The Young Consort Wants to Live Quietly

Chapter 50

* * *

Thud, bang!

Following the urgent footsteps, the door burst open. I was startled by the sight of the black-haired woman who appeared between the opened doors.

It was Yehwa. Her desperate and anxious green eyes immediately fixed on me, and as soon as she saw me, her eyes filled with relief.

“Ah, thank heavens.”

Before I could say anything, she pulled me into a hug. As her voice, filled with relief, sounded like a sigh, I snapped back to reality. There had been only one set of footsteps, and only one person had entered the room.

No other maids or guards were present, just Giyun in the room, and Giyun with a very odd smile on his face.

Oh, no! What was the Empress thinking coming here alone? Supernatural powers or not, what if she got hurt or worse?

As I struggled to get out of the embrace, Yehwa let me go. But before I could say anything, she grabbed my face.

“Are you alright? Any injuries?”

Yehwa turned my face this way and that, checking my arms and legs as well. Her touch was hurried but careful.

Realizing I was unharmed, Yehwa sighed deeply and pulled me into another hug.

“It’s alright now. Your mother is here.”

Pat, pat. Yehwa patted my back at a steady pace.

“You must have been so scared.”

There were indeed moments of fear, but I had been internally grumbling enough to not be too bothered. Yet, at her words, my vision blurred, and a tear rolled down.

‘Huh?’

I was more surprised by my own tears. Stunned and just gaping, Yehwa then lifted me up.

“Everything is okay now.”

The way she supported my hips and wrapped her shoulder around me was familiar. And it was very comfortable, in complete contrast to my earlier interaction with Giyun.

Because Yehwa held me facing Giyun, I couldn’t see his face, but I could distinctly feel the atmosphere freeze over.

Giyun was the first to break the silence.

“Giyun of the Yeoran family greets Her Majesty.”

His voice carried a hint of laughter. Yehwa’s arms tightened around me. It wasn’t that she was angry and unable to control her strength; rather, it was a gesture of holding me tightly, perhaps afraid of letting go.

“A rat has entered the palace.”

“How could you so misinterpret a father’s yearning heart for his daughter.”

“This child is the princess of Seora and my only daughter. How dare you claim to be her father in my presence?”

Her words were entirely accurate, but for some reason, I felt they could also hit in another way, so I gently nudged her shoulder.

Coming here alone and then showing such audacity. What if she actually got killed!

At my gesture, Yehwa hesitated. As she exhaled in frustration, Giyun continued in a sorrowful voice,

“How could the natural bond be so easily severed? Please forgive the agonizing denial of a father who hasn’t seen even a single hair of his daughter.”

He sighed deeply, his voice softening but still frosty,

“Leave. Right now.”

Despite the Empress’s command, Giyun did not budge. Instead, he took a step toward us. I could tell by the sound of his step.

“Your Majesty, you are truly heartless.”

His voice was gloomy, devoid of any humor. Another step. A shadow loomed over us.

At his humorless voice, Yehwa hugged me even tighter. She buried me in her embrace, wrapping her arms around me as if to hide me.

When I clenched my fist, the sound of urgent footsteps echoed again.

“Your Majesty!”

The voice was familiar. Since I was facing the door, a slight turn of my head allowed me to see them. It was Mirinae and Garam.

Their arrival finally made Giyun step back with a slight smile. He left a light apology and breezed past Yehwa, but not without giving me a paternal smile. His cold hand stroked my head.

“Let’s see each other again soon, Sanya.”

I forced a smile in response to his kind words.

Thud.

The door closed, and the sound of footsteps faded away. When silence finally settled, my body relaxed completely.

Oh, that was frightening. I knew being powerless was dangerous, but I had never felt it so acutely. Yehwa was desperately trying to protect me, but she, too, was powerless.

Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with anger.

She was supposed to be the most powerful in the country. But she had no power of her own.

Loved by someone, protected by leaning on him. Even with power, how should one deal with such direct threats?

“Sanya?”

As I clenched my mouth shut, Yehwa looked into my eyes with a worried voice. Her gaze, concerned about me despite the insult she had faced, made me feel weak.

The sight of her worrying about me after escaping such a situation was… touching.

Yehwa wasn’t the one I was angry at. I just felt sorry for her.

Has she lived her entire life this way? So accustomed to it that it doesn’t even make her angry anymore?

As I bit my lip hard, Yehwa caressed my head with a worried look.

“Baby. Giyun, your father…”

Yehwa struggled to continue, looking like someone trying to say something they shouldn’t. After a long pause, she asked with difficulty,

“Did you miss your father?”

Suddenly? Him?

…Why?

“I heard you were quite attached to him when you were in your family home.”

Yehwa kindly added an explanation to my bewildered self. Ah, so my earlier nudging was interpreted as telling her not to scold my dad.

“But Sanya. He is…”

Before she could continue, I shook my head. Not once, but vigorously enough to make my hair fly, startling them into grabbing my head.

“No.”

With three pairs of hands on my head, I firmly responded. It might have looked silly, but my voice was resolute.

Giyun was the biological father of this body, but he was not a father to me. How could I love someone just because we share blood, especially someone I’ve barely met? Moreover, I had never had a father in my life.

In my previous life, my mom raised me alone, and after she passed away, I lived in an orphanage until I became an adult.

Long for a father? I missed ramen more than a dad.

If I didn’t feel that way about my dad in my previous life, there’s no way Giyun, whom I’m seeing for the second time, could evoke such feelings.

Despite my clear answer, their faces remained somber. After pondering their reaction, I spoke,

“You must know that I wasn’t treated well in the Yeoran family.”

They silently nodded in the midst of silence.

“I know that happened with my father’s neglect.”

My vision blurred as I rubbed my eyes, and eyelashes came off on my fingers. Must’ve been dust.

“He is not my father. I don’t think of him that way.”

Although I ended on a strong note, my eyes started to sting madly.

Ah, ugh, my eyelashes.

‘I shouldn’t rub them.’

Here, if I damage my cornea, I can’t even go to an ophthalmologist. I clenched my fists, bowed my head, and blinked, letting the tears that had pooled in my eyes stream down.

After shedding tears for a while and feeling my eyes calm down, I lifted my head to a peculiar silence.

“…?”

What’s with all the solemn faces?

“I’m—”

Mom, what a shock.

The voice belonged to Garam. Since everyone had squatted down to my eye level, all eyes turned to Garam as he stood up and shouted. Then, he exclaimed again,

“I’ll be your father!”

“…”

You will?

I stared at him for a moment before turning away. Seemingly sharing the same thought, Garam awkwardly muttered, “Ah, ah why?” in confusion.

“Sanya. I have already married Her Majesty.”

The next to speak was Mirinae. I had mostly seen him with his eye patch off, so it was a bit nostalgic to see him covering his eyes again. As I looked at him intently, Mirinae smiled softly and continued,

“You are Her Majesty’s daughter, and I am Her Majesty’s spouse, so isn’t that enough for me to be your father?”

His logic made sense. Typically, a mother’s husband is called father.

But if we were to follow that logic…

“Then I would have a dozen, no, over twenty fathers.”

My comment visibly startled Mirinae. He froze with a smile on his face, unable to say anything, while Garam openly laughed. While I was leisurely watching this comedy unfold, I was suddenly lifted.

Yehwa had picked me up. She now held me adeptly, and the embrace was as comfortable as before.

“You don’t need a father when you have a mother.”

Her face was full of a pleasant smile as she cooed and sang to me,

“Whether you have a hundred fathers or a thousand, you only have one mother. Right?”

Cradled in her arms, I made a face like a vexed fennec fox and thought,

‘Sadly, that’s not the case.’

But it seemed too awkward to say, “Actually, this is my second life, so you’re my second mother.”

I sighed and swallowed my words.

Let’s just go with that…

* * *

Giyun clenched and unclenched his hand. His flawless hand twitched weakly.

He had infiltrated the palace without going through the entrance. Even for him, the exertion of power was significant. Yet, there was a gain. The palace’s barrier was weaker than he had expected.

Normally, even with all his power, it would have been difficult to make even a scratch. And then, another thing.

The face of his daughter, whom he had seen for the first time in a while, came to mind. Her face was strangely subdued but brightened like a dog loyal to its owner.

Giyun’s face took on a strange glow. As it was when she was at home, the child was peculiar.

Sometimes, she seemed moved by his kindness, as if she found use in it, but then, a glimpse of coldness in her eyes.

Was she resenting him for neglecting her all this time?

Giyun pondered for a moment but quickly dismissed the thought from his mind. Regardless, Sanya showing him affection was not something to worry about.

It was best to make certain things clear to avoid any issues later.

“…Since the palace’s barrier is weakening.”

His gentle voice echoed around the Yeoran family’s garden.

Thump.

A bud that hadn’t bloomed fell from his hand, no longer trembling.