Dae Wong and his men rode their horses and immediately went to the public market in order to get back on track to the palace. The hands of time were ticking very fast. To save the whole kingdom, they needed to catch it by the whip, stop it shortly if necessary, and arrive at the palace on time.

When they were on the north entrance of the public market, the quickest route to the palace, Chil Yook's group, who was patiently waiting like a hungry predator, blocked their way.

"Minister, why are you such in a hurry?" Chil Yook asked, grinning.

The horses whinnied and screeched in a full stop. "Chil Yook," Dae Wong uttered. His eyes narrowed into an extreme rage.

"Get out of the way! You tricked us! All of you!"

Clueless with what the minister said, he wondered in silence, Tricked? What does that mean? Does it mean that he talked to that monk already? Change of plan. I need to prevent him from talking to the King.

"You need to answer to the King!"

Because of this very crucial situation, Chil Yook's lips pursed into a thin line. He pulled his sword abruptly and jumped down from the horse. The minister's nangdos jumped as well and pulled their swords to defend their Lord, standing in fighting position.

"Step back, My Lord. We got this!"

"Minister, we both have orders to follow. I will not be compassionate this time."

Chil Yook twitched his sword and dashed to Dae Wong. One of his nangdos slid in quick reflex, blocking the Grand Marshal with a sword, and the fight began. With just one leap and sideward kicks, the yellow group nangdos did not stand a chance. All of them stumbled on the ground, twitching in pain.

"Listen, Minister. Bloodshed is not necessary, but I cannot promise. Just give me that almanac, and we are through."

Half of Chil Yook's lips pulled into a smirk.

Leveling a glowered stare to the Grand Marshal, the minister gritted his teeth. He needed to think a way to escape. In a split of seconds, he lashed his horse and ran away with the almanac, leaving everyone stunned. Chil Yook did not expect that hasty action. Remembering Lady Min's quote about sagacity, he jumped into his horse and chased the minister.

As the two opposing nangdo groups engaged in a swordfight, one of Dae Wong's nangdo had managed to leave the small battle scene and hurried to their horse, following the two in their chase. Fortunately, the other one had killed Chil Yook's nangdos in just a matter of minutes.

"You do need practice," the nangdo mumbled, grimacing at their lifeless bodies.

The chasing continued until they were in the forest. Their heated arguments disturbed the once peaceful environment of the elements living there. If only those insects, trees, and animals could talk, surely, the two would get not just scolding, but lashes on their bodies for being disrespectful visitors.

"Give me the almanac!" Chil Yook roared as his horse galloped to the escaping minister.

"No! You have to drain my blood first!"

"Sure! Now we do this the hard way." the Grand Marshal grinned.

Both horses galloped intensely with different purposes. One was to catch, while the other one was to get away. In this little game, there should be a winner. Of course, they could not keep chasing each other for eternity. Feeling the rush of adrenaline on his veins, Chil Yook felt that he was surely on the winning side, for he successfully kept up a few inches away from the minister.

That was it! He prepared himself for a jump to pin down the minister. Everything must be kept quick and balanced. When he was about to jump from his horse, he was thunderstruck when the minister tumbled down, shot by an arrow on his back.

Hardly pulling the whip, Chil Yook's horse screeched and stopped. He jumped off, confused where the arrow came from. When he looked back, he saw the culprit. It was the yellow colored nangdo, who had chased them. His face was pale while sitting motionless on the horse.

Quivering in fear, the nangdo got off. That arrow was supposed to be for Chil Yook, but it missed. It did glide on his cheeks though, lacerating a small portion of his skin, but it impaled the minister.

"You, what have you done?"

The nangdo fell on the ground, gluing his teary-eyes to Chil Yook. With trembling lips, he mumbled his most sincere apologies, "My... my apologies, My Lord."

Chil Yook just stood in front of him, observing his actions. He knew the nangdo would eventually take his life based on his words and movements. For years, he had seen a lot of hwarangs who kill themselves when their masters died either in war, execution, or malady. Unless ordered by their masters to serve another, these hwarangs would not be hesitant to take their lives, believing they would have a better fortune in their next lives. However, the minister's death was not yet certain. There was a possibility that he was alive. The nangdo knew it. He would be very stupid to think that the minister would die right away unless the arrow was poisoned, but it was not. He could not handle the fact that the minister was indeed impaled because of his missed arrow, probably a result of his negligence and poor training.

It was his pride and fallen honor. 

A pearl of tears dripped by the nangdo's cheeks. He snorted, trying to hold back his tears but he was unsuccessful. More tears flowed like a dam. Wiping his eyes, it seemed like he was saying his words of farewell to his parents, "Mother... Father, forgive your son. I will see you in the next life."

Unsheathing a dagger from his sleeve, he looked at his reflection on the iron dagger, probably his last glimpse of a failure person. He held the hilt tightly and stabbed his chest. Blood flowed excessively. Holding the dagger hilt, he blinked multiple times, panting heavily before saying his last words, "My deepest apologies, Minister."

His upper eyelids shut off. Dead.

"You, poor fool," Chil Yook frowned. Suddenly, he got back to his senses. He ran back to the minister and pulled the arrow gently. Stripping a portion from his robe, he chuckled, "If the Prime Minister did not tell me to keep you alive, I would have let you die here. I guess you really have the gift from the Heavens."

Covering Dae Wong's wounds, Chil Yook wrapped the cloth around the minister's back to stop the bleeding. The minister was still unconscious. After a few minutes, he searched for the almanac and found it on the sleeves.

"Got it!. Now, for the next part, you shall not return to the palace on time."

~~•~~

Preparations for the upcoming solar eclipse ceremony began. The royal cooks prepared all the food needed. Council members gathered and instructed their men, depending on their departments. Priestesses and shrine maidens surveyed the entire palace grounds and guided the guards and the hwarangs in organizing the position of the altars and the seats of the royalty and nobility. The court ladies arranged all the tables, chairs and the red carpet in the middle of the palace ground, which stretched from the main gate up to the palace altar.

The Hwarang Training Grounds, located on the eastern part of the kingdom, was where all hwarangs clans gathered whenever there was an important announcement, for example during war preparations, ceremonial proceedings, competitions, or special training. This time, it was for the preparations regarding the solar eclipse ceremony later in the afternoon. The Prime Minister arrived, and he stood on the wooden stage, orienting all palace hwarangs clans for their respective positions. His loud voice echoed in the four corners of the tall brick walls of the training grounds. After a few minutes, the guards unbarred the gate, and the governors paraded with their provincial hwarangs.

"Governors! What a pleasant surprise! I am truly delighted for sending your hwarang troops," he smiled.

"My Lord. You honor us. Anything for you," an old, fat governor said, making his colleagues gave awkward looks.

"Oh, I mean anything for the kingdom."

The Prime Minister laughed, and the governors did as well.

"Shall we go back to business?"

Doing an attendance check, the Prime Minister mentioned all the names of the provinces and checked the number of hwarangs present. He oriented them to their respected positions.

"All right, listen up! Hwarang of Silla, now that you know all of your positions, I require you to be vigilant and observant at all times. A lot of people will be coming to this ceremony. Who knows if other's intention is to cause a ruckus here in the palace? Remember that we are doing these for the sake of the people and for Silla," the Prime Minister firmly said.

"Yes, Sir!" the hwarangs answered in unison, bowing their heads.

~~•~~

From the balcony of one of the pavilions, Ministers Yeol and Yoo Min talked about the governors, who were exchanging chatters while sitting on the Hwarang Grounds, pampered by their servants.

"Look at those disgusting governors. They are all pathetic creatures!" Yeol scoffed.

"I could not agree more. All of them looked like hunting dogs of the Prime Minister. Look at those governors; smiling and praising the Prime Minister. If I know, they are just asking more funds for the construction of their concubines' lavish houses," Yoo Min scowled, shaking his head.

"Yes, you are right. Surely, the Prime Minister would ask something in return. Come on, let us just go somewhere else. I cannot stand the sight of those dogs ready to lick their owner anytime," Yeol replied in disgust.

The two ministers walked in the corridor, and they saw Hoon coming in.

"Pfft, oh, another dog," Yoo Min chuckled.

"I beg your pardon. What did you just say?" the elderly minister's brows furrowed in displeasure.

"What? What are you talking about?" Yeol scowled defiantly.

Hoon cleared his throat, "I heard you, Minister Yoo Min. You said that I am a dog."

"What? I did not say that. Maybe you are deluded or something... Or maybe, it is your age. It seems like you cannot hear things properly," the young minister sniggered.

The Head Prosecutor's eyes widened in disbelief, "How dare you say I am old? You disrespectful piece of..."

Yoo Min cut him off, wiggling his index finger, "Ah-ah-ah! I did not say you are old."

"Come on, Minister Yeol, let us get out of here,"Yoo Min cackled, his eyes deriding the old minister.

"Those two imbeciles. Who are they calling old?" Minister Hoon fixed his collar and sleeves as he walked away.

~~•~~

As the servants continue preparing all the necessary things for the ceremony, the once busy Prime Minister and King met in the King's chambers to discuss something, probably related to the ceremony.

"Report," the King ordered coldly.

"Well, everything is going accordingly, Sire. The number of hwarangs increased, credits to our governors. I have oriented them as well, regarding their respective positions in and out of the palace. No need to worry regarding security."

"That was... great," he mumbled, gazed quickly to the Prime Minister.

"Anything else, Sire?"

The Prime Minister knew that it was the end of their discussion regarding ceremonial matters. He asked that question on purpose, upon detecting the King's icy cold, worrisome eyes. It was for the purpose of continuing the conversation. This time, probably, it would be about their henchmen, Chil Yook and Dae Wong.

"Uh... Any reports about...?"

"Yes?" the Prime Minister narrowed his eyes, acting confused on purpose.

The King shook his head, "Never mind. That was it. Go back to your duties."

As the Prime Minister stood, strolling towards the door, he knew that Dae Wong had not arrived yet. Obviously, the King did not ask that question, with undeniably uneasy eyes and tone. His once serious work-face turned into its sardonic nature again. At this moment, he felt at ease. Chil Yook might be doing his job well, very well. 

__________