Hui woke up the next day after the banquet. She needed to come up with a plan. She managed to stir the conversation yesterday in directions that interested her. The King of Kouka was not engaged. If she plays her cards right, she was sure she can make him hers. She found the thought pleasing. He was not bad-looking and not as unbearably boring as the boy of Lord Chao with whom her father wanted to marry her until she persuaded him to come to Kouka.

She lied out her plan so skilfully that father agreed without much struggle. She knew that he has thought highly of Lord Chao, but was disappointed with how his son turned out. Boring, dull and with no ambition, he would never go far in the world and would. The prospect of rotting on his side filled Hui with distaste.

Someone like Soo-won would much more to her taste. However, she was worried. She only heard that he is not engaged from other people who are believed to be close to him. The girl from one of the tribes that came with him was apparently seen as his future fiancée, but no official announcement has been made as of yet. What worried her was that he clearly did not want to discuss the subject with her and whenever she tried to discuss is he was changing the topic.

Is he already in love with this girl? It could be, but there seemed to be something more to his unwillingness. Never mind – she thought. I will just have to observe and think of something to get rid of the threat that this girl from the Water Tribe presented.

Soo-won was going to the library when he suddenly heard voice behind him. 'Good morning Lord Soo-won. You have get up very early? I thought you may need more time time to rest.'

He stopped to turn around. 'Good morning miss Hui, not at all,' Soo-won replied. 'Speaking of rest, are you rather the one who should rest more? The journey from Kai to hear is a long one. It must have been tiring for you.'

'Not at all, not at all. I like travelling,' Hui replied earnestly. 'It is sitting and doing nothing that makes me tired.'

'I see. I can arrange to some activities for you if you wish.'

'Thank you Lord Soo-won. Will you join me? I heard that you are very good at swordsmanship and an extremely good archer.'

'I think you may have heard exaggerated rumours.'

'Would you mind that I confirm it myself.'

'Not at all.'

When Hui disappeared, Soo-won resumed his walk to the library. The moment he opened the door he heard Lily's voice from behind.

'Good morning Your Majesty. Why are going so quickly to the library? Are you trying to hide from someone?'

'Ah, it is you miss Lily,' replied Soo-won while totally ignoring the comment about hiding from someone. 'It is very early. I am surprised that you are already up.'

'I could not sleep, so I thought I can come here to read a bit.'

'What would you like to read about?'

Lily looked a bit nervously, but finally said. 'Kai, I wondered if there is anything about Kai here.'

'There are books about Kai. I will show you if you want. What is that you want to know miss Lily?' Soo-won asked while going in the direction of a bookshelves that had books and scrolls about Kai.

'South Kai, but north Kai as well…. Is it really such a threat to Kouka?'

'Are you worried so much?'

'I don't know. I just feel anxious.'

Soo-won came closer to her. 'miss Lily, you don't have to worry. It is my job to keep this country safe.'

'I know.'

Soo-won looked at her worried face and began to speak. 'It is true that Kai is much bigger than Kouka and serious threat to us. However, South Kai is still divided. North Kai has serious problems with the nomads, so the biggest threat is Li-Hazar from Sen province, but I have managed to stop him. At least for the time being.' ha paused for a while and added after the short break. 'Even if Kai attacks us I don't think it will be with full force. I did what I could to give this country a fighting chance.'

'Can I ask you something?'

'About?'

'These are only rumours, but... is it true that you took over to stop Li-Hazara from invading us? People are talking that you knew about Soo-jin and Li-Hazara's agreement from the start before you took over the throne.'

'Who said you this?' It seemed for her that he was unmoved by her words, though she thought that he there was a slight hint of interest in his tone, but she could not tell if it were real or if she just imagined it.

'I overheard a conversation between higher officials,' she stopped to look at his face to see if he his reaction betrays anything, but as she could not discern nothing she continued. 'They were praising you in fact, for stopping Soo-jin's rebellion. They believe that Il would have never done it and the country would be lost.'

'Is that so?' Soo-won asked with a calm voice that betrayed no emotions.

'I admit that even if I am her friend, I don't think that Il would have stopped Soo-jin and Li-Hazara's joined armies.'

'I see,' Soo-won replied with no hint of interest.

Soo-won's inscrutable expression annoyed Lily to the point that she attempted to ask directly 'So they are right? You killed Yona's father knowing that Soo-jin was going to rebel?'

He covered her mouth and bend to whisper into her ear. 'You should learn miss Lily that some things are better left unspoken.'


Soo-won has been trying to focus on his work, but his thoughts kept wondering around. He tried to convince himself that there is no point to think about what he spoke with Lily. He knew that the secret behind his coup was safe. The people who knew or could guess the truth had no reason to speak and it is not like they would be pleased with Il's plan that had a good chance of stopping rebellion, but in exchange were making Li-Hazara in fact the King of Kouka without any fight. Soo-won could still remember Soo-jin's angry face when he informed him that Il is planning to give Yona to Li-Hazara. It was enough to make Soo-jin realise that Il was trying to break his agreement with Li-Hazara and that his plans of becoming the King, about which Soo-won feigned total ignorance, are threatened to make him join his coup against Il. Soo-jin fall into this trap so easily and convinced that he is the one outsmarting everyone.

However, even though he thought that Lily's words that betrayed that she, and most likely Yona and Hak as well, had no clue what really had happened should have relieved him, it was not the case.