RC 00

Prologue

Ranked No. 1 among the most exemplary members of the Imperial family in Korea.

Ranked No. 1 for attendance at official duties.

Ranked No. 1 among Imperial family members people would want as a daughter-in-law.

Ranked No. 4 among the most well-known members of the Imperial family.

Lee Seon, the Cheongyang Hyeonju.

The Emperor’s granddaughter and the only daughter of the youngest Imperial Prince.

Everything she had achieved so far had been earned through her own blood, sweat, and tears, despite being only sixth in line for the throne.

Seon believed that as a member of the Imperial family supported by the people, she had a duty to uphold the responsibilities expected of her. She did not regret giving up a part of her life to fulfill that duty.

Even when those around her criticized her for being old-fashioned, she had nothing to be ashamed of. She did not want to become someone who ignored the responsibilities of the Imperial family and cared only about its privileges.

[Three evenings ago, His Highness the Crown Prince passed away in a sudden accident.]

But the Crown Prince’s death changed everything.

The moment Seon opened Donhwamun and stepped outside, she accepted the new reality she could no longer deny, letting it sink deep into her bones.

Click—

The sound of camera shutters rang out without pause. Flashes exploded from every direction, leaving nowhere for her eyes to rest. It was enough to make anyone hesitate, but Seon stood proudly before the cameras, doing her best not to let even the slightest reaction show.

The area prepared for the reporters was already packed, while beyond the barriers stood a crowd of citizens shouting as they tried to capture anything they could with telephoto cameras and their phones.

Seon calmly took in the people before her. The area in front of Donhwamun had little difference in elevation, so she could not see very far. Still, the sheer volume of the noise, loud enough to make her ears ring, gave her a sense of just how large the crowd was.

“Your Highness! Please look this way!”

“Your Highness, this is Minguk News! Please say a few words!”

Normally, announcements from the Imperial family were made through the Imperial Household Office.

There were few occasions that required an Imperial family member to appear personally. If something was serious enough to require one of them to step forward, it would ordinarily be handled by the Emperor, the Empress, or the Crown Prince who had now passed away.

For Seon, a relatively low-ranking Imperial family member who was merely somewhat popular, this was far too important a role.

And there was Donhwamun.

There was hardly a better place than the main gate of Changdeokgung, which served as the Imperial Palace, for drawing a crowd.

Seon herself had chosen this open location, rather than the briefing room inside the Imperial Household Office or Changdeokgung, so that ordinary citizens could also see and hear the announcement.

But now that all this attention was pouring down on her, anxiety suddenly crept in.

As she listened to the countless voices calling out to her, Seon slowly closed her eyes.

With every movement she made, the camera shutters seemed to grow louder.

It meant that if she showed even the slightest sign of wavering now, everyone would notice.

Seon took a deep breath and opened her eyes wide.

Sunlight struck her round pupils, making them shine brightly.

“I have come to inform the people on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor.”

Her words were swallowed by the noise of the crowded square and could not be heard clearly.

Even the reporters who had been listening intently while typing on their laptops hesitated and glanced at one another.

“His Highness the Crown Prince has… passed…”

The next words she spoke were not heard clearly either.

One by one, the people who had been murmuring in curiosity fell silent.

Little by little. Very, very slowly.

Their attention turned toward Seon.

They were no longer focused on Lee Seon, the Imperial family member standing before them.

They were waiting to hear what would come out of her mouth.

In front of the suddenly silent crowd, Seon opened her mouth again.

Her lips, cracked and painfully dry from barely drinking any water for the past several days, felt as though they might split apart.

“His Highness the Crown Prince…”

Everyone swallowed hard and listened to Seon’s voice.

The only sound brushing against her ears was the clicking of camera shutters.

“…was murdered.”

At last, the words Seon had been preparing herself to say burst from her lips.

Yet instead of an uproar, the entire crowd fell silent.

Everyone doubted their own ears.

Then they doubted what they had just heard from Seon’s mouth.

No one dared to step forward or say anything without first gauging everyone else’s reaction.

As though she had expected exactly this, Seon calmly clasped the two hands resting over her abdomen even more tightly.

She could not let anyone see the faint trembling beginning at her fingertips.

“The Imperial family demands a thorough investigation into this matter. Through an internal investigation, we will uncover every crime in full, regardless of the suspect’s position or place in the line of succession.”

As Seon continued speaking with a calm expression, shock slowly spread across the reporters’ faces.

She wasn’t babbling nonsense because she had lost her mind over the death of her uncle.

The moment they realized that, the reporters surged forward.

In fact, answering their questions was much easier than reciting the statement she had prepared herself.

With a strange sense of relief, Seon listened to the questions pouring out without order.

“Does Your Highness mean that the person who murdered His Highness the Crown Prince is someone within the Imperial family?”

The camera shutters began clicking frantically again as they waited for Seon’s answer.

Their eagerness to capture the exact moment Seon made such a bombshell declaration reached even her.

More noisy questions followed.

The Imperial Household Office’s public relations team struggled to control the reporters as questions were shouted out one after another without anyone even raising a hand, but it was useless.

Seon watched them for a moment before calmly raising her right hand.

It was only one slender hand.

Yet silence fell almost instantly.

The position Seon had built for herself as a member of the Imperial family had not been earned through popularity alone.

The dignity conveyed through even her fingertips made everyone watch her carefully and fall silent.

“It cannot be ruled out.”

It was an ambiguous answer, but one that left the possibility open.

The flashes became even more intense.

Then a sharp voice came from somewhere in the crowd.

“Then, Your Highness, are you saying that you have nothing to be ashamed of?”

If the murderer of the Crown Prince was indeed somewhere within the Imperial family, Seon could not escape the suspicion either.

She slowly turned toward the voice and answered.

“I, the Cheongyang Hyeonju, have been ordered by His Majesty to join the Imperial Family Special Investigation TF and cooperate with the investigation. Every investigation conducted in the process will be directed at every member of the Imperial family, and I will not be exempt from it either.”

At her declaration that she, too, would undergo a thorough investigation, the sharp questioning died down.

Instead, new questions poured forth.

“Is there anyone inside the Imperial family whom you currently suspect?”

“His Highness the Crown Prince died in a traffic accident. Are you saying someone ordered the accident?”

Seon could not explain every question surrounding the accident here, one by one.

She simply stood there in silence, waiting for the question that had to come.

“How will the succession to the throne proceed? Will it be put on hold until the investigation is complete?”

There had been a reason Seon had come all the way to Donhwamun and made this announcement in person, rather than simply distributing a press release.

There was something she had to make clear with her own lips.

And when the question she had been waiting for finally came, her eyes lit up.

“Under Imperial law, succession to the throne proceeds according to the order of succession. However, when that is impossible, the decision is to follow the opinion of the highest-ranking elder of the Imperial family and the previous successor. Now that there are suspicions that a member of the Imperial family was involved in His Highness the Crown Prince’s death, succession according to the established order is not possible.”

Seon spoke in a calm voice.

The clatter of reporters typing on their laptop keyboards grew louder.

“But the previous successor was His Highness the Crown Prince, wasn’t he?”

“That is correct. That is why it would be best to proceed with the succession only after the investigation is complete. However, as you know, we cannot ignore His Majesty the Emperor’s deteriorating health. Therefore, we cannot postpone the decision on the next successor. The person who will inherit His Highness the Crown Prince’s position will be decided by His Majesty the Emperor.”

The moment Seon’s answer fell, some reporters familiar with the inner workings of the Imperial family realized who these measures were aimed at.

Suspending the order of succession meant keeping the person currently closest to the throne in check.

A face that had dominated countless news reports and articles in the days since the Crown Prince’s death came to mind.

The Emperor’s second son.

Seon’s middle uncle.

The man who openly spoke of his ambition to become Emperor and maintained close ties with figures in both political and business circles.

Grand Prince Uigu.

Seon immediately realized that the reporters had thought of the same person, and the corners of her lips lifted slightly.

“I promise that I will devote myself completely to ensuring that the Imperial family can stand proudly before the people, without shame.”

Seon lowered her hand and clasped both hands together over her abdomen again.

She stared straight into the camera flashes pouring toward her.

Then, slowly, she bowed at the waist.

Questions and flashes continued to pour toward Seon as she bowed.

Even as an Imperial Household Office employee shouted that a press release would soon be distributed, the reporters showed no sign of stopping their questions.