The Young Consort Wants to Live Quietly

Chapter 2

* * *

The ending of Sanya Yeoran is an untimely death.

And now, I am Sanya Yeoran.

I mulled over that fact again.

“What the hell…”

I really felt like cursing. Since yesterday was the wedding banquet, I am to stay in the imperial palace from today onwards.

And today marks the second day since I’ve been possessed. In other words, I was possessed yesterday.

When I opened my eyes, I was startled by the opulence around me, and my visible alarm earned me a death threat through a glare from my father, Giyun Yeoran.

At the time, I didn’t realize what that chilling gaze meant, but looking back, it was clearly a threat. A warning that if it was discovered I had no supernatural abilities and got kicked out of the palace, I wouldn’t be left alone.

The place I was dragged to right after was the banquet hall, so I didn’t have a moment to feel disoriented after the possession.

The moment I was made to kneel in the middle of the banquet hall and saw the Empress and her consorts, memories of Sanya flooded into my mind, and the book I had read struck me like lightning.

Whoever put me in this place, it was undeniably a quick job.

Anyway, my goal now was clear.

To stay as inconspicuous as possible to the Empress and her consorts.

“…Haah.” I sighed.

Is it even possible? I immediately doubted my goal. To be honest, I wasn’t sure.

Because of yesterday’s events, the Empress now felt pity for me, and the consorts started keeping an eye on me. The Empress, feeling obligated to care for a young child, would check on me occasionally, and the male leads, driven by jealousy,

would be beside themselves with rage.

After a brief contemplation, I came to a swift conclusion.

“Let’s become the perfect child.”

Eat well, sleep well. Achievements moderate, no trouble caused.

It’s a symptom often seen in children lacking affection. Desperate for praise, they do whatever it takes to be seen as good children.

But what those children don’t realize is, the less trouble a child causes, the less attention they receive. The Empress might take care of me at first, but seeing me, a mere child, taking care of myself, she’ll soon relax her concerns.

After that, whether I roll around in my room for three days or whatever, she won’t care.

If I hadn’t caught the Empress’s eye yesterday, I could have lazily lived my life as a freeloader, but since I already caught her attention, I had no choice. If I did that now, the Empress would immediately send a teacher and check on my progress daily.

The imperial moral education was more brainwashing than education, and the Empress, unfortunately, was an honor student. She had learned and practiced that the young and weak must be well cared for.

She was called a tyrant by her subordinates, but that was strictly due to her ruthless punishments.

Like previous emperors, she had many consorts, but most of them were there for political reasons.

And one of them was me.

Ha. Past tense. Damned sympathy.

“…Miss. Are you listening to me? Miss!”

A shrill voice rang in my ears. Only then did I frown and turn to look beside me.

The maid who caught my gaze huffed and put her hands on her waist.

“Are your ears painted on? I’m talking to you!”

I intended to live the life of an honor student quietly, but I wanted to live quietly. I didn’t want to cause a commotion and catch anyone’s eye. To live unnoticed, like a neighbor in Korea.

Quietly and peacefully. That was my goal.

So this maid also needed to be dealt with quietly and peacefully…

How should I handle this? As I pondered, the maid waved her hand in front of my face again.

“Miss? What’s wrong? Are you crazy?”

“That’s you.”

I spoke nonchalantly, tossing the words out dismissively. To be so condescending towards the lady she serves, this maid deserved to be cut down without a word of protest.

It was a classic setting for Sanya. A pitiable young child, unloved by anyone, cunning from a young age due to constantly being on alert, and improperly educated in what she should have naturally learned.

This maid, this troublemaker, was a child brought from the Yeoran household. So, naturally, she wouldn’t be kind to me.

In the Yeoran household, Sanya was treated as nothing. It wasn’t just because she was a mere illegitimate child. Even illegitimate children would possess the supernatural abilities due to the bloodline of the family if they were truly of that blood. Sanya lacked those abilities.

Because of this, the head of the family neglected her, and if the master isn’t respected by those above, there’s no reason for those below to care. Young and unprotected, the servants found in Sanya an easy target and harassed her daily.

The maid before me was one of them, and in the story, as soon as Sanya became a consort, she was harshly beaten and chased away.

The male leads, as if they had a sixth sense, casually mentioned Sanya’s misdeeds to the Empress, and it became the moment when Sanya dramatically revealed the truth and won the Empress’s favor.

So, you mean you’re the bell tolling the doom of my peaceful life. Geez, there are so many people ringing bells in one’s life.

I quietly observed the maid clucking like a noisy chicken. Her chatter about me ignoring her words ceased abruptly under my gaze.

It was the reaction I expected. The Sanya till now had been meek and hidden.

Being possessed on the wedding day was one good thing. I don’t think I could have been as docile as Sanya in the Yeoran household.

“What’s your name?”

“Oh, what will you do knowing it?”

The maid, momentarily frozen by my gaze, screamed back in annoyance. Her rebellious words made me scratch my head a couple of times.

“Right. I don’t need to know. Just leave.”

“Miss!”

“Oh, not from this room, but from this palace.”

The maid’s face turned even redder with the addendum to my command. I didn’t care and just rubbed my ears. Her shrill voice had been grating on my nerves.

“I can’t leave! What right do you have to throw me out!”

At that, I made a face as if I found the situation amusing.

What’s in her head? Or does she have a powerful backer?

“You seem not to know, but I am a consort of Her Majesty the Empress.”

I was still a remarkably kind master. I explained things calmly and then gave her a look that said, “Are we done here?”

The maid shut up for a moment at my words but soon started babbling again.

“I’m a maid sent by your father!”

“Oh, does that mean I can report you as a spy?”

“What, what?”

The maid’s face turned deathly pale. I leisurely swept my hand over the table and sighed.

For consorts to fall in love with the Empress after entering the imperial palace, a month was more than enough. Hence, for consorts who had been there for a while, there was no need to monitor whether they were communicating with their families. But it was different for a newly entered consort.

The number of personal servants a consort could bring from their family home was limited to a few young maids, and even then, the consort’s quarters were filled with palace maids who had been in the Empress’s service.

It was publicly known as a gesture of consideration for the consorts entering the unfamiliar palace by assigning them the best palace maids, but everyone in the Kingdom of Seora knew that these maids also served as watchers.

And it was clear that this would be the same for my quarters.

Public matters are public, and private matters are private.

The Empress was kind yet ruthless for this reason. Therefore, the words just uttered by this maid could easily be interpreted as treasonous. Of course, it’s an exaggeration, but what isn’t exaggerated in the imperial palace?

If Giyun Yeoran hadn’t been glaring daggers at me, I would have accused her of treason. With that thought, I calmly continued my speech.

“It’s only right to pledge loyalty to the royal family, yet here you are, blatantly siding with the Yeoran family over me, a member of the royal family.”

“That’s not what I meant―”

“Then what?”

At my pointed question, the maid’s face turned even redder, and she just stuttered without an answer. After observing her for a moment, I turned my gaze towards the door. I wanted to kick her out as soon as possible. Someone was supposed to arrive soon. This nameless maid’s interference wouldn’t be helpful.

‘It’s about time for them to come.’

Just as I was staring at the door, a voice from outside announced an arrival.

“My lady. Consort Seolbi has come to see you.”

Without waiting for my response, the door swung open. A man with a head of raised hair and wearing a silk robe with a hint of red stepped in confidently.

“Nice to meet you for the first time. Consort Cho. My name is Joyun.”

Consort Cho.

That was the title bestowed upon me by the Empress.

In the Kingdom of Seora, there are no specific official positions for consorts. Rather than being the king’s mistresses, they are more akin to business partners, with only the Imperial Consorts holding any status. The rest only receive titles.

Among them, the name given to me was Cho (草), meaning grass. A perfectly appropriate meaning, suggesting to live quietly like the grass.

No need for flowers or stars. Grass is best.

The more I thought about the name, the more I liked it, but it was unfortunate that there was no one in the room I liked.

I sighed softly, still looking at the maid in my room. I had wanted to kick her out before he arrived, but now that he was here, there was nothing I could do.

I straightened my face, which looked like I had eaten something sour, and stood up. Even so, I had to look up quite a bit due to the man’s tall stature.

The man had a rather sharp look. His authoritative face made it obvious that he had a lot to say to me.

In the original story, such a scene of harassment wasn’t present. On the first day, Sanya ran crying to the Empress, using the consorts’ bullying as an excuse, but the reality was different.

The problem was, the man who followed Sanya as she cried to the Empress wasn’t this man.

The consort who tattled on Sanya for making her cry was different from the man standing before me in every way. Above all, that consort’s name was Garam, not Joyun.

Joyun, hmm. Who is he?

As I wrinkled my forehead, not recalling the name, Joyun’s eyes narrowed. Regaining my composure, I stepped down from the chair and bowed.

“Nice to meet you. I am Sanya. I apologize for not being able to properly introduce myself, as I lack a surname.”

Despite my greeting, Joyun didn’t change his expression. Knowing that whatever I did would probably annoy him, I didn’t bother to frown.

After all, even if he was just an extra who didn’t properly appear in the original story, he was stronger than me now.

But really, who is he?

As I was rummaging through my thoughts again, Joyun spoke abruptly.

“You caught Her Majesty’s eye on your first day. Aren’t you lucky?”

Oh. That comment was a bit surprising. I expected him to speak more diplomatically, fitting for a noble consort, but he went straight for the jugular.