"Princess Consort? The Mistress Han…I mean, your new servant has arrived." "It took her long enough; how has her progress been?" "She is the slowest maid that I have ever come across." "What a pity, send her in now for some new chores to handle for me, I am far too tired with dealing with this plague." "Very well; come in!" "I wonder what reason The Princess Consort would have to see me about…ouch! Why did you slap me!" "Insolent girl! Is that how you greet your seniors? Let us try that again, shall we?" "Greeting to The Mistress Yi, how many I serve you?" I tried no to whimper with all of my might, but she was breaking me just like I used to with my sisters in he brothel if ever a fight should break out. "Well, since you ask and the weather is pretty chilly at this time of night, and my husband might still be offended if you even caught a slight cold, you may start up a fire with the charcoal in the corner." I couldn't believe this; there was a certain group of lowly slaves that could touch the type of charcoal that she wanted me to, but now she was assigning this job to me? And for what, apart from the sheer humiliation?
"Well? Are you just going to stare at it forever? You may throw your entitled little tantrums in front of any man with a breathing pulse, but your minx little tricks will not work on me. It is a freezing night, so you put the charcoal in the fire place or you can kneel outside where it can snow at any moment. Or can I not order your around anymore, since I cannot possibly be compared to my own husband now?" "Mistress…" "That is Princess Consort to you." "…now this is rather unbecoming of the Mistress Han who was about t become the second Princess Consort, you do realise that taking orders is part of the job of any Imperial Woman in The Royal Family, right? And although I do usually enjoy being served, you will have to do a lot better than this if you wish to survive in the palace, or I could always send you to a brothel instead, that is your choice to make."
"Do not cross the line with me! You are simply displaying your temporary power and I have understood so already…" "clearly not when you thought about seducing my husband." "And who was I to reject a Prince's advances?" "You would have done better to do so, your life is nothing compared to how the rest of your progeny will be treated in this lifetime, but you are simply incapable of thinking about anyone but yourself, is that not so?" "All of this humiliation, just because you have passed your prime and and even a kissing like myself can easily trounce you." This insult was met with a round of slaps until I hit the ground and I could feel droplets of blood spilling onto me that nobody cared about at all, not anymore anyways. I used to be the beauty of the village with men ling up at my feet and now, nobody cared whether I lived or died or even existed at all.
"So, you have been here for a while now, and as women, even Imperial ones, we cannot just live here with lifting a single finger. We also need to contribute provisions in the palace so we cannot be forgotten or called 'ungrateful', lest ur families be harmed….well, you do not need to worry about that problem, do you?" I hadn't been reminded of my orphanage for a very long time and it was bringing me to tears all over again, which delighted her endlessly. "Of course, naturally, we should care about the country and the people to become as powerful as you are." "It is not being ambitious as much as it is sharing one's husband's burdens, do you understand me? Now, as you know, there is a plague outbreak at the moment which is severely affecting our people. And although we are currently on lockdown in the palace, we should take up our responsibilities by reducing our expenses by at least half during his period of time and that includes exposing less workers in the palace to the plague, do you agree with me so far?" "I suppose so." "But that leaves me with the problem of hiring more capable workers in order to meet these reduced expenses." "Better workers for less pay? Who on earth will do that, especially during the out break of the plague? I fear that your concern about the country may be overestimated right now." "…so when it comes to capable workers, who can be better for it than a 'patron of the arts, the women who only sell their skills and not their bodies?' "You mean…ksiaengs?" "And luckily for me, I have a kisaeng staring at me straight in the face."
She couldn't possibly be serious, no matter how angry she was with me. There were over 1000 people in the palace and that didn't include the servants, which were probably triple that amount at least. "But…there is a large number of people in the palace and…the numbers may exceed even 5000 people…." "Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't kisanegs trained in female arts and etiquette? I would have thought that sewing and embroideries would have been your top desired skillset?" "I was never trained in domestic services because I was never a kisaneg!" "So you say, but any women in this world who comes out of a brothel is always going to be known as a prostitute…oh, apart from Seo Yeon, Park Hwa-Wol and Kim Hyeon. You know her don't you? She is Seo Hwi's newly wedded wife and expectant mother." I thought that I had dealt with my feelings for Seo Hwi, but hearing this news about his newly wedded wife was the biggest punch to the gut that I had been dealt with here in the palace. He was always the type of rare man that will become a fantastic father in every sense of the word, just like his father was to him.
"This is a rather heavy responsibility and I am more than likely do disappoint you due to my lack of training…" "So you are not willing to share the palace's burdens, despite all of your hard work into getting here? Would you rather share the brothel's burdens instead?" "No! I dare not do so!" "Really? So you dare not shirt such enormous responsibilities in such a day time in our lives, right?' "I…will do my best not to let you down, Your Highness."
"Princess Consort? You have a visitor from one of The Third Prince's woman, who is begging for an audience with you." "Vey well, let her in." Imagine my pure shock and displeasure when I noticed one of my old sisters from the Ihwaru brothel running into the Princess Consort's residence completely out of sorts and begging for an audience about my man that I had hanging off of me for the past couple of years.
"Your Highness, I beg you to save me from The Third Prince, he has gone mad and he will kill me!" "And why is that?" "I refused to accompany him during his journey to combat the plague outright and he says that he will not share me with anyone!" Angry rose over me in such a way that I couldn't help myself but to slap that girl that I once called my sister outright. "You slut! How dare you seduce my man!" "You bitch! How dare you abandon us after selling us out for 2 men who didn't even want you! No, make that 3 now!" "You bitch…!"
"Well well well, I never would have thought that the esteemed Mistress Han would still be this…crass, it is as if we have picked her up from the brothel herself." "Do you really have to embarrass me like this? Before you hit the dog, you should know who the Master is first!" "Oh really, and who is your master?" My husband is Nam Seon-Ho, and he will save me from this!" "Is that so? Are we really talking about the same Nam Seon-Ho who just got documented approval to marry Seo Yeon?" "What…what are you saying…what man would possibly want to marry a brothel woman! Who!" "I have already told you, that Seo Yeon's time in the brothel will be seen as a service to the Prince to protect her brother, and your friend's reputation will be known as your own as a reward for Moon-Bok's service, as well as Seo Hwi's wife. Oh, what a bittersweet ending this is for you, Mistress Han. You were once so full of glory and now? How the mighty fall the higher they climb, or simply seek to covet what was never theirs to steal."
So I was going to be tortured here until the plague was over and I could find the man that I had once attempted to kill to keep my secret. Nam Seon-Ho was going to marry his best -friend's sister no matter what and Seo Hwi's wife was pregnant. So everyone that I had hurt to climb to the top was currently flourishing whilst I had taken a very had fall despite all of the sacrifices that I had made to get into the Prince's bed. Seo Yeon…everything bad that had happened to me was because of her. The world favoured her as soon as she lost her memories and she stole my luck, my looks, and my charms that made me survive my days growing up in a brothel. And yet she oculi sit pretty and firm in a brothel all day long and be the first woman in history not to be affected by the establishment's reputation. And as for this Kim Hyeon girl, well, i win; t going to be the only barren woman that was acquainted with Seo Hwi. If I could't have a child with him, then nobody would be able to.
Now, for me to start sewing , I needed to access the fabrics room where the tribute materials were also placed, such as Glinting Satin, which was a dream for any woman to have as of late. And who better to send tribute gifts to her husband's man than The Third Princes Consort herself? Everyone knew that her reign would come to an end as soon as the plague was over with, and I was going to drive a final nail in her coffin to make sure that herself and her clan can never revive themselves in this nation ever again, just like the slow extinction of the Nam clan. Unless, just like Nam-Jeon himself, they were willing to help me out in exchange of me reuniting their so-called precious descendant who was still a rising star in the palace despite his long absence, since it was his reputation that was their only lifeline and it had been since the day that Nam Seon-Ho's father died as a traitor and almost bought their clan to ruins. After everything that I had been through, I must still have some value left for me to be…of service instead of being cherished for every single move that I made like Seo Yeon did. But why? Why must she stay from me? Why must she be better than me in every single way possible? Why must she gain more favour than me in every way possible? Why did she have a better background than me despite having a disorder like epilepsy that she could use for the rest of her life, like her father's legacy? It was only a few weeks ago that I felt superior to her for the first time in my life, but who knew that the downfall of my previous Master would affect me so? I was no longer above her now, she was the one who was above me. And I was going to have to destroy her to get my revenge now, even if it meant inflicting more harm on my first love than ever before. Forgive me Seo Hwi, but it is too late for us now and I will have to choose your best friend in this life, and you in the next one.