Yuna’s progress was slow when it came to building up endurance and stamina. What did she expect? Exercise wasn’t her strong suit and it was nearly impossible for her to accomplish her goal. Her goal entailed being able to follow Eunho’s training regimen to the T. How was she ever going to show Eunho that she wasn’t just some princess that needs protecting. The soldiers weren’t enthusiastic about her training alongside them. Most expected her to call it quits and go back to her daily life of being a noble lady. Each time she overheard their mockery and criticism, she would bite her lips and restrain her anger. It wasn’t the right time for her to argue with them. Especially since there wasn’t much progress in her training. She failed the first day of training because she caught a cold. She was ashamed of herself for not being able to prove to them that she was capable of much more regardless of her gender. It wasn’t an easy task. She was disappointed in herself for thinking that it wa
Minho had been waiting for this opportunity. Now was the perfect chance for him to finally make Yuna his. The morning after Prime minister Junho was notified that his daughter’s idea was a failure, his father let him know that Minister Junho would have no choice but to approve the arranged marriage between them.Although his father hadn’t told Minister Junho about the arranged marriage yet, he couldn’t wait any longer. He needed to see Yuna while her father was busy discussing their marriage. He wouldn’t be able to protect his daughter, especially since he needed to appear in morning court. He decided that it would be the perfect time to show up at Yuna’s house to let her know the good news. Minho couldn’t wait to see the look on Yuna’s face. He was sure that she would be happy. There was no woman that would be unhappy with his proposal.He demanded his servants to prepare the palanquin. He planned to show up at her residence in a flashy way. The neighbors would soon find out why he
Eunho stood on the platform and explained, “The sparring matches will not be like the normal sparring practices. I would like to watch each and every one of you fight to see who is stronger. It will become easier for me to determine everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. I believe that all of you will be able to learn something from today's matches by observing others' sparring techniques.” Yuna agreed with Eunho. It would be helpful for her to watch the experienced soldier’s spar. She was interested in learning how people fought. Although she was able to learn moves with her picture-perfect memory from the kung-fu movies, she didn’t know any moves that could be applied to real fights. It occurred to Yuna that most of those moves were not applicable to real fights because they were all done for the purpose of creating a movie. Some of those moves were fake. The only moves she could rely on were ones that real martial artists performed. An example would be
Yuna’s palms were sweaty, and the musky scent permeated the entire courtyard. Namjoo stood before her with a look of determination. She wasn’t expecting her to be such a strong opponent, but that was a mistake on her part. The fight to determine ranks within the soldiers had begun.At first, Yuna thought that this would be a simple sparring match, but she overlooked the fact that soldiers in this era were prideful. The rankings weren’t formal, and they weren’t given titles. A win could determine how much power someone had within the army. The soldiers that lost were bound to bow down to those that have defeated them. This only applied to their comrade-in-arms, not enemies. Yuna observed the countless soldiers that sparred and learned that this match wasn’t as simple as she thought it would be. It didn’t look like a simple match when these men were ripping at each other’s throats to win the fight. Some came out of the fight with broken bones and torn flesh. Yuna cou
After his encounter with Haemi, Minho decided that it would be best if his servants escorted her back to his palace. She was reluctant at first, but he successfully convinced her that she needed treatment. It was difficult trying to get her back to the palace, but luckily for him, he was good at controlling women. The only woman he wasn’t confident in convincing was Yuna. He decided it was best for Haemi to be out of sight. He didn’t want Yuna discovering his newly made relationship with Haemi. It wasn’t the right time. He wasn’t successful in obtaining her heart. Once he had her in the palm of his hand, he could do anything he wanted. She wouldn’t be able to say anything once she became his wife.He could easily take in a concubine, especially since all Emperors had multiple wives. It is the emperor’s duty to have as many sons as possible. There’s always a risk of not having an heir to the throne. Yuna would not be able to keep him for herself. He was glad that th
Eunho placed Yuna lightly on the bed. His guilt grew like a mountain whenever he saw her unconscious figure on the bed. This was the third time she fainted. Her body was weaker than most. He also noticed that she was extremely thin and pale unlike most kids. In comparison to Yuna, he was taller and much more muscular. She almost looked malnourished. He wondered how she could be when she came from such a wealthy background. He pulled out the elixir of the phoenix from his pouch. The Elixir of the Phoenix was an ancient artifact that had collected dust in the underground tomb of the first Emperor of Guwon. The tomb was long forgotten even by the royal family. He was only able to find information about the tomb on accident in his previous life. Eunho made sure to go to the ancient underground tomb to obtain all sorts of treasures. The Elixir of the Phoenix is known to cure all illnesses. Legend states that consuming even a droplet of the elixir will prolong life and
Eunho wasn’t a doctor, but he could tell something was wrong. Her pulse was irregular and there were signs of poisoning. How could he have not noticed this for so long? Even after she turned 16, she looked small and thin. He couldn’t think of any poison that could cause her to stunt her growth and make her look malnourished.She didn’t seem to have any other symptoms. The only thing he could think of was that she didn’t have much endurance and stamina. He only thought that it was normal since most females aren’t as active. He wondered why someone would poison Yuna without the intent to kill. Yuna lived till the age of 19. The poison would have killed her way before if the culprit was planning to have Yuna assassinated.It didn’t make sense to him. There would be no reason to cripple her martial arts because females hardly practiced martial arts. He wondered what the reason could be. The only two people that would want to harm Yuna was either Prince Minho or her cousin Haemi.
There were veins forming on Minho’s forehead as the time spent waiting grew excruciatingly long. He could not wait any longer. He roared at the guards, “What the h*ll is taking so long? I was here for an hour and the guard hasn’t come back! Since the other guard isn’t back yet, I’m assuming that he has decided to betray you. I guess that means your life has no meaning to your friend.”Minho shouted at his personal servant, “Bring my sword, right now!” The servant bowed, “Understood, your majesty.” The servant went to the palanquin and brought out his sword. Minho snatched the sword from his hands and promptly took the scabbard off. The sword swiftly landed on the guard’s neck. He felt the cold sharp blade cut a layer of his skin. A tiny bit of blood dripped down his neck. He shivered in fright at the man that held his life in his hands. He could not die. He still had so much he had to do in life. The guard frantically begged, “Please, spare me. I have a wife and kids. If I die, who