Royal Coup d'État - Chapter 44

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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 44
Changdeok Palace—the imperial residence where the Emperor dwelt.
Everything would finally be decided here today. Sang Seon clenched and unclenched her fists resting on her knees, releasing the tension that coiled through her.
She’d arrived at Changdeok Palace early that morning and completed the press conference preparations in a blur. Everything had gone smoothly except for brushing aside her parents’ endless worries and pleas since before dawn.
A tailored white suit and shoes that fit her perfectly. An amethyst-studded tiara she wore only to the most important occasions. Even her makeup had been meticulously applied to present herself more beautifully than ever before.
Only after examining herself at length in the mirror did Sang Seon release a satisfied breath.
What she looked like today would be recorded in history for ages to come. She wanted no room for the slightest imperfection.
“Have you read through the script?”
“Yes.”
Seok Chul returned from finishing a call outside and spoke to her. Sang Seon nodded and looked down at the script in her hands.
The script she’d received through the Imperial Household Ministry at first was conventional. Words of remembrance for the Crown Prince, the announcement of his Posthumous Name—nothing unusual. Which meant that even Ui Gu Dae-gun, who’d planted people in the Imperial Household Ministry, wouldn’t have noticed anything amiss.
“The Emperor instructed me to deliver this to you.”
But when the makeup attendants briefly left the waiting room, Sang Seon had come and handed her a different script entirely—one that told a completely different story.
Sang Seon had hurried from the waiting room, but left one final message behind.
“She said this would be your last choice.”
Before stepping into the struggle over the Imperial Throne, the moment she could still turn back was perhaps only now.
Whether she conducted the press conference using the first script she’d received, or whether she would take a new path according to the Emperor’s will.
The Emperor was truly gracious. Sang Seon straightened a strand of hair that had come loose while looking in the mirror. She’d already made her choice long ago. How could she turn back now?
In the mirror’s reflection, she saw Seok Chul. Her dependable aide, still busy fidgeting with her phone, communicating with the journalists even at this moment, came into focus.
She’d resolved to become Emperor long ago. She’d already understood that she needed that position to protect the people she held dear and to uncover the truth of those who had died so miserably—but it wasn’t something she could easily speak aloud, not even to those who had stood by her side for so many years.
But if she truly had to set course now, she owed it to those who would follow her to lay bare the truth. Just as her grandfather had given her an opportunity, she too needed to become an Emperor capable of such mercy.
“Seok Chul.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Seok Chul, who had been checking his watch and calculating when it was time to leave, answered her call. Sang Seon fixed him with a gaze both calm and penetrating.
Since coming of age and beginning to work with him, there had never been a moment of discomfort. He was competent, and his movements were swift, as though he could see right through her.
But serving a mere imperial princess and serving an Emperor carried different weight.
Moreover, if the struggle for Imperial succession began, her very life would be in immediate danger. She couldn’t force that peril upon him, who had even less power than she did. Even if it meant losing a valued aide, Sang Seon wanted to protect Seok Chul.
With that resolve, she opened her mouth calmly.
“I’m going to become Emperor.”
Tick. Tick.
Though Sang Seon had clearly spoken, all that filled the room was the sound of the wall clock’s second hand. The face of Seok Chul visible beyond the mirror was far more composed than she’d expected. His eyes wavered, but she felt no great shock—no moment of doubt about what he’d heard, no questioning glance turned toward her.
“So you must choose too, Seok Chul. Choose what won’t put you in danger.”
“……Would you prefer I resign immediately?”
At Seok Chul’s hesitant answer, Sang Seon drew her lips upward into a slight smile.
“No. I’d much rather have you stay by my side.”
“Do you truly intend to become Emperor?”
At Seok Chul’s calm question that followed, Sang Seon’s own agitation settled. Even the nervousness that had gripped her before the press conference drained away.
“Yes.”
“I suppose it’s something I could have foreseen.”
At the unhesitating answer that followed, Seok Chul exhaled a long breath.
“I’ve sensed for some time now that the Emperor had no intention of favoring Ui Gu Dae-gun. And you’ve been different lately, Your Highness.”
Sang Seon watched Seok Chul fall silent, lost in thought for a moment, then spoke slowly.
“If you stay by my side, I can make you a promise in return.”
“……What promise?”
“If I become Emperor, naturally you’d transfer from serving me to the Bureau of Attendants. And naturally, since you’re a capable person, the position of Minister of the Imperial Household Ministry would suit you.”
“You’d make me a minister?”
But Seok Chul’s voice didn’t sound pleased. Instead, he exhaled with an air of hollowness and spoke.
“Your Highness. If I had any hunger for power, I wouldn’t still be serving a mere imperial princess at Prince Uijeong’s Palace. As you know, I do have the capability.”
Seok Chul’s following words came through clearly. It suddenly became obvious to her what he truly wanted.
I was desperate, wasn’t I. I’ve made a fool of myself.
Sang Seon tightened the corners of her mouth.
“Then I’ll make sure you never regret this. The Imperial Family I build will not be a place where capable people should feel ashamed to belong.”
“Are you certain of that?”
“I won’t tolerate a man like Ui Gu Dae-gun becoming Emperor.”
Sang Seon answered with conviction.
This was her aspiration as well.
She wanted everyone who belonged to the Imperial Family to speak their name without shame. She wanted the people to regard the Imperial Family as worthy of respect.
So she wanted the sacrifices of her ancestors—those who had fought desperately to protect this nation and the Imperial Family—not to be in vain.
“Now that we’ve joined hands, let’s overturn the whole board. Make sure a creature like him never manipulates the Imperial Family again.”
“That’s the most tempting proposal I’ve heard.”
Sang Seon’s yearning hung in the air of the waiting room. A smile tugged at the corners of Seok Chul’s mouth.
* * *
Click—
The moment Sang Seon appeared before Donhwa Gate, a blinding flash erupted. Dozens—no, hundreds of cameras wielded by journalists swung toward her, and ordinary citizens drawn by news of the press conference filled the area surrounding the gate.
From the Imperial Palace Guard to staff mobilized by the Imperial Household Ministry. The faces of those stationed throughout to manage the surging crowd were already etched with exhaustion.
One step, then another.
As she moved toward the prepared podium, Sang Seon fought to maintain her composure. The deafening barrage of flashes, the occasional roar of the crowd, the furtive glances of Imperial Household Ministry staff interspersed around her—watching to ensure she didn’t falter. None of it could shake her now.
As she mounted the makeshift platform, emblazoned with the plum blossom crest of the Imperial Family, Press Office staff approached to adjust the microphone. The final tremor of the microphone vibrating against their adjusting hands stirred something in Sang Seon’s chest.
‘There’s no going back after this, Sang Seon.’
She repeated the vow silently, again and again.
Once this press conference ended, there was no returning to the way things were. The woman of Cheongyang who had weighed every word for fear of drawing the wrong eye from the Crown Prince—she could no longer exist, must no longer exist.
Sang Seon cleared her throat lightly. This moment, which would linger in the history of her and this nation alike. Anxiety clawed at her throat, but she swallowed it down as she caught sight of Seok Chul waiting below the platform.
From this moment forward, Sang Seon had to become perfect, flawless.
“Distinguished citizens of our nation.”
Sang Seon’s clear voice touched the microphone. The sound carried through the speakers seemed to drown beneath the cacophony of camera shutters and cries. Flustered Press Office staff moved quickly to adjust the volume and check the sound system.
But Sang Seon did not pause and continued speaking.
“I stand before you today in place of His Imperial Majesty to address the people.”
She felt the journalists seated before her lean forward, their bodies angling toward her, their full attention upon her words.
There was no need for Sang Seon to raise her voice deliberately or halt the conference. From this moment on, it fell to them to listen.
“The Crown Prince did not suffer an unfortunate accident.”
Her lips, parched and cracked, felt as though they might split at any moment. Despite having applied lip balm generously before stepping out, the faint metallic taste of blood remained undeniable on the raw patches of skin.
Sang Seon swallowed the bitter taste down past her throat. Today’s blood, and all the blood shed before it. She opened her mouth again, resolved that none of it would be shed in vain.
The moment Sang Seon’s lips moved, every eye in the room fastened upon the words forming there. Her face hardened, and she spoke with unwavering conviction.
“The Crown Prince was murdered.”
At last the words spilled from Sang Seon’s lips. For nearly three months since the Crown Prince’s death, the secret they had struggled so desperately to uncover was finally cast before the world.
How much resolve it had demanded, what effort it had cost. Yet in that moment, not a soul in the room could utter a word.
Only the shutter sounds of cameras disturbed the silence. Among all those present, no one stepped forward—each paralyzed by doubt, their ears deceiving them, their trust in what they heard shaken.
Then Seok Chul signaled with his eyes. Sang Seon noticed a guard assigned to the western fence communicating urgently with Inspector Hong.
But what could they do in this moment?
Sang Seon withdrew her vacant gaze and infused her voice with power.
“The Imperial Family requests an official investigation into this matter. Furthermore, internally as well, regardless of rank or succession rights, should any member of the Imperial Family be implicated in the Crown Prince’s murder, we will uncover all culpability with complete clarity and cooperate fully with the investigation.”
It was a signal flare announcing that war had already begun.

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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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