Those of Us Alone

Chapter 44: We're Staying a Bit Longer Here Than I Thought

Midori's POV

" . . . Yes," the two of them had yet to break their stare-down, but as I stood up and walked closer, the stare-down had been broken, "I'm not lying." I swear, a flower just popped out of the top of Soo-won's head.

And just like that, Geun-tae was on his hands and knees - depressed over the fact that the King had apparently 'no drive'.

It appears that one of Soo-won's defining personality traits is to do complete 180's with his personality as well as the ability to ignore the atmosphere around him, "Oh, say, what's this stone?"

Sure, I had noticed the stone earlier when I was sitting away from the conversation, but there is a  better time to inquire about that, right?

Apparently, Joo-doh thought the same, "Who cares about the stone?!"

"But Joo-doh," the King started, trying to justify the change in subject, "I'm curious as to why there is a stone enshrined here."

Sighing, Geun-tae seemed to be giving up on Soo-won's ability to be king, the general went over to the rock, "That stone was brought back from the Udo Mines." I was now curious, so I joined the King and General Geun-tae in observing the enshrined rock, "Since long ago, the Earth Tribe has lived off of natural resources. It's a custom to enshrine a stone from the mines to ensure wealth and happiness."

"Really?" I had allowed the King to speak up for our curiosities, "If you look closely, there are shards of blue and purple in it." There was a smile set on Soo-won's face - he and Geun-tae had seemed to forget the slight quarrel before, "It's beautiful." He began to study the rock closer than he had before, "Is the stone highly priced?"

Though Geun-tae seemed to have enough, he still answered the King, "Well, by itself, the stone isn't really worth anything. What you want is the iron ores." While Soo-won seemed to be trying to solve something, Geun-tae - like I said - had enough, "Oh . . . excuse me, Your Majesty." We turned to face the General as he spoke in the least convincing voice ever, "There are a lot of things that I am busy with, so I am going back to my room. If you need anything, please ask someone in the castle."

While all of us blanched at Geun-tae's 'could care less' attitude, Soo-won spoke kindly allowing Geun-tae the dismissal that he desired, "Okay. Let's talk again, General Geun-tae."

After Geun-tae was out of hearing range, Chul spoke up, trying to keep his general from getting into too much - if any - trouble, "I do apologize." We glanced over to the ward as he continued speaking, "Lord Geun-tae is a little depressed. He still believes that he belongs on the battlefield, since he was during the era of King Joo-nam. He's probably just a bit distressed by the fact that he can't protect Kouka in that way anymore." Looking down, Chul tried his best, "He has that untidy appearance . . . and at first glance he seems arrogant, but - "

"I understand," said Soo-won, with a reminiscent look crossing his face. "When I look at you all, you're all unreserved, and speak to each other like there are no levels of superiority over the other. It's because your leader, Geun-tae, makes it that way, right?" His eyes met mine as he finished his statement, "In some ways . . . It's similar to the people I love."

There was a time of silence, as Chul, Joo-doh, and I all tried to make sense of what the King just said. I bit my lip, breaking eye contact with the King and trying my best not to read too far into the words that had just left his mouth - whilst looking at me.

I guess breaking awkward tension is something that Soo-won does often enough because he didn't even seem phased when he was the one to restart the conversation after turning to Chul, "You love General Geun-tae, too, right?"