General Higashiyama smirked as he tapped his finger on the table.

The makeshift tent wasn't very cosy or comfortable, but it didn't down his mood at all. Things were going more smoothly than expected and he was in a very jolly mood, as so to speak. Though in General Higashiyama's terms, jolly merely meant not shouting in anger like he usually did.

He never expected much from this "daughter" he had adopted, but Sora proved him wrong. It seemed that all the effort he spent into grooming her into the fighter she was had not been wasted at all.

He smirked at the thought.

He remembered Sora crying to him, saying how her foster brothers bullied her and called her a weakling and he in turn, gave her a hard slap on the face. Higashiyamas weren't weak, they didn't cry.

Even if she wasn't a true-blooded Higashiyama, he wasn't about to have her ruin his family name like that.

He loved it when his "kids" fought with each other. Competition brewed talent, he believed. The fact that he showered so little love to his children meant that all of them were coveting for his attention and affections which he rarely gave.

A simple pat on the back could make a child extremely happy and gratified, and all his children aimed to be that one child to receive his love.

He thought he was the best father ever in the whole world. Who could train such skilled and talented fighters all at once? His brutal teaching methods paid off nicely and now he was about to reap the success.

General Higashiyama looked at his youngest son. "Ryo. Is Aimi reaching?"

"Neh, Otosan." Ryo bowed. "Aimi is to be expected in a few hours. We received her pigeon a few hours ago and expect to see her soon."

"Good." The General nodded. "I think I will let your sister lead one of the troops, since she performed so well this time."

"Otosan!" Ryo gasped in envy. The General sneered at his youngest adopted. "If you want such attention from me, work for it." he spat. "I didn't spend all that money and time on you to have you being a weakling."

He got up from his seat and strolled to the entrance of the tent, looking out.

The Japanese soldiers had found an overnight camping ground and had set up their tents there for the night. They had managed to clear their way through quite a few areas that day, and the Korean soldiers didn't seem to put up with much of a fight.

The commoners were evacuated long before the Japanese troops arrived and the General couldn't help but laugh at how the Korean Prince was wasting his resources. Send so many people to protect the commoners? Then who will stay to fight?

"Let them die, I'd say." The General muttered to himself. "What whatever. This land will soon be mine to govern."

-----

"Jeonha, things aren't looking good. We don't have enough soldiers to block off the Japanese Troops' advancement." the Military Chief bowed. "The Japanese soldiers are just merely 9 li away from us (approx 19.1km), they will be expected to reach the Capital city tomorrow night."

The princes shuddered at the thought.

"Have the people been evacuated from the Japanese' path?" Baekhyun asked sternly. "Make sure not a single child or woman gets hurt. Protect them well."

"Jeonha, maybe if you allocated more men to fighting the japanese troops rather than ushering the commoners, the Japanese troops might not make it here so fast-"

"No." Baekhyun muttered flatly. "The commoner's safety is what is most important, not the throne, not the royal palace. My father would have said the same thing. Make do with what we have right now."

Sehun shivered slightly and his lips. "Do you think we stand a chance, hyung?" he asked in a small voice. "The Japanese Troops is 5000 men strong. With all the active guards sent out to protect the commoners, we only have around 3500 left."

"Baekhyun's right, Sehun." Suho shook his head. "We cannot risk the safety of the people. If 3500 men is what we have, we will make do with it and win."

Kai sighed and rubbed his temples in frustration. "I wouldn't doubt us winning with a 7:10 ratio if it was in the past. Our men are skilled and devoted. But times are different. After Hyung's marriage with Byul was called off, all of us are aware of how unwilling the soldiers are to cooperate. I'm afraid this will pose as a problem."

"It already is!" D.O. frowned. "Some of them men are unwilling to join the army because they don't wish to fight for hyung. It's stupid."

Sehun sighed and puffed his cheeks in annoyance. "How did the Japanese know about our weakness in the first place?" he asked out loud, wondering. "They couldn't have picked a better time to attack, really, especially with our soldiers' morale at all time low. How could they have known!"

Chanyeol bit his lip, frowning to himself. He had caused this, hadn't he? He let Sora go and that was why she got the chance to inform the japanese troops. He had caused this whole fiesco!

Suho considered what Sehun said. "Do you think this has anything to do with Sora's disappearance?" he asked in hushed tones. "She disappeared the exact moment when Byul left. It was the start of the whole plunging of the morale thing and I can't help but feel it's suspicious."

Chanyeol jumped in to defend Sora before he could help it. "She didn't mean it. She had a responsibility towards her family and country." he blurted.

All eyes turned to Chanyeol in shock as they took in his words. Baekhyun swallowed and stared at his cousin. "You mean to say that she let out the news?" he whispered dangerously soft. "She betrayed us? AND YOU KNEW?"

Chanyeol winced, feeling the regret race through his blood. He regretted his actions, but if he had another chance, he would do it again. He knew he was whipped and utterly stupid but he really believed that there was something good in Sora, she just never let it out.

"Do you know that you just risked the lives of thousands because of this?" Baekhyun burst out, growling. He was trembling in anger and was red in the face. Sehun let out a small mewl because he never saw Baekhyun so angry before. "If you had told us earlier, we could have prepared for the attack and we would be in a position a million times better this now! Do you realize just what you did to our entire nation?"

Chanyeol swallowed. "I'm sorry alright? I tried convincing her to change over to our side but.."

"Hyung." Kai shook his head, sighing. "You ed up. Bad."

Baekhyun closed his eyes and sat back down on his chair, thinking. The grim expressions on everyone's faces made it clear of what they thought of this new revelation.

"Whether Sora was a spy or not," Suho finally said. "The fact is that they are attacking. We must defend. Although having Sora on their side after she's so familiar with the works of the palace is a great disadvantage on our side, we must not lose hope. Alright guys?"

"Neh." the princes chorused.

Baekhyun shot Chanyeol one more disappointed look before storming off to hold a private meeting with the Military chief.

Chanyeol sighed to himself and looked out at the sky. *Wherever you are, Sora. Please turn back right now. It's never too late.*

Byul stared at the water surface and saw her own solemn expression staring back at her.

She forced a stiff smile on her lips and grinned at her own reflection, finally frowning when she saw how unnatural it looked. She let out a small sigh and shook her head, biting her lip.

She couldn't be happy no matter how she tried. She really did everything she could to distract herself from her current longing but nothing could make her genuinely happy anymore.

There was nothing she wanted more than to be back in Baekhyun's arms, and she had to admit that it hurt a little that he didn't even try to chase after her.

Did she mean so little to him that he didn't even want to bother?

And here she was, missing him like crazy. Byul spent her nights staring up at the moon and thinking about Baekhyun. She wondered if he missed her like she missed him. She wondered if he was having trouble sleeping at night too. She wondered if their separation meant anything to him at all.

Byul put down the article of clothing back into the water and decided to give up washing the clothes. She wasn't going to get anywhere anyway.

She wiped her hands on the front of her shirt and was about to get up when she saw a few tall broad men walking towards their house. She frowned and got up quickly, recognizing the royal guard uniform. "May I help you?"

"Pack up your things immediately and you are to evacuate this area as soon as possible." One guy ordered. "We have the carriages and horses ready. We must leave in five minutes, tops."

Byul was taken aback by the order. Like EXCUSE ME?

"Why must we leave?" Byul demanded, frowning. "This is our house, our home. Where do you expect us to leave if we leave here?"

"Don't worry about that." Another guard bowed. "Jeonha has already arranged a hide out for you and your family so we would appreciate if you follow us to there right now. We must leave before they come."

"They?" Byul blurted, confused now. She was so caught up with her matters of the heart that she hadn't realized what was happening out there. "Who's coming?"

"Will you stop with the questions already and start moving your ?" Eunhyuk hopped off a horse and gave Byul a stern look. Byul blinked in surprise at her best friend and swallowed. "I thought you were in the military academy teaching students!"

"And I thought you were going to marry Jeonha." Eunhyuk muttered. Byul shot him a look and he stared back readily without flinching. "Whatever the case, these two are right. We are under Jeonha's strict orders to evacuate you and your family out of here." he looked at the other two guards. "You two, join the others to bring the other households to safety. I'll take care of Gongjumama and her family."

"Neh." they bowed.

Byul wanted to correct Eunhyuk's way of addressing her, but was startled by the amount of worry and panic in his eyes. "Is something wrong? Why are you guys bringing everybody away from here?"

Eunhyuk stared at Byul for a long moment before breaking out in a hushed whisper. "A war is upon us, Byul." he looked desperate. "The Japanese Troops are already here in Korea and they are expected to reach the Capital City tomorrow night. We don't. have. time."

Byul's mouth went dry. He HAD to be kidding.

"I'm not sure how it happened but," he sighed and shook his head. "Everyone hates Baekhyun now." he admitted. "My friends and the trainees under me. All of them are cursing Baekhyun on his act of dumping you. This is definitely not an added bonus for us when we go to war."

Byul noticed that he said when instead of if. "But he didn't dump me." Byul murmured. "I was the one who left."

"Yes, but he hasn't made any official speech regarding the matter." Eunhyuk shrugged. "Everyone is assuming that he chased you out, judging on how you were crying madly that day when you left." he quoted. He eyed her. "You really did? Han Eunbyul crying?"

"Shut up." Byul hissed. Her mind was whirling with the intake of information and trying to make sense of it all. Why hadn't Baekhyun clarified on the matter? Didn't he know how to protect his own reputation?

"If you're thinking, he's preserving yours." Eunhyuk eyed her knowingly. "Your reputation. Imagine if everyone knew you were the one who left our prince, you won't get to live to see tomorrow, darling." he shook his head.

Byul took a step back. Was Baekhyun stupid?

"Anyway, his death orders. I have to get you, Omonim and Jaeho out of here or my head would fall. I like my head attached to my neck, thank you very much." Eunhyuk gave her a look. "Don't try to be stubborn at this time if you don't want your best friend to die. Inform your mother and brother immediately and we'll bring you to a safe place. The war will pass before you know it and everything will be fine." he gave her a tight smile.

Byul searched his face. "But when the war is over, who will be the winner?" she whispered.

Eunhyuk's voice cracked as he answered honestly. "I really don't know."