Royal Coup d'État - Chapter 31

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

Episode 31
* * *
The corridor was still dim.
Incense smoke drifted from the Mortuary Hall, filling the hallway’s air and lending his heart an even deeper sense of reverence.
Tae-o pulled on white gloves and checked his wristwatch. Ten in the morning. He’d arrived early, but had taken a long detour to avoid the press, and now time had slipped away from him.
Across the corridor, Dong-eun stood with an anxious expression, his mobile phone flickering on and off in restless hands. Unlike Tae-o, who was accustomed to clandestine work, his pupils seemed to quiver as though he were committing some grave crime.
“Hush.”
Tae-o spoke low. Dong-eun’s face twisted in displeasure, but he shoved the phone into his pocket and pressed his body flat against the wall.
Tae-o had had reason to signal. The Royal Guards who’d been standing watch at the Mortuary Hall door, eyes fixed forward, had begun to move. They’d received a transmission on a walkie-talkie from somewhere and were exchanging glances among themselves.
They murmured quietly to one another for a moment, then slipped past down the corridor and vanished—in the opposite direction from where Tae-o and Dong-eun were hiding.
Once the sounds of their presence had receded, Tae-o nodded.
“Let’s go.”
The two slipped swiftly into the Mortuary Hall.
Unlike the corridor, the air here was cool. Not a trace of the living remained.
Tae-o approached slowly the cabinet where the Crown Prince’s body lay. Not long ago, he’d come here with Seon; now he stood here alone.
He gripped the center handle and pulled. A cold corpse, shrouded in white cloth, came into view. A few steps away, Dong-eun drew in a sharp breath.
“How much longer will you just stand there gawking?”
Tae-o asked pointedly. Now Dong-eun glanced nervously around. He found a portable gurney stored in the Morgue for emergencies and drew near to Tae-o.
The two synchronized their breathing and lifted the body onto the gurney. Moving a limp adult corpse was no easy task, even for two strong men. Once they’d positioned it and smoothed the coverings, both stood breathing heavily.
“Just a little longer, Your Highness. Hold on just a little longer.”
Dong-eun whispered, gasping for breath.
Would anyone overhear him speaking to a dead man like that? Tae-o had been born with a brain structure that would never understand this sort of sentimentality. Yet today, strangely, his heart grew heavy. He felt the full weight of the duty he’d undertaken pressing down on him.
Tae-o gripped the head of the gurney while Dong-eun held the side rail, and they moved slowly out of the Mortuary Hall. Thanks to the Crown Princess’s cooperation, the corridor remained quiet.
The two hurried into an elevator—not the one reserved for the imperial family, but the freight elevator that required a longer route. Their path had been calculated perfectly, but they took this route also to avoid any chance of an unexpected encounter.
Ding. Ding. The cheerful chime marked each descending floor. Tae-o’s heart raced in rhythm with it.
Basement Level 3. Where the ambulance they’d prepared for transporting the body was waiting.
They pulled the gurney forward with force toward the glass door leading to the Parking Garage. One step. Two steps. With each step toward the garage, his heartbeat quickened.
The automatic door slid open silently. Only a few more paces to the ambulance. Tae-o’s grip tightened.
“Wait.”
An unfamiliar voice stopped them in their tracks. Dong-eun reacted first. His trembling hands clamped down on the rail as his head hung low. Even if he wasn’t famous, he was still of the imperial family. If they were caught, that was the likeliest outcome.
Tae-o turned around as naturally as possible, whispering to Dong-eun at the same time.
“Get in the ambulance first.”
As if given a lifeline, Dong-eun turned and dashed toward the ambulance. Watching him open the rear doors, Tae-o fixed the unfamiliar man with a steady gaze.
Sending Dong-eun ahead seemed to have been the right call. The black formal suit the man wore was identical to the mourning clothes the Royal Guards had worn when Tae-o and Seon had visited before.
Although the Crown Princess had agreed to cooperate and had cleared the Royal Guards from their route, not all of them were aware of this situation.
The Crown Princess was the last power holder remaining in the East Palace, but that didn’t mean everyone there was loyal to her.
To prepare for contingencies, Tae-o had given different reasons to each Royal Guard who’d been reassigned, and moving the Crown Prince’s body was strictly confidential.
Tae-o’s neck grew clammy. This was the moment to draw upon all the quick thinking he’d honed as a detective.
“What corpse is that?”
The Royal Guard peered over Tae-o’s shoulder and asked. His gaze fell onto the white shroud.
Cold sweat gathered in the palm gripping the gurney’s handle. But he couldn’t let his agitation show here. If he was caught now, Seon at the Imperial Palace was finished too.
“What do you think? A corpse, obviously.”
Tae-o answered with a firm, unbothered tone.
“Don’t you see I’m moving it right now?”
“No, I mean—”
The Royal Guard narrowed his eyes and looked Tae-o up and down. The cool air of the garage suddenly grew heavy.
“Why are you using imperial equipment to move someone else’s body?”
“Excuse me?”
Tae-o feigned shock, pretending to inspect the gurney he was holding from all angles. He’d simply taken what had been lying in the Morgue, but apparently it was imperial property. Swallowing down the irritation bubbling inside, he answered promptly.
“I grabbed what was stacked in the corridor. Is this imperial property?”
“Why would it be stacked in the corridor in the first place—”
The Royal Guard muttered doubtfully. Tae-o shot back without hesitation.
“Sounds like someone on your end wasn’t managing things properly. So, if you don’t mind waiting—I’ll just load the body and return the gurney to you.”
The Royal Guard scratched his head uncertainly at Tae-o’s brazen counter-argument. At that moment, someone called out from the far end of the garage.
“Jwa-sema! Aren’t you coming to eat?”
“Ah, yes! I’m coming!”
The Royal Guard—apparently named Jwa-sema—turned his head to answer, then hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Load the body, but leave that gurney in Zone B, out of the way. I’ll collect it later.”
“Understood.”
Tae-o answered evenly. The Royal Guard cast one more suspicious glance at the gurney. He seemed to crane his neck to peer toward the body’s face, but the form beneath the shroud—covered completely—revealed not a single hair.
“Hurry up! Where are you?”
At the man’s urgent shout from farther away, the Royal Guards member emphasized the need to return the gurney at once, then quickly rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.
Once Tae-o confirmed the footsteps had faded into distance, he pushed the gurney alone toward the rear of the ambulance, where Dong-eun had been holding his breath and now exhaled roughly.
“I never want to do something like that again.”
“We haven’t even started yet.”
The two of them pooled their strength to move the body inside. Only after securing it perfectly on the ambulance stretcher did Tae-o finally release a breath of relief.
This was truly just the beginning.
* * *
Securing an autopsy room at the National Forensic Service for an unidentified cadaver was no simple matter.
Though Tae-o was a detective who bent to authority, he had a past of earning recognition through competence, which allowed him to leverage the connections he’d built over the years.
Of course, even the Medical Examiner who received his request had no way of imagining that the unidentified body he’d brought was none other than the Crown Prince himself.
The Medical Examiner, who couldn’t hide her shock when she first saw the corpse’s face, emerged three hours after taking the body inside, her expression drawn with exhaustion.
Tae-o, who had been leaning against the autopsy room entrance holding a canned coffee, straightened up.
“If I’d known my livelihood was on the line, I’d have refused even if Detective Kwon herself had asked.”
“I apologize. It had to proceed in strict confidentiality, so I couldn’t inform you beforehand.”
The Medical Examiner peeled off her latex gloves, rolling her stiffened neck. When she accepted the canned coffee Tae-o offered and cracked it open, she drank deeply without pause.
“In any case, I’ll maintain the confidentiality, so don’t worry. I covered his face during the CT scan, and the investigators who went in are the tight-lipped type.”
Tae-o nodded with a faint smile.
“Detective Kwon of all people bringing the Crown Prince’s own body while circumventing procedure—you must be curious about something.”
She crumpled the empty can sharply.
“The external examination showed no major issues. The fractures and contusions typical of a traffic accident were all present as expected.”
“Which means.”
“Outwardly, it appears to be a perfect accidental death.”
The Medical Examiner cut to the point. Yet her words left a thread trailing behind them. The word “outwardly” being the key.
When Tae-o’s eyes shifted, the Medical Examiner too let out a hollow laugh.
“I can’t say for certain until the blood work comes back, but the organ condition seemed slightly off.”
Tae-o’s stomach lurched violently. An anomaly in the corpse itself—this was the most powerful evidence, the best way to reverse the direction of an investigation on the verge of being buried by someone’s hand.
“How long will it take?”
Tae-o asked carefully. The Medical Examiner met his gaze, then broke into an earnest grin.
“I’m a citizen of this country too. If I’ve spotted something suspicious, I can’t just sit idle. The lab’s backed up, so normally it’d take about two weeks, but I’ll pull some strings.”
“Thank you, Medical Examiner.”
“I’ll contact you within two days.”
The Medical Examiner answered with resolve in her voice.
Two days ahead. He had to seize the advantage within that window.

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