Chapter Text
Sion dreamed of him again.
It was dark. The only light came from a few candles that still persisted amid the chaos.
Oh Sion was a grand prince, the second legitimate son of the king, the blood-brother of the crown prince. And yet, here he was, kneeling in front of a mere eunuch. A total of twelve men in black cloaks surrounded him. Swords that usually protected him were now aimed at him instead.
He coughed blood once again, his blue-white robe turning red. There were cuts all over his body. Traces of the dignified grand prince left just like that.
Sion gripped the sword in his hand harder. This was the sword his father gave him on his twelfth birthday. Sion wasn't fond of fighting, nor did he have interest in military affairㅡfor years, this sword was nothing but a fancy decoration he took out once in a while when his brother dragged him to sword practice. And right now, as he looked at the rebels one by one, Sion regretted that he hadn’t taken martial arts lessons seriously.
But what was the use of regret? Nothing. So Sion tried to gather his last remaining power. Maybe he would really die tonight, but he would rather die trying than resign himself to fate.
Just as he was about to stand up and launch an attack, someone fell from the roof. Sion moved back fast, the rebels were as surprised as him, so no one stopped him. He watched as the new person kicked the eunuch and pierced his heart in an instant.
New footsteps sounded. Coming into his bedroom chamber were a new group of people who didn't hesitate to attack the rebels.
Sion didn't know whether these people came to actually help him or not, but he backed into the corner. His eyes watched everything unfold before him with high alert, not wanting to miss anything lest something abnormal occurred without him noticing and he would get himself into another danger.
Unlike the rebels, the ones who just came didn't hide their faces with masks. Sion supposed this was a good sign. Yet Sion wasn’t familiar with a single person.
The one who went inside from the roof looked the best. He moved quickly, commanding his swords to kill anyone who got his way. His steps were light. In no time, the rebels were put down. They fell to death one by one, painting the wooden floor with red.
"Your Highness Grand Prince Sion, our apologies for coming late. I beg your punishment," the one who jumped from the roof kneeled, followed by the others, all singing the same tune.
Sion's eyes widened. "Who are you people?"
"We're part of Eastern Camp. Father General Maeda noticed an abnormality in the palace and asked us to come here as help."
"Father?"
"I am Maeda Riku, the illegitimate son of General Maeda."
Sion nodded his head in understanding. General Maeda was a figure who couldn't be missed even if you tried. The Maeda family was a lineage of generals. The title had been passed down from generation to generation. It was said that their ancestors came from foreign lands, evidenced by their physical being that looked slightly different from natives of the Oh Kingdom.
It was that foreign blood that made none of the kings put their whole trust on them. Even when they were granted the hereditary title of General, and even when they commanded troops, their movements were still closely watched. Their title was ready to be revoked at the slightest wrong move.
And yet General Maeda kept on handing out military victories to the kingdom.
Even now....
"What's the situation outside?" Sion asked.
"We apologize, Your Highness, we didn't know ourselves. Our mission was to keep you safe, there were also others who were sent to the crown prince's palace as well as the king's hall."
Sion nodded. "Good. Leave me here, go and help Father King and Brother Crown Prince."
"But, Your Highnessㅡ"
"You," Sion said before Riku could finish his sentence. His finger pointed right towards him. "Stay here with me."
And then Sion woke up, feeling empty once again.
His dream about Riku was always the same—an account of their first and only meeting. It ended in the same way as well; right after Sion told Riku to stay. Perhaps that was because it was where Sion’s memory ended. They said he fainted afterward. Riku called a palace doctor who was still loyal and left when the sun rose. Sion himself only woke up much later.
The days after the failed coup were long and hard. Sion had to face the fact that his father died in the process, and his brother ascended to the throne as replacement. It was an understatement to say that the court turned into chaos. Every morning session felt like the Day of Judgement, arguments among ministers were a daily occurrence.
Together with his brother, Sion had to keep everything in check so as to not make it worse. They cleaned up their people. The Ahn family who had led the rebellion together with Royal Noble Consort Ahn and the third prince were beheaded. Some of their allies also faced the same punishment, others were exiled.
For the next few days, blood coated the capital. The atmosphere was tense and nobody dared to make any reckless move. Everyone held their breath.
When things finally stabilized in the court, another wave of problems hit the Oh kingdom. This time in the form of foreigners.
Seeing that the Oh Kingdom was in chaos, the foreign forces seized their opportunity and attacked the northern border. General Im who was placed there sent a distress message asking for reinforcement. The king didn’t think twice and immediately decreed General Maeda and Eastern Camp to go. Among those who marched to the border was General Maeda’s second son, Maeda Riku.
Sion didn’t know about this until he saw General Maeda’s troops before they set off. He was only following the emperor’s order who couldn’t go on his own, only to notice a familiar face among those sitting on horseback. He didn’t dare to ask further questions at such time, so he only sent General Maeda off without much to say.
That night, when he returned to his palace after yet another long day, Sion asked his people to find information on Maeda Riku. The report came the next morning when he woke up.
Normally, Sion would have known Riku for years by this point. After all, palace school was there not only for the royals, but also for the sons of noble familiesㅡand generals’ families suited the category. Palace school was a place where the future monarch and subjects met. If one was lucky enough, they would be appointed as the crown prince’s study companion.
Unfortunately, Riku was the son of a concubine. His rank wasn’t enough for him to enter the palace school. Hence Sion only knew about his existence that night.
On the other hand, Sion had already befriended Riku’s older brother and the only legitimate son of General Maeda. The man had never mentioned his brother once in their interaction, so Sion had never known that the general had more than one son. It wasn’t strange, more often than not, the son of the official wife and concubine didn’t have a good relationship with each other.
With Sion being busy and Riku going to the northern border, there was no chance for them to meet again. Yet, Riku kept appearing in his dream, refusing to leave him alone even though there were thousands ri2 away between them.
Sion found that he didn’t mind. It was just that Riku’s image in his dreams slowly faded away, as if Sion would soon forget what he looked like completely. It was quite an unsettling thought, so the dreams only left him feeling empty whenever he woke up.
“You look down. What happened?” the queen dowager asked.
It was one of those rare days when Sion had enough free time to visit his mother. She looked composed for someone who had just lost her husband and survived a rebellion attempt. Sion supposed that the lack of love between his mother and father contributed to this. It sounded harsh, but Sion couldn’t bring himself to blame his mother.
“It’s nothing,” Sion said, sending his mother a big smile to assure her.
“Sion-ah, you must be lonely, hm? Do you want your mother to start looking for your grand princess consort? Your brother king doesn't care about this thing, but if your mother chooses one for you, he'll agree,” said the queen dowager. “Do you have someone you like? You can tell your mother.”
Sion pressed his lips together.
He was eighteen years old now, the right time to get married. At his age, his brother already had a crown princess and two low-ranked concubines by his side. It was only natural that his mother now fussed over the matter of his marriage.
But, marriage was not something that Sion had in his mind. He had said this before to his brother when he tried to match him for political marriage. He didn’t understand Sion’s lack of lust in this regard, but didn’t try to push him either. The two brothers respected each other enough not to do what the other didn’t want to do.
His mother, however … Sion knew it wouldn’t be easy to persuade her to drop this matter. Well, if things didn’t go well, he was sure his brother would help him.
“Mother, you should only focus on your health. No need to think about me. I’m fine,” said Sion. “His Majesty will get angry at me if he sees you busy finding me a match.”
“Of course His Majesty won’t be angry. He’ll understand. He wants you to be happy.”
“But I don’t need to get married to be happy.”
“At least get yourself some concubines. Do you want more beautiful maids at your palace?”
“Mother Queen Dowager,” Sion cried out. “No need to do all of that. Ah, look, it’s time for me to report to His Majesty. I’ll go first. Please rest well and maintain your health. This son bid Mother Queen Dowager farewell.”
Sion bowed deeply and then hurried to leave the queen dowager’s palace. He knew that the conversation wouldn’t end if he didn’t back away.
Though he wanted to get away from his mother, he also didn’t lie when he said that it was time for him to report to the king. After leaving the queen dowager's palace, he rode a palace palanquin to the palace study. It took one mark1 to get there, the distance between the inner palace and the outer palace was long enough. Sion wished he could just ride his horse instead, but it was forbidden to ride anything other than a palanquin in the palaceㅡa rule Sion wanted to change, but he still couldn’t convince his brother king enough.
Upon finally arriving at the palace study, Sion still had to wait for a eunuch to announce his arrival. This was an unnecessarily lengthy process, especially compared to when his brother was only a crown prince, but the rule was the rule anyway, and he couldn’t afford to be criticized by the court if they heard itㅡand they would; palace walls had ears, and those maids and eunuch couldn’t resist such a great gossip material.
“Grand Prince Sion, His Majesty is waiting inside,” Eunuch Kang said, ending Sion’s inner complaint.
Sion dusted his robes and walked inside. On his way, he unexpectedly met a royal subject who had just left the palace study.
“Greetings to Grand Prince Sion,” Minister Yoon said, bowing to Sion.
Sion smiled. “Minister Yoon, no need to be formal. You look happy,” he said, noticing the huge smile on Minister Yoon’s face.
Ever since the coup attempt happened followed by war on the border, nobody had dared to smile within the palace grounds. So, to see Minister Yoon unapologetically happy was certainly something Sion hadn’t seen in awhile, this attracted his curiosity.
“My apologies to Grand Prince Sion,” Minister Yoon said, once again bowing. “My wife is giving birth right now, that’s why I’m this happy. But I also need to get back soon. Grand Prince Sion, I hope for your understanding.”
Sion smiled. He didn’t want to hold Minister Yoon back and motioned for him to leave. However, Sion knew that the minister couldn’t be this much happy only from his wife giving birth. There must be some news that Minister Yoon didn’t dare to reveal, waiting for the king himself to bring it up.
Curious about what kind of news it was, Sion quickly entered the palace study.
The palace study was, as the name suggested, the place where the king carried out his work. There was a table with a stack of memorials on it as well as inks and papers, sitting at the left side of the building. On the right side was a small bed for the king to lay down if he wished to take a break in between his work. At the center of it was the seating room where the king received his guests.
When Sion entered, he found his brother already seated in the main chair. One look at the king made it clear that he was even happier than Minister Yoon. He smiled from ear to ear as if eager to tell the world how happy he was.
“Greetings to Brother King,” Sion saluted his brother.
“Sion-ah, I told you not to be so formal. Come here!” the king said, waving for Sion to come closer.
Getting the approval from the king, Sion sat beside him on the main chair, a small table between them. The king gestured towards Eunuch Kang and that was the only thing needed for him to pour a cup of tea for Sion.
Sion drank the tea. Unable to suppress his curiosity or had the patience to beat around the bush, he then pointed out, “Brother King, you look happy.”
The king laughed out loud. Sion still didn’t know the reason, but he knew it would be something big. His brother was usually a composed person, keeping his expression small so that nobody could read him easilyㅡa skill needed for royals especially one who held a great responsibility like he did.
“Show him the letter!” Instead of telling Sion directly, the king instructed him to read the letter himself.
Judging from its appearance, Sion knew it was an official letter written by a general as a military report. Sion opened the letter and read the content slowly until his eyes widened in shock.
“Brother king, this isㅡ”
The king laughed, unable to contain his happiness. “That General Maeda is truly remarkable, is he not?”
Written in the letter was a military report from the northern border. It contained two main points: one being General Maeda’s success in helping to drive out foreigners, and two being General Maeda’s success in reclaiming the lands the Oh Kingdom lost to the foreign forces years ago.
“Congratulations to Brother King!” Sion hurriedly congratulated him.
No wonder that Minister Yoon was happy. As the minister of military affairs, this could also be counted as his success despite the fact he didn’t directly participate in the war itselfㅡSion could also bet he didn’t even chip in a single military advice, or had any idea that they drew a plan to reclaim a land in the first place.
The matter of driving out foreign forces was one thingㅡit was expected from someone like General Maeda. But the matter of reclaiming the lands was definitely something else instead. The lands had been taken from the Oh Kingdom years ago, even before the reign of his late father king. No general had been able to reclaim them, but now General Maeda had accomplished both in one strike. Truly incredible no matter how you look at it.
Sion felt that every king who had ever reigned in the Oh Kingdom should feel ashamed by their prejudice against the Maeda family, but of course he didn’t dare to speak this out loud.
“They’re settling everything right now. They requested for new officers at the border, the Ministry of Personnel will be busy now,” the king said. “I have asked General Maeda to remain there for a year before marching back to the capital. I will have the Ministry of Taxation to prepare for his rewards in the meantime.”
“Will General Maeda return with his troops?”
“Of course,” the king laughed. “They should be rewarded generously after all they have accomplished.”
Sion didn’t care about the war, nor did he care about the reclaimed lands. But he cared about one thing: the man in his dreams would return in exactly a year. It was longer than Sion’s liking, but at least he would return.
Sion couldn’t wait until that day.