Chapter: 10
A small hand tightly grasped Hwi-seo’s hand. Warmth spread through their joined hands.
“Tonight, the side gate. From the hour of the Rat until the hour of the Ox. Right?”
Hae-na lifted her head, her eyes filled with determination.
She looked firm, as if she had never been trembling in the first place.
At the unexpected answer, Hwi-seo let out a small laugh.
“You’re braver than I thought. I thought you were a coward who only knew how to cry.”
Hae-na pressed her lips tightly together. Her tightly clenched mouth trembled.
“I am a coward.”
Her soft mutter was tinged with tears.
Tears had already gathered in her wide-open eyes.
“I’m scared. If they find out and catch me, and then I get brought back here and…”
Hae-na began to cry silently.
The child who had sniffled miserably every day was now only letting tears fall quietly.
“But like you said, I feel so sorry for you. If you stay here, you’ll keep getting hurt and suffering. So…”
Hae-na mumbled as though trying to swallow her tears, then firmly closed her mouth.
She raised her face, drenched in tears.
“I’ll help you, just this once. I-I’m not confident either. But…”
Sniff.
Hae-na took a deep breath through her nose, wiped her tears resolutely, and stood up.
“I’ll definitely do it. I’ll try somehow, no matter what.”
There was no telling why the little girl who had stood up suddenly seemed so much bigger.
Hwi-seo stared blankly up at Hae-na.
“So you have to get out too. Never come back.”
The small hand tightly held the boy’s hand before letting go.
Hae-na completely wiped away her tears with her sleeve and looked at Hwi-seo one last time.
Then, without hesitation, she turned around and walked away.
Her tiny figure gradually became smaller and smaller.
Hwi-seo, who had been half-risen, sank back down.
He had never imagined that she would really help him.
Because she was a weak girl who cried easily.
But Hae-na had nodded. Even while crying that she was afraid, she had said she would help him.
That girl didn’t even know that he was royalty. Why was she willing to go this far to help someone who was nothing more than a stranger to her?
Hwi-seo let out a deep sigh and lowered his head.
She must have known what would happen to her if she were caught helping him escape. She truly was an unpredictable child.
The more he thought about her, the more his heart ached.
It was a serious problem, especially when his entire body was already hurting.
After letting out another heavy sigh, Hwi-seo raised his head.
This was a chance he had barely managed to obtain.
He could not carelessly throw away either this opportunity or the debt he owed that child.
Hwi-seo escaped the Yeon household with everything he had and successfully reached the palace.
He managed to report that something terrible was happening in the underground chambers of the Yeon household, but before he could finish asking them to save one young maid from there, he lost consciousness.
When Hwi-seo opened his eyes, the first thing he asked the palace attendants was what had happened at the Yeon household.
He asked whether any of the servants there were still alive.
When he heard Senior Court Lady Gwon soothing him, saying that they had all been executed and that he need not worry, his heart sank.
Fortunately, several loose-lipped palace attendants began gossiping about the young maid from the Yeon household whom the Star Lord Tamnang had brought with him.
They said she was a girl who had worked in the basement.
As far as Hwi-seo knew, the only young maid working in the basement of the Yeon household was Hae-na.
Hwi-seo immediately asked his royal father to allow the Star Lord Tamnang and the girl to enter the palace, and the king readily granted the request of his son who had barely survived death.
Even though he believed it would be Hae-na, he was secretly afraid.
What if it were another child? What if that girl had already died alone that day?
But fortunately, the girl who had become swollen like a dumpling was Hae-na.
“It really is you.”
Hwi-seo spoke after clearing his rough voice.
He wanted nothing more than to leisurely catch up with her, but it was regrettable that he could not because his body had not fully recovered yet.
‘There’s plenty of time.’
For now, he needed to take care of the important matters first.
Hwi-seo took his eyes off Hae-na’s tear-streaked face and spoke.
“Senior Court Lady Gwon. Give this child the jade tablet of Nokyo Palace.”
Senior Court Lady Gwon was startled.
The jade tablets of each palace served as passes for entering and leaving the palace, and were precious objects possessed only by the lord of each palace.
Receiving such a jade tablet was essentially the same as receiving tremendous trust and support from the lord of that palace.
“Your Highness! How could you give something like that to a child like this…!”
“She isn’t merely a child. She is my benefactor. Thanks to her, I was able to survive and return to the palace. How could I possibly be stingy with something as trivial as a jade tablet?”
Faced with the firm words of her young master, Senior Court Lady Gwon eventually brought over a box containing the jade tablet.
At Hwi-seo’s gesture, Hae-na approached him in a dazed state. Hwi-seo personally placed the jade tablet in the child’s hand.
He had heard that she was in danger because she had been branded as a member of a traitorous family.
With this jade tablet, she would be able to avoid that trouble.
The hand that briefly touched his was rough and warm. He wanted to tell her not to cry, but instead of words, a cough burst from his throat.
“Cough, hack. Cough!”
When he began coughing violently, Hae-na abruptly stopped crying in surprise. The palace attendants, greatly alarmed, rushed toward him.
The noisy voices seemed distant.
He could see Hae-na being led away by the palace attendants.
Her round eyes were filled with tears.
Hwi-seo desperately lifted the corners of his mouth and whispered,
‘See you again.’
Hae-na left Nokyo Palace with a dazed expression.
Her eyes were still bright red, and in her hand was a smooth jade tablet of green hue.
The palace attendants passing by cast furtive glances at the two of them.
Among them, the jade tablet in Hae-na’s hand attracted the most attention.
The palace was a place where even the walls had eyes and ears.
The small commotion that had just occurred inside Nokyo Palace would surely be spreading far and wide.
Under the flood of gazes, Hae-na did not know what to do.
Seowan simply picked Hae-na up and put her on the horse, without restraining the palace attendants.
She was taciturn, but she was not foolish. At this rate, Hae-na’s problem would be resolved even without Seowan taking any separate action.
Just as expected, only six days had passed since that day when servants from all kinds of households began knocking on the main gate of the Yul estate.
Every one of them carried expensive and precious items for a child.
It was understandable.
The child they had accused of being a remnant of a traitorous family was actually the prince’s benefactor. How anxious must they have been?
Furthermore, the Star Lord Tamnang of this generation followed only the king’s orders and did not belong to any faction.
Since this was a child favored by such a Star Lord, if things went well, they might even be able to win Tamnang over to their side.
Seowan did not bother remembering the names of the families that sent the gifts, but she did not refuse the gifts addressed to Hae-na either.
It was something she had expected, so no one else in the estate was surprised by it.
Except Hae-na.
“What, what is all this?”
Woken by the commotion, Hae-na opened the door beside her bedroom and asked while turning pale.
“Oh my, you’re awake so early. It must have been quite noisy, wasn’t it?”
Cheongyeon smiled as she approached the child while organizing the luggage.
Hae-na blinked as she stared at the boxes piled up like a mountain.
The boxes, stacked far higher than her height, were clearly extremely expensive judging by their wood and craftsmanship.
From those boxes came ornaments, clothes, shoes, and toys that looked even more precious, being taken out one after another without pause.
“These are all gifts that came for you, young lady. Why don’t you change out of your sleeping clothes first and then have a look?”
Cheongyeon spoke kindly.
Hae-na stared up at her with a bewildered expression.
“For, for me?”
“Yes.”
“Why, why, why?”
Unlike Cheongyeon, who looked delighted, Hae-na was so shocked that she was frightened.
“I think they came here by mistake. A-all of this…”
“By mistake? Young lady! They were definitely sent to Hae-na herself!”
A cheerful voice cut off Hae-na’s stammering words.
It belonged to a plump maid with a friendly appearance.
“I told you this would happen. How could such a tiny little girl be a traitor? Anyway, all those people who knew nothing kept talking and making a fuss, and now they’re crawling on their bellies trying to curry favor!”
The woman’s round cheeks, dusted with freckles, moved nonstop as she poured out her words.
Even as she spoke, she swiftly organized the items, then flashed Hae-na a bright smile.
“Oh, right! My name is Yeongseo. Oh my, young lady. Now that I see you up close, you’re even cuter! You look just like my youngest sibling!”
Yeongseo dusted off her hands and reached out to pat Hae-na’s head.
Another maid with a calm expression, who had been organizing other items beside her, caught her hand.
“You’re frightening the young lady.”
“Oh my, listen to you. She’ll be even more frightened by the way you talk!”
At the sharp remark, the woman’s black eyes narrowed slightly.
Soon, her gaze turned toward Hae-na.
“I’m Huiwon. I have been assigned to serve you from now on, young lady.”
Her tone was blunt.
But instead of becoming frightened, Hae-na stared intently at Huiwon.
‘She looks a little like my older sister.’
Their appearances were completely different, but the atmosphere they gave off was similar.
Perhaps unsure how to interpret Hae-na’s reaction, Huiwon looked troubled.
Seeing this, Yeongseo burst into laughter and slapped Huiwon on the shoulder.
“See? I told you she’d be frightened! You’re in big trouble now. The young lady will soon be registered as a member of the Yul family!”
Hae-na carefully examined Huiwon’s face before opening her round eyes wide.
“Me?”
