By Zephyria 
Waiting for Min-hyeok in the empty interrogation room, Hyun-wook felt as if his heart were tightening. Just as he had barely confirmed that Hae-joo had safely boarded the ship and was frantically fighting off the men, the Emperor arrived. Seeing him, an endless wave of fear washed over Hyun-wook. However, the one who helped him subdue the attackers was none other than the Emperor himself. To put it simply, the mastermind behind all of this was not the Emperor, but the Prime Minister and his eldest son.
Hyun-wook felt a stinging sensation at the back of his head, realizing just how thoroughly he had been played. He had expected it, but the directness of the move was still shocking. Was it because they were traitors attached to the Imperial Family, regardless of blood ties? The Prime Minister was a violent man to the very end. To send that many assassins just to capture two grandchildren.
The Prime Minister intended to pressure the Emperor by seizing the Grand Imperial Concubine, who was the Emperor’s greatest weakness, in order to strike a deal. The goal of that deal was likely a dream to extend the coup. Step down from the throne in exchange for the Grand Imperial Concubine’s life. Something like that? Of course, the Emperor wasn’t the type to fall for it, but it was clearly a reckless and absurd plan. How could the Prime Minister be a man who didn’t know the meaning of giving up?
Furthermore, he had conspired with internal spies while pretending to be the Imperial Guard. As suspected, the spy who was said to be close to the Emperor was Lee Si-yoon. This was something Hyun-wook had anticipated based on what he had heard from Hae-joo. There was no way Lee Si-yoon would have leaked such information to Hae-joo for no reason. Consequently, Lee Si-yoon and everyone involved in this plot had been arrested. Judging by the Emperor’s state, the Prime Minister would likely not survive.
“Are you feeling relaxed? You didn’t even notice I came in.”
“Your… Your Majesty.”
Min-hyeok, who had entered the interrogation room at some point, looked down at Hyun-wook with cold eyes.
“Sit. You’ve been brought here as a prisoner. Stop trying to be clever and speak straight.”
“If it is regarding the attack, everything I told you in the car is all there is.”
“Is that so? I still have things to say…”
Seeing Min-hyeok’s eyes glinting with sarcasm, Hyun-wook realized that his current state was different from before. If he pushed the wrong button, he might actually die. A tension he had never felt before hung in the air. Hyun-wook realized just how much Min-hyeok had been overlooking him until now.
“Kang Hyun-wook, who conspired to let the Emperor’s concubine escape. What should I do with you? Even if it was a misunderstanding.”
“…Everything else was a misunderstanding, but you promised one thing for certain. That if the user divorced, you would let me go.”
“Ha, right. I did. But as you said, that was a promise to let you go after the divorce. Not before. Do you understand?”
“…What?”
“It was a promise that only became effective once the divorce was finalized. We’ve only signed the papers; the divorce hasn’t been completed yet. If something like this happened, you should have talked to me instead of running away!”
Min-hyeok’s calm voice gradually rose in anger. Hyun-wook flinched at the thunderous rage, and Min-hyeok, suppressing his anger while observing Hyun-wook, saw that he understood. Gritting his teeth and cooling his temper with a sigh, Min-hyeok continued.
“Kang Hyun-wook. From now on, you will be my hostage. Keeping you by my side will be useful somehow. If you’re here, Hae-joo will surely move. I know exactly how desperate you and Hae-joo were for each other. Since you met again after dying, you must have been so affectionate. Huh?”
Hyun-wook couldn’t process the situation, wondering what he had just heard. It felt like a bolt from the blue, completely unexpected. They say your mind goes blank when you’re too flustered, and indeed, Hyun-wook could do nothing but stare blankly at Min-hyeok’s face. It was staggeringly shocking—just how much did he know, and since when?
“Your… Your Majesty.”
“Why, are you surprised? Right. It sounds like something you’d only hear in a psychiatric hospital, doesn’t it? Hmm?”
A sneer fitting his cynical tone filled Min-hyeok’s face. However, his eyes were serious. Min-hyeok guessed that this was what Hae-joo meant when he said he would tell him someday. It was the story he had wanted to hear directly from Hae-joo.
With his mouth shut, Hyun-wook looked horrified to anyone watching. The expression of blatant shock was so absurd that Min-hyeok let out a short laugh. He was so transparent. Min-hyeok decided to surprise him once more.
“The father, who had a genetic disease, died first, then the younger brother Seo-joo, then Hae-joo. And then you died. Right? Ah, you don’t have to answer.”
At Min-hyeok’s words, Hyun-wook froze even further and gave no reaction. Min-hyeok continued regardless.
“The Brigadier General knew all of it. To be honest, everything was a mess until I found out about this. The Grand Imperial Concubine, whose personality changed completely at some point; the two of you, who are so desperate for each other despite not knowing when you met. Even Seo-joo, who calls himself a pet cat whenever he’s sick. When did you meet to be childhood friends? The Grand Imperial Concubine came to me when he was twelve.”
“…Your Majesty, that is…”
“Who would believe that you were born with the same faces and names? Right. Were the people who went with Hae-joo Seo-joo and the father? Not the grandson of the Fresh Mart founder. The father is a fairly well-known travel agency CEO, probably?”
Hyun-wook observed Min-hyeok while trying to calm his pounding heart. This was truly fainting-worthy. Does the Emperor know everything? Just how far does his knowledge go?
“Unless everyone is mentally ill. Are you talking about memories of a past life? And the Grand Imperial Concubine is indeed the one I knew?”
Like a hunter setting a trap and throwing out bait, Min-hyeok tested Hyun-wook. From Hyun-wook’s perspective, Min-hyeok fortunately seemed unaware that they had possessed characters in a novel.
If he knew that, he would have locked them in a psychiatric ward rather than sitting here confirming the facts. He seemed to believe it was a past life, and since it wasn’t significantly different from a past life, Hyun-wook decided to go along with it. Although the current Hae-joo wasn’t the Grand Imperial Concubine Min-hyeok originally knew, explaining that would make things complicated, so he decided to gloss over it.
“…He is the Grand Imperial Concubine you know. The change in personality is likely because his memories returned at the point when Your Majesty felt he had changed.”
“What memories? Those past life memories?”
“Yes. The memories of Cha Hae-joo, who died of the illness Your Majesty knows about.”
At Hyun-wook’s calm answer, Min-hyeok let out a short laugh and nodded. He felt like a complete idiot for believing such an absurd story so easily, but he had no choice.
There had been so many strange things all this time, and those questions were now fitting together like a puzzle. There were too many situations that wouldn’t make sense if the past life wasn’t true.
That’s why he had been wandering around so much. To find his brother. Ha, hearing it directly from the party involved makes it so absurd he can’t help but laugh. Dying and coming back to life is one thing, but how do they all meet again in such a close place? As Min-hyeok let out a hollow laugh, the smile gradually vanished from his face.
“Right. I believed it. I believed all of this preposterous story. I believed everything. But Cha Hae-joo didn’t even think to listen to my words and believed that story instead? He suspected me and ran away because of a single word from that small fry?”
Seeing Min-hyeok suppressing his anger with eyes reddened by pooling tears, Hyun-wook felt his heart freeze. He couldn’t make any move or say any word rashly.
And Min-hyeok knew it too. That Hae-joo hadn’t left just because of that one word. This was the price for the behavior Min-hyeok had shown Hae-joo all this time. His own actions, which failed to provide trust, had returned as suspicion.
Even though he knew, he didn’t want to hide his feelings of disappointment and sorrow. No matter what, how could he believe the words that he would be kidnapped and imprisoned? Min-hyeok felt resentful toward Hae-joo for seeing him in such a low light. Why on earth…
“Kang Hyun-wook. From this moment on, you must live as my perfect person. Not an imitation, but my perfect person. That is the only way to save Seo-joo, who left with Hae-joo. Do you understand?”
There was no way Hyun-wook could misunderstand Min-hyeok’s razor-sharp words. Min-hyeok was a man who could find them at any moment. Knowing this, Hyun-wook had no choice but to nod.
“Don’t even dream of contacting them secretly. The moment you do, Seo-joo’s Fresh Dairy, your family, the cruise owner’s travel agency, and even Han Hee-sung’s family will all be destroyed.”
“…I will keep that in mind, Your Majesty.”
Since Hae-joo had fled in terror, Min-hyeok had no intention of searching for him immediately. However, he had no intention of letting him go either. On the day Hae-joo finally felt at ease, Min-hyeok would surely reclaim him and never let him go again.
∗ ∗ ∗
A while later, the Imperial Family officially announced the separation of the Emperor and the Grand Imperial Concubine. The announcement stated that they had decided to live apart due to personal reasons. After that announcement, a post with a photo was uploaded to the internet. Strangely, unlike other posts related to the Imperial Family, this one remained online for a long time.
<@difjeo0123 Do you guys want to see this photo? I took this just for myself. I had no intention of leaking it. I happened to take it at an amusement park a while ago. I was resting on the second floor while drinking coffee, and I saw a beautiful Alpha-Omega couple facing each other and smiling in a quiet corner on the first floor. They were eating ice cream. But when I looked closer, it was the Emperor and the Grand Imperial Concubine user! I was so shocked. They looked so lovely smiling at each other that I lost myself without realizing it. I guess the reason they broke up was because of what the Prime Minister did? As someone who supports them, this situation is a bit sad. They were so happy then. If they were a couple who grew up in ordinary homes and met ordinarily, they would still be together, beautiful and happy. It makes me feel bad. I really liked the Grand Imperial Concubine user. He probably won't see this post, but wherever the Grand Imperial Concubine user is, I hope he is always happy...>
In the photo uploaded with the text, a beautiful couple leaning against a wall were facing each other, smiling brightly.