Chapter 101: Seo Yeon

I had started my work at the Palace and I was an emotional wreck. Part of the reason why I concealed so much about myself was because I never wanted to be used as anyone else's tool especially in the palace. Before I made the decision to go ahead with this I already had Hui-Jee and my brother's men support on this, especially Chief Park who was one of my father's men and Jeong Beom who was now one of since Bang-Won's imperial guards as well as Hui-Jee who started to make regular visits to the palace for my sake.

I had never wanted to stop foot in this cursed place but it was the only way to save my men...and to work in the palace actually provided me with that opportunity I had been working towards anyways, despite my tirade against the Prince. But I had my moments; the uniform I had to wear felt heavy against my skin and I had to restrain myself fully from ripping it off me...I was already uncomfortable wearing the noble clothes from the Nam's after I regained my memory but this was too damned much. But the biggest problem I had in the palace was...my father. I teared up the moment I set foot past the gate, wondering if this was the path my father would take when he came in to teach the princes or converse with the King...or someone else who would later frame him to death. I couldn't help but keep spilling angry tears every minute I was there, so much so that I had no choice but to sneak out of my room to run to my brother and weep in his arms until I was exhausted and passed out. I saw a face on him I had never seen before; it was hard on him as well but seeing me in that state made him regret following Bang-Won after deposing of Nam-Jeon...but it was too late. This was a pain I could only share with by brother; Seon-Ho knew about it but I didn't want to burden him with it, so I didn't let him talk about it.

On top of all of that; of course, Prince Bang-Won was taking his revenge on me for rejecting his concubine offer for me by hiring my enemies to work alongside with me, even Chun-Ae was hired. I knew he was trying to make things difficult for me on purpose so I could beg him for mercy; after our last interaction I figured that he wouldn't come in my way first. I had never been on such a short fuse in my entire life as I was in the first month. I encountered problems and set-ups non-stop to the point where I was sneaking out of the Palace on my breaks when we were only allowed to leave on our days off but I was so angry then I was past caring. Prince Bang-Gan barley made an appearance...and I had a feeling it was more than Bang-Won that was making my life a living hell here. I was continuously called in only days off to carry out all kinds of chores that were only fit for the lowest ranking maids and even eunuchs. Hwi told me about his men so I could easily identify them when they were watching me. Every day that went by when I didn't beg to the Prince for mercy my workload increased; but it kept my busy and gave me motivation to fight back and survive for my plan.

But I was still trying to learn Seon-Ho's whereabouts, I knew he along with my brother would have questions for me but I couldn't answer them right now. To say that the palace was a normal workplace where servants walked in and out of just to serve their masters as members of the royal family co-existed until it was time to crown the price who would overtake his father's throne was a complete understatement. Not that I believed that fact, but it was defiantly a place of fighting for survival; for servants and royalty alike; it all depended on who used who first. Not one week went by when I wasn't pulled into some farce, conspiracy to usurp my superiors or the royal family due to my masters favour to me which he wasn't shy in concealing. So it wasn't long before I started to get lazy at my job behind the scenes, making my enemies pick up most of the slack since they were so damed desperate to get the credit- as if they did a good job at with any tasks handed to them.

When I wasn't thinking about my man which was rarely I was thinking about my father. His faded presence still affected me way too much...to the point where I even asked Chief Park to visit the dungeons with me so I could see where my poor father spent his last days...I kept going there everyday to remind myself what I was doing and who it was for.