Chapter : 13 — Jealousy of Flowers
“Thank you.”
As the Chief Court Lady bowed her head, Yeonhwa was just about to bow her head as well.
When she felt the piercing gaze directed at her again, Yeonhwa realized that she had made another mistake and tightly pressed her lips together.
“Of course, this must be uncomfortable for you. However, you will have to get used to it.”
The Chief Court Lady gently tried to soothe Yeonhwa, but speaking informally to an older court lady was not something that came easily to her.
In the end, instead of answering, Yeonhwa cautiously nodded, showing with her eyes that she understood.
“The kitchen will bring up your breakfast. And until a court lady assigned to attend to Your Highness is appointed, a temporarily assigned maid will serve you.”
“Thank you—… Thank you.”
At Yeonhwa’s awkward way of speaking, the Chief Court Lady gave her a faint smile, as if to say that she still had a long way to go, and returned to her quarters.
Soon afterward, breakfast was prepared in the kitchen and brought up.
“Your Highness. Your breakfast is here.”
“Yes. Ah, bring it in.”
Still unfamiliar with speaking informally to others, Yeonhwa scratched her forehead.
“What is the matter?”
Just before breakfast was brought inside, she heard the maid outside talking with someone.
Yeonhwa opened her eyes wide and stood there blankly for a moment. Curious, she opened the door.
A court lady and a maid standing beside the maid carrying the breakfast looked up at her and bowed their heads.
“Who are you?”
At Yeonhwa’s question, the court lady, wearing a calm expression, carefully opened her mouth.
“There is someone who wishes to see Your Highness. I apologize, but please come with me.”
There was no answer when Yeonhwa asked who it was.
Nor did they tell her where they were taking her. They simply told her to follow them.
Their manner of speech was respectful, but their actions were filled with rudeness.
However, having spent many years as a maid, Yeonhwa did not take offense at their behavior.
“What is the matter?”
Yeonhwa asked again with suspicious eyes, but the court lady was firm.
“You will know when you get there.”
Yeonhwa glanced at the maid who had set the breakfast table down in the wooden-floored hall.
“I will follow you.”
The maid temporarily assigned to serve Yeonhwa also supported her, watching the court lady’s expression.
Having only just become a Special Court Lady, Yeonhwa assumed this was simply something that happened from time to time and followed the court lady.
The place where they eventually stopped was—
Yeonhwa murmured the words written on the building.
“Horwon Hall.”
“Your Highness, this is Court Lady Do.”
“Come in.”
At the beautiful voice that came from inside, Yeonhwa turned her face toward the court lady.
“Please enter.”
Without seeming particularly concerned about Yeonhwa’s expression, the court lady opened the door, and Yeonhwa entered the room with her almost involuntarily.
Still bewildered, Yeonhwa looked around and then saw the woman sitting before her.
The woman sat proudly in a purple ceremonial robe, and Yeonhwa instinctively felt a strange sense of discomfort.
“Hurry and show proper respect.”
The court lady’s words brought Yeonhwa back to her senses, and she looked at the woman.
“It is Noble Lady Seonhwa.”
“Ah, I am Song Ga Yeonhwa.”
Once she learned the status of the woman before her, Yeonhwa carefully sat down and bowed her head. Then she introduced herself.
“It is all right. Sit comfortably.”
Unlike Yeonhwa, who was extremely nervous, the Noble Lady’s voice was calm and gentle.
Yeonhwa straightened her upper body and adjusted her posture, but she kept her head slightly lowered.
“Are you the Special Court Lady who attended His Majesty yesterday?”
It was clearly not a sharp question, yet Yeonhwa felt uncomfortable, as though she were being interrogated for some crime.
“I-I am.”
“I see.”
At the Noble Lady’s response, which came almost like a sigh, Yeonhwa’s heart grew heavy again, as though a stone had been placed inside it.
“Would you come a little closer?”
After hesitating for a moment, Yeonhwa moved about one step closer and sat down before her.
“Raise your head.”
At Noble Lady Seonhwa’s words, Yeonhwa cautiously raised her head.
The graceful features of Seonhwa’s face, which had been hidden by her elaborate hair ornaments, finally came clearly into Yeonhwa’s sight. When she saw the trembling look in Seonhwa’s eyes, Yeonhwa found it difficult to maintain eye contact.
She gently lowered her gaze.
“Go back.”
Without knowing why she had been summoned, Yeonhwa bowed her head again at the Noble Lady’s final words.
She blinked her large eyes twice before getting to her feet and being escorted out by the court lady.
“Please be careful on your way.”
The court lady turned around as though she had no intention of going any farther, entered the room where the Noble Lady was, and closed the door.
Only then did Yeonhwa feel at ease.
She turned around and looked at the Noble Lady’s door.
Curious about why she had been summoned, she tilted her head without realizing it.
“Let us go, Your Highness.”
At the maid’s urging, Yeonhwa slowly nodded.
Her heart felt strange.
Meeting His Majesty’s consort, who had so tenderly cared for him the night before, had stirred something inexplicable inside her. Moreover, seeing the woman’s graceful beauty had brought forth an emotion Yeonhwa could not explain.
But the person who possessed the same emotion—or rather, an emotion far more intense—was Seonhwa.
“Has she left?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Are you all right?”
Court Lady Do had watched Seonhwa suffer through her heartache and was worried about her.
“I’m all ri—…”
The overwhelming ache rising inside her prevented the Noble Lady from finishing her sentence.
“Your Highness.”
“I am not all right.”
At Court Lady Do’s worried voice, Seonhwa finally allowed the words inside her heart to come out.
Seonhwa knew exactly what she was feeling.
Jealousy.
It was one of the seven faults for which a woman could be cast aside, and an emotion she had always believed belonged to foolish women.
Yet that very emotion was now blooming inside her.
Yeonhwa had received His Majesty’s favor and become a Special Court Lady, while Seonhwa had formally married the King and become a Noble Lady.
The difference in status between Yeonhwa and Seonhwa was like the difference between heaven and earth.
And yet Seonhwa could not shake the feeling that she was inferior to her.
From the moment Yeonhwa had entered, her graceful bearing had been so striking that Seonhwa’s heart had seemed to sink.
Yeonhwa had been deeply bewildered by how drastically her circumstances had changed overnight, but there had been caution in all her actions.
Because of that, even though she was merely a palace maid, she possessed an unmistakable dignity.
And when Yeonhwa approached at Seonhwa’s summons, her beauty left Seonhwa speechless once again.
Seonhwa was second to none when it came to beauty in the capital.
Until now, she had never encountered another woman whom she considered beautiful enough to acknowledge.
And to think that such a beautiful woman had received His Majesty’s favor the night before made her heart ache.
If there had not been eyes watching over Horwon Hall, Seonhwa wanted nothing more than to grab Yeonhwa by the hair and demand to know how she had bewitched His Majesty.
Barely concealing the trembling of her hands from anger, she had somehow managed to force out the words telling Yeonhwa to leave.
“How can I receive His Majesty’s affection?”
Seonhwa’s tearful voice was directed toward Court Lady Do.
“Your Highness…”
There was sorrow in Court Lady Do’s voice as well, as though she had become one with her mistress, though she found Seonhwa’s words difficult to hear.
“Why is it that I cannot be loved?”
A thick tear fell from Seonhwa’s eyes and landed on the table before her with a soft sound.
“Nothing happened, did it?”
As they walked toward her quarters, the maid spoke to Yeonhwa.
“What do you mean?”
“Your Highness, please don’t speak formally to me.”
The maid spoke with an embarrassed expression, and Yeonhwa realized her mistake and immediately lowered her speech.
“Ah! Sorry. What do you mean?”
“Did Noble Lady Seonhwa say nothing to you? Like glaring at you, or telling you to behave properly… Ah, nothing strange like that happened, did it?”
The maid slightly stumbled over her words at Yeonhwa’s gentle expression before correcting herself and asking again.
But Yeonhwa had no intention of scolding her. She simply smiled and shook her head.
“No. She kindly told me to come closer, and then told me to go back. That was all.”
A shadow fell across Yeonhwa’s face as she answered.
The Noble Lady had seemed like a precious woman blessed with both extraordinary beauty and an excellent character.
Just then—
“Excuse me…”
A man who appeared to be heading toward Horwon Hall suddenly turned around and called out to Yeonhwa.
“Yes?”
“You are her, aren’t you? The one whose name was written as Yeonhwa in that book…”
It was the man she had briefly encountered before.
Because he was wearing ordinary clothes rather than an official robe, it took Yeonhwa a moment to recognize him.
When she suddenly remembered, Yeonhwa lowered her head.
He also lowered his head and returned her greeting.
When he raised his head again, he noticed that Yeonhwa was wearing a different ceremonial robe from before and softened his eyes.
“Ah, so you are now a Highness.”
Realizing what he meant, Yeonhwa’s face flushed with an inexplicable embarrassment.
An awkward silence settled between them, but the man broke it with a slight upward curl of his lips.
“I apologize for my rudeness the other day. I am Kwon Yoon-su, Seoyoon of Hanseongbu.”
“Ah, yes.”
Yeonhwa answered awkwardly and looked at him.
Without even giving the silence a chance to linger, Yoon-su continued the conversation warmly, the corners of his lips raised.
“I hope we meet again. If you ever need anything, please come find me at any time. I would be happy to help.”
There was an unusual warmth of affection in his tone.
However, Yeonhwa thought he was simply being polite.
Not wanting to make Yoon-su uncomfortable, she answered courteously and bowed her head again.
“Thank you. Then please take care on your way.”
As she turned away, a strangely bitter expression appeared around Yoon-su’s lips.
Looking rather disappointed, Yoon-su turned and headed toward Horwon Hall, where he was going.
“How do you know Lord Kwon Yoon-su, the Seoyoon?”
Now that she thought about it, the maid accompanying Yeonhwa was truly a very talkative girl.
“Well, somehow, we happened to meet by chance… But how do you know him?”
Yeonhwa turned the question back on her.
“How could I not know him? He is incredibly famous. He is the son of the Minister of Personnel and the elder brother of Noble Lady Seonhwa, whom we just visited at Horwon Hall. Not only is he handsome, but he is only twenty-four years old and has already risen to the position of Seoyoon. No one has ever reached a fourth-rank government position at such a young age before.”
The maid was extremely excited, but Yeonhwa merely smiled.
“I’m so jealous. People like us, ordinary maids, can barely even speak to him, yet Lord Seoyoon actually approached Your Highness…”
“Your Highness!”
The maid had been so lost in her fascination that she had continued talking only about Yoon-su, until she suddenly became startled.
Yeonhwa had abruptly stopped walking.
The surprised maid followed Yeonhwa’s gaze and turned her head.
“Gasp! Chief Court Lady Park!”
With a short exclamation of surprise, the maid bowed her head.
Court Lady Park approached Yeonhwa, who was looking at her with a puzzled expression, and respectfully bowed her head.
Yeonhwa also lowered her head slightly in response to the greeting before speaking.
“What is the matter?”
“I have come with an order from the Queen to escort you to her.”
Just as Yeonhwa was about to nod resignedly at the thought of being summoned once again, the maid beside her looked at the sun high in the sky and showed an uncomfortable expression.
“You have not even received your breakfast yet…”
She muttered the words without realizing it, and anger appeared on Court Lady Park’s face.
“You insolent girl! Do you know before whom you are speaking to say such a thing?”
Court Lady Park’s voice, which had previously maintained a gentle dignity, suddenly rose.
“P-Please forgive me. This lowly servant spoke out of turn.”
The maid bowed her head deeply, as though only then realizing her mistake.
Seeing the maid shrinking in fear, Yeonhwa felt awkward and carefully spoke up.
“She is still young. Please forgive her.”
Court Lady Park remained displeased and said nothing.
“I will follow you. Let us go.”
“No need.”
Before Yeonhwa’s words had even finished, a deep male voice rang out.
Court Lady Park turned toward the source of the voice and flinched before immediately bending deeply at the waist.
Yeonhwa also turned in the direction Court Lady Park was bowing and lowered her head.
“Your Majesty.”
