Chapter 45 - HIBI

Yuna was in for a rude awakening when she thought her day was going to be a peaceful one. She woke up to the sounds of soldiers groaning miserably outside her bedroom. What was going on out there? Yuna slid her window open to take a peek.

There were a countless number of soldiers that were found sprawled all across the courtyard. General Eunho was standing over them with a look of contempt directed at their scared faces. He shouted, “Is that all you got? You should be ashamed of yourselves! I expected the greatest army to be filled with talent, but all I see is a pathetic bunch of whiners. Get up, right now!”

The soldiers scrambled to their feet. They formed a straight line in front of Eunho. All the soldiers knew that if they didn’t get up immediately, they would definitely not see tomorrow. Eunho observed the soldiers that were lined up in front of him. He sparred with each of them to see if they were truly the talented soldiers that helped General Junho through the war. It didn’t seem to be the case.

None of them were able to lay a single finger on Eunho throughout the sparring. He was greatly disappointed with how much they were lacking. It became clear to Eunho that Yuna’s father was the main factor for the victories. It became evident that the soldiers were lacking in many things. He had his work cut out for him if he wanted to train them to become stronger.

He went through the line of soldiers and informed them on what needed to be done to work on their problem areas. Some lacked in endurance and some were not physically fit to hold a sword properly. He wondered how they were able to survive the treacherous battlefield. Just as he was getting closer to the end of the line, he noticed someone that shouldn’t be there.

Yuna stood at the very end of the line with her long hair tied up into a ponytail. She wore men’s clothes that were comfortable enough to train. He was surprised to see her in line with the rest of the soldiers. She clearly didn’t belong with the unruly men surrounding her. She was a petite girl that looked out of place. The men were a lot taller and muscular compared to her.

He frowned when he noticed that her clothes were too revealing. Her sleeves were cut short into a t-shirt fashion. He had never seen any female dress this way in all his years of living. He couldn’t place the feeling he felt when he noticed her thin arms. His heart raced inside his chest, but at the same time his stomach turned when he noticed that all the soldiers were also looking at her arms.

He caught a couple of them staring at her with lustful gazes. His hand formed into a fist. He made sure to bop them on the head for looking at her inappropriately. After punishing them, he walked over to Yuna. As soon as he was in front of her, their eyes met.

On closer inspection, he could see that she was nervous. Her tiny figure trembled slightly. When he noticed how uncomfortable she looked, he felt a pang in his heart. His expression gradually softened, “What are you doing here?” She smiled nervously, “I couldn’t help but hear everyone this morning. I thought it would be good to join.”

He frowned, “You don’t belong here. You should go back to your room.” She shook her head, “No, I want to train too.” Eunho wasn’t over what happened yesterday, but she was standing in front of him without a

care in the world. He had a difficult time forgetting the accidental kiss that happened yesterday. How was she okay?

He was also confused as to why a noble girl would waste her time training with a bunch of guards. She wasn’t acting normal. It was normal for her to stay locked up in her room studying. He always pictured her as a literary scholar that hardly exercised. He couldn’t picture her fighting with men that were twice her size. The fact that they would even lay a hand on her felt wrong to him.

He vehemently refused her request, “I don’t approve. You should go back immediately.” Yuna pouted when she heard his rejection. She wasn’t going to listen to him. She knew how to fight, but she didn’t have endurance. It was clear that she needed to train her body. She had no clue on how to start.

When she realized that Eunho was training the soldiers, she had an idea. It would be smart for her to receive training from one of the great generals of all time. Initially, Yuna wanted to ask her father for help, but it wasn’t ideal. She knew that he was busy with his investigation and she didn’t want to waste his time.

The only viable option for Yuna was to get Eunho to train her instead. He was the youngest person to ever become general in history. He was known as the genius sword master that was impossible to defeat. If she was trained by him, she wouldn’t have to worry about her weak body.

She was sick and tired of depending on other people to protect her. She didn’t want to be a weak girl that had to play the correct role of being the perfect wife. Yuna aspired to be a strong independent woman that is capable of protecting herself. The only thing preventing her from her goal was the views of others.

No one would accept that a girl could be just as strong as any man. She knew how the world thought. Females were given a role to be dependent of the men in their lives. It could be anyone, a father, a son, a brother, or a husband. Most women relied on the men in their lives. She wasn’t going to be one of them.

If she had to roll around on the dirt floor to become strong, she would in a heartbeat. She would fight through it all to achieve her goal. That was how Yuna became after living the life of a strong independent woman in her previous life. If that was all it took, she could endure all the muscle aches and future bruises.

Yuna would not take no for an answer. She was stern in her beliefs, “General Eunho, I can understand why you wouldn’t want me to learn to fight. You’re afraid that I’ll be hurt. I can assure you that females are a lot stronger than you think they are.” He was hardly around woman and that seemed to be the truth. He had never come across a woman that could fight throughout his life.

Eunho wasn’t against her learning to defend herself, but he would not allow her to be trained alongside all these men. He replied, “Lets talk about this at a later time. This is not a simple matter. It must be discussed with your father, before anything else.” Yuna wasn’t the type to force others.

She knew that her request was abnormal. It would take a while for people in this world to accept that women were not inferior to men. It took a lot to change the world’s beliefs and prejudices against women. She was willing to overcome the obstacles it took to change the world for the better. If she had to bear the weight of the world to change that, she would without looking back.