, and the other was Harin. But between them, she saw a young child she had never seen before.
"Who is that child?"
"It appears to be the Crown Prince."
"The Crown Prince? If it’s the Crown Prince……!"
"He is the son of His Majesty the King and the Queen."
Danbi collapsed back onto the ground. It felt as if her heart had plummeted into the abyss.
"M-my lady!"
"He had a child……?"
***
"My lady, my lady!"
The two feet running rapidly across the bridge came to an abrupt halt. Som, following behind Danbi, barely managed to stop before slamming into her back.
A voice as cold as ice drifted over her shoulder.
"Since when did that jerk have a child?"
"Since when, you ask? The Crown Prince is already six years old."
Danbi staggered and grabbed the railing. Som placed an arm around her shoulders as if to steady her.
"My lady! Are you alright?"
Danbi bit her lower lip. The image of the three of them holding hands kept replaying in her mind like a scene from a movie.
"So he can smile like that in front of others, too."
"Pardon? What do you mean……."
No, wait.
Danbi snapped her head up.
"This is just a game. Yes, it’s just a game……."
"I didn't steal it. I just took in something that had no owner."
A few days ago, the sight of Hyun and Harin walking arm in arm suddenly flashed through her mind. Dark clouds gathered over Danbi’s face.
She pulled something from her robes.
It was palm-sized and engraved with a floral pattern. It was the dagger she had received as a reward item a short while ago.
Danbi slowly drew the blade. The steel glinted brightly in the sunlight.
Som stared up at the blade with a dizzy expression.
***
Rang hurried through the bushes. He was on his way back from the Queen’s palace after receiving instructions from Hyun.
It was a rare occasion for His Majesty, the Queen, and the Crown Prince to be together.
Because he had forgotten the lunch box they were supposed to eat at the pavilion, the midday meal had been delayed far longer than expected.
Rang focused all his attention on keeping the lunch box in his hand steady as he quickened his pace.
Just then, he sensed a commotion nearby. Two women were bickering on the bridge leading to the pavilion.
'Who is that?'
Rang narrowed his eyes. They looked somewhat familiar; it was that daughter of the Right State Councilor he had seen in front of the bedchamber a while ago.
The moment something in her hand flashed in the sunlight, Rang’s heart sank.
At that moment, on the bridge.
Danbi stared at the dagger and let out a strange, hollow laugh.
"Now I get it. This is why they gave me this as a reward item."
"What on earth……!"
"They must have given it to me to kill that bastard. How dare he play with me all this time?!"
"M-my lady! It’s dangerous!"
Som and Danbi scrambled, wrestling over the dagger.
'Wait, hold on.'
As the dagger passed back and forth between their hands, Danbi stared blankly at the scabbard in her other hand.
If her memory served her right, in the previous game, Hyun had possessed the scabbard. This scabbard, covered in floral patterns, which she had received as a reward item.
"How on earth did he have that?"
Danbi looked back and forth between the scabbard and the dagger in her hands.
*Swish.*
Just then, someone bumped into her back.
When she turned, she saw two palace maids carrying a stack of clothes so high they couldn't see in front of them.
"Please, move aside for a moment!"
"Ah!"
And in that brief moment of distraction,
*Splash—!*
The dagger slipped from her hand and fell into the lake.
"Oh? My reward item!"
Danbi didn't hesitate and threw herself over the railing. At that moment, mixed with Som’s voice, she heard someone shouting.
"My lady!"
"……Your Highness!!"
With a splash, the surroundings fell silent in an instant.
Inside the lake, Danbi blinked. In the distance, something shimmered in the light.
It was the dagger.
Danbi desperately flailed her arms and dove deeper. The current was fierce, but she didn't take her eyes off the dagger.
Suppressing her bursting lungs, she reached down, further and further. By a hair’s breadth, her fingertips brushed the cold hilt of the dagger.
As she grasped it, a blue light rippled and exploded around it, as if it had been waiting for its owner.
'Got it!'
Danbi felt relieved and kicked her legs with all her might. All she had to do now was swim back up to the surface.
But contrary to her will, her body kept sinking deeper. Her water-logged skirt kept dragging her down.
'No, I can't breathe……!'
Danbi reached out weakly toward the light visible in the distance. Just as her eyes were about to close, someone dove into the water with a splash.
Before she knew it, someone had grabbed her hand, blocking out the light.
Danbi slowly closed her eyes.
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