Worry

Starlight settled down one by one, blooming in clusters like baby’s breath, illuminating the darkness of the waning moon night as if whispering secrets. Padrentia moved her feet to one side of the main palace’s garden. She appeared calm, but she didn’t bring any attendants with her. She even wore a black cape, making her seem to disappear into the darkness. Only the faint lamp in her hand barely illuminated her feet.

Even though the Bo Geon Je (Health Festival) was over and it was late autumn, a few bugs still gathered around the lamp, colliding with it as they drew parabolas here and there. Carefully and quietly, she stepped into a corner of the garden, where another man was already waiting.

He also wore a hood and covered his mouth with cloth, barely revealing his eyes, so his face was not visible. However, beyond the rat-like, thin eyelids, blurred by the darkness, a pleading desire seemed to flow like tears.

“Princess-nim?”

Padrentia nodded silently, but the other person poked his face with his hand, silently demanding that the Princess also show her face. As instructed, she raised the lamp to illuminate her face, and the other person quietly knelt and bowed.

“We both have little time, so let’s get straight to the point. Is your safety secure? Is there anyone casting a suspicious eye on me?”

As he asked the question, the other person straightened up and looked at her face.

“I have been with Changwei (Information Bureau) for a long time, so I am not easily tracked. No one suspects the Princess-nim. I only hope that the Princess-nim will keep her promise.”

The man replied in a polite tone, but there was a slightly boastful look on his face as he answered. Was it intentional acting, or a natural attitude that came from firmly believing in his abilities? Padrentia was curious about his true intentions, but the other person did not reveal them.

Padrentia took out a cloth bag from her bosom. It was made of rough and stiff cloth, which was hard to see as belonging to a Princess, but the other person received it carefully, as if it were a treasure. The contents were heavy but not hard. It was round like a bead, but it was neither metal nor glass, and a musty smell flowed from it.

“It’s not that I couldn’t get it, but it wasn’t easy to get either. That amount should be enough to cure your son’s illness.”

“Thank you, Princess-nim.”

The man carefully took the bag from the Princess. Padrentia did not miss the way the man’s rough hand trembled with joy as he took the bag. The Princess spoke again.

“Then tell me the information you found out. What’s the situation at the Rose Palace?”

“Mirabilis-nim was not hurt at all. Instead, a maid who served her took a knife for her and was injured, but it was not a serious injury, so she will recover soon. And Empress Jeonha (Your Majesty) gave her jewels and gold coins.”

The other person’s expression seemed apologetic, but Padrentia didn’t care.

“No, that’s enough. The reward is a little different from what I expected, but since she’s from a fallen family, wealth might be easier to understand. What about that child’s behavior?”

“If you mean that child, are you referring to Mirabilis-nim? She visits the injured maid every day, but other than that, nothing has changed from before…”

The other person tilted his head and trailed off, as he couldn’t figure out exactly what Padrentia wanted. Since she didn’t reveal her exact intentions when asking the question, it was natural that he couldn’t give an accurate answer. Fortunately for the other person, the Princess nodded as if satisfied with the clumsy answer.

“I understand, I’ll ask you again next time.”

However, the man didn’t seem to want to comply with Padrentia’s words. In the small eyes revealed between the hood and the cloth, the dissatisfaction he had been suppressing poked its head out.

“I had to take a great risk to do as Princess-nim ordered this time. Because of that, Wi Dok is grinding his teeth, determined to catch the 간자 (spy) who entered Changwei (Information Bureau). I accepted it because of my family situation, but I don’t want to do this again.”

A slightly grumbling, disrespectful voice quietly rebuked the Princess. The other person bowed again by slightly bending his leg without permission, and then disappeared into the darkness as if scattering. Padrentia couldn’t even tell which direction he had moved in, so she grumbled to herself.

“His attitude changes after getting what he wants. He looked like he was ready to jump into a burning pit before he got it.”

She raised her head and looked at the sky. The moon was not visible. The constellations were twisted and slanted to the west, and the Milky Way crossed the celestial sphere in a bluish haze, flowing to the distant other side. She paused for a moment. The lush, shimmering stars pried into her retina. The cold night air seeped into her clothes, and she felt a little cold even though she was wearing a cape.

“If this had happened in the past, she would have been shocked and locked herself away in the depths of the Rose Palace… She’s changed a lot, Mirabilis. I wish she had acted like she used to. If she had, I wouldn’t have had to do anything more.”

An owl, scratching its beak against its chest feathers, puffed out its neck and flapped its wings, flying over Padrentia’s head.

‘In this country, one Princess is enough. But I will be merciful and never harm you physically, so don’t resent me too much. Why, or rather, who, did Mirabilis change because of?’

No one was speaking, but there was a voice answering in Padrentia’s heart. Passing the sound of the wind containing the night chill whistling through the branches, the Princess adjusted her cape and walked on.

****************

Except for the accident where Serina was injured, the Rose Palace almost completely finished the Bo Geon Je (Health Festival) event. The palace people were busy returning the seven-day non-daily life back to daily life. They put the furniture and tools back in their places, and ate the remaining food cleanly, without leaving a single drop of cream.

Since Mullaba started serving Mirabilis, this Bo Geon Je (Health Festival) at the Rose Palace had the best atmosphere. Of course, there was an impious incident of attacking the Princess, but as a result, no one died or was seriously injured. And unlike before, Mirabilis mingled with the palace people, argued with them, and argued about other things in the Imperial Palace. The old Sang Gung (court lady) was very pleased with her master’s appearance, but on the other hand, she was seething with resentment.

‘It’s good that she’s changed…’

In Mullaba’s head, the scene of Mirabilis crying and kissing Serina’s forehead when she was about to lose consciousness came to mind. Others saw it too, but they didn’t think much of it and passed it off lightly. But to the old ghost of the Rose Palace, it seemed to be filled with a deep affection.

He had served Mirabilis since she was a child, so he could tell. When Serina was stabbed and fell, Mirabilis was in so much pain and sorrow that her heart ached. It was an attitude that she had never shown to the other palace people of the Rose Palace in the past. The old Sang Gung (court lady) felt like the veins in his temples were throbbing, so he put his hand on his forehead. He could feel his blood vessels throbbing.

‘It’s not just friendship. It’s too close and desperate to be called friends. I don’t know if Mirabilis-nim even eats together with Serina, but they must be close to that. Can I break them apart?’

In his mind, it was already a certainty, not a suspicion or speculation, that the two were more than friends. A maid having such a relationship with a Princess was something that should never happen. If it were to be known outside, the hierarchy of the Rose Palace would be broken and the Princess’s face would fall to the ground, which was a very serious problem.

But the Princess’s personality had changed. That was why Mullaba was worried. Mullaba welcomed and gladly accepted the appearance that Mirabilis showed during the Bo Geon Je (Health Festival) with both hands. Compared to the picky and neurotic loner Princess-nim who refused to interact with other palace people (except Mullaba), the current one was much better to look at.

He didn’t want his master, who had changed so much, to go back to her old self. If he could be sure that the Princess’s appearance would be the same even if Serina disappeared, Mullaba would send him out of the palace right away. It was also a legitimate authority given to the Sang Gung (court lady).

But it didn’t seem like Mirabilis would agree at all. If he ordered her to leave the palace and the Princess overturned it, Mullaba’s authority as Sang Gung (court lady) would be greatly damaged. Therefore, it was customary for the owners of the palace to respect and not interfere with the decisions made by the Sang Gung (court lady) in her territory, but if the owner was dissatisfied and stepped forward, the Sang Gung (court lady) had no choice but to follow.

Besides, there was no justification for kicking out a maid who had sacrificed herself to protect her master from attack. It would also be difficult if other palace people wondered why Mullaba was trying to send Serina out of the palace. It would be a terrible thing to tarnish the Princess’s reputation, which had just improved, with the Sang Gung (court lady)’s own hands. He had to protect Mirabilis’s dignity no matter what. The unfamiliar loneliness that he had never experienced in his long palace life fiercely swallowed the old Sang Gung (court lady).

The only superiors who could nonchalantly ignore Mirabilis’s wishes were the Emperor and Empress. But he had no idea what kind of repercussions would occur if this news reached the ears of the two highest people in the country, and how the Princess would react. Since there was no precedent to refer to, it was very difficult to guess how the King’s Seongchong (sacred wisdom: thought) would move.

It was truly absurd that a mere maid had become close to being a lover with the Princess she served. It was even more presumptuous if that maid was just the daughter of a fallen family. Was it like giving raw meat to a wolf’s mouth?

But Mullaba was confused as to whether he should resent Serina or be grateful to her, since he thought that Mirabilis had changed because of her. The old man tried to soothe his heart, saying that the still young Princess was just having a brief deviation with the maid by her side due to the immaturity of her youth, and that they were not in a deep relationship.

‘Should I condone it to some extent…? Rather than forcibly separating them, it might be better to control them so that useless rumors don’t spread. I’ll have to break her spirit soon so that she doesn’t get carried away and try to climb up just because she’s receiving the Princess-nim’s heart.’

He thought it would be better to take care of the surroundings so that there would be no gossip if he couldn’t separate them right away. But he couldn’t be sure that the choice he had made was the best. He couldn’t discuss it with anyone and open up his heart. Had any of the previous Sang Gung (court lady) ever had such worries? Mullaba tilted his head back, feeling a ghostly bitter taste in his mouth.

Pure white butterfly clouds were blooming in the bluish sky, breaking into pieces and flowing busily. The innocent sun relentlessly plunged down formless bars, piercing through the cozy clouds and scattering fragments onto the ground. The Rose Palace, embracing the Sang Gung (court lady)’s joys and sorrows, crouched under the autumn sky and stretched little by little in the sharp sunlight.

‘You old thing, you old thing! You’ve lived in the palace for too long and now you’re experiencing all sorts of things. If I had left back then, I wouldn’t have known about this!’

When Mullaba suddenly recalled the old days from the depths of his memory after a long time, a stinging misery entered his lungs like a deep breath. The faces of his dead colleagues and those who had been kicked out flickered like shadows. He seemed to faintly smell the scent of his senior palace people, who loved flowers and birds and were very close to each other.

Leaving behind his bitter feelings, the old Sang Gung (court lady) remembered his past colleagues and offered a silent prayer as he looked up at the sky.