Chapter 10
Four days had already passed since the Crown Prince’s accident.
Despite the staggering scale of the accident, the exact details of his condition were still a closely guarded secret.
Before news that he was hovering between life and death began spreading through the media, they needed to settle everything that could be dealt with in advance.
While preparations for the aftermath of the Crown Prince’s accident were proceeding rapidly outside the Imperial Palace, the Imperial Family’s Association of Royal Relatives was convened within the Imperial Family.
The association had been established for the development and perpetual preservation of the Imperial Family, but despite its grand name, the meeting was little different from a complete mess.
People gathered at Gyeongchunjeon in Changgyeong Palace, which had been chosen as the meeting venue.
It was a palace hall that was rarely used these days, ever since the Imperial Family’s members had been scattered throughout the country’s eight provinces by Imperial decree, which required members of the Imperial Family to contribute to regional development.
A place that should have been filled with nothing but loneliness was finally beginning to smell of people again.
A very rancid and disgusting smell.
To Seon, who had stayed up all night, everything about this place had begun to grate on her nerves.
“Those bastards.”
All the partition doors between the main hall and the rooms had been opened, and several large tables had been brought in and arranged.
It looked quite different from the traditional appearance of the palace.
Several tables large enough to seat six people each had been pushed together in a long row, and Seon sat at the very end.
Even in the face of obvious tragedy, there were impure eyes more interested in searching for the next person to hold power than in mourning or grieving.
People were busy currying favor with one another and strengthening their own positions.
They were nothing more than a gathering of jackals.
Since when did we become such a harmonious family?
Even relatives who rarely bothered to show their faces were here, smiling brightly as they gathered together.
Seon watched them for a moment before irritably shifting her gaze.
No one paid any attention to her, quietly sitting in the corner as nothing more than sixth in the line of succession.
Seon’s large eyes slowly wandered around.
With the slightest shift of her gaze, this place revealed a world entirely different from the suffocating reality outside.
The scent of old wood.
The fragrance of air carried through the paper covering the windows.
Compared to the reality where the smell of blood constantly lingered in the air, this place was incredibly comfortable and cozy.
The smell of blood.
That’s right.
In the end, all of this stemmed from the sea of blood that had once again engulfed the Imperial Family.
Her kind and benevolent uncle’s accident had awakened those people’s filthy nature once more.
“Haa…”
Seon let out a deep breath and pressed her fingers against her temple.
Perhaps because she hadn’t slept at all since returning from yesterday’s meeting, her head throbbed.
The attitudes of the people she had encountered at the meeting and the circumstances surrounding her had tightened around her like a noose.
She was frustrated by the thought that she might fail to fulfill her grandfather’s hopes and clear her uncle’s name.
“Isn’t this truly a bolt from the blue?”
“Indeed. Who could have imagined something like this happening?”
“Hasn’t it already been four days? What are we going to do if His Highness doesn’t wake up?”
“Still… at least the heir to the throne is clear. We should be able to avoid any major chaos.”
There was an unmistakable barb hidden in the words being exchanged some distance away.
The heir to the throne is clear.
That was precisely the biggest seed of trouble.
Seon’s lips twisted slightly.
Imperial Family members in the twenty-first century.
Some people called them little more than puppets, remnants of a bygone era that did nothing but consume taxpayers’ money.
Yet the people of this country fundamentally respected the Emperor and the Imperial Family.
It was partly recognition of what the Emperor had done when he was an impossibly young boyājoining the War of Independence and eventually being left with a permanent limp in one leg.
It was also recognition of the previous generation of Imperial Family members, who had poured all their energy into welfare for marginalized groups and the development of the nation.
But was the present anything like those days?
The Emperor’s brothers, who had fought alongside him on battlefields and defended the country, had long since died and returned to the earth.
Their descendants, perhaps because they had spent their entire lives eating steaming rice in warm rooms, had no idea how frightening the world could be.
Unlike the previous generation, which had fulfilled its duties as members of the Imperial Family and earned its privileges, these people simply sat around collecting allowances for maintaining their dignity.
Worse, they had begun to rot from within, grasping at even the smallest opportunities to profit for themselves.
In such an era, the Crown Prince’s existence had been a new hope.
He was honest and incorruptible, just like his father.
There had been great hopes that if he simply succeeded the aging Emperor, the Imperial Family would eventually be restored to normal.
But now all of those hopes were nothing more than useless cries.
Look at them fawning over Grand Prince Uigoo because they want to stay on his good side.
Seon had been elected as a member of the Association of Royal Relatives after reaching adulthood and had even secured another term under the Emperor’s influence.
Now, sitting in the position she had held for seven years, she crossed her legs and observed the situation.
Grand Prince Uigoo hadn’t even entered the room yet, and they were already bending over backward to please him.
There was no greater collection of sycophants.
They disappeared whenever the Imperial Family needed them, only showing their faces when they needed something from the Imperial Family.
It wasn’t something that had started yesterday or today, but that didn’t make it any less unpleasant.
This was a national mourning period.
She understood that they were excited, but shouldn’t they at least have had the decency not to show it?
Seon’s eyes grew cold.
If Grand Prince Uigoo really had a hand in Uncle’s accident, I have to uncover it.
The Imperial Family was currently divided into three factions.
Those loyal to the Emperor.
Those quietly watching the situation.
And those who followed his second son, Grand Prince Uigoo.
If Grand Prince Uigoo ends up becoming the Crown Prince, I’ll return the jade investiture book I received when I was granted my title and leave this country.
Seon clenched her teeth.
In her opinion, there were few true members of the Imperial Family left within the Imperial Family.
Which meant she had to make a decision.
If that man became Crown Prince and eventually Emperor, the Imperial Family of this country would collapse.
The Imperial Family ultimately existed through the recognition of its people.
The people of this country, the Korean people, had always been that way.
If the Imperial Family fell so far that they could no longer accept it, they would eventually rise upāeven raising their fists if necessaryāand drive them out of this ancient palace.
Despite the Emperor’s enduring popularity and Seon’s active public engagements, support for the Imperial Family had been declining every year.
When it fell below fifty percent, hadn’t they even convened an emergency countermeasures meeting?
Seon had attended that meeting and passionately participated in the discussions.
Yet if that man became Emperor, she would rather see the Imperial Family collapse.
Yes.
An Imperial Family that could no longer earn the respect or recognition of its people had no reason to exist.
Swishā
While Seon was lost in thought, she heard the sound of fabric brushing against fabric.
She raised her head and saw a displeased face.
“You must be very sad. You don’t look well.”
When Seon recognized who was speaking to her, the light in her eyes seemed to die completely, as though all the passion inside her had suddenly been extinguished.
She didn’t even feel like prolonging the conversation.
The person who had approached her wasn’t even a member of the Association of Royal Relatives.
He was nothing more than a loach who had wormed his way into the meeting without permission.
“Girls are naturally emotional, after all. Seeing how bloodshot your eyes are from holding back your tears makes my heart ache.”
As if.
The blood vessels in Seon’s eyes had burst because she hadn’t slept properly for days.
It was also proof that she was suffering from accumulated exhaustion and insomnia because the royal relatives who shamelessly repeated whatever they thought would please Grand Prince Uigoo kept neglecting their official duties, leaving Seon to run around and handle everything alone.
“Then are you saying you’re not sad, Cousin?”
Seon calmly asked, forcing her anger down into the depths of her chest.
These people always overlooked one thing.
They always treated her like a young girl and ended up getting burned, yet they were too stupid to learn from it.
When it came to words, there wasn’t a single person in this room who could beat Seon.
“With the Crown Prince suffering such a serious accident, are you truly saying you’re not sad, Cousin?”
“No, well… Why wouldn’t I be sad? Crown Prince Hyung-nim is truly a good person.”
The man pretended to be sorrowful as though what he had just said was genuinely moving, even wiping unnecessarily at the corners of his completely dry eyes.
Seon calmly observed every bit of his performance before speaking in an emotionless tone.
“How sentimental of you. Are you going through menopause?”
“What did you say?”
Even as she watched Prince Sunheung grow furious, Seon didn’t spare him so much as a glance.
She had already done the bare minimum of courtesy by engaging him in a verbal exchange and answering his provocations.
“How dare you say such a thing to an elder!”
“An elder?”
Seon let her words trail off and gave him a brief smile.
Prince Sunheung’s voice was so loud and booming that everyone’s attention was beginning to turn toward them.
Seon had never enjoyed having her relatives’ attention, but this was one moment when she needed to make them realize something.
So she deliberately continued in a clear voice, loud enough for everyone to hear.
“This is the Imperial Family, isn’t it? Strictly speaking, the Imperial Family is a hierarchical society.”
“So… what?”
“You’re the son of a Prince of the Blood, Cousin, and I’m the daughter of a Grand Prince. We’re both ranked First Rank Junior.”
She paused.
“Our official ranks are the same, but… Ah, wait a moment. I stopped keeping track after tenth place in the line of succession. Exactly what rank are you again?”
Seon had struck Prince Sunheung precisely where it hurt most.
His face turned red, then gradually darkened to an almost bluish color.
She had hit the exact weak point that served as his trigger:
Nineteenth in the line of succession.
“If you’ve finished talking, would you please return to the spectator seats? This is where the members sit.”
Seon kindly raised her head and looked at Prince Sunheung.
He was breathing heavily through his nose, his face twisted with fury.
People like this were incredibly easy to deal with.
Those who couldn’t restrain their desires despite being members of the Imperial Family could be made to disappear from Seon’s world with nothing more than a simple turn of her palm.
The conversation from the elevator floated through Seon’s mind.
Perhaps this could be the last way to stop Grand Prince Uigoo.
If only Kwon Tae-oh cooperates.
After that, the next move would depend entirely on Seon’s courage.
Yes.
In the end, all of this came down to how much Seon was willing to commit herself.
