Dae Wong walked slowly close to Chil Yook. In response, Chil Yook looked ferociously to the minister, like a wild tiger trying to attack his opponent. He was furious by the fact that he was tricked, and no matter what he would do, it was the dead end already.

"Judging from your looks, I can notice that this is not what you have expected." Dae Wong sniggered.

"You are one of the biggest cowards I know!" Chil Yook roared.

The minister raised a brow. "What? Did my ears just deceive me? Are you telling me that I am a coward?"

"If there is a better description than the word 'coward', I will say it! You are deceiving the people of Silla!" Chil Yook glowered.

He continued, "You are afraid that once the people knew about the twins, they would rebel against the royal family."

Dae Wong's eyed widened. He bit his trembling lips, clenching his fit. It was not merely because of his anger towards Chil Yook's blasphemous words; it was also because of his denial regarding what he just heard. Was he right...? Perhaps, we are coward, yes, but I believe this cowardice will save the whole kingdom.

Anchoring his eyes to Chil Yook, he remembered his discussion with the King about their last plan.

~~•~~

"Sire, this is the last part of our plan. We need to make sure that the twins will be born safely. To do that, we must keep them away from the Prime Minister the most."

"Yes, you are right. Continue," Jae Joong nodded.

"The Prime Minister cannot move properly without his henchman, so the first thing to do is get rid of Chil Yook."

"What do you mean?"

"Sire, he must be kept away from the palace while the Queen delivers the twins. In this case, we need a decoy to pose as the Queen. We must make it appear that the Queen will give birth outside the palace. I will wait in the house near Daeya with some hwarangs. I know that Chil Yook will try to kill everyone and bring the twins to the palace. Everything is prepared, Sire."

~~•~~

"Surrender now, Chil Yook. You lost. You are arrested for killing all hwarangs outside without an acceptable reason. Here, I have an official order sealed by the King." the minister smirked, throwing a scroll at Chil Yook's feet.

"I will not surrender without a fight!"

The Grand Marshal slightly crouched his body backward, stepping his left foot forward. He held his sword with two hands and pulled it, leveling his head. The minister raised a brow and signaled one of the hwarangs at Chil Yook's back.

Chil Yook lifted his sword, striking the minister. "Yahh!"

Just as when Chil Yook was about to hit Dae Wong, he froze and his eyes widened. He suddenly felt a cold, tingling sensation in his whole body. He put his hand on the back of his neck, grimacing in pain. With slow, moderated breaths, he turned his head around slowly, and he saw a hwarang holding a blowdart near his mouth. The Grand Marshal smirked, as he felt a bit groggy. His sword dropped, clanking on the wooden floor, and his paper body followed.

~~•~~

Meanwhile, in the palace, nurses rushed to the Queen's birthing chamber in her pavilion, carrying trays of different equipment and herbal medicines. They were seen to be wearing a full white robe and skirts with white cloths covering their noses and mouths for sanitary purposes. When they entered the birthing chamber, they stayed on the corners, waiting for any instructions. Lying on the bed, the distressed Queen wore a simple white robe, her hair undone and her hands and arms wrapped upward in a hanging white cloth in the ceiling. In addition, a yellow silk cloth covered her upper body down to the lower body, which served as a tunnel to her birth canal. With beads of sweats coming out from her whole body due to labor pains and controlled yelps, Dong Hee called two nurses to assist the Queen's head, and they stuffed a white cloth in her mouth.

"Nurses, place those trays on the table and leave. Her Grace has a weak immunity to diseases. Stay outside the door, and I shall call you if I need assistance," Dong Hee ordered. The nurses placed all their trays with different birthing equipment and herbal medicines on a long table near the Queen's bed and left.

"It is time." Dong Hee went into the yellow cloth and checked the baby.

"Push!"

A muffled scream came out from the Queen's mouth. "Again, Your Grace. Push! I can see the head already!"

The delivery did not last excruciatingly long. With just a couple of screams, the first twin was born. Dong Hee held the baby upside down, spank its butt, and a loud cry was heard all over the chamber. She wiped the blood around the baby and put it in a maroon silk cloth with the baby's name embroidered on it. It was a cloth that was pre-made by the Queen months before for her babies.

Dong Hee handed the baby to the Queen. "Here you go, Your Grace, your handsome firstborn prince."

The Head Nurse smiled, removing the stuffed cloth from the Queen's mouth.

The Queen's heart fluttered in joy. She felt like she was soaring above in the endless sky. Words were not even enough to describe how joyful she was. Holding the small hands of the baby, she looked at his small eyes, and a tear flowed from her left eye. "My Prince, you have no idea how happy I am to finally see you," she softly uttered.

"What is his name, Your Grace?" Dong Hee asked.

The Queen smiled and gazed sweetly at her baby. "Sae Joo, his name is Sae Joo and like a bird, he will soar high above the clouds and will become a great person and a great ruler."

"Prince Sae Joo, what a great name, Your Grace. Let me have him first, please. I will wash him up."

The Queen handed the baby to Dong Hee, and she rested back, waiting for her next baby to come out. Carrying the baby, Dong Hee left the Queen's birthing chamber. She walked shortly in the corridor, checking if there were people who could see her. Confident that no one was around, she entered another room shortly. When she came out after some minutes, she was already pushing a cart covered with white cloth. She went through the back of the pavilion and saw many palace guards and hwarangs guarding the whole vicinity. Strolling the cart towards the exit, two guards blocked her and asked to open the cart. "It is the Prime Minister's order. Open the cart for inspection." Her hands quivered in apprehension, and she avoided eye contact with them. The guards opened the cart and found compartments filled with assorted color cloths, tea leaves, fresh green herbs, and some seeds.

"Remove the first layer!" one of the hwarangs ordered.

Dong Hee's eyes grew wide as she slowly lifted the first layer. The hwarangs knitted their eyebrows as they noticed her slow and nervous movements. When the first layer was removed, the second compartment full of acupuncture needles were exposed.

"This is all!" Dong Hee claimed

The two hwarangs looked at each other. "All right, cleared!"

A heavy sigh escaped from her lips, and she continued pushing the cart while remembering what the King had said about those vigilant guards and hwarangs. She paused and was bothered because the whole palace seemed to be on high alert. She did not expect what she saw. There were hwarangs on every corner of other pavilions. There were troops roaming around back and forth as if they were in a military training ground.

She resumed pushing her cart up to the south gate. It was one of the smallest gates in the palace, with relatively lesser guards. This gate would lead to the shortest route to the Noble Village, where a lot of high-ranking palace official lived.

Seeing two guards with their spears crossed, blocking the gate, she raised a brow and grimaced, thinking that it must be another checkpoint. However, as she approached closer to the gate, the two hwarangs uncrossed their spears, making her pass freely.

What? Why are they letting me pass easily? She felt strange but chose to ignore it thinking that the second twin might come out from any minute.

Without turning back, she pushed carefully, passing through the houses of the nobles. Some guards outside the noble houses cast a quick glance at her because of her strange actions. One guard even called her attention and asked what was inside the cart.

"Excuse me, it is late already. What are those?"

"Oh, these are just some tea leaves and wine for the Lords," she replied, smiling weakly.

"All right. Take care." the guard yawned.

When she was in an ample distance away from the eyes of the guards and palace people, she went to a dark alley, removed the cloth and the two layers of the cart quickly, revealing the baby prince sleeping like a rock. The faint light coming from the shy moon illuminated the baby's small face.

"Thank Heavens for your cooperation, Prince... Now let us go before you get awaken."

While covering the cart, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw a silhouette that moved quickly to the corner of another alleyway behind her. Scared that someone might be following her, she gathered her strength and thrust the cart away quickly. The ground rumbled as the wheels hit some stones and rocks with force. Upon reaching a branched road, she drifted to the right quickly and continued with elevated speed. She paused when she felt her heart trying to devour her chest.

"Goodness! I hope that went well." She looked around while catching her breath and saw nothing.

After some time, she arrived at Dae Wong's house, which was guarded by yellow-group hwarangs outside a tall, wooden gate and brick walls. She announced her presence, and the hwarangs let her in, revealing a wide bungalow-type house with intricate, Tang Dynasty designs. She continued pushing the cart slowly down the cobblestone courtyard while looking at the beautiful garden landscapes. She asked permission to enter the house, getting the baby inside the cart. Stepping on a few steps up, she walked down the porch and stood at the door. She slid the door, and a distressed King wearing a black robe and woven black hat, walking back and forth repeatedly, welcomed her sight.

"Sire, here is the first-born prince. His name is Sae Joo." Dong Hee handed the baby to the King.

Jae Joong gasped in delight, "Dong Hee!"

His eyes brightened, and he quickly approached her. His heart melted upon holding the baby. "Is this real? Am I really holding my son?" Jae Joong's body was trembling in extreme joy.

"Indeed, Sire. However, I really need to go back. The second twin might come out any minute from now."

Jae Joong nodded. "Dong Hee, remember our plan." his joyful eyes turned serious in an instant.

"Yes, Sire." Dong Hee softly replied and bowed her head.

When Dong Hee turned around, she paused as she remembered the strange thing that had happened a while ago. Then, she reported the strange incident to the King.

"Sire, I noticed something strange a while ago. The guards in the south gate let me pass without doing an inspection."

"What? That was indeed strange. Do you think you were tailed?" Jae Joong's eyes narrowed.

"I am not certain, Sire. I saw a moving shadow behind me while I was at an alley checking the prince."

Jae Joong gritted his teeth. "Listen to me. You have to re-route. Perhaps, the Prime Minister was thinking that I would entrust the babies to Minister Dae Wong through you. Of course, he might be thinking that you will pass through the south gate to get here because that is the shortest route to his house. That is the probable cause why those two hwarangs let you pass. He wants to install panic into us. Now, we must not get affected!"

"Where shall I re-route, Sire?"

"Hmm, when you go back to the palace, pass through the southeast gate. That is the most ideal path because it is relatively nearer compared to the other gates, but it will still take time. Your travel time back to the palace would be longer so you need more speed."

"All right, Sire... but I have a question. Will I be able to reach the Ojin Hill faster through the southeast gate?"

"What about the Ojin Hill? It is quite far from here."

"I am planning to meet my husband and my sister-in-law there together with your..." she paused and looked down.

"I see." The King sighed.

He continued, "Unfortunately, no. The Ojin Hill is relatively close to the south gate, but it is more dangerous passing there considering that you will carry my second son. Passing through the southeast gate would take you around thirty more minutes, compared passing through the south gate, but I believe that it will be safer."

"All right, Sire. I will pass through the southeast gate."

"Off you go, take care of... my son."

When Dong Hee left, the King ordered everyone in the house to get ready, planning to leave the minister's house. He woke his nephew and his royal matron who were both sleeping in the same room.

"Sire... What is happening?" Jung Min yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"No questions, Jung Min. We are getting out of here!"

Jung Min's eyes widened upon seeing the baby on the King's arm, and it seemed like his drowsiness disappeared. "Who is he?" he rose.

"Oh, say hello to your cousin. His name is Sae Joo." the King smiled.

"May I touch him, Sire?"

"Yes, of course, my nephew."

Jung Min held the baby's hands and kissed its forehead. "Sae Joo, please grow up fast. I want to have a little brother and a friend." Jung Min smiled.

"Congratulations Sire for your heir." Lady Seo smiled and bowed her head.

The King looked awkwardly at her and chuckled. 

__________