Consort Suk was said to be powerful enough to topple a bird in flight. Falling out of her favor or provoking her anger was tantamount to inviting disaster.

“But we’d have to go over the wall to find the kite…”

The maids of honor lingered helplessly before the wall for a reason.

The grounds beyond it were off-limits.

A long walk from the Inner Palace, through a bamboo grove, led to the high wall blocking their path. Every maid had heard the rumor that a member of the royal family was being held hostage on the other side.

None of them had ever seen him, so they could not be certain that the rumor was true. But one thing was beyond question: they were forbidden to enter.

“What do we do?”

After looking helplessly at one another, the maids of honor turned their eyes to Woo-hee.

“You go and get it.”

“That’s right. Woo-hee, you go and bring it back.”

“Why should I…?”

Flustered, Woo-hee glanced at the other maids.

She knew they disliked her.

To them, she was just a country girl.

Her family was insignificant compared to theirs. Her mother came from an obscure local clan in Hobuk, and her father was an illegitimate frontier general.

As daughters of some of the most prominent families in the capital, they must have resented having someone like Woo-hee serving alongside them as an equal.

Besides which, she was destined to become Prince Seo’s twenty-first concubine, not his principal wife.

Among the maids of honor were girls who would go on to become princesses, some as principal wives rather than concubines.

They looked down on Woo-hee because of her humble background in the frontier regions and her future as Prince Seo’s twenty-first concubine.

She was well aware of their cold stares.

How could she miss their dismissive treatment, the cutting tone of their words, or the mocking glances they exchanged as they quietly shut her out?

Nor were the maids the only ones.

Imperial Noble Consort Suk, whom Woo-hee served, also treated her with open disdain.

Woo-hee knew why.

Consort Suk had two sons.

The eldest, Prince Jineon, was the Emperor’s firstborn son and would almost certainly be named Crown Prince before the end of the year.

It was Woo-hee who had recently encouraged Prince Jineon to start visiting his mother’s quarters so frequently.

Even among the beautiful ladies-in-waiting, it was her exceptional beauty that caught his eye.

The fact that she was engaged to Prince Seo probably meant little to the young prince.

After all, he was young and had nothing to fear.

However, Woo-hee could not afford to be so careless.

She knew that his interest did not mean she could become his wife.

Consort Suk would never allow it, nor would the Emperor.

Moreover, Prince Seo certainly wouldn’t stand idly by.

Woo-hee understood the danger all too well. If she gave Prince Jineon the slightest encouragement, she risked becoming embroiled in a scandal that could ruin her entire family.

Yet it was because of that young, headstrong prince that she alone had fallen out of Consort Suk’s favor.

She was utterly alone in the vast maze of the imperial palace.

Her father, Yang Chigang, had left her there a year ago. Although he wrote to her every month, he never once asked how she was.

He only urged her to win Consort Suk’s favor.

Ultimately, she was nothing more than a means to further her father’s ambitions, and a source of discomfort to everyone else in the palace.

“Go and get it. You’re no use to anyone, so you might as well make yourself useful for once. Don’t you agree?”

“That’s right. Woo-hee, you go. If you don’t bring back the kite, we’ll tell Her Grace you lost it.”

“But…”

It was not her fault that the kite had flown over the wall.

Consort Suk had entrusted the kite — a gift from the emperor — to her maidens, ordering them to starch its string. While they were doing so, a sudden gust of wind blew in.

It was another attendant who had been holding the kite at the time, not Woo-hee.

So why were they accusing her of losing it?

They were falsely accusing her.

“So hurry up and go, before Her Grace scolds us any more.”

“Hurry.”

It was a false accusation, but Woo-hee knew that no matter how much she protested, nobody would believe her.

There was nobody here who would take her side.

Even in Hobuk, only her mother’s family would support her.

Late at night, Woo-hee would weep silently.

She stifled her sobs, longing to return to Hobuk to see her cousins, uncles, and grandparents again.

But her tears changed nothing.

Becoming Prince Seo’s concubine was not the life she wanted.

It was her father’s wish. All she wanted was to marry a man her own age.

Wasn’t Prince Seo even older than her father?

It broke her heart to endure such humiliation in the palace, only to become that man’s concubine. But knowing she had no way out hurt even more.

“If you don’t hurry up and go, we’ll go straight to Her Grace and tell her everything.”

Under the pressure of the maids’ harsh demands, Woo-hee walked along the wall until she reached the inner gate.

There was no one guarding it.

She did not know whether this was normal or if the soldiers had simply moved away, but their absence presented an opportunity.

Even if the rumors were true and a royal hostage from Wol was being held prisoner beyond it, she would only need to retrieve the kite and slip away unseen.

‘It’ll be all right.’

Stepping through the inner gate, Woo-hee looked around.

‘Where could it be…?’

She had seen the kite fly over the wall.

The wind had died down around then, so it could not have traveled far beyond it.

There was not a sound around her.

Only her soft footsteps echoed through the quiet courtyard.

Thinking the red kite would be easy to spot, Woo-hee walked on, looking around.

“Ah… there…”

Something red caught her eye.

It was the kite.

The kite the emperor had bestowed upon Consort Suk.

‘I found it. Thank goodness.’

Relieved to have found it so quickly, Woo-hee pressed a hand to her chest and hurried toward it.

But she soon stopped in dismay.

The kite had fallen into the middle of a pond.

‘Is the water deep…?’

Woo-hee could not swim.

‘It can’t be that deep, can it?’

Fortunately, summer had only just given way to autumn, so the water wouldn’t be too cold.

As long as the water wasn’t too deep, she could retrieve the kite.

Her clothes would get wet, but that was better than getting told off by Consort Suk.

Lifting her skirts, Woo-hee stepped carefully into the pond.

‘It’s cold…’

The water was colder than she had expected.

Holding her skirts up to her thighs, Woo-hee waded farther into the pond, one careful step at a time.

The water grew steadily deeper.

‘What do I do? It keeps getting deeper…’

The water, which had reached only her calves, soon rose to her thighs, and fear seized her.

The kite was still beyond her reach.

‘What do I do? I think I can reach it if I go a little farther… Just a little farther…’

Woo-hee took another step.

The water still only reached her upper thighs.

Surely it could rise no higher than her waist.

‘Just a little farther…’

The kite was almost within reach.

Thinking she could catch it if she stretched her hand just a little farther, Woo-hee took one more step.

It happened then.

“Ah…!”

The moment she stepped forward, Woo-hee sank beneath the water.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

She flailed her arms and legs as she sank, but it was no use.

Beneath the surface, everything was pitch-black. She could see nothing.

Mmph! Mmmph!

With every desperate struggle, her body sank deeper.

‘I-I can’t breathe…’

Water filled her mouth, and she struggled for breath as though it had flooded her lungs.

‘I can’t breathe… Someone, please…’

She did not want to die here like this.

She did not want to drown this way.

Even as her desperate efforts dragged her deeper into the water, Woo-hee could only think of one thing.

She had never imagined the pond would be so deep.

Nor had she imagined such a thought would cross her mind as she died.

‘I think I’m really going to die here…’

She could no longer breathe. Her consciousness began to fade, and her vision grew hazy.

‘What’s that…?’

She saw the surface ripple.

A shadow broke through it, drawing closer and closer to her.

The moment she realized the approaching shadow was a person, a strong arm wrapped around her waist.