Perfect Crown in Royal Academy of Korea - Chapter 3

Chapter Three: The One Who Cannot Even Possess a Name

"Grand Prince, Your Highness."
 
As Wan came out of the lecture room, the attendants waiting in the hallway bowed their heads.
 
If someone were to ask what was so great about royalty in the 21st century, there was nothing much to say, but royalty was originally something considered great even if it wasn't great. Because royalty was something that fulfilled its value in itself just by existing.
 
Even at the Royal Academy, which was famous for its conservative academic style, Wan received special treatment. For instance, something like not having to live in the dormitory.
 
In fact, Wan was assigned to Azure Dragon Palace in the year he turned into a 7th grader and received a blue robe, but until now, when he became a 12th grader, he had never once used a dormitory room.
 
"Grand Prince, Your Highness, His Majesty the King commands you to enter the palace."
 
Hearing Court Lady Choi’s words, Wan’s expression stiffened. Having left the palace early on and grown up in a private residence, Wan never entered the palace unless there was a special occasion. Even if one had left the palace, if one was royalty, it was of course the rule of etiquette to enter the palace every morning to pay one's respects, but—
 
'There is no need for that.'
 
His Royal Father did not wish for it. He didn't feel hurt anew. Because his Royal Father had always been on guard against him.
 
When he was young, he wanted to find the reason for that, but after realizing it was a meaningless task, he had been rebelling all along. Since he commanded, "Be a role model," while simultaneously ordering, "Do not shine," it was inevitable for him to go astray.
 
Unlike himself, his older brother, the Crown Prince, was a person who would first follow whatever his Royal Father said. The problem was that he fell ill because of that, though.
 
His brother was a person with sensitive nerves. If he went to a place with many people, he suffered from anxiety and fear, and he startled and trembled at even the slightest sound. The more disappointed he became with such a brother, the more severe his Royal Father's wariness toward himself became.
 
As if his brother's weakness was because of him or something.
 
Therefore, it was clear that his Royal Father commanding him to enter the palace was not a good thing. Either he did something too well, or his brother did something too poorly. If not that, then both.
 
"I heard you summoned me."
 
Wan, who bowed his head, said.
 
"Come closer."
 
There could well be gladness for a son he hadn't seen in a long time, but the King commanded indifferently. As if such a cold reception was familiar, Wan took a few more steps forward and sat on his knees.
 
The King handed a royal decree to such a son of his.
 
"What is this."
 
"You will know if you open it."
 
"......"
 
Wan, who frowned slightly, opened the sealed royal decree. It was a content stating that his prince title, Leesin, would be changed to Leean.
 
"It is your new prince title."
 
Instead of an answer, Wan quietly looked up at his father. He already had a history of his prince title being changed at the age of ten. But why again...
 
"Did I... do something too well again?"
 
Wan, unable to endure the injustice, asked. As if considering even that reproachful tone to be insolent, the King, who looked down at his son with indifferent eyes,
 
"Do not harbor doubts."
 
"Royal Father."
 
"It is the King's command."
 
With the jade voice of the King, not a father, he shut his son's mouth.
 
Coming out of the Great Hall, Wan’s steps quickened. Even though he tried hard not to reveal his boiling inside, his rough steps entirely revealed his twisted state of mind.
 
"Grand Prince, Your Highness! Grand Prince, Your Highness!"
 
Around the time sweat began to form on the forehead of Court Lady Choi, who was following behind—
 
"Yi Wan."
 
The voice of Hwan, one of the few people who could call Wan’s name, was heard.
 
"Where are you going in such a way."
 
"...Brother."
 
Wan, who had no choice but to stop his steps, quietly collected his breath.
 
"I greet the Crown Prince, Your Highness."
 
Only after his flushed complexion calmed down did Wan pay his respects. Wan’s eyes narrowed as he examined his brother's complexion out of habit. Whether he had lost weight again, his cheeks were deeply hollowed out.
 
"I heard your prince title has changed."
 
"It became so."
 
"Is it to your liking."
 
"No way."
 
"......"
 
"I hate it to death because it's not to my liking."
 
At that blatant crookedness, all surroundings became quiet.
 
"Your Highness..."
 
Court Lady Choi shook her head as if to say how could he say such a thing, and the court attendants of the Eastern Palace only exchanged glances with each other as if to ask what on earth this situation was. However, the corners of the Crown Prince's lips drew a graceful arc.
 
"Did you say so to Royal Father as well?"
 
"Yes."
 
"You are truly something too...."
 
As if the words of his younger brother, who answered bluntly, were amusing, Hwan laughed for a long time. Only then did the expressions of the tense court attendants become a step lighter.
 
"What do you know, Brother."
 
Wan, who entered the Eastern Palace, said. When there were eyes watching, he used honorifics, but when it was just the two of them, he was no different from any ordinary siblings.
 
Wan, who lay obliquely on the sofa, propped up his head with his arm. If Court Lady Choi had seen it, she would have surely scolded him to show proper etiquette, but Hwan loved such presumptuousness of his younger brother.
 
"Grand Prince Leean, Leean...."
 
Hwan, who was murmuring, tilted his head.
 
"It doesn't stick to the mouth well."
 
"Forget it. Whether Grand Prince Leesin or Grand Prince Leean, it's all the same thing. And who knows when it will change again."
 
"It's good enough just to have a name."
 
"You have a name too, Brother."
 
"Since nobody can call it, what kind of name is that."
 
Hwan, who retorted lightly, shifted his gaze outside the window. Hearing the chirping sound of birds, a small smile hung on his mouth. Wan felt needlessly displeased whenever Hwan made such an expression. Because it was a smile where resignation was felt, like a person who would disappear at any moment.
 
The face that resembled their late Royal Mother too much was also a reason that invited anxiety. With a face resembling their Royal Mother, wearing the same smile as their Royal Mother, he wondered what if he died like their Royal Mother.
 
"Ah, I'm getting married soon."
 
At that moment, Hwan said casually.
 
"Uh?"
 
"I said I'm getting married."
 
No differently than saying he was going for a walk somewhere.
 
"Is there a woman you are meeting, Brother?"
 
Looking at him quietly blinking his eyes, it wasn't a joke. In the first place, he wasn't a person with enough wit to play this kind of joke. Then that means it's a fact….
 
"Who is it? Is it someone I know too?"
 
"Since she said she attends the Royal Academy, you would know."
 
"Crazy."
 
"I'll do it next year."
 
"Holy cow."
 
Wan, who had thrown himself down and covered his mouth, raised his body and sat up. Even if he had trained in dignity and moderation for a lifetime, Wan’s age was nineteen. He would be curious even about the love life of a passing stranger, so the love life of his log-like brother; it was impossible for interest not to be aroused.
 
"Since when have you been meeting? Did you get permission from Royal Father? Is she pretty?"
 
At Wan pouring out curious things in succession, Hwan shook his head.
 
"Do you like this kind of thing?"
 
"Uh."
 
"Uh?"
 
"I said I like it. So tell me. Who is it."
 
Hwan, who let out a sigh, opened the document file placed on the desk. He seemed to be searching for something with his eyes, and then—
 
"Yoon Yirang."
 
He spat out the name.
 
"Uh?"
 
"You asked who it was. I said Yoon Yirang."
 
Wan’s expression distorted. It wasn't that he didn't know Yoon Yirang. Because she was the precious child of a family that had produced as many as four queens.
 
But she was also a long-time friend of Wan’s. For such a Yirang to be the person his brother was meeting. That word meant that Yirang would soon become his sister-in-law. It also meant she would become the Queen Consort in the future. Just thinking about it made Wan shudder at the cringing feeling.
 
"Wow, how can both of you not say a single word to me? Brother is my brother, and she is my friend?"
 
"I'm telling you now."
 
"No, you should have told me way beforehand. If it's to the extent of thinking about marriage, haven't you been meeting for a long time?"
 
"We met for the first time today."
 
"What?"
 
Instead of an answer, Hwan handed over the document file. Wan, who was reading the documents where Yirang's personal information and the family's genealogy were written, soon understood the situation. Because if it were a relationship that started with love, the countless agreements written on the documents would not be necessary.
 
"Did that Yoon Yirang girl agree to it too?"
 
"Is that important."
 
"Then you, Brother. Did you agree to it?"
 
"It's not important."
 
At Hwan's answer, which was embedded with firm resignation, Wan lost his words. He didn't even have a clue where and how to point it out. He had never learned a method like stopping a person who was being dragged toward a future where misfortune was foreseen.
 
"Refuse it."
 
"You know I can't."
 
"Why can't you. You can just do it."
 
"......"
 
"Brother, this is marriage. Marriage should be done with a person you love."
 
Wan appealed in a quite sorrowful tone. He could not let his brother, who resembled their mother, follow the footsteps of their mother who withered away from a loveless marriage. He was already withering day by day, so how much further from here....
 
"I am the Crown Prince of this country."
 
"Brother..."
 
"Don't you live like this."
 
But Hwan had already given up.
 
 
From the Annals of King Heejong
 
September 1999, the eldest son of the legal wife, Hwan, was made the Crown Prince.
 
February 2000, the prince title of Grand Prince Leeyoung, Wan, was changed to Leesin.
 
October 2009, the prince title of Grand Prince Leesin, Wan, was changed to Leean.