Chapter 115 – Palace Maid (8)
Let’s learn just a tiny bit about the historical drama <Palace Maid Deok-chun>, which abandoned historical accuracy for the sake of commercial appeal.
Deok-chun and the bandit were childhood friends who promised each other a future. Children’s promises are usually forgotten the next day, but the bandit took it seriously.
‘What a naïve guy.’
To think he’s aiming for a woman that the Crown Prince has already marked?
If the Crown Prince were an unpopular, unattractive character, it might have been understandable. But he’s handsome, refined, and only acts foolish in front of the heroine…
I don’t know how this drama will end, but it’s certain that half the viewers will curse at it.
(Curious?)
“…Hm?”
(Are you curious about how the drama ends?)
It seems the senior has returned to her hotel room after the welcome party.
(Jeon Ji-eun already looked it up. The drama is still airing, but the actors have finished filming.)
What did she say?
(The original draft where the Crown Prince ends up with Deok-sun was scrapped. In the end, the Crown Prince and Deok-chun—who have overwhelming viewer support—end up together. You wouldn’t know, but the bandit is treated like an obstacle who interferes with the heroine’s happiness.)
“Ah…”
It wasn’t just the patient possessed by the female lead Deok-chun who thought realistically. Most viewers felt the same way.
But one thing was a little unexpected.
Deok-sun?
The female lead Deok-chun’s best friend.
Even though a famous actress played her, I didn’t expect the director and writer to push her as the “Crown Princess.”
(Do you want to know the schedule?)
Yes.
(The Olympic opening ceremony is in two days. The very next day is the 100 km marathon. They’re calling you a reckless lunatic for booking other events after the marathon.)
That’s the usual reaction.
Even for an athlete, a 100 km marathon is no joke. If you have energy left, you’d push to run faster, which would inevitably lead to complete exhaustion.
And then competing in other events in that depleted state?
It doesn’t make sense by common standards.
“…My lord.”
“Ah! How did it go?”
Deok-sun came to find me under the shade of a tree, where I was keeping an eye on the bandit.
“Tonight, when the sun sets, Deok-chun plans to visit your quarters to say her final farewell.”
“Ooh!”
Looks like it worked?
“You saved her life, and His Highness the Crown Prince trusts you, so he has specially permitted it. But it seems unavoidable that two guards will accompany her.”
“Hmm… Still, thank you.”
“Not at all.”
Deok-sun stared at my face for about five seconds, then shyly turned her head and hurried away as if fleeing.
“…”
(Look at that. Song Sun-young will have something new to tease you about.)
“…Hello?”
I didn’t do anything!
(It’s surprising, though. You’re not even more handsome than the actors playing the Crown Prince and the bandit. This isn’t a martial arts world that values strength above all…)
My face isn’t ugly. My height is decent, and I don’t have hair loss.
(Your body proportions aren’t bad, but hair loss—we won’t know until you’re in your thirties. Your mother is fine, but looking at your father’s hair… it’s a little worrying.)
“…”
Talking about my mother is off-limits.
(What a stiff guy.)
“…”
While listening to the senior’s stories from the real world, I waited for night to fall.
***
In the historical drama <Palace Maid Deok-chun>, the female lead Deok-chun is portrayed as a diligent Palace Maiden who has many friends and is widely respected.
‘This is hard to get used to.’
On average, there are about 600 palace ladies in a single generation. Even excluding those who are too old or too young to be considered attractive as women, there are still at least 100 or more.
If they fail to win the king’s or the crown prince’s favor, they’ll live lonely lives until death, relying only on themselves. The competition is obviously fierce…
“Deok-chun! Congratulations, really!”
“I won’t be able to call you casually anymore!”
“Hoho! Your Highness the Crown Princess!”
The atmosphere was utterly unrealistic. It was lively and vibrant, like modern high school girls crowding into a convenience store, laughing and chattering.
In other words, it was extremely uncomfortable.
(That’s why writers and directors like you, who obsess over realism, don’t make money.)
“…”
Can’t I even think what I want?
(I meant it’s a personality that suits your aptitude and your job. Since you might fail to wake the patient and end up getting sucked in instead, you need to keep maintaining that negative perspective that this place isn’t reality.)
“Well…”
That might be true.
(Prepare yourself. The unrealistic greeting you mentioned is coming to an end.)
I’m already moving.
Whoosh.
“I am Kang Moon-soo, a retainer of His Highness the Crown Prince. Thank you for granting my request, Your Highness the Crown Princess.”
“Yes. You said you had something to discuss…”
The official reason was to escort her so the bandit couldn’t kidnap her.
But we walked slowly, like a leisurely stroll, giving us time to talk.
“…”
“…”
Because of the guards the Crown Prince had assigned, I had to choose my words carefully, but that wasn’t much of an obstacle.
“You must have been quite shocked when the man who has a one-sided crush on you attacked with a knife, right?”
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
The patient’s eyes widened in surprise; after thinking for a few seconds, she nodded.
“Your parents, who are addicted to entertainment, are being punished.”
“My parents?”
She still didn’t seem to understand. So I decided to push harder.
“Yes. They squandered the money you earned working in front of the school, abandoning your aptitude and studies.”
“Excuse me…”
“This is not a joke.”
“Pardon me, but are you sure you’re talking about me? I think you might be confusing me with someone else.”
Stop.
I halted and turned to look at Deok-chun’s face.
Innocent, guileless eyes.
Since her true aptitude isn’t “actress,” she couldn’t possibly pull off such convincing acting.
“Don’t you want to become a physician?”
“A female physician?”
“…”
“Why would I, now the Crown Princess, want to become a lowly female physician—something only base-born slaves do…?”
“My apologies.”
“No, it’s fine. May I fairly ask you one question in return?”
“Of course.”
“I heard a rumor that you met him. Is it true?”
“It’s an abstract way of putting it, but I think I know who you’re referring to.”
“What happened?”
“Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to kill him.”
The bandit’s teleportation technique is certainly overpowered, but if the palace guards hadn’t interfered, I could have killed him.
“…What?”
“But he sustained serious injuries, so he won’t be able to move for a while.”
“Liar! He’s really strong.”
“Then I suppose I was even stronger than that ‘really strong’ man.”
“That’s…!”
Upon hearing my reply, Deok-chun’s expression instantly hardened.
‘This confirms it.’
If she were a patient unbound by the rules of the historical drama, there would be absolutely no reason for her to look at me like an enemy.
“Take care on your way.”
“…”
Creak— Thud!
Deok-chun completely ignored my farewell and was escorted—almost dragged—by the palace ladies into her “newlywed quarters.”
(Junior, you’re thinking the same thing, right?)
“…Yes.”
The patient Yoon So-ra was not the female lead Deok-chun from the historical drama <Palace Maid Deok-chun>.
“Something like this…?”
I was so stunned by this completely unexpected turn of events that I felt dizzy. The “Deok-chun” who had behaved differently from the original drama clearly seemed like the patient—which made it all the more bewildering!
I was utterly confused.
(I’m heading to the Olympic opening ceremony. Don’t go wild—stay quiet.)
“Huh?”
What’s this now? You said the opening ceremony was still two days away…
(Time in reality is flowing faster and faster. It seems somehow connected to the patient’s condition.)
“Ah!”
(This isn’t the time to just exclaim. Based on real-world time, the patient has at most ten days left. That’s what your attending physician said, so it must be accurate.)
“…”
I realized the gravity of it too.
If time in reality is passing faster than in the dream?
(The perceived time the patient can spend in the dream is about two days. According to your attending physician’s chattering explanation, it’s similar to how a faulty computer makes its programs run relatively slower.)
I got it.
‘That’s why Song Sun-young’s case lasted the longest!’
The time I spent inside Song Sun-young’s dream was enough to wear my mind down completely. Yet the period that passed in reality was extremely short.
Because she was healthy! Sure, the shaman Yoo Il-am kicked her a few times on the school rooftop, but she was quickly rescued and admitted to Elmolance Hospital.
(It was even exceptionally fast.)
“You’re right.”
The time Song Sun-young lay on the school rooftop wasn’t long. Even counting from right after arriving at school, it was less than ten hours. Yet before I intruded into her dream, she had attempted suicide 42 times in various ways.
(The opening ceremony is quite the spectacle. Behave yourself. If you trip here, you’ll be immortalized on the internet forever.)
“…”
In the brief moment we were talking, the Olympic opening ceremony had begun.
(I didn’t literally mean stand completely still, though.)
I don’t want to be memed forever.
“Phew…”
A sigh escaped naturally. I felt regretful that I couldn’t attend the Olympic opening ceremony.
(Move casually. You won’t feel it, but time is really flying by. The torch lighting and the athletes’ entrance are already over.)
“Already?!”
I could have sworn I just heard it was starting.
It was absurd.
(The athletes’ exit will finish soon. Then there’ll be a short gap until tomorrow’s marathon. Don’t miss that window.)
“I suppose so.”
I calmly waited for the senior’s signal that it was okay to move.
“A monster with a sword!”
“Close the castle gates quickly! From the north—”
“They’re coming from the South Gate too!”
But as if mocking me, the sword demon took advantage of the pitch-black darkness to attack the palace.
From two completely different directions, no less!
At least two of them.
Whether intentional or not, it had to be considered a diversionary tactic.
‘I’ll wait.’
In the historical drama <Palace Maid Deok-chun>, the palace’s overpowered archers would block them all.
Clank.
At that moment, the gate of the detached palace I was guarding swung wide open, revealing the fully armored Crown Prince.
“Your Highness?”
It looked like the Crown Prince was heading to the battlefield himself.
“The gates have been breached.”
“…”
“You must protect her from any traitors who might infiltrate amid this chaos. She is the woman who will one day become the mother of this nation. No mistakes will be tolerated! Do you understand?”
“I will keep it in mind.”
“Hm. I’ll trust in the martial arts of the great nation.”
“…”
The Crown Prince, who trusted not me but the martial arts of the Central Plains, rode away on a pure white horse.
“Neigh~!”
Clippity-clop, clippity-clop!
The bandit’s overwhelming combat prowess had drawn all the attention, but the Crown Prince—who had enjoyed hunting and martial arts since childhood—was an exceptionally skilled mounted archer. He wouldn’t be taken down easily or become a hindrance in battle.
“Please enter the inner quarters.”
“Me?”
An elderly Palace Maid approached and instructed me to escort Deok-chun.
“His Highness the Crown Prince has permitted it. He said to protect Her Highness the Crown Princess up close.”
“…Very well.”
“This way.”
I didn’t have time for this, but to move freely around the palace and investigate, I absolutely needed the Crown Prince’s cooperation.
‘And there’s something I want to ask her.’
Deok-chun was in the middle of dressing and adorning herself in a manner befitting the Crown Princess.
She looked so prim and proper that it was hard to believe she had just spent passionate time with the Crown Prince before the sword demon’s attack.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Your Highness, please speak informally to me.”
“…You’ve worked hard.”
“We shall withdraw.”
Swish—
The palace ladies who had finished her adornment all left, leaving only one attendant behind.
“We meet again so soon.”
Deok-chun spoke to me with a cold gaze. The temperature was noticeably different from how she treated the palace ladies.
I think I know why.
“You still haven’t forgotten the traitor.”
“…Refrain from unnecessary words.”
“There is something I wish to ask Your Highness, but I’ll postpone it for now.”
Who had pushed her to choose the Crown Prince? If I could just find that out, I’d be able to identify the patient.
Friend, parents, head Palace maid, rival…
There weren’t many candidates who could influence Deok-chun’s judgment, but there was simply no time.
“…”
“…”
“…Did you really have to do that?”
Unable to bear the silence any longer, she broke it first with a question.
“He attacked me first.”
“People don’t know. They don’t know how much he has done for this country.”
I know.
The reason the thief came down from Mount Baekdu was for Deok-chun, but his official purpose was to exterminate the monsters harming the people of this nation.
The reason Deok-chun had hesitated and couldn’t choose the Crown Prince was because the thief had saved her parents’ lives. Whether that debt was worth defying the king’s wrath is questionable.
(Junior, I’m in bed now. Fight as much as you want.)
“…Hey. You’re caught.”
“Wha— Kyaa?!”
The thief suddenly teleported behind Deok-chun without warning.
Grab.
He wrapped his left arm around her waist and moved to smash the door and escape.
Naturally, I—
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“You…!”
Blocked their path.
The reason the thief couldn’t easily kidnap the heroine Deok-chun:
His teleportation only works on himself. If he could bring others along, the historical drama <Palace Maid Deok-chun> would have been cursed at and canceled after episode one.
(Junior, try hitting that guy’s head with your hand.)
Why?
(I’m curious what exactly he learned on Mount Baekdu and how.)
“Die together!”
“Gah!”
“Kyaa?!”
Terrified by my attempt to slice both of them cleanly in half with my hwandao, the thief shoved Deok-chun aside.
Whoosh—
My swing only cut empty air; no satisfying impact.
(…Did you even hear what I said?)
“Haha!”
I’m trying my best!
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