“‘Our true intentions’?”

“Yes. I’ll begin. Whether Your Highness becomes king or the Prince of the Blood becomes king—frankly, I don’t care.”

“…”

“This is not because of any non-aggression pact between court and martial world. It’s simply that being entangled with a state brings endless trouble, so I keep my distance. But if I must choose for the Heavenly Alliance’s future, I choose Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“…Go on.”

“By refusing all dialogue with the Heavenly Alliance, the Chancellor is threatening the Alliance’s continued existence. And Your Highness does not look kindly on the Chancellor who rules with the Prince of the Blood. Further, the situation in which the Prince of the Blood threatens even Your Highness’s station as Crown Prince is not a distant future problem—it is right before you. If, that is.”

Unhwi leaned in.

“If I kill Chancellor Inspector of State Affairs An Wigwan for you, what can you give me?”

The Crown Prince’s brow twitched, and so did the brows of the two men standing behind him.

“You would kill Chancellor An Wigwan?”

“Yes. Not assassination. I will kill him openly.”

“…And the two martial men at Celestial Being Stage who guard him?”

“Irrelevant. I’ll kill them too.”

The Crown Prince drew a hand down his face.

So the rumors were true—this bastard was insane.

And yet… it did not sound bad.

If the Crown Prince himself killed the Chancellor, or if the Crown Prince’s man did, that would make matters grave.

But if Seol Unhwi of the Heavenly Alliance killed him…

“You’re asking me to prepare a line of retreat?”

Unexpectedly, Unhwi shook his head.

“I will go out the way I came in. I need no retreat. What I truly want is an ‘absolute ally.’”

“…Mm…”

To the musing Crown Prince, Unhwi asked:

“When do you intend to ascend the throne?”

No sooner had the words left him than the Crown Prince’s eyes flashed.

Steel sang as Jang Cheolsan drew his sword and leveled it at Unhwi’s throat.

It all happened in an instant—and oddly, everyone but Unhwi was startled.

Because in Unhwi’s eyes, with a blade at his throat, there was not a tremor.

“As expected of a master in the Realm of Martial Divinity—you process motion and linkage in a space all at once.”

“…What?”

“So tell me—did I say something I should not?”

“You know very well what it means to tell a man to take the throne.”

“I know perfectly. But let me ask you instead. If you do nothing as you are now, what do you think will become of Your Highness?”

“…”

“I’ll say it. Your Highness will certainly die.”

“…You cur…”

“Shall I tell you at whose hands?”

Kim Mujin, unable to bear it, started forward—but Unhwi’s mouth was faster.

“Your uncle the Prince of the Blood and the Chancellor will kill you. And of course, in the process, it will be hard to preserve the lives of the two gentlemen there.”

Just then, when the two men were about to shout—

“Enough.”

At the Crown Prince’s voice, Jang Cheolsan snapped his head around.

“Your Highness! His insolence has gone too—”

“It’s fine.”

“…”

“Put the sword down. It isn’t as if he’s wrong.”

Grinding his teeth, Jang Cheolsan lowered the blade.

Wearing a bitter smile, the Crown Prince asked Unhwi:

“Sometimes what’s needed is a bold decision… That is what you mean to say, isn’t it?”

“Close enough.”

Unhwi was still grave.

“Of course, overturning the court requires resolve beyond a bold decision. But at the very least, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) one major problem must be solved.”

“And that ‘major problem’ is…”

“I will kill the Chancellor. Your Highness should use the occasion to cut off the faction of the court centered on him.”

The Crown Prince let out a dry laugh.

“I like it all—except in the end isn’t this merely asking me to stand with the Heavenly Alliance?”

Unexpectedly, on this point Unhwi again broke everyone’s expectations.

“It’s different.”

“Mm?”

“You need not stand with the Heavenly Alliance. If you think I want that in exchange for killing the Chancellor, that is a grave mistake.”

“A mistake?”

“The Nine-Gate Assembly and the Heavenly Alliance cannot help but clash. In that process a victor will be decided. Join hands with the victor.”

“…You are certain of victory?”

“I do not fight losing battles.”

At that overwhelming confidence, Kim Mujin and Jang Cheolsan glanced at each other.

This one… is the genuine article.

Unhwi went on.

“The Chancellor currently controls the court, and the Prince of the Blood holds pretext. But if either one is removed, the balance collapses. And Your Highness is the rightful heir—once the Chancellor is removed, you can naturally take the reins of state.”

The Crown Prince looked to Kim Mujin and Jang Cheolsan. In their faces he read agreement.

“Tomorrow, at the start of the Si hour [approx. 9:00–11:00 a.m.], have me and my party admitted to the State Affairs Hall.”

The State Affairs Hall was where the Chancellor deliberated state business.

Watching Unhwi in silence, the Crown Prince spoke firmly.

“Very well.”

Resolve settled in his voice.

He rose.

“Then tomorrow, at the start of the Si hour, we meet at the city gate.”

“Understood.”

***

When Crown Prince Unmu left the inn, Kim Mujin and Jang Cheolsan quietly fell in behind.

The three walked a while in silence.

Once they were far enough from the inn, Kim Mujin cautiously spoke.

“Your Highness, do you truly mean to join hands with that man?”

The Crown Prince gave a faint laugh.

“Join hands? With whom?”

Staring at the Crown Prince’s meaningful smile, Kim Mujin and Jang Cheolsan met eyes.

Slowly, they both nodded.

“As expected… Your Highness. I can foresee what is about to happen.”

There was admiration in Jang Cheolsan’s voice.

Kim Mujin, too, smiled slightly.

“Then we should make preparations for tomorrow.”

The Crown Prince looked up at the night sky.

They say opportunity belongs to those who wait.

He believed the chance to sever at a stroke the tyranny of the Chancellor and the Prince of the Blood would surely come.

And heaven had answered that belief—had it not come like this?

“It seems tomorrow will be interesting—for the first time in a while.”

They had to prepare.

For tomorrow, when ‘everything’ would be decided.

***

After the Crown Prince’s party vanished completely, the door to the third-floor private room opened again.

Chief Seong, Seo Hyo, and Han Murin entered one after another.

They had been waiting nearby for the Crown Prince’s party to leave.

Chief Seong was first to ask.

“How did it go?”

“The talk went well.”

Unhwi set down his teacup and continued.

“Tomorrow I will kill the Chancellor.”

Seo Hyo’s expression turned complex. He felt a nagging discomfort, but could not name it.

Then, the instant he saw the fingers with which Unhwi held the teacup, something flashed through his mind.

“…Chief.”

At Seo Hyo’s trembling voice, Unhwi raised his head.

“Speak.”

“Is the Crown Prince truly planning to join hands with us?”

Unhwi wore a curious smile.

“You think not?”

“…It’s strange.”

“Strange… for example?”

Unexpectedly, it was Han Murin who answered that question.

“It was too fast.”

Unhwi laughed, and Seo Hyo looked at Han Murin with wide eyes. Because everything—from sending the letter to the Crown Prince to holding a secret talk in this inn—had flowed like water, he had not been conscious of it.

But all of it was certainly fast. Excessively so.

Han Murin pointed at Unhwi’s teacup.

“More than half remains. Even if you told the Crown Prince something and spoke of the future, it is too short.”

And yet Unhwi had said it.

That killing the Chancellor would proceed as planned.

This was certainly strange.

Leaning back in his chair, Unhwi asked:

“Think it through at the root.”

“At the… root?”

“How do you think Un’guk’s court views the organization called the Heavenly Alliance?”

“…”

“The Mukse Society and Nine-Gate Assembly stepping out is a separate issue. This is before that—foundational. The Heavenly Alliance made compacts with Un’guk and dispatched Chief Heavenly Commanders to regions, ruling those regions jointly with officials.”

At a glance, that looked an ideal direction.

“A dual system where officials govern the commonfolk and Chief Heavenly Commanders govern the martial is not structurally a great loss for the court.”

They arbitrated the martial men’s fights, prevented collisions among commoners, and above all brought deep stability to the region.

But as time passed, it was only natural that people would begin to think differently.

Do we really need the Heavenly Alliance?

Do we really need to maintain a dual system to the point of permitting a post like Chief Heavenly Commander, which resembles an administrative office?

This, rather, weakens the state’s power. In whatever form, the court’s power ought to hold primacy; if the Heavenly Alliance manages all the actual martial men, this could become a major problem later.

Up to now, balance had been kept and no great problem had arisen—but will it remain so?

Before the balance breaks, isn’t it right to strike first, cut the other side down, and absorb their power to grow bigger?

“The Crown Prince isn’t a fool, but he showed his hand too easily.”

“…Young master… then shouldn’t you revise the plan?”

At Chief Seong’s words, Unhwi shook his head.

“Even so, what must be done must be done.”

“What do you mean?”

“That killing the Chancellor is the objective itself.”

“Then the Crown Prince is clearly plotting something…”

“That is secondary.”

Quiet until now, Seo Hyo nodded.

“Agreed. If we set priorities, killing the Chancellor comes first. I hear Chancellor An Wigwan was offered the position of Vice Lord of Cheonrim—that is roughly his current standing. I think it right to create a vacuum by killing the man who has the ability to move Un’guk’s court with ease.”

Gazing out the window, Unhwi said:

“By tomorrow, all will be clear.”

Han Murin asked carefully:

“But will it really be all right? The Crown Prince may be coming with us, but in the end we’re killing the Chancellor in the royal palace…”

“Are you worried?”

“…Yes. A little.”

Smiling, Unhwi took brush and paper from his robe.

Right there he scribbled something down, producing three letters.

Handing one to each of them, he said:

“Seo Hyo, deliver that to Flame King Hwa Munyeom. Chief Seong, yours goes to Pung Muhwi. And Han Murin, yours to Dukgo Hyun.”

Looking at the three, who wore puzzled faces, Unhwi lifted his teacup and took a small sip.

“There’s nothing to worry about. We will return by the road we came, without a scratch.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep