Chapter 40
Chapter 40
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: 로열패밀리-40화
-----------------------------------------------------------------
```html
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Royal Family 12-1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Compared to the offices of Vice Chairman Kang Heon and Vice Chairman An Chi-hyeon—or even Representative Lee Seo-hoon's office—the chairman's room felt downright modest.
It had exactly what it needed, and everything in it bore the marks of heavy use, testifying to the room's long history.
Above all, it was impeccably neat, but the desk stood out especially—it looked ancient at first glance.
"Sit."
Seo Ji-hyeok sat on the sofa without even responding to Kang Wook's words.
"Say what you want to say."
The moment Ji-hyeok settled onto the sofa, Kang Wook spoke up.
As if he'd been waiting for this very moment...
But Ji-hyeok couldn't open his mouth easily.
How long had he dreamed of this time?
He'd pictured this scene in his mind countless times.
So why...?
The words just circled in his head.
"Must be tough. Fine, then. Just one question."
Kang Wook's words cleared Ji-hyeok's mind like a splash of cold water.
Just one.
That snapped him out of it.
"Did you know about my father's death in advance?"
The instant the question left Ji-hyeok's lips, Kang Wook closed his eyes and froze, as if he wasn't even breathing.
This went on for a while.
Ji-hyeok didn't move a muscle either, just staring at Kang Wook's lips.
Then...
"I didn't know."
Kang Wook's voice was low and heavy.
And the look in his eyes, fixed on Ji-hyeok, carried the weight of truth.
Seeing that gaze, Ji-hyeok naturally pressed on with the next question.
He'd said just one, but that no longer mattered.
"Why did you call me here?"
"Because if you kept going down the path you were on, you'd end up coming to me anyway."
Ah...
This time, even Ji-hyeok couldn't hide his surprise.
It meant that even if he hadn't joined Taesung, following Sangcheon would have led him here eventually.
In other words, Kang Wook knew plenty about Sangcheon.
But then... why?
"Why did you let those bastards run loose?"
"Because they're nothing."
"So you know who's pulling their strings too."
"Of course. You know as well, don't you?"
He knew.
He knew exactly where those puppets came from.
But there was something he didn't know.
"Who is the person named in that book?"
"It doesn't matter anymore. The moment the book vanished, that name changed. If you're curious about the name in the book you have, I can tell you. Want to know?"
"Who is it?"
"Shim Sang-seop, the current Speaker of the National Assembly. When the book disappeared, he became a kite with a cut string—ended up wrapping up his political career as Speaker."
"With Taesung's power..."
"No. My Taesung doesn't have that kind of power."
Kang Wook cut Ji-hyeok off, and his words hit like a shockwave.
No power?
Taesung?
Kang Wook, the king of Taesung?
Couldn't take down a mere Speaker?
It was an answer he never saw coming.
Ji-hyeok's mind went blank, unsure what to say next.
"Because my name is in the booklet you have."
Such a thing...
So that's how it was.
One massive question unraveled.
"I traded my name in that book to survive the 1997 crisis. More precisely, that's the price for building Taesung into what it is today. No denying that was Taesung's greatest era of growth. So that means I'm included among those who don't want that book exposed to the world—Taesung too."
A huge question answered.
But for every one resolved, new ones cropped up.
"A new name, you said?"
"Yes. I never saw it myself, but a new book surely exists."
"You didn't see it?"
"You think some fool would shove another book in the face of a man who lost his son to one? I built my Taesung to avoid being swayed by those things. My Taesung answers to no one now."
Anger laced Kang Wook's voice.
Ji-hyeok was slightly startled facing it head-on.
It wasn't small.
Kang Wook's rage was no less than his own.
The pain of a parent losing a child...
How could anyone say it was lesser than his?
But even so, the resolved questions paled against the flood of new ones.
Which meant he had to ask.
"My father said he received that book. Who was it? Who gave it to him?"
"I don't know that either. After Woo-young... I didn't want to. One son was enough."
So it was someone in the family after all.
That matched what he'd expected.
His mother had said as much.
That his father received the book.
Back then, living in Taesungwon, the people who could give it to his father were limited.
If not Chairman Kang Wook, there were five names that came to mind.
Kang Jin-young, Kang Seon-young, Kang Mi-young, and the husbands of Jin-young and Seon-young.
Who was it?
Who gave his father that forbidden fruit?
At the time, his father was at Korea University studying Korean history, immersed in research on the Japanese colonial era.
Despite his father's warnings, he attended every comfort women rally without fail. When he laid eyes on that blue booklet, his fate was all but sealed.
From Ji-hyeok's view, it was outright murder.
Who drove his father and mother to their deaths?
From this conversation, Chairman Kang Wook knew it was one of his own family who gave the book.
Yet he'd resented Ji-hyeok and his mother anyway.
'He was scared. Afraid it might be one of his daughters.'
So he hadn't dug deeper. Instead, he needed someone to blame for his son's death.
That ended up being his mother and him...
He couldn't accept that mindset, but he could understand it.
But Ji-hyeok's thoughts didn't go further.
"Come to Taesungwon."
Taesungwon was Chairman Kang Wook's home, office, and crisis bunker all in one.
Taesungwon now housed Kang Wook, his three daughters, and their families.
"It's suffocating."
"I don't care about whatever truth you're chasing. It's like fondling a dead son's balls. What matters to me is who can protect and grow Taesung stronger."
"And that's me?"
"If you'd grown up a street mutt, I never would have called you. Dogs are happier living as dogs."
"But?"
"You're more like a wolf. Don't get cocky, though. You've got a lot left to prove to me. And thinking you're better than my daughters? That's arrogance. Only by claiming Taesung's throne can you get one step closer to the truth you're after. So quit yapping and come in."
So it came to this after all.
A smirk crossed Ji-hyeok's face.
Kang Wook had just let slip his true feelings indirectly.
Claim the throne to get closer to the truth...
'He won't admit it, but he's hoping for my revenge.'
Looking at Kang Wook's face, Ji-hyeok realized his greatest fear had come true.
He might resemble Kang Wook after all.
Blood ties made it inevitable, but he'd hoped not.
He wanted to be different—opposites even.
To hate and despise him.
But the moment he entered the chairman's room...
No, the instant he walked into the auditorium and saw Kang Wook sitting there, he'd realized it.
That he took after the man...
And that they were looking at the same thing.
In the end, Ji-hyeok smiled faintly at Kang Wook.
"Yes. I'll come. Understood."
"Out."
No sooner had the words left Kang Wook's mouth than Ji-hyeok rose from the sofa.
He gave a light bow, turned, and strode out of the chairman's office.
A flood of information all at once.
He needed time to sort it.
Ji-hyeok walked the somewhat bustling streets of Myeongdong on a Saturday afternoon.
It had been a long time since he'd been to Myeongdong.
Maybe that's why he took in the slightly changed streetscape as he strolled slowly down Myeongdong Boulevard.
A little while later, he stopped in front of red brick walls.
The brown-barred iron gate between the bricks was firmly shut, but he could see inside through the bars.
Ji-hyeok gazed in for a moment, then pressed a small bell protruding slightly from the red brick.
No sound came out, but he pulled his hand away and waited calmly.
A nun in gray habit appeared after a short while.
"How may I help you? This is the sisters' space—outsiders aren't permitted entry."
"Please tell Mother Superior that Seo Ji-hyeok has come to retrieve Sister Cecilia's belongings."
"Seo... Ji-hyeok... Ah! Please wait a moment."
Ji-hyeok knew almost all the nuns who stayed here.
But this one was new to him.
Still, she seemed to recognize his name, her face lighting up in surprise as she hurried off.
A good while later, the Mother Superior of the convent appeared, her face warm with a gentle smile—Sister Veronica.
"Ji-hyeok, my boy. Yes, it's you."
"Yes. Are you well?"
"Yes, I'm healthy, dear. And you? How are you?"
"Good. I've grown a bit taller."
Ji-hyeok spread his arms wide and spun around for Sister Veronica, like a child showing off to a long-lost grandmother.
Tears welled up in Sister Veronica's eyes as she watched.
"Good, you look well—that makes me happy. So, you've come for Cecilia's things?"
"Yes."
"Have you finally let go of that burden in your heart?"
"No. But I'm trying to."
"Good. You made the right choice. Come this way."
Ji-hyeok followed her gesture to a small side door.
Sister Veronica pulled out a key and unlocked it.
It was a side door, but too small for a person—about forty centimeters square, meant for passing small items.
She took a bundle of books neatly tied with string from the young nun who'd appeared earlier and passed it through the door.
"Thank you."
"May I hold your hand, just once?"
"Of course."
He slipped his hand through the small door, and Sister Veronica clasped it, closing her eyes.
Prayer.
A prayer for him...
Feeling that warm touch, Ji-hyeok swallowed a surge of emotion.
She held on a little after the prayer ended.
"You won't come back here now."
"No."
"Many sisters cherish the time they spent with you. You know that?"
"Yes."
"Have you visited Director Cheong-un yet?"
"I'm on my way now."
"Good. Give him my regards."
"Yes. I will."
Ji-hyeok's replies were short.
He was holding back his feelings.
Ji-hyeok had first come here the year he graduated elementary school.
Back then, his world was pitch black, and he was lost in the darkness.
The director of Cheong-a Orphanage had given him this convent's address.
Along with the name Cecilia.
At the convent, he met his mother.
Of course, it was closed to outsiders even then.
But after Ji-hyeok stood motionless at the gate and fainted on the third day, Sister Veronica let him in.
That's how he met his mom.
But she couldn't use one eye or one leg, and her tongue had been cut—she couldn't speak.
That was the price of surviving Sangcheon's pursuit.
This convent was where they'd hidden her.
Ji-hyeok and his mother spent a year here.
The notebooks Sister Veronica just handed over were the traces of their written conversations from back then.
Pretty son, I love you, thank you...
Full of his mother's words like that.
Mom, you okay? I love you. Does it hurt anywhere?
Full of his own questions.
They spent a year here like that.
The sisters loved talking with Ji-hyeok and truly cherished him.
They pitied him for never leaving his ailing mother's side but admired his devotion.
And a year later, his mother passed in his arms.
The injuries from Sangcheon weren't light.
Part of her lung was gone, and most organs barely functioned—her wounds ran deep.
All the sisters called it a miracle that she'd even met Ji-hyeok.
Whether it was God's will guiding her here or her own desire to see her son...
She held on for a year and left him memories he'd never forget.
Now, his mother was buried in the convent's inner courtyard.
"Ji-hyeok."
"Yes."
"I pray blessings and peace upon your path."
Ji-hyeok couldn't respond to Sister Veronica's final words.
Tears filled her eyes.
During that year, every sister here had been like a mother to him.
The ones who hadn't come out were probably praying for him from inside.
Gritting his teeth to hold back, Ji-hyeok slowly bowed his head.
Then he lifted it and turned away.
He couldn't answer her blessing because he knew he stood on a path he couldn't stop.
"I don't wanna go..."
Ji-hyeok had left Myeongdong and arrived in Mapo.
He picked up Jang Woo there, got him in the car, and they'd just merged onto the highway.
And Jang Woo had been whining that the whole way.
"Serves you right for getting stabbed all the time. Embarrassing."
"Hey, next time switch. I'll take one, you take two."
"You'd die."
"Hey, I'm not that bad."
"What if you run into Sangcheon without me? I'm in hiding, you're out in the open. Gonna keep acting spoiled?"
"It's not spoiling... Just need to tidy up the organization right now."
"Enough."
One word from Ji-hyeok, and Jang Woo shut his mouth.
And so they headed for Jiri Mountain.
```