Days flew by, the investigation of the men that were also chasing Eun Chen was still ongoing, the Queen had finally announced that a duel will be taking place, she had announced it to the whole assembly and it will soon be gossiped and will be talked about by the people of Gwengochan. " The duel will take place next month", she said , she was obviously not happy about this, Lee Kwon stood at the center of the hall where all eyes were on him, Eun Chen stood by the side like the rest of the onlookers , " if you lose in this duel that you presented yourself, you will be striped off the King's name and you will therefore be banished from Gwengochan", , everyone looked up at the up at the Queen surprised at the decision, Seugh min and Min yu looked up at their mother then looked at Lee Kwon with eyes telling him that he should not take on this duel but Lee Kwon didn't look at them , Eun Chen stared at Lee Kwon , she had stayed here long enough to know that the Queen was cruel that was why she was no longer surprised, he also didn't look surprised instead he looked up at the Queen , " don't worry , I will make sure to win this , so cheer up for me when that day comes", he said as he stood up , still maintaining eye contact with the Queen who was literally tearing herself apart inside as if he was taunting her, " so ra...., let's go", he said , Eun Chen nodded as she walked over to Lee Kwons side as they both walked away while everyone stared at them this time he didn't ask permission from the Queen before he left, he didn't bother looking at the King because he was a coward.
Days went by and training became more vigorous , they had only a month, so they needed to up their game, am amateur of no experience wielding a sword for the first time, going over to fight a duel, it was indeed ,laughable at night they were master and pupil training all night long , in the morning they were just a young master and his maid. He trained in martial arts improving both his reflexes, flexibility and agility, they always trained at the back of his house in the garden, a perfect spot at night, where no one came except for him, it was his peaceful spot where he studied and never had any disturbances except if he called for any of his maid, but the overall fact was that no one was allowed to come in here without his permission except for Eun Chen .
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" We don't have a sword so we will make use of these sticks", said Eun Chen throwing a stick towards Lee Kwon which he caught, " take a stance , make sure it is firm just like I have taught you", said Eun Chen , Lee Kwon nodded taking a stance , " we are going to go slowly, any direction my stick faces , your stick also faces, you will hit my stick in any direction you see my stick facing", said Eun Chen , Lee Kwon nodded , Eun Chen ctick was pointed at her right shoulder and that is where he hit the stick, he did the same with the left shoulder, than her left lleg then right leg, " don't make your movie predictable , don't depend only on your sword, make use of your limbs, now I will charge onto you and this time it will be faster, try to predict my next move", she said without giving Lee Kwon a chance , she rushed over to him with her stick and they began the stick combat. Lee Kwon was partially and successfully dodging her attacks untill she made a swivel spin and hit him at the side of his neck making him fall to the ground, " ahhhhh...", Lee Kwon grunted as he rubbed his bruised neck, " gosh, that really hurt", said Lee Kwon. " Keep your stance , read my movement, predict my move", extending her hand for him to grab which he took hold of, but she used her stick on her other hand and flogged him on his wrist.
Lee Kwon immediately removed his hand from her grasp, rubbing his wrist as he looked up at her , both frustrated and annoyed, but you could tell she did not care how frustrated and annoyed he was , infact it looked like she took delight in his frustration and annoyance , " don't trust anyone", she said dropping the stick on thee floor, this time she sincerely wanted to help him up, but he took one good look at her hand and just got up without taking it, Eun Chen smiled in satisfaction, " you have learnt well my pupil " , she said , her eyes darted off to his neck, she had really hit him hard that the bruise on his neck was red and swollen, she stepped close to him, Lee Kwon was shocked at this sudden movement that he backed away, " your surprise attacks will make me bleed very soon ,let's just pause for today huh.....", in a kind of scared voice , she was just so unpredictable, he didn't know when she will act on again, his action made Eun Chen to almost burst out laughing, " relax...., no more surprise attacks", said Eun Chen as if she was trying to assure him, " then ....why are you coming close to me?", asked Lee Kwon still backing away, " tsk ....., you are being dramatic,.....you have a bruise on your neck, I want to check it out", said Eun Chen, Lee Kwon placed his hand on the bruise, " of course there will be a bruise, do you know how hard you struck me", said Lee Kwon rubbing his bruised neck, " you will be more scarred during the duel, eventhough you feel the pain , don't relent ", she said , " let's end it here today, Maidservant Park have been asking where you and I go every night, I have ran out of things to say", said Eun Chen as she began walking away, Lee Kwon looked at the stick on the floor picking it up, he smirked at the idea he just had, " hey master", called Lee Kwon, an unsuspecting Eun Chen turned around to answer her master when out of the blue, there was a smack on her forehead, it was unsuspecting, it was out of the blue, it was a surprise attacks, " Master, I did it, I att...", he stopped the remaining words from coming out when he saw that he had scratched her forehead and now it was bleeding, he dropped his stick to the ground in surprise, Eun Chen slowly reached over and touched her forehead, she looked at her hand , then looked up at Lee Kwon who looked like he was ready to run away with the fear of getting killed , Eun Chen eyebrows were raised as she walked close to him, " blood?", she said in this low and surprised voice , without wasting anytime Lee Kwon immediately knelt down, " I'm sorry teacher, it was foolish of me to strike you without your notice, please forgive your foolish pupil", he said bowing his head, but instead of Eun Chen striking him the way he had expected, she gently placed her hand on his shoulder, Lee Kwon body be amen stiff, was this another surprise attacks, was she going to hit him, " you are doing well my pupil", she said calmly, this time her voice wasn't that of a commanding general , it sounded like someone who was genuinely proud of him, he looked up and for the first time he saw her smile warmly, if not for the fact that blood was trickling down from her head, she looked like a crazy person, Lee Kwon stood up and without warning , he pulled Eun Chen for a hug, Eun Chen was shocked at this sudden hug, " hey...."," thank you for believing in me master, don't worry I will not disappoint you....", he said as he hugged her tighter with a smile on his face , Eun Chen scoffed, " I will let this slide just for today, I will let it slide", she said with a smile as she gently began patting his back, accepting his embrace.
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Eun Chen and Lee Kwon were talking while coming out of the garden , Lee Kwon was rubbing his bruised neck while Eun Chen was stepping on her tip toes to take a glance at the bruise but Lee Kwon kept telling her that it wasn't that big , all of a sudden they both stopped at their tracks, looking at the person who stood in front of them, " Min yu", said Lee Kwon quite surprised, Eun Chen immediately bowed her head to the crown prince, Min yu looked at Eun Chen then looked at Lee Kwon, " what happened..., both of you are bruised", said Min yu suspiciously looking at both of them, both Lee Kwon and Eun Chen looked at each other then at Min yu, " oh....., young master Lee Kwon was...um.... stargazing and I really wanted to see the stars so he took me there, but as we were walking,I...., " you tripped and you hit your head", said Min yu with one eyebrow raised expecting that response from her, ".....on a rock", said Eun Chen completing her sentence, knowing that her lie wasn't convincing, Min yu heaved then looked at Lee Kwon, " then what about you?,...., did you also trip and fall , is that how you got bruised?", asked Min yu sarcastically, Lee Kwon looked at Eun Chen who codedly grabbed the hem of his cloak, giving him a type of warning that he shouldn't say anything stupid, " I was ....just...um.... practicing my pain resistance level, like how well I can endure pain", said Lee Kwon, " but you just said you went stargazing?", said Min yu more suspicious, " I did that as we stargazed", said Lee Kwon knowing what he said made absolutely no sense, Min yu sighed, " um...., what brings you here at this hour", asked Lee Kwon immediately changing the subject, " I wanted to tell you something", said Min yu. From his face you could tell it was pretty serious.
Lee Kwon was curious of what his brother had to say, " what is it?", asked Lee Kwon curiously, there was silence for a while , Min yu finally spoke , and what came out from his mouth was truly unexpected, " I will train you", he said, both Lee Kwon and Eun Chen stood there unable to speak as they were both surprised at what he just said, " Min yu, you can't be...", " I am serious, let me train you , I know I am defying the palace rules, but it is much better than for me to see my brother die while fighting", he said walking up to Lee Kwon, " let me brother, I and Seugh min really want you to be part of this family, let me help you", he said, you could tell he was being sincere, the eagerness in his voice told him he really wanted to do this , Lee Kwon after a long moment of thinking and staring finally he nodded in agreement to his brothers request.
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" Your brothers love you more than I thought", said Eun Chen applying some medicinal herbs on his wound, " that love still comes at a cost, when the Queen finds out of what he wants to do , he will be in a lot of trouble", said Lee Kwon , Eun Chen finally finished treating his bruise as she stood up, " if he decides to help you, he should bear it", said Eun Chen as she was about to leave but Lee Kwon took hold of her hand surprising her as he stood up, " what .....what is it?", she asked quite flustered at his sudden approach , he came closer to her and softly shifted a few strands of her hair away from her forehead revealing a small scar, " it must hurt", he said looking down at Eun Chen , that is when he realized that they were so close , it was right at this point for him to move away, but it felt his legs could not move at that point, Eun Chen was also stranded for heregas could not move, unlike Lee Kwon, half of her concentration was in the man standing so close to her, while the other half was how to get out of this situation, she felt it will be akward to just walk away with his hand still on her hair and their closeness , Lee Kwon moved closer to her , this time her trance was broken as she pushed him away, startling Lee Kwon and also breaking off his trance.
" I will put some medicine on it, so go rest up young master", she said bowing her head and immediately leaving the room, as soon as she closed the door behind her, she felt her cheeks flush red, "what was that back there?, maybe the impact of the hit is affecting my functions, I have been feeling dizzy for a while now , maybe that is what is happening", she said assuring herself.
Back at Lee Kwon room
" I am truly insane , why...., why did I stand so close to her like that, I must really be an idiot", he said to himself, he felt his heart pounding tremendously in his chest, " this wasn't right", he said to himself as he covered his face with his palm in embarrassment.