Prologue

Ranked No. 1 among the most exemplary members of the Korean Imperial Family, No. 1 in attendance at official duties, No. 1 among imperial family members people would most like to have as a daughter-in-law, and No. 4 in public recognition.

The Emperor’s granddaughter and the only daughter of the youngest Imperial Prince.

Princess Cheongyang, Lee Seon.

Everything she had achieved so far had been built through her own blood, sweat, and hard work, despite being only sixth in line for the throne.

As a member of the Imperial Family who enjoyed the support of the people, Seon believed she had duties that she was obligated to uphold. She did not consider it a waste to give up part of her life in order to fulfill those duties.

Even when people around her criticized her for being old-fashioned, she had nothing to be ashamed of. Nor did she want to become like those who ignored their duties as members of the Imperial Family and put their rights first.

[Three evenings ago, His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince passed away suddenly in an accident.]

But with the Crown Prince’s death, everything changed.

The moment Seon opened the Donhwamun Gate and stepped outside into the world, she accepted, deep in her bones, the new reality she now had to acknowledge.

Click—

The sound of camera shutters rang out without pause. Flashes exploded from every direction, leaving nowhere for her eyes to rest. It was enough to make anyone hesitate, but Seon stood proudly before the cameras, doing her best not to so much as blink.

The area prepared for reporters was already packed, while beyond the fences, citizens filled the street, shouting as they tried to capture even a single photograph with telephoto cameras and their phones.

Seon calmly took in the people before her. There was not much difference in elevation in front of Donhwamun, so she could not see very far into the distance, but the deafening noise was enough to give her an idea of the size of the crowd.

“Princess! Please look this way just once!”

“Your Highness! Minguk Daily! Please say a few words!”

Normally, official announcements from the Imperial Family were made through the Imperial Household Department.

There were few occasions that warranted an imperial family member stepping forward, and if something was serious enough to require someone to appear publicly, it should rightfully have been handled by the Emperor, the Empress, or the late Crown Prince.

For Seon, an imperial family member who was merely popular and ranked only sixth in succession, it was an excessive role to take on.

Moreover, there was hardly a place more suitable for drawing a crowd than Donhwamun, the main gate of Changdeokgung Palace, which was used as the Imperial Palace.

It had been Seon herself who chose this open location, where even ordinary citizens could see and hear the announcement, rather than a briefing room prepared inside the Imperial Household Department or Changdeokgung.

But as the attention poured down upon her, anxiety suddenly seized her.

Listening to the countless voices shouting over one another, Seon slowly closed her eyes.

With every movement she made, the sound of camera shutters grew even louder.

It meant that if she showed even the slightest sign of agitation now, they would notice immediately.

Seon took a deep breath and opened her eyes wide.

Sunlight struck her round pupils, making them shine brightly.

“I shall inform the people on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor.”

Her words were swallowed by the commotion of the noisy square and could not be heard properly.

The reporters who had been typing away at their laptops while straining their ears faltered and looked at one another.

“His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince has…”

The next words she spoke were not conveyed clearly, either.

One by one, the mouths of those who had been filled with curiosity fell silent.

Little by little, very slowly, their attention began to turn toward Seon.

They were no longer focused on the appearance of Lee Seon, the imperial family member.

They were focused on the words that would come from her lips.

Before the crowd, now filled with silence, Seon opened her mouth once more.

Her lips, dried and cracked after days of barely drinking any water, felt as though they might split apart.

“His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince…”

Everyone swallowed nervously and listened to Seon’s voice.

The only sound tickling her ears was the clicking of camera shutters.

“…was murdered.”

When the words Seon had been steeling herself to say finally burst from her lips, the crowd fell completely silent.

No one could say a word.

They doubted their own ears, and then they doubted Seon’s mouth as well.

Everyone looked at everyone else, afraid to be the first to step forward.

As though she had expected exactly this reaction, Seon remained composed and tightened the hands she had clasped over her stomach.

She could not let anyone see the faint trembling that had begun in her fingertips.

“The Imperial Family will conduct a rigorous investigation into this matter and, through an internal audit, uncover every wrongdoing without exception, regardless of position or right of succession.”

As Seon continued speaking with an impassive expression, astonishment gradually spread across the reporters’ faces.

She wasn’t saying nonsense because she had lost her mind over her uncle’s death!

The moment they realized that, the reporters began surging forward.

In fact, answering their questions was far simpler than reciting the statement she had prepared alone.

With a sense of relief, Seon listened to the questions being hurled at her in no particular order.

“Does what Your Highness has just said mean that the person who murdered His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince is somewhere within the Imperial Family?”

As they waited for Seon’s answer, camera shutters once again began going off in a frenzy.

The reporters’ eagerness to capture the moment when Seon made her bombshell declaration was palpable even to her.

More chaotic questions followed.

The Imperial Household Department’s public relations team desperately tried to control the barrage of questions being shouted without anyone even raising a hand, but it was useless.

Seon watched them for a moment before lightly raising her right hand.

It was only one slender hand being lifted, yet silence immediately settled over the crowd.

The standing she had built over the years as a member of the Imperial Family had not been earned through popularity alone.

Faced with the authority radiating from her fingertips, everyone watched her expression and closed their mouths.

“It cannot be ruled out.”

It was an ambiguous answer, but one that left the possibility open.

The sound of camera flashes intensified.

Then, from somewhere, a sharp voice rang out.

“Then, Princess Cheongyang, do you have nothing to be ashamed of?”

If the Crown Prince’s murderer truly existed within the Imperial Family, Seon could not escape that stigma either.

Slowly turning her head toward the direction from which the voice had come, Seon answered.

“I, Princess Cheongyang, have been ordered by His Majesty the Emperor to join the Imperial Family Special Investigation Task Force and cooperate with the investigation. Every investigation conducted in the course of that work will be directed at every member of the Imperial Family, and I myself will not be exempt.”

At the declaration that she, too, would undergo a thorough investigation, the sharp questions subsided.

Instead, a flood of other questions came pouring in.

“Is there someone inside the Imperial Family you already suspect?”

“His Imperial Highness died in a traffic accident. Are you saying that someone ordered the attack?”

There was no way she could explain every question surrounding the accident here.

Seon stood silently, waiting for the question that inevitably had to come.

“How will the succession to the throne proceed? Will it be put on hold until the investigation is over?”

There had been a reason she had come all the way to Donhwamun and appeared before the public herself to make an announcement that could simply have been distributed as a press release.

There was something she absolutely had to state in her own words.

And when the question she had been waiting for finally came, her eyes gleamed.

“Under Imperial Family law, succession to the throne proceeds according to the order of succession. However, if that is impossible, the opinion of the highest-ranking elder of the Imperial Family and the previous successor is to be followed. Given the current suspicion that a member of the Imperial Family was involved in His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince’s death, succession according to the established order is impossible.”

Seon spoke in a calm voice.

The sound of laptop keyboards clattering filled the air.

“But the previous successor was His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince, wasn’t he?”

“That is correct. Therefore, it would be preferable to proceed with the succession process after the investigation is complete. However, as you all know, we cannot disregard His Majesty the Emperor’s illness. Since we cannot delay the matter of determining a successor, the person who will inherit His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince’s position will be decided by His Majesty the Emperor.”

The moment Seon finished answering, some reporters who were particularly familiar with the inner workings of the Imperial Family realized whom this entire series of measures was targeting.

Suspending the order of succession meant putting a check on the person currently closest to the throne, didn’t it?

A face that had been plastered across countless news reports and articles for days after the Crown Prince’s death came to mind.

The Emperor’s second son, and Seon’s second uncle.

A man who openly spoke of his ambition to become Emperor and maintained close ties with influential figures in both the political and business worlds.

Grand Prince Uigoo.

Sensing that the reporters had all thought of the same person, Seon slightly lifted the corners of her lips.

“I promise that I will devote myself wholeheartedly to ensuring that the Imperial Family can stand proudly before the people, without shame.”

Seon lowered her hand and clasped it over her stomach once more.

She stared straight into the camera flashes pouring toward her.

Then, slowly, she bowed at the waist.

Questions and flashes continued to rain down upon Seon as she bowed.

Even when an Imperial Household Department employee shouted that a press release would soon be distributed, the questions showed no sign of stopping.