Those of Us Alone

Chapter 57: War-Council Interlude

Midori's POV

Telling grandfather that I had amnesia was hard, but I was lucky. He was just happy that I was alive, "If your injury could cause amnesia, then it was definitely close to being fatal. I'm just happy you're still with us."

From then, I had been less overwhelmed by the villagers, rather, they wanted to tell me their own memories of me, so I happily took on tasks around the village conversing with as many different people as I could. 

. . . And it was working.

There were many nights within the last month where I was with Abi or Ao trying to unfurl the hidden memories. I was slowly making 'head'-way with them.

On the other side of things, I had joined Tae-woo - the 'new' general that took over Hak's spot when he, Yona, and I left after her birthday. . . at least . . . that's what he told me - on a few of his many trips to the royal court. The few nights that I had stayed there, I had interacted with many of the court ladies, albeit conservatively, and found there were many more memories for me to uncover at court.

I guess that explains my acceptance to attend a . . . war council, of sorts. I had elected to come in the place of Tae-woo and Jii-jii as I had been invited - and for whatever reason, they were not.

 . . . Though, considering I was just sitting at a table with the King and Geun-tae drinking more of Yun-ho's tea, I could almost see why the others weren't invited. . . Though I was sure Soo-won had implicitly hinted that this was about a 'war' in his letter. . .

"Yun-ho's tea's aroma is really relaxing!" Both Geun-tae and I were giving the king a look of disbelief. Turns out, the king hadn't called the Earth General here - he came of his own accord. However, Soo-won had managed to convince him to sit down with us for tea.

"Really?" A glance had been thrown my way, only for me to give a small smile and shrug my shoulders.

The 'flowery' aura that the king was giving out made it seem as though he didn't have a care in the world, "It seems like the Yun-ho Tea has become popular." No, kidding. It's not like we are drinking it right now, in the castle . . . oh wait, we are. "In Southern Kai, there's a huge influx of orders, and I've heard they're sold out."

"Thanks to that," a genuine smile graced the brash general's face, "my wife has been busy."

"Ah, haha!" I smiled softly as Soo-won spoke, "Miss Yun-ho seems happy."

"Ah," finally breaking my silence, "Lady Yun-ho has somehow found the time to write to me, and she seems excited that her tea is so well liked."

A smirk covered Geun-tae's face, "After that festival, Chi'shin has revived. Really," he cast his gaze between the king and I, "how far did the two of you plan, Your Majesty, Milady?"

I smiled kindly, before lifting my cup as to not be able to answer, but the King spoke innocently, "I only recommended to Lady Midori, that she should ask Miss Yun-ho to serve the tea to some of the Kai merchants." I nodded my head, further confirming the 'innocence' of the situation.

The look of gratitude that we got from Geun-tae was genuine, but, as that wasn't in his character, it didn't stay very long, "Well, I could never grow to like this smelly tea."

There was a moment of laughter between the three of us, before Soo-won switched his focus, "Speaking of smelly . . ." Both Geun-tae and I turned serious, placing our full attention on the King, "Towards the northeast, there's something fishy . . . There may be a skirmish in the future."

"Oh?" The seriousness in the Earth General's voice was almost startling - I'd only heard this tone once before, "Is this about what you were mentioning before?"

Before I had arrived, the general was already here. It seemed that he had sensed the need to be here, and he arrived, speaking about some strategies with the King. I had yet to hear about it, but it had surprised me to be included up to this point.

"Yes," it had almost thrown me when I heard the seriousness - even though I had heard this change in attitude many times from the King, "That's why, General Geun-tae, I am relying on you for this."

Certainly, neither Geun-tae nor I thought he'd be so forward in asking Geun-tae to provide an opposition to whatever skirmish was about to take place. Though, it hadn't taken long for Geun-tae to make the decision, "Then, I shall return to Chi'shin at once."

Seeing as he agreed, Soo-won and I said good-bye to the Earth General for now, "Thank you for the tea, as usual. Come again sometime."

"It was wonderful to see you again, General."

Geun-tae had given a bow to both of us, "I will soon, Your Majesty. It was good to see you again, as well, Lady Midori." We watched as he walked away from us - likely to begin getting his troops ready for the battle ahead.

~~~~~~~~

Not long after the Earth General's departure, the King had asked me to stroll through the grounds of the castle with him. 

Upon the start of the walk, we had simply been talking about the things I had learned since we last seen each other. There hadn't been much of anything recent, but I had remembered the martial arts festival from when we were younger, as well as when everyone got sick from playing in the snow. I had remembered most of what I had been taught in the castle - working alongside Yona and training with both him and Hak.

It was a nice trip down memory lane, but there had been a reason for me to have shown up today, and I had yet to figure it out.

We were walking past a little lake before I actually got my answer, "I'm sure you are wondering why I asked you to be here for that conversation."

We walked side-by-side over the little white bridge, stopping to lean over the railing to look into the water. The koi were swimming around, "It's not like I added much to the conversation, so I guess you can say I am still confused as to why my presence was a must."

His reflection shrugged his shoulders, "I thought you'd want to know."

"I see, but . . . Isn't it fair that, as the king," I turn my gaze towards him and away from the water, "that you're allowed to keep your secrets? It's not like we're married."

There was a pause, and Soo-won was avoiding my gaze, " . . . No, that's . . . that's true. . ."

"Uh . . . huh . . ." I raised an eye brow, trying to figure out where this was going. 

Unfortunately for both of us, he didn't offer any more of an explanation, and I was unable to think of anything to get him to tell me anything else on the matter, so the two of us - once again - ended up stuck in an awkward silence.

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Hey, everyone!

I bet y'all are surprised I updated . . . Sorry I haven't been able to do so earlier, but I was trying to decide what I was going to do for this chapter as well as the fact that I am nearing the last month of this semester, so I've been a little busy. . .

Anyway, I was wondering how everyone is doing? 

Also, I just wanted to thank everyone who has read this book. It really means a lot, and I am always so happy to go back and re-read comments and reactions to the plot points in the story. 

(The reactions for the Kija picture always seem to be one of the best in my opinion; it just catches everyone - including me - off guard when they open up the chapter.)

Whelp . . . I hope y'all enjoy this chapter!

~Ashley