Maidservant Park forcefully and loudly placed a bowl of food on the table before Eun Chen who jolted to the noise that she made when placing the plate, scowling at Eun Chen who looked away, " eat all these up , I am doing this for young master and not for you , he said I should take good care of you ,.....tsk...., I can't believe this , I have raised him since he was a baby ....., but I never knew he had this house but he just met you a few months back and now you are practically living in the house", she said in frustration while Eun Chen looked , she didn't know she could act this way, she could be respectful, " sit down now and eat , I don't know what is going on but I hope young master Lee Kwon is not in trouble because of you", said Maidservant Park as she left, a deep frown still settled on her face , Eun Chen looked at the plate of rice , seaweed soup and braised beef but for some reason she had no appetite eventhough she was hungry , she still had no appetite, thinking back at what Lee Kwon had told her last night .
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Still hugging her so close his hands settled on her waist while one of her hands were on his shoulder softly tapping his back, " what if I move it up", he said softly, Eun Chen tilted her head quizzically departing from his warm embrace but they were still close to each other , " what if I move the duel to the day after tomorrow", he said , " what nonsense are you saying , you have untill next week, why move it to a day after tomorrow?", she asked , " I am no longer dueling for my sake , I am now dueling for your sake , you saw the Queen how she is , she will go at any length just to put me down , I don't want you to be a weapon for her manipulation", he said seriously, Eun Chen backed away, " you can't ....., we haven't trained enough, I wasn't even sure if I could teach you all my skills in a week ,...now you are telling me you want to move the date ,...no...no, you will not do it , I won't let you", she said shaking her head adamantly, her eyes pleading for him not to do it, Lee Kwon gave her a light smile but his eyes looked sad as he stood up from the edge of the table he was previously sitting, coming close to her , " the longer you stay here , the more dangerous it is, the Queen is a lunatic ,I don't want to put you at risk , let me fight , I am not asking you as a maid or someone who is close to me, I am asking you as my master and teacher ...,let me do this ", he said, you could tell he really meant it , his eyes was full of determination and confidence.
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She heaved continuously till she heard his voice , " looks like someone hasn't eaten yet but stubbornly insists on thinking ", said Lee Kwon with a half smile on his face , his body leaning on the door frame while Eun Chen looked at him and heaved once more.
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It was already night , both Lee Kwon and Eun Chen sat in front of the fire they had mede , the weather was chilly so Lee Kwon had drapped his coat on Eun Chen shoulders as they both stared at the consumable flames , the heat warming them up, Lee Kwon looked at Eun Chen who was staring blankly at the flames , he knew she was thinking, thinking about what he said to her the other day, he sighed, " what is it,. ...., did Maidservant Park scold you again", asked Lee Kwon jokingly trying to light up her mood but she did not respond, he knew that she wasn't happy about his decision to move the date but all he cared about was her safety, he looked over at her, a soft smile on his face ,he held her hand gently , Eun Chen looked down on his hand which was holding hers then she looked up at him curiously, " close your eyes for a second ", he said in an assured tone , Eun Chen tilted her head a little but meeting his assuring gaze and soft smile she finally closed her eyes , Lee Kwon chuckled softly putting his hand inside his robe , he brought out something and wore it on her hand , Eun Chen opened her eyes and gazed down on the object that had been given to her , she saw it was a bracelet, it was that of silver and in the middle of the bracelet had a white polished stone , Eun Chen looked at Lee Kwon in confusion , Lee Kwon smiled looking up at the moon, " you once told me you never had a better view of the moon , now ....., you don't have to bother about that ", he said , " what you are wearing is a lunar bracelet, when it is night and the moon is out , the energy of the moon gives it light", he said looking at Eun Chen . Of course she didn't believe him , he softly held her hand in his as the clouds foreshadowing the moon blossomed in the midst of the dark night , it's brightness , a pigment to the dark night , as soon as the light beamed so did the stone , Eun Chen looked at it unbelievably, then she smiled and then drop of tears fell, never had anyone been this considerate of her, never had she felt this vulnerable to anyone, " don't forget me ,....", he said softly, his gaze so soft , " I have prepared everything for your escape , once you get over Gwengochan walls ,A carriage will be waiting for you, it will take you to Gwengochan sea port , the dhip will be leaving for Cha Yeon tomorrow by midnight ", he said placing his hand softly on Eun Chens cheek , " all the resources you need are there ,..., you will start a new life faraway from here , he said still caressing her cheek.
She held his hand with hers , " you too,.....don't forget me , but I want you to move on with your life , the same way I will move on with mine , tomorrow is the last day I will be seeing you and the possibility of us ever seeing each other again is impossible ,so...., don't force yourself to keep me in your memory because I won't force myself to keep you in my memory", she said . Lee Kwon smirked, he used his other hand to rest her head on his shoulder which she willingly obliged , " my master is still very cruel ....., you know how persistent and stubborn I can be right , so ..., you know all you just said I won't do that", he said, there was silence for a while, " there is still a possibility we will meet again, fate has its way of doing things , eventhough we end up seeing each other again only once in this life time I will be okay with it, seeing you doing well, I will be okay Eun Chen", he said calling her name softly, " Ji yoo" she said raising her head from his shoulder as Lee Kwon looked at her , " my real name is Ji yoo ", she said with a soft smile immediately captivating him, as he also responded with a smile , " okay...., Ji yoo", he said softly.
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A theory once stated that death was the easiest way to escape reality , it was a cowardly excuse for one not to hold up to their sins , people were never afraid of the word "death", they were just scared of the circumstances that happened before death, how brutal , how cruel the torture, the punishment or sacrifice one would face , it just so happen to say that death was inevitable no matter how hard you try to escape from it , it always comes.
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Six hours to the duel
I na was pacing around, her hand on her belly , she looked worried, her eyes were red , it looked like she had been crying, Seugh min came in a rush , it looked like he had ran all the way just to meet her, " I na , what is wrong, why...", he stopped when he saw she was at the verge of tears , " Seugh min.....I....I am pregnant", she said as she couldn't take it anymore as she began to sob , Seugh min was left wide eyed , he couldn't speak, he couldn't move , all he could do was stare at her in shock, I na looked up at him expecting him to say something but he didn't, was he planning not to take responsibility?, was he planning to abandon her?, of course she should have seen this coming, how will a royal be interested in a maid like her , she fell for his charm now he was going to leave her , this was so embarrassing, she clenched her first, she was just used to pass over time till his family found him a bride , she was so foolish , as the remnants of tears fell she turned away to leave , but she felt someone grab her softly by her wrist and pulled her into a warm embrace, " and where do you think you are going huh..., why are you crying , didn't we trust this, I said I would take responsibility for anything that happens to you, do you think I will abandon you ", he said as he finally pulled away from her looking at her tear streamed face , " that baby in your womb is mine , it's ours , it is not something to be sad about , we are meant to celebrate this , wipe your tears away", he said softly as he wiped her eyes with his thumb giving her a soft and gentle smile , his smile was always contagious, any hard feelings one had by just looking at him, all negative feelings melted away, only warmth could be felt , she gave him a soft smile as they both embraced each other , she was wrong , this man right here truly loved her .
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Six hours to the duel
Lee Kwon was in a room, in the house his father had gifted him, wearing a black robe , he tied it up then he sighed , it will soon be time , the event that would change his life forever, he suddenly heard someone clear her throat , he turned and saw Eun Chen at the door side , he smiled softly as she walked towards him , Lee Kwon looked at her with an expression that asked how he looked but Eun Chen didn't give him any answer she just stared at him blankly, Lee Kwon tilted his head a little coming close to her , " why,....do I look bad , you are looking at me like I have something on my face ", he said comicly , but Eun Chen didn't say anything, still looking at him , she walked closer to him wrapping her hand around his waist , she was getting bolder and bolder but Lee Kwon liked it, he hugged her back with a half smile on his face , " why ,....are you worried", he asked comicly , " I never knew I will be a fool for a man but I guess I became a fool because I am with a fool", she said ungrasping from him and looking at him , " today is the last day we are seeing each other ,....", said Eun Chen , Lee Kwon looked at the door of the entrance, the door was closed, he had sent Maidservant Park on an errand that means the house was generally empty , only him and this woman were here, he smiled softly and without warning he lifted her off the floor , Eun Chen who was already expecting it wrapped her hands around his neck as he sat her down on the table , his hands placed on each side on the table caging her almost in a cute manner then he leaned in so close to her face with a soft yet flirty smile, " why ..., what do you want to do?, .....I am not asking as my master, but....as a woman", he said softly Eun Chens face was flushed red , he was too bold , overly bold , she curled her toes looking at him, " last minute training", she said killing all hopes that Lee Kwon was prying on but he didn't show it he just smiled uncaging her besides this was for her sake , " okay, let's go train....", he said already turning his back from her about to leave , all of a sudden Eun Chen took hold of his hand , just his thumb as she rubbed on it softly , Lee Kwon stood frozen to the ground , " you gave me something, so....., let me give you something....", she said , Lee Kwon felt something being placed on his hand then it was enclosed by her , Lee Kwon turned back to her and saw that a dagger had been placed on his hand , the same dagger she had threatened him with several times , he smiled softly while clenching it tightly, he raised his other hand and gently patted Eun Chen on her head, " I will make sure I win today, I promise", he said sincerely and seriously .