I Was Born as the King’s Daughter – Chapter 77

Ch 77

The Princes Being Trained by Kim Sang-hui

◈◈◈

There are two brats I know. One is an evolved brat, and the other is the brat of all brats. The top brat. That top brat is an object of terror for other princesses and maids—though for some reason, it seems he has a somewhat good image at the Imperial VIP Hotel—he is the top predator. And he is the ‘I’m so great’ type of brat who thinks there is only his father, the Emperor, and his one and only older brother above him in the sky.

The brat’s voice was heard.

“By royal decree, I am placing you under emergency arrest as a flagrant offender.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

The man was flustered. He had a dumbfounded expression as if to argue, ‘What is this out of the blue!’. Actually, I am also dumbfounded. Hmm. I don’t know if this is an appropriate example, but if I were to give one, it’s like being arrested for the illegal act of drinking water? How absurd would that be.

Trying to haggle over a girl as if she were a girl for sale. This is a very natural and everyday occurrence for that man. Just like drinking water. But after doing that, he is suddenly arrested as a flagrant offender by royal decree. This is a very big problem. Emergency arrests by royal decree are not easily carried out.

Four knights, who seemed to be escorting our second brat, rushed in and pounced on the man in an instant.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

“That’s… a knight’s insignia?”

“Why are knights here…?”

“The knights are escorting him. The answer is obvious.”

“Royalty…!”

Hah! I could see people were surprised. For them, a male royal is probably like an alien from another world. It’s not like a completely ruthless absolute monarchy or dictatorship, so they didn’t kneel and bow their heads like in fantasy worlds or the Middle Ages, but everyone was watching our brat’s every move.

“Wh-what are you doing! I am innocent!”

“Shut up. Are you planning to defy the royal decree?”

Even I became curious. What on earth is the royal decree? What is it about the royal decree that suddenly makes them arrest a ‘man’ like that?

The first brat looked at me.

“Hey.”

“Yes, Prince nim. This girl is here. Please speak.”

The brat’s expression twisted.

“Kim Hwan-seong. Call Kim Sang-hui.”

Kim Hwan-seong also seemed to not understand this situation. Still, he was grinning, as if it was fun. Hwan-seong said to me, looking at me.

“Dog!”

…Do you want to die? I told you to call Kim Sang-hui, not call me a dog! I wanted to argue, but I still hid my true feelings and answered while sharpening the blade in my heart.

“Yes, Older Brother.”

The first brat stared at me blankly. I have lived for 15 years reading people’s expressions, but reading the first brat’s expression is quite difficult. It must not be easy to maintain such a poker face.

“Hey.”

“Yes, Prince nim. This girl is here. Please speak.”

The first brat spoke as if he was just passing by.

“Your answer is long.”

I had to desperately think about what that meant. I have to be careful with every single word, that’s my position. What did I do wrong… Rather than that, I thought about what might have displeased that poker-faced, ‘I’m the only one who matters’ top brat. The answer came quite easily.

I just needed to combine three clues.

Yes, Prince nim. This girl is here. Please speak.

Yes, Older Brother.

Your answer is long.

The answer came, but it’s a bit hard to believe.

‘Could it be…’

He didn’t like that I answered with complete politeness…?

The first brat didn’t give a clear answer. It would be clear if he said, ‘Call me Oppa! Oppa!’ like our second brat. But that guy just ends it like that. Then I have to watch his every move for a long time to figure out what to do.

‘But I can’t just say, ‘Yes, Older Brother’ like that.’

Hwan-seong doesn’t care much about such formalities, but Hwan-seok is different. That guy is a brat who would observe etiquette and formalities even if a knife was at his throat. Well, the knights would stop it before a knife even reached his throat, but anyway. Ahem. Ahem.

The man was knocked to the ground, subdued by the knights.

“I, I am innocent! I swear to the heavens, I have never once defied the royal decree!”

“Shut up.”

Wow. That attitude of not allowing any explanation. No, I am grateful that he is on my side, but how can a person be like that? From a man’s perspective in this world, wouldn’t that be really unfair?

“Take him away.”

“Yes, Prince nim.”

The man, who had suddenly become a violator of the royal decree, was dragged away by the knights.

◈◈◈

Kim Hwan-seok said.

“You. What kind of girl are you?”

Whenever these words come out, Kim Sang-hui always gets nervous. In a way, Kim Hwan-seok was a more difficult type of person to deal with than Kim Hun-sang. Not only Kim Sang-hui, but also Kim Hwan-seong was a little nervous.

“Hyung. Are you angry?”

“You be quiet.”

Still, he didn’t say ‘Shut up’ to his younger brother. Even Hwan-hyeok, who was still young, was completely intimidated by the presence of his second older brother, Hwan-seok.

However, Chris was happily chatting with a 7-year-old girl he had just bought.

“What’s your name?”

Kim Sang-hui couldn’t pay attention to that situation.

‘What did I do wrong again?’

Whether I did something wrong or not according to Earth’s common sense, it doesn’t matter. No matter how right or good I do, if it makes the Prince nim feel bad, it is wrong. Ugh. What a fate. I sigh, but nothing will change with just a sigh. Still, Kim Sang-hui is a woman who does not exist in this world. She gave a very wise answer to the very unexpected question, ‘You. What kind of girl are you?’.

“I am a foolish girl who cannot sleep every night, longing for my most beloved Older Brother in my homeland.”

It is obvious, but the only Older Brother in her homeland is Kim Hwan-seok. That sentence can be interpreted in quite a double meaning.

It can mean ‘My most beloved Older Brother in my homeland’ or it can be interpreted as ‘The most beloved Older Brother among the Older Brothers in my homeland’. In most cases, people hear what they want to hear and interpret it as they want to. Especially people in high positions like Kim Hwan-seok.

Kim Hwan-seok interpreted it as the former. In other words, he interpreted it as ‘The most beloved Older Brother is me’ and Kim Hwan-seong interpreted it as the latter.

‘She means I’m the most beloved among the Oppas in Goryeo!’

The fact that she specifically added the phrase ‘in Goryeo’ means that she loves him the most among the princes in the Empire, not Goryeo!

The two princes were having different dreams. This was what Kim Sang-hui was aiming for. By giving room for different interpretations of the same words, she aimed for a win-win effect. The two princes were slowly but surely being trained, little by little, without even realizing it.

“A girl’s love. I don’t need it, and I don’t want it.”

Considering that he is carefully keeping Kim Sang-hui’s letters, it is strange, but anyway, Kim Hwan-seok’s tone was considerably softened. Kim Sang-hui could feel it, even if no one else could.

‘Alright. He’s not angry anymore.’

Now it’s time to find out why he was angry.

“But if there is anything that this girl has done to displease Older Brother, please punish this girl.”

Let me say it again, only Kim Sang-hui can say these words. Other women are too afraid of being punished to say it. But Kim Sang-hui knows. She knows that she will never be punished even if she says such things.

“Follow me.”

And Kim Sang-hui could tell.

‘I knew it.’

Originally, Kim Sang-hui was planning to go straight to the Royal Palace and greet Kim Hun-sang as soon as she entered Goryeo. Kim Hun-sang had even sent her two letters—though they were only 8 letters combined, and Kim Yu-shin and Alex thought they were secret letters to the Emperor—and she also knew that he had done a tremendous thing for her this time. Of course, Kim Sang-hui also never thought that Kim Hun-sang had taken over two countries just for her sake, but anyway, wasn’t that how it was announced to the public?

‘I should have shown my sincerity first.’

Kim Sang-hui thought.

‘Could it be that Gaecha-ban ssi is sulking…?’

The real problem is that if the King sulks, a princess could die. A sense of tension began to rise.

◈◈◈

I became anxious.

“This girl is so, so, so happy to see her most esteemed Father nim.”

Our Gaecha-ban ssi is quite easy to read compared to the first brat. He. Is. Sulking. This was not just a hunch, it was a certainty. Oh my. My head.

So I made the first move. I had planned to use this card later, much later, but I had to take it out now.

“This girl has been practicing cooking in her spare time for Father nim. Although my skills are humble, I would like to prepare a meal with my own hands for Father nim… Would Father nim allow it?”

Gaecha-ban nodded as if he was answering absentmindedly. But I saw it. He was twitching his lips. It wasn’t exactly clear. It was just a moment. But I was sure. Gaecha-ban would allow it.

“Would the food you make even taste good?”

Why can’t you speak nicely? Well. It’s not a one━ or two-day thing. You called me the treasure of the kingdom, right? Treat the treasure like a treasure!

‘Not that I’m a real treasure though.’

Maybe there is some political strategy hidden that I don’t know about. Anyway! I am the treasure of the kingdom to the public! If you come at me like that, I also have my ways. You are a very great Gaecha-ban, but have you heard of it? It’s called push and pull.

“If food touched by this girl’s clumsy hands were to enter Father nim’s precious mouth… Wouldn’t that be too much of a discourtesy…?”

I deliberately made a sad face. I already knew he would give in.

“This girl’s desire to serve Father nim with her own hands is so desperate…”

He’s holding out a bit longer today?

“I think I have committed a discourtesy. Food from a girl like me…”

Yes. How could a girl like me cook? When there are those famous chefs—all men, of course—who cook.

In the end, Gaecha-ban said it. I knew he would.

“Try it then.”

He added one more word.

“It won’t taste good though.”

◈◈◈

The chef, Kang Seong-cheon, was in a very bad mood.

His kitchen is a sacred kitchen. A kitchen where food for the King is made. He had pride in his cooking, and he had the self-esteem of being a top-class chef who made food for the King.

‘This is absurd.’

But to let a mere girl use his kitchen. Absolutely not. He felt like his pride was being shattered. Even if it was another man, Kang Seong-cheon wouldn’t use them as an assistant unless they were above a certain level of skill.

‘This is a way of ignoring me.’

He felt like he wanted to write his resignation and leave. There were plenty of places to go besides the Royal Palace anyway. Frustration was rising. To bring a mere girl into his sacred kitchen. But he couldn’t go anywhere else. His kitchen was where the past 7 years of his life were contained. It was a space that the King had specially made for him. This place was very important to him.

‘Huu… I’ll endure…’

He decided to endure it this once.

“How dare a mere girl use my kitchen…!”

He is a top-class chef. He is also a master of making food using magic. He couldn’t object because it was a royal decree, but he looked at Kim Sang-hui as if she was pathetic.

‘That thing is called food…’

The knife skills and everything else. It was all full of flaws. She says she’s cooking, but how well can a girl who doesn’t even have magic do? Watching her makes him frustrated. He went outside. His chest was so stuffy that he screamed, “Aaaah!” in the Royal Palace’s open space.

‘Let’s see how tasty it is.’

It’s practically a game where there’s no chance of winning. Even if we think of it in terms of Earth, it’s almost obvious that a top-class chef’s food would taste better than an ordinary woman’s food.

Meanwhile, Seong Su-jin, one of the maids assisting in the kitchen, was trembling.

“I, I’m… going to die…”

She was a maid in charge of the necessary tableware and seasonings in the kitchen. Because of the chef, Kang Seong-cheon, she would sneak into the kitchen around 3 AM when no one was there and fill the tableware and seasonings. She had to work while relying on a very dim candlelight, not even being able to turn on the lights, for fear of being caught. She had to do her job, but Kang Seong-cheon hated girls entering the kitchen. That’s why she had no choice but to do it secretly. But she had been doing well somehow, but yesterday, she made a big mistake. She had switched the salt and sugar. It was a meal going to the King. The chef would taste it before it went out, and if that happened, she would really be dead. Or she would be beaten to the point of death.

The maids sighed as they watched Seong Su-jin, who was crouching in a corner and crying. It wasn’t someone else’s problem. All they could do was comfort her. They didn’t know how much she would be beaten. She could even die from being beaten. For the maids, such a mistake was an unforgivable one.

And Kim Sang-hui’s cooking was completed. She wasn’t trying to cook anything grand anyway. Grilled pork loin with vegetable salad. Braised mackerel, broccoli & mushroom salad, beef stew, and mixed grain rice with oats.

But a problem arose.

‘The taste… is too weird.’

Something was wrong. She tasted it, and this wasn’t it. It wasn’t that it didn’t taste good, it was that it really, really didn’t taste good.

‘B-but time is running out…’

Kang Seong-cheon, who had gone outside, came into the kitchen.

“It’s time. We can’t delay even a little bit, so we have to go quickly.”

A mere princess couldn’t violate the King’s mealtime. Kim Hun-sang was probably already heading to the dining hall.

Kim Sang-hui felt like her vision was going dark.

‘I-I have to think of a way.’

━————————–= Author’s Note —————————=

I would like to express my slight unfairness to those who say the story is progressing slowly.

The story progression in my writing. From the author’s perspective, it is quite fast. I try to finish at least one or more episodes in one chapter, and I try to avoid deliberately lengthening or dragging things out as much as possible.

Of course, your feedback is important. I take into account the opinions that I think are necessary among the many opinions, and I reflect them in my writing. However, if I were to add a few words about the opinion that it is dragging…（ㅠㅠ）

There is a tendency for similar episodes—Princess Kim Sang-hui being in danger by a man she doesn’t know, and the men around her saving her—to be repeated.

However, each of those episodes has its own theme. I didn’t put them in on purpose if they weren’t necessary. Most of them were different in content.

Let’s look at the current progress by dividing it into the beginning, middle, and end.

The episodes in the beginning are episodes to show that the King and the princes feel something is strange about Kim Sang-hui’s danger and that they are simply angry.

The episodes in the middle are episodes to help the King, the princes, and Han Jin-soo, etc., to gradually realize why they are angry and to allow them to acknowledge their psychological state.

The episodes in the end were episodes to comically portray that ‘all the men around her’ eventually fell for Sang-hui through those processes—you can see it from the subheadings… I wrote ‘fell for her’ but read it as ‘trained’—In addition, it was also an episode that provided an opportunity for Kim Sang-hui to ‘directly demand something’. （←This is a five-star note!!）

The episodes in the beginning, middle, and end, even if the content is similar, were episodes that showed completely different things.

As you can see, this world is not that easy. （I feel like I’m going to get cancer ㅂㄷㅂㄷ）Without these episodes, I can’t lead the story with ‘My younger sister is just so pretty’. ‘My daughter is the best’. No, it’s possible, but my petty pride won’t allow it. ㅠㅠ I’m definitely not writing anything great, but I want to have at least the minimum level of plausibility.

I’m not a great writer, but I can say one thing for sure. I will never force myself to write longer than necessary.

Thank you for your deep interest in the comments you leave.

+Instead of whining like this, I’ll throw in one more chapter! So please forgive this whining post ㅠ_ㅠ