Royal Coup d'État - Chapter 59

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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 59
The Emperor’s gaze, standing upon the podium, found the Mortuary. The crowd, the journalists, even the Imperial Household—all fell silent at his look.
His eyes touched upon them with sorrowful tenderness. His wrinkled hands, gripping the walking stick, trembled slightly.
Yet instead of voicing his grief, the Emperor turned his head away in silence.
Screech—
Tap-tap. His fingers brushed the microphone, and a thin wave of sound rippled outward. At that sound, all eyes returned to the Emperor’s lips.
“Crown Prince So-yeol was born as my firstborn and grew to manhood without committing a single act of wrongdoing. Though he bore the duty of Crown Prince heavily upon his shoulders, he accepted it willingly, and until his final moment, he fulfilled his obligations to the people and to this nation. Just as he was a cherished son to me, I am confident he was a source of pride to many as Crown Prince.”
The Emperor’s address had begun. The Empress, standing behind him to his right, remained held upright by No Sanggung’s support, her back straight and dignified, yet tears could not be held back—she dabbed her face repeatedly with a handkerchief.
The Imperial Household members, led by Uigu Daegun at the front, bowed their heads with solemn expressions. Sun followed their lead, slowly lowering her gaze.
But Deok-bi, who stood directly behind the Emperor to his left, kept her gaunt face turned toward the podium, her eyes fixed straight ahead.
“And yet I cannot help but understand the sorrow of those who remain. When I think of my eldest daughter-in-law, who lost her child before me and now has lost her husband as well, my heart can only ache with unbearable pain.”
The Emperor’s words were directed at Deok-bi. As though she had been waiting for this moment, she gently released Sun’s hand. Placing both hands composedly over her abdomen, she stepped toward the podium. The Empress, her eyes still wet with tears, welcomed her with a faint smile.
“You have labored long and well.”
The Emperor’s voice trembled with melancholy, thick with emotion.
“As the wife of Crown Prince So-yeol and as Crown Princess of this realm, you have devoted yourself through all these years. On behalf of the Imperial Household, I offer my gratitude.”
At his words of commendation, Deok-bi’s composure wavered slightly, her head bowing just a touch. Her eyes glistened with gathering tears. The cameras eagerly captured her pitiable state.
In that moment, Sun’s eyes shifted sidelong. She wondered what expression Uigu Daegun, standing at the center observing the scene, might be wearing.
Her gaze swept across the rows of feet aligned before her. As it passed through them and finally reached the person standing foremost, Sun carefully lifted her head.
In the brief moment it took for Sun to raise her head and lift her eyes, her gaze met Uigu Daegun’s directly. He, too, had been seeking her—their eyes collided in the space between them.
While his eyes, though bloodshot as if deliberately held wide to contain sorrow, showed every sign of strain, his lips could not hide their unease, trembling and shifting restlessly.
Even in that brief span, a savage tension stretched between them. Neither blinked, unwilling to be the first to yield. It was as though each sought to read the other’s hidden cards, and the two stared at one another with an intensity that bordered on obsessive.
Then it came.
“And Lady Sun Hyang-ju.”
It was the Emperor’s call that severed the taut tension between them. As Sun’s head jerked toward him, she saw her grandfather making a small beckoning gesture. Deok-bi, standing beside him, gave a quiet nod, summoning Sun alongside him.
At the abrupt summons, murmurs rippled through the assembled Imperial Household. Sun herself could not entirely conceal her bewilderment.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Sun stepped forward and adjusted her posture, bowing respectfully to the Emperor.
‘Grandfather is calling on me—now?’
Her throat tightened with tension. The signal Deok-bi had given her earlier. The Emperor’s words about preparing a countermeasure. Had he meant this very moment?
To keep herself from trembling, Sun clasped her hands tightly together. Whatever was about to be said, she was certain the cameras and the citizens would capture every moment of her expression.
The Emperor simply gazed at Sun for a long while. Whatever he was contemplating, he did not speak readily, even when the Palace Affairs Minister gave him a subtle hint.
Speculation began to pour forth from the gathered crowd. Just as the solemnly conducted ceremony was beginning to grow chaotic, the Emperor slowly raised his hand to the microphone.
“Crown Prince So-yeol saw the birth of a First Grandson from the Crown Princess, but unfortunately, the child died young. After that, no further children were born, so great concern fell upon the Imperial Household.”
As the Emperor began to speak, the Imperial Household members stirred once more. The intention behind his words was far too plain to miss.
The expression on Uigu Daegun’s face, who had been quietly listening to his father, grew increasingly rigid.
“But fortunately, before the Crown Prince’s death, he selected an adopted son and completed the adoption registration, thereby allowing our Imperial Household to break free from an old quandary.”
“What do you mean by—”
A question finally spilled from Uigu Daegun’s lips. His voice wavered in a way that was wholly unlike him.
While everyone exchanged glances, their minds reeling to comprehend the situation, Deok-bi stepped forward. From her emaciated frame came a voice far too steady and commanding to imagine.
“Crown Prince So-yeol was deliberating the adoption and registration, and as his wife, I held the same conviction regarding matters of succession.”
Deok-bi spoke with measured precision.
“Fortunately, in accordance with his wishes, the registration was completed before his royal demise, and it has now been finalized. Therefore, Lady Sun Hyang-ju is now the child of Crown Prince So-yeol and myself.”
The ripple her words sent forth was considerable. The area before the Donhwamun Gate surged like a wave.
“An adopted child?”
“Lady Sun Hyang-ju, no less?”
“Did they really do this before he died?”
It was not only the gathered masses who harbored doubts.
“Wait.”
Uigu Daegun strode forward with long steps. Though he preferred to remain in the shadows, this time he could not contain himself.
Uijeong Daegun’s face, drained of all color, was equally grave. This was the first he had heard that the adoption registration was already complete.
“If elder brother decided this during his lifetime, then naturally it should be respected. However—”
Uigu Daegun began to speak carefully, choosing his words. Yet his agitation would not easily settle, and he had to draw a deep breath to contain it.
Sun, catching sight of him briefly, quietly lowered her gaze. In moments like these, it was better to manage her expression for the cameras than to speak unnecessarily.
“Did elder brother truly adopt a child during his lifetime? If the adoption occurred posthumously, there could be legal complications.”
“……”
“It is strange that no one in the Imperial Household knew of such a grave matter, and I raise this concern in good faith.”
Uigu Daegun managed to deliver his words with a note of worry, though his fists trembled as though he might raise his voice at any moment.
Despite his loyally-framed question, Deok-bi did not bat an eye. The woman who had seemed gentle always appeared to have been hardening herself for this very day. Her resentment toward Uigu Daegun seemed no less fierce than Sun’s own.
Deok-bi quietly lifted her eyes and met Uigu Daegun’s gaze directly.
“All legal procedures were completed one day before Crown Prince So-yeol’s royal demise. There will be no issue, Daegun.”
Deok-bi’s crisp voice kept Uigu Daegun from stepping forward carelessly. The sparks of trouble began to fly toward him.
“You knew?”
Conscious of the cameras, Uigu Daegun’s voice dropped low. There was a growl beneath his words as he spat them out, and Sun raised the corner of her mouth slightly, watching him from the side of her eye.
“You seem quite surprised.”
“……You.”
Sun leaned in and dropped her voice sharply. She tilted her head toward his shoulder, locking eyes with Uigu Daegun, and spoke with perfect clarity.
“When my great-uncle killed my father to prevent my adoption registration, did you know he’d already made his move?”
At Sun’s blunt question, Uigu Daegun faltered. He glanced left and right, wary that this exchange might be caught on camera.
In that moment, Sun’s gaze shifted toward the Emperor and Deok-bi. They had spoken as if adoption were impossible, as if another path must be found. Yet they had already set the stage behind the scenes.
‘Grandfather and grandmother must have wanted to confirm my resolve.’
If Sun had not shown such determination, they would have prevented her from becoming Emperor—though they could not have nullified the adoption itself. Sun had walked beautifully into their test.
Truly imperial. Could any family be more imperial in their conduct?
Sun stifled a hollow laugh and stepped forward several paces. Uigu Daegun watched her with a sharp glare each time her foot touched the ground, even as he remained aware of the eyes around them.
But Sun was not the only one being watched.
Uijeong Daegun, heading the Dogam and participating in the funeral procession to oversee the proceedings, had his eyes on her—as did Yeosan Bubuin, standing among the imperial relatives.
Eyes full of shock and confusion. Eyes tinged with betrayal.
Her parents clearly had not known.
Of course they hadn’t. I didn’t know myself, so how could they have known beforehand? If they’d had any inkling, they would never have let me poke around in the TF Team’s affairs or come and go from the palace so freely.
Sun resolved to bear every one of those gazes. Even if this was not the path she would have chosen, the direction remained the same.
‘Let’s do this. Firmly.’
Though she had secured the position of adopted child to the Crown Prince, she could not become the Crown Prince’s heir immediately while the right of succession remained suspended. Just as reaching this point had been a trial, many more trials awaited her ahead.
Yet Sun feared nothing.
Sun came to a stop before Deok-bi. The woman faced her with a face full only of sorrow, empty of any smile. Reading the deep resentment and sorrow contained within, Sun slowly bowed.
“Mother.”
Vengeance and truth—these were Sun’s tasks to fulfill.

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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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