I Was Reincarnated as an Abandoned Baby Princess Chapter 2

Court Lady Choi dropped me into the crib as if tossing me, leaving my back and buttocks aching.  

 

If it were an ordinary child, they would have cried their lungs out in this situation.

 

Of course, due to my infant instincts, I almost burst into tears for a moment, but through sheer effort, I managed to restrain myself. 

 

“….”

 

Because right now, I’m about to engage in a life-or-death showdown with the guy who’s presumed to be the boss of this world!

 

‘Come to think of it, they called me ‘princess’… so this guy is probably my biological father.’

 

He’s barely in his mid-twenties, I’d guess.

 

Aside from holding the highest position in this world as king, he had jet-black eyes and hair that contrasted sharply with his extremely pale skin.

 

A towering height and build, reaching an impressive 190 cm.

 

A sharp forehead leading to a defined nose, lips firmly closed as if incapable of smiling, and an overall face with bold, strong features.

 

‘He’s handsome.’

 

“Ugly.” 

 

“…”

 

Right now, I don’t even know exactly what I look like myself.

 

I don’t care how anyone sees my appearance… but still, it doesn’t feel all that good.

 

“You’re not crying.”

 

The king, staring sullenly at me the entire time, raised his eyebrows in apparent surprise at my expression.

 

‘You think I don’t know?’

 

My instincts, honed from countless brushes with death in my previous life, were speaking to me.

 

‘I mustn’t cry. Not in front of him.’

 

I had seen this kind of gaze before.

 

When training to become assassins, they put the smallest child into harsh situations and watch how they react.

 

At that moment, the instructors would kill any child who broke down in tears.

 

Because an assassin must never show emotions, no matter the situation.

 

And the man before me had the same gaze as them.

 

And the man in front of me wore the same look in his eyes. As if he would dispose of me the moment I proved myself weak.

 

“It seems Her Young Highness the Royal Princess is very fond of His Majesty.” 

 

It’s not like that, so you newborn assassin court ladies, keep it down.

 

I’m in the middle of a staring contest right now, and you’re breaking my focus.

 

Unaware of my struggle as I faced off against the king with all the strength in my tiny body, Court Lady Kim tactlessly stepped forward, trying to smooth things over.

 

“But… she’s not even smiling?”

 

Fortunately, unlike Court Lady Kim, the king seemed perceptive.

 

He immediately realized I didn’t like him.

 

‘Ah, come to think of it, I was being targeted for assassination.’

 

As if suddenly reincarnating wasn’t enough, now I’m facing an assassination attempt.

 

And to top it off, the father who appeared turned out to be the king himself. Swept up in all these bizarre circumstances, the grim reality I had forgotten came rushing back.

 

‘Once the king leaves… won’t they try to assassinate me again?’

 

It was a fairly reasonable suspicion.

 

If I were at least two or three years old, maybe—but in this newborn body, there’s no way to survive an assassination attempt. 

 

In that case, the only way is…

 

“Kyaak!” 

 

I’ll smile—just take me with you!

 

In my previous life as well, portraying all sorts of human expressions had been one of my outstanding talents!

 

Out of my desire to live, I gave the king a deadly child’s smile.

 

To catch the attention of a man who hates crying, there’s no other way but to smile.

 

“Wuu, kyaa!”

 

“You’ve gotten uglier.”

 

Still, perhaps because he’s the boss of this organization in his own way, he’s not so easy to deal with.

 

He stared straight at my smiling face, then delivered a heavy, crushing blow of words.

 

‘Damn it.’

 

I couldn’t help but sigh at the sight of the king, blissfully making carefree remarks without even realizing that his daughter was under the threat of assassination.

 

“Kyaaa!” 

 

But I was a professional assassin, skilled at hiding my emotions.

 

I hid my harsh words and smiled brightly at the king again.

 

He furrowed his brow deeply in all seriousness and clicked his tongue, as if he couldn’t possibly understand why a baby would smile at him.

 

“Has she gone mad the moment she was born?”

 

“Seeing her smile, it truly does seem that Her Young Highness is fond of His Majesty.”

 

“…”

 

Anyone could see that the baby, flailing her arms and legs adorably while smiling as if asking to be held, was being glared at by him with an even more sour expression.

 

It even felt like the atmosphere was better back when we were having the staring contest.

 

“Your Majesty…!”

 

Drrrk!

 

Just when I felt I couldn’t keep smiling any longer, the door suddenly burst open and a woman dressed neatly in a hanbok rushed in.

 

“T, the Noble Consort has arrived!” 

 

So hastily had she arrived that the trembling voices of the court ladies announcing her entrance rang out only belatedly.

 

The Court Lady following behind the woman addressed as “Noble Consort” also paused to steady her rough breathing.

 

“I pay my respects to Your Majesty.”

 

“Come in, Noble Consort Go.”

 

The woman lowered her delicate, beautiful face and greeted the king with an elegant gesture.

 

‘If she’s called Noble Consort… does that mean she’s a concubine?’

 

Even through the eyes of a child, her beauty was so extraordinary that it was hard to believe she was human.

 

‘How is it that everyone here is unrealistically beautiful, as if they all stepped right out of a movie?’

 

Such a question crossed my mind for a moment.

 

“What brings Noble Consort here?” 

 

The king turned to look at the beautiful Noble Consort with a blank expression.

 

“I am deeply honored, Your Majesty. This humble concubine heard that the young princess had a fever throughout the night and, overcome with worry, I rushed here in haste. I did not realize Your Majesty had already arrived, and in my urgency, I have committed the discourtesy of entering so abruptly.”

 

“Did you think a tyrant couldn’t even play the role of a father?”

 

“Y, Your Majesty…!”  

 

“I was joking. You don’t have to be so afraid.”

 

This wasn’t a joke, but a threat, though? 

 

Seeing how he referred to himself as a “tyrant,” it seemed he possessed an impressive degree of self-awareness.

 

“Come to think of it, aren’t these court ladies yours as well, Noble Consort?”

 

“I personally ordered them to serve the Young Princess with utmost devotion, Your Majesty.”

 

Wait. So that lady called “Noble Consort” is actually the superior of the court ladies who tried to kill me… 

 

‘Then that woman must be the one who ordered the assassination to have me killed?’

 

I waved my arms vigorously, anger welling up within me.

 

As expected, being a baby makes it difficult to control the emotions that well up inside me.

 

Finally, I blurted out.

 

“Wu!”

 

That woman tried to kill me!

 

“Wuba!!”

 

Let me explain. Please listen to me!

 

“Yeah. I know full well that you have cared for the princess even before she was born. Having thought it over, how would you feel about personally raising the princess from now on?”

 

‘What… did you just say, you brat?!’

 

The king completely ignored my desperate state and uttered something utterly absurd.

 

“The princess will also need someone to take on the role of a mother in place of the queen.”

 

“So, are you saying that you will entrust me with full authority over the princess’s upbringing?”

 

“Indeed. Will that be all right? With Suwon-gun present, it might prove challenging.”

 

“Not at all! How could I possibly refuse? It is truly an honor that Your Majesty entrusts such an important matter to me. I shall gladly carry out Your Majesty’s solemn command.”

 

“Now that Noble Consort says so, I feel at ease.” 

 

Both were clearly smiling, yet the conversation carried a subtle undertone as if they weren’t really smiling.

 

And among them, I was the only one who truly couldn’t smile!

 

“Wu! Wuaaa!”

 

And out of all of them, I was the only one who truly couldn’t smile!

 

A baby’s instinct to cry out loud!

 

I flailed my arms and legs, crying until I felt all my strength drain away, and collapsed flat on my back.

 

“U… puhuh…”

 

In a situation so tense, and completely out of place, I suddenly felt overwhelmingly sleepy.

 

As expected, this baby body betrayed my reason without fail.

 

* * *

 

“Now I can’t even kill the person whose face I can’t stand!”

 

The sharp voice of the woman barely pulled me awake from the whirlpool I had been helplessly lost in.

 

I was lying in a slightly different place than before.

 

Judging by the situation, it seemed I had been moved to the concubine’s quarters under the orders of that cold-hearted boss from earlier.

 

“You should have dealt with it before His Majesty arrived! How could you not even handle that one thing properly?”

 

“I have committed a mortal sin. I am deeply sorry. Truly sorry, Your Highness.” 

 

Only then was I able to clearly see the devastation unfolding before my eyes.

 

Court Lady Choi was prostrated in front of the Noble Consort.

 

Her face was covered in blood.

 

Noble Consort Go stood there holding a birch rod.

 

‘She beat the court lady that badly with a birch rod…?’

 

Despite her frail body, which seemed like it would struggle just to breathe, she had the determination to wield the rod.

 

This person definitely has the talent to be an assassin!

 

“Your Highness, if you grant me the opportunity, I will invent another pretext and see to it that it is handled cleanly, without any repercussions.”

 

Another woman, seemingly a Court Lady, reported to her, but the Noble Consort shook her head. 

 

“Whoo, just forget it. This actually turned out well. Now that it’s come to this, when the time is right I’ll use it as a trump card to bring down Heebin.”  

 

‘So this is what they call palace intrigue.’

 

Just in case, I memorized the names of the new characters mentioned in the ongoing conversation.

 

“Th, then the Young Royal Highness…” 

 

“Wait until His Majesty gives his command. Until then, confine her to the farthest room of Jipbokheon and give her only enough food and care to keep her alive.” 

 

She speaks like an assassin training instructor.

 

She cast her gaze at me, radiating captivating beauty.

 

“Anyway, the day I become queen.”

 

She seemed to stride towards me, then reached out as if to grab my neck at any moment.

 

“Just kill her, and that’s it.” 

 

I simply stared intently into her eyes. Her sharp claws against my neck sent a chill down my spine.

 

But I wasn’t afraid.

 

The murderous intent she directed at me was, for me, actually the most familiar and natural thing.

 

‘In the end, it’s ruined.’

 

I felt nothing but a bleak certainty that this life was doomed as well.