Chapter 11
There was very little that Grand Prince Uigoo, the Emperor’s second son, lacked.
His exalted status as a Prince of the Blood was one thing, and the people constantly surrounding him were another. When he was young, his eloquent speech had drawn people’s attention, and as he grew older, he swept people along with the force of his position.
If the Crown Prince, who had no heir after the early death of the Imperial Grandson, became Emperor, this man would immediately become first in the line of succession.
Yet that tenuous position could be snatched away in an instant if the Crown Prince simply adopted a single child.
For someone who had spent his entire life balancing on such an unstable tightrope, he was remarkably confident. Perhaps because he believed that once his father and brother died, he would eventually become Emperor, he always behaved as though he were already the next Emperor.
And that was putting it mildly.
“Grand Prince Uigoo has arrived!”
“Brother, why are you so late? Come over here and sit with us.”
“What are you talking about, Younger Brother? I saved a seat for you over here, so come this way.”
From the moment Grand Prince Uigoo entered Gyeongchunjeon, the hall became so noisy that it was enough to make one’s ears ring. The sight of everyone fawning over the new center of power was almost nauseating.
Each person was desperately trying to say even a single word to Grand Prince Uigoo in an attempt to win his favor.
“Haha. Why is everyone so excited? Compose yourselves.”
“We just want to sit with you, Brother.”
“Everyone, don’t act rashly. Haven’t we heard that His Highness the Crown Prince suffered a serious accident? This isn’t the time for us to be making such a racket.”
Grand Prince Uigoo’s expression was quite bright as he received the welcome of his faction. Laughing heartily as he gauged where he should sit, he looked exactly like a genial hero of old.
Is that really how a younger brother should act after hearing about his older brother’s accident?
Seon sat with her legs crossed, lightly tapping the toe of her shoe.
It was the only way she could express her displeasure.
Prince Gyeongan, who clung to his father and merely watched his reactions, was irritating enough, but the person who bothered her most was Grand Prince Uigoo.
That bright smile simply refused to disappear from his face.
“Seon.”
Just then, she sensed someone approaching from behind.
At the sound of footsteps drawing closer, Seon glanced over her shoulder.
There were hardly any members of the Imperial Family who were on Seon’s side, but the person approaching her now was different.
A smile of genuine welcome spread across Seon’s face.
“Brother. You’re here?”
The man who greeted her was Dong, Seon’s sixth cousin, Yeongpyeong Dojeong.
Dong, the grandson of Prince Yeonchin and the great-grandson of the previous Emperor, lived in Jeungpyeong, near Jincheon, where Grand Prince Uijeong’s palace residence was located. Because of that, he and Seon had frequently visited one another since childhood.
Unlike the other members of the Imperial Family, he was also someone with whom Seon could actually communicate well.
He glanced toward the crowded group surrounding Grand Prince Uigoo, pulled over a chair, and dropped heavily into it.
At last, the sound of another person’s breathing filled Seon’s previously desolate corner.
Dong crossed his arms and clicked his tongue as he looked toward Grand Prince Uigoo.
“Grand Prince Uigoo looks like the most excited one here.”
“He’s so close to the position he’s wanted for so long. How could he not be excited?”
Seon muttered with a mocking smile.
Dong shrugged as though he thought the same.
Fortunately, Seon wasn’t the only one who looked unfavorably upon Grand Prince Uigoo.
If there was an obvious faction following Grand Prince Uigoo, there were also unmistakable gazes that viewed him with discomfort.
“Tsk. The Crown Prince has suddenly suffered such a terrible misfortune, yet he doesn’t even know how to conduct himself.”
“That Grand Prince Uigoo has been throwing his weight around since he was young, but now he’s like a fish that has finally found water.”
“It’s not as though he’s actually praying for the Crown Prince to pass away. How can he be so incapable of hiding his true feelings? Tsk. If only the Crown Prince had another child.”
The voices whispering among those seated far away from Grand Prince Uigoo were surprisingly clear.
The unfortunate thing was that most of those who disliked him were senior members of the Imperial Family, both in age and degree of kinship.
As they grew older, they appeared less frequently at Imperial Family events, which also meant that their influence was not particularly strong.
Meanwhile, another group was quietly observing the situation.
They were members of the Imperial Family positioned near the very bottom of the line of succession, people who had absolutely no possibility of ever inheriting the throne. Consequently, they were calculating individuals who prioritized whatever benefits might eventually fall into their own hands.
Seon looked around at those members of the Imperial Family before letting out a short breath.
Dividing people into enemies and allies.
It felt like a lifelong assignment.
Even though she had lived far removed from the throne, she had been forced to experience the unpleasantness of it firsthand, and that suffocating feeling slowly began to creep back into her heart.
“When I see that smug face, I feel like throwing ashes all over it.”
For some reason, her mouth tasted bitter.
There were suspicious aspects surrounding the Crown Prince’s accident, and even the investigation had been completely obstructed.
Grand Prince Uigoo was the only person who stood to benefit from the situation, but there was still insufficient evidence to point a finger at him.
Wanting to hastily conclude an investigation and murdering the Crown Prince were entirely different matters.
It was too early to conclude that her Uncle had gone so far.
And yet, her personal resentment toward him kept raising its head.
The way he had conducted himself throughout his life had never been clean or incorruptible, even if one set aside the question of whether he had committed a crime.
What will happen to this country if someone like that becomes Emperor?
How could we, as members of the Imperial Family, present a leader whom even I cannot respect before the people?
Her thoughts became tangled.
The face of Tae-oh, who had ultimately parted with her in silence, kept appearing in her mind.
That detective needs to understand my resolve.
Within the Special Investigation TF, which already seemed to have fallen into Grand Prince Uigoo’s hands, the only person Seon could trust was Kwon Tae-oh.
He was the only one who had shown no signs of having made a deal with anyone.
If only he would show a little more determination to investigate.
If only he would move according to my wishes.
Seon nervously tapped her foot.
“I heard you joined the Special Investigation Team.”
Dong lowered his voice and whispered.
Seon also glanced toward Grand Prince Uigoo before nodding.
“If His Majesty specifically chose you and sent you there, there must be some kind of problem.”
“I don’t know how far Grandfather intended to take this, but they don’t even seem interested in investigating. Most of the members are acquainted with Grand Prince Uigoo.”
“That won’t be easy.”
Dong sighed sincerely.
From a young age, Dong had often been called a prodigy. He graduated from middle school and high school early, then went abroad to study on a scholarship.
He was also the only member of the Imperial Family who had gone abroad on an academic scholarship awarded for his school performance, rather than through the dignity-maintenance allowance or the Imperial Family Scholarship Foundation.
After completing his studies abroad, Dong returned to the Imperial Family despite receiving countless offers to stay.
It was such an unconventional move that even foreign media outlets were buzzing about it, but Seon understood him.
Life in the Imperial Family had been a lifelong thorny path, but at the same time, it was also a heavy burden.
Neither Seon nor Dong was the kind of person who could simply cast such a thing aside.
After returning, Dong became the chairman of the Imperial Cultural Heritage Foundation, which managed cultural assets owned by the Imperial Family.
Even then, he was often obstructed in his work by Grand Prince Uigoo’s faction.
They would invite guests to royal villas or detached palaces without permission, borrow cultural artifacts, and whenever the opportunity arose, use their authority to force him down.
It was an enormous headache.
“Ugh.”
As the siblings sighed deeply, Prince Gongchin, the chairman of the Association of Royal Relatives, appeared.
He was the eldest son of Prince Yeonchin and the Emperor’s eldest nephew—the nephew the Emperor trusted and cherished most.
He took his seat at the head of the table and struck the gavel, finally managing to quiet the noisy hall.
Now the oldest person in the Imperial Family after the Emperor and Empress, he stared all the way to the end at the people timidly searching for suitable seats with an exhausted expression.
Perhaps because of the aura that came from his long years of experience, even those who had been making such a racket closed their mouths and hurried to find somewhere to sit.
At last, once the final person had found a suitable seat, the meeting finally began.
“There are quite a few uninvited guests.”
An elderly man in his seventies complained in a weak voice.
The Association of Royal Relatives was originally an event held about four times a year. Above all, it was never a warm gathering where every relative came together like this.
Perhaps the sight was unfamiliar even to him, because irritation had settled into every wrinkle on his face.
“Those without the right to speak are absolutely forbidden from opening their mouths. Unless you wish to attend this old man’s funeral together with me.”
Prince Gongchin grumbled as he opened the meeting.
Even so, Prince Gongchin was a fairly loyal member of the Imperial Family.
No matter how much influence Grand Prince Uigoo wielded within the Imperial Family, he remained loyal only to the Emperor.
He was the son who best followed Prince Yeonchin’s wish never to challenge his younger brother’s authority, and he was also an honest man who knew how to reprimand his younger brothers when they behaved recklessly.
Although he had reduced his public activities recently because of health problems, at the very least, he was not an enemy of Seon.
“As everyone gathered here can probably imagine, His Highness the Crown Prince’s condition is not good.”
Prince Gongchin spoke solemnly.
The hall fell silent at his grave words.
Seon could also feel the gazes stealing toward Grand Prince Uigoo.
She had to make an effort not to look at the smug expression that Grand Prince Uigoo was undoubtedly wearing.
“As a precaution, His Majesty the Emperor has ordered preparations to be made for the national funeral.”
National funeral.
The word felt heavier than ever.
Both the Emperor and Seon had foreseen that the Crown Prince might not survive, but hearing those words spoken openly before everyone was an entirely different matter.
As she sensed murmuring coming from around Grand Prince Uigoo, an unbearable sense of disgust washed over her.
“Silence!”
Prince Gongchin had noticed the disrespectful voices as well and thundered at them.
Despite his age and hunched body, his voice still rang throughout the hall.
Prince Gongchin looked through the documents he had brought with him.
Even with his reading glasses on, his vision seemed blurred. He deeply furrowed his brow and slowly worked his way through the contents.
Everyone focused on Prince Gongchin’s words.
“For the Crown Prince’s national funeral, His Majesty has ordered that the Three Directorates first be established. In accordance with precedent, the Directorate of the Original Burial Site will be overseen and determined by the Ministry of the Imperial Household. He has ordered that the Directorates of the Funeral Palace and Funeral Rites be placed under Grand Prince Uijeong as Chief Commissioner. Therefore, we must now select the members of the Imperial Family who will assist Grand Prince Uijeong.”
“What?”
The first objection came from the spectator seats.
Judging by how Grand Prince Uigoo’s face immediately turned cold, they were undoubtedly one of his lackeys who had rushed forward to protest on his behalf.
Come to think of it, Grand Prince Uigoo’s life really had been easy.
He always had people willing to step forward and fight for him.
Seon deliberately received the gazes that poured toward her as though everyone were searching for Grand Prince Uijeong, who had intentionally not attended the meeting.
She thought to herself.
“Wouldn’t it be proper, according to precedent, for Grand Prince Uigoo, who is higher in the line of succession, to take charge?”
“That’s right. At times like this, it’s especially important that we follow procedure and precedent.”
The lackeys of Grand Prince Uigoo, who had been holding their tongues, began speaking one after another.
There were even members of the Imperial Family who normally didn’t openly take sides but now cautiously joined in.
It seemed that with the news that the Crown Prince was in critical condition, they had decided whose side they should stand on.
Honestly.
When it came to matters like this, members of the Imperial Family were the quickest people in the world at reading which way the wind was blowing.
