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Chapter 38

“……What? Is that true?!”

At the very top floor of the Pungyang Cho Clan research institute building.

The face of one of the Royal Guards twisted as he received the transmission from the Royal Inquisition Bureau agent.

But only for a moment.

Quickly regaining his composure, he rushed over to the man standing on the rooftop and reported:

“A message has arrived from the Royal Inquisition Bureau. The target has been located at the specified coordinates. The target is…”

He hesitated briefly after checking the accompanying video data.

“Young master Cho Seong-hwan is already dead, having succumbed to massive blood loss.”

“I see.”

Hearing the Royal Guard’s words, Kim Hyunwoo gave only a short reply and nodded.

By now, the transport drone dispatched by the Royal Inquisition Bureau would have retrieved Cho Seong-hwan’s corpse.

With that, it was over.

“To run away so disgracefully, only to end up like this.”

Muttering those words, Kim Hyunwoo looked down at the arm that held his sword.

The faint tremor still running through it.

He had no choice but to admit it.

This was his first kill, and he could feel the sensation crawling across his very skin.

To think he had been so absorbed in the feeling of cutting flesh that he had let the man escape.

It was a shameful display beyond words.

“Have the photographs of the body been secured?”

“Yes. The transport drone transmitted still images, however…”

“Send them to me. I will confirm it myself.”

As though his unease still had not lifted, Kim Hyunwoo checked the state of the corpse.

Eyes wide open, death etched across Cho Seong-hwan’s face.

It was also his first time seeing a dead body. Bile rose in his throat, but he dared not reveal such weakness.

He studied the corpse for only a moment longer.

“Hm?”

Kim Hyunwoo’s brows furrowed at what he saw.

The wounds on Cho Seong-hwan’s body.

Among them was one that he himself had not inflicted.

‘Judging by the shape of the cut and the scorched edge, this was done with a curved saber forged by our clan. And yet…’

He had deployed the Royal Guards instead of his family’s retainers. The only one here wielding such a weapon was himself.

A wound not from his own memory—

Yet inflicted by a blade identical to his own.

At this moment, the only person who could have killed Cho Seong-hwan with an Andong Kim Clan weapon was…

‘Kim Chang-woon. Was it him?’

The thought had barely formed when—

Goooooooong-!

Piercing through rain and storm clouds, a military transport helicopter descended from the sky.

On its fuselage was emblazoned the crest of the Andong Kim Clan, with a black stripe beneath.

The sight made Kim Hyunwoo’s eyes widen instantly.

“That’s…!”

Thud-!

The helicopter landed on the rooftop, and the hatch opened. Emerging was none other than Kim Junghun, head of the Andong Kim Clan.

He had been away on an inspection of the Five Army Commands when news of this disgraceful incident in Hanseong reached him, prompting him to rush back in haste.

“Father.”

Kim Hyunwoo straightened his clothes and greeted him, but Kim Junghun did not even spare him a glance.

Following his father’s gaze, he saw the corpse of Cho Seong-hwan being carried in by the drone.

The instant Kim Junghun laid eyes on the body, his face contorted savagely.

A violent change of expression that would never be seen from him under normal circumstances.

“What in the world happened here?”

“It is as you see.”

Kim Hyunwoo spoke as he looked down upon the research building.

“The Pungyang Cho Clan was collecting and experimenting on monsters in the very heart of the capital, Hanseong. A disgraceful crime, and an act of treason that endangered Joseon itself.”

“So you killed him? Not just anyone, but the heir of the Pungyang Cho Clan?”

In truth, he had not been the one to kill him.

There was someone else he suspected.

But Kim Hyunwoo deliberately left that unsaid.

Even if Kim Chang-woon had not slain Cho Seong-hwan, he himself had every intention of doing it.

And since it was he who had sent Kim Chang-woon to infiltrate the Pungyang Cho Clan, the death might as well have been his own doing.

“It was nothing more than passing judgment on a traitor. Moreover—”

Kim Hyunwoo paused, then continued.

“With the heir of the Pungyang Cho Clan eliminated under charges of treason, is this not the perfect opportunity to weaken their power—”

Slap-!

Before he could finish, Kim Junghun struck his son’s cheek with a resounding slap.

“To murder the blood of another noble clan and then think only of such petty schemes? You fool!”

Shouting with a twisted face, Kim Junghun’s voice thundered.

Kim Hyunwoo stared back, eyes wide, his expression one of disbelief.

As if he could not comprehend why his father had acted this way.

Seeing that face made Kim Junghun’s anger flare even more.

“Do you know how many of the main house’s projects depend on them, or how many plans require their cooperation? You’ve just poured cold water over every one of those matters!”

“You can make up the main house’s finances. Besides, they were— they were researching monsters right here in Hanseong…!”

“Does that give you the right to move the Royal Guards without any procedure and seize and kill the blood of another noble family at your whim?”

At a loss for words, Kim Hyunwoo fell silent.

“I have always taught that every matter in the world has its proper procedure and order. And still you commit an act like this? Do you know how the many noble houses we will face in the royal council will view our clan now?”

It was obvious.

They would say the Andong Kim Clan toppled the Pungyang Cho Clan for its own power. They’d claim the heir was killed without due process to serve the Andong Kim Clan’s interests.

“Is that… so wrong?”

“It is wrong.”

At his father’s voice, cold and restrained, Kim Hyunwoo narrowed his eyes and asked, “Why is it wrong?”

“Because our clan’s power springs from the balance of influence among the noble houses.”

Kim Junghun continued.

“Our Andong Kim Clan has held the highest station among the noble clans, yet we have never needlessly trampled another clan’s domain.”

“…….”

“On the contrary, we respected their spheres and took it upon ourselves to mediate conflicts among the noble houses. Do you know why?”

Because by doing so, otherwise scattered clans did not turn on one another; they could merge into a single, cooperative body with shared aims.

That unified strength is what elevated the noble clans to the power they now hold.

Their cooperation. Their integration.

Words he had heard a thousand times.

“But Cho Seong-hwan was a villain who illegally researched monsters and used the byproducts to commit all manner of filthy deeds. Aren’t you aware of what that faction has been doing behind the scenes?!”

Of course he knew.

Illegal drugs, human trafficking, and every obscene atrocity that sprang from those sins—just naming them made his stomach turn.

“What meaning is there in an alliance built on such people? While you and I hold our ground, why should we pander to them and keep that unity going?”

“…Hah.”

To say that after seeing “it” in the ceremonial hall—what audacity.

“…Fine. Suppose you’re right, and by doing so our Andong Kim Clan became the foremost among the noble houses.”

Hearing Kim Hyunwoo’s words, Kim Junghun’s face grew even more weary.

“Suppose we forced every house that stood against us to kneel, exterminated their lineages, gathered all their power, and built a dynasty.”

“What do you suppose would be at the end of that?”

The end?

Kim Hyunwoo could not answer rashly. Kim Junghun pressed on.

“There would be the sovereign who now sits upon the throne.”

The king.

At that word, Kim Hyunwoo froze and could not speak.

“Tell me about the rebellion of the deposed Crown Prince, Yi Chieon.”

He could not not know. Narrowing his eyes, Kim Hyunwoo spoke slowly.

“The prince, Yi Chieon, driven mad, raised rebellion intending to assassinate His Majesty. And—”

“His Majesty was stabbed by the prince’s blade and fell gravely wounded. The prestige of the royal house was ruined. The leader of that rebellion, Yi Chieon, was stripped of his rank, charged with regicide and treason, and executed by dismemberment.”

As if frustrated at having to recite it, Kim Junghun continued in rapid-fire.

An old, oft-repeated tale from history—one that appears whenever dynastic caution is invoked. Kim Hyunwoo did not understand why his father brought it up now.

“Do you truly not understand?”

At that moment, Kim Junghun, displeased, addressed his son.

“This history I just spoke is the fate of those who seize the throne.”

He said, “To tear your child’s limbs with your own hands and be left a living corpse, unable to die, trapped on a throne in name only—pulled and played like a puppet. Blinded by the single absolute power, forced into an abyss where you cannot even choose death. That is the throne!”

“……!”

“That is why our Andong Kim Clan exercises the sovereign’s authority yet never impersonates or takes the monarch’s place. We put other families beneath us, but we do not climb on their heads.”

For while enjoying the king’s power, the burdens and the blame fall upon the corpse seated on the throne.

And by doing so, the Andong Kim Clan—indeed, all the noble houses—retain their power.

Kim Junghun’s voice rose slightly as he added.

“But your action now breaks that unwritten law. Our noble houses will never again trust one another. They will constantly suspect and check each other. Because you— with your own hands— killed Cho Seong-hwan…!”

For a moment, the heated emotion passed; Kim Junghun stopped and covered his face with his hand.

“Whoo.”

At this point, with matters already having spiraled so far, raising his voice here would resolve nothing.

Losing the heir has certainly dealt a blow to the power of the Pungyang Cho Clan. If so, then in this situation…

Speaking of reconciliation or negotiation in front of a father who had just lost his son would yield nothing.

That left only one option.

Before the matter grew any larger, the Pungyang Cho Clan had to be eradicated as quickly as possible.

Evidence of their monster research in Hanseong has already been secured. That is more than enough justification to mobilize the Royal Guards and the Royal Inquisition Bureau.

No doubt, Kim Hyunwoo had taken all this into account when he moved the Royal Guards.

Young he might be, but lacking ability he was not.

“Return to the main house. From here on, I will personally handle this matter.”

“Father. But—!”

Crunch-!

Just as he tried to speak further, Kim Junghun’s aura of authority crushed down on him.

“I don’t wish to hear it.”

“……Yes, understood.”

Reluctantly bowing his head, Kim Hyunwoo turned away.

And as he boarded the family’s prepared transport helicopter—

“You’ve taken to scheming, it seems. Not like you.”

Stopping him, Kim Junghun narrowed his eyes and asked,

“This incident—was it arranged by you from beginning to end?”

“…What?”

“Discovering the Pungyang Cho Clan’s monster research facility, inciting a monster’s rampage to brand them with treason—was that all your design?”

At his father’s probing words, which seemed to pierce straight through him, Kim Hyunwoo fell silent for an instant.

The only thing he had done himself was strike down Cho Seong-hwan.

All of the planning had been orchestrated by that bastard, Kim Chang-woon, the illegitimate son.

And yet…

“Yes. It was.”

Perhaps it was the unease of standing before his father, but in the end, what spilled from his lips was a lie.

“I see.”

At that answer, Kim Junghun nodded slowly.

Without looking back at him, he added in an offhand tone,

“The plan itself was flawless.”

“……!”

“At the very least, your education as heir has not been wasted.”

A word of praise—seemingly directed at him.

Leaving those words behind, Kim Hyunwoo slowly boarded the helicopter.

It was a perfect victory.

The thorn in his eye, Cho Seong-hwan, had been eliminated, and a decisive blow struck against the rival Pungyang Cho Clan.

For the first time, it was not his father’s will but his own that had moved the clan.

Since being named heir of the Andong Kim Clan, it was the first taste of triumph—his own achievement.

And yet—

“Flawless… was it.”

Thud.

Grinding his teeth, Kim Hyunwoo repeated his father’s words.

Though everything had ended in absolute victory,

What remained with him was nothing but humiliation and fury he desperately tried to ignore.

---The End Of The Chapter---

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