CHAPTER 5
At the same time, Secretary Jo’s face turned pale with shock.
“W-What do you think you’re doing right now?”
“You actually tore up the name that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager personally bestowed?!”
Startled by Suryun’s unexpected action, she cried out.
It seemed she had forgotten that the person standing before her was the Empress of the Empire.
“Secretary Jo, I don’t think you’re in any position to lecture anyone about etiquette.”
“What do you mean…?”
Secretary Jo trailed off, looking as though she could not understand.
“This may be a hospital, but I am still the Empress.”
“You entered without announcing yourself, without even a simple knock.”
“…”
“Even a nurse who knows nothing about palace etiquette would never behave as carelessly as you just did.”
Secretary Jo fell silent under Suryun’s sharp rebuke.
Having the Empress Dowager backing her had made her unconsciously treat the Empress with disrespect.
“B-But even so, what Your Majesty just did cannot be excused.”
She flinched for a moment before speaking confidently again.
“Your Majesty’s actions were no different from an act of grave disrespect.”
“Grave disrespect?”
“Yes!”
“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager chose that name out of love for her first grandchild.”
“And yet you tore it apart!”
“If Her Majesty were to learn of this, she would surely be enraged.”
Secretary Jo spoke without hesitation.
Well, having the Empress Dowager as her patron must have given her plenty of confidence.
“How could you treat Her Majesty’s sincerity like this…”
Secretary Jo muttered in a sorrowful voice.
Watching her, Suryun let out a bitter laugh.
Love for her first grandchild?
Back when she knew nothing, Suryun had been overjoyed that the Empress Dowager had personally chosen her daughter’s name.
Because the Princess’s name was only a single character.
In the past, the names of those destined to become Emperor were traditionally made with a single Chinese character so that commoners could not casually speak them.
As a result, most princes had one-character names.
No one knew which prince would eventually ascend the throne.
When the Empress Dowager granted my daughter a single-character name, I believed it meant she intended to let my child inherit the throne someday.
Because of that, all the disappointment she had felt over her mother-in-law never once visiting the hospital completely disappeared.
At least, until she later discovered the true meaning behind the name the Empress Dowager had bestowed.
“I don’t believe Her Majesty the Empress Dowager sent this.”
“Pardon…?”
“Her Majesty would never curse her newborn granddaughter to die.”
“W-What do you mean…?!”
Secretary Jo’s eyes widened in shock at the word curse.
Suryun answered calmly.
“Do you know that the Chinese character written on that paper doesn’t only mean ‘outstanding,’ but can also mean ‘the center of a flower’?”
After hearing that, Secretary Jo asked as though she saw nothing wrong with it.
“So what?”
“The center of a flower refers to its very heart.”
“It carries the hidden wish that she would become the finest among all flowers.”
“What exactly is wrong with that?”
The corners of Suryun’s lips twisted upward.
“It seems you’ve neglected your study of Chinese characters despite working in the Imperial Palace.”
Secretary Jo frowned.
“As you said, the character Yeong (英) can refer to the flower’s center—its stamen, blossom, or petals—and symbolizes standing at the center among great people.”
Then Suryun’s tone suddenly changed.
“However, when that same character includes the grass radical (⺾) at the top, its meaning changes entirely.”
Startled, Secretary Jo quickly picked up the torn paper from the floor.
The moment she looked at it, her face stiffened.
The grass radical represented grass and weeds.
Which meant…
When weeds covered a flower bud, the flower could never see the sky.
Giving such a name to a newborn was no different from placing a curse upon the child to die young.
After biting her lip for a moment, Suryun continued.
“Since ancient times, characters with meanings like this have been considered forbidden for personal names.”
“There’s even an old belief that if a girl is given such a name, she’ll never flourish and will die young…”
Suryun’s eyes darkened.
She had remembered how her daughter had drowned at only five years old.
“If Her Majesty the Empress Dowager truly sent this…”
“Then it would mean she deliberately cursed her newborn granddaughter to die young.”
Her gaze became razor-sharp.
“What do you think, Secretary Jo?”
Secretary Jo remained silent.
One wrong answer could put the Empress Dowager in an impossible position.
Looking at Secretary Jo’s troubled face, Suryun questioned her once more.
She intended to hear the answer directly from the woman who was desperately avoiding it.
“Do you truly believe Her Majesty the Empress Dowager intentionally chose such a name to harm her granddaughter?”
“Or…”
“Did Her Majesty simply not understand the meaning of the character?”
“Th-That…”
Secretary Jo bit her lip as she fell into deep thought.
If she claimed the Empress Dowager had made an innocent mistake, it would imply that Her Majesty didn’t even know which Chinese characters were forbidden.
But if she admitted the Empress Dowager knew exactly what she was doing, it would look like an attempt to curse her own granddaughter.
She was trapped with no way out.
After a long moment of hesitation, Secretary Jo lowered her head.
“I-I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“It appears there was a misunderstanding.”
“There were two envelopes on Her Majesty’s desk that day.”
“It seems I mistakenly brought the wrong one instead of the name Her Majesty had personally chosen.”
It was an absurd excuse.
Why would anyone even prepare a name using a forbidden character in the first place?
Suryun suppressed a scoff.
Secretary Jo was obviously making excuses to protect the Empress Dowager’s reputation.
Still, Suryun could press no further.
Secretary Jo had already admitted fault.
Suryun had no evidence she could demand.
After gathering her thoughts, she looked at Secretary Jo with calmer eyes.
“Then the mistake was yours.”
“And it was an extremely serious one.”
“Do you admit that?”
“…Yes.”
“I sincerely apologize.”
“I will make certain nothing like this ever happens again…”
“Do you think being more careful is enough?”
“Had this been the Joseon Dynasty, you would have lost your head for such an offense.”
Even if it had been a mistake, today’s incident was no different from attempting to harm a newborn member of the Imperial Family.
Knowing that, Secretary Jo still chose to shoulder all the blame herself rather than allow any stain upon the Empress Dowager’s name.
If she had uttered anything that damaged the Empress Dowager’s reputation, she would never have been able to continue working in the palace.
Besides, the Empress would probably just tell me to be more careful…
But Secretary Jo’s expectations were completely wrong.
“I don’t believe this is something the Inner Palace can handle on its own.”
“I’ll inform my father and have your punishment discussed during the Imperial Council.”
“Pardon?”
“So return to the palace and quietly await your disciplinary ruling.”
Secretary Jo abruptly lifted her head.
The Imperial Council?
She had assumed it would simply be dismissed as an honest mistake.
She had never imagined the matter would be brought before the Imperial Council.
“Y-Your Majesty…”
Just as the flustered Secretary Jo tried to salvage the situation…
Without even looking at her, Suryun spoke.
“You may leave now.”
“I was suddenly shocked, and I’m quite tired.”
“…Yes.”
“I understand.”
Unable to continue arguing in front of an exhausted Empress, Secretary Jo had no choice but to withdraw from the hospital room.
—
The moment the door closed, Suryun finally released the breath she had been holding.
“Ha…”
The tension drained from her body.
She looked down at her hands and realized they were trembling.
“Did I do the right thing…?”
It was the first time she had ever spoken to someone like that.
Especially someone who served the Empress Dowager.
Before returning to the past, she had always been careful not to offend the Empress Dowager.
She obeyed every command without complaint.
She did everything she could to avoid displeasing her.
Yet all she received in return was complete disregard and endless suffering as a daughter-in-law.
And in the end…
Both she and her daughter had died.
Suryun clenched her fists tightly.
Before she knew it, the trembling had stopped.
The more she reflected on what had happened today, the more fury rose within her.
“It was the same back then.”
At that time, she had been delighted when she heard the Empress Dowager had personally chosen such a wonderful name for the Princess.
The shock she felt when she eventually learned its true meaning…
She remembered desperately trying to change the Princess’s name.
People criticized her, saying the Empress was making a needless fuss.
But what parent could knowingly leave their child with a name that foretold an early death?
Even now, recalling those memories made her teeth grind with anger.
She stood and gently lifted the sleeping baby from the cradle.
The moment the warm, soft little body rested in her arms, nothing in the world frightened her anymore.
“Sehee…”
“My little Princess…”
According to royal custom, a Princess was not officially invested with her title until after the age of five.
Until then, she was not supposed to be addressed as Princess.
Moreover, Sehee’s name had not yet been officially approved.
Suryun whispered softly enough that only the baby could hear.
Looking down at the child wrapped snugly in her blanket, she smiled.
The events that had just occurred convinced her beyond all doubt that she had truly returned to the past.
She did not know why.
Nor did she know how.
She could only believe that Heaven had taken pity on their mother and daughter and granted them another chance.
“In this life, I will protect you no matter what.”
“And…”
As she murmured those words, the faces of Jeong-a, who had once served as the nanny court lady, her unfaithful husband Lee Jun, and the Empress Dowager flashed before her eyes.
They were the monsters who had killed her daughter…
And who had killed her.
“I will never forgive you.”
Her chillingly low voice quietly echoed throughout the hospital room.
