Royal Coup d'État - Chapter 47

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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 47
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Just past the Mudeok Gate, behind Deokyou Hall, stood a small chamber called Samul Pavilion.
As she made her way there, the palace attendants bowed before her with precision, not a single movement out of line—a starkness that made her new station unmistakable.
Strange as it was, she would have to grow accustomed to this life.
“The Lady of the House has arrived.”
The attendant stationed at Samul Pavilion announced her entrance toward the interior, then opened the door with the same meticulous care. Their deference was proof of her position.
Inside, a table and several chairs barely fit in the small space, making it feel even more cramped. A man well over six feet tall squeezed between them, frowning at the inconvenience until he saw her, then rose to his feet.
Thud.
As he pushed the chair back, it struck the wall, the wood clashing loudly. Ju, standing behind her, shot him a withering glare at the clatter.
That was rather amusing.
She swallowed down the laughter tickling her throat and bit the inside of her cheek to keep her composure.
“You’d be more comfortable if you just stayed seated.”
“Yes. I believe you’re right.”
Tae-o nodded emphatically in agreement, then dragged the chair back over and dropped into it. The room was crowded with nothing but a round burgundy wood table and four chairs—and now only Tae-o and she remained in it.
She glanced at the window, barely cracked open, then sat across from him.
Her smaller frame allowed her to cross her legs, but Tae-o’s were too long to fold comfortably—he sat rigidly, hands resting on his thighs. She almost smiled at the sight of him trapped in that awkward posture.
“If you’d arranged this meeting beforehand, we could have received you somewhere more suitable. Unfortunately, we’re rather short on space at the moment.”
Tae-o frowned slightly at her offhand remark.
“I tried reaching Officer Jo, but couldn’t get through.”
“Ah. Officer Jo has been busy lately—so much work piled on her, and she takes it very seriously.”
She toyed with the handle of her teacup as she answered.
Tae-o seemed intent on emphasizing that he wasn’t some reckless intruder; he repeated himself several times.
“I went to Byeol Palace first, but it was packed with journalists. The moment I heard you’d moved to Gyeonghuigung Palace, I came straight here.”
“That’s fast. I thought I’d kept it out of the press.”
“I heard it from Yeongpyeong Dojeong. Spending time with you apparently got me a royal network without realizing it.”
Tae-o spoke through gritted teeth, his tone revealing just how many obstacles he’d overcome to get here.
“It would be better if there were an easier way for us to meet.”
“In this world, no one has an easier time meeting me than Inspector Kwon.”
“Aren’t we the same as others? Weren’t we on the same team?”
Tae-o swept his hair back irritably. She studied his face. Beneath his stoic surface, something like disappointment rippled through him.
‘Were we ever really close enough to meet just anytime? Well, I was glad to see him, but…’
As she dragged her finger along the cup’s handle, Tae-o let out a long sigh.
“I wasn’t trying to put you in an awkward position. And I didn’t come entirely unprepared.”
He slid a sheet of paper toward her. She caught it between two fingers and drew it closer.
“An Official Document.”
“Thanks to it, we’ve officially been converted to a proper investigation team. Now I have the authority to request cooperation with you.”
The National Police Agency logo stamped prominently across the document was a medal of honor for them both—a symbol that they no longer needed to work in shadows.
She tapped the document and gave a small shrug.
“I didn’t want you to regret taking my hand. Fortunately, things worked out.”
“Your press conference was quite impressive.”
“I’m very good at that sort of thing. It’s my greatest weapon.”
She laughed, squinting playfully.
“I’ve spent my whole life working at being likable. Being sincere, being kind, being exemplary—it paid off, didn’t it? Though I never imagined I’d use it this way.”
She pulled her lips into a broad smile as she spoke.
“So you’ve gone to all this trouble to bring me something urgent, it seems.”
“Yes. Urgent enough that I couldn’t wait for Officer Jo’s reply.”
Tae-o answered in his flat voice, studying her briefly. His eyes moved slowly across her, as if the sight of her in the court’s pale yellow jeogori and crimson skirt was unfamiliar to him.
She found her fingers absently touching the gold-leaf embroidery on her sleeve, and without thinking, looked at his face. There was nothing strange about it. Not because she’d grown accustomed to seeing him—she knew she’d seen this expression before, somewhere…
She noticed his Adam’s apple rise and fall several times. His dry lips parted slightly, then closed again, repeatedly.
In that moment, she understood. It was the same expression he’d worn that day in his apartment, when he showed her the Autopsy Report.
“Ah.”
She exhaled sharply and reached for her teacup. A cold premonition made her fingertips tremble.
This was his way of being considerate—Tae-o’s particular brand of thoughtfulness, quiet and meticulous.
She took the bitter, cold coffee into her mouth and swallowed it in one gulp. A small piece of ice she couldn’t remove scraped against her throat, leaving a chill. The shock of cold traveled down her gullet, reaching into her very chest, sharpening every nerve.
Once she’d swallowed everything, she nodded. She was ready.
“It’s about your father—the matter you asked me to look into before.”
Her hand slipped from the cup’s handle.
Her eyes darted rapidly, panic breaking through. Even from Tae-o, she found it embarrassing to show such agitation. She shut her eyes and shook her head.
“Yes. Tell me.”
Tae-o seemed intent on easing Seon’s tension, adding an explanation that his own position hadn’t been very strong and so the investigation had been delayed. In the meantime, Seon drew in a deep breath. The fresh air flowing in through the window filled her lungs completely.
“Among the people I know, there’s someone from the National Intelligence Service who handles National Security Investigations.”
“National Security Investigations?”
At the unexpected words, Seon’s body flinched.
For someone of the imperial family—that privileged class—to become entangled in something as frightening as a National Security Investigation was unheard of. And if the person Tae-o was now referring to was her father, a coward at that, it would be even more inconceivable.
To Seon’s confusion, Tae-o maintained his composure throughout.
“From the early eighties to the early nineties. You know that was a time of widespread civic movements?”
“I was taught that after the Seon Emperor’s passing, the Imperial Abolition Movement was most active around that period.”
The absence of her great-grandfather the Emperor—who had been the rallying point for independence and had performed flawlessly in stabilizing the nation after liberation—had led to doubts about the new imperial authority.
However, it was the accepted understanding that at the time, most of the imperial family members who had fought in the war were still alive, and they had given strong support to the new Emperor, causing the Imperial Abolition Movement to gradually fade away.
Tae-o gave a brief nod, as if there was no need for further explanation.
“During that time, it’s said there was a woman your father was seeing.”
“What?”
Seon frowned again, her brow furrowing.
In truth, it wasn’t strange that her father had had another lover besides her mother. It made less sense for a couple in their prime to claim that one another had been their first love.
However, her parents had concluded their passionate two-year romance with the wedding of the century in ninety-four, overcoming their class difference, and had given birth to Seon, their firstborn, just years after the marriage. That was what the world believed, and what Seon believed as well.
“In 1993, there was an attempt on the Emperor’s life. Civil organizations and students had joined hands in an extreme manner to bring about a new regime.”
“What does that have to do with my father’s former lover……?”
“The woman Uijeong Daegun was dating at the time was the Daeseong Pharmaceutical President’s Daughter. Though the company wasn’t particularly large, her circumstances were favorable enough that he even considered marriage.”
Tae-o’s dark eyes met Seon’s. They seemed to whisper, over and over, not to be startled.
“But when the assassination attempt on the Emperor was confirmed through National Security Investigation and they were drawn into Treason charges one after another, it was revealed that Daeseong Pharmaceutical had funded that civil organization.”
Seon let out a hollow laugh. So her father’s lover was some kind of spy who plotted to overturn the imperial house? This wasn’t even a third-rate novel.
“You’re saying my father’s ill-fated love affair is some kind of great secret?”
“The woman wasn’t implicated in her father’s crimes, but she and Uijeong Daegun parted ways, and in order to hide the fact that Uijeong Daegun was connected to the assassination attempt, he rushed to prepare for marriage.”
Thud.
Her heart seemed to fall so loudly that her ears rang with the sound. For a moment, her ears felt numb.
“My father and mother dated for two years and…….”
“It’s content that remains in the National Security Investigation records. The Royal Household Administration was the one who arranged the first meeting between Uijeong Daegun and Yeosan Bubuin.”
What about her father’s words—that he had abandoned all dignity and sought out her mother, blinded by her beautiful appearance on television?
What about the way her father never hid his adoring eyes when he looked at her mother, sometimes showing affection and favor toward her even more than toward his own daughter Seon?
Tae-o could not lift his dark gaze from Seon, who stood silent and unable to open her mouth in confusion.
Is there more?
Seon looked at him, fear evident in her eyes. Yet the uglier the truth, the more one must face it. There was no other way to respond to it.
“I’m sorry to have to tell you this.”
“Better to take the blow quickly. Tell me.”
Tae-o fidgeted with the cup placed in front of him. Only then did she notice that his coffee cup held nothing but melted ice, sloshing quietly.
“There is an illegitimate child born between the Daeseong Pharmaceutical President’s Daughter and Uijeong Daegun.”
Now she understood exactly why Tae-o had sat before her despite his discomfort, why he couldn’t drink even a sip of his coffee, why he looked at her with such worried eyes.
Everything she had believed up until now crumbled before her eyes. For the first time, Seon felt the sensation of being dead.

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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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