54 – VCR

“Stay in my room.”

“What on earth are you talking about? Who knows what the Prime Minister might do!”

Hyun-wook jumped at the command to stay in the room. However, it wasn’t easy to provoke my grandfather’s excitement if Hyun-wook was present. I planned to poke at him gently to see his reaction and find out if his words were true. Whenever Grandfather got angry at me, his true feelings were revealed.

Should I call it the moment he drops the mask he’s been hiding? Regardless, he was exceptionally rough and unrestrained when it was just the two of us. His hidden nature came out in front of me. Because I was insignificant and an easy target.

Moreover, since Joo Min-hyeok wasn’t here and only I—the one who had been acting out relying on him—was left alone, he would likely be thrilled to reveal all his true intentions. I had to find out then if he had truly harmed Joo Min-hyeok.

“Understand? So, you mustn’t come out. There’s no other way to find out if Joo Min-hyeok is alive or dead. Just stay inside and record everything… and.”

“And what? Why?”

When I hesitated, Hyun-wook asked back anxiously. Sigh. This was something I really didn’t want to say because it hurt my pride, but I had to tell him in advance so he wouldn’t come rushing out in shock.

“…Even if you hear sounds other than talking coming from outside, don’t come out.”

“What sounds?”

“I think this old man is going to take out all the stress he’s built up on me today. I’ll be lucky if it ends with just a few hits.”

Isn’t he going to beat me like a dog? I was a bit worried, but since it was something I had to go through anyway, it was better to ask what I was curious about and get it over with quickly. Between the fact that my meeting with Joo Min-hyeok had been blocked and the fact that I had just been summoning him here and there, he must have been furious.

He is a man who cannot tolerate arrogance toward him more than anything else. So, it was obvious he would hit me the moment he arrived. It wasn’t as if this was my first or second time being beaten.

“You mean he’s going to hit you? No! Absolutely not. I can’t watch that. Are you crazy?”

“Don’t get worked up. If you step in, you won’t be able to stay with me. That’s why I’m doing this. It’s obvious the old man will tear us apart. So, absolutely do not step out. I’m already anxious because His Majesty isn’t here; if you’re gone too, I think I’ll really lose it. I might have been fine if I hadn’t heard things about His Majesty’s disappearance or an attack, but…”

“…Alright. I’ll endure it as much as I can.”

“Not ‘as much as you can,’ but until the very end. Unless you want to die again this time and meet me in the next life. When the old man leaves, don’t come out immediately; wait a few minutes before coming out.”

Hyun-wook, who struggled to say he understood, couldn’t keep his body still, as if in agony. Soon, I heard the sound of my grandfather approaching from a distance. I quickly pushed Hyun-wook into the bedroom, turned off the lights, and sat on the living room sofa with a nonchalant expression. Out of anxiety, I gave the cat plushie Joo Min-hyeok had gifted me a tight squeeze.

“It’s okay. I can take a hit. It’s okay. I’ll just tell His Majesty everything later. I should take photos of where I was hit.”

While I was shaking my legs in anxiety and telling myself it was okay countless times, the door suddenly flew open with enough force to nearly break it. Ah, what a surprise! That scared the life out of me. Before me stood my grandfather, entering without even taking off his shoes, his gaze piercing. …Fuck. Did I call him for nothing?

I was so terrified that a curse word escaped me for the first time in a long while. But there was no other way to find out if Joo Min-hyeok was alive. Still, thinking I should at least greet him, the moment I tried to stand up—

Slap! A loud, stinging sound echoed through the living room. Simultaneously, I felt a numbness in my cheek so intense that I lost all sensation. Crazy, he should’ve given a warning before hitting.

“Aagh!”

Another blow struck my cheek with pain so severe that a scream escaped me involuntarily. While I was dazed from the slap, Grandfather had slammed his fist into my face. I usually don’t scream when I’m hit, but maybe it hurt more because it had been a while?

I hugged the cat plushie tightly, as if it were Joo Min-hyeok himself.

It’s okay. I just have to endure a little longer. It was heartbreaking and humiliating knowing that Hyun-wook was watching all of this from inside, but there was no other way. I only hoped that Hyun-wook would keep his promise to me.

Because of how powerful an Alpha’s strength is when fueled by rage, my lip burst and my nose bled from the subsequent blows. I’m going to have some serious bruises. Not stopping there, Grandfather began to strike my head repeatedly with his palm. Hmph! Joo Min-hyeok, come back quickly. It hurts so much since it’s been a while.

I was hit in the head and cheeks so many times that I eventually couldn’t support my body and collapsed onto the sofa. In the process, I let go of the plushie, and as the cat fell to the floor, my eyes met the cat’s blue eyes while I lay there bleeding.

I don’t know why I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the cat’s eyes, but after staring blankly at the doll’s eyes for a while, tears began to fall. I tried not to cry… but I felt so sorrowful. The sudden situation was too hard to bear. Had Joo Min-hyeok really disappeared?

My nose wouldn’t stop bleeding, so I couldn’t tell if it was blood or tears. Like someone searching for a lucky charm, I reached out to grab the cat plushie again. But Grandfather didn’t miss the chance and stepped right on my hand.

“Ugh!”

Startled, I let out a scream that would have surprised even me. I think my hand is broken. Because he had stepped on it with his shoe, applying sudden force, the pain was immense.

A pain that felt like a bone had snapped surged through me. Crazy old man. Why go this far? Isn’t this just venting his anger? He must have been incredibly furious; deciding that I might actually die at this rate, I judged that I had to stop his seizure of rage.

“I— cough.”

But as I tried to speak, blood in my mouth went down my throat, causing me to cough. I reached out, grabbed a tissue from the table, and covered my mouth as I coughed. Tears, snot, and blood… Hyun-wook is going to faint. After roughly wiping the blood with the tissue, I slowly opened my mouth. And Grandfather, who looked satisfied seeing my wretched state, finally stopped the violence and sat on the sofa opposite me.

“…If people find out I’m in this state as soon as you arrive at the palace, there will be talk. Since it’s obvious who did it.”

“Yes. Everyone will know I did it. What does it matter if they know? And they will be afraid. They’ll think, ‘The person who made the Emperor and the First Concubine look like that could kill me too.’ Just like this.”

He smiled as if he were very pleased. Must be nice to be scary, fuck. Ah, I’m out of it. It’s a miracle that none of my teeth broke. Every time I breathed, blood flowed back, causing a metallic pain.

“…What about my brother?”

“He’s probably in the army. It’s actually a relief he’s stuck there. He can’t run away. Once things are settled, I’ll make sure one of his limbs is unusable. To forget the grace of being raised and be swayed by a novice? By that young brat who was born into the Imperial Family by luck and sits in that position calling himself Emperor without having done a thing?”

Just try touching my brother. I don’t know what I’ll do then. But for now, I had to endure. I spoke slowly, my swelling lips feeling uncomfortable. I must have a cut.

“I want to hear in detail about what I heard earlier. What do you mean His Majesty was attacked? How did you know?”

At my question, Grandfather narrowed his eyes and leaned his upper body forward. He had a look of great interest. What is it? What kind of expression is that?

“You had some fun with the young Emperor, didn’t you? The rumors of you two fooling around were so loud they even reached my ears, but I didn’t think you’d become this sincere.”

Ha, this is honestly absurd. No matter how cold a grandfather he is, I didn’t think he’d say such vulgar things to his own blood. ‘Had some fun.’ Is that something to say? When I kept my mouth shut and silently waited for the answer I wanted, he tossed out the words as if granting a favor.

“I did it.”

“…What?”

“Why are you surprised? You asked because you already knew.”

Of course I asked because I suspected, but hearing it directly was more shocking. To confess his own deed so easily… What does he think will happen if I’m recording this? Why confess so easily?

“Why? Are you surprised because I told you so easily? This country will all be mine anyway, so what do I have to fear? No matter what evidence you leave behind, it’s all useless. Once things are finalized, I’m considering what to do with you as well.”

“…What things are you finalizing? What did you do to His Majesty? Where is he now?”

“Well. I wonder if he’s still breathing. I’ve been preparing to change the Emperor for quite a while. It would have been easier if you had just given me a child. Tsk, a deficient thing that can’t even produce one child…”

I didn’t even care about Grandfather’s sudden sarcasm. What does all this mean? He was preparing to change the Emperor even before I had ever slept with the Emperor? To whom?

“Surely you wouldn’t take that position yourself…”

“Of course not. Why would I take on that burden? There are many people who could become Emperor, child. And that person will be entering the palace soon. Ah, don’t worry. Imperial blood flows in his body as well.”

I don’t give a damn about that. More importantly, if he’s already found a substitute Emperor and moved, did this man really do something to Joo Min-hyeok? Is that why he’s been so quiet all this time? To pull this stunt behind the scenes? My heart began to beat frantically with anxiety.

“You prepared quite quietly. His Majesty seemed completely unaware.”

“Of course he didn’t know. I moved in silence, and that novice Emperor was so infatuated with you that he was blind to everything. Did you two not cause quite a stir? Later, I was almost grateful. Because it took that young brat’s mind right out of him.”

If you were so grateful, why did you beat me like this? This human is truly…

“His sudden trip to America was unexpected. I had heard the Queen Dowager was ill, but I didn’t know such an opportunity would come. I was pondering when to strike the Emperor, but I never expected such a golden opportunity. The luck of the Emperor leaving the palace for this long doesn’t come easily.”

“And so?”

“Attacking the car carrying the Emperor and the Queen Dowager was too easy. So easy I almost suspected it. But it was so perfect that the time I spent doubting was a waste. He won’t be able to return alive. The car the Emperor was in was riddled with bullet holes to the point where no human could possibly survive.”

At Grandfather’s final words, I fell into a shock so deep that I forgot I had been beaten by him.