"What are you? Your energy's different." Hwarang remarked and he saw her head lower in what seemed to be dismay.
"How can you feel energy if you're human? What are you?" She queried instead.
"You promised you wouldn't ask and I can't tell you either. This will be my secret and it's fine if you don't want to tell me what you are either." He said clenching his teeth softly as he looked away from her.
"Oh it's alright, I won't force you to spill." She said, not retaining any judgemental look in her green eyes.
"My mother was a Mage." He heard her say and he gradually whipped his head to the side to meet her green eyes which retained a flicker of sorrow in it.
"Baekje and Goryeo kingdom have been enemies for almost a decade. Was it..." He trailed off.
"No, it wasn't a forbidden love affair. Baekje and Goryeo haven't always been enemies. They got married, but she died." She explained, shaking her head softly as if reliving the bitter memories of her mother's death.
He would console her, but he couldn't. He had no warmth or emotion or even a hint of affection residing in his empty soul, so instead he watched her in silence as she blinked back the tears that filled the brim of her forest green eyes.
Silence ensued between them as they sat in the pond. She couldn't see but he knew she was well aware of his presence, she just didn't want to speak.
"Why are you still here in Silla?" Hwarang blurted out in curiosity.
"My Father came to see the King. He actually came to ask for his help." She replied, a sad smile faltering on her lips.
"Help?" He queried with creased brows.
"The Goryeo kingdom are preparing to go to war against us and..my father accepted their proposition for a war." She explained, swallowing softly in anxiety.
"Why would he do that knowing they're much powerful, and if he accepts it then Silla can't intrude in your kingdom's war." He said with a scoff of disbelief.
"Aissh this is so annoying. I told him not to accept the proposal but he's just too stubborn, now our kingdom might end up in ruins." Her voice alleviated in desperation as she bit the knuckles of her clenched fist.
"We might be able to help if the king approves to aid him in the war, but I doubt he'll dispatch his precious Hwarangs to assist your kingdom in the war." Hwarang pointed out. It was true the King of Silla valued the Hwarangs more than his own children and was rather desirous when it came to them.
Her eyes widened with hope on hearing his words.
"That'll be great, any help at all would be very much appreciated. I really hope he agrees to help or it'll be the end of our kingdom."
"Was it your Mother's death that fueled the rivalry?" Hwarang asked.
"She was the former Mage king's daughter and when she died they suspected a Fae and demanded my Father to bring the culprit for punishment but my Father didn't capture the culprit, so they assumed he was covering up the criminal and that's how the rivalry began." She explained.
He was about to say something until his eyes met Master Zhong's figure standing on the bridge intersecting the pond with arms crossed behind his back watching him intently.
Fuck! Master Zhong was sure to give him an earful seeing him with the Fae princess.
But he would be right, after all it was against the Hwarangs code to get married, so he wouldn't want him to get bound before it would be too late to disentangle.
"I have to leave." He said instantly as he sprouted up on his feet and a small smile crossed her lips leaving him dazed for a second but he quickly composed himself aware of Master Zhong's fixated gaze on him.
"It has something to do with your secret energy, right?" She said with a mischievous smirk on her face.
"Goodbye princess Nari." He said with a hard voice. It was time to say goodbye, he was aware of her already being a distraction to him and making him crave normalcy, something he had buried.
Their fates were a gaping disparity from one another, they lived in different worlds and their worlds weren't meant to merge together, it was meant to be distant, she didn't belong in his dark world, and he didn't belong in her innocent one.
"Why do I feel like you're saying goodbye...forever?" Her small voice faltered with sadness swirling in her green eyes which looked darker from lack of light.
He stared at Master Zhong for a second before averting his gaze back to her with ticked jaws.
"Because I am." He said, his voice was low almost a mutter reverberating under his breath but it was as unfeeling as a rock and cold as ice.
"You're a Hwarang." She blurted out, not with uncertainty but with confidence and his brows creased harder.
He couldn't deny even if he wanted to, the unwavering confidence she spoke with left him unable to deny it.
"How long have you known?" He queried, she still piqued his interest and he found it hard to leave even though he wanted to, he should.
"I felt your energy across the pond, it was unlike anything I had felt before and retaining immense power. Only a fool would have believed you were a mere human, I might be blind but I'm no fool." She snapped.
"I never said you were. Goodbye princess." He said nonchalantly and without waiting for a reply, he veered around and proceeded towards the bridge without looking back.
He felt like his chest was twisting pain fully with a dagger plunged inside of it, knowing he would never see those captivating green eyes of hers again after she left to her kingdom.
"I was bored, its nothing to worry about." He said to Master Zhong immediately he was close to him and proceeded to walk past him but he halted when he spoke.
"Nothing usually ends up to be something massive."
"It's nothing!" He hissed, anger burning in his black eyes.
"Right, and you're already angry that your fate with her is inconceivable." Master Zhong remarked with a nonchalant expression.
"I'm not!" He growled in a low but dangerous tone, black eyes peering at him.
"Your fate as an assassin is sealed. You cannot have a life with her, not now, not ever." Master Zhong said with a hard, clipped tone.
"I never said I could. I know better than anyone it's impossible to even dream about it." Hwarang said between gritted teeth, trying to retain his resolve to not look below where Nari sat in the pond but his resolve shattered when the wind blew past him carrying her enigmatic energy along with it.
His head tilted to where she sat, he could see a shallow sadness beneath the rings of her green eyes and his gaze lingered more than he anticipated it to.
"You're in love with her?" He heard Master Zhong's deep baritone voice and he instantly averted his gaze.
"I'm not! I've met a lot of women, what makes her any different?" He growled beneath his breath between gritted teeth, his black eyes darkening with a brewing storm swirling beneath it.
"How would I know? But its obvious you harbour feelings for her, and it never ends well, not with us. Monsters never have a happy ending." Master Zhong remarked.
"I harbour no feelings for her, I'd kill her without batting an eyelid." Hwarang said coldly retaining not a flicker of emotion in his black eyes.
"I didn't ask you to. Get to sleep or train, whichever makes you feel better." Master Zhong said before leaving him standing alone in the bridge.
He swallowed deeply before leaving, resisting the urge to steal a glance of her one last time before he left.
No matter how enchanted he felt or how captivated he was by her green forest eyes, it was time to live in his reality and awake from this daydream. His reality was a life sealed as an assassin, a monster with no heart and an empty soul.