Royal Coup d'État - Chapter 8

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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 8
Tae-o understood the shallow nature that dwelt in those who held power.
Top of his class at the Police Academy, top of his graduating class. After taking his first steps as an inspector, he’d proven himself day after day—first in homicide clearance rates, selected for the elite investigation unit—walking what was called the Elite Track.
After his rapid promotion to police captain before he’d even turned thirty, the whispers of “next Police Commissioner” followed him like a shadow.
And so he understood the mire that lay in the depths of every human heart. Never satisfied with what they held, they hungered to climb higher. It was inevitable.
It was a truth visible even within the narrow world of the Police Agency.
Look at the Commissioner himself—how many rivals had he eliminated, how many favors cultivated on the way to that seat?
Tae-o had watched the process unfold before his own eyes. He knew it for the filthy, abhorrent business it was, yet he’d never raised his hand in protest.
Humans were base creatures by nature, and he, too, was merely a part of the system. He was no slave to ambition, but neither was he fool enough to throw away a smooth path to success.
Yet there existed those whose presence stirred a displeasure he could not mask.
“The Royal Court is dispatching a member of the royal family to oversee the handling of this incident. See that you watch them closely.”
Called in early that morning to receive the Commissioner’s instructions, Tae-o felt a smirk tug at his lips.
Royalty. Those parasites who preached about noble bloodlines while shirking their duties.
It wasn’t the pre-modern age anymore. The world had changed, yet they refused to change with it—just raised their proud noses higher and demanded to reign.
Tae-o’s disdain for the royal family was clear and well-founded. He was what they called an elite, and he’d earned the trust of his superiors precisely because of it.
He’d seen too many ranking officers crawl before these royal nonentities—whether titled prince or marquis—while secretly savoring their own sense of superiority as they cleaned up after them.
Some of them even bypassed the chain of command to approach him directly. The basest of creatures, acting as though they occupied the highest station in the world, then begging for help when they found themselves powerless before the law.
When he’d first gone to meet the County Governor, Lee Seon, he’d been of the same mind.
For all the positive press she’d garnered, he was certain the truth was no different.
“I see. You all think this makes sense, then? That’s why you’ve brought these materials?”
The Task Force Team was nominally assembled for the sake of propriety. Royalty, they said, remained noble even unto death—and only after a special investigation could the formal funeral rites proceed.
This was the first time in his career as a police officer that a high-ranking member of the royal family had suffered a serious accident, so this was his first time joining such a Task Force.
Certainly, he’d noticed the irregularities. To begin with, the Crown Prince suffering so severe a traffic accident was not easily explained.
Moreover, it rankled him that they expected him to conduct any investigation at all with such a shoddy setup. But when he’d raised his questions, the Commissioner had told him plainly: this was all performance, nothing more. There was no real investigation needed.
He’d harbored some resentment, but he didn’t think it worth much concern. Tae-o already had enough accumulated cases in the homicide division to keep him awake for days.
The probability that someone as eminent as the Crown Prince was involved in an attempted murder was lower than the probability he’d simply died in a traffic accident. It was easier to think that way.
“The CCTV on the road where the Crown Prince’s vehicle traveled was dark for five minutes straight. Can we really dismiss that as mere misfortune?”
Yet this woman who had appeared before him was different. Different from any member of the royal family he’d ever encountered.
It began with the keen light in her eyes, but it extended to her assured yet unimposing manner of speech, her measured tone. What might have seemed affected about it only deepened the sense of authority she carried.
‘Am I really thinking this about a member of the royal family?’
Throughout the meeting, as he watched her advance counterargument after counterargument, Tae-o had to cover his mouth. He was struggling to suppress a laugh that kept threatening to spill over.
Despite having met her less than an hour ago, she bore no comparison to the royalty he’d encountered before.
A woman with eyes like that didn’t look as though she’d come to the Police Agency to ask them to cover up her own misconduct.
‘Still. In the end, they all share the same blood, don’t they?’
Tae-o studied her with wary eyes.
Even facing a Police Commissioner in his early sixties, she showed no deference—her gaze was steady and direct. Her voice was distinctly clear, restrained but never hesitant, each word landing with precision.
“Moreover, why hasn’t anyone from the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency who responded to the scene been included in this Task Force?”
“Investigation into matters involving the royal family has traditionally been handled by the Seoul Police Agency…….”
“But isn’t this case different?”
She even managed to cut off the Commissioner and interjection with an air of grace. Her round eyes, like glass marbles, held nothing but genuine inquiry. Yet Tae-o suspected even that was calculated.
“Surely you haven’t excluded them due to factional disputes.”
“Of course not.”
“Then it would be best to include the responding officers in the Task Force.”
Somewhere along the way, Seon had seized control of the conversation and brought it to her own conclusion. Anyone who objected now would only look unreasonable.
‘She’s shut them down completely.’
The Commissioner, who’d been so confident just moments before—assuring them this investigation was mere performance—now sat dabbing the sweat from the back of his neck with a handkerchief. His haste was plain to see.
“I think the County Governor is right. It would be best to include the scene-responding officers in the Task Force.”
Perhaps sensing the Commissioner’s desperate need for reinforcement, a middle-aged woman dispatched from the Office of Inspector General stepped in. Red lipstick, red horn-rimmed glasses—her expression was sharp.
It was the woman introduced as Park Tae-hwa, an inspector from that office. She twisted her lips into an artificial smile before speaking.
“However, the Police will take the lead in the overall investigation process. The Royal Court’s participation in the Task Force is merely for general oversight.”
“Are you saying I’ve overstepped?”
Seon smiled as she asked in return. There was nothing aggressive in her expression, yet Tae-o could detect an edge in the exchange—a sharpness beneath the courtesy.
As far as Tae-o knew, the Office of Inspector General was the most independent body within the Office of the Royal Household, with considerable political power besides. There was even talk that any household official needed a rotation through the Inspector General’s office for rapid promotion.
Yet the attitude the inspectors dispatched from that office displayed toward Seon fell short of courtesy. A subtle, unremarkable disrespect. Was she a famous member of the royal family who nonetheless held no sway among the inner circles of power?
“The Commissioner might find it unsettling. Please don’t misinterpret our meaning.”
Another inspector, Hong, who’d been sitting with them, chimed in to add his support. Seon looked lonely in this room—without a single ally.
From his vantage point observing the situation, Tae-o watched the Commissioner’s face light with newfound confidence.
Moments ago he’d been subjected to one-sided attack by a woman far his junior. With a little support, he’d already regained his composure.
Tae-o knew well that to ensure a smooth life ahead, there were certain things one had to overlook. This moment was one of them.
His superiors’ intention in assigning him to the royal family special investigation Task Force was likely the same as it had always been—a silent coercion to follow the current and say nothing.
But the moment he glimpsed that isolated line, his resolve wavered.
Royal blood or not, this woman would likely prove no different from the ones he knew. Yet before she revealed her true, sordid nature—before she slipped from his grasp—why couldn’t he bend her to his will for now, while she still danced in his palm?
With that thought, Tae-o raised his hand quietly. The Police Commissioner’s eyes gleamed as he swiftly granted him permission to speak.
The man’s expression—as though he’d just summoned a thousand heavenly generals—only twisted Tae-o’s mood further. He played along with the Commissioner’s moods often enough, yes, but he wasn’t fool enough to gang up five-to-one on a single woman.
“Perhaps we should take a break,” he said.
“Pardon? Don’t you think today’s discussion has been sufficient?”
He’d been certain Tae-o meant to help him, to fill in the gap—but when Tae-o fell short of his hopes, the Commissioner’s expression darkened instantly. Remarkably transparent, that man was.
Tae-o lowered his raised hand slowly and shrugged. In that moment, Officer Yoon, who had been gauging the room, quickly declared the meeting adjourned.
Feeling the gazes directed at him, Tae-o rose from his seat quietly. That royal seemed to read the air better than most of her kind.

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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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