The Young Consort Wants to Live Quietly

Chapter 24

***

Upon spotting him, I couldn’t stop my face from lighting up instantly. His soft, gray hair was so welcome it almost brought me to tears. The glimpses of his misty blue eyes seemed restless.

I smiled faintly and shook my head slightly. I wasn’t okay, but I felt a bit better. Right now, by my side, they were fussing about sending blankets or mattresses to my palace, but I decided not to listen.

Ah, right. I need to thank the Empress.

I glanced up at her again. The allocation of personnel in this palace was mostly the Empress’s responsibility.

The deployment of a shadow was definitely under her command, but if she suspected that I knew it was a shadow, I would naturally have to sugarcoat it, saying that everything I enjoy is thanks to Her Majesty’s grace.

“Why so, Sanya?”

The Empress, noticing my gaze, tilted her head and asked. At that, I got out of bed.

…Well, I tried to.

Being small, I couldn’t just hop down in one go. I had to walk a few steps on my knees, lower one foot at a time, and then finally get down with the help of a palace maid.

“…Ahem.”

I didn’t bother to find out who might have snickered. I roughly straightened my tousled hair and bowed politely to the Empress.

“I heard that Your Majesty sent Dawn to me. He has been a great joy in my lonely life. Thank you.”

“Really?”

The response to my greeting was unexpectedly lively. Surprised by her tone, I inadvertently lifted my head without waiting for her permission and found myself facing her, her eyes sparkling and mouth wide open.

Her eyes, usually sharp when expressionless, were wide with excitement. Her serene green eyes shone like young sprouts under the sunlight.

Stunned, I simply stared at her, forgetting to bow my head.

“…Er, really?”

Pretending to be dignified now would really be too late.

Despite that, I nodded and smiled faintly.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I couldn’t help but smile at my expression of gratitude, but the Empress’s face brightened up again at my words. It almost seemed like a tail was wagging behind her. This left me a bit puzzled.

In the original story, the Empress was kind to Sanya, but that kindness was like the warmth of a parent, not the blind adoration of a pet.

“I’m glad you like him. Mirinae’s judgment is indeed trustworthy.”

I stiffened at the continuation of her words. Why had I overlooked this?

The Empress shares everything with Mirinae to the extent of being a communal fate. And that includes the existence of shadows.

So, Mirinae knows I have a shadow.

Damn. Jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.

“Ah! Of course, sending Dawn to you was my idea. Understand?”

The Empress added quickly, seeing my momentarily stiffened face. Why emphasize that? To leave me hanging later?

I tried to hide my crumpled brow by smiling even more broadly.

“Yes. I am deeply grateful.”

At my smile, the Empress seemed at a loss for words. She looked as if someone hit the pause button, and upon my slight tilt of the head, she suddenly jumped as if poked by a hedgehog.

Then, with a serious face, she muttered something in a voice that seemed to convey it was a matter of great importance.

“How can this be…”

“…?”

“So cute?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Ah, never mind.”

Did she think I hadn’t heard?

Facing such a situation right after waking up made my body suddenly feel very tired. I forced a smile again and subtly changed the subject.

“By the way, Your Majesty, what brings you to this humble place?”

“Ah, yes. Just wait a moment. Dawn.”

The Empress then seemed to remember why she was there and called Gowun.

He silently came closer and knelt down, and the Empress took out a letter from her bosom and handed it to him.

“This is from your colleagues.”

I was internally shocked.

The Empress delivering a letter? Have all the couriers in this country gone on strike? Should this be overlooked?

“Your Majesty. How can you undertake tasks meant for the lower ranks?”

Fortunately, it seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought so, as Seoyeon asked the Empress with a worried voice. And then she widened her eyes as if she were a child caught stealing snacks.

“…Well, the thing is.”

The Empress stuttered and avoided eye contact. I recognized that behavior. It was like our family dog when it was about to be scolded.

“I had nothing to do and was feeling bored. And my palace happens to be close to this place…”

“Are you saying the Floral Virtue Palace Palace and Flower Dragon Palace are close?”

“…Ahem, well.”

I looked at Seoyeon with surprised eyes. If my ears did not deceive me, she had gently but firmly jabbed at the Empress. Yet, her face remained gently composed.

“…She’s impressive.”

While I was thinking this, a tearing sound, “zzzt,” reached my ears. I reflexively turned towards the source of the sound and saw Gowun tearing the paper.

If my memory serves me correctly, unless someone had given him a new piece of paper, that was the letter handed over by the Empress.

To recap, Gowun was tearing up the letter given to him by the Empress right in front of her.

‘…!’

Is he out of his mind?

“Dawn…?”

As I called out to him with a bewildered look, Gowun, who had been looking down, met my eyes directly. He looked at me like a puppy caught in the rain and then awkwardly gestured with his hand holding the paper.

Unlike yesterday’s gestures, this seemed like a structured language, suggesting he knew sign language, naturally, since he pretended to be mute.

However, I didn’t know sign language, and when I glanced at Seoyeon, she whispered with a troubled look,

“He asked if you would like him to eat it.”

At her words, I was so shocked that I looked back at Gowun. He seemed ready to put it in his mouth if I said yes, hesitantly bringing his hand to his lips. Forgetting we were in front of the Empress, I pulled his hand away and shouted,

“Why would you eat that! Don’t eat it!”

“…!”

Startled by my shout, Gowun dropped the paper he was holding. Because I had pulled on his hand, he staggered, and his bangs lifted, revealing his surprised, round eyes. I sighed upon seeing them.

How could he interpret my silent observation as an invitation to eat?

“Don’t eat paper. It doesn’t taste good and it’s bad for you.”

“….”

Gowun looked down at my words and froze in place. I noticed his lips trembling slightly and gave him a puzzled look.

He tried to gesture with his free hand to express himself, but since I was holding his other hand, no one could understand what he was trying to say. After floundering for a while, he stiffened again when I twitched my hand.

‘…?’

I looked at Gowun with a perplexed gaze. His ears, newly exposed by the hair, were bright red.

‘Is he embarrassed because it’s the first time he’s holding hands with a girl, right now?’

My goodness. So adorable. He’s totally a child.

I pressed down on my twitching lips and withdrew my hand. Then, Gowun took a deep breath. I really had to struggle not to laugh at that.

I knew he was young, but he’s truly a baby…

“…Dawn?”

It was then that the Empress’s skeptical voice could be heard. She was looking at Gowun with a face that clearly showed she couldn’t comprehend the situation.

“Did you just stagger?”

The atmosphere froze at the Empress’s words. The relaxed expression on her face turned emotionless. It was a cold look, starkly contrasting her previously gentle smile.

Her gaze turned to Gowun. I felt as if all the blood drained from my body. A chill ran down my spine.

‘What should I do?’

The Empress wasn’t always kind. Her sudden change of attitude must have been for a reason.

Gowun, despite being young, is a guard. He shouldn’t be swayed by my childish hands.

The Empress had doubts, and if she deemed Gowun as an ineffective guard, she would dismiss him.

‘Should I kneel and pretend I used my powers as a joke?’

But that would be too obvious a lie. How to explain the use of my powers, and what if it’s discovered I can’t actually use them?

Yet, I had to shift her attention to me somehow.

‘Cry.’

The conclusion came quickly. Crying in this situation would end everything. Sure, I’d feel a lot of self-loathing, but what’s that compared to saving someone?

I took a deep breath. I needed enough tears to sob convincingly.

It wasn’t expected to be easy, but surprisingly, just thinking about my current situation was enough to bring tears. How many unusual circumstances have I endured?

Suddenly being thrown into a novel, desperately trying to stay alive without any clue, all I got back were useless gifts, assassination attempts, and incurable PTSD due to a thoroughly compromised mental and psychological state.

And now, this clueless Empress is trying to kill my only friend.

My vision blurred. Tears that had filled my eyes streamed down as I blinked. I let out the sobs that were climbing up my throat without holding back.

“Hic, sniff, waaah.”

It had been so long since I had cried out loud, but it wasn’t difficult. Part of it was forced, but as I thought about it, I felt genuinely wronged. Did I really sign up for all this just to enjoy luxury and wealth?

Through my tear-blurred vision, I saw the Empress shake uncertainly.

“Why, what’s the matter? Is there something you don’t like? Dawn? Is it because Dawn is weak? Should I replace him with another child?”

“Waaaaah―!”

The Empress, in her restlessness to comfort me, said that, and I screamed and cried even louder. I even sat down on the spot to cry, and the Empress, not knowing what else to do, squatted down in front of me.

“Does something hurt? Is there something you want? Do, do you not like the palace? Should I move you to a bigger one?”

I don’t need that. Just go away, you obstacle to my life!

“Hic, sniff, waaah. Waaaah!”

My crying was so loud it seemed to carry beyond the room, and the door opened with Heesa appearing with a shocked face. Forgetting about the Empress, she rushed over to me.

“My lady! Oh, why, why are you crying! Don’t cry! Boo, peekaboo! I’m right here!”

Heesa, with a desperate look, covered her face with her hands and then revealed it, trying to play peekaboo with me, made me cry even harder.

Go away. When was the last time I played peekaboo? My fine motor skills are fully developed. Do they think I’m a baby!

Then someone grabbed my hand. This hand was a bit rougher, smaller, and colder than the others. Just by that, I could tell who it was.

It’s okay. But I need to cry a little longer.

“Huuuh….”

People who don’t have much experience with children often don’t know what to do when a child cries uncontrollably, just like the Empress now. Then, if there’s someone nearby who seems capable of taking care of the child, they’ll likely hand the child over to them and escape.

I was aiming for that, trying to squeeze out more tears, when I heard footsteps and someone appeared through the open door.

‘Why are you here?!’

With half-tousled platinum hair and a blue eyepatch obscuring his vision, it was Mirinae.

His unexpected appearance momentarily shocked me into halting my tears, but hiccups emerged due to the remnants of my crying, and tears continued to stream down my face.

Seeing this, Mirinae’s body jerked just like the Empress had earlier. He limped towards me and knelt down halfway, meeting my gaze as if enchanted.

Mirinae, looking bewildered, half-opened his mouth and fumbled with his sleeve before reaching into his hair and pulling something out, offering it to me.

“Here, take this. Don’t cry.”

It was a hairpin that had been tucked in Mirinae’s hair. The hairpin, which only the direct descendants of the royal family could use, had a dragon at the end clutching a bead, intricately carved.

This, perhaps one of the most valuable things Mirinae possessed, was now being pushed towards me.

“Hic.”

Unwittingly, my tears stopped.

I was so shocked that I kept hiccuping, forgetting to cry. Mirinae finally smiled gently at my hiccupping figure, and the golden hairpin was pressed into my hand.

The delicately carved dragon head seemed to be glaring at me with bulging eyes.

Hic.

I hiccupped loudly once again.