Rewritten Fate (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction-New)

Assassination Arc (V)

--Continuation of the Flashback--

Her eyes watched the movement on the board in front of her with annoyance.

'Why... Ougi match...'

she could feel the headache coming to her once the old king set up an Ougi board for them to play.

Apparently, the emperor's match meant a match of Ougi, not some kind of fighting match. They had played for around an hour now, but neither had won. Her grandfather had ended his move and so it was her turn again.

'This is ridiculous...' she thought while eyeing the board.

She narrowed her eyes as she drew up a plan, taking into account the entire possible route. Truthfully, her grandfather was really a skilled player. She actually was no match to him.

She only knew how to play Ougi because one of her past partners liked to play ougi and taught her so that he had someone to play with. That didn't mean that she could play like a pro, though.

"Do you want to be a king?"

She jerked her head up at the sudden question, really bewildered. Her face gave out an incredulous expression. Soon she turned her eyes to the table again, ignoring the stare that she received from the other end. She ended her turn by picking up a piece and moves it.

They were in utter silence; the only sound was the sound of placing the ougi pieces.

The game was running smoothly, even too smooth for Yona's taste, and the favor was on Yona's side. It was not long before Yona saw her chance.

"Checkmate," she announced while eyeing the king. The said king didn't give any indication of disappointment on his loss; rather, he looked like enjoying every moment of it.

'He went easy on me.' Yona scowled at him.

'It seems like the old geezer has known about my plan since the beginning.'

she didn't like it when other people went easy on her, whatever reason it was. It was kind of insulting for her, and she utterly despised them.

"It's almost dinner time, grandfather. I'll need to excuse myself." She stood and bowed to him. Swiftly, she walked to the door without waiting for his agreement.

"Yona." she was on her way to open the door when he called her. She stopped herself, preparing to talk her way out should he want to stall her any longer. But what he said made her stop dead in her track.

"I grant you entries to the library. Take and read whatever you want."

She whipped around and looked at him with widened eyes. The shock was apparent on her face as she asked with a cracked voice.

"Why?"

The emperor gave a quick glance at her before replying. "I feel like it."

She frowned, disbelief at his reasoning. But soon she felt lighter, and she let a chuckle out.

"You are impossible." she shook her head while bearing a tiny smile.

The emperor's eyes soften as he looked at Yona. At this moment, the aged man looked so much like her father, giving out the gaze of a really loving parent towards their child.

"So are you," he said.

She looks at him again with a thankful expression.

'I'm not going to lose this great opportunity then.' giving him a deep bow, she thanked him from her deepest heart.

"Thank you, Grandfather."

Her grandfather gave an acknowledgment with a nod.

"I'll be waiting for an answer." he continued. She blinked confusedly before she remembered that she had yet to give an answer to the previous question.

"Do you want to be a king?"

She pursed her lips, looking kind of distraught.

"You may go," he said as he turned back to his tea.

"Excuse me, grandfather."

She bowed once again before leaving the room. Unbeknownst to her, her grandfather keeps looking at her back as she went out. He let out a sigh, before taking a sip at his tea. He cringed at the coldness of the tea. Seems like the tea has long gone cold. He had been too occupied with his granddaughter that the tea was forgotten.

He eyed his tea sadly.

'What a waste... and it is such good tea too...'

***

Yona walked slowly along the hallway. From outside, she may not look any different than usual, but if someone were to observe her thoroughly, they would notice that she was actually in deep thinking.

'He is really dangerous... too smart, too observant...' she thought as she replayed her previous ordeal.

'As expected of an old king. My cover was blown right away.'

She was staring blankly in the hallway as she walking down the path to her chamber. Her body's auto-pilot system is turning on, and it was walking on its own without her realizing it.

'It seems like I'm not a good actress. I caught off guard... no, I think I was letting my guard down. Or he just too observant for his own good.'

She stopped on her track and started to focus on her surroundings. She realized that she had arrived at her destination. She let out a deep sigh.

'This kind of event is not good for my own heart... not good at all...'

She turned to look at the darkening sky as she leaned on the door.

'Do I want to be a king?'

That was a question that she never dared to ask herself before. Not because she couldn't, but because she was scared, and still is scared to answer. In the past, she focused on ending the war. Now, she focused herself on preventing the war from happening.

'A king... it feels like a lame joke.'

Because being a king was such a big responsibility that she was not ready to take.

'It's not even funny...'

Because she didn't have the confidence to shoulder up that heavy burden that comes along with sitting on that big chair.

'Just what are you up to, grandfather?'

After all, her place was in the shadow. That was where she belonged.

--End of Flashback—