* * *
“How dare you defy Her Highness’s will!”
Court Lady Choi reported to the Noble Consort about the palace maids who had given me the rice cake, and they were immediately replaced.
After that, I was locked inside the barred detached palace for a whole week, unable to take a single step outside.
Because I had shoved the rice cake into my mouth too quickly, I got a stomachache and spent the entire time writhing in pain in the cramped corner of the room.
‘Seriously, what a useless body!’
On the day my confinement was finally lifted, I stepped out with eyes blazing, fueled by sheer determination.
‘Let’s train. Hurry!’
Not only did they abandon a child without even giving her a name, but they won’t even let her eat a single piece of rice cake—I have to escape from this insane palace as soon as possible.
To do that, I had no choice but to become strong—and fast.
‘I need to find a place where I can train properly without being noticed.’
Of course, I was already doing physical training alone in the detached palace every morning.
But I couldn’t keep training in that tiny space forever.
Moreover, it wasn’t the first time Court Lady Choi had almost caught me training.
‘If I get caught, who knows what she’ll do.’
Just thinking that I might not even be allowed to train, on top of being mistreated over food, made me feel utterly hopeless.
‘I’ve never taken this path before…’
It was while I was sneaking around the palace, searching for a suitable place to use as a training spot.
Keeping out of sight as much as possible, I crossed the wide courtyard, carefully watching the soldiers with swords at their waists, passing through many gates and various pavilions, until I arrived at a place I had never seen before.
“Mhm?”
Perhaps because I had gone farther than usual from the detached palace, a promising spot caught my eye.
There were just enough trees around to hide my body, and though it wasn’t large, the space was perfect for me to move around freely.
‘This place actually looks pretty good, doesn’t it?’
As I looked around, I frowned at something glinting in the sunlight amid the grass.
‘What’s that?’
I hurried over in quick little steps, parting the grass with my tiny hands to see what the shining object was.
‘An arrow?’
A quiver full of arrows and a bow lay on the ground.
‘This is insane! What a jackpot!’
A real weapon.
I’ve been trying to get my hands on this for the past five years, but never managed!
‘Should I try shooting it once?’
I glanced around furtively, but no one seemed to be there, and it looked like it would be fine to shoot at a nearby tree.
But there was one major problem.
‘As expected, it’s way too big. I can’t carry it.’
I buried one end of the bow—nearly as big as my body—into the ground to secure it, then fitted an arrow to the bow and clumsily drew it.
‘Ugh, it’s too short… it’s not working.’
It’s quite different from what I calculated based on my physical strength in my past life, isn’t it?
My arms were trembling so much that I eventually gave up and was about to lower the arrow.
Shot—!
Until I accidentally let go of the bowstring because I didn’t have enough strength in my hands.
‘No!’
“Your Majesty…!”
I never imagined that the arrow, loosed from the bowstring, would graze the nape of my father—the king—and embed itself in a tree.
“Who dares to harm His Majesty!”
The king’s gaze, which was extremely murderous, and my own gaze, which was filled with astonishment, met in the air after a long time.
Clack, clack, clack, clack—!
And in the blink of an eye, countless blades were aimed at my neck.
* * *
The standoff continued with such intensity that my legs were trembling.
I swallowed hard, trying to suppress my dry gulp.
‘I made a mistake.’
I let my guard down.
I should have considered that the king could appear even outside the palace.
‘Is this the end?’
The moment I met the king’s gaze—sharp as a finely honed blade—I truly thought I might die right here.
Of course, you might think, ‘No matter what, he wouldn’t kill his five‑year‑old daughter,’ but this isn’t merely a rash assumption!’
In other words, this was a reasonable conclusion based on all the data I had collected so far.
Over the past five years, having mostly grown up as a baby, the actions I could take were extremely limited.
As with any ordinary baby, the things I was best at were simply sleeping well, eating well, and listening…
“He murdered his own brother and ascended to the throne.”
One day, I heard such crazy words!
His past was far more complicated than I had anticipated.
My biological father, the current king, was born to a concubine but lost his mother early on and was adopted by the queen dowager, who was infertile at the time.
The problem came next.
The queen, who had been diagnosed as infertile due to a fever, suddenly became pregnant with a son.
Then the ministers unanimously wanted to depose the crown prince.
“They say that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince neglects his studies and, from sunrise, only practices hunting and martial arts training in Mungyeong.”
In other words, just as he is now, the king was utterly obsessed with martial arts!
Neglecting the scholarly studies a king should rightfully master and swinging his sword day and night, it was no wonder petitions poured in—and with the birth of the legitimate heir, there was more than enough justification.
And so, the current king gave the crown prince position to his younger brother.
And for a while, he lived as if he had not the slightest interest in the throne.
This damn king staged a coup without any warning, wiped out all opposing forces, and usurped the throne.
He truly deserved to be called a “tyrant.”
‘So, in conclusion, he’s a madman who would kill even his own kin if things go wrong.’
I still remember it clearly.
The image of the king, who handed me—barely born—over to a noble as if I were a troublesome nuisance, and then disappeared, is still vivid in my mind.
The sight of the King who, shortly after I was born, pushed me off onto Noble Consort Go as if I were an extremely bothersome existence and then vanished.
“What is that bug?”
The king muttered a question in a low voice—though I couldn’t tell to whom it was directed—but with all the blades pointed at me, I didn’t even dare to answer.
When no answer came from me, the king’s eyebrows twitched.
“Answer me. Who are you?”
His low, rumbling voice and the obsessively gleaming light in his eyes stared at me with such murderous intensity that it felt like he could tear me apart at any moment.
In that brief moment, I racked my brain desperately.
For whatever reason, I had shot an arrow at the king.
In other words, I had nearly harmed the king’s body, which is as exalted as the heavens.
Is this really something that can be resolved with a simple excuse?
Moreover, I was nothing more than an ‘abandoned princess’ who hadn’t even been given a name.
No matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn’t think of a suitable excuse.
‘Should I kill him?’
If I’m in danger of being killed and there’s no way to escape, the only option is to kill the other person.
‘Could I kill him?’
I quickly ran the numbers in my head to work out an estimate.
‘No, I can’t.’
I came to a cold conclusion.
‘There’s no way I could kill him with my current skills.’
Even if I set aside the warriors pointing their blades at me and only had to face the king, it would be impossible.
‘What an incredible murderous aura.’
I stared at his stern face looking down at me and his obsidian‑sharp eyes that gleamed as if honed to a blade.
A question suddenly occurred to me.
‘If it were my past-life self, could I have defeated this man?’
As expected, it was difficult to predict who would win or lose.
In other words, he was undoubtedly stronger than any assassin I had ever faced.
“Your Majesty…!”
At that moment, the Chief Royal Eunuch who had been standing quietly behind the king stepped forward.
“I humbly beg your pardon, but that person is the princess, born of Her Majesty Queen Seohyeon.”
“Princess?”
Fortunately, his murderous aura vanished completely.
The king stared at me silently, as if lost in thought for a moment, and then looked at the arrow once more.
“Are you really the princess?”
To survive, I stiffened my tongue and stammered out words as best I could.
“Yes…”
That’s right. You are my biological father, and I am your biological daughter.
So please, tell them to lower their swords. It’s all my fault, okay?
Shrank—!
Perhaps noticing my pitiful expression, the king glanced subtly, and all the warriors lowered their weapons and stepped back.
Only then did I let out the breath I’d been holding. My body trembled so badly it felt like I might collapse at any moment, but I forced myself to endure it.
“Then… why is the princess in my training grounds?”
While I hesitated, unable to quickly come up with a suitable answer, the Chief Royal Eunuch stepped forward.
“I humbly apologize, Your Majesty. With my limited insight, I fear that the young princess may have been wandering nearby and mistaken this place for her play area.”
“So, did she think the archery was a toy?”
“I humbly apologize, Your Majesty. I have heard that at such a young age, children sometimes treat weapons as toys and accidents can happen.”
“Really…?”
Nodding!
At his gaze urging me to answer quickly, I clenched my fists tightly and nodded swiftly.
‘Surely, he won’t just let it slide if I say this?’
But the king seemed to hesitate for a moment at my answer.
“Well, I was like that when I was young.”
He was instantly convinced!
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