In order for the time zones to not be confusing, I will be highlighting the flashbacks in green in the future chapters.

Many of you were confused in the last chapter as to what really happened so I will explain it before you read on.

Summary of chapter 39:

Jong Kook decided to marry Ara to be his concubine in the Kim's mansion after she tried to commit suicide and to accomplish his promise of marrying her. But he refused to let her stay in Ji Hyo's wing of chambers and he left her on the wedding night, drunk to sleep in Ji Hyo's room. However, Ji Hyo, witness the whole scenario as she secretly looks over from the rooftop.

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Jong Kook felt a throbbing pain at the side of his head as he slowly stirs awake. No one had dared to come inside the room of the east chambers. Inhaling a deep breath, the scent lingers around him.

Ji Hyo.

He gets up suddenly only to stop himself, holding the side of his head. What time was it? He struggles to the door, only to find that the sun is almost up to the middle of the sky, noon.

He gritted his teeth and made his way out of the mansion.

Ara, now in a noble lady’s dress, all ready to present herself to her husband. She sees Jong Kook out of the room, his face hurried and worried.

She smiles shyly and steps forward to surprise him but before she could even reach the hall, he had already hurried out to the courtyard. Had he not seen her? She quickly follows behind only to see him on the horse, riding back to the palace.

The smile wiped off her face, she dazed into impatient anger.

“Where is the general off to at this time? He had only waken up. Lady Go, what about breakfast and lunch?”

Ara fakes up a smile. “General is busy. As for the food, set it up.” she turns around then stops. “No, I am going to greet my in-laws. Prepare the food in the main hall,” and she walks off to see the Kims. Deep within her, she frowns with suspicion.

***

Jong Kook reaches the palace and rushes inside. Ji Hyo was nowhere to be found. He searched the whole garden of their chamber only to find no one. He turns around to the other side of the palace chambers, finally catching a glimpse of Ji Hyo.

She sitting by the bridge, her feet softly flapping in the water. He rushes towards her and sees a figure behind her, attempting to push her in.

“Be careful!” he yells to her without thinking. Ji Hyo turns around and the figure, a female pushed her in the water and runs away. He jumps into the water as Ji Hyo was struggling to get out of the water. Her hands wailing out of the water and her feet kicked down the endlessly.

He swims towards her and holds her up, grabbing to her waist as she turns around and cling onto him, panicking.

“Did you see who it was?” he asked as he had managed to stand on a stable rock underwater.

She shook her head.

“Why weren’t you more careful?” he nags. “You can’t even swim, yet you dare to stay close to water like this?! Do you want to drown to death?!”

Ji Hyo stares at him blankly. “Were you… worried?” The water trickles down her temple and down her chest. Jong Kook intensely stares at her, his face strained.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6786rWPHz0 ) [ I couldn't find the instrumental so.... yeah...]

“Yes,” and he scoots in and captures her lips. Their lips touch and the gleaming water ripples at their movements. His hands caresses her waist and back as her arms that cling onto him tightens, reciprocating the kiss. His lips brushed over her and within moments, his tongue slips into . The lust that he held back for her starts unleashing.

With one hand still on her waist holding onto her from slipping in the water, his left hand cups her face up towards him for a better angle as he passionately kisses her. Somehow, her hand ran through his hair, drawing him closer and their bodies literally pressed to each other.

After what seems like forever, they finally drew back with their foreheads still touching, breathless.

They glace at each other in the short distance. Ji Hyo’s face lit up and they each smile shyly. His heavy breath and her heaving chest caused the water to ripple out, the sun heated up their already burning bodies.

Jong Kook leans in and pecks her lips teasingly. Then again and again. Ji Hyo finally draws back and faces the other way. He stops as he notices her discomfort. He looked a tad bit disappointed but Ji Hyo turns back to him and kisses him quickly for a millisecond and looks down at his chest.

“Let’s… get out of the water… Others might see this,”

He smiles, knowing she was embarrassed. Her cheeks blushed pink and he tries to hold himself back from chuckling out loud. “Fine.”

Still holding her, he walks on the stable rock and reaches the side of the pond. He helps her out of the water and takes off his wet robe, covering her as her clothes were drenched. He notices that she had stopped wearing hanboks and changed into hanfus (Chinese style dresses). But the clothes grew heavy with the water weight.

He sees her struggling with his heavy robe and before she knew it, he had carried her in his arms.

She shy herself in his chest as they passed maids down the courtyard and into the hall, entering the chambers. He sits her down on the bed. They look at each other clearly and Ji Hyo nudges him to leave her alone.

He frowns and lies on the bed, folding his hands behind his head. “How comfortable,”

Ji Hyo sat up strictly, fidgeting. She stood up abruptly and walks off to the other side of the room, putting down the blue drapes, covering herself as she stood behind it.

Jong Kook got up and stood behind the drapes as he heard her changing. He smirks to himself.

“What’s wrong? Are you that embarrassed to show yourself to me?”

Ji Hyo quickly covers herself. “Stop peeking!”

He crossed his arms, “We are husband and wife, why can’t I?” He chuckles and walks away back to the bed, “Take your time,” he lies on the bed and folded his arms behind his head again and folded his legs, “I’ll be waiting for you,” he teases her.

Moments later, Ji Hyo came out from the drapes of the other room, dressed in another white and pink hanfu outfit. She had her hair tied down. She walks to the bed and sets the clothes on the edge of the bed, “Change first or you’ll catch a cold.”

He nods and gets up as she turns away to the table. Pouring the hot tea into the cups, she sat down. Without caring, he took off his robe and starts changing right there.

“How did you come here so fast?” she asked.

“By riding a horse.”

“I thought that you would have a hangover-” the words slipped from ,  hushing her lips as the brim of the tea cup reached her lips.

“How did you know?” he stops as the new robe falls to his shoulders.

She quickly changes the subject and puts down the cup of tea, “You smell like alcohol.” She smiles, “Did you eat yet?” she turns around to him. He was still half-dressed as she darted her eyes to the ground.

Seeing her expression, “It’s not the first time you see me like this,” he slowly ties the robe together. She looks back up at him, this time, getting a better look at him.

“Are you hungry, Sire?” She folded her arms.

He walks to her and leans in, whispering, “Very much,” and he lands a peck on her cheek before sitting down. Ji Hyo flushed pink but stays calm.

Soon enough, the table was full of food. Ji Hyo puts food in his bowl.

“Since you are very hungry, eat a lot,” she cheekily glances at him.

“Of course, since my wife is here.” They continue eating.

“Where were you last night?” Ji Hyo asked. He hesitates for a moment but continues eating.

“I was at the mansion.”

“Really? Did something good happened?”

“… Uh huh…”

“What was it?” she asked further.

He stops eating and turns to her, changing the subject, “Since today is the last day at the palace, is there a place you would like to visit?”

She thinks to herself, biting onto the end of the chopsticks, and nods.

***

Jong Kook, now dressed in a training clothes, stands before the various swords that were on display. He turns back to her, “Are you sure about this?”

Ji Hyo finishes putting the headband on her head as her hair was tied into a top knot. “Shouldn’t the General teach his wife a few techniques for self-defense?”

She walks to the table and examines each sword. Jong Kook picks up a standard soldier’s sword and hands it to her.

“Start with the basics.” He hands the sword to her and she takes it.

“Why is this sword so much lighter?”

He picks up another standard soldier’s sword, “How so?”

“Your sword was much heavier-“ Ji Hyo noticed she had spoke to much.

Jong Kook walks towards her again, touching her head, shaking it back and forth as he holds her cheeks. “Have you retrieved your memories?”

Ji Hyo stops him from shaking her head too much. “No!” she pouted.

He takes the initiative and pulls her face closer to his and gives her a tight kiss in front of the guards. He lets go of her face and scratches her chin, “So adorable.”

Ji Hyo hit his hand and raises the sword to him threateningly.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6786rWPHz0 )  [ same music from above]

He sways back and hits the sword back with his. Ji Hyo back tracks and continues to clash swords with him. Jong Kook swiftly dodges another attack and throws her off guard as he counters her sword with his, grabbing her right hand with his left hand, whirling her around and landing in his arms as he stands behind her. He brings the sword to her neck, interlocking it with her sword.

“This is called interlocking assassin,” he whispers in her ear. “You use this against weaker opponents,”

Ji Hyo moves his hand and turns around. She picks up her sword and using his feet, he steps on the sword handle, rolling it towards him and kicking the handle to raise it up, catching it in the air with his left hand.

“Double edged blade,” he states and waves the two swords behind him.

Ji Hyo observes him and walks to the table, taking a sword and dagger. She waved them behind her and stances her balance. She shifted her feet and charges towards him with the sword in her right hand and the dagger in the left.

As she strikes down with the sword, he counters off with his two swords, striking towards her. She blocks it off with the dagger and the sword waved at his feet. He quickly steps back and sees the hem of his pants were slashed. He grins, looking up at her.

He takes the two swords and stances himself and charged towards her, flipping around as Ji Hyo moves to the side, avoiding the slash. As the wind brushed past them with the sword strikes, Ji Hyo backs as he took offense. He notices this and slows down his sword strikes as Ji Hyo step back, turning around and kicking the pillar, hovering over him, reversing their positions. This time he was the one being cornered.

The glint in his eyes grew eager and advances towards her, pushing her back as he crossed his two swords against hers.

They now land back in the middle of the training ground. Their eyes darted at each other, a tight atmosphere as they seem to loosen themselves. A look on his face she hasn’t seen before. He wasn’t angry, he wasn’t disappointed. It seems… he was having fun, with the slight smile on the corner of his lips.

Ji Hyo backs off as they both stare at each other. She grips the sword and dagger tightly, this time, allowing herself to relax. She closed her eyes and reopen them, much clearer and darker, matching his. She takes small steps forward then halts into the air in a half flip, flipping in the air, swinging the sword at him. He notices her technique and backs off, barely with his swords against her attack.

Ji Hyo breaks his defense and lands on the ground. Jong Kook finally, in his right mind, realizes that he was going too far. He shifts back to basic training but Ji Hyo was not backing down.

Moments before he knew it, Ji Hyo hits one of the sword out of his hand with the sword in her right hand. He raises the sword in his right hand but stops as he sees a reflective light shine on his face. Ji Hyo, now standing beside him with the dagger at his neck, turns her head to glance at him.

Their eyes meet again as the breeze brush passed the distance between them.

Ji Hyo backs down her gaze, “What do you call this move, General?”

Jong Kook’s shock face turns to admiration. Ji Hyo lets down the dagger and walks back to the table with the sword and dagger, placing them down. Something about her just made him admire her even more.

Her image as a dutiful wife and daughter was disregarded when she stepped into the training grounds. She was not only an archer but also a swordsman. Poetry, baduk, medicine, and a strategist for the economy with his majesty.

He could only stand and observe her character. Is it possible to know so many things?

What was it about Ji Hyo that made him so attracted to her? Her dedication? The mysterious facts around her that he never thought of before?

Her soft image before the accident made him think she was a typical woman with subtle skills. However, seeing her now makes him wonder if he really knew who she was? How much did she know of him to declare her marriage with him?

Ji Hyo turns to Jong Kook, sensing his questions.

“Are you alright?”

He looks back at her, “When did you learn such skills? I have not seen you do anything like this before?”

Ji Hyo smiles, “There are many things you don’t know about me yet, Sire.”

Her words echo in his ears. It sounded so familiar.

“I have yet to know much about myself either,” she concluded and walks to him. Using her sleeve, she wipes away his sweat. “For you to be able to accomplish great things, great effort has to be put in.”

He holds her hand, stopping her. “Do you remember everything now?” he seriously asked.

Ji Hyo only gapes at him and smiles thinly. “Why?" Her eyes stayed glued to his, never blinking, "Do you have something to hide?”

The atmosphere grew tense.

***