The 21st Century Grand Grand Duchess in the Royal Academy - Chapter 30

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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
Sin
Yoon Irang recalled the events of the afternoon. She had been conversing with members of the Outer Palace Administration about the upcoming inner court banquet.
“His Majesty has been quite absent lately, hasn’t he?”
Heo, the wife of Prime Minister Min and a lady of rank, had spoken those words. No matter how tight-lipped Prime Minister Min might be, his wife could hardly remain ignorant of state matters. Yet she chose to speak thus—a mockery of Yoon Irang’s precarious position, surely.
“It appears what Prime Minister Min knows, his wife does not.”
“Pardon? Surely I would naturally—”
“There must be reason in Prime Minister Min’s silence.”
….
Yoon Irang fixed Heo with a steady gaze. The woman surely understood that claiming knowledge here was equally unwise as claiming ignorance.
Indeed, Heo appeared flustered, and soon averted her eyes in surrender.
To have become head of the Inner Palace Administration at such a tender age brought inevitable difficulties. Yet neither was there another adult in the Royal Family to turn to. She had no shield, no backing—no one to protect or support her.
She could endure much, but to be disrespected because of her husband’s weakness was unbearable. Once she began tolerating such slights, her own son Yoon would surely face the same contempt. The thought kindled a fierce anger within her.
Yoon Irang loved everything about the Royal Family—not merely its power, but the history and traditions it had preserved. Even if those traditions seemed tedious and antiquated, it mattered not. Through centuries of change, the Royal Family’s dignity had never once crumbled, and that pride was her own.
Thus her weak husband was contemptible to her. That he could not master his own heart, thereby bringing misery upon all around him—it was abhorrent.
“Where are you going, Queen Consort?”
“To Gangnyeong Hall.”
Yoon Irang rose abruptly and made for Gangnyeong Hall. Park Sanggung had reported that Hwan’s condition was stable for the first time in ages, and she hoped they might actually converse.
“Your Majesty, the Queen Consort has arrived.”
“Let her enter.”
Upon entering Gangnyeong Hall, she saw her husband for the first time in weeks. Park Sanggung’s report had been accurate. Unlike his usual state of perpetual intoxication, he sat with composed dignity today, even dressed in formal robes that bespoke resolve.
“Your Majesty.”
“Queen Consort.”
Approaching slowly, Yoon Irang gazed at the document Hwan was inscribing. She wondered if he was composing some elegant poem—
“What is this?”
“An edict of abdication in favor of Prince An.”
“What do you mean? You would surrender the throne to Prince An?!”
Yoon Irang’s eyelids trembled as she glared at Hwan. She felt ridiculous for having come here hoping to reason with him, to speak with her husband as the father of her child. He had acted madly when naming Yoon as Crown Prince, and now he could not suppress this madness again.
“Are you truly insane?”
“It is better than death.”
At those words, Yoon Irang laughed through her tears. Rage flowed from her eyes, and she could not suppress her bitter scorn.
“What burden is so great that you must thrash about so?”
“Queen Consort.”
“Prince An performs the duties while I and the Crown Prince bear the shame—why?!”
Yoon Irang’s cry erupted like a scream of fury.
“Do you wish to die, Your Majesty?”
Hwan observed his wife’s icy rage in silence, then returned his gaze to the edict. His brush moved without hesitation, as though his own will were irrelevant. Unable to restrain herself, Yoon Irang seized the candelabra that illuminated the chamber.
“Then die. It would be best for the Crown Prince.”
“Queen Consort!”
Whether Hwan cried out or not, Yoon Irang set the edict ablaze. If he would not value her words, she would simply disregard his.
At that moment, Wan was at Gangnyeong Hall, summoned by his brother. Upon arriving at the corridor before the Inner Chamber, Wan learned that Yoon Irang was inside and chose to wait. Shortly after, Crown Prince Yoon arrived as well. Wan and Yoon headed toward Hyeopshil, the side chamber adjacent to the Inner Chamber.
While Wan was playing with toy cars, letting the Crown Prince sit on his lap, he heard raised voices from within. The moment he caught his brother’s words about ceding the throne to him, his instinct was to cover his nephew’s ears. The child’s eyes were already glistening with fear, and the sight broke his heart.
Holding his nephew close as the boy burrowed into his embrace, Wan listened intently. There had been countless times when, without being king, he’d had to perform a king’s duties—times when he’d wished to simply be king instead. But he didn’t believe his brother’s words were sincere. It was obvious this was just another desperate flailing born of fear.
If only his brother understood how his trivial desperation cornered me into an impossible position.
Exhausted by his brother’s cowardice, Wan leaned his head against the wall. He’d forget all this by tomorrow anyway—I wondered why the Queen Consort was even bothering to exert herself.
“Queen Consort!”
With his brother’s cry, the door to the Inner Chamber opened. The shadow of the Queen Consort leaving the corridor wavered beyond the paper door.
“Sigh…”
Wan exhaled softly and set down the Crown Prince he’d been holding.
“Your Highness, you should see His Majesty another time.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
His nephew, barely five years old, possessed a remarkable intelligence and grasped difficult meanings with ease. Hoping desperately that the child had heard nothing, Wan left Gangnyeong Hall.
Back at Anhwadang, Wan retrieved a sleeping draught he rarely took and swallowed it. Even if his brother called again, he had no desire to go. It had already been an exhausting day. He’d woken from nightmares at dawn without fail, spent the entire afternoon buried in work, skipped dinner in the evening, and been summoned to Gangnyeong Hall. Tonight, I wanted to ignore my brother’s summons.
At least for tonight, I wanted to ignore my brother’s call.
But—
“Prince An.”
Choi Sanggung entered with a large box.
“What is this?”
“His Majesty has had clothing made that suits Your Highness.”
“My brother did?”
Wan opened the box with a puzzled expression and involuntarily caught his breath. Choi Sanggung, who had risen on her toes in curiosity about what the garment might be, suddenly went rigid. Inside the box lay a brilliant crimson dragon robe.
“Sigh…”
Wan exhaled an irritated sigh, his mind already growing hazy from the sleeping draught he’d just taken. The thought crossed his mind that perhaps this time his brother had truly made his decision.
A knot of resentment began to form deep within his chest. His brother could simply flee and be done with it, but I had to correct the countless errors that arose from my brother’s missed opportunities.
“Choi Sanggung.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“It seems my brother intends to abdicate.”
“But Your Highness the Crown Prince exists…”
It was precisely these sorts of things.
I felt as though I might die from hatred toward my brother, who only burdened me with everything when it was already too late.
And in that moment, Hyun burst in, his face drained of color.
“Disaster, Your Highness!”
Upon hearing that Gangnyeong Hall was ablaze, Wan began to run. The sight of black smoke soaring into the sky made him stagger, seized by suffocating terror.
Surely not.
Not my brother.
Surely not.
Chanting his desperate prayer like a mantra, Wan reached the courtyard before Gangnyeong Hall, already filled with the wails of palace maids. Even then, he didn’t believe that calamity had befallen his brother. Only a handful of people resided in Gangnyeong Hall, and everyone in this palace protected him—it couldn’t be.
But as if mocking his desperate hope, his brother was carried out on a stretcher. Though covered with white cloth, everyone understood. The crimson dragon robe, scorched by the flames, was unmistakably his brother’s.
Even as reality seemed to slip away, Wan moved toward his brother. As the wailing palace maids parted to make way, Wan’s gaze fixed solely on him. When he lifted away the white cloth, his brother appeared before him, looking peaceful as though merely asleep.
I wasn’t supposed to leave Gangnyeong Hall. I wasn’t supposed to return to Anhwadang. I wasn’t supposed to leave my brother alone.
Regret came too late, surfacing again and again—and it was Yoon who occupied my thoughts. My brother, who had never known how to protect anything, had desperately tried to protect Yoon in every way he could.
“Where is the Crown Prince?”
At my composed question, the flustered eunuch stammered, and Wan’s brow furrowed.
“My nephew—the one who will succeed my brother.”
I could think of nothing but protecting Yoon. Without my brother telling me it was all right to cry, I found no desire to weep. I only wished to atone for my failure to protect him.
From the Records of Seon’s Reign
March 2022. Gangnyeong Hall was engulfed in flames. The Royal Guard and eunuchs attempted to rescue the King, but the door to the Inner Chamber was locked from within, and the moment was lost—a tragedy beyond lamentation.
— Wan

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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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