CHAPTER EIGHT

Baek-Hyun woke up the next morning with a traumatizing headache to see a beautiful woman in white flowing dress, the woman looked like an angel. "where am I?". she asked as she jerked herself out of the bed but her whole body was in pains and she couldn't move too much. "you are in the healing chamber. Are you okay? How are you feeling?". The woman asked with a worried expression on her face. "I feel better but I have a growing headache. Where is Moon?" Baek-Hyun suddenly asked. "she has been here all night. She left to prepare your breakfast". "Oh!". Baek-Hyun exclaimed and looked around. "I have to leave, I hate this place and somehow, I always manage to come back to it". Baek-Hyun complained scornfully as she untied the while piece of cloth that was tied around her hand and head. "you can't leave, Chi-Mae demands that you await him". Lady Bong Cha said and Baek-Hyun smirked. "who is that again? Isn't that the general? Isn't he responsible for my presence in this place? He nearly got me killed and I had the nerve to apologize to him". Baek-Hyun yelled. "whatever, but you are going nowhere until I am certain that you are fit enough". The woman said and Baek-Hyun stared at her suspiciously. "or is it because the General asked you not to let me leave?". She asked with dimmed eyes. "I have a feeling that you always prompt Chi-Mae to treat you the way he always does". The woman replied and Baek-Hyun suddenly looked innocent. "No I don't. he is mean and treats me like I am one of his invaluable properties". Baek-Hyun lamented and the woman smiled. "then make him understand that you are not his property if you dare". The woman said to the shock of Baek-Hyun. "here, drink this, it will help the wounds heal quick". Lady Bong Cha said to Baek-Hyun and held up to her a bowl containing some herbal mixtures. "I'm not drinking that". Baek-Hyun said as she winced her nose due to the odious smell of the concoction. "no you have to drink it to get better, the healer asked that I give it to you, besides, the General will be so pissed off if you fail to drink it". The woman said again and Baek-Hyun smiled mischievously. "I'm not drinking that thing, it smells deadly and I do not care about whatever your commander feels. Besides, who is going to tell him?". Baek-Hyun asked and she stood up and walked to the door and just when she was about to run out, the woman said "If you leave, then Moon and I will have to pay for it" The woman sounded so pitiful that Baek-Hyun became stiffened. She stared at the woman and then she slowly walked back to the bed and sat. she heaved a loud burdened sigh. "what will they do to you?". she asked the woman. "it is the General who will punish me and no one predicts what he might decide do to anyone anytime". The woman said and Baek-Hyun felt so sorry for her. "I'm not leaving but why are you all so scared of him? He isn't that fearsome though he pretends to be". Baek-Hyun said calmly. "I don't think he is as bad as you all think of him. I think he is just building walls around himself to protect himself. Or worse still, maybe he is depressed and you know, depressed people are always dangerous but they are also very emotional, you all don't know how hurt he may be". Baek-Hyun just sat there and stare at Baek-Hyun. The woman knew she was talking more to herself than she was talking to her. She also knew she was right. Right about everything she said. "Maybe if he opens his heart, he might find someone great that can fill the emptiness in him". Baek-Hyun said again and then she said no more. Lady Bong Cha couldn't stop wondering if Baek-Hyun had fallen from the sky. She was the only person she had met so far that was able to understand a fraction of Chi-Mae. "Did you Lose your parents?". She found herself asking and Baek-Hyun stared at her. She wanted to tell the woman that she would soon lose the only ones she had left. She wanted to talk to someone about it. To tell the person that she wasn't a terrible person but that was what the society wanted from her if she must survive. To tell her that she totally understood the trauma Chi-Mae was going through and his own was excessive because he had nothing left and the only people that would have served as one were all afraid of him. But she only ended up saying "I don't know if they are still alive". Well, it was true. She didn't know if by the time she returned, there was nothing left for her to use and strengthen herself after killing a person. Lady Bong Cha didn't say more, she just stared at her and wondered why Chi-Mae would go through the stress of coming to see Baek-Hyun by himself. She wondered why he even cared when he acted so indifferently towards her when she was unconscious in the field. They sat there for a while quietly until Chi-Mae opened the door. "Good morning General". Lady Bong Cha greeted him with a bow. "Lady Bong Cha". Chi-Mae replied. "has she drank the potion?" Chi-Mae asked the woman. "no General, not a bit". Lady Bong-Cha answered puzzled why Baek-Hyun hadn't greeted the General. "you have to drink that potion Baek-Hyun". Chi-Mae said sounding worried but Baek-Hyun's reply was. "do not tell me what to do or what I shouldn't, I don't want to drink that poison". "you do not want to see what I'll do to you if you speak to me in that manner again". Chi-Mae warned but Baek-Hyun smirked. "I think I have seen enough of it already." Baek-Hyun said and walked to the door again but Chi-Mae held her hands and dragged her back to the bed and made her sit on her butt. "what are you doing?". Baek-Hyun yelled and Lady Bong Cha got so sorry for her. She wished she would just shut up and stop annoying Chi-Mae more. "Lady Bong Cha, tell Baek-Hyun to drink the potion right now". Chi-Mae said with his hands behind his back and Lady Bong Cha passed the message to Baek-Hyun. "Lady Bong Cha, tell your General to stop telling me what to do". Baek-Hyun yelled and the poor woman passed the message to Chi-Mae. "Bong Cha, tell Baek-Hyun that she is going nowhere until she drinks that potion". Chi-Mae said calmly but his calmness annoyed Baek-Hyun. "Lady Bong Cha, please kindly tell Chi-Mae that he isn't my father neither is he my husband and he can't order me around, I'm grown enough and I know what is best for me and that right there, isn't". Baek-Hyun said sounding pitiful. "I heard her loud and clear Bong Cha, you may leave". Chi-Mae said and the woman left right away, she had been waiting for that order for a while but she also wanted to stay and plead Chi-Mae on Baek-Hyun's behalf. After the woman left the room, that was when Baek-Hyun realised the harm she had done to herself. Chi-Mae walked closer to her till there was no space left again. Then he lowered himself to her level then he held her jaw. It seemed to Baek-Hyun that was his favourite spot I her body. She struggled to removed his hands but she couldn't so she stayed. "Stop… stop it…". She stuttered and her eyes watered. "You!". Chi-Mae said and he held her tighter. "I don't really care whether you drink the tonic or not. All I care is that you obey my order". "Please… let go". Baek-Hyun pleaded and tears rolled down her face. Chi-Mae couldn't withstand the tears any longer so he pushed her on the bad and left her. "What do you want from me? Why are you even coming here?". Baek-Hyun asked with anger and furious tears rolled down her face but Chi-Mae didn't care. He had cared enough for a while and she was taking his simplicity for granted. "Baek-Hyun listen, you are going to drink that potion right now". Baek-Hyun couldn't understand why he cared or why it was his problem that she refused to drink the potion. "but it's myself, what are you so worried about?". Baek-Hyun asked as if she would go insane anytime from then and Chi-Mae smirked. "Because you need the energy to complete your punishment". Chi-Mae said and Baek-Hyun widened her eyes in shock. "I'm still under punishment?". She asked in shock. "yes you are". Chi-Mae replied. "but… haven't I served … enough … already?". She asked childishly. "you'd better drink that potion if you want to survive". Chi-Mae said and Baek-Hyun stared at the bowl again and she made a retching reaction. "is it poisoned?". She asked Chi-Mae. "what?". He asked looking confused and Baek-Hyun replied "I know you do not like me very much and I sincerely don't know why". She said and Chi-Mae turned all serious. "how can… why would I poison you?". he asked. It was the first time he had ever stuttered in years "because since I got here you took it upon yourself to make my life hell. I have not seen you torment anybody this much and it is enough reason". Baek-Hyun replied and Chi-Mae stared at her for a while. He stared at the weird cute girl in front of him that dared to say he poisoned her. He wanted to cut her tongue off at that spot like he would have done to any person who would dare say that to him but he gave it a second thought. Lady Bong Cha was already fond of the girl and he also want to hear her say more awful yet surprising things to him. "it's not poisoned". Chi-Mae finally said. "prove it". Baek-Hyun sneered and Chi-Mae furrowed his eye brows. "how?". He asked with annoyance. He clicked his tongue unconsciously. He wanted to rip off her head from her body and he didn't know what was holding him back. Her guts were driving him crazy. He wondered if she wasn't afraid of him like every other person was because he knew she had heard the rumour especially when Moon was her handmaid. "sip the potion". Baek-Hyun said with a smirk and Chi-Mae stared at her in an unbelievable way. He didn't know what else to think of her. "what? Why would I do that? It's you who needs it not me". Chi-Mae argued but Baek-Hyun wouldn't have that. "now I know you really intend to kill me". She said in an accusing manner and Chi-Mae got frustrated. Something he had almost never felt. Then he took the bowl of concoction from Baek-Hyun and was about to sip it but the smell that the concoction emitted almost made him throw up and he dropped the potion immediately. "I'm not drinking that". He said dismissively. "it's definitely poisoned." Baek-Hyun said dismissively as well. Chi-Mae stared at her for yet another while. She was so demanding and cute. He wondered why on earth he did whatever she said. Perhaps he was crazy or Baek-Hyun was using a spell on him but he was going to turn the spell to his favour. "I'll drink it but you will have to do all my biddings from now on. You have to obey all the orders I give to you just as I say them". He said and waited for Baek-Hyun's reply. She thought if it; he was the General and of course she had to carry out all his commands so she nodded and he carried the bowl and sipped the content straight. His face looked horrifying when he was done and no matter how hard he tried to look better, he looked terrible and Baek-Hyun laughed. "now drink it". Chi-Mae said with sour face and she took the bowl from him and with her left hand she held her nose and with her right she took the bowl to her mouth and poured the whole thing into her mouth. Her face was terrifying and Chi-Mae couldn't help but laugh. "are you satisfied?". She yelled at him and he nodded. He didn't know what was happening. He was supposed to be terrifying so that no one could walk next to him but there he was fooling around with the annoying foreigner. "You are not so bad like you paint yourself to be. What are you so afraid of?". Baek-Hyun suddenly asked and the question took Chi-Mae unawares. He suddenly became uncomfortable and took his leave immediately saying he had some things to take care of. Baek-Hyun stared at him leave and the sadness that had always been there returned to her eyes slowly. Much later, Moon brought food and after eating, she slept off. Moon was putting up a conversation and she had been struggling to keep her eyes open but it must have been the tonic, it knocked her off. In the evening, the old healer came to check on her and he confirmed that she was fine enough to go back to her chamber which she did. when she got back to her chamber, she found a complete set of Hak-Kun warrior uniform on her bed. She slept with a beautiful smile that evening. Just as Chi-Mae had promise her, he went back to the healing chamber in the evening but was told by the guards that Baek-Hyun had returned to her chamber. He went to her chamber and found her asleep. He sat for a while and stared at the girl that was driving him crazy. The most difficult and beautiful girl he had ever seen. Maybe that was because she was a foreigner. Before he left, he lit the candles and opened the roller blinds.

Princess Aya was going back to her chamber, she saw Chi-Mae stepping out of Baek-Hyun's chamber, she was surprised so she lingered around and when he was going back to his chamber, she appeared out of the blues. "Good evening General". Aya greeted majestically but Chi-Mae didn't reply. "what are you doing out here? The evening patrol has just been through with and you were absent, what was keeping you busy?" Princess Aya nosed carelessly as she kept staring at Baek-Hyun's chamber. "it's quite late Aya, I think you should have retired long ago". He said and Aya frowned. She knew he was avoiding her questions so she had no other choice but to actually hit the nail on the head. "you spent the whole day with Baek-Hyun didn't you". Chi-Mae stared at her then he suddenly stopped. "it doesn't matter to you what I decide to do with my time, excuse me". Chi-Mae said and started walking away but Aya wasn't through with him just yet. "what is wrong with her, why does she talk anyhow to anyone?". That did the trick. Chi-Mae stopped in his track and turned to her. "what do you mean?". He asked. "no one ever calls you by your name, but she does, she bunks practice and gains pleasure from sleep, she doesn't bow to anyone, not even me and she thinks she's above us all". Princess Aya complained scornfully. "Aya, has she ever disrespected you?". Chi-Mae asked her "of course not, we have never even conversed but she has been close to disrespecting me a couple of times". She said with a smile. "then whatever she does shouldn't be your problem, let her be and if she disrespects you, leave her to me". Chi-Mae said to the shock of Aya. She stopped walking and when she did, Chi-Mae also stopped. Then Aya walked closer to him. "I'm not troubling her General, but everyone says she's a spy and I'm scared for you". she said posing worried and turning her neck from sides to side. "Aya". Chi-Mae called. "that shouldn't be your problem, if she's a spy, it's me she's going to kill not you". Chi-Mae said again to shock Aya, but she never backed off. "which, General is exactly why I am worried, I can't watch you die, I won't survive, nobody would". She said again as she curbed his cheek with her hand. He stayed quiet and watched her for a while. She was now tracing his lips with her finger. Chi-Mae stared at her and then he took a step back away from her with his hands at the hilt of his sword like it had been ever since. "I can take care of myself Aya". He said and walked away. Aya was frustrated. "Why do you defend her? Why are you getting so close to her?". She yelled after him but he never stopped. "you even go to visit her…". Then in whispers she said "What about me?". She watched his back as he walked away. She pictured Baek-Hyun smiling about what Chi-Mae said. The picture was vague because she knew it was impossible for Chi-Mae to say a joke. Sometimes she even thought that people's happiness was Chi-Mae's bitterness. She wondered where the old Chi-Mae went. The one that would take her for a long ride to Sheongung fortress and they would stay there disguised as commoners until her father would send almost the whole army to search for them and no matter how much Chi-Mae was warned and punished, he always sneaked her out anytime she wished. Tears made Aya's eyes to shine. She could remember that even when Chi-Mae was banished to Gorgyeon at 20 because of the scar he had got from hunting an animal, she would go to the Hawshu mountain that stood beside the boundary between Gi and Gywenn, Hak-Kun capital. and he would appear from the trees and then he would sneak her back to Gywenn at sun down. though he was not living there with her, he was always around. Once, when he was but 22, in the night, he appeared in her chamber and gave her a silver hairpin with red jewels on it. It was such a beauty but it was stolen by one of the maids and the poor girl was hanged to death after confessing that she needed it so she could sell it and pay for her mother's treatment. The hairpin was never retrieved at last because she had sold it to an unidentified foreign traders and they had already returned back to their country. Chi-Mae was also in terrible trouble and he was given 50 whips for trespassing into the palace to give Aya the hairpin. Chi-Mae felt horrible for the maid more than he felt or himself and put the blame on himself saying he should never have given Aya the hairpin. Though Chi-Mae was not a prince, he was treated like one and the entire kingdom referred to him as Prince Chi-Mae. He also had to face the penalties princes went through anytime he did something bad. Aya remembered the horrible things he had gone through and she somehow thought they were all worth his change. But she was the one who was always there, not Baek-Hyun so she hated it that Baek-Hyun was the one Chi-Mae was defending now.