Chapter 13

The heart of the Korean Empire.

The Imperial Palace.

The grand palace, holding living history within its walls, stood tall and unchanged in the heart of the city today.

Golden roof tiles and red pillars.

A place that symbolized the nation of the Korean Empire itself.

And at its center.

The Emperor’s office.

A man stood quietly with his head bowed, having an audience with the Emperor.

He was the Crown Prince of the Korean Empire, Lee Hwan.

After a moment of silence, he cautiously spoke.

“Your Majesty.”
“Speak.”
“I heard the news. That you’re lending out the Imperial Palace for that friend.”

At his son’s words, the Emperor set down the teacup he was holding.

“Yes. It will surely be a meaningful occasion for him.”

An illegitimate child who lived as the stain of the owner family.

For someone like that to become the Chairman of Seonghwa Group overnight, and now even hold his inauguration ceremony at the Imperial Palace…

The Emperor let out a small chuckle.

“Is there any better time than this to win his favor?”

For an eighteen-year-old child, a visit to the Imperial Palace would be an honor in itself.

Of course, they hadn’t received a firm answer from that side yet.

It was understandable, given how busy they must be with the poisoning incident, but the Emperor was confident.

From the perspective of Seonghwa Group, which had lost its pillar in an instant, and its young chairman who had no strong supporters, there was no better resource than the Imperial Family.

“And the very fact that Your Majesty personally acknowledged him will carry enough weight on its own.”

The Emperor nodded at the Crown Prince’s words.

“The moment a person believes they’ve received a favor, they begin to shackle themselves.”

If that young chairman, ignorant of the world, came to believe he owed the Imperial Family a debt, it would only be natural for him to keep coming back to them.

In truth, this was an opportunity for the Imperial Family as well.

The previous chairmen of Seonghwa Group had openly tried to keep their distance from the Imperial Family.

And as for the children of Chairman Kang Taesu, the second chairman…

‘They did come around obediently under our pressure.’

But even that attitude left a bitter taste in the Emperor’s mouth.

What was so wrong about the nation’s top company and the Imperial Family forming a perfect partnership?

Surely they, too, would want to expand beyond domestic borders and reach out globally.

It was incomprehensible to refuse a partner who could build that bridge more easily than anyone else.

“Your Majesty.”

At that moment, the Crown Prince, who had been lost in thought, slowly spoke.

“Please entrust this matter to me.”

The Emperor’s gaze turned to his son.

“If I can’t make a single high schooler from an illegitimate background into a man of the Imperial Family, how could I ever become the one to lead the Korean Empire in the future?”

At those words, the Emperor smiled broadly.

“Good. Only with that kind of spirit do you deserve to sit in this seat one day.”

It was a brief statement, but it carried the Emperor’s expectations for his son.

The Emperor slowly rose from his seat.

And as he looked out at the scenery beyond the window, he began to speak, then paused.

‘But…’

He suddenly recalled a face.

The founder of Seonghwa Group and its first chairman.

Kang Seongcheol.

A man who built Seonghwa from nothing into the Korean Empire’s top company.

The Emperor remembered him clearly, as his activities during the late Emperor’s reign had been so dazzling.

A man who refused the Imperial Family’s offers without ever bowing his head even once.

A tiger that grew even larger the more he was pressured, and that turned the tables on the Imperial Family whenever they tried to tame him.

His spirit alone was on another level.

He was the kind of man who would bite your hand off if you reached for him carelessly.

And…

Suddenly, the live broadcast from a few days ago flashed through the Emperor’s mind.

The image of a young boy who never wavered, even in the poor filming conditions.

A speech that turned the public’s gaze and the direction of their anger in an instant.

And then, in just a few days, the capture of the key figures in the poisoning case.

Perhaps.

‘He might not be so easy to handle.’

Even if he wasn’t on the level of Kang Seongcheol, he didn’t seem like an ordinary boy.

The Emperor looked at his son for a moment.

He felt he should offer some advice.

To not underestimate him, that he might get bitten if he let his guard down.

But that thought didn’t last long.

‘After all, he’s still just a kid who isn’t even an adult yet, isn’t he?’

Lee Hwan was the next Crown Prince.

He should be able to handle a single young illegitimate child to his liking.

If he couldn’t even do that, he wouldn’t deserve to even discuss the throne.

In the end, the Emperor kept his advice to himself.

“I’ll be watching.”

One simple phrase was enough to fuel the Crown Prince’s ambition.

And then.

“Your Majesty, the Chairman of Seonghwa Group has accepted the inauguration ceremony. We are currently coordinating the schedule.”
“That is good news indeed.”

With those words from the Emperor, filled with a sense of anticipation, silence descended upon the office once more.

***

The Chairman of Seonghwa Group, Kang Geon, had been receiving an enormous amount of attention.

And when he resolved the poisoning of the owner’s family case in what seemed like an instant, the public’s mood began to shift just as quickly.

At first, most reactions were filled with suspicion and concern due to his status as a young chairman from an illegitimate background.

But the results turned everything around.

[Breaking) Internal conspirators in the Seonghwa Group owner family poisoning case arrested]

└??? They actually caught them
└Wait, in just 3 days? At this point, I’d mistake it for a setup lol;
└Anyway, is it real that it was an inside job? lol I can’t even fathom how badly they wanted to climb up
└They say money and power drive people crazy…
└Thinking about how those people cut our stock in half makes my blood boil asdf

[Seonghwa Group Chief Secretary, “The person who contributed the most to resolving this matter is the Chairman.”]
└lol Isn’t this just lip service?
└Gotta throw all the support behind the young chairman~
└Still, he did keep the promise he made during the live broadcast
└If you get results, you get recognized
└Honestly, there’s nothing to criticize about this response

[I’m a Seonghwa employee, let me tell you the mood]
└At first, everyone thought we were doomed, but since the illegitimate chairman came in, the company atmosphere is mysteriously coming back to life lol
└I heard the chairman keeps giving orders through the secretary’s office? He even sleeps in the staff sleeping quarters
└?? What’s going on now
└I saw it too lol I was working late at dawn and saw him coming out of the sleeping quarters
└Is this for real?
└He even greeted me, saying “Thank you for your hard work on the night shift,” and gave me a can of coffee. I was so moved I’m keeping it as a keepsake
└😰
└It’ll probably end up at an auction soon
└You can also see the chairman often at the company cafeteria lol I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first saw him standing in line to get food
└And he ate the stir-fried pork with such gusto
└Oh~ That’s actually kind of likable?

Public opinion on Kang Geon was in a very good state, and naturally, all eyes were focused on his next move.

And as if living up to those expectations, his next destination stirred up the world once again.

[They’re officially holding the Seonghwa Group Chairman’s inauguration ceremony? But the venue is the Imperial Palace damn]
└???

Holding the Seonghwa Group chairman’s inauguration ceremony at the Imperial Palace?

The very fact that an event was being held at the Imperial Palace wasn’t a common occurrence.

It was reserved for major national events, official protocols hosted directly by the Imperial Family, or celebrations and mourning related to the royal family.

Unless it was something of that scale, the gates of the Imperial Palace rarely opened.

But this time was an exception.

The Imperial Family itself had opened the palace to congratulate the new chairman of Seonghwa Group.

This alone was enough to send people’s imaginations spiraling out of control.

Could it be that the nation’s top company and the Imperial Family were now completely aligning themselves?

Whatever the truth, one thing was certain.

The Imperial Family wasn’t treating this inauguration ceremony as a simple corporate event.

And.

“Kang Geon… If we can persuade him well, we might be able to partner with Seonghwa this time.”

The same went for the business elites who had received invitations to this inauguration ceremony.

Seonghwa Group.

From electronics and IT to finance, construction, and more…

It was such a massive company that merely joining hands with Seonghwa once could change the very scale of your own corporation.

But the one leading that Seonghwa was a boy who wasn’t even an adult yet.

And not just that, an illegitimate child who seemed like he wouldn’t even know how the world worked, let alone have any management experience.

The business community saw this not as a crisis, but as an opportunity.

A more favorable relationship!

More business rights!

Simply put, the inauguration ceremony at the Imperial Palace wasn’t just a celebration.

It was a stage and a battlefield to secure the best partner that would determine the next several decades.

This was why everyone was busily crunching numbers at that moment.

“As you well know, Chairman, this inauguration ceremony won’t be an easy seat. I imagine all sorts of scheming and maneuvering will be aimed at you.”
“That’s only to be expected. But even if it’s annoying, it’s a situation I had to go through at least once.”
“…This might be an unnecessary worry, but I’m a bit more concerned about the business figures than the Imperial Family. Until now, Seonghwa has always been in the position of the superior, but there’s a high chance they’ll judge that the situation is different this time.”

Kang Geon let out a small chuckle at Choi Yuna’s words, which were filled with concern.

“Even if the chairman has become someone they can look down on, the fact that Seonghwa is the nation’s largest company hasn’t changed, right?”

Remembering that fact actually put Kang Geon at ease, and he wanted to say exactly that to the people attending this inauguration ceremony.

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

After all, the moment they confirmed certain facts at the Imperial Palace…

He was planning to drop a bombshell in his inaugural speech.