Today marks the final departure of the monarch and his soldiers to battle in Daekharm Village. The queen still has a bad feeling about it and want to dissuade the king from fighting their own people, but she nevertheless shows her support for her husband and escorted him to the front palace.
    Gwi takes at least one hundred skilled soldiers to the northern frontier, where they will join other soldiers. When the king's entourage arrived at the frontier, they would launch an attack jointly. Gwi rushes immediately to his wife after completing all preparations to bid her a temporary farewell. While Siera bows her head in front of him, he intently observes the queen's expression.
   "Be careful, my king; I would wait here for you to return safely," Siera whispered gently. She doesn't lie about it, but she keeps a straight face while speaking to her husband.
    "Please be safe and healthy here as well," Gwi added as he stroked Siera's side arm. He's not sure why all of their greetings and time spent together lately feel so formal. Their behavior in front of each other does not appear to come from the heart. 
    "Your Majesty, please take Lyn with you," another woman's voice joins in, crying. Lyn is also present to express her respect and encouragement for Gwi, the silver-haired woman who is already in tears. She does not want Gwi to participate in the war.
    Siera casts a glance at the shorter lady standing between them; she continues to cry. The queen thinks she is being overly theatrical. She notices some court women exchanging glances and whispering to each other. Lyn's behavior is in stark contrast to Siera, who appears calm and composed despite her husband's leaving for war. People would infer that Lyn is the one who is concerned about the king, while his own wife seems unconcerned.
    The queen has heard some peculiar rumors going around the palace. Since the king brings Lyn to the palace, many have begun to speculate about their relationship. Many of them believe that the stranger woman is the king secret's sweetheart, while others worry whether Gwi is going to embrace Lyn as a concubine. After all, Siera is the direct descendent of Hwon's royal line. People say that a king descended from a commoner cannot have a concubine when the queen is the only royal blood present.
    But another rumor began to circulate, claiming that because the monarch was unable to acknowledge Lyn as his official concubine, he decided to bring her to the palace and live with him. A rumor led to another, claiming that the monarch brought her inside the palace because she was pregnant with his kid. Whether the story is accurate or not, it will cause quite a stir and an unsightly scandal. Fortunately, Catelyn and Thierry are working hard to keep the rumor from spreading further and to stop everyone from talking about it.
   However, seeing Lyn's behavior in front of the monarch causes many to make wild assumptions. Except for his wife, the king is not friendly to any lady around him. He usually had a stiff and very cold expression in front of any athor woman, no matter how lovely she was. However, he appears to be less chilly and more affectionate towards Lyn. It doesn't mean the monarch can't be friendly to another woman as his guest, but because this is the first time Gwi has shown a different attitude toward a woman, it's caused quite a stir.
   Siera believes that Gwi has heard the rumor about him and Lyn by now because Thierry has intervened immediately to stop the rumor from spreading further. However, there has been no word from the king to clearly explain his relationship with Lyn to the queen. Even though it is quite uncomfortable and causes Siera to develop her own assumptions, she continues to try to look on the bright side.
   If Gwi doesn't take the time to explain anything to her, it could be because the rumor is completely false. She assumes that Gwi has no special relationship with Lyn other than the need to protect her and provide her with a place to stay because of his attachment to someone of the same race. She wants to believe there is nothing else. 
   "Lyn, if you're crying like this, it makes me think you're saying goodbye for the last time. Do you wish I didn't return and win the war?" Gwi laughs as he sees Lyn's tears, as if he is about to lose the war. Lyn's demeanor in this situation is rather amusing to him.
   "Your Majesty, that's not all! I don't want to see the struggle lost. I'm crying because I won't see you for a long time and I don't have any friends here; can't you take me to Daekharm village as well?" Lyn says, with her most adorable yet sorrowful puppy eyes. Everyone who saw her would eventually feel sorry for her and want to cheer her up.
   "I can't. It's really too risky over there. And you wouldn't be alone here; it's an opportunity for you to make new friends while I'm gone so you don't feel lonely." Gwi says this while holding Lyn's shoulder and smiling at her.
   "I only need a friend who is..." Lyn doesn't finish her sentence as she turns eyes to Siera; she almost says that she merely wants to befriend Gwi, but the queen's dissatisfied gaze scares her. Gwi follows her lead and notices Siera, as well as the other individuals there, staring at them. He hurriedly pulls his fingers away, not wanting the rumor to spread further.
   "Anyway, I'll be back safely" Gwi finishes his conversation with Lyn and returns his gaze to Siera. He moves in closer, delicately touching the queen's cheeck. He wants to stay longer now that he has no choice but to leave. He carefully plans an unexpected kiss on Siera's forehead. For months, they had been ignoring each other and hardly showing affection to one another. As a result, his lovely kiss caught her off guard.
   "I'll see you later, my queen." 
    Siera feels an emptiness in her heart as the king's lip leaves her forehead and he pulls his hand away. She realizes how much she has missed his warm embrace and compassionate gaze. So, when the king climbs his horse and rides away, Siera can only look behind him to see who travels further with a bitter expression.
    Lyn, on the other hand, is envious of Gwi's loving treatment of his wife. Even though the king has always been friendly to her, she can sense a difference in his attitude toward the two of them. But she can't ask the king for extra attention or beg him to be good exclusively to her. After all, Siera is his wife, and she can't change that. Gwi's attitude toward the queen, as if it were a huge proof that he has nothing special with the female werewolf, makes Lyn uneasy.
  When the king's entourage arrives in Daekhram Village, they head straight to see the people. The king had attempted one more time to offer them a chance to remain as citizens of Hwong kingdom, and he would fulfill all of their life necessities if they accepted the monarch's support gracefully. But none of them want to hear the king; they have lost all faith in the monarchy and blame the king of murdering their family. As a result, they are willing to risk their lives to force the entourage out of their village. If they insist on remaining, they will not hesitate to kill them.
    "I would never leave if you didn't promise to take my hand," demanded the monarch. But the people of Daekhram laugh at his assertion, and some even spit to disrespect the king's name.
    "Then we'd kill you all. Strike!!" Daekhram's leader leads an attack and runs fearlessly towards the soldiers.
    The soldiers cannot begin to attack since the monarch has not yet issued an order; the closer the villager is, the more concerned the soldiers are because the king has remained mute. Gwi does not have enough will to assault the villager; instead, he gathers a large number of skilled soldiers to terrify the locals, causing them to gradually back down. But nothing went as planned.
  The Daekharm who rush to the battleground are not just fewer in number than the troops. They are not, however, the only men involved in the attack. People of various ages are involved, including the elderly, women, and children. They only have rudimentary weapons from their home, such as a knife, an axe, hoes, and a wooden spear. If they could think sensibly, they would not be able to combat the skilled soldier with their weapon and number, yet they approach the soldiers without fear, as if they are ready to die. Gwi's heart was broken by how much pain they had faced that made them feel they needed to take their lives rather than live in hell.
   "Your Majesty, we can't stay still any longer!" exclaimed the nearest soldier commander to the king.
   "Please remember to never harm women, children, or the weak," the king orders.
    Gwi dismounts from the horses, perplexing the troops. His move caused the warriors who had been on the horses to climb down, just like the king. Gwi takes a big breath and his eyes are filled with sadness.
    "Attack," he orders in a quiet, deep voice that only the commander can hear. He lacks the courage to battle the people of Daekhram Village, but he has no choice but to do so. As a result, he issues the command with a sad heart.
   "Attack!!!" The commander's piercing voice became a signal for the combat to begin. The soldiers hurry forward to fight back against the peasants, but Gwi stands motionless and sadly watches the battle. He is vehemently opposed to this happening.
   "Hiyaaaah!!" A woman appears at Gwi's the spot, lifts the wooden spear, and rushes towards the monarch. Gwi is well aware that he will be struck with the spear, which could endanger him, yet he does not move an inch.
    "Jleb!" However, the soldier is swift enough to protect the king and slay the woman with his sword in a single second. The king's heart grew heavier as the woman's lifeless body fell to the ground. He feels as if he is losing his breath.
    The combat lasted less than an hour, and the army won hands down. Even though the monarch has ordered that women, children, and the elderly be protected, what can the troops do if the people they are supposed to guard insist on killing them all without fear? Finally, there is no trace of the peasant who is still alive. Their lifeless body was discovered on the ground.
   Even if they win the fight, the soldiers are dissatisfied after watching the battle with their own people. Furthermore, as they observe the king's grief over the villager's death, they feel as if they had just slaughtered innocent people with the power they had. None of them are happy with the outcome of the war.
   "Your Majesty, what should we do with the corpes?" the commander inquires of the monarch.
    "Please treat them with kindness and carefully bury them all," the king orders. Gwi decides to leave the battlefield as the commander nods and orders their soldiers to do what the king says. He can't bear staying there any longer.
   The monarch let his feet guide him away without a defined destination, wanting to free his thoughts from the horrible fight that had profoundly wounded his heart. He walks to the hill, which is rather far from the village, in quest of fresh air.
   Gwi notices a strange water on the former rivers while on his way. The water's color does not appear natural, and it has an odd yet familiar odor. Gwi tries to identify the source of the water, which leads him to a massive stone in the middle of the river bank.
  The shape and quantity of the stones are sufficient to cover the river path, causing the water to flow slowly to the village. There are two different situations with a lot of water on the river's side before and after the stones.
    Water is critical for survival, especially since they are now through a severe drought. However, it appears like the river in Daekharm village has been sabotaged by someone, causing the water to barely reach the village. The most important reason why the farms in the village died was a lack of water. Someone had blocks the flow of water from reaching the village by placing massive stones in the river.
    Gwi also discovers that the strange odor and color of the water can only be found a few meters away from the pilled stones. This is not a natural result of the river's water. He climbs down on the previous river bank and carefully examines the pilled stones. His keen sense of smell can discover things that humans cannot.
   "You killed our family!" a villager exclaimed before the conflict, haunting his thoughts. He didn't grasp what he meant by saying previously, but the present predicament he's discovered gives the king a better picture of it.
    His heart and head are filled with rage and shame. It makes it difficult for the monarch to breathe. He then clenched his fist and punched the pilled large stone with his hand. 
  "Duar!!" His werewolf superpower strength allows him to crush all the massive stones with a single punch. Yes, with human strength, those huge rocks cannot be moved and set here. When the pilled stones were destroyed, the previously restricted flow of water resumed and filled the former river, drenching the king from head to toe.
   Gwi stands in the middle of the river, his heart heavy. His eyes were filled with rage and anguish.