Yunho stands on top of the elevated platform, before he starts walking from left to right and observes the training going on with his subordinates. His face is unsmiling, stern as he watches each and every one of them to make sure that none of them are lacking. He needs to absolutely make sure that nothing will go wrong on the day of the attack; too much is at stake and he doesn't want to make the same mistake they did after the surprise attack. If it's possible, he'd want to minimize the casualties, even though he knows, from all the years he had gone through, it's inevitable.

He watches as his subordinates have trained ever since dawn, waking up much earlier than the rest of the palace occupants to make sure that they could squeeze in as much training as they could before the fateful day. They have to make sure they train early, so that the nearer the day approaches, the more they can tone down their training and that they'll get enough rest before the actual day to prepare themselves mentally and physically.

He doesn't know which one is scarier, to face an unknown attack completely clueless, or to face something premeditated but be able to prepare for it beforehand. He concludes that he hates both, but considering that he's the leader of the army, it's not like he has any choice. It's already embedded in his blood, although he himself finds it hard to face it again after living a normal life for at least two years in Nyla.

Which brings him to the news that he had heard being passed around; Park Seonghwa looks like he is finally free from the curse, able to return to normal just right after Sara Chae had given him something to drink yesterday night. Just like that, Akira's husband has returned.

He hasn't run into both of them for today because he's busy at the practicing range.

Or maybe, it's just the guilt and shame for having to face someone he had tried to kill.

Either way, he knows that he'll have to face them sooner or later, since he's pretty sure they'd have a meeting to discuss and finalize their strategies for the day. He sighs, thinking about how he'd arrange his words to explain to Seonghwa about why he did that to him, but the more he thinks about it, the more he feels like he's only making up excuses. He knows that Akira has already forgiven him, but like she said, it's all entirely up to Seonghwa to ultimately decide whether he'd be forgiven.

It comes to the point that maybe, he thinks, the day the Lucida palace is attacked will be the day he'll put down his title as the general.

"General Jeong!"

His thoughts get interrupted as he sees some of his subordinates waving over to him, requesting for him to join them in their practice. He chuckles before picking up his sword that he has placed on the side, going down the stairs from the wooden observatory and gets greeted by the rest of them. He looks at each and every one of their faces, somehow being reminded of the past when he'd train together with Akira.

He knows that back then, verbalized or not, all of them were scared of Akira - except for him, of course. Not only does her demeanour bring fear to the hearts of the other soldiers, but it was the knowledge that her blood was black that caused all of them to stand straighter, face serious and eyes directly at her as she instructs them with anything. They had this fear of having a slip of the tongue where they'd accidentally tell her that her blood is black; which could mean worse punishments for them as it was an order from the queen for them to keep quiet about the colour of the general's blood.

Unknowingly, her black blood became the reason people respected her more.

But now it became the reason people are opposing her.

He grips the handle of his sword tighter, looking down at it as it's the sword he has used for as long as he can remember. When he escaped to Nyla, he only came with nothing but himself, but after two years, he almost broke down after seeing that his sword is still in its place, untouched. Although slightly awkward at first, he quickly adjusts himself to it again, finding that no other sword could give him the same feeling as his own.

He walks over to the middle of the practicing range, looking around to see whether there would be anyone who wants to challenge him in a one on one fight. Even though they're the ones who called him over, he can see how each and every one of them look slightly hesitant to challenge him.

Of course, General Akira had the reputation of being relentless in swordfights, but that didn't mean that Lieutenant Jeong back then fell short of her. If they could say, in terms of their skills in swordfighting, they stand on the same ground. Which meant that even though he was known as the playful and lively lieutenant, he was no less feared. Everybody knew that the general-lieutenant duo made for a pair that they wouldn't dare cross over.

He looks at his own lieutenant; unlike him and Akira who seemed inseparable back then, his lieutenant is a man older than him by a few years, a man of few words. They don't exchange playful banters but they merely talk with each other if there's a need to. Otherwise, they could go on days without even talking to each other. Still, he's grateful that he has someone who follows orders well.

"Lieutenant Yoo," he utters before tilting his head to the spot in front of him. "If you'd do me a favour."

Lieutenant Yoo steps up without a word, and they're all highly anticipating to see the two of the highest positions there to bring it down in a swordfight. He stands in front of Yunho, and although he is almost 10cm shorter than the latter, he stands his ground without faltering. He picks his sword up, heaving the weapon up by the handle before maintaining his starting stance, eyes slightly challenging his general.

Yunho lifts up his eyebrows, already smirking as he twists the handle in his hand so that the blade will face the lieutenant. He doesn't say anything more as it starts, their shouts and cheering mixing to bring up the heat on the field.

The other soldiers make up a ring for them, their hands pumping up as their mouths busy putting on bets and cheers on who's going to win. In the middle, both of the men are cold and calculating in their stares, as their hands grip the handle of their swords tighter. Both have minimal protection on; one wrong move and it'll surely injure the other. As for Yunho, he prefers to have fights where they don't wear protective gears as part of their training; it prepares them for actual situations where sometimes they won't even have the time to take the gears out.

Yunho sees a flash of his opponent's blade at the corner of his eyes, and he lets the seemingly momentary time he's distracted to let the lieutenant close in the distance between them. As soon as he nears him, he sidesteps him, using his fist to drop a hard blow between the lieutenant's shoulders, causing the latter to stagger forward and almost loses his grip on his sword. However as he's about to bring down the blade from behind, the sound of metal clanging rings as the lieutenant had quickly grabbed back his sword before turning around, putting up his arms out.

They struggle to exert force on the other, and despite Yunho standing up while his lieutenant is on the ground, the former finds it hard to even move his blade pushed against the latter's blade. Both of their faces remain calm, no signs of wanting to give up even if the odds are seemingly against them. They push and they push, but it's only when Yunho lets out a grunt through gritted teeth does the lieutenant pushes himself backwards, until the former tumbles forward as his blade drives through the ground.

Luck isn't on Yunho's side as he's a millisecond late; he sees the blade slid carefully under his chin, putting him up on the losing side as he isn't able to retrieve his sword.

Cheers erupt for both of them anyway, but die down as they see two figures approaching them, realizing that the king and queen have finally made their way to the field to see how the training is going. Both Yunho and the lieutenant scramble to get up, immediately bowing their heads to the rulers before the other soldiers stand in front of them, head down.

"I see you're working hard," Seonghwa says to all of them, but directs his stare to Yunho.

"We're only doing what's expected of us, Your Majesty," Yunho utters, eyes directed down to the ground. It is as if he's embarrassed to show the fact that he lost a simple match, coupled with the remaining guilt he has towards the king.

"How long have all of you been here?" Akira asks.

"We've been here since dawn," a murmur of responses from the soldiers.

"I think you've had enough practice," she says, eyes travelling to each and every one of their faces. "You need to rest too," she decides. "We'll go through the plan again as time gets closer, so don't exert yourself too much before the attack. We need you to be in the best condition. Unless..." her eyes rest upon Yunho. "General Jeong has a different plan for you."

Yunho immediately stands up straighter as he shakes his head. "No, Your Majesty. We'll follow your orders."

"Very well," she smiles.

The soldiers disperse after bowing to their rulers, before they secretly heave a sigh of relief and jump in joy for managing to get a break. They're accustomed to winter training, but that doesn't mean they would like to go through it every time. Just like normal humans, they'd like to rest, and ironically enough, under their new ruler who used to lead the army, she understands it.

Knowing that there are some things he'd need to discuss with the two of them, Yunho stays back, even though he doesn't take the chance to look at them directly. He only looks at his fallen sword on the ground, as if taunting him about the fact that he lost the match against the lieutenant, and the king and queen were there to witness it. It does shred his pride, even more to someone whom he was slightly insecure against, feeling as if the king would make fun of him for losing.

"That was amazing," Seonghwa comments as he smiles, although his hands are awkwardly placed at the side before he almost slaps a hand on the general's back. "We saw you since the start of the fight."

Yunho tries as hard as he might to not cringe, knowing that it means both the rulers have seen him lose against his lieutenant. "It wasn't anything much, Your Majesty. I should at least be more skillful in swordfighting."

"Jeong Yunho," Akira suddenly says, noticing how tense he has been since they came. "It doesn't matter if you lost; come on, all the years and it's not like we'd win every time."

"But I feel like-" Yunho starts, his voice hard, before he sighs and closes his eyes. Without a word, he kneels in front of Seonghwa, hands fisted on his lap as he places his sword next to him. He knows that his apology is long overdue, but the more he puts it off, the more restless he becomes. He thought that maybe he'd finish it once and for all after the palace attack, but he can't bear the guilt especially after seeing how much obviously brighter Akira looks ever since the king was cured. "I wanted to apologize, although I know there's no amount of apology that could justify what I did. Your Majesty," he refers to Seonghwa, "you deserve to know that I tried to kill you in your sleep, because I was blinded by my own jealousy. You deserve to know that I'm not as trustworthy as I put myself forward."

Akira and Seonghwa look at each other silently, small smiles playing on their lips.

"I was aware," Seonghwa utters finally. "And you don't have to be kneeling to ask for my forgiveness. You don't have to ask for my forgiveness."

When Yunho looks up with eyes that are almost shedding tears, Akira quietly steps back, saying that she'll leave the two of them to deal on their own while she goes over to the archery range.

Both men watch as the queen slightly darts towards the direction of the archery range, as if she can't wait to get herself out of the mess. Seonghwa can't help but chuckle seeing how she seems to be skipping towards the range, waving to both men before disappearing from sight.

As he turns to Yunho, he sees that the latter is still kneeling and is refusing to stand up. Seeing that he has no other way to force him to stand up, without another word, the king kneels beside Yunho.

"Your- Your Majesty," Yunho stutters in alarm, "what are you doing?"

Seonghwa sighs, looking unperturbed. "Since you refused to stand up, I might as well be kneeling too."

"You shouldn't," he says hastily. "Please- please think about what others would say if they see you kneeling beside me."

"Then I guess," the king smiles, "there's no choice but for both of us to stand up, right?"

The general's eyes dart towards an area, where he already sees some of the soldiers looking at them quizzically, with them whispering among themselves as they point towards the two. Sighing heavily with a discontented face, Yunho stands up before Seonghwa follows suit, dusting his knees.

"I don't understand," Yunho starts, "why both of you are so forgiving. I could probably understand why Her Majesty would do so, but I don't understand why you would be so forgiving." He stares at the king, who looks back at him with an unreadable expression.

"Akira told me everything, how you asked for her forgiveness, and," he presses on, "I was aware. Plus everything you said was true, so there's no denying that. I don't want to bring it up anymore, but I just want you to know that I don't hold any grudge, and that whatever you felt towards me was valid. They're your feelings anyway."

"Your Majesty," Yunho says, defeated.

"You know," Seonghwa starts. "I made a wish before I met Akira, so that I could let go of the hatred I felt towards Lucida and finally find peace. After I met both of you, I realized you were the answers to my prayers. How could two soldiers from Lucida change my perspective? Now I try not to ruin that, because it's from both of you that I learnt how to let go of my grudge."

Yunho presses his lips into thin lines; so he stands on his ground - he finds it even harder to hate someone like him. "No one deserves her as much as you do," he utters finally. "After finding out how much you fought for her; I was too embarrassed to even say that I had the thought." He closes his eyes and tears roll down his cheeks. "It was just a matter of me feeling like I was going against you."

Seonghwa shakes his head. "You're not going against me. We're in this together. And when I say that Akira is lucky to have you as her friend, I really mean it." He grimaces, "If you remember what I said the night I was drunk."

Yunho can't help but smile, the memory bringing a funny feeling to him. He puts a hand to his temple, saluting. "Please know that both of you have my utmost loyalty. I'll fight till the end for both of you."

Seonghwa salutes back, his eyes twinkling. "Same here." As Yunho looks confused, he continues, "We're protecting each other; I'd do the same for you." He hums, "Though my skill in swordfighting might not be as good as yours." He winks, "Since my wife is pregnant now, I'll have to teach her a little bit more in archery."

The king doesn't let the general to reply, only saying that he should rest since he worked hard. Before he leaves the range, he turns around as there's one thing that he forgot to tell Yunho.

"You're in charge of Jihyun, aren't you?"

Yunho blinks before he shrugs. "I believe Her Majesty only entrusted me to be dealing with her. She doesn't let anyone else make contact with her in fear of any change of loyalty last minute, or any communication behind our backs."

Seonghwa nods. "This was a... suggestion by Akira, but she said if Jihyun's willing to learn a thing or two to protect herself during the attack, you're welcomed to bring her out of the cell and teach her. Let her have some fresh air."

"Ah, right," Yunho utters, scratching his head. He was too busy devising their strategy and making sure everything lined up for the attack, that he had barely checked up on her. "I'll check up on her and see whether she'd like to..." he pauses, feeling the words a bit silly, "learn with me."

"Mhmm," he smiles. "Now if you'd excuse me, I'm going to the archery range." He shivers, "It's getting colder these days and it's been a while since I've held a bow. See you, at lunch maybe?" He does something akin to a quick salute before looking like he's skipping towards the archery range.

Yunho chuckles as he sees how eager the king looks, pretty sure that he's looking forward to spending time with Akira, and it's not that he's excited to hold his bow. He picks up his own sword, stores it away and walks towards the direction of the palace building, using the back door so that he can reach the underground cell faster.

While overlooking the army, making sure they've had enough practice and coming up with strategies to protect their kingdom, Yunho has been pretty uptight in doing his job. He knows that during his time as the lieutenant, he was quite playful while Akira took on the serious role, making up a somewhat amusing pair. However now that the title has been passed down to him, he realizes that being too playful won't help in gaining others' respect. So he tries to tone it down, and this makes him allow little room to be lax when facing the other soldiers.

If Jihyun decides that she wants to learn a thing or two to protect herself, he knows that he has to be gentle- or else he might make her cry.

Yeah I'm not taking the chances of making her change her loyalty last minute because I was harsh on her.

He arrives at the underground cell, eyes automatically drawn to where San is being held. Although faint, there is definitely something wrapping around the cell, to which he was told holds some kind of protection so no one could go in or out. Apparently San has been knocked out ever since Sara took a hold of him, his back flat on the mattress as his chest rises up and down slowly. Only then he flicks his eyes towards Jihyun's cell, where he sees that she's currently sitting at a corner, hugging her knees to her chest as she looks fearful.

Worried that the curse's effects have leaked to Jihyun's cell, he quickly enters the cell after the guard helped to open the door, immediately going over to her.

Jihyun looks up, before she puts out both of her arms, stopping him from advancing. "Don't," she whispers, her pupils trembling.

"Jihyun... are you- alright?"

"Don't move," she utters, before her voice drops lower. "There was a cockroach and it was approaching me before you came. I don't know where it is now."

If not for her serious face, he'd burst into laughter right there and then, because he was almost convinced that the curse had either taken over her or was about to take her. He heaves a silent sigh of relief as it's not what he feared, but even then he finds it hard to believe how someone could look that scared when talking about an insect smaller than them.

As he approaches her, she flinches, eyes begging for him to help her. He doesn't think of anything before he upends everything trying to find the cockroach, from flipping her mattress to sifting through her little belongings in the cell, but he still can't find the said insect. But before he can search more, he knows where the cockroach is as he hears a scream from Jihyun. He takes less than a millisecond to turn around, already spotting the cockroach before he runs over to her, foot out to stomp on the insect.

Before he can kill it, it makes the mistake of jumping onto Jihyun's arm as she screams an ear-splitting scream and stands up, her body flailing as she tries to get it off her body. She runs towards Yunho, who doesn't have time to react as she crashes into him, but in the nick of time he manages to flick the insect off her body.

Their fall is braced by the thin mattress as he falls backwards, before she follows suit and lands on top of him. Heaving a deep breath, Yunho stares into Jihyun's eyes before his eyes fall towards her back. He wants to say something, but it's obvious that it will make her panic more. His eyes trail the cockroach that is slowly making its way on her back, nearing her neck.

"Don't move," he whispers.

"W- why?" she stutters.

"If you don't want to die of a heart attack, don't move," he says as he holds her stare. Subconsciously, his left arm wraps around her waist, trying to stop her from moving, before his right hand slowly moves to flick the cockroach off again. Holding back his middle finger so he could save enough pressure, he releases it to send the cockroach flying, landing near their legs.

She squeals again but he holds her tight, before he moves from under her, his foot smashing the poor cockroach as he barely looks at it.

He lifts up his foot, seeing that the cockroach is not moving anymore, before he moves his stare to her. He mutters, "It's dead now. It won't terrorize you anymore." There's a smirk playing on his lips as he looks at her. "I can't believe you're really shouting as if you're going to die because of a cockroach. That thing is so tiny."

She clears her throat as she feels the outline of his muscles against her stomach, before she quickly removes herself from him. She sits with her back against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest as she looks at the crushed cockroach. Even looking at its carcass makes her feel like she's about to puke, but as she looks the other way she's only met with Yunho who has this attractive smirk on his face, his arms crossed as he sits up.

"There's always someone else to kill them for me." She stares at him. "In no way I am touching them."

"Right," he chuckles as he lowers down his voice, leaning forward. "I forgot you're a literal princess. But you have to get used to it; cockroaches won't leave you alone." He says in a playful tone before he stands up, heading towards the direction of the door.

She huffs, not a word of thank you escaping her lips as she looks away. Rolling his eyes, he forgets his initial intention of coming there as he pushes the door, but frowns as he shakes it; the door has accidentally locked itself while he was inside.

"You were so brave in crushing that insect yet you can't even push open the door?" she sneers.

He grumbles as he turns around, shooting daggers at her. "The door is locked."

She blinks as she utters, "Then open it."

"I would if I actually have the key," he says, exasperated. He looks around, but just as it always is, the underground cell is empty except for the occupants. He can notice three problems; the guards are stationed outside, which means that no one is there in the vicinity except for him, Jihyun and San; he doesn't have the key to open the door and only the guard outside has it; last but not least, the door is soundproof, which means that no matter if he shouts until he loses his voice, no one would hear him.

Amazing. Spectacular. Just fucking great.

"So uh," he turns around. "When do they usually serve you lunch?"

"At 2," she says calmly.

He looks at his watch, noting that it'd be a waiting game of more than four hours, unless the guards outside decide to come inside to randomly check up on the prisoners. However that's the problem; they know that there are special instructions that among the soldiers, only Yunho is given the authority to check up on her, unless they're giving her meals. Considering that he's there, they know better than to barge in. Plus, San is a prisoner they are told to steer clear of; so it's highly unlikely that they'll come in because of San.

In short, unless someone comes in earlier than when lunch is served, he'll be stuck here until 2.

Without a word, he sits down on the cemented floor, just opposite her. "It's not like I wanted to sit here," he utters. "But I had no other choice."

"Suit yourself, general." She glares at him. "Don't even think of doing anything to me."

He scoffs. "After I saved you from the cockroach, that's what you say to me?" He rolls his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself too much, you're not even my type."

"I'm a lot of other guys' types," she snaps. "I don't care whether I'm not your type." She says through gritted teeth, "You're not my type either." Then she blurts out as she takes in a sharp breath, "What's your type anyway?"

He pauses, clearly taken aback by her question. Of course he never had a type; at least that's what he thinks. "Someone who's not afraid of cockroaches," he utters. "And someone who can at least run a 100 metres without catching that much breath."

She grumbles as she crosses her arms, knowing that he's making fun of her as his smirk comes up again. "Well my type is someone who isn't a soldier," she shoots back. "Someone who isn't so mean and aloof all the time."

"I never asked."

"Well I'm telling you anyway!" She shrinks back as she realizes how embarrassing she's being, but never lets up as she utters, "Why are you always so uptight anyway? Can't you like, be more relaxed?" She mumbles, "You're so scary and it doesn't help that you're the only person I meet all the time."

"I'm not-" he blinks, "scary."

"You are! You," she points to her lips, "barely smile, but when you do it makes me feel weird, your words are always so stiff and even when you did all those things to me you acted like it was nothing but it made me-" she pauses before she realizes what she's saying. She clamps her lips shut before looking away. "You're just scary."

"I made you what?" he frowns, clearly interested in the sentence she didn't finish.

"Nothing," she says. "I said you're scary."

"Before that," he repeats. "What were you going to say?" He leans forward, and although there's a considerable distance between them, she pulls herself back.

"Why are you so-" she manages, "clueless?"

He confirms her words as he only says, "About what?"

She screams silently in frustration, but she looks away as she sighs. "Forget about it, it's nothing important anyway."

"Oh come on," he utters, shrugging. "We have at least four hours. I may not look like it but I'm a good listener."

She cringes. "You're a soldier yet you're so damn dense. If I knock your head you probably won't even feel anything because your skull is too thick."

He only stares at her.

She sighs as she straightens her legs towards his direction. "I was-" she takes a deep breath, "fluttered."

"By who? Seonghwa?" he asks. "It was pretty obvious you were trying to flirt with him even though you knew he was married."

She looks at him in disgust before she scoots over to him, and gives him a hard punch on his chest.

It's clear that he didn't expect for her to have that much power because he can feel his chest burning from the punch.

"From you, you stupid knucklehead!"

He stops, only thinking that this is some kind of game she was playing before he nervously chuckles. "Right. Aha, good joke, but I don't think you'd say that to a servant."

"You're more than just a servant!" she huffs, slightly annoyed that he's still so clueless. She takes a deep breath, "What I'm saying is I was fluttered when you did all those things to me; when you treated me even though there was no obligation for you to do so, or when you picked me up, or when you-" she glares at him, "killed that stupid cockroach for me."

"It was... um... common courtesy." His eyes shoot upwards, trying to find the right words. He puts up one finger, "You might get an infection from an open wound," he puts up another, "you seemed really out of breath so I didn't want you to strain yourself," he puts up three fingers finally, "I can't have you shouting all the time just because of a cockroach."

She sighs as she closes her eyes. Right, of course I'd get rejected by the first guy I've ever confessed to.

"I told you to forget about it," she says, before she lies down facing the wall and refusing to look at him as she can feel the embarrassment lingering in the air.

Yunho looks at her, blinking slowly as she pulls the blanket over her body before curling up underneath it. He leans backwards as he props himself up with his hands, watching as she kicks the air, clearly frustrated.

"Forget about it," he says. "You're just confused about your feelings."

"I'm not," she mumbles under the sheet.

"You are. Of course you think you like that person who saved you or did anything remotely nice to you when you're alone." He looks away, "You just feel like I was your saviour when in fact we were just forced together because we had no other choice. Let another soldier guard you and you will say that you like them too. It was only a coincidence because I'm the one guarding you."

"But others probably wouldn't do the same like you did," she utters slowly.

He frowns as he listens to her voice. "Are you crying?"

"I'm not," she sniffs. "Why would I cry over some stupid guy?"

Yunho looks down at his hands, clasping them as he continues, "You're a white blood. You deserve so much better."

"I hate you."

He blinks, a bit flustered by her bluntness yet push and pull that he can't even make out her real feelings. "That's set then. It'd be much easier for you to move on if you hate me."

There's a long silence on Jihyun's side before she takes the pillow and screams into it. When she's done, she springs up, her hair a mess, her eyes and nose red. She lets out a deep breath as she picks the pillow up and throws it into his direction. What annoys her is that he catches it smoothly, stupidly making her think that he's more attractive than he already is.

"Fine," she utters as she huffs. "When all of this is over I won't work in the palace anymore so I won't be seeing your stupid face again." She lies down, pulling the blanket up more as she sobs. She mutters under her breath, "You really think that feelings go away just like that."

"Is this your first time being rejected?"

She hates it, she hates how he's saying something that irritates her yet what she feels is her heart knocking her ribcage. Even as she closes her eyes she hears his voice, feels his muscles against her, that stupid attractive smile he rarely has on...

She hears the door unlocking, and she looks to the back to see that the guard outside has finally entered the area.

The guard looks confused as to why Yunho is locked up inside, but the general walks past him saying a brief thank you and doesn't acknowledge Jihyun anymore.

Jihyun only clamps her lips shut as the door is locked again, and Yunho has walked out without another word, not a glance at her anymore.

Yunho walks out of the underground cell, up the stairs without looking back. He stops when he's finally at ground level, and momentarily he stops walking as he shoves a hand into his pocket. He takes out a key; it's the key to Jihyun's cell.

"I've always had the spare key to her cell yet she didn't even realize," he sighs. He keeps the key into his pocket, figuring that only time will tell how it'll go for them.

A yellow and a white blood?

Never in a million years.

---

[A/N: The last part basically means that Yunho knew he had the key yet Jihyun doesn't remember he always does, so when he was 'stuck' inside the cell it was on purpose 😃😃😃]