The One Who Laughs Last
"From the beginning…"
The Fourth Young Master could not hide his stunned expression.
"Elder Brother. Just which 'beginning' are you referring to?"
"…Well."
Yeon So-hyeon, gazing toward the sunlit window without looking at anyone, murmured,
"When did it start, I wonder?"
Dust motes floating in the air caught the sunlight and glittered gold.
"…From the moment you ended your seclusion?"
"…"
There was no answer.
Wiping the sweat that trickled down his face, the Fourth Young Master began listing the possibilities one by one.
"When you visited the Inner Court over the book-price incident?"
"…"
The expression on his elder brother Yeon So-hyeon's face, as the Fourth Young Master Yeon Bi watched it, was uncharacteristically unfamiliar.
"Then, surely…"
The day Yeon So-hyeon had changed.
The Fourth Young Master finally recalled that day—the true beginning of everything.
"The day you drove out every single one of those insolent servants from Wongak Pavilion, Elder Brother? Is that the 'beginning' you mean?"
"…"
In the end, the Fourth Young Master failed to draw any answer from Yeon So-hyeon.
Even so, Yeon Bi's expression—and his mood—were far from sour.
No.
They were excellent.
This man…
Yeon Bi's gaze turned toward Yeon So-hyeon.
This man is my elder brother!
A great roc soaring higher than the clouds, looking down upon the earth with serene detachment.
He wanted nothing more than to fling open the door, rush outside, and boast to every person he met.
It was then that an old man's voice reached the Fourth Young Master's ear.
"…I believe we have indulged in enough private conversation."
A voice that felt like having a bucket of midwinter ice water dumped over one's head.
"Time has already been considerably delayed…"
It was the voice of the Chief Administrator of the Inner Court.
Whatever he had sensed in the exchange between the Fourth Young Master and the First Young Master, his posture had grown even more upright than before, and his expression had hardened so thoroughly it bordered on inhuman.
"It would be best if we returned to the main matter at hand."
Come to think of it, the one who had read his elder brother's scheme was none other than this old monster sitting right in front of them.
"Ah—yes, of course."
The Fourth Young Master, who had unconsciously risen to his feet, carefully reseated himself.
It was a gesture of determination not to interfere in the slightest with the two men's conference.
There is much in this conversation that I do not know. Above all—
As if reading his thoughts, his elder brother addressed the Chief Administrator.
"Even knowing every last one of my designs, why has the Chief Administrator of the Inner Court deigned to come here in person?"
At that question the Fourth Young Master's gaze shifted to the Chief Administrator.
The sight of skin that looked long since withered and dead twitching was grotesque enough to be unsettling.
"Naturally. To ensure that, 'this time,' none of the Sword Family's assets vanish into thin air."
Keeping his expression carefully controlled, the Fourth Young Master let out a silent grunt of understanding.
He's speaking of the assets the Yeon bloodline had been siphoning out of Luoyang.
The Fourth Young Master's eyes flicked briefly over the Chief Administrator once more.
Perhaps the Chief Administrator has been tracking those assets on his own for many long years…?
And perhaps he had simply been beaten to the punch by Yeon So-hyeon.
Without so much as a glance toward the Fourth Young Master, the Chief Administrator's eyes remained fixed on the First Young Master as though nailed there.
"The funds Grand Madam Guyang diverted through the Great Immortal Merchant Group originally belonged entirely to the Sword Family."
For the Luoyang Sword Family alone.
For the Family Head of the Luoyang Sword Family alone.
The eyes of the old monster who had devoted his entire life to that cause seemed to gleam a sickly yellow.
"Therefore every last coin that belongs to the Sword Family must be restored to the Sword Family, without a single one omitted."
In that instant, the sharp-witted Fourth Young Master understood.
Ah…!
He almost moved his lips unconsciously, then hurriedly pressed them shut.
Now I understand what the Chief Administrator meant earlier…!
The words the Chief Administrator had spoken rose in his mind.
"Rather, is it not the First Young Master who would prefer to conceal this meeting with this old man?"
Why the Chief Administrator had made no effort to hide his presence here—that reason became clear in that moment.
"Indeed."
Under the Chief Administrator's gaze, the Fourth Young Master found himself answering without thinking.
"…Pardon?"
"I said your conjecture is correct, Fourth Young Master."
The old monster's words sounded as though he were peering straight into Yeon Bi's mind.
"Word that this old man is here will already be spreading among the high officials who even now are eyeing this place."
News of the meeting between the First Young Master and the Chief Administrator of the Inner Court reaching the Second Young Master's faction was now merely a matter of time.
Anyone else might have worn a meaningful smile at a moment like this.
"Given how things stand, striking the Great Immortal Merchant Group without the Inner Court's cooperation will be impossible."
Yet the Chief Administrator declared his checkmate with the same impassive expression, as though nothing of consequence had occurred.
"…Ha."
The Fourth Young Master, without meaning to, leaned back in his seat with a sound like air escaping his lungs.
"Then what is it the Chief Administrator desires…?"
"To join the Central Investigation Department's imminent raid on the Great Immortal Merchant Group with the Inner Court's personnel."
The Chief Administrator moved his lips and laid out his terms with precision.
"That the entire sum recovered be returned to the main family's vaults without a single portion being diverted."
Only his low voice resonated through the room.
"And that the subsequent investigation of Grand Madam Guyang by the Central Investigation Department be conducted in full cooperation with the Inner Court."
"It appears the Chief Administrator is under some misunderstanding. The Central Investigation Department is not an organ under anyone's control."
The Fourth Young Master began by denying the part he could deny immediately.
"Therefore, speaking of 'cooperation' regarding the Central Investigation Department's investigation in this place is meaningless—"
"No."
The Chief Administrator cut him off as sharply as a newly honed blade.
"Fourth Young Master, that is not so."
"What do you mean by that…?"
To the Fourth Young Master, who continued to play dumb to the end, the Chief Administrator rolled his eyes toward him.
"That First Young Master would never go after a feast like the Great Immortal Merchant Group with a force he himself cannot control."
"While it is true that the Central Investigation Department and Elder Brother have been exchanging investigative information and cooperating closely on this matter…"
Under that chilling gaze the Fourth Young Master swallowed dryly and shook his head.
"The Central Investigation Department maintains strict political neutrality—"
"This old man knows."
Once again the Chief Administrator severed the Fourth Young Master's words with a single stroke.
"The First Young Master has received the loyalty of Dokgo Ya-yeon, Master of the Central Investigation Department."
"……!"
The Fourth Young Master felt as though his breath had been cut off cold.
How in the world did this old monster know that fact…?!
Then a brief transmission sounded in his mind.
"Don't fall for it. He's bluffing."
……!
At his elder brother's transmission, the Fourth Young Master screamed inwardly once more.
A bluff, at a moment like this?!
It was a "guess" from the Chief Administrator, delivered at a timing no one could possibly have anticipated.
Using the infamous reputation that resounded throughout the Central Plains and the abilities he had just displayed in this room, he had stabbed into the opponent's opening and turned his own suspicion into certainty with a calculated bluff.
This… this mad…!
The sheer difference in caliber was staggering.
"Setting aside any misunderstanding regarding the Master of the Central Investigation Department for the moment…"
Speaking smoothly in place of the Fourth Young Master, who could find no words, Yeon So-hyeon opened his mouth.
"And the credit for this affair?"
Only when the Chief Administrator's gaze left him could the Fourth Young Master finally breathe again.
The Chief Administrator looked at Yeon So-hyeon and said,
"Naturally, it will belong to the Inner Court."
For an instant the Fourth Young Master thought he glimpsed a smile flicker across the Chief Administrator's lips.
"Is this not an achievement that would be impossible without the Inner Court's cooperation under the present circumstances?"
"Preposterous!"
The Fourth Young Master shot up from his seat.
"Your shamelessness is truly breathtaking, Chief Administrator!"
Green light flashed in his eyes with fury.
"You deliberately revealed your presence here, engineered the situation so that nothing can proceed properly without the Inner Court's cooperation…!"
A roar of force utterly unsuited to his years burst from the Fourth Young Master's mouth.
"And then you intend to claim the credit on the grounds that the achievement would have been impossible without the Inner Court?!"
Had anyone else been present—even an elder of the Sword Family—they would have flinched for a moment under that pressure.
"This is an act of mockery toward us brothers!"
Yet the Chief Administrator did not so much as blink, let alone flinch.
"If that is how you feel, then this old man offers his apology."
As if the Fourth Young Master's formidable aura were nothing more than a gentle spring breeze.
"However…"
Having made his show of apology, he continued at a leisurely pace.
"Even in this very moment, time continues to flow."
…Kh!
The Fourth Young Master ground his teeth.
This lunatic old monster…!
Yeon Bi shouted,
"If the affair is ruined by the Chief Administrator's unreasonable demands, the one who laughs in the end will be Grand Madam Guyang!"
He drove into the opponent's opening as sharply as he was able.
"You claim loyalty to the main family and to Father, yet you are willing to sabotage the work of restoring the main family for the sake of your own petty desire for glory—is that it?!"
"Well now."
The Chief Administrator answered as promptly as if he had expected the charge.
"From this old man's perspective, whether that vast sum of money laundered through the Great Immortal Merchant Group ends up in some other 'irrelevant person's' pocket, the result is the same."
"How dare you speak of Elder Brother—!"
"I will make one thing clear."
The Chief Administrator waved a hand like a withered branch and cut the Fourth Young Master off.
"Anyone who diverts that money outward by any means will become the eternal enemy of this old man and of the Inner Court."
It was a declaration.
In those words the Fourth Young Master sensed the line the Chief Administrator would never concede.
"And that enemy will never again sleep with both feet stretched out in peace."
An unprecedented pressure boiled up from the old monster's frame.
"Not until the breath leaves their body."
It was the Chief Administrator's vow: no matter who seized that money or by what means, he would hunt them to the ends of hell until every last coin had returned to its rightful place.
"…"
The Fourth Young Master stared at the Chief Administrator with a stricken expression.
Every path he and Yeon So-hyeon might have sought had been sealed off.
Now only one road remained before their eyes—the road the Chief Administrator himself desired.
So this is the Chief Administrator of the Inner Court…
A man who had weathered years a child could never fathom, who had endured affairs a child could never imagine.
From that immeasurable experience, that seasoned craft, and the skills he had honed without number, the young genius felt a wall.
"Well then, First Young Master?"
Confirming that the Fourth Young Master's tongue had been thoroughly tied, the Chief Administrator lost interest in him and turned to Yeon So-hyeon.
"The decision rests with you, First Young Master—"
Before he could finish,
"Very well."
Yeon So-hyeon, who had sat as still as wood and stone, nodded.
"Handle this matter as you wish, Chief Administrator."
"Truly…"
So easily, so readily did the acceptance come that even the Chief Administrator stumbled over his words for a moment.
"Is that truly so?"
Yeon So-hyeon confirmed it once more.
"It is."
Ignoring the Chief Administrator's narrowed eyes, Yeon So-hyeon rose from his seat.
"Whoever takes the credit,"
Yeon So-hyeon continued with an easy smile, as though it were nothing at all,
"this one will be glad simply to see the main family restored even a little closer to normal."
He lifted a hand lightly and indicated the exit.
"In that case, I shall withdraw completely from this raid. Discuss the details with the Master of the Central Investigation Department."
It was a dismissal.
On the road to meet the Master of the Central Investigation Department.
"…"
In the racing carriage of the Inner Court, the Chief Administrator's secretary carefully opened his mouth while studying the old man's complexion.
"…If you have obtained the First Young Master's consent, is it not as good as finished?"
There was nothing left to fear now.
It was time to restore the name of the Inner Court, which had been stained by the previous book-price incident.
His question was therefore reasonable.
"Why, then, does your expression remain so dark?"
"Finished, you say?"
From the shadow of the carriage roof, where he sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, the Chief Administrator's mouth opened.
"Against that First Young Master, one must never drop one's guard until the very end."
In his heart, the smile Yeon So-hyeon had worn at the close of their meeting felt like a thorn lodged in his throat.
"Because this fight—"
Watching the Inner Court's carriage recede through the window, Yeon So-hyeon murmured as if to himself,
"Because in this fight, the one who laughs last is the victor."
The Fourth Young Master, who had been lost in thought, snapped back to attention and asked,
"Pardon? What did you say, Elder Brother?"
"Nothing of consequence."
Turning, Yeon So-hyeon addressed the Fourth Young Master.
"Go. Bring those guild masters who have been waiting since earlier."