Chapter 700: Do You Think I’ll Die Alone?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 700: Do You Think I’ll Die Alone?
"Tang Jin-seol is... the Alliance Leader’s wife."
Zhuge Chan barely managed to squeeze the words out, his voice trembling.
"I am well aware. She is my wife. My beloved wife."
Hearing his words, Lee Jae-won nodded slowly before speaking again.
"Therefore, for her husband’s sake—for the sake of the greater good—she will be able to accept this sacrifice with a smile."
Lee Jae-won continued in a gentle tone.
Of course, the words themselves were far from gentle; they were nothing short of atrocious.
"............"
Zhuge Chan fell silent, his lips pressed firmly together after hearing Lee Jae-won’s heinous declaration. He was utterly speechless, stunned by the man’s horrifying selfishness.
After a long moment of stunned silence, Zhuge Chan finally spoke, his expression grim.
"........If this truth ever comes to light... the backlash will be uncontrollable."
"It’s fine. The point is, no one will ever know, right?"
Lee Jae-won replied with a relaxed, nonchalant expression.
"If Lady Tang realizes she has been discarded, she will not sit idly by."
"It doesn’t matter. Who would believe her now? People will just see it as the desperate, empty struggles of a fallen woman."
Even if she acted like a vengeful ghost, claiming she was wronged, it would be useless. The masses—those dogs and pigs—would be on his side anyway.
"So, watch your tongue as well. Remember, the walls have ears."
"............."
"You don’t seem pleased?"
When Zhuge Chan didn’t respond, Lee Jae-won looked at him and asked.
"...........To be honest, I am not."
Zhuge Chan replied with a dark, somber face.
"But there was no other choice."
"........There was a choice."
Zhuge Chan spoke in a quiet, measured tone.
"A solution? You mean there was one?"
"In the letter Lady Tang sent, were there not conditions written to withdraw the cancellation of the alliance?"
"Are you... telling me, the Alliance Leader, to bow my head to the ground and apologize?"
Lee Jae-won’s face contorted into a fierce scowl. He found the suggestion incredibly insulting.
"......If you had done so...... at least you could have protected everyone."
"Nonsense!"
Lee Jae-won roared, raising his voice. He was incensed by Zhuge Chan’s ridiculous, nonsensical words.
"Have you forgotten who I am?!"
He glared at Zhuge Chan with eyes full of fury and shouted again.
".....You are the Leader of the Cheonmu Alliance."
"Exactly! I am the Leader of the Cheonmu Alliance! I am the supreme being who represents every member of this alliance! And yet, you want me to prostrate myself and apologize? Do you truly believe that is the right thing to do!"
Lee Jae-won’s voice was pitched high with agitation. The more he spoke, the more worked up he became.
"If a mistake was made, is it not the proper course of action to reflect and correct it? Why must you hide behind lies and evasion?"
"There are things in this world that are better left unknown! By my standards, the inner workings of this situation fall into that category! Why would I expose my own flaws and diminish my standing as the Alliance Leader?"
He was the Leader of the Cheonmu Alliance.
The leader of the strongest single faction and the organization that embodied justice in the Orthodox Murim. That meant his honor was synonymous with the honor of the Cheonmu Alliance itself.
How could he possibly do something that would degrade himself? It was unthinkable.
"If my honor falls, the honor of the Cheonmu Alliance falls to the depths with it! Is that what you want?"
"If this matter is ever revealed, the humiliation will be far greater! Revealing the truth now is the better choice for the future!"
"Then we just have to make sure we aren't caught! Just don't get caught!"
Lee Jae-won raised his voice in frustration. It was maddening to hear such rigid, idealistic nonsense from the man supposed to be the smartest person in the Cheonmu Alliance.
Instead of using that brilliant brain to support and encourage him, why was he spouting such stifling drivel?
‘Stupid bastard. To be a great politician, you have to know when to cut the tail.’
Lee Jae-won began to curse Zhuge Chan inwardly. Seeing a member of the leadership act on "conscience" without considering political positioning made him feel nothing but pathetic pity.
"As long as you and I get our stories straight, there is no way we’ll be caught! Why can’t you understand that!"
"There is no such thing as 'absolute' in this world, Alliance Leader."
Zhuge Chan shook his head. Nothing was absolute. There was always a possibility for things to go wrong, especially when people were involved.
"I beg of you, please make a wise decision."
Zhuge Chan bowed his head deeply in a respectful posture.
"To me, the wise decision is to bury this matter."
Lee Jae-won ignored the plea and stood his ground.
"Alliance Leader!"
"I have already invoked the Leader’s Mandate to announce the punishment! You want me to change my word now? How much of a laughingstock do you want to make me?"
He had already used the Leader’s Mandate to silence the rest of the leadership. If he changed his word now and admitted fault, the massive reputation he had built would crumble, and this time, he might actually face impeachment.
"People will certainly criticize you. That is an undeniable fact. But in the long run, it is the way to minimize the damage."
"How is tarnishing my honor a way to minimize damage!"
Lee Jae-won screamed, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Zhuge Chan.
"I have already made my decision! And I have no intention of reversing it! So, you will follow my lead! Don't talk back!"
"Alliance Leader!"
"Watch your mouth. If this comes out, I won't be the only one suffering."
Lee Jae-won growled, leaning in.
"Didn't you keep your mouth shut until the punishment was decided? In a way, you're an accomplice. If this is revealed, not only you, but your family—the Zhuge Clan—will not escape the blame!"
Lee Jae-won framed Zhuge Chan as a co-conspirator to ensure his silence was absolute.
"..............."
"So, be careful. Don't let your tongue slip in the wrong place."
Lee Jae-won spat out the warning.
Thud.
He stood up abruptly. He felt there was no need to stay any longer.
"I’m leaving. Think carefully about what the truly wise choice is."
He walked out of the meeting room without a backward glance.
Slam!
The door closed, and Lee Jae-won vanished. Only Zhuge Chan remained in the room, a bitter expression etched on his face.
*
Click, clack.
Tang Jin-seol walked slowly toward the Clan Head’s Hall. Tang Jin-cheol had suddenly summoned her.
‘What could it be?’
She moved with a face full of anxiety. She could never quite grasp Tang Jin-cheol’s true intentions.
‘I don’t want to go.’
Perhaps because of her unease, her steps grew heavier and slower. She looked like livestock being dragged to the slaughterhouse.
After some time, she finally reached the door of the office.
‘Whew.’
Stopping before the door, Tang Jin-seol took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves.
Knock, knock.
She knocked gently.
"Who is it?"
A cold, sharp voice drifted from inside. It was the voice of Tang Jin-cheol, the Head of the Tang Clan.
"It’s me... Brother."
"Come in."
Creeeeeak.
As soon as permission was granted, Tang Jin-seol pushed the door open. Tang Jin-cheol was sitting at his desk, coming into her full view.
"I heard... you were looking for me."
Sun-woo, who had entered the office, spoke in a calm, low voice.
"A letter arrived for me from the Cheonmu Alliance."
Sun-woo got straight to the point.
"A letter... from the Cheonmu Alliance?"
Tang Jin-seol looked puzzled. She didn't understand why the Alliance would send a letter to Tang Jin-cheol instead of her.
"Do you know what it says?"
Sun-woo let out a cold smile.
Shiver.
Seeing that smile, Tang Jin-seol felt an inexplicable sense of dread.
"What... does it say?"
"It says that this entire incident was solely your independent action and has nothing to do with the Cheonmu Alliance. Furthermore, it states that you are to be sentenced to confinement for attempting to drive a wedge between the Tang Clan and the Alliance."
"Wha... what?!"
Tang Jin-seol asked back, her face pale with shock.
"Additionally, your daughter, Lee Hyun-kyung, will lose her status as a successor candidate and will be confined along with you, banned from ever setting foot in the Cheonmu Alliance again."
Sun-woo spoke in an utterly indifferent tone.
"Seol-ah, did you work so hard just to be discarded like this?"
Sun-woo spoke with a face full of feigned pity. His expression was thick with mock sympathy for a younger sister who had been used and then ruthlessly thrown away.
".............L-lies."
Tang Jin-seol’s voice trembled.
"It’s... it’s a lie... The Alliance Leader would never... he would never discard me."
She began to deny reality.
"You made this all up, didn't you, Brother? There’s no way! The Alliance Leader would never abandon me! Or Hyun-kyung!"
Tang Jin-seol screamed. To her, it was simply impossible.
Who was she? She was a woman of supreme status at the very peak of power.
And she was being cast out? Just like that? It made no sense.
Thud.
Sun-woo pulled a neatly folded letter from his robe and tossed it onto the desk.
"See for yourself."
Tang Jin-seol rushed forward and snatched the letter.
Crinkle.
She unfolded it and began to read rapidly. Sun-woo watched her with a satisfied expression, curious to see how this viper of a woman would react.
As time passed, her face turned deathly pale, as if she had been struck by a physical blow.
Seeing this, Sun-woo felt a deep sense of internal gratification. It felt as if a decade-old blockage in his chest had finally cleared.
"Ah... ah... ah... aaaaah..."
Tang Jin-seol began to moan in despair, her face hollow. The sudden shock and sense of betrayal seemed to have snatched her soul away.
"Everything you worked for has come to nothing, Seol-ah."
Sun-woo continued, his voice dripping with false regret.
"Power, wealth, and even your standing in the family. All of it."
Under the guise of sympathy, Sun-woo emphasized her misery, listing everything she had lost in this disaster.
"..............."
His words hit their mark. The misery on her face deepened. Seeing her like that, Sun-woo smiled broadly in his mind.
"Why don't you leave now? It seems you need time to process this."
After savoring her despair for a while, Sun-woo issued the order for her to leave. He had no desire to watch her wallow in self-pity any longer.
"..............."
Tang Jin-seol bowed slightly. She turned and walked away with a vacant expression, her steps devoid of any strength. Soon, she vanished from Sun-woo’s sight.
*
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!"
The moment she entered her quarters, Tang Jin-seol let out a blood-curdling scream.
Crash! Smash!
She began to shatter every piece of furniture and porcelain in the room. Rage consumed her at the fact that she had been discarded.
"Lee Jae-won!!!!!! You son of a bitch!!!!!"
Tang Jin-seol spat out her fury toward Lee Jae-won. She felt utterly wronged.
No matter what idiotic things Lee Jae-won did, no matter how much of a mess he made, she was the one who had covered for him, shielded him, and advocated for him.
And yet, this pathetic bastard had thrown her away without a second thought just to save his own skin.
How could she not be enraged?
She had embraced everything about him.
When he kidnapped and raped women for decades...
When he implemented moronic policies that pushed the Cheonmu Alliance to the brink...
When he tried to pull that stunt to kill Jang Sun-woo...
She had always stood by his side, advising him and covering up his crimes. She had sacrificed everything to maintain his paradise of a life.
And he had cast her aside so miserably.
‘Do you think I’ll die alone?’
She had no intention of going down by herself. She was not a gentle, submissive woman who would take a slap and stay quiet.
She was a woman of the Tang Clan—one who returned a favor twofold, but a grudge tenfold.
‘You’re coming with me, Lee Jae-won.’
A murderous venom began to swirl in Tang Jin-seol’s eyes, like a viper coiled and ready to strike.