After the break, the contest resumed. The second half of the contest was rather uneventful as no one was able to beat the top scorers, even though a few came rather close. Towards the end, everyone was expecting the Queen to announce some way to resolve this and decide on one winner and one winner only. But before that, everybody held their breaths and looked on even more intently and tensely as Joohyun herself rose from her seat. She stepped onto the field and stood at the spot where every contestant stood when they had their turn. Swiftly, she picked up the bow and arrow, and got into position. She was singularly focused on the target, the same way everybody was singularly focused on how she would do. It would never look good for a monarch to lose, but for her to not lose, she would have to attain a perfect score. Could she really do it? She only had five arrows, just as many as each contestant had, no more and no less.

One.

Everybody gasped once the first arrow flew out from the bow in Joohyun’s hands, and onto the target.

Two.

Another round of gasps, this time more dramatic.

Three.

The gasps had turned into high-pitched squeals, jaw dropping and eyes popping wide.

Four.

Someone somewhere must have let out a scream, but the arena was otherwise eerily quiet.

Five.

It was done. She hit the bullseye every single time.

Calmly, she put the bow back onto the bench. There was no victorious smirk on her face, nor triumphant cheers from the spectators. They were simply too astonished to react, or even to realize that their mouths were hanging wide open.

The first to react was the eunuch who was supposed to announce the scores. He was trembling in amazement when he read out her perfect score, loud and clear for everyone to hear.

“If there is really a ‘weaker ’,” Joohyun stated dispassionately, her stare once again sweeping across all the spectators and contestants. “It is certainly not women.”

“Your Majesty is officially the winner of this contest!” The eunuch exclaimed reverently. “Congratulations, Your Majesty!”

Everyone else followed suit, uttering the same congratulatory phrase but some less willingly than others. Only when they were finished did Joohyun speak again.

“Since I am in a generous mood today,” she said, smiling ever so slightly. “Would anyone like to try one more time? You could still stand a chance at making your dreams come true and become the King of this country. If I were you, I’d seize this opportunity.”

Joohyun was patient enough to give them a prolonged moment, but no one rose to the occasion. As such, she was about to call it a day, but just as she was about to open , somebody piped up.

“May I?”

Initially, Joohyun was unsure which direction she ought to look in. She was expecting someone from the contestants to volunteer, but then it was a female voice that stood out and so whoever stepped up must have been in the spectator stand.

People began to make way for the special volunteer to make her way to where the bow and arrows were placed. Joohyun was no less astounded as everybody else, to see that it was Seulgi who wanted to try. Joohyun was so impressed, and agreed immediately. It would be even more amusing if another woman could outdo the contestants who were all men.

Having been through so much training, Seulgi was familiar with a range of weapons, and so she was completely in her element while she did exactly the same thing as Joohyun did just now. She felt confident even though hardly anybody else did — how could they expect her to outdo the Queen when Her Majesty’s arrows remained firmly on the bullseye?

But just like Joohyun, Seulgi had a tendency to prove men wrong, or in fact anyone who dared look down on her. Five shots later, everyone was gobsmacked to see each of her arrows slice through each of Joohyun’s, landing on the bullseye without fail.

This time, the eunuchs’ role became redundant. Joohyun was the only one who could react.

“Congratulations, Captain Kang,” she said, giving Seulgi a proud smile in approval. “However, you are not the winner,” she added puckishly. “Our scores are just tied. You didn’t accumulate more points than I did,” she explained, and then turned to speak to everybody. “At the start of the contest I made it clear that I will only be courted by whoever can beat me. But none of you could.”

She turned back to look at Seulgi again. Of course, the Captain was not expecting the same kind of prize as the Queen’s suitors were. In Seulgi’s eyes, getting to see the look on those men’s faces was already satisfying enough. They looked so condescending and arrogant just now, but she and the Queen had definitely put them in their place.

Joohyun, however, was much happier to reward Seulgi. “For such an impressive score, you may ask to receive any prize,” she offered. “Say it, and it’s yours.”

Seulgi gulped. Part of her wondered if she should never have participated, because now she had to make a very difficult decision. And of course it was at this critical moment that her mind went blank.

“A favor from Your Majesty,” she answered, eventually. Since she could not come up with anything at the moment, why not reserve this privilege for when she was truly in need of it? “A favor that I can redeem later on, at any time I choose.”

Joohyun was intrigued. Many of her courtiers have approached her to ask for all sorts of benefits, mostly promotions, lands, and other material rewards. But of course Seulgi would be different. She had always been different, and Joohyun had always appreciated that. And so she smiled and replied, “done.”

After the contest, Joohyun sat down to rest, and refreshments were served. She invited Princess Nongyu to sit with her as well, hoping to help the Princess adjust to this new life.

As the two girls chatted, their respective guards, Seulgi and Yixing, stood at the back and started to strike up a conversation too.

“I think I recognize you from last time when Crown Prince Lu Han visited our court,” said Seulgi. “Weren’t you His Highness’ valet?”

“Ah, you have an excellent memory, Captain Kang! Yes, indeed, I was,” Yixing answered. “But His Highness thought it would be a good idea for me to accompany Princess Nongyu all the way here to Korea. So I am Her Highness’ personal guard just as you are Queen Joohyun’s.”

“I see! That’s interesting.”

“Not as interesting as your performance just now! I’m amazed and humbled by your archery skills,” said Yixing. “And of course the Queen’s. If only I could get you to teach me.”

“I’m very flattered, but I can’t possibly be qualified to be your coach,” Seulgi replied humbly. “I am too young and I’m sure you would be better off learning from someone much more experienced.”

“Nonsense! You beat all the men on the field just now. Who else could be more qualified? It would be my honor to learn from you.”

“And mine to learn from you. Perhaps if you could also teach me some other skill, preferably something that comes from your country?” She asked.

“I would love to. There are different styles of combat that I can show you if you’re interested,” he offered.

“I’m very interested! Learning martial arts is probably one of the best things to ever happen to me.”

Getting to talk about something that she was passionate about had brought a grin onto her face, which was what Joohyun saw once she turned around. Joohyun thought about Seulgi’s words just now. What favor was she going to ask for? And when was she going to redeem it?

Other than asking herself these questions, she thought about what a relief it was that she managed to get a perfect score just now, so that she would not have to be courted by any man. Granted, she was pretty confident already, otherwise she would not have dared organize this contest. Once a monarch made a promise, there was no turning back.

She felt empowered by her freedom in getting to choose who to marry, who not to marry, and whether or not she wanted to get married at all. But she knew that this liberty came at a cost — her brother would not get to make this choice for himself as she had arranged a marriage for him. Of course she wanted the best for him, but whenever she said so to herself, she felt like a hypocrite. His best interests were only secondary to hers and the liberty she wanted. It was a selfish decision — it was either her freedom, or his. And she chose what was best for herself.

Biting back a sigh, she turned to Nongyu once again. Perhaps to douse her remorse, she said to her future sister-in-law, “if you’re not tired, it would be a good idea to spend more time with Jooyoung. If you two could get to know each other and get along well, I would be very pleased.”

Nongyu nodded obediently. “I desire nothing more than to please Your Majesty and His Highness.” She then rose to her feet and bowed at the Queen, then signalled for Yixing and her handmaidens to follow her as they took their leave.

“You feeling better today?” Lord Jongin asked, barely able to keep the mischievous smirk off his face as he nudged his cousin Prince Jooyoung. They played around with some of the bows and arrows after the arena had been cleared out, and only a few eunuchs remained to attend