"Pay respect to the high priestess who will summon the white tiger," The king announced; his voice was loud enough for everyone in the area to hear. "This young lady will be the answer to our problem! She will end the strife and unite the three kingdoms!"
Yuna and Min exchanged glances. Min just looked as confused as Yuna was. They did not even bother if the king of the palace was there to witness and punish them right at that moment.
The palace guards did a formal bow directed to them and yelled. "All hail to the High Priestess!"
What on Earth is happening?
A priestess?
Did they mean Yuna was the priestess?
Why?
What is their basis?
What did the king mean about being the priestess that will summon the white tiger?
"High Priestess," The king smiled at her and greeted her with a nod. "I am Yeon, the king of Goguryeo and I am so honored to meet you like this."
Honored to meet her?
Maybe honored to flog her? Or even worse, kill her from making a mess out of the prison cells and playing hide and seek with the palace guards?
So are they safe from the punishment now? But what does being a high priestess mean?
Song Yuna was so sure that it was her who was the high priestess that the king meant. After all, a priestess is a woman and not a man. It was definitely not Min, right?
King Yeon took a few steps forward, closing the distance between them. He looked at her in the eye, and so did Yuna. She could notice him still young even though he already had a son who was the same age as her.
The king must be in his late thirties if Yuna were to guess. He stopped right in front of Yuna and looked at her from head to toe.
"I already introduced myself, high priestess," King Yeon spoke with his low baritone voice. "Why don't you introduce yourself to us?"
Yuna tried to understand the whole situation, but her brain would not want to function anymore. She scanned the entire room, the palace guards, Min, and even the king.
The tension kept on rising. Yuna really wanted to wake up from this dream, but it was not that simple because she was not dreaming. Everything is happening in reality.
King Yeon took a few steps forward and leaned over to whisper at Yuna's ear. His low voice felt majestic and music to her ears, "I know that you are not from this period and world."
Yuna's eyes widened in shock when she heard what the king told her.
How come that the king knew she was not from this world? It was impossible. Only her, Min, and Rin knew about her identity as someone who did not live in this world!
As the king went to take a step backward and give both of them some space, he spoke. "I am not an enemy, but I was the main reason why you came here in the first place."
"W-what?!" Yuna yelled as she could not stop herself from doing so. "Then can you do something for me to come back to my world?"
"What insolence are you asking the king?!" One of the palace guards intervened with their conversation yet again. "It will not matter if you are the high priestess! We can not let you disrespect our king!"
King Yeon raised his arm yet again and looked at the side, making the palace guard bow in respect to Yuna. Even though he did not say any words, just his actions were enough to command the palace guards.
It must be nice to be a king. At least, every man or woman has dreamt about being a king or a queen in their life.
The king spoke in a soft voice and looked at Yuna in the eye. His stare was cold, "I asked you to introduce yourself to us first, High Priestess."
That line made Yuna shiver in fear.
The king definitely had authority. One wrong move would actually kill them both with Min. Yuna decided to take a deep breath as she became more nervous about dealing with the king.
"My name is Yuna," Yuna let out a small squeak. "Song Yuna."
"High Priestess Yuna," The king's aura suddenly changed when he smiled. "That is a beautiful name. The only way for you to come back to your world is to grant a wish of mine."
"The king's wish?" Yuna mimicked as she turned her head and looked at Min. Min was just looking at the king as he nodded at her, guiding her to trust the king. "What is your wish? And why was I chosen to be the High Priestess? Could it not be Min?"
King Yeon chuckled. It seemed like he already loosened his tense atmosphere. "The High Priestess is only you. It could not be someone else. If you summon the White Tiger, the ruler and protector of this kingdom for several decades, we will receive seven wishes from the sacred animal."
Yuna sharply exhaled as she kept her focus on the king.
He continued, "The Sacred White Tiger will grant seven wishes for our kingdom, and of course, you can have one wish for yourself."
That sounded like a great idea.
"But why do you think I will cooperate with you, King Yeon?"
"Because you will," The king smirked. "I was the one who called you here and you will have no choice but to cooperate with us if you wanted to go back to your own world."
King Yeon bent his upper body slightly and made eye contact with Yuna as he crossed his arms. "I might have to force you to cooperate with us, High Priestess. But I know that you do not want that."
The whole atmosphere tensed up again. Beads of sweat trickled down on Yuna's back as she became nervous getting caught up with the situation. Behind the elegance and politeness that the king showed to her was a man who wanted to dominate the other two kingdoms.
A smile plastered in King Yeon's face as he added, "As I already told you, I am not the enemy here but if you chose not to, then I might have to force you to do so."