Chapter 8: The Princess and the Silver Fox

“His name is Song Bi Yeon. He was the Chancellor of Mokju, and it is said the Emperor holds him in quite high regard.”

At those words, Eun Su’s brow furrowed once more.

“Mokju? The land Imperial Father just conquered?”

“Yes. According to what I’ve heard, he gave His Majesty quite a hard time by obstructing his strategies several times during the campaign. He is not of high-born noble stock, but his intellect is said to be extraordinary. Since His Majesty treasures you, I am sure he has his reasons.”

Young Eun Su sat still for a moment, then signaled Dong Baek to stop combing her hair. She stood up naturally and handed her outer robe to her confidante. Clad in comfortable white sleeping robes, her expression was anything but comfortable. She spoke coldly.

“Dong Baek, what I need right now is not a tactician or a strategist. What I need is an ally within this palace—someone on my side who can subtly pressure Imperial Father on my behalf. And I highly doubt that person is some barbarian captured from a foreign land.”

Dong Baek immediately bowed her head.

“My thoughts were narrow, Your Highness.”

“It is an imperial order, so I must go and see him tomorrow, but if he is nothing special, I shall deal with him accordingly.”

“How do you intend to proceed?”

“The stairs of the Western Palace are quite steep, are they not? I hear so many people ‘accidentally’ lose their footing and injure themselves there.”

“The newcomer will certainly have to be careful, then.”

Hmph. Eun Su snorted. Dong Baek finished tidying the bedding, bowed, and retreated out of the room. Even as she lay on her bed, Eun Su could not close her eyes for a long time, her mind boiling with agitation. Time was of the essence, and she had absolutely no intention of being held back by Noble Consort Ju.

Thus, the Princess’s expression was ice-cold from the early morning.

While she wasn’t one to torment servants without reason, she planned to test—quite firmly—just how useful this man, who had replaced her previous teachers, would be. In truth, Eun Su had already made up her mind. Unless he dramatically managed to change her heart, Dong Baek would handle the rest.

‘He’s just a man who got lucky and survived the war anyway. Even if he dies now, he won’t have much to complain about.’

Eun Su draped herself in crimson silk and marched majestically toward the study. She threw open the sliding door with a deliberate bang! and shouted at the person inside without preamble.

“Is it you?”

“……Your servant, Song Bi Yeon, offers greetings to Her Imperial Highness.”

Judging by the slight pause in his greeting, he seemed startled by her sudden entrance.

‘As well he should be.’

There was a reason she was acting so fiercely. She intended to find any trivial flaw and make an issue of his attitude. That way, even if he disappeared in an “unfortunate accident” later, someone would testify that he was ill-suited to be a teacher anyway.

But then, something shimmering caught Eun Su’s eye. It was the hair of the man who was bowing with an unwavering posture. Caught in the sunlight streaming through the window, his hair looked like a color somewhere between white and ash. The expression on Eun Su’s face, which had been set for a shouting match, turned strange. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she strode closer and commanded:

“Lift your head.”

“Yes.”

At the command, the man slowly raised his face. In the next moment, Eun Su nearly stopped breathing.

Not only was the hair flowing from his forehead silver, but the two eyes set in his face were as blue as sapphires. His nose was sharp, his lips pale, and his skin was as white as her own. The man’s face as he looked at her was incredibly inorganic; he was so unreadable that he looked like an expertly crafted doll. His eyelashes, silver like his hair, cast long shadows beneath his eyes in the sunlight.

‘Such a person exists?’

As the man slowly straightened his back, he stood about a span taller than her. His long limbs gave him a graceful appearance. Despite his height, he didn’t feel overwhelming or powerful at all. Rather, his shoulders were rounded and he was so slender that it felt like one could wrap an arm around him and pull him close. Flustered, Eun Su found herself thinking an absurd thought.

‘Did Father bring him as a concubine?’

If so, she couldn’t kill him.

Overwhelmed by the appearance of the new teacher, Eun Su stood still for a moment before snapping back to reality and asking bluntly.

“……You truly are the one who was the Chancellor of Mokju?”

“I am.”

“…Kneel. How dare you look up at me.”

The man looked troubled for a fleeting moment, but soon obediently knelt before her. His was a face that strangely provoked a desire to be cruel. Eun Su pulled a folding fan from her left sleeve, propped it under his chin, and moved her hand to turn his face from side to side. Looking at that flour-white face turning as she moved it, she felt a strange sensation.

“Something like this was a Chancellor? Your skin is white, your eyes are strange…….”

When the Princess spoke her thoughts aloud without realizing it, she felt Bi Yeon flinch. Realizing her mistake, Eun Su was momentarily embarrassed but didn’t show it. Her gaze remained full of distrust as she scanned him from top to bottom, like a person who had bought a s*ave only to realize they’d been cheated.

Meanwhile, seeing no sign that Eun Su would stop, the man kept his eyes cast down and spoke quietly.

“If you have doubts, perhaps you should ask His Majesty again, Your Highness.”

At the mention of the Emperor, Eun Su flinched slightly. Bi Yeon took that opportunity to avoid the fan propped under his chin and naturally offered a bow.

“I am Song Bi Yeon, who will be serving Your Highness from this day forward. Please forgive my failure to serve you properly as I do not yet know Your Highness’s honored name.”

“Stand up. What use would someone like you have for my name?”

Eun Su replied coldly, then walked past the prostrate Bi Yeon and sat in her chair. She narrowed her eyes at Bi Yeon as he straightened up again and spoke.

“I am the only legitimate child and first princess born of the Emperor and the Empress. You shall address me as ‘Your Highness,’ just as you have.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After his reply, silence fell between them. Bi Yeon dusted off his clothes and headed to the table to sit, but before his weight even touched the chair, Eun Su spoke in a biting voice.

“……What use could I possibly have for you?”

“Pardon?”

The man looked as if she had asked a truly absurd question. But the moment Eun Su saw his dazed face, she snorted.

“Forget the title of ‘Teacher.’ What could I possibly learn from you? Culture? History? Etiquette? Politics? In any field, wouldn’t I know more about Horyu than a barbarian like you?”

The man didn’t miss a beat and countered immediately.

“How could that be all Your Highness has to learn? You must learn statecraft, geography, administration, military affairs, and on a smaller scale, even the methods of drafting public documents and accounting. Learning is both broad and deep.”

Eun Su curled her lips into a smirk.

“Statecraft is not a subject that lucky commoners who rose to success at a young age with a bit of wit can know. Have I heard wrongly about you?”

At those words, Bi Yeon’s eyebrow twitched.

“By the grace of the late King of Mokju, I had the opportunity to be the Crown Prince’s playmate and attend lessons with him from a young age. Statecraft is special only because the teacher and the student are strictly limited. Furthermore, whatever the lesson may be….”

Bi Yeon paused here on purpose to catch his breath.

“The content is learned with the mind, not with one’s origin.”

“What immense confidence.”

“Is there a specific field Your Highness desires?”

“And could you even do it if I told you?”

“His Majesty must have had a reason for assigning me to Your Highness.”

Eun Su felt a surge of irritation. It was the exact same answer Dong Baek had given to soothe her yesterday. ‘Then again, what would a captive know?’ Eun Su tapped the table incessantly with her fingers while looking off into space.

“I don’t have the leisure to waste time with someone like you.”

“Is there something weighing on your mind?”

The Princess stopped her tapping and glared at him.

“Your very existence is a stumbling block to me.”

Bi Yeon stared straight at her. For a moment, his eyes seemed to waver, but he soon spoke as if nothing were wrong.

“Then I shall tell His Majesty. Since Your Highness has no will to learn, there is nothing I can do, no matter what I try to teach.”

“What?”

“If I hold onto someone whose heart isn’t in it, what words would ever reach their ears? I did not come here to speak to a wall.”

Eun Su arched her brow and looked at him. He was an insolent fellow. Once she was certain Imperial Father hadn’t brought him as a concubine, she would surely have him killed. As she thought this, Bi Yeon drove in a wedge as if it were an afterthought.

“…I suppose, since you aren’t the one who will ascend the throne in the future, there’s no need for you to study particularly hard.”

In an instant, her expression turned murderous.