Chapter 124
Chapter 124
The Imperial Seal (6)
“Yes.”
He had quietly built his power under Chairman Seong. For the day he would one day drive out the emperor.
“Why? I… never did anything for you…”
She had simply found a child collapsed on a rainy road. Anyone would have taken care of a child with nowhere to go. Seong Hyeon-woo pressed his lips to Lee Seo-eun’s hand as it touched his cheek.
“It may have been nothing to you, but to me, it was everything.”
“…”
“You saved me.”
In a childhood with no one to lean on, it was Lee Seo-eun who found him as he was dying. And Lee Hoon was the one who made him feel the warmth of a family for the first time.
A single tear fell from Lee Seo-eun’s eye as she wrapped her arms around Seong Hyeon-woo’s neck. Their lips met, and the screen panned to the night sky.
Dawn broke, and Seong Hyeon-woo, buttoning his shirt, approached Lee Seo-eun.
“But, are you sure the Imperial Seal is really here?”
“My uncle probably couldn’t find it.”
Lee Seo-eun walked as if possessed to the room at the end of the hall. It was the room where they had often played as children. Inside the messy room, which looked as though someone had torn it apart, she took something out of a pink bag decorated with a cartoon character.
“Is that the real Imperial Seal?”
“Yes.”
She smiled faintly at the stickers plastered all over the crude wooden box. They must have dismissed it as a simple child’s toy. When she pressed a few spots with her thumb, a precise mechanism moved, revealing the golden Imperial Seal.
“Now we’re ready.”
The preparations to oust the emperor were complete. As they were about to leave, Lee Seo-eun’s phone, which had been charging, began to vibrate.
(Your Highness?)
“Oh, Court Lady Choi. Is something wrong? Why do you sound like that?”
(Oh, thank heavens… I’m so glad…)
Court Lady Choi, who had been whispering for fear of being overheard, let out a sigh of relief.
(The emperor has imprisoned us. He told everyone you were dead… and ordered them to side with him.)
“What?”
(We’re locked up and can’t move an inch, and we couldn’t get in touch with you… We thought you had really passed away and didn’t know what to do…)
Court Lady Choi continued, her voice choked with tears.
Thanks to Seong Hyeon-woo’s behind-the-scenes work, the atrocities of the emperor and Lee Kang were exposed, and a hearing was convened. There was talk among the public of ousting the current emperor and crowning Lee Seo-eun, the legitimate heir, as the new empress.
Ultimately, the cornered emperor made the extreme choice to have Lee Seo-eun killed.
(I think he plans to kill you and pin the blame on someone else. Where are you?)
While Lee Seo-eun was on the serious call, Seong Hyeon-woo slightly parted the curtains to check outside. In the distance, he could see Eunuch Shim’s group. Seong Hyeon-woo’s expression hardened. The very person who killed Lee Hoon was right before his eyes.
(What should we do? The hearing is in less than three hours.)
“Two hours is plenty of time.”
(Were you with Director Seong?)
Lee Seo-eun said she would get there as fast as she could and ended the call.
“What are you going to do?”
“See that car in the back?”
Lee Seo-eun nodded.
“I’ve placed the evidence that will expose the corruption of the emperor and Lee Kang inside. You go first.”
“Then what about you?”
Seong Hyeon-woo remained silent and shook his head. Eunuch Shim’s group was quite large. To ensure Lee Seo-eun’s safe escape, he would stay behind. Just as Lee Hoon had once acted as a decoy to save the two children.
“You have to come back.”
Lee Seo-eun, who had read his intentions in his expression, placed the real Imperial Seal in his hand.
The Imperial Seal had to stay with Lee Seo-eun. That would give her a stronger voice at the hearing. But if he had it, there was a high chance Eunuch Shim would take it from him.
Surprised, Seong Hyeon-woo tried to give it back to her.
“No, you keep it.”
“…”
“Come back before it’s too late. You’re the one who will make me empress. Promise me.”
“…Alright.”
Seong Hyeon-woo nodded, determined to return alive.
“This must be the house.”
Arriving at the gate of Lee Hoon’s house, Eunuch Shim smiled sinisterly. He gave an order to Eunuch Hwang, who stood beside him.
“Kill them both.”
“Yes, sir.”
Just as Eunuch Hwang was about to enter the yard, a sedan burst through the gate and sped away. In the process, two burly men were hit by the car.
“It’s the princess!”
“After her!”
As Eunuch Shim’s men got into their cars to chase Lee Seo-eun, Seong Hyeon-woo, who was running in the opposite direction, shouted loudly.
“Eunuch Shim!”
He tauntingly waved the golden Imperial Seal.
“Don’t you need the real Imperial Seal?”
“Get him!”
Eunuch Shim roared, and the men charged toward Seong Hyeon-woo.
[Seo-eun, why are you driving so recklessly?]
[You’re just too cautious, Hyeon-woo. Driving is supposed to be fun like this.]
[Hah… You could be a professional driver.]
Two cars pursued Lee Seo-eun. She wrenched the steering wheel without hesitation, trying to shake them. A breathtaking car chase unfolded like a movie scene, captured by a drone camera.
“Seong Hyeon-woo, how about joining our side, even now?”
Meanwhile, Seong Hyeon-woo, having lured Eunuch Shim and Eunuch Hwang to an abandoned warehouse, was cornered. Seeing the venomous glare, Eunuch Shim recalled a certain young boy.
“Right, you were that little rat.”
“…”
“Remember? It was right here back then, too.”
Forcing Seong Hyeon-woo to his knees, Eunuch Shim snatched the real Imperial Seal from his coat. Enraged at the trouble he had caused, Eunuch Shim provoked him by mentioning Lee Hoon.
“It’s so easy for people to die, isn’t it?”
“…”
“One shot from this piece of metal, and it’s all over.”
Yu Yeon-seo had come to the set even though it wasn’t his day to film. And to immerse himself in the role, he had observed the child actors’ performances from start to finish.
The death of Lee Hoon, who was like a parent to him, and then Eunuch Shim and the current emperor. He naturally superimposed that situation onto Lee Hui-seo, her killer, and the person who had ordered her death.
[Because of you.]
Perhaps that was why, for today, the auditory hallucination that had been tormenting Yu Yeon-seo didn’t bother him. In fact, it became a catalyst for him to immerse himself even deeper into the role. It was to the point where he even felt the illusion that the camera filming him was breathing in sync with him.
Seong Hyeon-woo felt the cold steel of the pistol against his forehead. Glaring at Eunuch Shim with eyes full of hatred, he struck the eunuch’s wrist in one swift motion.
“Gasp…!”
He then subdued the stunned Eunuch Shim and threw a punch. After backing his opponent into a corner, he glanced around.
I’ll kill you.
Picking up the pistol that had slid into a corner, Seong Hyeon-woo—no, Yu Yeon-seo—approached the fallen Eunuch Shim, his eyes glinting sharply.
[If you find the culprit, what do you plan to do?]
It seemed he had found the answer to that question.
Lee Seo-eun successfully evaded her pursuers and entered the palace. And in the abandoned warehouse, Seong Hyeon-woo, having swiftly overpowered Eunuch Shim, pointed the gun at the kneeling eunuch’s forehead.
“I remember…”
“Wait… let’s talk.”
“I’ve wanted to kill you ever since that day.”
His dangerously glittering eyes stared into Eunuch Shim’s trembling ones, and Seong Hyeon-woo pulled the trigger. Of course, there was no bang. The pistol was a prop for filming, not a real gun.
“…Cut!”
After a moment of silence, the director’s call to cut was heard.
“Yeon-seo. Are you okay?”
“Ah, yes.”
Seeing Eunuch Shim’s change in tone, Yu Yeon-seo snapped back to his senses. He helped the actor playing Eunuch Shim to his feet. He seemed fine on the outside, but…
“Did I actually hit you?”
“Ah, it’s fine. You controlled it well.”
Thankfully, it seemed that even in his deep immersion, he hadn’t actually struck him. Yu Yeon-seo let out a small breath.
“I don’t think we even need to check the monitor.”
The director’s voice was somehow cautious. Even watching through the monitor, he felt overwhelmed by Yu Yeon-seo’s presence.
If the director felt this way, the person meeting his gaze directly felt it even more intensely, not less. The actor playing Eunuch Shim let out a sigh of relief when he saw the change in Yu Yeon-seo’s eyes. He even had the surreal thought that if looks could kill, Yu Yeon-seo would be the only one capable of it.
Is this what it’s like to be completely immersed?
Yu Yeon-seo watched himself on the monitor as if seeing a stranger. Before, he would have simply analyzed it—‘I’m acting now, maybe I should try acting differently here’—but now, it wasn’t Yu Yeon-seo, but Seong Hyeon-woo himself who stood there.
As he nodded, satisfied, and looked around, all the staff and actors were applauding. The scene they had just filmed was the final shoot for ‘The Imperial Seal’.
“You’ve worked hard!”
“Great job, everyone!”
A staff member approached Yu Yeon-seo and handed him a Bluetooth microphone.
“Our lead actor, Yeon-seo, please say a few words.”
Yu Yeon-seo observed the people surrounding him. The malicious glares he had seen in the memory synchronization were gone now. After a moment’s hesitation, he opened his mouth.
The emperor’s shocking announcement that the princess was dead. The emperor then declared that all the recent corruption was the result of the princess’s unilateral actions.
“Seo-eun…”
As the emperor, his eyes welling with tears, dabbed at them with a handkerchief, the doors to the hearing chamber burst open with a bang!
“Wait a minute…”
“What’s going on?”
The reporters murmured among themselves as Lee Seo-eun strode confidently into the hearing and up to the podium, standing before the microphone.
“So, am I dead?”
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Just a moment ago, His Majesty the Emperor…”
The reporters shot up, bombarding her with questions. Lee Seo-eun raised a hand to silence them. Once the room quieted, she began to speak.
“My kidnapping was orchestrated by Eunuch Shim, a close aide to the emperor.”
Seeing Lee Seo-eun, who they thought was dead, appear before them, the emperor and Lee Kang’s eyes widened in shock. Lee Seo-eun, using the evidence provided by Seong Hyeon-woo, exposed their atrocities.
“Therefore, I declare that I, carrying on my father’s will, shall inherit the throne.”
“No, this is invalid! The Imperial Seal, what about the Imperial Seal!”
“You be quiet!”
Lee Kang shot up and shouted. The emperor tried to restrain his son. It was as good as admitting that the seal they possessed was not the real one.
However, it was also true that one could not ascend to the throne without the Imperial Seal. Now that Lee Seo-eun had returned alive, the emperor’s next best option was to make Lee Kang the next emperor.
“That is…”
Lee Seo-eun bit her lower lip. Seong Hyeon-woo hadn’t arrived. What could have happened?
“What, so the current Imperial Seal is a fake?”
“If the emperor’s corruption is true, who’s the next in line? Lee Kang? Or Lee Seo-eun?”
The crowd began to murmur again. As the cornered Lee Seo-eun and the desperate emperor and Lee Kang glared at each other, the doors to the hearing chamber opened.
“Eunuch Hwang!”
The person who entered was Lee Kang’s aide, Eunuch Hwang. And in his hands was the real Imperial Seal. Lee Kang jumped to his feet again, shouting with joy, while the emperor clenched his fists.
What is going on?
Anxious, Lee Seo-eun lowered her head.
“This way, sir.”
However, Eunuch Hwang, who was expected to go straight to Lee Kang, suddenly stepped aside and respectfully deferred to someone else.
“Seong Hyeon-woo?”
“W-What?!”
The one commanding Eunuch Hwang as if he were his own subordinate was Seong Hyeon-woo. And the police officers who appeared behind him stood behind the emperor and Lee Kang, ready to handcuff them at any moment.
As the panicked voices of the emperor and Lee Kang filled the air, Seong Hyeon-woo took the Imperial Seal from Eunuch Hwang’s hands and strode toward Lee Seo-eun.
“Hyeon-woo.”
Seong Hyeon-woo smiled gently at the relieved Lee Seo-eun. He then placed the Imperial Seal in her hand and draped the red dragon robe over her shoulders.
“I kept my promise.”