Chapter twenty-four: Grand general Soon
Seohwa ran all the way to the bridge separating the warehouse from the market, she has never witnessed such hot scene all through her life.
She's just eleven but she has never been close to any male before, the males that have had close interactions with her , is her brother whom she only sees twice a month because of the distance of the places they are serving.
Remembering her miss and the young master, she blushed so hard she started slapping herself lightly to calm down, she blamed herself for going there at that moment in time.
Obeying her miss's instruction to check on her every two hours, she went into the warehouse without knocking, but is someone supposed to knock at an abandoned warehouse?
'Who asked me to go there then?' slapping herself she is shouting "stupid... stupid...oh I'm so stupid! I should have knocked, now miss will think I was spying on them"
Thinking of the different excuses she would give in case her miss asked her why she came in unannounced, she walked towards the marketplace hoping to see something interesting, something that would take off her mind from the incident that happened earlier.
Prince Soon maintained a perfect distance from Yoona, he doesn't want what happened earlier to repeat itself.
Thinking of his brother, he blamed him for filling his head with the thought of kissing the girl, he can imagine what his reaction would be when he narrates his experience to him.
Thinking back to the girl before him , he can't imagine how his brother could kiss lots of girls without any commitment, for him the first girl he kisses is the owner of his heart, body and soul.
For him, this kiss is more than physical, he feels as if their hearts and souls have been merged together by the heavens with that single kiss.
"Is she the one?" He asked himself.
Heaven knows that no matter what happens the girl will belong to him and nothing can come before them.
Looking at the girl lost in her own world, he imagined her putting on the Phoenix robe and chuckled with excitement.
Yoona seeing that the young master was lost in thought wanted to bring him back but immediately she opened her mouth to say something he laughed at something, probably something so good that he could laugh out so loud that she could hear him.
"Young master, why are you laughing at yourself?" She wanted to know.
"Call me Soon, forget the young master title" he said, he continued
"I just had a daydream, a dream about a beautiful woman in the most exalted position, a position that didn't even do justice to her visage, a visage so strong that it outshined her own aura"
Not understanding what he was saying she pretended to do , she changed the topic and asked him what his area of expertise was and he answered' military' .
Yoona on her own part started her own daydream, of seeing the young master wearing the military uniform of a grand general with soldiers bowing before him and also she saw herself as the wife of the grand general, with this thought in mind she blushed that Prince Soon felt suspicious of what she was thinking about.
Trying to find out her array of thoughts, he asked her why she's turning red, answering truthfully she let out the cat from the bag but skipped out on the part of being the grand general's wife , it's so embarrassing she thought.
Soon laughed so hard he held his stomach, he told her that he never imagined himself as a grand general.
" Men should be more ambitious Soon, don't tell me you want to just enjoy your family's fortune without working to get your own fortune by yourself" she interjected.
"I know that men should be more ambitious my dear but I never knew my ambition could go so low as to be a grand general" he laughed.
Yoona "..."
He continued" My ambition is so high that I want the whole grand generals to be under my command"
Yoona marvelled at the height of the ambition, here she thought he just wanted to enjoy his family's fortune who knew that he is so overambitious, 'but isn't the emperor leader of grand generals', waiving the thought aside she praised him and encouraged him to fulfill his dreams .
Feeling that it's getting late, Soon brought out the wrapped up snacks he hid in the warehouse and shared it with her.
In between stuffed mouth , Yoona kept complimenting him for gathering her favorites
"Master Soon, how do you know that I like my rice cakes with lots of bean paste? "
"Just call me Soon... anyway, it's my favorite so I wanted to let you enjoy it with me, here have some dumplings too" he passed a well wrapped dumpling to her.
"Soon, you are the best, but don't you think we have a lot in common?"
Soon feeling that she is implying something agreed and told her to finish the snacks before talking so that she doesn't choke on them.
Finishing the whole snacks, they drank the fruit wine he brought and washed down the whole thing into their tummy, remembering Seohwa she felt a little bit guilty for not saving anything for her but seeing the young master about to take a bite from the the last apple they ate , she begged him to let her have it .
Soon thinking that the apple was for her consumption, let her have it but hearing her next statement wanted to grab the apple from her.
' I can't believe I just gave up my favorite fruit to a maid' he muttered.
After all said and done, they bade goodbye to each other but not without promising to meet again in the next 3 months as that was the next time Yoona might be allowed to come out of the house.
Hopefully by then too, Yoona might have completed her training and left Teacher Lee's house.
They promised to meet at the terrace garden near the inn as it was a popular rendezvous at the heart of the city. In addition, in 3 months time Yoona would be twelve too.
Finally parting ways Soon ran towards the palace to make it before his lesson time and to save himself and his brother from the empress's wrath in case she finds out about his little escapade.
Yoona came out and met a bowing Seohwa who refused to look at her until she was commanded to.
Seohwa is same age as her but she's one month older than her (Seohwa). But sometimes Seohwa acts like a grandma.
They walked home silently without knowing what to say to each other. Yoona is asking herself if she should explain to her that it's not what she's thinking to Seohwa .
While Seohwa on her part is also thinking whether she should tell her miss that she really didn't see anything as she became blind immediately she entered the warehouse.
Both with their thoughts, none had the courage to confront the other.
Reaching home they both bade each other an early goodnight and went to their respective rooms with heavy mind.
Soon reached the palace but met a little obstacle. Of all days, the emperor chose that particular day to visit his crown prince palace, watching from behind he saw his chief eunuch shivering but delaying the emperor from entering his room.
"Your Majesty!, the crown prince is stark naked in his room and ordered that no one should be allowed to see him in that state" the eunuch cried while looking towards the rooming wishing that the crown prince would appear so that he won't have to break either the crown prince's order or the emperor's order .
"What's wrong with you today, chief eunuch? How dare you delay the emperor from seeing his own son and crown prince of the nation?"
The chief of the royal guards was angry that a mere eunuch was blocking his master's way but on seeing the relaxed face of the emperor didn't push the eunuch too hard , after all they have an obligation to obey their masters just that his own master was the present ruler of the nation while the other is the next ruler.
"Prince Soon, this father came here to see you" the emperor shouted so that the boy could hear him.
"Please come in father" the voice said.
Walking in alone, he told his entourage to wait behind as he wants to talk with his son privately.
Inside the room, he met the crown prince lying under his blanket, a proof to show that he really is naked.
"Soon, are you really... *cough cough*...naked?" the emperor mocked.
Prince Soon swore under his breath to punish his eunuch , of all the excuses "The crown prince is stark naked?"
"I'm so sorry father but some unknown rashes appeared on my back and made it uncomfortable to put on any clothes, I have decided not to put on any clothes on myself till at least tomorrow"
"Oh! let father see this rashes" the emperor made to uncover the blanket but Prince Soon held unto it tightly and discouraged him from spoiling his eyesight with the eyesore of a rash.
Father and son started struggling with the blanket and the emperor finally uncovered the blanket and found out that his son is neither naked nor wearing the royal robes.
The crown prince is still wearing the noble's robe made of silk he wore out for his dates.
Noticing that the situation was about to turn dire and hearing the eunuch say he was naked, he decided to play along but couldn't bring himself to get really naked so he just covered up himself with a blanket.
"Prince Soon, can you tell me why you went outside the palace?" the emperor interrogated.
"Father, I didn't..." seeing the stern face of the emperor he decided to come clean.
"There is a girl l fancy, imperial father"
The emperor chuckled and said "Prince Song, you can now come out of your hiding place, I sensed you the moment I entered this room"
The both princes surprised, marvelled at the emperor's acuity and their respect for this ruler rose.
The emperor seeing their gazes smiled at them and decided to come clean. He told them that he knew that he went out of the palace and everything that transpired as he had put a tail on him.
The tail was one of the royal guards he trained secretly hoping to make use of him as an assassin. The guard's first lesson was supposed to be the investigation of the prime minister but he accidentally saw him going out of the palace today .
Reporting to the emperor, he was ordered to follow the crown prince and report every action of his through a courier bird.
He narrated that majority of the things that transpired that day was reported to him except the things that happened in the warehouse and he also knew the time he would come back, sohe decided to pay him a surprise visit.
Understanding how he was found out Prince Soon couldn't understand how the emperor knew that he used his brother as a substitute.
The emperor told them that he had sent Princess Ha-eun to visit him and knowing how the crown prince loves his baby sister was surprised that she was not allowed in , so he sent one of his palace maids near his palace to monitor the movement and activities going on, that was when he found out that wine was sent to the crown prince's palace, who else apart from Prince Song is at the age and known for drinking wine?
Understanding what happened, they sighed in relief.
The emperor noticed that Prince Song was still putting on the crown prince's robe and told him
"My son, you have to let go of that robe now" but Prince Song replied mockingly
"But l have gotten so comfortable with the robe now"
The emperor smiled and told him that if the empress finds him in it even the heavens can't save him.
"Don't worry your Majesty, you don't need to tell me because even if you give out the robe to me l won't take it because it's too heavy and... I like my robe better"
The emperor seeing that he sincerely said that was relieved because death will face them all if the empress finds out about this day.
Making sure that his son was OK, he left but relieved him of that day's lessons because of the" rashes " on his body.
Leaving also was Prince Song who got the summary of the latest gist and wowed on the part where his brother told him about the kiss, feeling that his brother is now becoming a man left satisfied but not without making a promise to see the girl that made his heart throb.