HWARANG Rewritten✅

41. A Sacred Bone

Chapter 41.
A Sacred Bone.

Sa-do was practising her sparring techniques. But being alone, she was left fighting against a wooden beam instead of an actual opponent. Her practice sword stopped midair suddenly and she turned back to face Ji-dwi. "What do you think you are doing?" she huffed as she tried to catch her breath.

"I have something to tell you."

Sa-do raised an eyebrow. "Right now?" she confirmed as she looked around at the courtyard as if to say while I am practicing?

Ji-dwi nodded, not at all effected as he released her weapon. "Have you heard the news?" he asked, his lips lifting slightly at the edges. When Sa-do simply stared at him, he continued, "the Royal Councilor, Park Young-shil, is quite livid over a theft of his belongings. He demanded the magistrates find those responsible and punish them."

"Is that so?" Sa-do echoed, lowering her sword as her mind already came up with hundred different scenarios of the consequences they would face if they were caught. Before she could worry too much about the repercussions of that night, Ji-dwi lifted a finger to halt her, looking mischievous. "He wouldn't tell the magistrates what was stolen however, so they refused to look into it."

Sa-do grinned now. "Oh? That's a shame," she lamented, unable to take the smile off her face. So, this had been her first move against her father. It wasn't much but she was sure her next opportunity would be bigger.

"Are you done fighting the dummy?" Ji-dwi asked, breaking her away from her thoughts. "Are you ready for a real opponent?" Sa-do glanced at the wooden pole and nodded before following him to an empty space and resuming her practice.

...

Seon-woo was walking around aimlessly when a panicked looking Ji-dwi and Sa-do ran to him, both of them breathless. "What is it?" he asked, already knowing something bad had happened, if their distraught faces were any indication.

"Ah-ro," Sa-do managed to mutter, looking close to bursting into tears.

"Ah-ro was dragged to the palace," Ji-dwi completed on her behalf, realizing she wouldn't be able to say more.

"When?" Seon-woo's heart lurched, remembering the Queen's wish to make her a Won Hwa.

"Did you know about this?" Sa-do wondered seeing his reaction. Or lack of it rather.

"It's my fault," the King admitted before he could respond. "Some of the things I said to my mother... she believes Ah-ro is the reason I am fighting for the throne now."

Seon-woo didn't need Ji-dwi's apology. He knew that this had nothing to do with his friend and everything to do with the Queen wanting to keep Seon-woo in her control. She wanted to rub it in his face and remind him that she held all the pieces in the game. He ran to find Hwi-gyeong, the limping man who claimed he could make Seon-woo the King. If anyone could save Ah-ro right now, it was him.

"What do I have to do?" he asked Hwi-gyeong, when the man told him that the Queen would utilize Ah-ro and then kill her when she was of no more use. Hwi-gyeong's solution was for Seon-woo to become the King of Silla. "Who are you to say such things?"

Hwi-gyeong told Seon-woo that he was his father. That the nameless boy of some Cheonin village was actually the Prince of Silla and could take the throne as a legitimate heir if he wanted. Seon-woo couldn't breathe.

...

That night, Seon-woo stood outside on the bridge, overlooking the stream. His mind was all over the place.

Ji-dwi approached him. "I got your letter," he said waving the piece paper, that Seon-woo had left on his bed, gently in the air. It had just one sentence on it. We need to talk.

Still looking at the water and remembering how Poong Wol Joo had said that the calm surface could hide a tumultuous center, Seon-woo said, "my father is... Prince Hwi-gyeong." Ji-dwi went still beside him. "Ah-ro is not my sister," he confessed, his friend's silence giving him the courage to keep speaking. "I was raised in a small village alongside an elder boy named Mak-moon. He was my best friend. He always spoke of his family in the capital, especially his sister. When he was killed, I took his place as Doctor Ahn-ji's son."

Realization dawned on Ji-dwi as he quietly said, "the one who saw me... was Ah-ro's brother?"

Seon-woo nodded. "I have no name of my own. According to my... my father, that too is the work of the Queen so that I would belong nowhere. He also told me that I could protect Ah-ro and the kingdom by becoming King."

He finally looked away from the stream to his friend but Ji-dwi's eyes too, were cast on the water. His eyes shifted from side to side, as if he was reading, but he didn't speak. Seon-woo hoped that for once, Ji-dwi would come up with a plan because right now, he had nothing. He felt like a puppet with tangled strings, not knowing which way was up anymore. He was overwhelmed and exhausted.

He had transitioned from a nameless boy to a half-Cheonin to a Sacred Bone in such a short span of time, yet he was still the same person. How was he meant to handle these changes life threw at him so suddenly? He always seemed to have more questions than answers these days. "I need to save Ah-ro," he declared at long last. His heart wrenched at the mention of her name. How was she doing? Was she alright?

"But?" Ji-dwi prompted, knowing that wasn't all he had to say.

"I am not ready to be a King. I don't think I want to be one."

The other nodded in understanding, as if he had been the victim of the same emotional turmoil. "I will help you." Seon-woo looked up, his expression almost hopeful making the other shake his head with mild amusement. "You do realize Ah-ro is my friend, right?" he said almost teasingly though he was completely serious, "my friend who knew my identity and still helped me."

Seon-woo had actually not known that. But with a life like Ji-dwi's, constantly moving and running, with no stability and permanence, having a friend would have been impossible.

"It's no wonder you want to take down the Queen," Ji-dwi mused and gave Seon-woo an open, accepting expression. They were equals. They had always treated each other as such. Now though, they knew it was truer than ever before.

Seon-woo did feel lighter than before after talking to Ji-dwi. He was calmer and more at ease. He just hoped that his true identity would not put a barricade between their friendship because he was starting to realize how much he accepted and depended on Ji-dwi as a friend.