Taehyung returned to the peach blossom manor and Shao Lan was nowhere in sight. This was to be expected. Maybe he had really scared the weak-hearted man.
The next day, Hyun stumbled on his way towards the crown prince with unrestricted excitement, upon seeing which, Yoongi could somewhat already guess what message he had wanted to deliver.
"As per your orders, the two generals have returned." Hyun beamed.
Yoongi unconsciously smiled but the smile, hidden behind the veil was seen by no one.
This was a certainly joyous occasion where the two generals or more like their two childhood friends whom they hadn't met for a whole year were finally returning.
"Where are they?" Yoongi asked in a calm voice, concealing his emotions.
Hyun smiled brightly, "General Jeon is resting in his manor recovering from the exhaustion. General Park is waiting outside for your highness."
Yoongi nodded, "I hope you served him tea."
"Yes, your highness. Herbal Tea and rare delicacies from the north have been served for the general."
"Good!" Yoongi stood up, "We don't want to make our guests feel unwelcomed."
Hyun frowned, "How can they be considered guests?"
Yoongi chuckled in turn. The two generals were certainly not some random guests, they were more like brothers who had returned home.
Hyun quickly led the crown prince to the place where General Park was waiting for him; gently sipping the fragrant tea, sitting with a dignified posture in a manner like that of a scholar. His light blue robes with eye appeasing designs flowing ever so slightly with the gust of the light breeze, engrosed in a scene that would elude elegance and grace; painting an image in one's mind, opposite to that of a general's who is accustomed to fighting in the front lines.
General Park looked up as he noticed the light footsteps approaching him and upon seeing the all too familiar black veil, he slightly smiled as he stood up to greet this 'long time no see' friend.
Why did he call him 'long time no see' friend?
Precisely because those were the first words this crown prince would utter whenever they met.
"Long time no see, old friend." Yoongi returned the greeting, "How have you been?"
"With the blessings of heaven, I am yet to kick the bucket." General Park chuckled, thinking in his mind; This friend of his hadn't changed a bit.
"And I wish those blessings to keep showering upon you."
General Park and Yoongi sat down at opposite sides of the table. The table was small and served on top of it were two cups of light pink colored herbal tea and delicious looking snacks on the side just waiting there, tempting someone to take a bite out of them.
"I hope the time you spent at the borders has been smooth sailing?"
"Luckily, your highness."
Yoongi nodded in satisfaction, quietly picking up the cup of tea and sipping at it.
The general looked up as if wanting to ask something but daring not to.
"With the heavens looking after us, I hope our country would remain this prosperous." Yoongi smiled, glancing at the face of the elegant youth, "When peace is achieved, the borders would no longer need you. I hope you can return home and stay here thereafter, resting for as long as you like; that's the prize I'm willing to offer as my gratitude."
General Park shook his head, "I dare not. Peace seems like a distant dream, at the moment. We had managed to fight off their armies till now but who can predict what lies in the unseen future? If the time comes when peace is no longer an option, I'll be more than happy to die for this country and its royal crown prince."
It was a satisfactory answer for most of the rulers who'd be glad to have such loyal subjects, however, for Yoongi, he was simply not pleased upon hearing it. 'To die for the country and its crown prince', he had heard this sentence a bit too many times. More than he would have liked or wanted to and sadly, most of the people who uttered this sentence were no more.
Yoongi knew the weight of these words, the responsibility they hid behind and that was why he had wanted to stop Park Jimin from becoming a soldier in the first place. Blood and fighting really didn't suit this elegant youth but surprisingly, he had a natural talent for it, so in times of the country's needâhow could he not employ him as a general?
Park Jimin came from a noble family, his father an official in the court, a trusted subordinate. Ever since he was born, he exuded an aura of tranquilityâa peaceful aura like no other, with a smile that could warm the hearts and souls of the people, and blessed with a face that could please everyone, men and women alike. To think that this elegant youth was a man capable of killing thousands in cold blood, it was really something unbelievably true. When adorned in iron armor and wielding a sword; the man would completely change. It was truly a sight to behold. With an elegant swing of the sword, the body of three would easily fall down as nothing more than headless corpses. He was a natural, a genius with unmatchable combat skills.
But that was not the reason he had become a general.
The real reason was even more unbelievable; it was because he wanted to accompany his childhood best friend through everything, even wanting to follow him to the afterlife.
This supposed best friend was General Jeon. A man born to fight on the battlefield, son of a general who gave his life fighting for this country.
Jeon Jungkook, a man who could only be explained as emitting an aura opposite to that of Jimin. Unlike Jimin who was like a gentle spring, he was much like a tsunami. Never taking off his Armor, this general always seemed like he came straight out from a bloody battle and was ever ready to slaughter more. With or without a sword, the pressure was no less; standing before him, anybody and everybody could feel the shivers; It was cold, as cold as the iron Armor he adorned. He was a strikingly handsome man with a slight proud smirk that was always present on his face, eyes with a piercing gaze, and a body that was well built with muscles accumulated from years of horrifying training.
"How is general Jeon?" Yoongi asked, taking another sip of the herbal tea.
Jimin smiled gently, "Like always. Cold. So cold that I'm afraid after death he would be cast out of hell for freezing it."
Yoongi chuckled, "Cold to everyone except you."
"Not at all!" The gentleness broke away and in its place came a childish whine, "He ignores me and makes fun of me!"
Yoongi shook his head, "Don't be so disheartened. We all know that you're the closest one to him. He's just a bit.... dense."
"Don't try taking his side." Jimin frowned, "Yesterday when we were coming back home, I asked him to marry me but he...."
"Did he laugh it off and pat your head?"
"He thinks I'm still a kid." Jimin huffed.
Yoongi had seen these two grow up with each other and as each year passed the love Jimin expressed towards Jungkook kept growing and growing till it was almost impossible not to notice it, however, Jungkook was a man with a dense brainâExtremely intelligent yet was blind to the love showered by Jimin.
This duo was just beyond the case where they could be helped.
"Look on the bright side." Yoongi advised, "Nobody except for you can handle him."
Jimin sneered, "Easy for you to say with your beloved beside you."
Yoongi blinked, "Beloved who? Speak clearly."
Jimin looked up, unable to mask his excitement. One of the things people, who knew him had known about him was that he, although seeming to be devoid of the world was actually a person very much interested in local gossips. From the dirty laundry of the officials to the catfights of the street, there was no gossip that did not fall upon his ears. Whenever he got an interesting piece of news he'd cling to it like a fish on a hook.
"Does your highness really not know the flying rumors surrounding you and the hostage prince?"
Yoongi shook his head, "I'm not a busy body like you."
Jimin seemed to be amused, "I don't believe it! Your highness roams the streets in your free time and loves listening to local gossip, am I wrong?"
Yoongi glared back at the General and this reaction seemed to further excite Jimin as he continued to tease, "I had always wondered why your highness hadn't found himself a royal consort yet. To think that this was the reason... Hehe... You have my blessing."
"Stop talking nonsense."
"Is this nonsense or is your highness too embarrassed to talk about your love affairs?" Jimin chuckled.
Yoongi took another sip of his herbal tea, "I do not need to justify myself."
Jimin, "So I can think whatever I want?"
"......"
Jimin tittered, "Hehe.. How is our future empress?"
"....."
"Can I go and meet him?"
"I refuse." Yoongi responded sharply, making Jimin frown in turn.
"Why does your highness have to be so afraid? I won't eat him."
Yoongi glanced at the face of the elegant youth, "You don't have a filter in your mouth."
"Aish! I'll have a filter. I won't say anything I shouldn't. I Promise." Jimin spoke up, "Can I go?"
"My answer is still no."
Jimin huffed, "Don't be so against. Isn't it good if he makes more connections with people, it might just aid him in the future?"
Yoongi looked up sharply, "Is having me not beneficial enough for him?"
Jimin looked up and stared at the face of this crown prince.
Such overprotective nature, just where did he get it from?
Was it from his father, the late emperor, who had only ever loved one woman in his life or was it from his mother's side? The former empress that sacrificed her own life for her son's?
"Hahaha... It's certainly a blessing for him." Jimin laughed, "but I can't let my heart rest in peace."
Yoongi gulped down another sip of the tea, "Why may that be so?"
Jimin tilted his head as he placed down the cup and sat up straight, "There is something that I've come to hear, it's a bit..... Worrisome."
Yoongi followed suit, placing his cup down and looked up in all seriousness, "What may it be?"
Jimin, "Your highness ordered a cleansing of the court?"
Yoongi's lips turned upwards, somewhat resembling a small smile that could not be seen by anyone, "Cleaning is always a good choice."
Jimin nodded, "It certainly is however on my way here, I heard some rather interesting things. Was this cleansing related to that young prince perhaps?"
Yoongi stared at the man, "I would not be repeating my words. Cleaning was needed so I ordered it."
"Hahaha... So it is related to him somehow. Your highness is crazy in love, it's as clear as day." Jimin was amused to see this cold-hearted friend care about somebody so much; so much that he wouldn't even talk about him.
"Get to the point."
"You churned up a storm, how can it not blow over? Be careful with him if you can, he's at a very vulnerable position right now."
Yoongi, "I know how to protect what's important to me."
"So sure of yourself. I hope your majesty does not end up regretting it."
Yoongi frowned, "Are you cursing me right now?"
Jimin chuckled, "I dare not. I dare not."
Yoongi looked at the man with a complicated expression.
In reality, he had already known that his decisions were sooner or later going to put Taehyung at risk but if he didn't make things clear early on, who knows what those foxes would be plotting behind his back.
As the crown prince who had to ensure peace in the country, he couldn't outrightly protect Taehyung, at least not without throwing his country awayâwhich he could possibly never do. The second-best option for him was to do everything slowly and that was what he was opting for, however, who could ensure victory? If something was to go wrong, would Taehyung not be in more danger? That was precisely the reason why he had called the two, most trusted generals, back to the capital.
With the protection of these two, Taehyung could be well-protected.
"Ah! I forgot to tell you, Jungkook caught somebody, he plans to test that man a bit. His name was Shao something."
"That's fine." Yoongi responded as he calmly took another sip of the herbal tea.
_________________________________________
A/n: Hi! First of all,
I'd like to thank you all so much for your support âºï¸ð
Every comment and vote I get from you overwhelms me so much.
I know the updates have been rather slowð
I love writing this book so much but I hardly get any time to because of college assignments and all.ðµ
But the good news is that I'm planning to have an updating schedule for this book.
I might post the schedule in the next chapterðð
Lastly, I'd also like to shamelessly promote my other bookð
It's my first original book(as in a non-fanfic)
Book title: What?! The gamemaster and the top player are dating?! [BL]
Written by: Cherlyswan.
It's posted on webnovel.
You can search up the name on google and should be able to find itð
Synopsis:
An online RPG has been released with the help of VR technology but that's not all; The game became an overnight sensation.
It became hit mainly due to its marketing strategy; whoever wins the game first would win a cash reward of 1 million dollars!!
To win the game you have to beat the gamemaster but who is the gamemaster and how can you beat him in his own game?
Huang Zhihao a.k.a., 'Mastermo' is a pro gamer who is looking forward to claiming that cash price but he soon realizes that his ambitions may be short-lived as he has no clue who the gamemaster might be, that is until one day; he befriends another unknown gamer who tells him that he'll help 'Mastermo' find the gamemaster and claims to already know the identity of that person.
What awaits our mc is a new world filled with adventure and maybe a possible romance?
"It was.....you??"
*******
If you find the synopsis interesting, please do check out the book.ð
If you do read it, please leave a review (I kinda need it) and if you do not like it, you can curse me all you want(lol this is a limited time offerð)
Once again,
Thank you for giving me your precious time.
Please stay healthy and safe in this pandemic ðð