This must be exactly what it means to have your mind go completely blank.
Right now, I glimpsed true conviction in my grandfather’s face.
“When did you prepare the assassination plot? How could you have arranged it so quickly?”
“Do you think I only recently came up with this plan? It was always, always prepared. I merely didn’t miss the moment when the suitable time arrived. A prepared person always seizes opportunity.”
‘A prepared person seizes opportunity.’
Is that sacred phrase, usually meant for the truly diligent, even applicable to this situation?
His smiling face, baring his teeth, was like a demon’s.
There was no way to beat a man who had gone mad and was dead set on killing.
“Since it was always ready, once I heard the news that he was going to America, I only had to plan how to act. After that, everything went smoothly like a house on fire. I wrapped that up, brought the soldiers who share my sentiment, and came here. Though you wouldn’t know it, the military has already taken control. Of course, since one must be cautious, I only brought soldiers who are strictly on my side. Overnight, the palace will completely fall into my hands.”
“Since it’s already the dead of night, you must have secured it by now. There must be many people from families who share your sentiment as well?”
“Of course. There are not a few who share my sentiment. In a few days, the new Emperor-designate will arrive, and I will announce that Joo Minhyuk died in an accident in America before enthroning the new Emperor. How is it? Isn’t the plan decent? I felt a lot of things while preparing this affair. I realized that luck, too, only follows those who are prepared.”
Right.
He was certainly lucky.
It went as smoothly as if heaven itself were helping him.
How could such a reckless plot proceed so flawlessly?
It felt so futile.
“But you didn’t give me a definitive answer.”
“About what? Whether your Alpha survived or not?”
“…If he’s alive, just let him live. Please.”
I never thought I would utter such wretched words.
I couldn’t believe Joo Minhyuk was dead, and naturally, I thought he must be alive.
I believed my grandfather was bringing up the Emperor’s death just to terrify me.
I believed he had hidden him away somewhere and would let him go.
I truly believed that.
But a sudden, terrifying dread washed over me that this madman might have actually done something irreversible.
The plea to let him live escaped my mouth involuntarily.
And it was my true sincerity.
“You didn’t kill him, right? If you just let him live, I’ll do anything.”
“This is too pathetic to watch. What on earth can you even do for me in that state? You’re useless to me now.”
I couldn’t afford to be useless.
Only then would he give Joo Minhyuk back, so what should I do?
How should I handle this?
If he really killed him, I should at least beg to let me find the body…
“Everything. I’ll do everything. Just return His Majesty to me.”
“You’ve gone completely out of your mind. Blinded by an Alpha, you even turned your back on your own family, and now you’re truly mad enough to do anything? If he’s dead, do you mean you want his corpse? What can you even do if I give it to you?”
…He wasn’t hiding him away to threaten me; is he really dead?
Because my grandfather’s dominant aura didn’t waver in the slightest, I panicked.
My confidence that Joo Minhyuk would be alive gradually withered away.
If I wanted to confirm it myself, I had to see his dead body just as the old man said.
It would be better to verify the corpse with my own eyes rather than living with mere conjecture without any confirmation.
Nodding my head, I let the tears I had been holding back stream down.
Perhaps pleased by my reaction, my grandfather burst into uproarious laughter and stood up from his seat.
Fine, laugh.
I just hoped he would listen to me, even if it meant getting beaten again.
“First, tend to your pathetic state. You get yourself into that mess because you take a beating without any knack for it. I’ll send a doctor, so treat your hand and face and rest up for a few days. After that… you’ll just have to find something for me. I’ll think about it after seeing what you find.”
‘Find something.’
What was he asking me to find?
I don’t know anything. I know absolutely nothing about politics.
If I had to find something necessary for a rebellion, it was a massive problem because I truly knew nothing.
But as if he couldn’t care less about my distress, my grandfather strode out of my quarters.
Everything feels like a dream.
This situation feels entirely surreal.
Joo Minhyuk really died like that?
No, there’s no way.
He isn’t a man who would die so easily.
Think, Cha Haejoo, think about what to do. Joo Minhyuk is not a reckless man.
Because the Empress Dowager was unwell, he might have been caught off guard and struck unexpectedly while distracted, but he definitely wouldn’t have died.
He isn’t someone who would die.
He isn’t that foolish.
Rather, my grandfather’s situation—where everything was resolving far too easily—was much more suspicious.
“He can’t die, what should I even do… it hurts so much…”
Right now, my body is in immense pain.
Breathing is difficult, and more than my face swollen from the beating, my hand hurt terribly.
As my breathing grew ragged and my body began to slump sideways, Hyunwook rushed out.
You endured well, Kang Hyunwook.
Good job.
You listened carefully to my instruction to wait a few minutes instead of coming out right away.
“Haejoo! Cha Haejoo! That crazy old man!”
“…Lower your voice. He said he’d send a doctor. They’ll be here soon. He always sent a doctor after beating me. That doctor is also one of Grandfather’s people, so it’ll be trouble if they hear.”
“Let them hear! Look at your face! It’s completely swollen and covered in blood. That damn old man is definitely insane… Your hand looks broken… We need to go to a hospital to see where and how badly it’s fractured.”
“…There’s a medical center inside the palace, Hyunwook… Can you hold me? Lay me on the bed… I want to rest until the doctor arrives.”
“Even if it hurts, bear with it just a little bit. I’ll lift you up gently.”
Seeing Hyunwook brought me a sense of relief, and tears came pouring out.
The path ahead feels utterly bleak.
I have to protect Hyunwook…
How did things suddenly end up like this?
To be honest, I am terrified and I don’t know what to do.
Ah, but why does my lower abdomen hurt again?
It was throbbing even when I was being beaten by Grandfather.
“Hyunwook… is His Majesty really… dead?”
By now, I can barely even pronounce my words properly.
My entire face is so heavily swollen that it’s difficult to speak.
A fever seems to be rising, and my wrist has swollen to nearly twice its size.
What could a grandfather possibly have pent up against his own grandson to do this?
He must have found it deeply offensive when Joo Minhyuk rescued me from his grasp.
Having been told never to show his face around here again out of pride, he must have been infuriated.
Still, since he gave me a thorough beating today, he will likely leave me alone without touching me for the time being.
I should think things through once the wounds calm down a bit.
After laying me down on the bed, Hyunwook soaked a towel in cold water and placed it on my face.
“I’ll stay right here. For now, just rest. The doctor will be here soon, okay? If it hurts too much, tell me. I’ll do whatever it takes to go out and bring a doctor.”
Lacking even the energy to respond, I merely nodded.
I thought I heard the sound of a doctor arriving, but my eyes snapped shut.
Joo Minhyuk, what should I do?
If I had known anything, I would have helped you.
You helped me so much, yet there is nothing I can do for you.
I felt entirely incompetent.
Having fractured my wrist and finger bones, I woke up after suffering from a fever for four days.
My face was still swollen, and mottled dark blue bruises were vivid across both cheeks and my entire face.
‘Sigh…’
That old man’s strength is horribly immense.
Today as well, I passed the time aimlessly fiddling with my unresponsive phone.
And as if he couldn’t stand to watch me rest any longer, my grandfather summoned me to the Pyonjon, the main executive hall.
The Pyonjon is a place where just anyone cannot enter…
As I forced myself out, soldiers were deployed all along the path leading to the hall.
They were maintaining a heavily fortified, tight security with threatening, fully armed appearances.
I was intensely curious about the situation outside the palace.
Did the citizens know about this?
Cut off from the news and everything else, I couldn’t know how the outside world was turning.
Hyunwook, whose entry was blocked at the front, couldn’t step inside, so I entered alone.
However, a man I had never seen before was standing there.
As I warily observed him, my grandfather, who had been sitting in Joo Minhyuk’s seat behind the man, stood up.
“The state of your face is quite a sight. Greet him. This is the person who will become the new Emperor.”
‘What?’
Utterly shocked, my pupils trembled as I stared at him, and the man offered a faint smile in return.
Ignoring the greeting entirely, I stood stiffly and looked at my grandfather first.
But he couldn’t have cared less about my reaction.
“You said you’d do anything, didn’t you? If you do, I will ensure you can at least find that green boy’s corpse.”
“Yes.”
At my response, a thoroughly satisfied expression crossed his face as he walked past the desk toward me.
A peculiar anxiety was visible on the face of the man who was supposed to become the new Emperor.
“Then find the royal signet and the state seal. We need them to finalize the documents, but no matter how much we search, they are nowhere to be found. We must announce the death of the former Emperor and the ascension of the new Emperor shortly.”
The royal signet and the state seal?
Uh, but I have absolutely no idea where they are.
I don’t have the slightest clue.
They were inside a safe somewhere, but I don’t know where that safe is.
In this vast palace, how am I supposed to know where the royal signet would be?
“Grandfather, I truly do not know where those are. His Majesty never told me, and I wasn’t interested in—Agh!”
My grandfather forcefully kicked my shin, sending me crashing to the floor.
No, is this something to resort to violence over?
You could just speak!
Why do you keep hitting me! I truly know nothing.
“Prime Minister, he already has many wounds, so laying hands on him is…”
“You stay out of this and just watch!”
My grandfather bellowed at the man who tried to restrain him.
‘Ah…’
That man is going to suffer far more than me in the future.
He didn’t bring in a new Emperor; he brought in a new puppet.
That piece of trash old man.
“No matter how much you beat me, I don’t know what I don’t know. It would probably be faster for you to just forge a new royal signet and insist it’s the real one, Grandfather. You’re quite good at forcing your way, after all.”
I could have been beaten less, but my mouth is the problem once again.
“This insolent thing should just do as he’s told! Your arrogance has grown in the meantime! I see you weren’t beaten enough back then!”
Fine.
Beat me.
My grandfather began to kick me.
My back, arms, head, shoulders—he began to kick me evenly without leaving a single spot untouched, and unable to withstand the strength of an Alpha, I was ultimately thrown backward.
‘Ah! My stomach…’
As I curled inward from a sudden, excruciating pain in my abdomen, Hyunwook’s panicked voice echoed from outside, followed by the sound of a crowd swarming in.
‘Uh?’
Was Hyunwook caught by someone outside?
Before I could even worry about Hyunwook, I saw my grandfather’s foot flying directly toward my lower abdomen.
The moment I saw it, the thought flashed through my mind that if I got hit there, I would truly die.
Helpless and cornered, I could only brace myself for the impact, but just before his foot could strike me, my grandfather’s body was suddenly sent flying toward the desk.
