I wondered why a disciple who hadn’t attended the Dongchowol ceremony before the regression was here this time.

Unable to ask but curious, I was suppressing my curiosity alone when I noticed someone approaching stealthily from beyond my field of vision. Turning around, I saw it was Lin Hwa. Wait, her? Her?

“Lin Hwa, where are your father and mother? Why are you here alone?”

Surprised, I quickly pulled her over and asked. Lin Hwa mumbled in a barely audible voice.

“Somehow we got separated.”

“How did you manage to get separated?”

“It just happened.”

As she spoke, Lin Hwa glanced towards the 13th Prince. But the 13th Prince still didn’t even look at Lin Hwa.

Lin Hwa visibly deflated at that treatment.

It seemed I would need to teach Lin Hwa when we got home that such ‘disregard’ was the default attitude of royalty. Unless it was between high officials or powerful royals, ignoring others was the basic approach regardless of who they were dealing with.

Even among siblings, they ignored each other based on their mothers’ status or the Emperor’s favor. How could ordinary people even register in their eyes?

“Then stay here. We’ll go to your parents together later.”

“Okay.”

I kept the unusually subdued Lin Hwa close by my side and checked where the Empress was standing.

Perhaps because the Emperor hadn’t arrived yet, the Empress wasn’t preparing to give greetings but was talking with the Taegam behind her.

Usually the Emperor and Empress appear around the same time. What’s going on today? Was it like this before the regression too?

‘I don’t remember anything else. I only recall things related to Princess Bomun. …Well, that should be fine then.’

How much time had passed?

As I quietly looked around, not wanting to show obsequiousness towards the 13th Prince in front of Lin Hwa, I saw a familiar woman approaching the Empress.

The woman with a pure beauty but somewhat sad impression was clearly Princess Bomun.

I glanced at the 13th Prince.

‘I wonder if he’ll show interest in Princess Bomun at least?’

Though he rejected it, she was the only one he had proper marriage talks with, even if briefly. According to pre-regression standards, that is.

But the 13th Prince didn’t seem particularly interested, just looking straight ahead with a gentle smile.

As for Lin Hwa, not knowing about Princess Bomun, she didn’t seem very interested. She looked at the 13th Prince once, trying to find where he was directing his warm gaze.

But when she realized the gaze was falling on a sturdy ox-like Taegam, Lin Hwa completely lost interest and lowered her eyes again.

“Boring.”

Hearing her mutter quietly, it seems Lin Hwa lost all interest in the Dongchowol ceremony after being ignored once by the 13th Prince.

But what can you do? You’ll have to come along when four invitation cards arrive in the future too.

However, Lin Hwa’s gloomy face suddenly brightened at the sound of “His Majesty the Emperor arrives!”

In the blink of an eye, Lin Hwa’s face lit up with curiosity again as she stared wide-eyed towards the Empress.

Then, spotting the Emperor appearing beside the Empress, she quickly glanced at the 13th Prince’s profile. I know. The Emperor looks a lot like the 13th Prince.

But now is not the time to check how similar the father and son’s faces are, little sister. I held Lin Hwa’s back from behind, pressing her forward firmly as I greeted.

“We pay our respects to His Majesty the Emperor.”

Fortunately, I was able to make Lin Hwa bow in time with the rhythm.

Lin Hwa tried to stand up for a moment, not understanding, but when she noticed everyone around bowing simultaneously, she continued to bow perceptively.

“Rise.”

Upon the Emperor’s permission, Lin Hwa shook her back vigorously to shake off my hand, then straightened up on her own.

But as soon as she straightened up, Lin Hwa craned her neck to look closely at the Emperor, just like before.

‘She’ll probably lose interest after observing enough. Let’s leave her be now.’

Today, even those without official positions are attending in large numbers, so the Emperor won’t be as prickly as when dealing with ministers anyway.

I let Lin Hwa observe the Emperor and stepped back slightly.

Meanwhile, the Emperor was tossing out a few perfunctory words of blessing.

“Another year has passed and we’ve safely welcomed winter. This year too-”

Since it didn’t matter if I heard or not, I pretended to listen intently to the Emperor’s speech, nodding my head while checking my parents’ location with my eyes.

When the Emperor stops speaking and it’s time to move freely, I need to take Lin Hwa to her parents.

But my head, which had been turning around earnestly looking for my parents, paused momentarily upon spotting Princess Bomun in the place of honor.

Princess Bomun standing next to the Empress was unexpectedly looking at Lin Hwa with narrowed eyes. It was a blatantly scrutinizing gaze. While our Lin Hwa was only looking at His Majesty.

Then Princess Bomun, perhaps sensing my gaze, turned her head slightly to look in my direction. But the gaze towards me was different from when she looked at Lin Hwa. There was no soul in her eyes when looking at me.

Moreover, the gaze was brief, and quickly returned to Lin Hwa.

‘Ah. Well. I suppose it makes sense from Princess Bomun’s perspective.’

That princess doesn’t yet know the future where she’ll be rejected by the 13th Prince and sent back. From her point of view, the 13th Prince is her prospective groom.

So she must be concerned to see a beautiful young lady so close to that groom. Though Lin Hwa has a terrible personality, her face is truly lovely and pretty.

I’m not saying that because she’s my sister, but objectively.

Then Princess Bomun turned her head back towards the Emperor as he finished his speech.

‘I guess she’s going to talk to the Emperor about concubines and the 13th Prince.’

I didn’t pay more attention to that, since I already knew the story, and looked around for my parents again.

Then I was startled by laughter from behind and turned around. The 13th Prince, who had been quiet all along, was faintly raising his lips with his fist pressed to his mouth.

‘What? Did he laugh?’

Puzzled, I stared at him, and the 13th Prince lowered his hand and asked.

“What are you doing, moving your head like a chicken?”

“A chicken?”

“Aren’t you bobbing your head left and right? From behind, you look exactly like a chicken.”

What? He was quiet all this time. Was he watching the back of my head?

As I opened my mouth in bewilderment, the 13th Prince turned his head with a serious expression after teasing me first.

That incomprehensible behavior makes me uneasy. I wonder if he was looking at the back of my head thinking he wanted to strike it.

As I was rubbing the back of my head with my hand for no reason, the 13th Prince chuckled and said.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t looking because something was on it.”

“Then?”

“I looked because you were moving strangely.”

Well, that’s reassuring.

But I can’t show a servile attitude towards the 13th Prince in front of Lin Hwa. Instead of exchanging more words, I just smiled mildly and looked for my parents again.

But in case the 13th Prince might mock me again, this time I searched while keeping my neck as stiff as possible.

How long had I been doing that? Just as I finally spotted my parents, murmuring sounds like waves flowed over here.

‘What’s going on?’

The puzzlement was brief. Soon I guessed what had happened.

It seems Princess Bomun brought up the concubine matter and the 13th Prince in front of the Emperor and Empress, and the Emperor relayed that story to those standing in the front row.

Unless the Emperor shouted forcefully, his voice wouldn’t carry well this far back, but those in the front row would hear the Emperor’s voice clearly.

Suppressing the urge to check the 13th Prince’s expression, I deliberately made a confused face and bobbed my head again.

‘Damn it. Disciple. Are you still watching the back of my head? You’re laughing again.’

As I was stiffening my neck again at the sound of my disciple’s laughter from behind, that’s when it happened.

“My goodness, Your Majesty.”

The Empress’s voice carried faintly to here.

While the people gathered at the banquet quieted to hear the Emperor’s words, the Empress seemed to have put more strength in her voice than before.

I also took my gaze off my parents and looked at the Empress. The Empress was asking the Emperor with a seemingly benevolent smile on her lips.

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t select concubines this time?”

I don’t immediately understand the Empress’s words. Selecting concubines?

Soon after, the Emperor’s voice was heard.

“The Emperor of Taewol is personally sending his younger sister as a concubine, they say.”

“Yes, Princess Bomun said so.”

“Other concubines enter the palace with their cohorts. But if the Emperor of Taewol’s sister enters alone, she’ll have no cohort. Coming from a foreign land, it will be hard to adjust without cohorts. So wouldn’t it be good to create one or two cohorts for her?”

Only after hearing this far did I understand what the Emperor and Empress were discussing.

So… when taking in the Taewol Emperor’s half-sister as a concubine, they’re saying they’ll select one or two more concubines from Hwaeum?

This didn’t happen before the regression. Before the regression, only the Taewol Emperor’s half-sister came as a concubine.

Moreover, perhaps because she was a concubine received due to relations with Taewol, the Emperor didn’t pay much attention to the precious concubine from a princess.

In fact, I remember that concubine from a princess was quiet even in her own country, so she lived quietly here too, to the point where her presence faded away later.

Of course, she didn’t torment the 13th Prince like other concubines. Thanks to that, when the 13th Prince ascended to the throne, she wasn’t purged and received the treatment befitting a former emperor’s concubine, but…

So why is the Emperor suddenly saying he’ll create cohorts for that concubine? Did the 13th Prince do something in between to change the future?

The future related to Head of House Yu and Sun An changed because of me. The marriage talks between the 13th Prince and me are also a future that changed when I saved the 9th Princess.

But where did the future of the Emperor trying to select additional concubines change from?

‘Did the 13th Prince do something? Is that why this happened?’

I’m so curious, but I couldn’t look at the 13th Prince here. I have to pretend to be surprised and listen to the Emperor and Empress’s conversation like everyone else.

Like Lin Hwa and the others around, I stared intently at only the Emperor, pretending to be curious about this news.

That’s when it happened. The Emperor, who had been saying something to the Empress, turned his head and looked in my direction.

‘Me? Is he looking at me?’

I mistakenly thought the Emperor was looking at me for a moment, then immediately realized the truth.

Ah. Princess Bomun probably brought up the marriage talks with the 13th Prince while mentioning the concubine matter. So he must be looking at the 13th Prince. He glanced at me briefly since I was next to the 13th Prince.

Disciple. It seems the Emperor has something to say to you. Feeling uncomfortable making eye contact with the Emperor, I quickly turned my head towards the 13th Prince.

It was perfect timing since I wanted to check the 13th Prince’s expression too.

But the 13th Prince was looking at me, not his father. Moreover, this disciple, whatever he was displeased about, his gaze towards me was tinged with anger in that brief moment.

‘What? Why are you doing this again! Why are you glaring at me again?’