Struggle Chapter 93

If he had truly been well, it would have been mortifying, but he had not exactly been well. Still, compared to the catastrophe in the palace, perhaps it had been peaceful enough. Nanyoung replied in a flat tone that he, too, had been well without incident.

“Now that you are here, let us at least share a meal as family. Greet Her Royal Highness the Queen Dowager as well….”

But Nanyoung shook his head.

“No, Your Majesty. Today, I have come because I dare to have something I wish to tell you.”

“Something to tell me. Hm… if it is about your marriage, I have already had something in mind, so let us not delay any further….”

“It is not about marriage.”

Nanyoung dared to cut him off.

For a moment, the king wondered if Nanyoung had changed. His atmosphere had subtly shifted. He seemed precarious yet firm. He looked like a tree standing alone. Though its trunk and size were smaller than others, its roots alone seemed deep.

The king straightened his posture. And with tact, he dismissed those around him. The chief eunuch bowed his head and withdrew. The space became one for a private audience.

“I have heard that there have been dreadful matters within the palace.”

“I did not think you would be unaware.”

The king murmured in a heavy tone.

“It is the result of my lack of virtue.”

“It is not, Your Majesty. And moreover, they are not solely dreadful matters.”

“Not dreadful?”

“They are dreadful, but they can also be used as an opportunity.”

Nanyoung moistened his lips with his tongue.

Bringing up the prepared matter was advantageous to his brother, but amounted to betraying his uncle. Yet Nanyoung had decided. He would keep to his duty and remain not Lee Nanyoung, but Grand Prince Heonui. And even if Taerok could never understand, this, too, was a way for Lee Taerok to remain as a precedent in posterity.

“Please allow the merit subject system to extend only to three generations, reduce those privileges, and abolish the privilege by which the descendants of merit subjects can be recommended for office generation after generation.”

“…If that is done, the backlash will be severe.”

“Yes. That is why it is only possible now.”

It was only possible now, when everyone was lying low for fear that the sparks would fly to their own houses. If this moment was missed, the matter would surely repeat itself.

“Take away these benefits starting from the foremost merit subjects, but do so swiftly, and the other houses will not be able to voice dissatisfaction.”

“…”

The king rubbed his chin. It was no easy task, but at the same time, Nanyoung was right. This was something their late father, His Late Majesty, had also agonized over, but had it not come to naught due to fierce opposition and lack of justification?

“It seems that is not the only thing. What else have you thought of? No, let me first hear how many points there are.”

At the voice, which had grown quite stern, Nanyoung clenched his fists once more. The back of his neck, kept bowed to the floor all this while, ached dully.

“Abolish the system of private soldiers.”

“I already have that in mind.”

“I speak even of the private soldiers of the royal kinsmen.”

Nanyoung had no private soldiers of his own. When he left the palace, he had only been given a retinue of attendants to serve as guards. They could protect him, but could do nothing else of great consequence.

But Taerok was different. Taerok privately commanded soldiers, and both their number and quality were superior to others. It was thought they might dare rival those of the king himself.

“Forbidding even the private soldiers of the Grand Princes, so that military authority rests solely with Your Majesty, is, in my humble opinion, what can extinguish the seeds of future strife.”

“I cannot wield it all alone. There are the generals, beginning with the Commander-in-Chief.”

“Because there are multiple generals, it will, on the contrary, be difficult for them to unite their intentions.”

For the greed of men differs from individual to individual, and their aims differ as well. Even if they should gather together, selfishness is bound to emerge. When there are many heads, there are many opinions, and concentration weakens accordingly. Just as even the secret shared only between himself and his uncle was seen from different directions by each.

“And? Is this all?”

The last point.

This, more than the private soldiers, would surely be a more definite betrayal of Taerok.

Nanyoung thought of Taerok, who often gazed into the distance as if he were somewhere else entirely, and who, in his boredom and weariness, seemed as if he might vanish at any moment. Though he had seen it with the eyes of a child in his youth, he had been able to clearly recognize that tedium and emptiness.

“Forbid the royal kinsmen, including the royal son-in-law, and the royal family from holding official posts and engaging in state affairs.”

“Nanyoung.”

Perhaps because he had never expected this one, the king let out a flustered voice.

“Then you, too, will be able to do nothing. Unless a king without an heir appears, you would have to merely exist as a Grand Prince, but I had a place in mind to make use of you.”

“No.”

Nanyoung lifted his head. His gaze was resolute and unwavering.

“No. It is a seat that must be held alone and wielded alone. Do not try to share it. Do not let anyone harbor hopes or expectations. Make it so they dare not even look upon it, so they dare not even dream of reaching for it, deeming it worth a try.”

It was an entreaty made not to the king, but to his one and only brother, even if they were not exceptionally close.

“I have not a single regret.”

“…”

“And….”

Nanyoung squeezed his eyes shut.

“And make use of our uncle, but always be vigilant against him. You must be vigilant not only against our uncle, but against me as well.”

“Then whom am I to trust? Even if the time we spent together was less than that of other brothers among noble families, I do not wish to suspect even my own flesh and blood.”

“It is not suspicion I ask for, merely vigilance.”

The king removed his winged official hat. As if his head throbbed, he pressed firmly upon it with his hand for a moment before asking in a low voice.

“…At the center of this affair was our uncle, was it not?”

“…”

“It was.”

He had nothing to say. For having known beforehand and not spoken of it was his own sin.

“How did you come to know of it?”

“…”

“I wonder… if perhaps you had some influence on our uncle’s change of heart, Nanyoung.”

Only then did Nanyoung’s eyes sting sharply.

Countless things passed through his mind.

Among them, there was not a single thing he could speak of, not a single thing he could utter aloud. Nanyoung dropped his head again. Almost simultaneously, tears dripped down, drop by drop.

“…”

Having spoken without obstruction all this while, Nanyoung’s lips were now sealed as if stoppered with wax, and seeing his younger brother, who had become infinitely fragile as if about to crumble at any moment—so unlike before—the king smiled faintly.

“Grand Prince Heonui.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty. I, Grand Prince Heonui, am here.”

“I have decided upon my era name. An envoy must be dispatched to announce it. Can you go on my behalf?”

“…”

Nanyoung lifted his head.

That was the very thing he had been about to request. At the sight of the king preemptively and readily asking him, Nanyoung’s gaze wavered.

Blood thicker than water. Even if they kept their distance, they were family. Even if they could never become ordinary brothers, it seemed his heart was glimpsed, however fleetingly.

Fearing that the scandal he was hiding might be discovered, Nanyoung clutched the front of his robes and twisted his face.

“Yes… your humble subject shall go.”

“As your older brother, I, too, wish to ask. Can you, my younger brother, go and return in my stead?”

“I shall… I shall go and return.”

Nanyoung’s lips quivered.

“Having done so, Your Majesty… I dare to make an entreaty.”

“Very well. Speak.”

“Could you grant me a little time?”

“By a little time, you mean….”

“I wish to stay there for a while.”

“But if you do that, will your age not become too advanced to hold a marriage?”

“I have no intention of taking anyone as my spouse.”

The king made a puzzled expression. But it was a conclusion Nanyoung had reached after long deliberation.

“No matter who it is, they would be too precious for me. Please, I beg you to understand.”

Nanyoung bowed his head deeply. His forehead pressed against the wooden floor.

The king was silent for a long while. Even at the end of that long wait, Nanyoung did not speak the reason for it.

He was the king’s younger brother, a Grand Prince. No matter who it was, no one was too precious for Nanyoung. He had no flaw, his appearance was not at all unsightly, nor was his personality eccentric….

Suddenly, the king thought of his uncle. Though his utterly conventional mind could not comprehend it at all, the strange demeanor of his uncle whenever he, the king, had mentioned Grand Prince Heonui’s marriage came to mind.

Soon, he erased this recollection and nodded.

“Very well. Just as you are giving things up, I, too, must grant you something in return.”

“…Your boundless grace is overwhelming.”