As commanded, Kan Soo-jin was executed by me with my father's sword at dawn. I sent his head in a box with a note to Li Hazara explaining that he would be next if our two kingdoms continued to travel down the paths they were traveling. Li Hazara was not going to be a threat to me and I was going to make that abundantly clear. I was not going to hide from a war like Kouka's last two leaders. My kingdom would fight, and I would fight amongst them.
The five generals and I decided to meet shortly after Soo-jin's execution. We all agreed that it would be necessary to meet while everyone was still at the castle.
"It's nice to see you all once again. Before we begin I would just like to let everyone know that my son will be attending this meeting being he is the future ruler of this kingdom and he only has a few short years to learn what he was supposed to be learning from birth." I stand at a table with my generals as I motion towards Shin. "For those of you who don't know already, this is Shin and he is heir apparent to our kingdom's throne."
Shin hides behind me as everyone starts looking at him. I sigh, "You'll have to forgive him. He's still not adjusted this lifestyle quite yet."
"Shin," Mundok speaks up. "Quit hiding behind your mother. Show us and this kingdom that you are not another coward." he scolds. Shin nods his head and steps out from behind me, but clings to my hand still. He was a little too old to be clinging to me like he was but I imagine it had something to do with the years that we had been separated.
Mundok clears his throat as he goes to speak again. "Before we get into anything too official I want to make an announcement." he states. "I am old now and the duties of general are becoming a burden on me. It is time for me to resign and now that my grandson has been cleared of all the false charges he was previously charged with, I am naming him as my successor again, and with the permission of Her Majesty I would like him to inherit my title and duties."
"I see no issue with Son Hak resuming his previous duties as general, but while we are on the subject of him I would like to state my intentions of marrying him. Normally, I would need the permission of you five to do so, but I am going to marry him regardless of what any of you say."
"And what if we do object?" Judo questions. "The king hasn't been in the ground a day and you're already speaking of taking another husband."
"He wasn't even in the ground, and not to mention I wasn't even a foot from his body when I accepted Hak's proposal, if you don't like that Judo, you can resign from your position and be replaced with someone who keeps their feelings separate from their duties" I argue. He doesn't say anything and I knew that he wouldn't. I look at all the other generals, "That applies to all of you."
"What happened to working with us to better the kingdom, Your Majesty?" Geun-Tae asks with a sigh.
"Will you give me a chance to do so?" I ask angrily. "My marital status has nothing to do with the kingdom so your input is not needed."
"It is a matter of the kingdom's when you're trying to put a new king on the throne." Guen-Tae argues.
"I have no intention of giving my throne to Hak. He will be my husband and consort." I explain. "And because of that, I want you all to vote on the matter of him replacing Mundok. We all know he is capable of doing the job, and that is why I have no problem with him becoming the wind clan's general, but for me to appoint him would appear as biased so I want you all to make the decision."
"This isn't something the generals usually grant permission for." Joon-Gi states.
"This is something that involves the kingdom and I trust you all to make a decision that is best for our kingdom."
He nods his head. "Well I believe that Son Hak served his position well when he had it, and the reason he lost it in the first place was false, so I see no reason why he shouldn't obtain it again." He raises his hand. "I vote in favor of Son Hak reclaiming his spot amongst us and I believe you all should as well."
Kyo-Ga raises his hand as well, but that was probably because he felt that he and his family were in no position to argue after what I did to his father this morning. I could tell that he was like his father and he would pretty much do anything to gain my favor, but I don't think he'd go behind my back. He knew he was on thin ice as it was.
I had two out of the four votes that I needed to get Hak back as one of the generals. I was so tired if having to let them vote for everything and I was already getting irritated, especially with Judo. Judo was very loyal to the past kings, but it was different with me. He didn't trust me and I know it's because of how I was with Soo-won. I wasn't loyal to Soo-won so Judo sees me as treacherous. He doesn't understand why I did what I did. He didn't see all the lying that Soo-won had done. He didn't see Soo-won for who really was.
"Judo," I say quietly. "What is your vote?"
He shakes his head. "No." he says. "I won't do that to Princess Nari."
I sigh and turned to Geun-Tae and he raises his hand. "I'm sure that head you sent Li Hazara will have him sending us a war in return, and there's no one I'd rather fight along side than Son Hak."
I smiled at that. Hak wasn't going to be king, but he'd still have a role in this kingdom.
"Speaking of which, now that we have that matter settled, we can finally get to what I called this meeting for." I say. "Not only did I send Li Hazara a warning, I sent him an offer of truce. This war between our kingdoms started as a result of my father conquering part of their land. Now, many do not know that my father is not my birth father. I was the sole survivor from his conquest of my ancestors land. What I proposed to Li Hazara was taking that land and making it a neutral territory."
"Why would you not consult us about this?" Geun-Tae asks angrily. "That land belongs to Kouka."
"That land belongs to the Kai Empire. We took it and it now we have a war to deal with. Im not giving it back though because then we would look weak. I'm making it neutral territory. I will meet with Li Hazara there and we will discuss a truce." I explain.
"And what could we possibly offer in a truce that would keep a war at bay?" he argues.
I sigh, "Nari."
