Chapter 21
- The Queen (2)
“S, Suk-yong Mama, please take back your words!”
Head Chef Jeon trembled violently, prostrating himself on the floor in haste.
A poison hand?
Didn't that imply an attempt to assassinate the Queen using food?
A single misstep could lead to being branded a traitor, resulting in the extermination of his entire clan – a truly perilous situation.
“Won’t that become clear as we investigate?”
Nok-su retorted even more sharply, turning the faces of everyone in the Royal Kitchen a ghastly pale.
Just then.
“…Isn’t there something else that needs to be investigated?”
The one who suddenly interjected was the only person there voicing her opinion.
It was Ji-young.
“I heard it myself yesterday when the table was set for His Majesty at Chihongwon. Wasn’t it Suk-yong Mama who said that the food reminded her of the Queen?”
At Ji-young's clear enunciation, Nok-su's crescent moon-like eyebrows arched sharply.
“Hoh, so you’re saying that the Queen received that food because of me. Are you implying that the Queen’s sudden illness is my responsibility? Is that really what you want to say, you little thing?”
“…Isn’t it Suk-yong Mama who is trying to place blame on someone?”
“How audacious. Very well, let’s investigate. If there’s a problem with the food and someone falls ill, who is responsible, the person who ordered the food or the person who made it? Naturally, it would be the person who made the food!”
As if a cat cornering a mouse, Nok-su's logic was meticulous and cold.
However, Ji-young did not cower and resolutely responded.
“No. It depends on what kind of food was served to whom.”
“You dare to talk back until the end… If that’s the case, then we must investigate even more thoroughly. What are you all doing? Take this wench to the Royal Investigation Bureau immediately! We will open an immediate inquiry to determine the truth.”
As Jang Nok-su's stern command fell, the Royal Guards moved in a flurry, as if receiving a royal decree.
Such power was unimaginable for a concubine of the Inner Court, a rank 3.
As she glared at the sight of the red rope binding Ji-young's shoulders, Nok-su spat out in an icy cold voice.
“I will inform His Majesty and request a personal interrogation.”
At the same time.
Jang-geum, a trainee kitchen maid in the Royal Kitchen, was moving quickly with hurried steps.
She constantly looked around, as if afraid someone was chasing her.
As she rounded a corner along the wall towards the Queen's Residence, a man's arm suddenly shot out and pulled Jang-geum away.
“Huk!”
“Shh!”
The man put a finger to Jang-geum's lips, who was about to scream.
“Did anyone see you coming here?”
When Jang-geum shook her head, the man asked urgently.
“What’s the situation?”
“It, it seems like the interrogation of the Royal Cuisine Master is about to begin.”
“…We must keep a close watch to ensure that nothing leaks out.”
Wearing a Military Uniform, with piercing eyes and thick eyebrows.
Jang-geum had seen this man before.
The man in the Navy robe who had been following the court ladies in the marketplace.
“Signal me when the interrogation begins. Remember, not a single detail must go awry.”
Jang-geum nodded, deeply nervous.
And before she could add anything, the man disappeared into the shadows of the wall.
Kkachideunggeori.
That was the common name for the uniforms of the Royal Investigation Bureau Guards.
The name came from the fact that the pointed conical hat and the checkered pattern of white stripes on their jackets resembled a magpie at first glance.
However, one should not be deceived by the seemingly cute name.
There were countless cases of people fainting at the mere sight of a kachideunggeori.
To the criminals being interrogated, a kachideunggeori-clad Guard was no different from a grim reaper from hell.
Especially an interrogation conducted here at the Royal Investigation Bureau.
Since the Royal Investigation Bureau mainly dealt with serious crimes such as treason, the interrogation was almost always accompanied by cruel torture.
Severing the tendons of the ankles (dangeun), crushing the kneecaps (apseul), branding the flesh with hot iron (nakhyung), etc…
Once the interrogation began, it was common for people to die from shock midway, and even if they were acquitted, it was common for them to be left with a disability due to the aftereffects of the torture.
Therefore, the terrifying instruments of torture prepared by the Royal Investigation Bureau had the amazing power to make people confess to crimes they didn't even commit, just by looking at them.
So it was only natural that Ji-young's whole body trembled as soon as she saw those brutal torture devices.
‘I need to keep my wits about me from now on…’
Moreover, Jang Nok-su was determined to kill her in this situation.
No matter how righteous and innocent Ji-young was, she couldn't help but be afraid.
Whether they knew her inner thoughts or not, the expressionless Guards began to tightly bind Ji-young's arms, legs, and shoulders to the torture rack with rope.
“A-Aren’t you tying it too tight? It hurts.”
“……”
The Royal Investigation Bureau Guards wearing kachideunggeori wouldn't even bat an eye at such a trivial complaint.
Under the torches burning fiercely on both sides from early evening, gruesome torture devices were soon being set up.
The infamous Royal Investigation Bureau interrogation was about to begin.
Ji-young took a deep breath to sharpen her mind.
‘Hoo, if things go wrong even a little bit, I’m really in big trouble…’
Soon, the Royal Investigator in charge of the interrogation and the Royal Secretaries to record the events began to enter, and among them, Do Seungji Im Soong-jae and Suk-yong Jang Nok-su were also seen entering.
When Jang Nok-su's eyes met Ji-young's from afar, a strange smile flickered across her face.
Clear malice.
Rather, that sight aroused a strange fighting spirit deep within Ji-young's heart.
At that moment, a clear voice echoed loudly.
“His Majesty has arrived!”
Everyone turned their heads towards the sound, and there, the red Dragon Robe with golden dragon patterns embroidered on it was walking in.
Yeonsangun himself had come to the Royal Investigation Bureau to conduct the personal interrogation.
‘The King really stepped in himself. If that psycho gets involved, there’s no telling where things will go…’
Yeonsangun, who strode towards Ji-young, who was trembling with anxiety, suddenly thrust his face close to hers.
“Is it true that you tried to use poison on the Queen through food?”
His icy cold eyes were filled with a complex mixture of anger, disappointment, and various other emotions.
“T-That can’t be. I only served it so that His Majesty could share the same food with the Queen.”
“…Didn’t the Queen have a sudden illness because of that food?”
“No. There’s no way she could have fallen ill after eating what I served.”
Before Ji-young could finish her answer, Nok-su's shrill voice pierced through like an awl.
“Silence! After eating the food you served, the Queen suffered from bleeding and Acute Gastroenteritis last night, and even lost the child she was carrying. How dare you utter such outrageous words after committing such a grave crime!”
As soon as she heard those words, Ji-young felt like her head was spinning.
She knew for sure. This was an elaborately designed scheme.
A work in which Nok-su's demonic genius was displayed without fail.
The moment she tasted the Tiramisu for the first time, two important pieces of information flashed through her mind like lightning.
One was that the main ingredient in the cake was flour.
And the other was that the Queen had a peculiar constitution that caused an extreme allergic reaction to flour.
For Jang Nok-su, who controlled the court ladies scattered throughout the palace, obtaining that much information was a simple matter.
So, by having Tiramisu made with flour served to the Queen, she could miscarry the Queen's unborn child, who was like a thorn in her side, and at the same time, have an excuse to punish the person who made the food.
It was like killing two birds with one stone without getting her own hands dirty.
It was truly a case of ‘killing with a borrowed knife’ for both sides, so there was nothing better for Nok-su.
‘To come up with such a terrible plan in that short moment after eating the Tiramisu, she really is a terrifying woman…’
Ji-young felt cold sweat running down her spine.
But she couldn't just stand by and be defeated.
Ji-young opened her mouth towards Yeonsangun, speaking clearly.
“As His Majesty has heard, it was Suk-yong Mama who said that the food reminded her of the Queen last night.”
“That is certainly true. But Suk-yong did not know about the Queen’s peculiar constitution when she said that. How could Suk-yong have known what even I did not know?”
Ji-young seized the opportunity and countered Yeonsangun's reply.
“Your Majesty, are you saying that it is not a crime if one did not know about the Queen’s constitution? Then isn’t that the same for me?”
Traces of contemplation began to appear on Yeonsangun's face at those words.
It was a valid point.
There was no way this child, who had been appointed as the Royal Cuisine Master only recently, could have known about the Queen's constitution.
Besides, it wasn't originally Ji-young's job to serve the Queen's meals at the Queen's Residence.
Now that he thought about it slowly, wasn't this whole mess caused by urging Ji-young to serve the Tiramisu so urgently?
And the one who first brought up that suggestion was none other than Suk-yong Jang Nok-su.
At this moment.
Nok-su, who noticed what His Majesty was contemplating, intervened without giving him any more time to think.
“Your Majesty, the Queen is in critical condition and has even miscarried the prince. This is no ordinary matter. Regardless of whether she knew about the Queen’s constitution or not, this is something that must be punished as a serious crime.”
“……”
“And that serious crime will certainly include the crime of this humble servant, who simply wanted to serve the Queen a precious dish, without knowing anything.”
There was already a hint of pathos in Nok-su's voice as she spoke, as if sobbing.
But Ji-young could feel it.
Deep within that voice, disguised as pathos, was a sharp, eerie energy lurking, trying to cut off Ji-young's breath.
“…Clearly, this humble servant is not without fault. However, what must be punished more severely is the crime of actually making and serving that heinous dish. I beg you to hold both this humble servant and that cook child responsible and impose a heavy punishment on both of us.”
A tear like a jade bead trickled down Nok-su's eye.
This was the ultimate blow that Nok-su had launched at Ji-young.
A vicious tactic to acknowledge her own guilt to some extent, while at the same time shifting a much heavier charge onto Ji-young.
The so-called ‘sacrificing flesh to break bones’.
Nok-su wiped away her tears with her clothes and subtly examined Ji-young's complexion.
She wanted to taste a strange pleasure as she watched her face contorted with fear and despair.
But what Nok-su saw was Ji-young's face, staring back at her with sparkling eyes.
That face was by no means the expression of someone cornered.
There was no way the clever Nok-su could not have noticed this subtle sense of incongruity.
‘C-Could it be!’
The moment Nok-su's eyes wavered with a sense of realization, a voice that seemed to shake the Royal Investigation Bureau was heard.
“The Queen has arrived!”
