“Ah, the show’s finished” After Hyukjae left, Lady Im finally sneezed, jumped up and removed the blinds with a face of utter boredom. “He is such a battle freak. Only his appearance looks good. He didn’t even say anything fun. I wonder how you could even talk with him for such a long time. Hey, why are you silent?”

Donghae was still feeling anxious and deeply thinking about what the leaving Kim Hyunbin had said.

Is there any news about Master?

Are all the people of the Choi Ducal Residence safe?

What is ‘Kim Hyunbin’ doing right now?

He had a lasting impression and a smile as he discussed politics. He knew all the details about the war, just as well as Donghae, meant that he must be an important military commander.

Military commander? She began thinking through all of the important commanders of Dong Lin. The Duke of Lee was the first name to come to her mind. She blinked, regretting she had not asked for a portrait of Lee Hyukjae earlier.

But wasn’t it be far too complex a coincidence for the Duke of Lee to give her — a maid serving the House of Choi — a qin and requesting to see her?

Lady Im saw that she was in a daze and laughed hard, “He’s already gone and look at your dazed expression. Already missing him?” She playfully waved her hand in front of Donghae’s face.

Feeling her touch, Donghae returned to her senses and told Lady Im,” Sorry, I’m really tired. I want to retire to my room.”

“You haven’t eaten dinner yet.”

“I’ll eat more, tomorrow morning.”

When Donghae returned to her room, she laid on the hard but clean bed and began to think again.

“Master…” She gritted her teeth. Her heart felt like a fire blazing gently in her chest. She began to get anxious. “Don’t be so anxious, being anxious will ruin everything.” She quietly told herself.

Slowly, her messed thoughts got pulled back into order. She calmly took two deep breaths and closed her eyes. She pictured the Duke of Choi’s flag; she remembered her Master, the Choi Ducal Residence, that last victory and the road home…

The Marquess of Choi had just won a battle, the army slowly marched. The radiant Duke of Choi’s flag was fluttering high in the wind.

The commander in front was riding a huge magnificent horse. He wore a purple uniform adorned with a dragon emblem. Strips of metal gleamed on his shoulder. Gems, gold and jade hung from his waist luxuriously. He was the legendary Choi Siwon.

That day, although Siwon had been victorious in war, he did not smile and was frowning very deeply.

“Master!” A girl’s voice came from the crowd and the sound of hooves from behind.

Even though Siwon did not turn his head, he knew who it was. “Donghae, didn’t I tell you to travel by carriage as you didn’t feel very well in the last few days? Why are you riding a horse again?”

Donghae caught up to Siwon, and breathlessly said, “Who said I needed such care? I only coughed a few times but that damn Minho was so scared and immediately told Master. I was afraid that Master thought I got sick too often and wouldn’t let me come next time.”

“It’s not like you’ll listen to me, even if I tell you to stay home, right? I’m just feeling sorry for you, a girl who’s defenceless against a sword. Even if you get sick, there’s no husband to look after you.”

Donghae managed a small smile and twirled her wind-swept hair. “I’m not pitiful. Which maid has such a good life and is able to go with her Master to war?” She laughed twice but suddenly frowned, coughing.

Siwon turned his head, “What’s wrong? If you haven’t recovered, don’t push yourself. The sun is very strong yet you still want to come riding with me. If you don’t listen, I really won’t let you come alongside the army next time.”

Donghae quickly covered to hide her coughing. Glancing up, she saw that Siwon’s face look concerned so she smiled gently. “Don’t worry Master; I’m healthier than any horse. Her beady eyes studied Siwon for a moment, before lowering them, quietly saying, “I’m just afraid that… sigh, that when Master feels anxious, there won’t be anyone beside you to cheer you up.”

She sighed deeply and Siwon’s heart melted. He gave a twisted smile while shaking his head, “You are such a strange maid. I can’t hide anything from you.” Seeing that Donghae hadn’t her usual rosy cheeks, he smiled. “Come here then. Let me ride behind you on the same horse so you won’t worry about it too much. Let’s share our thoughts.”

“Ok.” Donghae nodded and slid off her horse.

Siwon reached out his hand and pulled Siwon onto his horse. He put one hand on her waist for support and the other one on the reins. He slowly gathered his thoughts and carefully chose his words, “Our opposition was the Dong Lin army. This war with Lee Hyukjae has lasted two months, on the surface we won but underneath we lost.”

Donghae nodded, “Master is right. Though Dong Lin may have retreated, Gui Le had huge casualties. If Dong Lin attacked again, there’s no way the Gui Le army would be able to hold up against them. If only the King was on Master’s side and didn’t stubbornly refuse to let Master take charge for two whole years, then the situation wouldn’t’ve been so bad.”

“Donghae, don’t carelessly criticise the King.” Siwon thought for a moment, “Just remember that the new King is not the Prince Shin before he took the throne.”

Donghae bit her lip and thought hard. After Prince Shin took the throne, he had indeed changed a lot. She swallowed her worry and tried to say comfortingly, “I understand why Master feels so upset but the number of casualties of our army is not Master’s fault. It has been a difficult two years. The King finally letting Master taking charge must’ve been because he wanted to embarrass you.”

“That’s exactly why I’m anxious. If we don’t win this battle and return to the capital, a lot of people will protest and even Father will be affected. The House of Choi holds far too much influence and power. Even if I were the King, I’d try to get rid of them as well.”

Remembering the new king’s cold behaviour after taking the throne was extremely unpleasant. The two immediately felt a chilling sensation running down their spines.

Seeing his own little maid frowning over the royal heritage problems, Siwon smiled. He reached out and using his thumb, gently smoothed out the wrinkles on her forehead. “Stop thinking about it. Let’s say some happy things. It’s thanks to you to think of the extremely clever plan of changing the course of the river to threaten flooding enemy troops when we led them to the mountains. Lee Hyukjae totally lost to that and had to retreat. Now everyone in the army knows that we have a female advisor. When we get back to the capital, I’ll make sure Father gives you a huge reward. Say, what would you like?”

“More rewards? The Duke has already given me enough rewards to last me more than ten lifetimes.” Donghae looked at the sky; the sun was slightly to one side, beside the high-raised Duke of Choi’s flag. She carefully looked back at Siwon then turned away again. It a quiet voice she murmured, “Master, there’s something I don’t know whether I should say or not.”

“What can’t you say to me?”

Donghae looked uncomfortable then suddenly cracked a smile. “Actually I won’t say it. If I did, you’d feel annoyed again.”

Siwon seemed to have guessed what Donghae had wanted to say and gave a small smile in return.

Neither of them talked and the horse just plodded.

The horse’s thumped against the sun-baked mud, leaving puffs of dust flying.

Donghae calmly gazed ahead, thinking deeply about something. Siwon knew that his clever little maid was thinking deeply about something, so he let the horse slow down even more and settled comfortably in the saddle.

After a while Donghae said, “I guess I’ll try and say it anyway”.

“I’m listening.” When Donghae saw that Donghae had a serious look on her face, he immediately began to listen intently.

“Master, if my predictions were right, things will get worse even more. I’m not joking.” Donghae turned her head and stared at Siwon in the eyes. In a nervous voice she said, “It’s likely that Lee Hyukjae knows how weak our army is and can no longer fight well. If he comes again within two months, Gui Le’s army will definitely perish. I’m sure he deliberately retreated when we were at our most vulnerable point so that…Master could go back to the Capital.”

“You’re right but why did he do that?”

Donghae’s energetic black pupils rolled twice, it seemed that she already had the answer but she sighed, “If Master lost the battle, the King could, hypothetically, take advantage to cut away the House of Choi’s enormous military power. Say, Master, he probably won’t do that after just one defeat, right?”

Siwon shook his head, “Of course not. The House of Choi has been an important part of Gui Le in the past. If the King really decides to kill me, unnecessary blood will be shed and it will cause a riot.”

“Then if Master wins and goes back, will the King reward Master?”

“If we win, of course the King has to reward us.” Siwon then put in, “Though it’s not like I want the rewards, but the King must reward and punish freely, to earn everyone’s respect.”

“If Master wins and returns to the Capital, the peasants will love Master even more. I believe the King will give Master rewards but deep down, he’ll resent the House of Choi even more. The House of Choi will be in danger then.”

“In other words, the King will feel threatened and try to get rid of the House of Choi. As soon as the Duke of Choi falls, Gui Le will be unstable and Dong Lin will take this as an opportunity to attack. Haha, Lee Hyukjae sure is crazy. What he wants isn’t just a few cities, but the entire land our Gui Le occupies.”

“You said that right!” Donghae clapped her hands, pleasure lit up in her eyes. She immediately changed from the serious army advisor to an energetic, cute maid. On her round face, two dimples appeared. Glancing back at Siwon, she smiled, “Master is so clever. Whatever Lee Hyukjae is plotting, Master will find the answer easily.”

Siwon couldn’t help laughing, “The cleverest person I know is our army advisor. If you were a boy, I wouldn’t be the main advisor anymore would I?”

Both people laughed. Though this cheerful sound did not stop, in their hearts, both of them felt uneasy.

The mud path ahead seemed very difficult to travel on.

Though their hearts were prepared, not even in their wildest dreams did they guess that in a blink of an eye, everything would change. Forever.

After a journey of five days, they finally arrived at the capital. Gui Le’s King, Shin himself, came to welcome them. The peasants of the city knew that the famous Marquess of Choi had won and returned. They rushed to greet him and they scrambled behind the two lines of somewhat serious-looking soldiers. Everyone had their necks craned forward, trying to get a better view of the stage.

“Which one is the Marquess of Choi?”

“Yer stupid. Have ya never seen the Marquess of Choi before?” Someone pointed, “That’s him, the ‘un in front of the army. Geez, who in the capital can’t recognise the Marquess of Choi?”

“Haha, this is my first time in the Capital. I came to visit my relatives. I never imagined I’d be able to see the Marquess of Choi with my very own eyes! When I get back home, I’ll have a lot of stories to tell!”

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