Chapter 33

“Why are you surprised as if you were caught hurling wicked abuses at the Crown Princess?”

Her lilting voice touched her on the raw. Kyoyoung couldn’t help but freak out. Oran was smiling as if she knew everything. Kyoyoung couldn’t bring herself to smile before her, so she just shut her mouth.

Though Kyoyoung was good at behaving herself well in the palace, Oran was one cut above her. Without letting Kyoyoung find out her real intention, Oran disturbed her mind with sly smiles.

Looking her in the eye, Kyoyoung could not figure out what she was trying to find out, “How could I hurl abuses at the Crown Princess? How could I dare–”

“Oh, I think I heard wrong, then. I felt I heard something very interesting.”

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“Yeah, I think so. You heard wrong, Oran. Don’t you know that the birds are singing and the spring haze makes you feel dizzy?”

“I feel sorry about that. I hope the Sun of the East Palace won’t rise over Dongbi Place.”

“I don’t think you, as a princess from the West Palace, have reason to be concerned about the Sun of the East Palace.”

Oran burst into laughter, “Really?”

Opening the fan, she waved it fast before her face, “Well, I hear the Sun of the East Palace rises above the Dongbi Palace only.”

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Now Oran was clearly trying to rub her the wrong way. Her remarks were also a clear challenge to her. What she meant by the Sun of the East Palace was Bipaan. Oran was instigating her by alluding to the fact that Bipaan only visited Kyosul.

“Princess Oran, you are so mean to me!”

“Ooops, I think I felt an affinity for you for a moment as you and I feel bad about the Dongbi Palace anyway.”

“No matter what you say about Kyosul, I am a woman who belongs to the Dongbi Palace, as you know. I’m not that foolish.”

When Oran openly revealed her hostility toward Kyosul, Kyoyoung flatly rejected it.

When the atmosphere became cold, Oran made a fake smile again and said, “By the way, don’t you know that the Crown Princess’s drawback doesn’t necessarily harm your interests? It can be beneficial to you.”

Though Kyoyoung smiled at that, she felt what Oran had just said had some serious implications. In some respects, her remarks were dangerous.

Now, Oran began to reveal what she wanted to say. In fact, those in the imperial palace were already aware of that, but it was the first time Oran mentioned it openly like this.

“We in the West Palace don’t care as long as the Sun of the East Palace comes down from the East Palace. If the direction of the Sun changes, isn’t it possible to change the Crown Princess?”

It was the first time that Oran used such a direct expression, which indicated that she firmly believed in Kyoyoung. No matter how jealous she might feel about Kyosul, there was no chance that she would reveal the affairs of the East Palace to Oran. It was not just a matter involving Kyosul. If her words and deeds harmed Bipaan, it could also put her into trouble.

“I would assume that I didn’t hear anything you just said to me. If what you said were leaked to others, you could be in big, big trouble. Do you get it?” Kyoyoung demanded.

“Hmmm, If you really think so, let me stop here.”

Potty-mouth Oran relented reluctantly. She stepped back, making nasal sounds. While Kyoyoung bowed to her, Oran said one last word.

“By the way, if you need my help in the West Palace, please feel free to come and see me anytime. Let me give you a helping hand for your sake.”

When Kyoyoung raised her head, Oran already turned around, leaving the East Palace in no time.

“Damn it. How did she suddenly appeared before me…”

She felt enraged about Oran when she thought that this arrogant woman from the West Palace came all the way up here to overhear her complaints about the Crown Princess.

In no time, Oran left the East Palace. In fact, she was on her way back to the Dongbi Palace to offer apologies to Kyosul for her disrespectful actions in the flower garden recently.

When she found Kyoyoung unexpectedly, she reaped an unexpected booty.

She overheard what Kyoyoung was complaining about the Crown Princess.

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“I don’t have to take pains to go to the Dongbi Palance.”

She didn’t have to waste her time uselessly. Oran turned back immediately.

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She was in a cheerful mood on her way to the West Palace with light footsteps.

“The Crown Princess, what an interesting woman!”

Though Kyosul arrived in the palace only two months ago, there were lots of rumors about her. She was the source of all the interesting rumors.

Oran pondered what she just heard from Kyoyoung. It was a good topic that stimulated her imagination. She didn’t need to go to the trouble of gaining favor with Kyosul.

“The Crown Princess says she can’t love the Crown Prince?”

It was funny to mention the word ‘love’ in the palace, but it was not funny at all, given the object of her love.

When she connected all the wild rumors about Kyosul with this particular episode, Oran felt she could create another spectacular rumor about her that would be immensely beneficial to Oran and Dukwol.

Back to the West Palace, Oran headed for the Sochon Palace, not her residence. Today, too, she was expecting to spend another long night of sexual pleasure in Prince Dukwol’s room.

Kosyul was lost in agony sitting in her room. She thought about Bipaan resting his chin on one hand with a serious look. Obviously, he was serious at that moment, but he might look funny to outsiders who didn’t know his situation.

“What should I do? I send flowers to him every day even though he doesn’t like them. He has warned me not to disturb his job, but I’ve been doing so every morning. It looks like I have lost favor with him.”

Each of Bipaan’s preferences that she found out from Kyoyong was different from hers. Kyosul liked the grass and flowers in the back garden, so she liked to talk about them every day, but Bipaan liked the lake and the river, so he took a walk along the stream around the East Palace.

“How come our preferences are so different?”

She let out a deep sigh. She agonized about whether she had to focus on his preferences every day.

“But this is something I can’t convey or offer to him.”

She carefully examined a list of his preferences that Kyoyoung gave her. His walk along the stream around the East Palace, boating, hunting pheasants, archery, embroidering, things woven with colored threads, black color, gold color, live fish, tea without scent…

While watching her agonize over the list, her nanny spoke cautiously, “Your Highness, I think it’s much better if you can choose one from your own preferences and give it to him.”

“Why?”

“Anybody can give the Crown Prince what he wants, based on his preferences. But only you can give him what you like, which reflects your wishes and longing for him. I mean the kind of joy that you alone can bring to him.”

Kyosul turned it over in her mind deeply.

“Things I can do for him, things only I can give him…”

She then examined the list over and over. There were not many in the list that she liked. She felt she couldn’t show her sincerity if she simply suited his taste.

“Well, I think I had better…”

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She walked to the inner space of her room, where there was a small reception room to greet guests and a bed divided by a curtain. On the wall hung Bipaan’s wedding dress and a bunch of flowers below it.

She picked the most beautiful flowers while walking in the backyard every day and put them there. She dried them under the shade there until their fragrance became subtle then put them in the letter she sent to him.

“I think this is the best gift I can give to the Crown Prince at this point.”

She wanted to do more, but she didn’t want to bite off more than she could chew. If she could make him think about what she liked, that was the most she could hope for.

“It’s okay to me even if the Crown Prince doesn’t respond to my gifts. I won’t have any regrets.”

She wished she hadn’t said her last words. She sent a letter to him every day but didn’t receive any reply, which broke her heart. That’s why she asked Kyoyoung about his preferences the other day.

She became impatient when he didn’t reply, curious about whether he didn’t like her gift.

“Why hasn’t he ever mentioned it?”

She once asked the eunuch serving the Crown Prince about it but was told that he didn’t have a response. She got a bit offended and even upset.

No, I shouldn’t feel resentful towards him. He is pretty busy. I don’t want anything in return. I just want to act honorably before him.