Royal Coup d'État - Chapter 24

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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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Episode 24
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The corridor before the Temporary Mortuary was oddly, unnaturally silent. Death’s breath seemed to linger here, and no one raised their voice or laughed aloud.
The sharp medicinal scent of the Hospital mingled with the heavy incense used in Imperial funeral rites, pressing into the nostrils with each breath. With every inhalation, the chest grew cool from within.
Beyond this corridor lay the Temporary Mortuary. There waited the Crown Prince, now only a corpse, and his widow, the Crown Princess, in mourning. The thought alone weighed on the heart, and Son’s pace began to slow.
“Are you nervous?”
Tae-o seized the opening without hesitation. His quiet voice caught at Son’s footsteps. Yet there was no displeasure in that persistent tone.
The calculating gaze he’d worn while taking in the Hospital’s layout had vanished. His concern was too measured to be mere worry, too warm to be simple curiosity. A subtle breath unsettled her.
“Of course.”
Son answered with honesty.
“I’m about to face someone far more difficult to handle than the Emperor himself.”
Tae-o said nothing to that.
He knew as well as she did. The person beyond this corridor was the victim’s wife, and the one who had suffered the greatest loss in this realm. Though he had persuaded the Emperor—the highest authority—he could not ignore the Crown Princess’s emotional state.
It was a path treading on grief already too heavy to bear. Tae-o’s expression grew somber, his eyes falling quiet.
“We sent word ahead to the Crown Princess. She agreed to see us, though I’m told her condition is not good.”
“It would be. That’s all right.”
Son’s reply was brief. It was impossible to tell whether those words were comfort for herself or a bracing resolve.
At a junction in the corridor, Son parted ways with Seok-chol and Tae-o.
Each chose a path to verify the Hospital’s layout and the disposition of the Imperial Guard.
There were words of concern about Son facing the Crown Princess alone, but she shook her head with a faint smile.
Confronting the Crown Princess, her nerves already wound taut, was something that had to be done alone.
The Crown Princess was not a veteran like the Emperor; she didn’t need Tae-o’s assistance. What she needed now was emotion.
They dispersed, each taking their direction, and Son made for the Temporary Mortuary. A member of the Imperial Guard stood watch before the entrance in black mourning garments, recognized her, and opened the door.
The interior was dimly lit, and the scent of chrysanthemums placed in the center of the room pressed heavily upon the air.
Before Son’s eyes could even adjust to that heavy darkness, they found a single figure seated on a small waiting sofa.
The Crown Princess.
In her mourning garments, she appeared smaller than the last time Son had seen her.
As though she wished to hide her face, her back was hunched, and her hands were clenched tightly upon her lap. She did not even lift her head at the sound of Son’s entrance.
Son halted her steps and bowed deeply toward her.
“Your Highness.”
The Crown Princess did not respond readily to Son’s greeting. The depth of her suffering was palpable in every part of her being. Son remained bowed, waiting for her answer.
After several minutes had passed, the Crown Princess’s head rose with excruciating slowness. It was about then that Son felt a stinging ache settling into her lower back and neck.
“Lord of Cheongyang County.”
At the Crown Princess’s exhausted words, Son gradually straightened. She placed her hands together at her navel, lowering her head slightly.
“His Majesty must have been waiting as well.”
The Crown Princess spoke in a voice fractured with strain. Son moved slowly forward, as though responding to her words.
By custom, the formal place of lamentation had been prepared at Changdeok Palace, but this—this was the closest place to the dead Crown Prince.
Son picked up a single chrysanthemum. Its damp stem contrasted with the white bloom, and the sight stirred something in her chest. She steadied the sudden swell of emotion, thought of the Crown Prince, and offered the flower.
In that moment, Son made herself a vow: she would not let her uncle’s death be in vain. She would uncover every suspicion, no matter what it took.
Son withdrew slowly, brushing past the Crown Princess as she did. At a glance, the whites of her eyes were entirely bloodshot. It spoke of someone who had wept through sleepless nights for days.
“I am sorry, Your Highness. I thought I should come, yet I find myself facing you only now.”
“I do not blame you. I understand how turbulent things must be within the Imperial Family.”
The Crown Princess’s voice was so fragile it seemed ready to shatter at any moment. Within it lay reproof, regret, and anger all laid bare.
Now Son had to speak words too difficult for this moment. Her lips felt parched. She drew a breath and opened her mouth.
“In truth, Your Majesty, I have come because there is something I must tell you.”
“Yes. I imagine so.”
The Crown Princess’s eyes began to cool. The gaze that had burned with indignation moments before turned to ice.
“It seems my consort cannot rest in peace.”
The words struck at Son’s very core, and she fell silent.
She could have offered excuses—many of them. She could have explained how hard she was working to uncover the truth of the Crown Prince’s death.
But the Crown Princess was not wrong. Son had come to her only now, long after the Crown Prince’s death.
It was not enough to hide behind claims of being occupied, of being preoccupied with monitoring the Imperial relatives.
Son’s hands, clasped at her navel, tightened until her knuckles went white. There was no turning back now.
“I wish to believe that the Crown Prince’s death was an unfortunate accident. But what if—what if, against all odds, it was not simply an accident?”
“It was not an accident?”
The Crown Princess’s quiet repetition seemed to change the air in the room.
“Are you aware of what you are saying right now?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I have never been more lucid.”
Son’s voice rang clear.
“Then are you saying someone assassinated His Highness?”
“I believe that’s the case.”
At her words, the Crown Princess’s fingers trembled where they rested on her lap. The tremor was violent enough to shake her entire leg.
“And as long as there’s any possibility, it’s important to clarify the Crown Prince’s cause of death.”
“You. Right now. Are you saying……?”
The Crown Princess trailed off, as if she understood what was coming. She clamped her mouth shut in alarm. But Seon did not avert her gaze or shrink from the question.
“Please allow me to perform an autopsy.”
Silence fell over the room as though someone had poured water into it. Even if one had been stripped naked in the harshest winter cold and ice water dumped over one’s head, the face could not have turned this ashen. Her face had gone so pale it clashed starkly with her bloodshot eyes.
“He’s already dead. Will you torment him by raising a blade over him?”
The Crown Princess fumbled for words.
“It was painful enough as an accident. If you were to know how he looked…… how could you dare……?”
“That’s precisely why, Your Highness. He shouldn’t have had to leave us that way.”
Seon stepped forward toward the Crown Princess. Her thin, wasted frame looked pitiable. Seon felt a pang of guilt at burdening someone already so grief-stricken, but this was the only path she could see.
“I suspect someone within the Imperial Family.”
Seon spoke calmly. It was a card that should never be easily revealed to anyone, but before the Crown Princess—who had once considered her a daughter—she could lay it bare.
The Crown Princess’s face twisted subtly.
“Are you saying you’ll simply stand by and watch Prince Ui-gu become Emperor?”
“What meaning could that possibly have for me now? In a world without my husband, it matters little to me who ascends to the throne.”
“If Prince Ui-gu harmed His Highness, then? Can you bear to watch the man who assassinated your husband take the Imperial Throne?”
The Crown Princess’s voice quavered as she spoke.
“……Are you perhaps harboring ambitions for the throne yourself?”
The Crown Princess’s suppressed gaze fixed directly on Seon. Seon did not avoid those eyes. She met them with an unwavering gaze, wanting to convey even the smallest measure of sincerity.
The throne held no importance for Seon. What mattered was protecting those she loved. What mattered was ensuring that those she loved were not forgotten in vain. That was what truly mattered. That was what she wished to convey.
“Ah.”
A sigh escaped through the Crown Princess’s clenched teeth. She regarded Seon with an exhausted face, then bowed her head deeply.
“What if it causes him pain?”
“I will treat him with every honor and care.”
Seon answered quietly.
“If he truly was assassinated……”
As though entertaining a terrible thought, the Crown Princess shuddered for a moment. Then, as if something had occurred to her, she began murmuring to herself. Seon waited for her with patience.
“Ugh.”
Snap. The Crown Princess suddenly seized Seon’s wrist as though possessed, dragging her close. Despite appearing to be a woman who had forsaken food and drink, her grip was unnaturally strong, drawing a low sound of pain from Seon. She was desperate, as though she had to hear the answer.
The Crown Princess gripped Seon’s delicate wrist so tightly it blanched white, and spoke with precision, not discarding a single word.
“You must find the culprit.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I will.”
“You must discover who did this to my husband, to your uncle.”
The Crown Princess’s eyes gazing at Seon were sharper than they had been at any moment before. In an instant, it became clear that her preservation of the Crown Princess’s position without an heir, in her frail form, had been sustained not merely by the Crown Prince’s favor.
“If you find the culprit but fail to capture him.”
The Crown Princess’s voice hardened with finality. It felt solemn, as though she were making a declaration to Seon and sealing it with her stamp.
“I will do whatever it takes to prevent you from becoming Emperor.”

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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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