The 21st Century Grand Grand Duchess in the Royal Academy - Chapter 3

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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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A Twenty-First Century Grand Duchess in the Royal Academy
One Who Cannot Even Have a Name
“Your Highness.”
As Wan emerged from the lecture hall, the attendants waiting in the corridor bowed their heads.
If someone asked what made the Royal Family so remarkable in the twenty-first century, there would be little to say—yet the Royal Family was inherently regarded as remarkable regardless. Royalty fulfilled its value simply by existing.
Even at the Royal Academy, famous for its conservative academic culture, I received special treatment. For instance, I didn’t have to participate in dormitory life.
In fact, when I became a seventh grader, I was assigned to Cheongryong Palace and received a blue robe, but even now as a twelfth grader, I had never once used my dormitory room.
“Your Highness, His Majesty requests your presence at the Palace.”
My expression hardened at Choi Sanggung’s words. Having left the Palace early and grown up in my Private Residence, I rarely visited the Palace unless something urgent arose. Even among the Royal Family, it was customary to enter the Palace every morning to pay respects—
‘There was no need for that.’
Mother did not wish it. I felt no particular resentment about it anew. Mother had always been wary of me.
When I was young, I wanted to understand why, but after realizing it was meaningless, I had been in constant rebellion ever since. She commanded me to be an example, yet to shine not—defiance became inevitable.
Unlike me, my older brother, the Crown Prince, was someone who followed Mother’s words first and questioned later. The problem was that he fell ill doing so.
My brother was a sensitive person. In crowded places, he suffered from anxiety and fear, and trembled at the slightest sound. The more disappointed Mother became in him, the more her vigilance toward me intensified.
As if his weakness were somehow my fault.
So Mother’s command to enter the Palace was certainly a bad sign. Either I had done something too well, or my brother had failed at something too badly. Or perhaps both.
“I heard you were looking for me.”
I spoke, bowing my head.
“Come closer.”
One might expect warmth upon seeing a son after so long, yet the King commanded coldly. As if accustomed to such indifference, I stepped forward and knelt.
The King handed me a royal decree.
“What is this?”
“Open it and you will see.”
….
I furrowed my brow slightly and unfolded the sealed decree. It contained an order to change my princely title from Isin to Ian.
“This is your new princely title.”
Instead of answering, I simply looked up at my father. My title had already been changed once at age ten. But why again….
“What have I done so well this time, Father?”
Unable to bear the injustice, I asked. The King, regarding even this reproach as disrespectful, looked down at me with indifferent eyes—
“Do not question.”
“Father.”
“It is the King’s command.”
With the King’s voice, not a father’s, he silenced his son.
My pace quickened as I left the Throne Hall. Despite my effort to conceal the turmoil within, my hurried steps laid bare my twisted heart.
“Your Highness! Your Highness!”
As sweat began to bead on Choi Sanggung’s forehead as she followed—
“Wan.”
The voice of Hwan, one of the few who could call me by my name, reached my ears.
“Where are you going in such haste?”
“…Brother.”
Unable to continue forward, Wan stilled his breathing.
“I pay my respects to the Crown Prince.”
Only after the flush drained from his face did Wan offer a proper bow. His eyes narrowed as he habitually assessed his brother’s complexion. His cheeks had hollowed further—whether from weight loss or something else, the sharp definition was unmistakable.
“I heard your title has changed.”
“Indeed, it has.”
“Does it please you?”
“Hardly.”
“….”
“I despise it, frankly.”
That blatant defiance silenced the entire room.
“You….”
Choi Sanggung shook her head as if to say what kind of words were those, while the attendants of the East Palace exchanged glances, bewildered by the situation. Yet the Crown Prince’s lips curved into a gentle smile.
“Did you say the same to the King?”
“Yes.”
“You’re something else….”
Finding his younger brother’s blunt response amusing, Hwan laughed for a long while. Only then did the tension ease from the attendants’ faces.
“What would you know, brother?”
Wan spoke as he entered the East Palace. He maintained formal speech when others were present, but alone with his brother, he was like any other sibling.
Reclining diagonally on the sofa, Wan propped his head on his arm. Had Choi Sanggung witnessed this, she would certainly have scolded him for his lack of propriety, but Hwan loved his younger brother’s unguarded ease.
“Prince An, Prince An….”
Hwan murmured, tilting his head.
“It doesn’t roll off the tongue.”
“Forget it. Prince An or Prince Shin—what’s the difference? Who knows when it’ll change again anyway.”
“At least you have a name.”
“You have a name too, brother.”
“A name no one dares speak—what good is that?”
Hwan replied lightly, his gaze drifting toward the window. A faint smile played at his lips as he listened to the birds chirping outside. Each time Wan saw that expression, an inexplicable unease stirred within him. It was the smile of someone who might vanish at any moment—a smile tinged with resignation.
The resemblance to the Late Queen only deepened his dread. That face so like hers, wearing that same smile, and the thought that he might die as she had—it terrified him.
“Ah, I’m getting married soon.”
Then Hwan spoke, as casually as one might mention taking a walk.
“What?”
“I’m getting married.”
As if announcing a simple outing.
“Is there a woman you’re seeing, brother?”
Judging by the steady blink of his eyes, this was no jest. Besides, he lacked the wit for such humor. So it was true, then….
“Who is she? Do I know her?”
“She attends the Royal Academy, so you’d know her.”
“Insane.”
“Next year.”
“Unbelievable.”
Wan flopped backward onto the bed, then propped himself up on his elbows, mouth agape. Despite a lifetime of cultivating dignity and restraint, I was only nineteen years old. I found myself curious about the romantic affairs of complete strangers—how could I possibly resist being intrigued by my stoic older brother’s love life?
“When did you start seeing her? Did you get Mother’s permission? Is she pretty?”
Hwan shook his head as Wan fired off his barrage of questions in rapid succession.
“You like this sort of thing?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah?”
“I like it. So tell me. Who is she?”
Hwan exhaled a long sigh and opened a document folder lying on his desk. He seemed to be searching for something with his eyes—
“Yoon Irang.”
He spoke the name aloud.
“What?”
“Who is she, you ask? Yoon Irang.”
Wan’s expression twisted. He wasn’t unfamiliar with Yoon Irang—she was the precious jewel of a family that had produced four queens.
But she was also an old friend of his. The thought that Irang was seeing his brother made his skin crawl. That meant Irang would become his sister-in-law. It meant she’d eventually become the Crown Princess. The very idea made Wan shudder with revulsion.
“How could you both not say a word to me about this? You’re my brother, and she’s my friend?”
“I’m telling you now.”
“No, you should have told me sooner. If you’re thinking about marriage, you must have been seeing each other for a while, right?”
“I met her for the first time today.”
“What?”
Instead of answering, Hwan handed over the document folder. As Wan read through Yoon Irang’s personal information and her family’s genealogy, he quickly grasped the situation. If this were a relationship born of love, there wouldn’t be countless agreements documented on paper.
“Did Yoon Irang agree to this?”
“Does that matter?”
“Then what about you? Did you agree to this?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Faced with Hwan’s resolute resignation, Wan found himself at a loss for words. He had no idea where to begin or how to object. He’d never learned how to dissuade someone being dragged toward a foreseeable misfortune.
“Refuse it.”
“You know I can’t.”
“Why can’t you? Just do it.”
….
“Brother, this is marriage. You should marry someone you love.”
Wan’s voice trembled with anguish. He couldn’t bear to watch his brother follow in the footsteps of their mother, who had withered away in a loveless marriage. His brother was already wasting away day by day—how could he let this happen?
“I’m the Crown Prince of this nation.”
“Brother….”
“Don’t live like this.”
But Hwan had already surrendered.
From the Hee-jong Annals
September 1999: The firstborn son, Hwan, was made Crown Prince.
February 2000: The military title of Prince Wan was changed from Yi-shin to Yi-an.
October 2009: The military title of Prince Wan was changed from Yi-an to Yi-an.

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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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