CHAPTER 8:CONNECTED BY FATE

There was silence between the King and Lee Kwon , a servant came in and poured a wine inside a cup for the King, when the servant wanted to pour Lee Kwon a drink , Lee Kwon shook his head , the servant left while the King gulped down his wine, " you still don't drink", asked Jung yoo, " I only see drinks as something to relieve one from stress, pain and guilt, I don't have any of them , I don't have any of them, so what do you have father", asked Lee Kwon, the King dropped his cup down , " do you really want to duel over your birth right, you have never wielded a sword in your life , talk less of fighting", said the King worriedly, " father ...., all my life I have obeyed you, I have done everything you've asked if me since I was a child so I ask of you , just once obey what what I have to say, don't interfere ", said Lee Kwon

" The Queen has been looking for ways to get rid of you, don't give.......", " I know the Queen hates me to he point of wishing me death, but I don't care, I will still go for it", said Lee Kwon , the King heaved , " when did you become like this, when did you change like this, why have you been acting up since yesterday, is it because of the punishment, .......or because I didn't vouch for huh ...", you know I do all that to ensure you safety", said the King in a more worried and panicked voice, " I had always been like this , I just didn't know I was like this , I had always been like this after knowing that being daring is not stupidity, I just didn't know it", said Lee Kwon looking up at his father, " being daring is foolishness", said the King , " just live the unnoticeable lifestyle you used to live , why dragging for attention", said the King, this time annoyed, " your Highness, I am not seeking attention, I am doing what I choose to do, can't I do something different for once in my life, can't I for once distort the pattern you had created for me", said Lee Kwon, there was silence for a while , all of a sudden , the King in a swift move took hold of a sword from his guard sheath, and launched it towards Lee Kwon, Lee Kwon immediately dodged it by falling from his chair, " what are you ..." , before he could finish his statement, the King swung his sword at him, Lee Kwon dodged it once more, darting his face away, he looked up at his father but was met with the sharp end of the sword pointing at the ridge if his nose. "If you continue with your stubbornness I will strio you off my name", said Jung yoo yelling in anger, Lee Kwon looked unfazed, " you could barely dodge the attacks of the sword, you don't have a master to teach you, what are you.....", " I will rather due with some dignity at the dueling ground than live as a coward known as the unfortunate bastard of the King", yelled Lee Kwon , he looked at the sword, using his hand to swipe it out , he stood up to the surprise of the King, " tell the Queen to set a date of the duel and my opponents, I will train in my own way", said Lee Kwon, " how will you train without a master?, by reading books!", said the King, " you will be very surprised ", said Lee Kwon turning around to leave , " if you made up your mind, I won't stand for you against the Queen, and if you loose, .....you will be banished from Gwengochan fir the rest of your life ", said the King threatening him, hoping to change his mind, Lee Kwon scoffed and turned to the King, " did you ever stood up for me?, I was never expecting you to stand up for me , just wait for that day, relay my message to yhe Queen, if she doesn't want more rule breaking concerning the palace", said Lee Kwon as he left, climbing his pavement, he saw Eun Chen who nodded at him in approval for what he had said to his father, while Lee Kwon also nodded at her in response .

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" If the Queen accepts the duel, that means it's for the intention to get you killed ", said Eun Chen strodding around with Lee Kwon, " she will bring in people more skilled , maybe past warriors or even bandits that are ruthless", said Lee Kwon stopping st his tracks causing Eun Chen to also stop at her tracks facing him," it means I have to start training as soon as possible whether she makes a decision or not", said Lee Kwon turning over to Eun Chen , " let's start training teacher", said Lee Kwon.

Eun Chen heaved then scrolled through his body, " if we must train, we must test your flexibility, agility and also ability, for someone who sits all day and reads, your flexibility is okay, I can say the same for your agility, but your ability is at a zero", said Eun Chen , Lee Kwon smiled , " that means we just need to focus on my ability", said Lee Kwon, Eun Chen folded her hands behind her back, " true,....., your ability needs more work, but even though your flexibility and agility is good, it will not be good enough for the battle field, you may not die but you will sustain a lot of fatal injuries", said Eun Chen coming near Lee Kwon, " how you dodged your father's sword, if it was with a younger and more experienced swordsman who fought how the King fought with you today,.....", Eun Chen placed her palm on his throat, " the first strike would slit your throat , the second strike .....",Eun Chen placed her hand on his shoulder, " would have slit your shoulder open", said Eun Chen, Lee Kwon was wide eyed placing his hand in his throat, " I would have actually died if he was not my father", said Lee Kwon looking at Eun Chen , "we will work on my flexibility and agility", said Lee Kwon, " you body is also impressive ", said Eun Chen , Lee Kwon smiled at her compliment, " you are really good at complimenting people, aren't you", said Lee Kwon , " it's just a fact I am stating, with how determined you are, teaching you may not be that much if a hassle ", said Eun Chen, then her eyes became more serious, " we also need to check in your reflexes ", said Eun Chen, " my reflexes?", said Lee kwon quizzically and without warning Eun Chen kicked Lee Kwon at the back of his knee making him to collapse on his knees . He looked up at her in shock, " always be prepared for anything , the enemy strikes when you keast expect, my definition of reflexes", she said , " stand up" she said her voice commanding, Lee Kwon stood up almost immediately and obediently wondering what she was up to again .

She took a stance , " you should always be able to predict your opponents next move , but don't let them know that you are trying to observe them", she said , Lee Kwon , Lee Kwon nodded and before he could blink Eun Chen slapped him hard , Lee Kwon was surprised at this sudden slap, Eun Chen smirked, " predict my move ", she said , she raised her hand to slap him again , but she raised her hand to slap him again, but Lee Kwon bent down causing her hand to fly over, thinking he had won but yo his surprise he felt another slap on his other cheek to his surprise once again, " predict my move", she said again, raising her hand again, Lee Kwon took hold of her hand, she immediately raised her other hand again, Lee Kwon caught hold of her hand once again, he smirked, Eun Chen also smirked, " you are getting the hang of it,.....but, I am sorry to disappoint you, with that using his knee as a base, just like she had done with the arrows in the forest , she swiftly kicked him on his chest hard sending him straight to the floor, Lee Kwon groaned and clutched his chest, while Eun Chen adjusted her hair after it had gotten messy from the flipping. Eun Chen smirked, " rest for today, the main practice begins tomorrow, have a nice day young master", she said bowing before turning back and leaving , Lee Kwon smirked as he lifted himself up , she truly lives up to her name.

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Eun Chen was sweeping outside of Lee kwons house when she felt a presence in front of her, she lifted her head up and saw Min yu Infront of her, she straightened up wondering what he was doing here, she lightly bowed her head, " young master is inside, I will make some tea for both of you ", said Eun Chen attempting to leave , " how is your hand?", asked Min yu , Eun Chen paused , was he worrying about her?. Her eyebrow was raised in a question, turning to min yu with a smile on her face , " my hand is better , your Highness, I soaked them in herbal water just like you asked me to", said Eun Chen.

Min yu nodded , " I'm sorry to ask your Highness but us that the only reason you are here, don't you want to see young master Lee Kwon.....?", asked Eun Chen , " I'm afraid I can't talk to him right now because I know he won't listen to me , so I want you to talk to him", said Min yu coming close to Eun Chen, but Eun Chen stepped back, Min yu stepped closer to her, " convince your young master not to push through with the duel", said Min yu, Eun Chen looked up at min yu meeting his intense gaze, they were so near each other , Eun Chen clenched her hands , Min yu, her arch nemesis , this was the chance for her to kill this man , but not now it was too risky , she felt her clenched hands release itself as she heaved , "I'm sorry to disappoint you your Highness but I have no say in the decisions my young master makes", said Eun Chen , " don't you pity him, he may die if he pushes through with that duel", said Min yu ., " for my master to make that decision, he know what he is doing and he is sure he won't due in the duel , I have faith in him and he has confidence in himself , anywhere he goes u go", she said frankly before bowing her head , " give me the permission to leave your Highness", she said bowing her head, after a long silence of waiting for another response from Eun Chen, but she wasn't giving in, he finally told her to go which she did, from a distance Lee Kwon watched all this as he smirked , who knew a hard assasin could be so defensive

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Eun Chen was cleaning Lee kwons room, his room wasn't messy just that his books were too disorganized, it was stressful packing them up, " he should read one book at a time , is he a child", she muttered in frustration, " you don't have to work so hard if you are just pretending", said Lee Kwon who was leaning by the door, Eun Chen who didn't surprised spoke still cleaning the table , " I hate being idle ", she said, there was a long silence before Eun Chen heard his footsteps coming closer to her, taking the hint , she got up and turned towards him, but her face met his chest as he gazed down at her, the tension became heavy, as usual his eyes hid many undefined emotions , " are you that confident I will win?", asked Lee Kwon finally, Eun Chen who was lost for some minutes blinked several times before shaking her head , thereby coming back to her senses.

" I am confident you will win because I am your teacher, no one has the skills to teach you better than me .....why?, are you chickening out?", asked Eun Chen, with one eyebrow raised quizzically, " of course not, I am just more motivated now that I have someone who believes in me ", said Lee Kwon , Eun Chen smiled softly for the first time ever, she was smiling softly which she had never done since she came here, " if you are feeling down let me lift your spirit, tonight I will give you your first initiation into being a strong man not bounded by his emotions", said Eun Chen, Lee Kwon looked at her quizzically , being a strong man?, what was she planning, what did she mean that tonight she will initiate him into being a strong man, what was she planning to do to him tonight?, could it be what he was thinking. " So ra ..., don't take it the wrong way but I am not that type of man, I am pure, won't it be weird for a teacher to suggest such to a pupil,said Lee Kwon frankly, " Eun Chen looked at him confused, " what ...?", she said confused, " you may not know since you you have lived off from civilization for almost all your life , but you just don't say that to any man , they may get the wrong idea", said Lee Kwon sincerely. Eun Chen was confused for some seconds before she finally understood what he was saying, her eyes grew wide as she pushed him away, " what kind of perverted mind do you have ?, said Eun Chen still shocked as she dramatically clenched her cloak on her upper body ," isn't that what you mea....", " shut up", " I mean we are both young, I am a good looking man and you are a good looking woman , so I understand the kind of vigorous spirit you have , but for now let's be teacher and pupil, if I in I will give you what you want", said Eun Chen with a smirk , Eun Chen scoffed, shocked at what he was saying, " you...you are really pervert, aren't you?, fine believe whatever you want to believe, I don't care", she said with anger and to Lee kwons shock she threw the rag she was using to dust the shelves and table on his face as she left the room furious, Lee Kwon removed the rag from his face as he smiled at the fact that she was furious.