A wet sound reached Sui's ears, and then a loud growl followed by silence.
Silence was never a good thing, especially in Sui's situation. She wanted to go out and check what happened, but she did not want to get herself eaten by the tiger.
The claw that had been trying to get to Sui was suddenly still before it started to move again.
It scared Sui, and she pushed herself against the wall harder.
Then the claw disappeared, followed by a human hand reaching out for Sui, grabbing her dress, and dragging her out.
"You said something about cursing the Imperial Princess, right? Would you care to elaborate on your words? I am curious to know what you can do."
Sui no longer had words to say. All she could do was look at the blood-covered face in front of her.
The white of Princess Yunjin's dress was dyed red, and the accessories were ruined.
And yet, the splash of red and the glitter of those captivating eyes drew the most attention to her handsome face.
"Did you not hear what I said? You are one daring rabbit for trying to ignore me. Maybe I should save myself the trouble and eat you now."
A hand touched Sui's face, and it felt wet and sticky.
Red dipped down Sui's face, and she instantly snapped out and took a few steps back.
"P-P-Princess Yunjin? I did not say anything. T-This must be a misunderstanding! I would n-never insult you-"
Sui tried to recover her image, but then she noticed the screen in the princess's hands.
'She heard it! The princess heard everything I said about her. How do I escape now?'
The princess looked even more amused than before as she watched Sui stuttering in front of her.
"Hmm, maybe I am going senile in my old age. After all, I remember telling someone to stay in my room while I dealt with stuff, but maybe I was mistaken. The same is true for what is happening right now. Maybe I dreamed everything up."
'Princess Yunjin, something is wrong with your head for sure. But I don't think I will say it to your face because I don't want to die.'
Sui instantly made an innocent face but did not say anything.
She did not want to make the princess angrier.
"Princess Yunjin, where did you run off to? Princess, please respond to us. There is a tiger out there…Princess, there you are! And the tiger! What happened to it?"
The guard asked, now instantly looking around the field.
"Ah, that tiger? I already killed it. Just take its body back so we can make fur out of it."
The princess did not seem to care much about anything. She did not even show any emotions after killing the tiger alone.
"Princess-"
"This is enough. She is injured here, so treat her wounds before bringing her into my office. Also, do an investigation to see where that tiger came from."
The guard did not want to do that, mainly because he knew the tiger belonged to one of the Concubines.
But the princess's standing was much higher than the Concubines, so he had no choice.
"I understand. I shall do as you have asked."
The guard agreed while making a displeased face.
He also glared at Sui, indicating that this was all her fault.
Sui kept her head down, knowing she had no choice but to take all the criticism. The princess could not be held accountable after all.
...
All this mess with the tiger started because the princess decided to find her bunny.
Her elegant figure, clad in white, exited her palace and started walking.
"Princess, where are you heading? You have a meeting to attend today. Do you know where you need to go?"
The princess stopped once the nanny asked this.
"You are right! I have no idea where my bunny might be. Nanny, you seem knowledgeable about my bunny's habits, so tell me where she might be."
The princess asked, causing the nanny to breathe in relief.
'I need to take this opportunity to make the princess socialize with other people her age. She can even befriend other people in the emperor's harem.'
The nanny wanted the princess to have more allies on her side.
That was why she led the princess to the tea ceremony held by the Concubine Alex.
However, the ceremony turned out to be a disaster from the start.
At first, no one realized that the princess had entered the ceremony grounds, and they all seemed to be watching the water screen.
It would not have been so bad if the screen had not shown the image of the last person the nanny wanted Princess Yunjin to see.
"Looks like you do have your uses after all, nanny. I will reward you for your find later. For now, I need to check up on my rabbit."
The princess stepped in front of the Concubine trio and gasped before bowing to the princess.
"Princess Yunjin, it is a surprise to see you here."
"If you were coming, you should have told us beforehand. Please, come and sit down. Someone, go and get Princess Yunjin a chair."
Concubine Alex quickly ordered the servants to prevent a disaster.
As the party host, she was responsible for ensuring the princess was comfortable.
"Why send the poor maid to get me a chair when three perfect ones are before me? I have decided, I want one of these three chairs."
The maids gasped as they watched the drama unfold in front of their eyes.
The princess had demanded the chair of concubines, and now it was time to see which one would relent.
As per customs, it should be the Fifth Ranked Concubine Homura who give up her chair. But she did not even indicate that she was going to do that.
Expecting Third Ranked Concubine Sheren to give up her seat was foolishness.
In the end, Fourth Ranked Concubine Alex had to give up her seat.
As the host and the one with the worst support out of the three, she had to keep her head down and not get into trouble.
The princess sat on the chair just as the tiger flashed past the screen.
Everyone gasped as they watched it and looked at the princess to check her reaction.
They expected her to look amused, but instead, the princess looked pissed off.