CHAPTER 7
A shadow passed over Suryeon’s face as memories of the past resurfaced.
It was Yoon Sirak who spoke first.
“I heard what happened at the hospital.”
“…”
“They say you claimed there was something wrong with the name Her Majesty the Empress Dowager chose.”
“…Yes. I was actually hoping you would bring it up at the Imperial Council.”
At her request, Yoon Sirak let out a quiet sigh.
“You must not make an enemy of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.”
Just as she had expected.
Instead of comforting his daughter, his words were filled with reproach.
A surge of frustration rose inside Suryeon.
“You know exactly what Her Majesty was trying to do to my daughter, and you can still say that? Before she’s a princess, she’s your granddaughter.”
Yoon Sirak glanced at the baby resting in the Empress’s arms before answering.
“I know. But that doesn’t change the fact that openly opposing Her Majesty will gain Your Majesty nothing.”
His words were painfully cold for those of a father speaking to his own daughter.
“Inside the palace, you must always bend like the tongue inside your mouth. As soon as you’ve recovered enough to move comfortably, go and see Her Majesty first.”
Suryeon’s brows twitched.
“You said they even canceled the princess’s welcoming ceremony. Her Majesty is practically making a public show of her displeasure.”
“…”
“As for that court attendant named Secretary Jo, she’ll be leaving the palace soon. I’ve already reached an agreement with Her Majesty to dismiss her quietly without bringing the matter before the Imperial Council.”
In other words, the incident had done absolutely nothing to weaken the Empress Dowager’s authority.
“So once you return to the palace, pay your respects to Her Majesty before anyone else.”
Suryeon remained silent.
Objectively speaking, her father’s advice wasn’t wrong.
As an Empress who had failed to bear a son, her standing was already precarious. There was nothing to gain from falling out of favor with the true power behind the throne.
But Father… that woman killed me.
This marriage you forced upon me led to the deaths of both me and my daughter.
The words never left her lips.
There was no point.
Even if she told him about the future she had lived through, he would never believe her—and nothing would change.
A deep sadness settled over her face.
After another quiet sigh, Yoon Sirak handed her a folded sheet of paper.
“This is…”
“Naming a princess is normally the responsibility of the Inner Palace. But I thought it might help Your Majesty, so I brought it.”
After gently placing the baby in the cradle, Suryeon unfolded the paper.
Lee Sehee (洗凞)
“Se” meaning pure, and “Hee” meaning radiant.
A name carrying the wish that its owner would grow into an upright and virtuous person.
An old memory suddenly flashed through her mind.
That’s right… Father was the first person to realize that the name ‘Lee Yeong’ was a bad omen.
Without his help, changing the princess’s name in her previous life would have been nearly impossible.
In fact, it had been her father who gave the princess the name Sehee after that.
As forgotten memories gradually returned, Suryeon asked something she had never had the chance to ask before.
“But… where did you get this name?”
She assumed he must have consulted a renowned master of fortune-telling or naming.
Instead, the answer that came from his lips caught her completely off guard.
“…Your mother chose it.”
Suryeon looked up in surprise.
“Mother…?”
“Before she passed away, she entrusted it to me. She said that if you were ever blessed with a daughter, I was to give this to you.”
Her fingers tightened around the paper.
Thinking of the mother who had died before she could even attend her daughter’s wedding filled her heart with aching sorrow.
By the time her eyes had begun to redden, Yoon Sirak rose from his seat, his business finished.
Suryeon looked up.
“At least hold her once. She’s your first granddaughter.”
He shook his head.
“I’ve met too many people before coming here. I don’t want to bring anything harmful near the little princess. I’ll come back another time.”
As he opened the door to leave, Suryeon spoke softly behind him.
“Please stop drinking so much. You need to start taking care of your health.”
“…I will.”
The moment he disappeared through the doorway, the tears Suryeon had been holding back finally spilled down her cheeks.
“Mother…”
She hugged the letter her mother had left behind tightly against her chest.
“If only… you were still here.”
She wanted to ask her mother how to raise a child.
She wanted to see her gently cradling Sehee in her arms.
Longing for the mother she had already lost overwhelmed her.
Unable to stop herself, Suryeon wiped away the endless stream of tears with the back of her hand.
—
Located northwest of Injeongjeon Hall, Jagyeongjeon was the residence of Empress Dowager Min, Emperor Lee Jun’s mother.
Behind the palace stretched a dense forest of pine trees that remained lush and green throughout every season.
After being discharged from the hospital, Suryeon barely had time to recover.
Leaving Sehee in the care of her wet nurse, she headed straight for Jagyeongjeon.
Ordinarily, a small celebration welcoming the birth of a princess should have been held.
Instead, it had been canceled under the excuse that the Empress had not yet fully recovered.
When she heard that the Empress had arrived, Empress Dowager Min didn’t even turn around.
She continued tending to her orchids as she spoke.
“I was beginning to wonder when our Empress would finally come to see me.”
It was a subtle rebuke for staying at the hospital longer than necessary.
“My apologies. I was still too weak to move about comfortably.”
“Is that so? That’s a relief. I was worried you might have been harboring resentment toward me.”
Only after Suryeon apologized did Empress Dowager Min finally glance at her.
Her eyes wandered around the room.
She seemed to be searching for someone.
“Did you come alone? I thought you’d bring my granddaughter with you.”
No matter how close the palace buildings were, a baby barely twenty days old couldn’t be brought outside.
And yet she never once came to visit us at the hospital.
Now she was criticizing her for coming alone.
If Suryeon had brought the princess instead, the Empress Dowager would undoubtedly have scolded her for taking an infant outside before she had even reached one hundred days old.
That was simply the kind of person she was.
She was always finding fault with Suryeon.
The familiar reaction—unchanged from her previous life—made Suryeon suppress a bitter laugh.
“The baby is still too young to be taken outside. She’s asleep in my residence.”
“It’s still within the palace. What could possibly be so difficult?”
Clicking her tongue, Empress Dowager Min finally set down the cloth she had been using to wipe the orchid leaves.
“Well, you’ve come at the perfect time. There was something I wanted to show you.”
At her signal, Chief Secretary Han, who had been standing nearby, stepped forward and handed a stack of documents to Suryeon.
“This is…”
“I personally selected the candidates for the position of nanny court lady.”
Suryeon’s brows twitched.
She had known the Empress Dowager would eventually choose candidates.
But she had never expected her to move this quickly.
“…Candidates for nanny court lady?”
“That’s right. You suffered terribly giving birth this time, didn’t you? So I took it upon myself to search for the finest hidden talents on your behalf.”
On the surface, it sounded as though she were caring for her daughter-in-law.
In reality, it was nothing more than another attempt to undermine her authority.
Choosing the nanny court lady is my responsibility as the head of the Inner Palace.
Naturally, the Empress Dowager’s opinion deserved respect.
But the initiative should never have belonged to her.
This is a complete abuse of authority—and a blatant insult to me as the head of the Inner Palace.
More importantly, the child who would be entrusted to that nanny court lady was none other than the Imperial Princess.
It’s absurd that I, her own mother, don’t get to choose the woman who will raise my child.
It was undeniable proof that Empress Dowager Min had never regarded the Empress with any respect.
But there was something that worried Suryeon even more.
Why is this happening so early?
The selection of the nanny court ladies had begun much sooner than it had in her previous life.
If I remember correctly, this discussion didn’t start until about a month after I returned to the palace…
Why had the future changed?
Was it because of what had happened at the hospital?
As countless thoughts tangled together in her mind, the Empress Dowager urged her on.
“Go ahead. I’m sure you’ll find someone you like.”
Suppressing her unease, Suryeon began reading through the resumes.
And just as she had feared…
The very first name she saw belonged to the woman she had dreaded most.
Kim Jeong-ah.
The woman who had caused her daughter’s death in her previous life.
