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From afar they still could see the arrow landing into the boars side, it let out a loud screech as it stumbled over and picked itself back up to run away into the woods.
Taejun and Jinho just stared at the boar as it retreated into the woods and then back to the girl whose eyes were wide with surprise, she turned around to face them but they remained silent.
"Do you wish for me to go after it, your majesty?" she asked.
"I– uh–" for the first time, Taejun was at loss for words but her eyebrows just raised in anticipation "Uh– there's no need for you to go after it" he blurted out.
At his side, Taejun could hear Jinho mumbling out questions of awe.
"If you don't mind me asking" Taejun asked "Where did you learn that?"
When the words left his mouth, he could see sadness washing over her as her expression suddenly turned dull.
"I learned it from watching my father teaching my older brother"
"Watching?" Joining in the conversation, Jinho couldn't help himself but ask.
"So you just watched from the sidelines but yet you can shoot perfectly like that?" curiosity clearly in his tone, Taejun asked with a smile on his face.
She just nodded "I wouldn't say it was perfect, your majesty"
"But I was very impressed by that Tzuyu"
Hearing her first name come out from his majesties mouth for the first time made Tzuyu's ears turn red as they just stood there, locked into each other's eyes with a comfortable silence befaling them.
Until a loud grunt broke that comfortable silence of theirs.
Their eye contact immediately broke as they turned to look at the source of the grunt who in turn was staring at them.
"Sorry to interrupt, but your majesty. But should we actually do what we came for?"
Slightly annoyed, Taejun just shot him a glare "Of course" he seethed out.
With Jinho's words, Taejun was reminded that he still had duties to attend to when he goes back to the suffocating space he called home. So with the remaining time they had left to do what they pleased, Taejun was constantly shooting arrows at the bark of trees or from fruits hanging down from it to keep his mind off his duties, even if it was for a while.
Tzuyu watched from a short distance as the king's mood suddenly turned sour as he focused on the bow and arrow in his hands. One thing she had always been proud of was that she was extremely observative, from the people she was with to the things that surrounded her.
It did not shock Tzuyu that the king's personal guard, Jinho, did not seem to be pleased at all at her. Pretending not to hear his complaints on the way to the field, she just focused on the view on the way that she's never seen before. Since the day she came here, Tzuyu has always been hauled back up the palace and the only time she had the chance to see what the foreign country was like was when she first arrived here.
Since the day she has laid eyes on the king, she immediately thought he was a bright person if it weren't for the underlying sadness deep in his eyes. He was young, too young to have the burden of ruling an entire kingdom on his own.
She felt sorry for him.
She, with all her heart, wished that the young king will one day find something that can take away all the sadness in his heart.
"Your majesty, welcome back"
Arriving back at the palace after spending some leisure time at the field, he was greeted by Jooyung standing at the gate. Hoping off his horse, he gave the reins to one of the men that was also waiting for him at the gate.
"Take Yeontan back to the stables. Make sure to feed him well, I'm sure he's starving" he ordered as he caressed Yeontan's white fur.
At his side, Jinho got off his horse first and held out his hand to offer help to Tzuyu who held his hand and got off without any trouble. But Taejun on the other hand was staring at them, his body seemed to move on it's own to also offer help to the girl but after realizing they we're not alone, he composed himself.
"Your majesty" Jooyung suddenly spoke up from behind him "Why is that girl with you?"
"I ordered her to, is there a problem Mr. Seo?"
"Of course not, your majesty" Jooyung bowed sincerely at the king but eyed the girl not too far away from him.
"What are you doing here?" asked Taejun, confused at why Jooyung was suddenly waiting for him to return when he usually never goes out of his quarters.
"I was only looking for someone, your majesty. When I suddenly heard you we're coming back"
"Is that so?"
"And I have some information, your majesty"
Taejun's brows rose "What is it?"
"We had just received a letter from China" Raising up his head, Jooyung looked past the king and pointed at the girl who was fidgeting next to Jinho "And I was immediately looking everywhere for her"
"And why is that?"
"She's the only one who can understand the language fluently, your majesty"
"I know that, I do not lack knowledge" Taejun eyed Jooyung down "I am asking, why are you looking for her when you are supposed to inform me of this information first?"
Jinho couldn't hide his smirk when he saw panic flashing in Jooyung's eyes as he gulped down his saliva. From the start, Jinho has never liked the cunning old man, he always had this nagging feeling whenever he was around and it was as if he was planning on something. Seeing him tremble under the king's stare made him ecstatic.
"Where is it?" Taejun asked, his voice demanding "Give it to me"
Jooyung nodded and ordered one of the men in the back to go fetch it, they passed it on to each other until it reached over to Jooyung who lowered himself as he gave the scroll to the king. Grabbing the scroll out of his hands, Taejun opened it and it revealed a letter of some sort and looking at it made his head hurt.
Taejun by all means was familiar with Chinese characters but this was way too complicated for him to understand.
"I will handle this" he said to Jooyung "I will inform you of what's in this scroll and from now on, whenever we receive a letter from China. I will be reading it first, it is my royal decree"
With the king's last words, Jooyung and everyone in front of him kneeled down on one knee and shouted a loud and clear "Yes, your majesty!!"
Turning on his heel, Taejun walked away from them before stopping in front of Jinho and Tzuyu.
"Let's go" Taejun said softly.
He reached out to grab her hand and walked away with Jinho following behind them.
