Chapter: 08
Yeonbi was so flustered that she could not continue speaking.
Hearing-impaired Haena looked up at Seowan with a worried expression.
There was something strange about Seowan’s face. She looked strangely detached, almost as if she had already accepted something.
The uncle had worn the same expression just before he died.
“Please, go back now.”
Haena felt that this conversation could not continue any longer. She stepped in front of Seowan.
“Don’t do this. If you have something to say, then please come back another time… Eek!”
And then she was suddenly lifted into the air.
When she came back down, she was somehow behind Seowan again.
“You said with your own mouth that you wouldn’t cause trouble.”
Seowan’s gaze toward the child was cold.
When Haena, having nothing to say, lowered her head toward the floor, Yeonbi’s voice came from behind them.
“Enough. I see no reason to continue watching this farce.”
As though she had not heard Yeonbi at all, Seowan simply bent down and examined Haena.
Yeonbi glared down at Seowan irritably before turning around sharply.
“I hope we hear nothing but good news. I’ll be going now!”
She disappeared at a brisk pace. Her exit was almost as noisy as her entrance.
Seowan did not spare Yeonbi even a single glance until the very end.
After confirming that Haena had not been hurt in the slightest, she straightened up.
Seeing that all the food laid out on the dining table had gone cold, Seowan clicked her tongue softly.
“Bring the food back after reheating it. And you.”
After ordering the servants, Seowan looked down at Haena.
Haena, who had been following her with a worried gaze, flinched.
“Do you know how dangerous what you did was?”
Intimidated, Haena pressed her lips tightly together.
It was fine if she was scolded for causing trouble.
But hadn’t her sister been facing Pagunseong all this time?
If doing that for even a brief moment was considered dangerous, then that meant her sister had been doing something dangerous this whole time too…
She should admit that she was wrong.
She knew that, but she couldn’t stop the words hanging at the tip of her tongue.
“Th-then… you shouldn’t do dangerous things either, Sister…”
Haena mumbled softly and lowered her head.
Seowan could not hide her bewilderment.
Don’t do dangerous things? Such a tiny thing had some nerve.
Wasn’t Seowan the Great General who stood at the forefront of the battlefield?
“Reflect on your actions. As punishment…”
Seowan sighed and was about to continue coldly, but she stopped.
There was no way she could order this little chestnut-sized child to run laps around the training grounds.
Just then, the servants entered the room carrying the reheated food.
Seowan glanced at the table, which was soon filled again, and spoke.
“Eat everything. Leave nothing behind.”
Seowan sat back down in her seat.
When Haena felt the unspoken question of why she wasn’t sitting, she hurriedly took her seat as well.
As if nothing had happened, Seowan resumed her meal.
Haena picked up her spoon along with her and timidly asked,
“Um… are you all right?”
“Do not make small talk while eating.”
Seowan cut her off like a knife and placed a piece of carefully deboned fish on Haena’s rice.
Haena could not say a word and put it into her mouth.
The sorrowful expression on the child’s face gradually brightened as she chewed.
No matter how mature she acted, a child was still a child.
Breakfast had been delayed because of the unwelcome guest, and she was hungry.
Before she knew it, Haena had completely finished her meal, just as Seowan had told her.
When Haena saw Seowan stand up, she hurriedly approached her.
“Th-that… S-Sister.”
At the difficult-to-utter title, Seowan looked down at Haena.
“Are you all right? Did you get into trouble because of me…?”
She had not heard the entire conversation, but she knew enough to realize that nothing good had been said.
Above all, hadn’t Yeonbi said it right at the beginning?
“A family member of a traitor.”
Protecting a traitor was another act of treason.
No matter how young and ignorant Haena was, she could not possibly be unaware of that.
If Seowan was suffering because she had brought Haena here, then that could not be allowed.
“That won’t happen.”
But Seowan spoke calmly, as though nothing had happened.
“Even if something does happen, it will simply mean that I am taking responsibility for the choices I made. It has nothing to do with you.”
Her words were cold.
And yet Haena did not know why those words sounded so warm.
Haena lowered her head dejectedly.
She did not know what was happening, nor did she know what she could do to help her sister.
It was a familiar feeling of helplessness.
There had been many times like this at the Yeon household.
Whenever that happened, all Haena could do was pray.
“I hope nothing happens…”
It was the same this time.
“Not to me… I hope nothing happens to you, Sister.”
No matter how desperately she prayed, nothing ever changed.
Even so, since there was nothing else she could do besides pray, Haena prayed every day.
At that moment, a rough hand came down upon Haena’s head.
A coarse hand awkwardly stroked the child’s hair.
It was an awkward gesture, as though she were doing it for the first time.
“Whatever happens, you don’t need to worry about it.”
The hair that Cheongyeon had neatly tied up for Haena had become completely disheveled.
Haena did not even notice and looked up.
Seowan was frowning slightly.
The hand that had fallen away hesitated before lightly touching the top of her head again and then dropping away.
Haena stared up at Seowan with wide eyes.
Seowan seemed incredibly large, and as though she could grant even a prayer from someone like Haena without difficulty.
It was the first time Haena had ever received an answer after making a wish.
For some reason, she felt as though she might cry.
Haena rubbed her eyes vigorously. She did not want her sister to think she was a crybaby.
“Does it hurt?”
A serious voice came from above her head.
At that, Haena burst into giggles.
Seowan, who had been keeping a serious expression, sighed at her laughter.
Haena looked up at her sister’s face and smiled.
Secretly, Haena prayed that she would be allowed to remain like this forever.
But, as always, Haena’s wish was powerless.
The next day, a message arrived from the royal palace.
The Fourth Prince had awakened, and he wanted to meet Haena.
As soon as Seowan received the message, she prepared to enter the palace.
It took less than an hour to entrust the child to Cheongyeon and put on her formal attire.
The child, dressed properly according to etiquette, was nervous.
She seemed to sense that something was wrong.
‘They definitely didn’t tell her everything.’
The child was unusually perceptive.
She seemed to have quickly picked up on the unsettled atmosphere in the mansion.
Before mounting her horse, Seowan knelt in front of Haena and met her gaze.
Haena’s sunset-colored eyes trembled anxiously as she stared at Seowan.
The child sometimes gave her such an unquestioning gaze that Seowan could not understand why she followed someone who had abandoned her so faithfully.
“I’m only going to the palace for a little while. Don’t be too frightened.”
She must have heard those words countless times, but only then did Haena nod with a slightly reassured expression.
After confirming that Haena had entered the palanquin, Seowan mounted her horse.
It did not take long to reach the palace.
The group stopped in front of the enormous main gate, and after dismounting, Seowan picked Haena up.
“I-I can walk!”
“It will be faster this way.”
Haena was startled and quickly refused, but Seowan simply rejected her with a brief response and carried the child as she walked.
In the end, Haena tightly gripped Seowan’s shoulder.
The palace, which she was seeing for the first time, was magnificent.
Delicate dancheong paintings adorned the elegant tiled roofs.
Beneath them, neatly dressed palace attendants walked silently without making a sound.
‘They said I’m going to meet His Highness the Fourth Prince.’
That was all Cheongyeon and the other servants had told her.
They had not told her who the Fourth Prince was or why he wanted to see her.
Even so, Haena could vaguely tell that this had something to do with the Yeon family.
‘Could he be one of those children?’
She had heard that the Fourth Prince was around her age.
Cheongyeon had said that all the children had been rescued and were receiving treatment, but…
‘He might resent me.’
She had watched them suffer without being able to do anything for them.
Perhaps he had summoned her to take revenge.
If that was the reason, Haena did not mind.
She was only worried that innocent Seowan might be punished as well.
The Fourth Prince’s palace was located in the deepest part of the Western Palace, where the royal family resided.
Seowan put Haena down when they reached the front of the enormous palace hall.
“Come this way.”
A stern-looking senior court lady tried to take Haena with her, but Seowan blocked her hand.
“I’ll go with her.”
“His Highness summoned only this child.”
“I entered the palace as this child’s guardian. If I cannot accompany her, then I cannot send the child in either.”
At Seowan’s firm attitude, the court lady glared at her.
But perhaps she could not go against the will of the Tamnangseong-gun, because she reluctantly walked ahead.
Even after entering the hall, they passed through several more doors before finally arriving at the Fourth Prince’s bedchamber.
The court lady politely announced the visitor’s arrival, and shortly afterward, the door opened.
A bed with a canopy hanging over it came into view. Following the court lady’s instructions, Haena carefully approached it and bowed her head according to etiquette.
The sound of fabric brushing against itself came from the canopy as it was pulled aside.
“Tamnangseong. Is this the child?”
Soon, a boy’s voice came from above Haena’s head.
‘Huh?’
The voice was astonishingly familiar, and Haena abruptly raised her head, forgetting all about etiquette.
“Th-this…!”
The angry voice of the court lady could be heard.
But Haena did not even notice it. She simply stared at the face of the person sitting on the bed.
Fine but not gentle eyes. Lips pressed tightly together, and a mole beneath his left eye.
A familiar face.
And at the same time, someone Haena had never imagined would be here.
“Hwi-seo…?”
An incredulous voice escaped Haena’s lips.
