The plan for the war was simple - catch the polities by surprise.

When Janghoon and Jongkook were planning their strategy for the conquest, they realized that their biggest challenge was that there was no centralized capital. Instead, there were six different polities, with their own governments and armies. Compared to the Silla army, each polity’s military would be smaller, but they were still formidable opponents - skilled warriors who knew their own terrain well.

In essence, the occupation of Gaya meant that Janghoon and Jongkook must lead six different invasions, and successfully occupy each nation, moving towards the west. After taking over one polity, they would wait for Silla to send a magistrate to oversee the aftermath of the battle. The king had commanded that the battles must minimize casualties, and Silla should try its best to immediately rebuild the nations it could occupy.

The plan worked well, as the soldiers of Silla successfully conquered Gaya’s polities to the east. The terrains have been largely similar with that of Silla, so Janghoon and Jongkook’s men found it easier to win their battles out of sheer numbers. These polities also preferred hand-to-hand combat, which was a skill set that the men of Silla had mastered. 

The battles turned in Janghoon and Jongkook’s favor, and, in a matter of just two months, the two eastern polities of Gaya were under the rule of Silla, its leaders escaping towards Insung’s nation to report how their own polities have fallen, and to ask for aid in reclaiming their territories. 

Insung provided these men and their families refuge temporarily, promising that the council would work towards the liberation of those polities, but, in the meantime, he prioritized fortifying the defenses in his nation. Based on the events, he knew that the Silla conquest seemed to be moving east to west, which meant that his polity was still fifth in line. He sent emissaries to the leaders of the polities to the east, asking them to prepare in defense against the impending attack.

The court of Gaya was still abuzz, panicking and demanding a response against the Silla invasion. Insung had already known something had gone wrong, when the ministers of Silla suddenly left with their scholars, but he had been too preoccupied with another issue to try to rebuild the broken diplomacy with Silla. 

But he was absolutely puzzled why Silla suddenly decided to attack them. The princess had been brilliant, and he thought himself an excellent judge of character. She was very committed to making diplomacy work. He knew that much, based on their shared history of losing loved ones to battle. It didn’t make sense for Silla to try to conquer them. Something had gone wrong; Insung’s instincts were telling him so.

Unfortunately, he had no time to dwell on these thoughts, not when there was an impending army that was poised to conquer them. Insung had gone at great lengths to make sure that Gaya was safe against Baekje; he vowed that they would never fall to Silla.

It had been more than two months since the armies left, and Jihyo’s life had gone back to how it was before Jongkook came into her life.

Her days had been spent on palace duties. Right after Jongkook left in the beginning of fall, she drowned herself in the preparations for Chuseok. Soon after, she volunteered to aid Queen Sunbin in leading preparations in the palace for winter. She also decided to plan ahead for all the ceremonies for the new year, even when it was still a season away.

Planning for ceremonies was a colorful process, but there had never been a duller thing in Jihyo’s eyes. Still, she pulled through, forcing herself to focus on her duty, knowing that the man he loved was also fighting for the same purpose. She had to pull her end of the bargain, so on top of her duties, she allowed herself to set aside more time for the things that she wanted.

She spent more time visiting Lee Gyeonggyu’s village, giving the master’s assistants some time off by putting herself in charge of teaching the children. It was a different experience from before. She usually just interacted with children, playing with them for a while before moving on to discussing political affairs with the Seonsaengnim. 

But, this time, she was resolute about educating the children, teaching the basics of etiquette, arithmetic, and literature. She told them stories, allowed them to draw, and taught them how to read. The children loved the attention, and participated actively in every activity she had given them, and the parents were thankful for the opportunity that the princess had given their children. As commoners, education was not readily accessible to them, but now, they felt their children had a better chance to make it far in the world, thanks to the princess’s kindness.

For her part, Jihyo felt a renewed sense of fulfillment. The children’s smiles and their development rewarded Jihyo immeasurably, and while she still always felt that there was an empty, hollow space where her heart once was, being a teacher helped fill the void somehow.

She felt herself become more of a recluse. She began to attend fewer meetings, and she didn’t even attempt to look into matters that were outside of the ministries she was a part of. She used to be nosy, wanting to advise Kwangsoo in each and every matter, but the ministers started to see her less. Instead, she was mostly in the library, or in the eastern palace, preparing the materials she needed for her next visit to the village. Truly, her visit to the village was one of the few things that was helping her keep everything together.

The other thing that Jihyo held onto was the reports about the war. It was the only reason why she had been able to drag herself to attend the meetings of the King’s court. She used to be very outspoken, but even the king noticed her newfound silence. She held onto the totem Jongkook left for her, finding comfort in the last token she had of him. It was no match for the reprieve she felt in his presence, but she needed to get used to his absence. All she needed to know was that he was alive.

She drowned out all the other issues raised in the King’s court. Unlike before, she couldn’t force herself to pay attention to the updates on the economy, and developments in science and technology. She wasn’t even interested in the reports of the priestesses and astrologers, despite the fact that she used to be very fascinated by the mystic arts. Her attention was simply on her totem, as her mind tirelessly prayed that Minister Jee would bring good news.

She held on tighter to the top, as the eunuch announced the next item on the agenda. She braced herself, when she saw Minister Jee step forward. He reported the updates for the war. Silla had successfully conquered the second polity of Gaya, and the magistrate was on the way to facilitate the transition and negotiations with the old leaders, who had already escaped and found refuge in Daegaya, the nation of Insung.

“And what about the casualties we sustained?” Jihyo suddenly spoke up, surprising the rest of the King’s court. It was the first time her voice had been heard after a long time. The king eyed his sister suspiciously, wondering what made her so concerned suddenly when she looked so disinterested the entire meeting.

Minister Jee obviously wasn’t prepared to talk about the casualties at that point, so he had to check his second parchment to get the information. The princess’s eyes narrowed, feeling slightl