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"You're pretty agile."

The Chieftain's daughter paused mid-stretch as she noticed someone she had never seen before eating melon seeds as they eyed her movements. A sliver of rainwater allowed her to see a slim figure located behind her, laying on a bench next to a table in the training grounds.

"Earlier, when you were shooting that arrow, you leaped into the air, aimed it without missing a beat, then landed on your feet. Hard for regular archers to do without years of practice."

She shrugged, continuing her exercise as the morning sun rose in the sky.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but some have taken to hurting themselves trying to imitate that move."

Turning around, she got a good luck at the speaker. He was a tall man, young-looking in appearance, with a square chin and unruly raven hair cut short. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for his eyes; it seemed they did not reflect even a tiny trace of light, seemingly containing a bottomless pit inside them.

"Have you thought of training the men?", asked the seed-eating man as he popped another melon seed in his mouth, chewing it slowly.

"No," she replied. She added, "I'm here as a guest." It was not that she did not concur with his observations, the last few days had been full of her encountering men who jumped off structures flinging arrows every-which-way, but her purpose here was to talk battle strategy with generals of this kingdom on behalf of her father, not teach common soldiers how to do their jobs.

That is what they had their commanders for, right?

"Too bad," he quipped, springing off the table he lay on, leaving immediately after saying that.

"Strange," she muttered, wondering what other curious events would happen next. The behavior of the nation's military was not what she had expected previously. They seemed to be wary of her as well as admire her talents at the same time.

That fact alone scared her more than she could care to admit. Being stuck in a strange land where she did not speak the dialect fluently already made her fearful of what could happen. However, the General had made sure to place her quarters near his and reprimand his men in writing.

As long as she kept a weapon on her, then she should be fine.

Speaking of the General, there he was approaching her now.

The deaf man cupped his hands, signaling for her to open hers. She let him trace a character on her hand.

Discipline.

"Pardon?", she asked. The General sighed, handing her a piece of paper with some writing in it that took her a while to decipher.

"If I read this right, you have a regiment that is in need of a training instructor, and you want me to help? Why?"

He traced a few characters this time. Outsider Perspective.

"I am a woman, and of a neighboring tribe. The way we train, and the martial arts we practice are not the same..."

The General nodded, leading her to understood he was well aware.

"Are you sure?"

Definitely.

She sighed. "Alright. I shall do my best. Where do I start?"

He lifted a finger, bringing her to a spot in the training grounds she had never been previously. In front of her, a regiment lay with wide eyes as they gazed upon her female figure.

The General made a fist, and relayed that she was to be respected as a teacher.

"Yes, General!", they cried in unison, still perturbed that a woman would teach them.

His frown lifting, he was set to leave when he heard an unexpected voice call out, "What a fine idea!"

Immediately, he kneeled before his sovereign, causing the entire regiment to do the same.

"I had been thinking of assigning one of the regiments special duties, and I think this one will do! What do you think, General?"

The General looked on incredulously, quickly standing up to protest this decision. He questioned himself, thinking whether these men could be trained for special duties when they performed miserably already.

On what basis were they chosen?

"Exactly! Glad we're on the same wavelength. I'll be expecting to see improvement from them in a month," he remarked, clearly content with himself as he patted the General on the back.

The General furrowed his eyebrows, as the Chieftain's Daughter and he glanced at each other with confusion written in their eyes.

"All of you," he addressed the regiment with a swooping hand, "please stop bowing. I am your King, but I am a soldier first. The army reared me since I could talk and made me the man I am today. Besides, while we are on the battlefield, I lead you as the Commander of the Troops."

"Yes, your Majesty!", they shouted, some of them still bowing out of habit.

The Conqueror sighed. "Clearly, we have to work on that."

Looking towards the Chieftain's Daughter, he introduced her to some of the regiment members he knew by name.

"This is one of the finest archers I know. Only man in this regiment that has ridden cavalry except the captain." He pointed out the seed-eating man from earlier as he lowered his head.

"I do not deserve your praise, your Majesty," he replied with flushed cheeks.

"I only speak the truth," he started. "This man's family are merchants, but he still signed up to join the war because of patriotic duty. If that's not commitment, I don't know what is," he added.

Now, he motioned another man rise. "This one's a decent painter, but in wartime, he is designated a scout. You know why? Because he can recall locations, read trails, and sketch maps faster, and more accurately, than most. Problem is...he was conscripted."

If the painter could lower his head any further to the floor, he would eat the grass on the ground.

"And here's another one, a messenger. Others call him Little Rabbit. Without warming up, he can run for miles with no rest. He enlisted in the army to support his family," he shared, eyeing a short young man who cupped his fist when mentioned.

"You know all their backstories and names?", she postulated.

"As a leader, I must try to. I rose through the ranks in the military and learned if you learn their names, they'll learn yours. Respect is not given but earned. Even if I do not know the names of all my subjects, searching through the records will yield results."

The General stood next to the Conqueror, tracing yet another character in his hand. Admirable.

"That's nothing," the Conqueror joked. "What will be admirable is improving the lowliest regiment under your charge into capable fighting war-machines. Can you do that, Miss?"

She bit her lip, hesitating until she glanced at the General. His eyes seemingly plead with her.

"I can," she asserted.

"Good! I'll leave it to you two. General, remember she'll be under your supervision!", he yelled as he left that part of the camp, happy his plan was panning out. Hurrying, he made it to the regiment's commander's tent, walking straight into a den of iniquity.

The Conqueror sighed. "And this is why your men are found lacking."

"What?", said a drunken Captain as he licked another bottle of spirits. Ladies who surrounded him fled on seeing the face of their sovereign while empty bottles lay scattered around the tent.

"Why do I bother?", he muttered. "This is your last chance," he warned as he dragged him to the rest of his regiment who had begun their new training regimen at twilight.

"Brother let me live my life...", he stated, throwing up before saying anything else.

"Brother, I heard the Chieftain's Daughter is..." started the Sixteenth Prince, freshly back from his trip to retrieve the Japanese Shogun's Daughter.

He stood there, jaw slack as he stared at the Eldest Prince, the regiment's Captain, in a drunken stupor.

"Hello," the Eldest Prince mumbled as he spotted his younger brother, the Sixteenth Prince.

"Brother, may I have a word?", grunted the Sixteenth Prince through gritted teeth.

"What about..." He could scarcely get the words before his younger brother pulled his to the side.

"I was under the impression he was dead."

"He's not."

"Why not? Where is his mother?", asked the Sixteenth Prince.

"His mother is benefiting from her benefactor's success."

"If I was the ruler, he'd be dead," the Sixteenth Prince hissed.

"Were you the ruler, we'd all be dead."

"I thought you were ruthless."

"You think I'm being merciful? Why do you think the General chose this regiment? This is his last chance. If he doesn't shape up as a leader, his mother will be forced to answer for her crimes."

"SHE poisoned our mother!" He added in a whisper, "The Favored Consort."

"She only stood guard."

"And watched as she struggled for breath. The worst punishment you could give that woman is taking her chance at the throne..."

"In those months of chaos, she never encouraged her son to contest the throne."

"Why would she then when she was already in high water as it is?"

He turned around abruptly. "You may disagree with my decisions. The fact remains he is a Prince."

"A concubine's son."

"And I'm a servant's son," he stated, making it clear the conversation had ended there.

"I thought I understood you."

"You don't."

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Language note: In Mandarin Chinese, edible seeds are referred to as melon seeds, even if they are not melon seeds. ie. sunflower seeds being called melon seeds Sometimes, the seeds will be referred to as melon seeds even though they are technically not. (Parts of this story was originally written in Mandarin, then translated to English so I apologize. Yes, this is my own original work.)

Author's note: Uh oh. Trouble with the brothers. What did the Eldest Prince's mother do, I wonder? And the Chieftain's Daughter training a regiment? How unorthodox the Conqueror is.

(Anyways, this story started as a satire of historical fiction c-dramas so I have also finally introduced the second male lead, the young Archer.)