WeTried Translations
Translator: NEET_Romulus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Dropped into the Ending of a Trash Show as an Extra ◈
Chapter 12: Leash
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JD Group headquarters, top floor, the chairwoman’s office.
On the television, the Emperor’s emergency national address, which had just ended, was being replayed as breaking news.
The woman sunk deep into the leather sofa slowly swirled her glass of wine.
“Ha...”
A dry laugh escaped her. A strange vitality began to shine in Kim A-ra’s eyes.
“He’s really something.”
Kim A-ra murmured to herself.
Had anyone ever struck such a satisfying blow against Kim Yang-han, the old fox who had spent his life looking down on everything from the peak of power?
Kim A-ra twisted her red lips into a smile.
Only two days ago, after being released from confinement, she had mobilized every resource JD Group possessed to promote Kim Yang-han’s candidacy for prime minister, just as she had been ordered.
Everyone knew that forming a new government was the most urgent task.
And putting Kim Yang-han forward as the candidate had not been especially difficult.
A clean, dignified elder statesman, free of blemishes and respected by the public.
The picture that would reassure everyone was for His Majesty, the fresh, young, brilliant Emperor, to make repeated personal appeals and draw him out of retirement as a partner in governing the country.
It fit the pretext of stabilizing the nation quickly and earning the people’s trust.
‘That’s the trap.’
It meant power would once again gather in the hands of the hereditary aristocracy.
‘Father has swallowed up the entire issue of the prime ministerial nomination, so he’s going to overturn the whole frame...’
And he was turning Kim Yang-han’s greatest weapon, his image as a “loyal subject with no desire for power who thinks only of the country,” against him.
This timing. These exact words.
How would the public interpret this picture?
‘The upright elder statesman Kim Yang-han entered the imperial palace and strongly urged the Emperor to personally sweep away the old corrupt powers and the rotten upper class!’
Everyone would assume Kim Yang-han had refused the offer to become prime minister and advised the Emperor to take these measures.
He could not deny it, either. That would only be a self-defeating move.
“Father must be quite flustered.”
Kim A-ra drained her wine in one swallow.
To think he had taken a blow while trying to control the unprecedented variable of an Emperor who did not belong to “this world.”
She did not know where he had come from, but he carried the scent of a beast that had personally fought through a blood-soaked battlefield.
‘If it’s this man...’
Kim A-ra ran a finger across her lips.
‘He might be worth joining hands with.’
* * *
“Your Majesty, Kim Yang-han is not someone we can tie down as easily as Song Haksu or Min Do-yeong.”
“I know.”
I answered Seo Yu-jin’s worried words.
During the investigation, Song Haksu had been laying bare every detail of his motives.
The Imperial House’s deepest shame... that did not matter to me.
Everyone involved was already dead at Deoksu Palace, and I was not involved myself. Frankly, it disgusted me, so I had even ordered them to identify any additional crimes committed by those involved in cases closed for lack of prosecutable suspects.
There certainly was corruption among the capital’s great clans[1] that we had begun to dig out from Song Haksu and Min Do-yeong, but whether it would reach a figure as powerful as Kim Yang-han was entirely uncertain.
At the very least, he was someone who had strutted about until the end of this chaotic setting while pretending to be a good man, so he had probably cleaned up that much after himself.
But.
“As Your Majesty wished, talk of nominating him as prime minister has vanished completely. It seems they have begun assessing the situation and preparing on their end as well.”
Seo Yu-jin continued.
“However, it will not last long. They will respond soon enough.”
It was practically the same as drawing a line and declaring I would not go along with Kim Yang-han.
Then the capital’s great clans would strike back somehow...
“I’ll need a good running mate.”
There was someone I had in mind. I had even considered how to handle them from the first day I entered Gyeongbok Palace.
As I was considering how to summon them...
They made the first move.
“Your Majesty, there is a request for an audience. Chairwoman Kim A-ra of JD Group.”
“The reason?”
“JD Group has conveyed its intention to donate an astronomical relief fund for rebuilding the Imperial House and supporting the bereaved families of the bombing victims. They also say they wish to resolve the series of misunderstandings between the Imperial House and JD Group.”
In Tears of the Imperial Palace, Kim A-ra filled the role of a typical villainess.
A chaebol[2] heiress who relentlessly harassed the female lead with money and power as her weapons, craving a rise in status by any means necessary.
“Since Chairwoman Kim A-ra took office, JD Group’s operating profits and market share have risen dramatically. On top of that, she leads public opinion through JD Group’s massive media affiliates, and her meticulous lobbying power over politics and the press is already well known.”
“She’s more capable than I thought.”
So she was not simply relying on her father’s influence.
“Even the old foxes of the business world click their tongues at her business acumen and decisiveness. It is true that Chairman Kim Yang-han’s immense political influence served as a sturdy shield, but Chairwoman Kim A-ra reached her current position entirely through her own ability.”
“For someone like that to request an audience now...”
Seo Yu-jin spoke with a cold look in her eyes.
“Would it not be to test Your Majesty’s intentions?”
* * *
The meeting took place not long after.
“Your Majesty. Chairwoman Kim A-ra of JD Group has requested entry to the palace and is waiting.”
“Send her in.”
The office door opened, and a familiar face entered.
A striking but not excessive suit dress. Perfectly styled hair. A proud stride without the slightest error.
The main villainess of the makjang[3] drama Tears of the Imperial Palace.
It was a strange feeling to see a face I had only ever seen on television standing right before me. Though, to be fair, I often felt the same way when I looked at Seo Yu-jin.
“Your Majesty. It is an honor to meet you for the first time. I am Kim A-ra of JD.”
She gracefully lowered her head. Officially, she was here as the head of a major corporation to support the disaster response and deliver condolence money, but if that had been her true purpose, she would have sent a subordinate.
“Have a seat.”
I gestured to a chair. Kim A-ra politely sat on the sofa.
Her eyes were probing. It was obvious she was calculating something behind them.
“I cannot contain my devastation at the Imperial House’s terrible tragedy. JD Group also promises to devote all its strength to supporting the recovery and aftermath.”
“Enough with the formalities.”
I dismissed the employee about to bring tea and sent even Seo Yu-jin outside for the moment.
Only the two of us remained in the office.
“Chairwoman Kim. Let us hear why you came here in person.”
When I spoke bluntly, the corner of Kim A-ra’s mouth rose slightly.
“You are as forthright as the rumors say. Good. Going in circles is not to my taste either.”
She leaned forward slightly. Her cool eyes met mine directly.
“Does Your Majesty intend to bring down the Kim clan?”
A direct question deserved a direct answer.
“That depends on how your father conducts himself.”
“My father, Chairman Kim Yang-han, will never step down of his own accord. He has ruled from the heights of power his entire life.”
“He will try to use the capital’s great clans to tie me down. JD Group must have received the same orders.”
“That is true. But I will not follow them.”
Kim A-ra admitted it readily.
“Did a daughter come here to sell out her father? Is filial betrayal in fashion now?”
“Filial betrayal? I am merely trying to survive.”
Kim A-ra’s eyes gleamed.
“In this country, even chaebols are nothing more than lackeys of the hereditary aristocracy. No matter how hard I work as a businesswoman, I cannot even reach their heels.”
Yes. This was it. This was why Kim A-ra had been so obsessed with Crown Prince Lee Geon, no, with the status of Crown Prince.
That was why...
Why she had awakened as a “villainess.”
“JD Group is mine. I have no interest in the rotten political cesspool my father manipulates. All I want is to protect the position I built for myself.”
“And?”
“I will lend Your Majesty my strength.”
Power entered her voice.
“The Kim clan’s hands reach into every field. The funding that moves politics, the public-opinion warfare that controls the press, my father’s people planted throughout the political and legal worlds.
Unless the Emperor can personally oversee every matter, Your Majesty cannot eliminate them all. You need people to take control in their place.”
“So you will open the door from within.”
I nodded as I looked at Kim A-ra.
“What are your conditions?”
“A full pardon for JD Group and me. Independence from the Kim clan. Is that not a reasonable deal?”
I leaned back and quietly studied her.
On the surface, it was a meticulous and bold betrayal befitting a villainess from a drama. The ambition to solidify what was hers, even if it meant offering up her father as a sacrifice.
She must have thought I would have no reason to refuse.
“It is reasonable.”
Her eyes sparkled at my answer.
“But there is one critical problem.”
“What is it?”
“How can I trust you?”
Kim A-ra’s expression stiffened slightly at my question.
But she soon smiled with ease.
“Of course, we will need to build a certain degree of mutual trust. Please consider today’s audience part of that process. On the surface, it is to deliver condolence money. I told my family it was to learn Your Majesty’s intentions, but...”
“That would be fine, but it would take too long.”
I tossed something in front of Kim A-ra.
Clatter.
The object that fell in the middle of the table was a precision electronic device no larger than a fingernail.
The instant she saw it, all color drained from Kim A-ra’s composed face.
Just as I thought.
No matter how bold someone was, they could not hide their reaction when an entirely unexpected trap appeared.
An illegal listening device that JD Group had secretly planted inside Gyeongbok Palace, right near the Emperor, to monitor the Imperial House’s movements.
...For such a promising plot device, the writer had made a grand show of foreshadowing it early on, only to let it become a forgotten MacGuffin when the story moved on.
“What is this...?”
“It was attached to the Emperor’s private chambers at Gyeongbok Palace. You may claim you have never seen it before, but I wonder whether the Joint Investigation Headquarters will believe that. About you and all your lackeys.”
“...”
After all, what guarantee was there that nothing would turn up once they started digging? What guarantee was there that they would all keep their mouths shut for Kim A-ra?
“At a time like this.”
I cut her off and growled low.
“At this grave time, when the former imperial family has been massacred in a rebellion, an illegally installed listening device is discovered in the Emperor’s private chambers, of all places.”
I leaned close over the table.
“What do you think the world will say if this goes to the Joint Investigation Headquarters and it is revealed that you were behind its installation?”
“...!”
I tapped the table with my fingers.
Tap. Tap.
“Collusion with the rebel forces that sought to assassinate the Emperor. Aiding a rebellion. Violation of the National Security Act. You will be tied to the same charges as Min Do-yeong and sent straight to a military tribunal.
Will your father abandon you, or will he die alongside you trying to save an illegitimate child like you?”
Kim A-ra had already been foreshadowed to fall after being crushed by the Crown Prince and his wife, then abandoned by her father.
If he wanted to avoid becoming the father of a traitor himself, he would surely order her to “take her own life.”
If he suddenly discovered fatherly affection while weeping and sniveling, that would be a thank-you from me.
But Kim A-ra probably knew better than I did that it would not happen.
“...Your Majesty. This is a misunderstanding. I have never colluded with the rebel forces! That listening device was merely...”
“Merely?”
It was for monitoring the Emperor? That was no different from admitting to treason.
Well, even if she somehow made an excuse that she did not know...
“Why should I believe it?”
I looked down at her coldly.
“Save your excuses for the investigators. Hand it over to the Joint Investigation Headquarters, and they will dig until there is nothing left but dust.”
“Your Majesty! Please, just once...!”
She abruptly rose from her seat, then fell to her knees on the floor.
Without caring that the hem of her skirt was crumpling, she clasped her hands desperately.
“Please forgive me! I was foolish! I failed to recognize Your Majesty’s wisdom and dared to use such a shallow trick!”
For a long moment, I silently looked down at her kneeling form.
It was time to tame her properly.
“Chairwoman Kim.”
“...Yes, Your Majesty!”
“A deal can only be made when both sides stand on equal footing. You are not in a position to make a deal with me right now.”
I flicked the listening device on the table with a finger.
“Choose.”
I looked at Kim A-ra.
“Become my dog. Or be dragged out of here as a traitor and die.”
“...”
Kim A-ra’s shoulders twitched.
Then, as though her pleas from moments ago had been a lie, Kim A-ra lifted her face.
“...Is that what Your Majesty wanted, too?”
She looked at me like she wanted to hurl something at me.
Yes, how could I trust you?
Even if we joined hands against a common enemy, she was still the villainess of the drama. The initiative had to remain completely in my hands.
Kim A-ra lowered her eyes. Her lips trembled, and she finally spoke with an expression of resignation.
“I always knew... this day would come.”
I was about to frown, wondering what nonsense she was talking about.
Swish.
Her hands slowly rose to her shoulders. The sound of the zipper at Kim A-ra’s back sliding down with a zzzip sharply cut through the room.
Plop. Rustle.
The dress of the finest material slipped helplessly to the floor.
And when I saw that.
“...What kind of crazy bitch is this?”
The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.
Footnotes:
[1] Capital’s great clans: hereditary elite families centered in the capital, with longstanding political influence.
[2] Chaebol: a large, family-controlled Korean business conglomerate.
[3] Makjang: a Korean genre of deliberately extravagant, sensational melodrama.
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