Chapter 9
The conference room soon fell silent, like the tide receding from the shore.
Even Sergeant Yoon Hee-jae, who had lingered until the very end in hopes of striking up a conversation, was dragged out by Tae-oh’s hand. At last, Seon had some time to herself.
Only the blue screen flickered in the dark conference room.
The distracting afterimage made her vision hazy, but her mind remained perfectly clear.
This meeting had not been convened to uncover the real truth.
The shoddy materials, the absence of testimony from even the police officers who had responded to the scene, and their obvious desperation to wrap everything up as quickly as possible made their intentions painfully clear.
“Haah…”
Seon let out a deep sigh and rose from her seat.
They had agreed to take a twenty-minute break, so she thought she’d go out and get some fresh air for a moment.
Creak.
When Seon pulled open the old iron door, she saw Seok-cheol leaning against the hallway wall, scrolling through a tablet.
At the sound of the door, Seok-cheol looked up, hurriedly straightened his posture, and approached her.
“Lady Cheongyang.”
“Now I understand why Grandfather sent me here.”
Seon let her shoulders droop and gave a powerless smile.
It seemed the Emperor had anticipated to some extent that the investigation would unfold like this.
But what could she possibly do?
The premise that she could see things the experts couldn’t simply because she was looking at them with her own eyes was wrong from the beginning.
They had no intention of investigating anything at all.
They weren’t even trying to look like experts.
“It seems Grand Prince Uigoo hasn’t only reached out to the Office of the Inspector-General.”
“It is well known that he frequently visits the National Police Agency. They say the reason Imperial Family members who get themselves into trouble contact Grand Prince Uigoo first is because he has so many connections within the National Police Agency.”
“Even so, I didn’t expect it to be this blatant.”
Seon exhaled hollowly and placed her hands on her waist.
The subject of this investigation was the Crown Prince.
No matter how much the Imperial Family’s standing had declined from what it once was, and no matter how loudly its opponents had begun to speak out, the Crown Prince remained quite popular.
He might be hanging between life and death after a serious accident, but this attitude didn’t align with public sentiment either.
If it became known later that the investigation had been rushed through in this manner, the people who would suffer were the investigators themselves.
And yet they were behaving this way.
That meant there was an obvious motive behind it.
And as the Crown Prince’s accident was wrapped up more quickly, there would be only one person who benefited.
Her head felt even more complicated.
She might barely be able to make her voice heard, but that didn’t mean she had any real influence.
As the Office of the Inspector-General had said, the police were responsible for the overall investigation process.
In the end, that meant that if she lost the battle of wills, it would all be over.
“I need to clear my head.”
“I’ll accompany you.”
“No. I’ll go alone.”
At Seon’s words, Seok-cheol immediately furrowed his brow.
“This isn’t a familiar place, either.”
“That’s precisely why it’s fine.”
Seon stretched as though loosening her stiff body, then lightly twisted her upper body from side to side.
Seok-cheol’s face filled with displeasure at Seon’s seemingly carefree attitude.
“Don’t worry, Jo Jeonwi.”
“Even though someone may have attempted to assassinate His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“That’s why you don’t need to worry here even more.”
Seon swept her cold gaze across the empty hallway as she murmured,
“If something happens to His Highness and then something happens to me immediately afterward, whoever orchestrated this won’t be able to sweep it under the rug so easily this time.”
Seok-cheol still looked as though he had more to say. His lips moved hesitantly, reluctant to let the matter go.
“I heard you can take the elevator straight to the rooftop. Surely the CCTV won’t conveniently break down here as well.”
Even as she said that, Seon understood Seok-cheol’s concern.
She couldn’t even bring herself to refuse his insistence on accompanying her as far as the elevator.
Seok-cheol pressed the elevator button first.
As he watched the changing numbersāfirst floor, second floorāhe continued to nag her with worry in his voice.
Dingā
Seon nodded absentmindedly.
When the arrival chime sounded and the elevator doors opened, she felt relieved.
What she desperately needed was some time alone.
“Ah.”
But the heavens were apparently not on Seon’s side.
The elevator wasn’t empty.
She immediately straightened the relaxed expression and posture she’d adopted while talking to Seok-cheol.
Deliberately lifting the corners of her lips into a smile, Seon lowered her head slightly and stepped into the elevator.
Through the narrowing gap between the closing doors, she could see Seok-cheol’s lips moving in protest.
But the closing button had already been pressed without mercy, and he quickly disappeared from view.
“What floor are you going to?”
In front of Seok-cheol, Tae-oh hadn’t said a single word and had simply pressed the close button.
Perhaps because they were now alone, however, he spoke to her in his stiff voice.
Seon glanced at the illuminated floor indicator before looking straight ahead.
“Looks like we’re headed to the same place.”
“Ah.”
Tae-oh also looked at the red light indicating the rooftop floor and gave a short reply.
It was an unbearably awkward stretch of time.
Waiting for the elevator to go from the first floor to the third had seemed like it would take only an instant.
But on the way to the rooftop, Seon felt as though she had been trapped in some kind of karma of time.
Why did the rooftop have to be on the sixteenth floor?
She found herself resenting the fact that the number on the panel had only reached six.
“How far do you intend to take this?”
When the number changed from six to seven, Tae-oh spoke first.
Seon slowly turned her head toward him.
His chin still looked stiff and stubborn.
How far do I intend to take this?
It was obvious he was asking about the investigation.
But there was something fundamentally troubling about his question.
Wasn’t an investigation supposed to end only when all doubts had been resolved?
A feeling of resistance surged up from deep within Seon.
It was almost as though he were declaring that he had no intention of conducting a proper investigation.
It made her deeply uncomfortable.
Seon turned her gaze back toward the firmly closed elevator doors.
Could it be that no one else will even get on this elevator?
“Who knows?”
When the elevator reached the eighth floor, Seon finally spoke.
Tae-oh didn’t so much as twitch a finger at her response.
“How far would I have to go before Inspector Kwon felt comfortable?”
At Seon’s question, she heard Tae-oh take a deep breath.
Even without looking at him, she could sense his unmistakable agitation.
It didn’t last long.
Though he revealed his discomfort by fidgeting with his fists and clearing his throat, he seemed to be trying his best not to let it show.
“I’m a detective.”
Tae-oh continued speaking slowly.
“When I find the answer a victim’s family has been looking for, I feel a certain sense of fulfillment. But that’s not always possible.”
“I’m very impressed by how hard you’re trying.”
“……”
“But you can probably predict how this investigation will end if you continue like this.”
A sense of helplessness suddenly descended upon Seon.
Like an elevator that couldn’t be stopped midway once its button had been pressed.
The desperation of wanting to jump out but being unable to do so overwhelmed her.
Seon knew where this investigation was heading as well.
She wanted desperately to set it right, but everything seemed hopeless.
Even without Tae-oh deliberately poking at her sore spots, the situation was already enough to give her a headache.
To swallow down the boiling anger inside her, Seon deliberately deepened her smile.
Her rounded lips concealed the complicated emotions within her.
“Even judging from the evidence we confirmed in the conference room a moment ago, it’s difficult to conclude that there are signs of any crime other than the accident.”
At last, the elevator passed the tenth floor.
Seon glanced at the number before lowering her gaze.
The surface of her black patent leather shoes gleamed.
As she quietly stared at the shining toes of her shoes, Seon thought of her uncle lying in the hospital.
Her uncle, who was barely clinging to life with the help of a respirator.
What would Uncle have done?
Ever since she was young, her uncle had often sat her on his lap and told her stories.
He had told her how he dealt with particularly disobedient members of the Imperial Family and politicians.
He had also taught her how he acted when faced with situations like thisāsituations where there seemed to be no answer because everything was blocked from every direction.
There was no evidence capable of establishing specific signs of a crime.
Then was this really just an unlucky traffic accident?
Seon lightly bit her lip.
No.
If the Emperor had thought that, he never would have sent Seon here.
And it was unnatural that the absurd circumstances kept repeating themselvesāthe CCTV footage conveniently developing a gap, the other vehicle’s owner suddenly appearing.
If there was no evidence…
And if that meant her uncle’s accident had to be swept away like this…
“Then I just have to find decisive evidence capable of overturning this situation.”
Seon murmured quietly.
Tae-oh merely raised his eyebrows without saying anything.
“Decisive evidence…”
As Seon turned the thought over in her mind, a voice she’d heard not long ago flashed through her memory.
“An autopsy.”
At Seon’s words, Tae-oh turned his head.
Their eyes finally met within the narrow confines of the elevator.
Tae-oh’s expression became strange as he met the light shining in Seon’s eyes.
“I heard they’re only performing an autopsy on the other driver’s body.”
“An autopsy warrant can’t even be issued for someone affiliated with the Imperial Household Department.”
Tae-oh scratched his head as he spoke.
A hint of irritation colored his voice, as though the subject was troublesome.
“Do you think we enjoy only being able to perform an autopsy on the other driver? What are we supposed to do when an autopsy for that driver affiliated with the Imperial Household Department is impossible to authorize no matter what?”
“That’s what it would be like for you, Inspector Kwon.”
At Seon’s calm reply, Tae-oh gave a hollow laugh and shot back,
“What’s so different about you, Lady Cheongyang? Honestly, unless you’re His Majesty the Emperor or His Highness the Crown Prince, from my perspective, you’re no different from an ordinary person who just happens to have Imperial blood flowing through your veins.”
“If you’re saying I’m an Imperial Family member without any real power, then you’re right.”
Seon answered calmly.
“But Inspector Kwon and I are still different.”
The calmer Seon became, the more irritated Tae-oh seemed to get.
Whether it was because Seon, who had thought herself somewhat different from the other Imperial Family members, was annoyed by his lofty, crane-like attitude, or because she had been unexpectedly shaken by his words, neither of them could tell.
“I suppose a young lady from the household of a noble Grand Prince really is different.”
“Of course.”
Seon replied without hesitation.
“At the very least, I can see His Majesty the Emperor whenever I want.”
Ding.
At that very moment, the elevator stopped.
“If I obtain that warrant for you, will you be able to make a choice as well, Inspector Kwon?”
“What choice are you talking about?”
Tae-oh shot back sharply.
Seon slowly and clearly answered,
“If His Highness the Crown Prince also passes away, I’m asking whether you’ll be able to perform an autopsy on him as well, not just on the Imperial Household Department driver.”
“Would that even be possible…! And what choice would that give me?”
“It would give you the choice to find at least the minimum amount of truth.”
“The choice to find the minimum amount of truth.”
The doors opened, giving them somewhere to escape to.
But neither of them looked away from the other first.
Their gazes, wary and mutually distrustful, remained locked together within the elevator.
