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ⓔⓟⓘⓢⓞⓓⓔ 4

Recap:

"My lady, are you alright?" Min-Seo immediately asks me when I exited the palace.

"Yes," I chuckled a bit, "I'm perfectly fine."

"Really?" I nodded as she sighs in relief. "I deserve to be struck dead. I did not protect you properly. I deserve to die," she said disappointed in herself.

"If you die, what will happen to me?" I asked rhetorically. "Anyways, do you where Ah-Ro is?"

"Yes, she's at home. She heard that all of you were brought into the palace. She wanted to go after you guys, but I told her to wait at home while I fetch you guys," she answered me.

"Okay, let us wait for the other two then," I stated. Eventually, the gates opened, and Sun Woo staggers out alone. He looks dazed and exhausted. Why is looking at me so weirdly?

I began to approach him. "Why are you alone? Did you get hurt? What did the Queen say?" I asked him, taking a short pause after each question, but he doesn't answer.

"Are you okay?" I ask him. He only stares at me, his mouth closed. He walks forward a few more steps toward me, then suddenly tips forward into my arms, unconscious.

.__..---ஜ۩۞۩ஜ--.__.

"I'll go ask for a horse," Min-Seo said as I was stuck with Moo Myung in my arms. This is ridiculous. Why does he have to weigh so much? I didn't have to carry him for long since Min-Seo was back with a horse. She helped me put Moo Myung on the horse, and with that, we returned him to Ah-Ro before going home.

**Time Skip**

After I was dressed, I took my horse and headed for the palace. When, the doors opened I was met with quite an interesting sight. Soo-Ho, Ban Ryu, and Han Sung, along with their followers, were there, asleep and tied to poles. What happened? Did they have a fight? I thought while looking at the wounds on their faces. Before I could say anything, a man approached me.

"Miss Ji-Yeong, right?" I nodded. "Wonderful, my name is Wi Hwa. The Queen has told me to inform you to treat the wounds of these people. Well, at least the ones that agree to join Hwarang," he informed me quiet enough so he wouldn't wake the sleeping boys. He also handed me a box full of medical supplies.

"What did they do to deserve this kind of treatment?" I asked him concerned.

"These rascals have insulted the sacred Najeong, the well where Park Hyeokgeose was born. The guards found them having a fight there last night," he ended with a chuckle. Those idiots... I looked at them with annoyance and a bit of disappointment in my eyes. What can I say? I expected better from them. Master Wi Hwa excused himself to sit on a chair with a table with papers in front of him. While he was going to talk to the boys, I set up my medical supplies on a nearby table.

Shortly after, the guards toss buckets of water onto their faces to wake them up. "You must be thirsty," Master Wi Hwa started talking as soon as all of them woke up, "and feel your legs numb. The bad news is we have not started the torture. As you are here for committing high treason, the Queen has decided to kill you while you are receiving dreadful punishment." He signals at a guard.

"Tie them to the chairs," the guard commands the others.

"Yes!"

**Short Time Skip**

A message came regarding the criminals and their punishment. "Your powerful fathers have requested and required a way for you to live from the Queen," Master Wi Hwa stated. "You will avoid torture, but you will have to become a loyal Hwarang of Silla by signing this. All you have to do is sign it, run by our physician to get your wounds cleaned, and then go home. Is it not simple? Or... you may choose to experience what the next step is."