Chapter 29
Geum Danyo must have thought about what Dongbaek was worried about. She added sympathetically.
“It’s not just the chest that’s the problem. In a few years, you’ll start menstruating… I looked for ways to help, but there weren’t any good options. It’s not like contraceptives—the medicines that stop menstruation are all too toxic. You could lose your life if you’re not careful.”
“…I’ll keep that as a last resort.”
Dongbaek had already guessed that in this era’s medical knowledge, there wouldn’t be anything like modern birth control pills to avoid menstruation. As Geum Danyo said, it could be fatal, and even if one survived, it would likely make pregnancy impossible forever.
Even though she thought she wouldn’t need to get pregnant, it felt strange.
Dongbaek smiled bitterly. She had only wanted to live as a human being in this world, not particularly wanting to become a man. Dongbaek liked being a woman.
But this feeling of having to give up pieces of her womanhood one by one just to live as a person. This feeling that being a woman was becoming an obstacle…
Dongbaek swallowed these bitter thoughts as she adjusted her clothes. After putting on several layers of clothes and tidying up, Dongbaek stood up, smiled, and expressed her thanks.
Dongbaek left Geum Danyo’s quarters and headed to her own room. The usually short distance felt particularly long today. An unfamiliar pressure could be felt around her chest. The evening wind felt especially cold today.
Dongbaek pulled her collar closer. She could feel the bumpy texture of the leather against her hands. It was a necessary measure if she wanted to continue living as a man. And Dongbaek knew this well.
And yet, why did her heart feel so heavy? That was the one thing she couldn’t quite explain.
-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-
Lily entered her room, held firmly by her strong-willed nanny. Judging by the nanny’s triangular eyes, she seemed quite angry.
Although she was usually hot-tempered, she had never been this angry before. Well, there was that time she fainted from anger. The last time Lily came back in a mess, the nanny’s blood pressure shot up so quickly that she fainted before she could even get angry. Lily carefully spoke while watching her nanny’s expression.
“Thank you, Nanny, for trusting Young Master So.”
“I didn’t trust that ruffian!”
Seeing her nanny burst out, Lily hunched her shoulders and mumbled.
“But Young Master So is a good person…”
“Good person? What good person? Have all the good people frozen to death? I thought my heart would stop! If anything had happened to you, it wouldn’t have been my heart dropping but my head! Just what do you find so good about that scoundrel?”
“Well, that’s…”
“Sure, let’s admit he’s got a handsome face, good enough to outshine a courtesan’s. Yes, I’m truly grateful he saved you that time, but something seems fishy. I suspect he might have planned it all just to lure you away.”
“Nanny!”
“Anyway, I don’t know! In my eyes, there’s nothing good about him!”
The nanny expelled a huff after speaking without taking a single breath. To think that some lowborn eunuch’s adopted son with nothing but money would try to snatch away the young lady she had raised like precious jade!
Though Lily felt upset at her nanny badmouthing Dongbaek, she knew it wouldn’t be easy to remove the nanny’s prejudices by raising her voice in return. Lily defended Dongbaek calmly.
“Young Master So isn’t weak at all. He’s quite tall, and he’s good at swordsmanship and very strong.”
“That skinny frame doesn’t look strong at all! He seems clever enough, but his manner of conduct makes him look like nothing but an idle young master. Besides, if a man is of age for his coming-of-age ceremony, shouldn’t he have the sense to behave properly? What kind of man drags a young lady out like that?”
The nanny continued to dismiss all of Dongbaek’s good points that Lily listed. Frustrated by the nanny’s relentless criticism of Dongbaek, Lily clutched her skirt.
Seeing Lily’s normally gentle eyes gradually narrowing in anger—something that had never happened before in her life—the nanny belatedly realized the situation and gulped.
“Coming-of-age ceremony? Young Master So is only eleven years old! Nanny, you’re speaking carelessly about Young Master So without knowing anything, but he is truly, really, an incredibly good person. He’s so kind and gentle. I’m disappointed in you for slandering the person who saved me!”
The nanny was speechless. Eleven years old? With that face and height? She had thought he was at least fifteen. Unable to believe it, the nanny could only blink.
Moreover, for their gentle and well-mannered young lady to speak with such a flushed face, she must have been thoroughly enchanted by that idle young master. The nanny was worried sick.
Though her insides were burning with concern, she had nowhere to vent it. She feared that continuing to criticize Dongbaek would only deepen Lily’s feelings for him through defiance.
“No, I’m only worried about you, young lady. Do you know how anxious I’ve been since that incident? I’ve become completely paranoid. That’s why I acted that way, so please forgive me, yes?”
The nanny was sweating profusely, trying to console Lily, who was pouting more firmly than ever before.
“Yes, that’s right, young lady. I might have been wrong. Young Master So might not be such a bad person after all.”
Though she said these words, anger toward Dongbaek was steadily building in her heart.
This is all because of that young master…!
-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-
As May passed, summer began to approach, and the weather started getting warmer. After spending the day as usual with Prince Bian in the palace, Dongbaek left the prince’s quarters, thinking to spend her spare time reading a book.
Dongbaek walked with leisurely steps along the corridor lined with vivid green pillars. Right beside the railing were straight, blue bamboo and high stone walls. The corridor was long, with just enough width for two people to pass by each other. Though the pillar decorations were magnificent enough to draw anyone’s admiration, Dongbaek passed by indifferently.
While she had initially been awestruck by the grand and magnificent dignity of various places in the imperial palace, that wore off after visiting the palace for over a year.
The walk from the prince’s quarters to the library was a long one. Unlike Korean palaces, Chinese imperial palaces had particularly many stairs. Up and down, here and there. The palace was so vast and complex that someone with poor sense of direction could wander all day and end up lost.
Even Dongbaek, who had been called a “human navigator” in her original world, got lost for the first week, which showed just how magnificent the palace was. It was only because Dongbaek had Jao that she could wander around freely, otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to move about carelessly.
“No matter how I think about it, this is inefficient… I guess this structure exists because the emperor never has to find his own way around…”
As Dongbaek stepped onto the thirtieth step and entered a new corridor, she saw a group of armed men approaching from the far end. The person leading at the front was the largest in build. The leader’s steps were bold, and his puffed-out chest seemed truly arrogant.
And matching his arrogant attitude, his armor was also magnificent. The gleaming armor was well-maintained. The numerous fine tassels on his helmet swayed with his steps.
Though he had a beard, it didn’t seem particularly well-groomed. His narrow eyes glinted with greed, and crooked teeth showed between his thick, parted lips. His way of walking with his head held high, looking down on everyone, suggested someone drunk on his own power.
Dongbaek’s lips twitched as she recognized the unwelcome face. The man she encountered on this narrow passage was none other than Empress He’s brother, Minister He Jin.
He Jin’s expression also changed upon spotting Dongbaek. He Jin approached her with a smile lifting the corners of his thick lips.
There was nowhere natural to avoid him in the straight corridor. Yet turning back in front of him would hurt her pride. Dongbaek didn’t like He Jin. And for good reason…
“Still coming and going in the imperial palace? You’re truly shameless, relying on your eunuch father’s influence.”
It was because He Jin kept picking fights with Dongbaek. Having approached within arm’s reach, He Jin pushed Dongbaek’s shoulder with his finger. It was an insulting gesture and words.
‘Ugh, this guy is so exhausting.’
Even getting angry felt like a waste of energy. Dongbaek looked at him blankly and replied.
“Yes. Despite my lowly status, I am able to continue entering the palace thanks to the grace of His Imperial Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress. I am grateful to Her Majesty.”
Dongbaek responded with words that thinly veiled the message that it was his sister’s favor, more than her father Zhang Rang, that allowed her to enter the imperial palace. Of course, Dongbaek wasn’t going to stop there.
“Come to think of it, Minister He, you’re just like me. You were originally of a status that couldn’t enter the palace. Both of us are able to meet here in the palace corridors thanks to Empress He’s grace, so isn’t this also a connection formed by Her Majesty?”
As if it were a lie that she had worn a blank expression until just now, Dongbaek smiled brightly.
-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-
Thank you for reading! ♡
