Honor and Glory | ATEEZ

055 ANSWER

I nudged Taeyong a little with my elbow, motioning for him to speak, but he simply flinched at the action.

He sent me a confused look before turning his attention back to the rest of my group and the generals from the provinces, furrowing his brows before realization dawned in his eyes.

The man in black bowed deeply, greeting the other men in the room with a series of half-hearted mumbles before getting back up.

I wanted to roll my eyes, but brushed it off and turned to face Yunho with a smile as the water elemental stood up from his seat.

His brown hair was unruly and messy, looking as if he had been running his hands through it over and over again in frustration.

He looked stressed, I thought, as if he wanted to ask me something as his eyes flickered back and forth between me and the generals.

Everyone else in the tent kept their eyes trained on me, no one even sparing the fire elemental, the traitor, next to me as much as a glance.

I sighed. Typical.

"I'm fine," I said, raising my hands in an awkward gesture in front of me.

Yunho let out a heavy breath and took a step back as the words slipped past my lips, looking relieved.

"I'm fine, really," I pressed, letting my gaze travel over the others as well, smiling a little at my group of brave elementals, my family.

They did their best to return my smile but it was clear that their hearts weren't fully in it.

But neither was mine.

"Well then, now that the emotional business is out of the way and our lovely heir has finally returned, how about we get back to where we left off?" one of the officers said, clapping his hands together to the others' attention.

I immediately recognized him as Min Yoongi, the general of Ignia's army.

Still as cold-hearted as ever, I thought to myself, though I knew better than anyone that it was all a front that he was putting up for show, for protection.

He had always been that way, and in some ways, I saw myself in him.

This time, I didn't refrain from rolling my eyes.

"We're glad to see that you're safe, princess y/n," Jeongguk said, his striking blue eyes glinting at me in the flickering light from the candles on the table.

Yunho cocked a brow at the interaction but said nothing to it, side-eyeing his fellow water elemental instead.

"First of all," I said, locking eyes with Seongwha and Honghoong, noticing how everyone seemed to look to them for their next words, my two leaders.

I felt pride was over me at the sight of the two opposites cooperating, smiling a little.

"I'm very sorry that I left you with all of the responsibility. It was my weight to bear, never yours, and for that, I apologize."

Hongjoong looked taken aback, but Seongwha simply smiled at me as he crossed his arms over his chest and sat back down in his chair, leaning back as he took a deep breath.