Chapter 10. Please Don’t Doubt Me
My disciple’s voice felt like a bucket of cold water being poured over my head. My back instinctively stiffened.
Trying my best to hide my reaction, I turned around and saw my disciple holding the reins of my horse. The horse he was holding was the one I had ridden here.
My heart dropped, but I feigned ignorance and bowed to my disciple.
“Did Your Highness hold my horse for me? Thank you.”
He didn’t respond and instead turned his gaze to the 9th princess.
“Why are you here with my Master, Sister?”
Ah, no. This was bad. Suspicion was already evident on his face.
In my past life, I should have been following the 3rd prince around, so it must have seemed strange for me to be here with the 9th princess.
“Your Master saved me,” said the 9th princess honestly, unaware of the situation.
She even praised me with a look full of trust.
“I had heard about the knowledge and virtues of the Royal Instructor, but today I saw that you possess riding skills as impressive as those who passed the military exams.” (Royal Instructor: Master of the royal descendants)
Ahhh. Your Highness, please look at my disciple’s face. He’s staring at me as if he’s caught me red-handed…
“I see. I wasn’t aware my Master’s riding skills were as exceptional as his scholarly knowledge. I learned something new today, Sister.”
Would resigning on the spot improve my chances of survival? It might.
But could I resign now when it was the empress herself who appointed me as the Master to the 13th prince? Probably not.
If I did, the empress might vent her anger on my Yo clan.
Damn. What am I supposed to do?
***
“I didn’t expect you to be with my sister.”
Later, when the tournament had nearly ended and workers were tidying up, I heard a pointed remark from behind as I was calming my nerves.
Forcing my reluctant head to turn, I saw my disciple approaching slowly.
“We met by chance,” I said.
Seeing him made my heart, which I had barely managed to calm, leap back into my chest and race through my body.
I subtly hid my trembling hands behind my back.
But my disciple, with his keen eye, noticed this right away, and he reached out to pull my hand toward him.
Seeing my trembling hand, his eyebrows shot up.
“Why are you shaking so much?”
Because I’m scared of you.
“I-I gripped the reins too hard,” I stammered, hastily offering an excuse. I feared he wouldn’t believe me, but to my relief, he seemed to.
Not only that, but he clicked his tongue and began to massage my hand.
The gesture shocked me so much I nearly fainted, but he acted as though nothing was unusual.
In fact, he did it well. His large, warm hands pressed and kneaded mine so expertly that I almost let out a satisfied sigh.
Of course, I didn’t say anything aloud.
I stared in a daze at our intertwined hands.
After a few breaths passed, he looked down at my hand and casually asked,
“I thought you’d be with the 3rd prince.”
“What? No, I was alone, Your Highness.”
“…”
“Why do you ask?”
“You always follow the 3rd prince.”
“I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
He said this nonchalantly and released my hand.
I quickly pulled my hand back. It would likely still be trembling.
But when I looked at it, I was surprised to see that it had stopped shaking entirely.
What? Was it really just from gripping the reins too tightly?
***
“Sister, did you go riding with Seon-an again? Were you two glued together during the hunting tournament?!”
“The hunting tournament today was for the royals and their relatives, and I was invited as a Master, so Seon-an wasn’t there, Linhua.”
“Liar!”
“He hasn’t passed the state exams yet, so he wasn’t invited to events like this.”
As soon as I got home, my little sister rushed over, dragging me from my world of fear into reality.
It was highly annoying but inevitable. I couldn’t just discard her.
Let’s think of my sister as a complete being with both benefits and drawbacks.
“Sister, Seon-an—”
Before she could finish, I shut myself in my room and locked the door, sitting down at my desk and pulling out my writing tools.
Now wasn’t the time for sibling bickering. I needed to figure out how to safeguard myself.
Let’s see… First, the 9th princess.
In my past life, we had been distant, but after today, she seemed to have taken a liking to me.
The way she looked at me was unmistakably that of someone who had fallen in love at first sight.
‘Is this okay?’
While I played the flirt, I avoided entanglements with powerful families that I couldn’t handle.
If a reputable family’s daughter, whose requests I couldn’t easily refuse, sent a marriage proposal, it would be difficult to turn down.
Moreover, I probably wouldn’t marry anyone from a similar high-standing family. I was disguised as a man…
My father and mother, with their gentle temperaments, were planning to find a soft-spoken, fine-featured young man and dress him as a woman to marry me.
They were tirelessly searching for a suitable flower-boy to bring under our family’s wing.
Anyway, given these circumstances, the 9th princess developing an affection for me was by no means a good development.
It was an unattainable match, and rejecting it would be burdensome… Wait. No, never mind.
‘I don’t need to worry about that.’
The empress knew I was a woman, after all.
When I was born, the physician had told my mother she couldn’t have any more children. Because of this, my father had asked the emperor and empress for permission to raise me as a boy.
‘Linhua came along unexpectedly later, though.’
In any case, since the empress knew I was female, she would block any marriage proposals the 9th princess might push for.
Good. It might be a bit troublesome, but this side of the situation is fine.
‘So, the real problem is with my disciple.’
Given how sharp he was, he must have found it suspicious.
In my past life, I followed the 3rd prince, but now I had saved the 9th princess. And while I hadn’t been praised for my riding skills before, now even the 9th princess had complimented me…
“This is crazy.”
If only the 9th princess had scolded me, my disciple might not have been as suspicious. But because things went too well, it seemed he would only grow more doubtful.
If I’d known this would happen, I would have just followed the 3rd prince around like in my past life.
‘…But in this life, I don’t want to be near the 3rd prince.’
I had been lost in thought for about a week when I pulled out a short candle and prepared to stick a new one into the sand. It was then that an event that occurred around this time came to mind.
Right! The 6th prince! In my past life, when the 6th prince was angry with the 13th prince, he took his frustration out on me.
I got slapped thirty times and was humiliated. My disciple must know about this incident.
What if I can’t avoid this incident?
If I get slapped thirty times by the 6th prince like before and collapse, wouldn’t my disciple’s suspicions be alleviated?
Alright. Just thinking about getting slapped thirty times makes me feel dizzy already, but it’s better than being suspected and poisoned.
Let’s offer my cheek to the 6th prince!
***
Two days later, I made my way to the Wolmu-gung Palace, fully prepared to be slapped by the 6th prince.
It had hurt terribly at the time, and afterwards my face had been swollen for days, leaving me in a horrible state, but that’s fine. I didn’t suffer any lasting effects, right?
Rolling in the muck is still better than dying. If I can clear my disciple’s suspicions by getting slapped thirty times, I’ll do it.
‘Come to think of it, the reason I distanced myself from the 13th prince in my past life was also influenced by that incident. The one who hit me was the 6th prince, but he did it because he was angry with the 13th prince.’
I remembered complaining to Seon-an, saying I’d be sacrificed if I stayed near the 13th prince.
“Where are you going?”
Lost in thought about the past, I must have wandered too far.
I snapped back to reality at my disciple’s voice calling me and turned around.
He was leaning awkwardly in front of his study, watching me.
I should have gone into the study, but I was so lost in thought that I just kept walking, prompting him to call out to me.
“I was thinking about something. I apologize, Your Highness.”
I quickly apologized and approached my disciple.
What if he asked what I was thinking? I was worried, but he didn’t seem particularly interested and said nothing.
We headed straight into the study where we exchanged lessons, and I tried my best to teach him without revealing my past knowledge.
I wondered how much time had passed.
“It seems we should stop here for today.”
It felt like it was time to finish the lesson, so I closed my book first. My disciple followed suit without protest.
While we were at it, I began to hear someone outside speaking urgently.
It sounded like the 6th prince was mentioned.
‘The 6th prince is coming to slap me.’
Having already prepared myself mentally, I felt no fear. In fact, I was a bit pleased.
But I tried hard to conceal this feeling and casually tidied up while glancing at the door.
“It’s noisy outside.”
My disciple’s gaze felt strange. He might know what was about to happen.
Perhaps he was observing how I would react from here on out.
Almost simultaneously as I gathered my things and stood up, my disciple’s attendant entered the room and announced,
“Your Highness, the 6th prince has arrived.”
The attendant glanced at me as he added,
“He wishes to see you, Royal Instructor.”
My disciple stood up leisurely and asked me,
“Will you meet him, Master?”
His gaze was testing me, trying to gauge whether I was an ordinary Master without memories of my past life.
“Of course, I should meet him since the prince is here.”
I replied casually, as if I had no idea about what was about to unfold.
After stepping outside, my disciple followed closely behind me. It felt just like before my reincarnation.
‘But why did the 6th prince come here to slap me?’
I remembered that he was angry because of my disciple. But why had he precisely found fault with me?
Oh, right. The 6th prince had confronted me with an angry face from the start. He had openly provoked me.
That’s why I had immediately sensed he was venting his frustration on me due to his anger at my disciple.
‘But why is he smiling this time?’
Before I could resolve my suspicions, the 6th prince approached me and hugged me, shouting,
“Thank you, Royal Instructor!”
The sudden greeting froze me.
“Excuse me?”
Wasn’t he here to slap me? Wasn’t he here to take out his anger on me? What is he thanking me for?
As I stood there bewildered, the 6th prince released me and shouted in a boisterous voice.
“If it weren’t for you, both my brother and I would have been in trouble. Thanks to you saving the 9th princess, we managed to escape the situation!”
The moment I heard those words, it felt like cold water was splashed on my head.
Damn! That’s right. The 6th prince slapped me because he was angry at the 13th prince, and he was angry at the 13th prince because of the 9th princess.
But this time, I stepped in and saved the 9th princess, who wasn’t injured.
Naturally, the 2nd and 6th princes wouldn’t get scolded by the emperor.
In other words, the 6th prince had no reason to resent the 13th prince and slap me.
As I realized this, I felt an intensely piercing gaze from behind.
It was definitely my disciple. He was watching me!
Unaware of this, the 6th prince simply laughed heartily and patted my shoulder.
“My brother is very grateful to you too. He wanted to come with me, but I came alone, worried that the 13th prince would feel burdened.”
No way! Is even the 2nd prince thanking me now?
This is insane. I didn’t intend for this to happen! I was just trying to look good in front of my disciple! Why am I suddenly getting close to the other princes and princesses?
‘It’s only made things more suspicious!’
—
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