Chapter 5
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 5
“Ah…”
The moment she realized it, tears began to fall.
Drip, drip.
“So-ya? What’s wrong?”
Startled, Yi-rim looked at her, flustered and unsure of what to do.
“I’m sorry. The tears just… I’m just so happy.”
So-ya wiped her eyes, a radiant smile breaking through her tears.
She was happy. And it all felt so foreign.
It was the first time since that day three years ago that anyone had spoken to her with such kindness.
It was also the first time anyone had wished her a happy birthday.
Come to think of it, that day… the day she was abandoned by her family three years ago had been her sixth birthday.
As the realization struck her, So-ya swallowed back a bitter lump in her throat.
“Thank you so much for coming to keep your promise.”
So-ya spoke as she tightly clutched the norigae Yi-rim had given her.
Yi-rim gazed at her intently for a moment before reaching out his hand.
“Give that to me for a second.”
He took the norigae adorned with rubies and fastened it to So-ya’s jeogori.
Then, he spoke in a calm, steady voice.
“It’s beautiful.”
“…”
“It feels as though it has finally found its rightful owner.”
At his soft praise, So-ya’s face flushed crimson for no reason.
To be honest, she felt that a keepsake from his mother didn’t suit her shabby appearance at all, but…
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
So-ya smiled joyfully.
Yi-rim followed suit, a small smile playing on his lips.
“Just call me Orabeoni, like you used to.”
The two sat side by side on a flat rock, talking quietly together.
“More importantly… what happened?”
He asked cautiously.
“You are very different from the girl I remember. Can you tell me what has happened to you during all this time?”
So-ya hesitated at the question.
She felt ashamed to reveal her ugly secret to a childhood friend, but she didn't want to hide it or deceive him.
“I am…”
So-ya confessed that she was a sinner who had stolen the Young Lady’s place.
As Tae Yi-rim listened silently to her story, his brow furrowed.
His intuition told him something was wrong.
“But… that’s impossible…”
He muttered under his breath, then suddenly stood up.
“Rim Orabeoni?”
“So-ya.”
Yi-rim grabbed both of So-ya’s hands as she looked up at him in confusion.
Her small fingertips were rough, likely from years of hard labor. That fact pained him.
The current So-ya carried a shadow that the So-ya in his memories never had.
The reason she had changed like this was undoubtedly because of her family.
Anger flared within him as he recalled So-ya’s timid appearance earlier that day and how her family had treated her as if she didn't exist.
Even if this child truly had taken the place of their biological daughter, it was by no means her fault.
Yet, despite the hostility of those she once believed were her family, one thing remained unchanged: that pure, clear smile.
Yi-rim wanted to protect that smile. It might be late, but he wanted to start now.
“I have something urgent to look into, so I must return to the Imperial Palace.”
“Oh…”
A shadow of disappointment flickered across So-ya’s face.
Seeing that expression made it difficult for Yi-rim to turn away.
However, if he went to the Imperial Palace library, he might be able to resolve the unsettling doubt that had been nagging at him.
And perhaps, just perhaps, he could help So-ya…
“Don’t be too sad. I will return soon. And when I come back…”
He might find a way to take her out of this mansion and bring her to the palace.
“I want to take you to the Imperial Palace. If… you will allow it.”
“…”
Instead of answering, So-ya stared at him blankly.
Yi-rim grinned and hooked his pinky finger with hers.
Just as she had done to him three years ago.
And from a distance, a pair of eyes watched the scene unfold.
* * *
The morning after the Prince’s hurried departure in the middle of the night.
“Tell the truth. You stole this, didn’t you?”
Ri-ri screamed at So-ya, her voice sharp.
In her hand was the very norigae that So-ya had received back from Yi-rim the night before.
“N-No, Young Lady.”
So-ya trembled, yet she stood her ground and protested.
“I really didn't steal it. P-Please, give it back.”
Ri-ri’s face contorted when she saw So-ya speaking up for herself instead of being her usual submissive self.
“Don’t you dare lie to me!”
Ri-ri had hated So-ya from the moment she first saw her.
She didn't like that a child of a similar age was in the mansion, and she hated that a mere servant girl stood out more than her with a prettier face.
She also hated the way her father and brothers seemed to unconsciously pay attention to the girl.
That was why Ri-ri had intentionally kept So-ya as her personal maid, dragging her everywhere. She wanted to remind So-ya just how different their statuses were.
Sometimes, she even subtly encouraged the other maidservants to bully So-ya.
Of course, since Ri-ri had to be the kind and sweet youngest daughter, she made sure it was never obvious.
Actually, Ri-ri had intended to humiliate So-ya yesterday.
She had planned to show the girl’s disheveled appearance to the noble Prince from the Imperial Palace and mock her relentlessly.
It was pathetic how So-ya always seemed so ashamed of her ragged clothes in front of her father and brothers.
I’ll make sure she learns her place this time.
But things hadn't gone according to her plan.
She’d had an ominous feeling from the moment the Prince stepped out of his carriage and his gaze landed on So-ya, and then last night, she had witnessed the two of them talking affectionately.
She couldn't hear their conversation from a distance, but seeing Yi-rim stroke So-ya’s hair and even give her a norigae made Ri-ri’s blood boil.
I don’t know what that fox did to him, but I have to kick her out before His Highness returns.
So, Ri-ri decided to frame So-ya for theft to get rid of her before the Prince’s return.
The norigae So-ya received from the Prince served as the perfect excuse.
Since the Prince had left and there were no witnesses, she planned to accuse So-ya of stealing it and deal with her before he came back.
“It’s not a lie. It’s the truth.”
With tears welling in her eyes, So-ya pleaded, her body shaking.
“If you didn't steal it, then where did it come from?”
“That’s…”
So-ya couldn't easily bring herself to speak.
She knows. She knows that even if she says she got it from the Prince, no one will believe her.
As Ri-ri scoffed inwardly, a voice spoke up.
“Isn’t that… the deceased Madam’s norigae?”
One of the maidservants watching the scene whispered.
“What?”
When Ri-ri whipped her head around to look, the maidservant gasped and clamped her mouth shut.
But Ri-ri had already heard.
“The deceased Madam… then this belongs to my mother?”
Ri-ri’s voice trembled.
“Why… why do you have my mother’s possession?”
At the sharp question, the color drained from So-ya’s face.
[Make sure Ri-ri never finds out who you are. If she is ever hurt because of you, I will not forgive you.]
Her father’s terrifying threat—that he wouldn't forgive her if the Young Lady found out the truth—echoed in her mind.
“T-That… that is…”
“Tell me now!”
Ri-ri cast aside her mask of a kind young lady and shrieked, shoving So-ya.
So-ya’s small body hit the floor with a dull thud.
Just then, the Clan Head, Jeok Ah-yun, and the second son, Jeok Hwa-yu, arrived and witnessed the scene.
“Ri-ri…!”
It was the moment the fake peace Jeok Ah-yun had desperately maintained finally shattered.
* * *
Ri-ri eventually found out that So-ya was the fake daughter who had stolen her place.
Shocked, Ri-ri took to her bed, and the entire mansion was thrown into an uproar.
The household retainers gossiped about So-ya.
How shameless. A thief who stole the Young Lady’s place. Instead of going to the Young Lady and begging for forgiveness immediately… Oh, our poor Lady Ri-ri…
The words, sharp as needles, pricked So-ya’s tender skin.
“I-I have to apologize… I have to beg for forgiveness. I… I was wrong… I’m sorry for stealing the Young Lady’s place…”
So-ya went to the Young Lady’s room. She had to apologize.
Even if stealing the Young Lady’s childhood was an unforgivable sin, if her apology could make the Young Lady feel even a little bit better…
So-ya stood before the closed door, taking a shallow breath.
“Get rid of her.”
So-ya froze at the voice coming from inside the room.
“I can’t live under the same sky as her. Unless you want to see me dead, get rid of her. Before the Prince comes back to take her.”
“I will.”
The immediate response was the voice of her brother, Hwa-yu.