A Stage for Grief
Leaving Grand Prince Uigu behind her and sweeping out of Gyeongchunjeon with all the elegance she could muster, bound for Changdeokgung—up to that point, she had cut a fairly impressive figure. But she never actually got to see the Emperor. If she had gone so far as to have an audience with the real man, she could have grated on Grand Prince Uigu's nerves that much more.
"His Majesty lay down for an afternoon nap just a short while ago."
When she arrived at Daejojeon, Sangseon was there to meet her, his face full of embarrassment.
"He has hardly slept properly these past several days, so I found myself at a loss over whether to announce your visit at all."
The Emperor had suffered badly from insomnia even in his youth, and when stress piled up, sleep came harder still. With the Empress unwell as well, there would be countless matters demanding his attention. She wasn't without the thought, either—waking an old man in his nineties who had only just managed to drift off.
"That's all right."
"His Majesty did say he had words to pass on to Your Highness, but he gave no hint as to what they might be..."
Sangseon offered the explanation with the same apologetic look. Seon only shook her head lightly.
"If Grandfather asks for me later, send word. I'll come at once."
"My apologies, Your Highness."
"It's fine. Take good care of Grandfather."
She hadn't gotten to see her grandfather, but if she had soured Grand Prince Uigu's mood even a little on the way, that was satisfaction enough. Seon found it a little funny, too, how petty she was becoming.
But this was all she could manage for now. Leaning on her grandfather's favor to stir up a little mischief. Carrying out the duties entrusted to her with stubborn, unglamorous diligence.
Yet the moment Grand Prince Uigu became Crown Prince—and then Emperor—even that much would no longer be permitted.
Seon was not the sort to bow meekly to power, and Grand Prince Uigu was not the sort to tolerate anyone who wouldn't.
Under the new Emperor, she would likely become the royal he despised most—and the first one he would need to quietly make disappear.
For now, though, none of it mattered. She had none of Grand Prince Uigu's connections—nothing that could reshuffle a task force or bend a police commissioner to her will. So petty it would have to be.
She left Daejojeon with nothing to show for it, and Seokcheol, who had been waiting outside, fell into step beside her at once.
His expression was darker than it had been days ago, when he had first brought word of the Crown Prince's accident. His footsteps looked heavier than they ever had, and his face was twisted in torment, as if he were forcing open a mouth that refused to move.
"Your Highness."
In that instant, Seon knew what was coming. Seokcheol would never wear so grim a face otherwise.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Her heart was pounding hard enough to fill her ears. I don't want to hear it. But this, too, was something she had to live through and come out the other side of.
Seokcheol delivered the words carefully, slowly, mindful of her—and still his voice bored into her ears like a blade.
The terrible future she had known would arrive soon was now staring her in the face.
What am I supposed to do now? This was no longer an accident that had left one man injured; it had become a major incident that had carried him all the way to death. Seon's fingertips trembled.
"Grandfather. I have to see Grandfather."
"Your Highness."
Seokcheol blocked her as she stopped short and made to turn back, his eyes heavy with grief, his hands clamping down on her shoulders.
It was an act of presumption he would never have dared in ordinary times. But it was the only thing that could hold her reeling heart in place.
"You must give His Majesty time."
Time. At Seokcheol's words, Seon swept a hand back through her hair and let out a long breath.
The Emperor was her grandfather and the sovereign of this nation—but before any of that, he was a father. A father marked by misfortune, who had now endured the terrible agony of losing two sons.
"Ha... You're right."
Slowly, Seon conceded.
They could not hide the Crown Prince's condition forever. The royal household would have held the news back as long as it could, and he himself had held on for a long time.
But a body shattered by the accident could not endure this cruel world in the end. For all the palace's desperate efforts to keep his state secret, he had truly become someone who no longer walked this earth.
The truth was, it still hadn't sunk in. Even as she rushed through one urgent task after another, even as she joined the investigation into the Crown Prince's accident, she had never been able to accept that he was going to die. It still felt as though she could go to the Crown Prince's residence this very moment, knock on the door, and he would come out smiling to welcome her.
But now she had to accept it: the kindly uncle who had always been so gracious was gone, and only the battlefield remained.
"The grounds outside will be packed with reporters and YouTubers. We'll be leaving by car, but prepare yourself all the same—just in case."
"That much I'm good at."
Seon murmured it with bitter self-mockery. Heavy heart or not, the role she had to play was clear. Let them prattle all they liked about her noble blood; she was nothing more than a clown in fine dress.
The car carrying Seon was to pass through Danbongmun and leave Changdeokgung by that route. It wasn't the main gate, but it was the entrance the royals customarily used, so it stood to reason that the crowds would gather there.
The moment she was in the limousine, she began tidying her appearance, pressing a tissue lightly to her lips to blot the color once more. Only after she and Seokcheol had checked and adjusted her look several times over did the wheels begin to roll, slow and steady.
"Ha!"
Even through the tinted glass, Danbongmun stood out in sharp relief. A crowd pressed up against the wide-open gate. Imperial Palace guards struggling to hold them back. And there, conspicuously parked in front of it all, a car—and out of it climbed a familiar face, swaying and staggering as though grief had taken the strength from his legs.
"It seems Grand Prince Uigu has made up his mind."
"So I see. I had no idea he'd prepared a whole show."
The haggard face—plain to see even from a distance—bore no resemblance to the man she had left behind earlier.
The prince who had soaked up praise with a face full of smiles, who had loomed over her with such imperiousness, was gone without a trace.
In this place, there existed only a devoted younger brother, driven half-mad and to the very edge of the grave by his brother's death.
"My brother... how good a man he was... I believe the people of this nation know that better than anyone."
Grand Prince Uigu's voice rang out, thick with feeling. To anyone who didn't know better, it was grief sincere enough to believe.
As the limousine drew nearer to Danbongmun, the cries of the crowd grew distinct: the relentless burst of camera shutters, the high, sharp questions, the reckless words hurled without a shred of conscience as cameras were shoved toward Grand Prince Uigu.
"Look this way, please! This camera too!"
"Please tell us how you're feeling right now!"
"You're high in the line of succession and likely to be named the next Crown Prince—may we ask whether you're prepared for it?"
Nothing but filth for Seon's ears.
"Long live Grand Prince Uigu!"
"Long live the next Crown Prince!"
Naive voices from the crowd were mixed in as well.
"Sob... Now is the time for mourning, my fellow citizens. Please, pray for His Highness the Crown Prince's—his eternal rest."
Even as he wept fat tears in the guise of the pitiable younger brother, Grand Prince Uigu delivered every line exactly as he intended.
"This accident was... truly a misfortune. If only there had been more vigilance, better protection, such a terrible thing would never have happened. I regret that I could not stop my brother."
Standing before the death of an uncle she had respected and loved, Seon, too, struggled to keep her emotions in check.
If it weren't for Grand Prince Uigu spinning his deceptions out there, she might have managed to put on a mask of her own. Watching him carry on like that, no one with blood in their veins could keep their heart from boiling.
"What would you like to do?"
Seokcheol asked carefully. She could feel his eyes finding her scarlet face in the rearview mirror.
And in that moment, Seon understood.
The direction of the next reign had been decided in front of Danbongmun today. Whatever anyone said, from this moment on, the next Crown Prince would be Grand Prince Uigu.
Her cheeks burned hot enough to feel without touching them. Her clenched fists kept tightening of their own accord. After a moment's gaze out the window, Seon answered evenly.
"Everyone's too busy training their lenses on my second uncle. I suppose I can just slip past."
"Understood. We'll push through."
At Seokcheol's word, the driver began carving a path straight through.
Fortunately, the crowd had not spread to the very center of the gate, leaving the car plenty of room to slip out.
Thanks to everyone's fixation on Grand Prince Uigu's show, the passage went smoothly. A few cameras seemed to catch the tail end of Seon's limousine, but none gave chase.
Dozens upon dozens of cameras stayed trained on Grand Prince Uigu—apparently their owners judged that capturing the man about to become Crown Prince beat filming a royal sixth in the line of succession.
Thanks to that, the car that had escaped Changdeokgung and merged into the road began to speed along without a hitch. A sigh escaped Seon and Seokcheol at the same moment—a groan weighted less with relief than with tangled, conflicting feelings.
The car, having set off with no destination in mind, turned toward Jongno—toward the detached palace where Grand Prince Uijeong's family was staying.
"Your Highness. Shall we head to the detached palace for now?"
At Seokcheol's question, Seon propped an elbow on the window frame and rested her face against the back of her hand. The limousine jolted, and her body swayed with it. The elbow pressed to the cold frame slowly began to ache with chill.
The detached palace. Should I go there? Seon asked herself.
A stifled, restless feeling had been with her the whole time. Her eldest uncle was dead, and her second uncle had the seat he had always hungered for right in front of him.
Seon had been ordered to keep watch over the royals and investigate this accident. In terms of real power, of course, she remained helpless.
But there was intent behind the Emperor's order. He, too, suspected someone. Which meant the course of this investigation had already been set.
There was no proof that Grand Prince Uigu had killed the Crown Prince. Royals with an eye on the throne were a dime a dozen; there was no certainty it was him. No—perhaps the accident really had been nothing but misfortune.
Yet one thing was unmistakably wrong: the way Grand Prince Uigu was kneading the task force in his hands, trying to smother the whole affair. And there were suspicious threads tangled around the Crown Prince's accident as well.
Only then did Seon understand what she had to do. It didn't matter who was hiding the truth. Who, right now, was the most at ease? That was the person she needed to look at first.
"Take me to the National Police Agency."
"I beg your pardon?"
The order, coming so long after the last word on their destination, startled both the driver and Seokcheol.
When an Emperor or a Crown Prince died, every member of the royal family was to return to their residence and stand by until a separate decree was issued. That had always been the custom.
"There's something I have to do. I'll take responsibility—just go."
No public institution would welcome a surprise visit from a royal. Even so, that was where Seon had to go.
It was just possible that the answer to all this restlessness choking her was waiting there.