Royal Coup d'État - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21
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Members of the Imperial Family were granted residences in various regions across the nation when they came of age or married and left the Palace, thereby contributing to balanced regional development.
The provision inscribed in Imperial Law also carried the intent of scattering the Imperial Family throughout the Eight Provinces to prevent internal discord.
Yet it would be inaccurate to say that Uigu Daegun’s ties to the capital had been severed merely because he had built and inhabited a secondary palace in Changwon after his marriage.
Imperial Law, for all its conservatism, was rife with loopholes. As long as his residence stood in Changwon, there was nothing to prevent him from ascending to the capital several times a week. He possessed an almost preternatural gift for exploiting such gaps.
“Ah…….”
Uigu Daegun exhaled into the large bathtub, his body settling into its warmth. The tepid water and fragrant Bath Additive worked the tension from his muscles.
To facilitate the smooth conduct of state affairs, the Imperial Family had been granted the right to stay in secondary palaces owned by the Imperial Court within the capital region. Yet since there were not many such residences, multiple families had to share quarters, an arrangement that bred considerable inconvenience.
Naturally, the Palace Administration Office claimed to have minimized the hardship according to rank, but this satisfied Uigu Daegun not at all. To lodge alongside his youngest brother’s family—jet-black children running underfoot? It was an insult.
In truth, when Uigu Daegun visited Seoul, he never stayed in those secondary palaces. To call such transient quarters a “palace” was itself an affront. He was true nobility—born and raised within the Imperial Palace. Only the Imperial Palace, where his mother and father dwelt, where every moment of his childhood still lingered in the corridors, was his true home.
That was why, whenever he came to Seoul, Uigu Daegun stayed at a hotel positioned to afford the finest view of Changdeok Palace.
The suite with the largest windows and the clearest sightline to Changdeok Palace was never without a reservation. This was the hotel’s own accommodation to a demanding member of the Imperial Family—always ensuring their preferred dates remained available.
“So what did you say just now?”
Uigu Daegun pinched a glass of red Wine between his fingers, inquiring. His secretary, a thin towel draped across one arm as he attended, quickly bowed at the waist.
“Cheonyang Hyunju entered the inner palace at dawn today, or so it is reported.”
“Nothing remarkable in that. The girl frequents the Imperial Palace constantly enough.”
Though his words carried a tone of magnanimity, his expression was sour. The way the Wine swirled in his glass seemed to mirror the agitation churning within him.
The secretary hesitated, gauging his mood before proceeding carefully.
“Yet it was not a solitary visit, sir.”
“Was Uijeong Daegun with her? That coward’s whelp—so he finds his courage only while I sleep?”
Uigu Daegun drank deeply. Wine seeped from between his lips, running along his jaw. When he reached irritably for a cloth, his secretary offered the towel.
As Uigu Daegun set down his glass, he finally noticed his secretary’s agitation—the man fidgeting like a distressed puppy unsure where to turn.
“What is it?”
“It was not Uijeong Daegun, sir. It was a detective.”
“What?”
A detective?
Uigu Daegun’s brow furrowed in an instant. Which detective could possibly have cause to align with him? As far as he knew, only one figure came to mind.
“Is that woman scheming something clever behind my back?”
Though warm water dissolved into every fiber of his being, his heart grew colder still. A chill crept through him with precision, as though he could sense exactly where this thread was leading.
A low chuckle escaped Uigu Daegun’s lips. The furrow that had creased his brow smoothed away as if pressed flat.
“A detective is troublesome, admittedly.”
Uigu Daegun murmured, tapping the edge of the tub with his fingertips. Dull, hollow sounds reverberated through the quiet bathroom.
“But troublesome things can simply be removed.”
“Shall I arrange a meeting with the Seoul Police Commissioner, sir?”
“I think I’ll play some golf instead. Before the weather turns colder and my body stiffens.”
“Of course, sir. Choi has just opened a golf course, I believe—it would be ideal for avoiding unwanted attention.”
Their conversation was relentlessly mundane. The grief displayed by the younger brother who had lost an older brother was far more odious than a crocodile’s tears—a contemptible fabrication.
If word spread that he had played golf during the mourning period, he would suffer damage to his image. Yet he felt no real concern. He possessed absolute certainty that discovery would never occur.
Uigu Daegun had lived this way all his life. He was always grasping for slightly more than what he held. He could scarcely call it his own fault—the root of resentment lay in the stingy insufficiency of what had been allotted to him.
Moreover, the world cast no great reproach upon Uigu Daegun for his appetites or his occasional vengefulness. Indeed, at times the world seemed entirely blind to his true intentions and conduct.
In those moments, he felt exhilaration. The thrill of drawing wealth through the unblemished façade of imperial dignity, the pleasure of watching politicians and captains of industry bow their heads before him—these delighted him.
His rising pride aimed toward the highest point in the nation. It was only fitting that he should seize it.
Uigu Daegun reclined again into the bathwater. Foam rose with the currents, tickling his chest.
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“Did you just say what I think you said?”
Tae Oh, standing with his hands clasped behind his back in the Police Commissioner’s office, felt his eyebrows twitch. His eyes narrowed with suspicion, as though doubting the words had truly come from the Police Commissioner’s mouth.
“Did I speak too quietly?”
The Police Commissioner, who stood by the window tending to an orchid plant while leaving Tae Oh on his feet, tilted his head in confusion. Even as he remained aware that Tae Oh had understood perfectly, his expression feigned bewilderment.
Tae Oh exhaled toward the ceiling. His breath dispersed through the room in an acrid haze.
“Why must I leave my team, sir?”
“Leave? You’re something else. Someone might misunderstand.”
The Police Commissioner waved his hand dismissively, a smile playing at his lips.
Smile? Tae Oh was seething, yet the Police Commissioner remained unperturbed.
“I’m saying you’ll step down from your current post for the time being and dedicate yourself solely to the Task Force.”
“But you were the one who said—when I told you I was busy and couldn’t join the Special Investigation Task Force—that the Task Force was the Task Force and my regular post was my regular post.”
“Did I say that? Either way, isn’t this for the best? Concentrating entirely on one thing is never ideal, wouldn’t you agree?”
Watching the Police Commissioner smile with slick contentment, Tae Oh alone burned inside.
Of course, it was impossible to give one hundred percent focus to both the Task Force and his regular duties. Just his detective work alone required several sleepless nights, and he was well aware of how much his team was suffering in his absence.
But stepping away from the team entirely was another matter altogether. To be assigned to the Royal Family Special Investigation Task Force with no other portfolio? The language was pretty—”choice and concentration”—but it was nothing short of demotion.
Tae Oh’s hands clenched behind his back. He recalled what Seon had said at the Imperial Palace. That he would walk down a completely different path.
So this was it. Moving away from the steady career he’d built, being sidelined into a dead-end post.
‘A different path indeed,’ he thought with a thin smile.
But.
‘I’m not about to cower and retreat.’
He had no intention of backing down here. Whoever was pulling strings behind the scenes to pressure him this way had miscalculated badly. That much was certain.
“Fine. I’ll report back with that understanding. If we wrap up the Task Force quickly, there won’t be any need to appoint a new team leader to the Detective Division anyway.”
What the Police Commissioner meant was crystal clear: either bury this as fast as possible and reclaim his old position, or accept demotion and abandon the life everyone had begun calling his—the next Police Commissioner’s rise to power.
In that instant, a spark ignited the competitive fire that had smoldered deep within Tae Oh. That small flame became an inferno, spreading into an all-consuming blaze in the space of a heartbeat.
If they hadn’t touched him, if they’d merely shown their displeasure without resorting to such sordid tactics, perhaps Tae Oh would have questioned his own choice—whether he’d truly meant to reach into an investigation of the Imperial Family. He hadn’t burned with ambition to become the next Police Commissioner, but that didn’t mean he’d surrender an opportunity that had come this close. Now, though, stubborn pride was taking hold of him. What were they so desperate to hide? What about him and Cheonyang Hyunju joining forces frightened them so badly? If they were willing to go this far, then Tae Oh had no choice but to see it through to the end.

“I understand perfectly what you’re saying,” Tae Oh answered, and stepped out of the Police Commissioner’s office. As he closed the door behind him, his eyes held a chill so sharp and penetrating he’d never worn it before.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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