Chapter 20
20 Royal Consort (1)
The moon shone brightly over the palace night.
Ji-young was just leaving the Royal Kitchen, carrying a small dining table covered with a silk cloth.
Ji-young's destination was the Queen's Residence, where the Royal Consort's chamber was located.
Anxious not to be late, she hurried around the corner of the stone wall when suddenly a figure popped out in front of her.
"Eek!"
- Thud
Ji-young, startled by the sudden collision with the stranger, let out a shriek and lost her balance.
At the same time, she saw the small dining table in her hands flying into the air, as if in slow motion.
"……No!"
She flailed her arms, but it was a futile gesture.
Ji-young couldn't bear to watch the catastrophe and squeezed her eyes shut.
But the sound of the small dining table crashing to the ground, which should have followed, never came.
She cautiously opened her eyes and saw the stranger who had suddenly appeared effortlessly catching the small dining table.
"W-What are you doing? Watch where you're going!"
Ji-young shouted at the person, as if trying to hide her surprise.
"I could say the same for you, not being careful……."
The voice was annoyingly nonchalant, yet somehow familiar.
Only then did she notice the colorful striped sleeves and the red vest worn over them.
And, instead of a face, a red Drunken clown mask covered the head.
"Y-You're the one I saw at the market during the day……."
She could see a playful glint in the eyes visible through the eyeholes of the mask.
"Ah……. I apologize for what happened then. I'm just a lowly performer, so I act like one."
"H-How did you get in here?"
This was the palace where the King resided.
It shouldn't be a place where a Masked clown wandering the streets could enter…….
As if sensing Ji-young's thoughts, the Drunken clown mask shrugged.
"How would I know? I was just summoned because the King likes Masked clown dances."
"His Majesty…… summoned a Masked clown……?"
"He's quite eccentric, you know. Well, judging by the looks of it, you seem to be in a similar situation."
"……Who's similar to whom?"
"You have to please the eccentric King to survive, so aren't you and I the same?"
The eyes behind the mask stared at Ji-young.
Deep, dark eyes that seemed to hide many stories.
Just then, a voice calling for the Drunken clown mask was heard in the distance.
"Hey, what are you doing standing there like a fool?"
"Are you already chasing after court ladies?"
Looking in the direction of the voice, a group of Masked clowns who seemed to be his companions were waiting for the Drunken clown mask.
"Wasn't this…… on its way to be delivered?"
The man in the Drunken clown mask abruptly held out the small dining table.
Only then did she remember that she was hurrying to deliver the Royal Cuisine Table to the Queen's Palace.
Ji-young snatched the small dining table, trying not to show her embarrassment.
"W-Well, I hope I never have to deal with you again."
Ji-young said sharply and walked away quickly with the small dining table.
"I don't know the palace grounds very well yet, but that seems to be the way out of the palace……."
"……That's none of your business, is it?"
He was right, actually. She was so flustered that she had lost her way.
But she didn't want to look foolish in this situation, so Ji-young deliberately put on an even more sullen expression.
Then the Masked clown slowly lifted the mask from his head.
As the hidden face gradually began to appear in the moonlight.
'……Huh? It's a completely different feeling than I expected.'
What she saw was gentle eyes, a sharp nose, and a sleek jawline.
He was too handsome to be thought of as a Masked clown wandering the streets.
But even more impressive was the strange atmosphere emanating from his face.
The freedom that only the lowest class could possess, but with an underlying air of unknown dignity.
With that face of strange contradiction, the Masked clown suddenly blurted out.
"Well, you never know. Whether it's my business or not……."
"W-What do you mean by that?"
The Masked clown gave a cheerful smile.
"We'll be seeing each other often, so let's not bicker. We should help each other out since we're in similar situations."
"Are you always this presumptuous? Suddenly popping out, suddenly interfering."
"Well, that's what we Masked clowns do."
At that moment, the Masked clown's companions called out to him again from a distance.
"Gong-gil, what are you doing not coming here?"
"Did you get possessed by a ghost who fell and died in the outhouse? Why are you in such a hurry? I'm coming."
The man called Gong-gil replied loudly to his companions and turned back to Ji-young.
"Those bastards keep nagging me. I'd like to talk more, but I have to go. Then……."
Gong-gil covered his handsome face with the ugly Drunken clown mask again and bowed with a playful gesture.
"……I had a g~ood time again."
Ji-young stared blankly for a moment at Gong-gil's figure dancing away.
'Gong-gil? Could it be…….'
Gong-gil, Yeonsangun's Masked clown?
Was that man that Gong-gil?
After standing there blankly for a while, Ji-young finally realized her situation and hurried towards the Queen's Residence.
And,
In a dark corner, there was a shadow quietly watching all of this.
* * *
The next day.
The atmosphere in the palace was unusual from the morning.
Perhaps it was because she saw the royal physicians hurrying towards the Queen's Palace.
Ji-young put aside the anxiety that had sprouted in a corner of her heart and calmly prepared the ingredients for the Royal Kitchen.
But it wasn't that she didn't sense the storm that was about to come.
- Clatter
As if to prove her premonition, the Royal Kitchen door was thrown open roughly.
At the forefront was Chu-wol, the supervising court lady of the Inner Court.
Behind her followed the court ladies of the inspection department and two or three military officers from the Royal Guard.
Head Cook Jeon was the first to greet them with a bow.
"What brings the supervising court lady here?"
"I heard that the Evening Royal Cuisine served to the Queen's Palace last night came from this Royal Kitchen for the King. Is that correct?"
"That's right……."
"Since this concerns an incident that occurred in the Queen's Palace, the Inner Court will be conducting an investigation. Please cooperate."
Before the answer could even be finished, the court ladies of the inspection department began rummaging through the Royal Kitchen's crocks, sacks, and measuring containers.
"What is the meaning of this!"
When the Royal Kitchen staff tried to stop the uninvited guests who had barged in without warning, the military officers from the Royal Guard drew their swords.
- Clang
The Royal Kitchen staff couldn't help but step back at the sight of the blue blades.
It seemed that something serious was happening.
"What kind of investigation is this all of a sudden? Is it okay to act so recklessly in a place where Royal Cuisine is prepared for the King?"
When Ji-young raised her voice, Chu-wol, the supervising court lady, retorted with a cold face.
"The Royal Consort fell ill suddenly last night and is in critical condition. Shouldn't we check what went into the food that was served in the evening?"
"W-What on earth……."
Just as Head Cook Jeon was about to step in and question her,
"I found it."
A voice was heard from one of the court ladies of the inspection department who was searching the Royal Kitchen.
There, a bag of white Wheat Flour that had been used yesterday was placed.
Chu-wol strode towards it and unhesitatingly took a pinch of the white powder with her fingers and licked it.
Was it just her imagination, or did she sense a faint smile on her face?
"Wheat Flour."
"It's the finest Wheat Flour made from top-quality wheat offered from Hwanghae Province."
When Head Cook Jeon explained about the white powder, Ji-young added from the side.
"It was one of the ingredients used yesterday for the Royal Cuisine served to His Majesty. I saw His Majesty enjoying it. Is there a problem?"
"So, this Wheat Flour was also used for the one served to the Queen's Residence?"
"What are you trying to say?"
Ji-young's voice was about to rise, as she had been displeased with the supervising court lady's rude attitude since earlier.
Suddenly, the Royal Kitchen door opened and another group of people began to enter.
She could now recognize who the person at the front was just by the sound of their footsteps.
Jang Nok-su.
As she entered the Royal Kitchen with a strange smile, Ji-young could sense that another storm of bloodshed would sweep through this place.
"Let's hear what the story is from now on."
Nok-su turned her head towards the person who was following behind her.
There stood an official in a Miscellaneous Affairs uniform, his hair white, trembling.
"The royal physician who just finished examining the Royal Consort at the Queen's Residence will surely be correct. Royal Physician, please tell us the Royal Consort's condition as it is."
The white-haired royal physician, trembling like an aspen, cautiously opened his mouth, looking around.
"T-This humble servant did not directly check the Royal Consort's pulse, and only conducted a preliminary examination, but……. It is something that can only be known after a more detailed examination……."
"Can't you speak clearly? This is a serious matter!"
At Nok-su's sharp voice, the old physician's neck shrank like a turtle.
"……T-The Royal Consort's stomach has been in very poor condition since last night, and she had vomiting and bloody stool in the early morning. Comparing it to some of the symptoms mentioned in medical texts……."
"So what happened?"
"……Circumstantially, it is reported that the pregnancy may have been lost."
At those words, the faces of the people gathered there turned as pale as if they had frozen.
The loss of pregnancy meant that the prince who was to be born had been miscarried.
It wasn't that there wasn't a young crown prince who had been given the title of Heir Apparent, but the miscarriage of a royal family member in the womb, especially one in the womb of the Royal Consort, due to a sudden illness was no ordinary matter.
As everyone was flustered by this enormous event, unable to open their mouths easily, it was Nok-su who broke the silence.
"I heard that the Royal Consort was healthy without any problems until recently, so how should we view this sudden illness? Could it be that she ate something she shouldn't have?"
"T-That is……."
The royal physician was already sweating profusely on his forehead.
It was probably because he instinctively felt that his words could bring about enormous repercussions in the future.
"Can't you speak properly? Do you really need to be interrogated to open your mouth?"
As Nok-su scolded him fiercely, the hesitant royal physician finally began to speak reluctantly.
"In fact…… the Royal Consort had a similar sudden illness a few years ago……. It was after she ate noodles made with Wheat Flour."
"Are you sure!"
"W-Would there be any doubt?"
As the royal physician hurriedly bowed his head and answered, Nok-su looked around at the Royal Kitchen staff with a satisfied look, as if she had heard the answer she wanted.
"Then, this is the fault of the Royal Kitchen for serving the wrong food to the Queen's Residence. Or, perhaps……."
Nok-su's eyes began to shine cruelly like a wildcat with its prey in sight.
"……Could it be a poisonous scheme that exploited the Royal Consort's unique constitution?"
※Author's words
Gong-gil (?~?) is a real person, a Masked clown who appears only once in the Veritable Records.
It is said that he was punished for advising the King on his mistakes during a performance in front of Yeonsangun.
