Chapter 23 –– Take Over
The next day, Haneul met up with Xiaohui at a garden within the Temple are. They were discussing yesterday’s event.
“Sooo.....how did it go yesterday? Did it go well?” Haneul asked Xiaohui.
“Aside from you interrupting it, yeah,” Xiaohui said, not forgetting to put some snarky comment.
“Well, I didn’t even know you wanted to go there??? Why didn’t you tell me you were dating Dasom?” Haneul asked, straight to the point.
Xiaohui hesitated to speak. He knew that Haneul wouldn’t tell a soul about it, but he was not sure if it was something he could share.
“Well, we’re both Sacred Guards and we’re gonna get separated if anyone knows we’re together. I know we’re breaking the Holy Oath, but.....I love her.”
Xiaohui was frustrated. He was frustrated that he couldn’t be a Sacred Guard and have someone to love at the same time.
“Don’t you trust us? I mean, I also have a crush on Yumi. I don’t know if she feels the same way about me, but––”
“Well, it’s not like a Premier can get fired. If you are caught dating someone, then what? Nothing will ever happen to you. Yujin doesn’t even have an oath.”
Haneul was silenced. He couldn’t deny it since what Xiaohui said was true.
“I’m sorry,” Haneul apologized.
“Nah, it’s all good.”
Haneul pulled Xiaohui’s shoulder to get him closer to him. The two of them sat down closely beside one another.
“So, how long have you two been dating?”
The two of them continued their conversation, sharing their secret love stories.
A few days later, Yara took some days off to visit her family back in Strygae City, Tyto Island, Chiroptera State. The island was known as the tropical island where most people from the nation–– and outside of the nation–– visited as a tourist spot to have a vacation. Yara was summoned back home because the family had an announcement to make.
After Yara arrived at home, her siblings came flocking to her.
“Big sis! You’re home!”
They immediately came to her and hugged her, welcoming her home. Yara gave them each a pat on their head and smiled from ear to ear at them.
Yara was the eldest sister of Kizetsuya main household. She had 3 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters. Her father was the head of Kizetsuya clan and her mother was a housewife who took care of the house and the children.
Yara arrived at night and was told to rest for tomorrow morning. Since she was also tired from the trip, she went to bed early, sleeping with her younger siblings in the same room.
The next morning, the head of Kizetsuya clan–– Yatou Kizetsuya–– gathered all members of Kizetsuya clan in the same room. He gathered them for an announcement that he had to make.
The rest of the members except him were already in the room, waiting for him. Once he entered the room, everybody stood up, and bowed at him. After he had a seat in front of everyone, everyone followed him and returned to their seat.
“I have an announcement to make.”
Yatou was announcing a very important news to the clan members. The audience listened to him closely.
“A representative from the Kizetsuya clan was invited by the Royal Family to come to the Royal Palace to attend the Crown Prince’s coronation ceremony. The wielder of the Kizetsuya bow will be representing us at the ceremony.”
Yatou announced some good news. This meant, Yara would be going to the Royal Palace as the representative of the Kizetsuya clan.
“I also have another announcement.”
Yatou asked one of the workers of the house to bring something to him. A young man then handed him a bow. A very familiar bow.
“As there appears a member of the Kizetsuya clan who possesses the Fyx-Block Arrow fyx skill, this bow now belongs to him.”
A young man walked next to Yatou and sat down next to him. He was Yara’s yonger cousin, Yamato.
That being said, Yamato was the one going to the ceremony, not Yara.
“That’s.....that’s my bow...! How did you––” Yara shouted, unable to accept the decision.
She just realised that the only reason she was summoned back home was to have her bow taken away from. No wonder she felt odd that they didn’t tell her the reason why she should come home. It was for this.
“Yara, you are no longer the owner of this bow.”
Yatou handed over the Kizetsuya bow to Yamato, the new owner of the bow.
Yara was pissed and frustrated. She did not accept this decision.
Yara had been in possession of the bow ever since she was young, before Yamato was even born. She’d been wielding the bow for as long as she could remember and had grown very attached to it.
“Yara, you can’t break the rules. It’s stated in the ancient scroll that the one with the fyx skill is the only one allowed to have––”
“Shut up, mom.”
Yara was enraged. She shut her mother before she even finished her sentence. Although what her mother told her was true, she still couldn’t accept that she had to part with her beloved weapon.
“Give it up, Yara. You’re not worthy of the bow.”
Yamato provoked her. He did want to take the bow away from her.
“Make me, Yamato. A kid like you can’t even wield a bow properly.”
Yara was not giving up. She tried to ensue a fight.
Yamato grabbed the bow and held it on his hand. He looked proficient at it.
“Oh, right. I heard that you stayed at the Temple during the attack? I also heard that it was because you lost to a newcomer? Seriously. What a loser.”
The clan members gasped. Yara was known as the golden child of the Kizetsuya clan for being a Sacred Guard, especially a member of Garuda Squad. After hearing what Yamato said, everyone was shocked. Yamato deliberately left out the fact that Yara actually rescued the Premier from the attack, trying to make her look bad in front of the family.
“What about you? You can’t even coat yourself with fyx properly. How are you gonna use that bow?”
Yara heard from her siblings last night that, in the academy, Yamato was having trouble in flowing his fyx properly to coat specific parts of his body. It was a humiliation that only people in the academy knows.
Yamato was pissed, knowing that his reputation in the academy was revealed to the family. The two of them got pissed at each other.
“You know what, let’s settle this outside. Just you and me. We’ll settle this once and for all,” Yamato said, asking for a duel.
“Yamato, I don’t think that’s a good––” said Yamato’s mother, trying to stop him.
“Let them. Let them settle this the old way,” Yatou interrupted, letting the two have their fight.
“Yeah, let’s go. Don’t think I’m gonna go easy on you just because you’re a kid,” Yara said, provoking him.
“Don’t be. I’ll show you what a ‘kid’ can do.”
The two of them moved outside, to the zen garden.
The battle between the two Kizetsuyas began.