"What? We got another companion while I was away?" Jae-ha asked, casually munching on a tangerine he got from Yoon's garden while they were at Ik-soo's hut. They had spent all day yesterday gathering supplies for Katan Village, only to come back to Kija rambling about a hot-headed nobleman who was hogging the princess.
As for Calista, she had avoided Yona for the remainder of yesterday, not willing to explain why she was so on edge around him. The princess might have been able to forgive him, but she couldn't.
She didn't pardon people who were so arrogant that they couldn't face the harsh reality in front of them.
But true to his word, Tae-jun had brought more food for the villagers today and it vanished in a heartbeat. Begrudgingly, she acknowledged that he fulfilled his promise. As much as she hated him, she had to give credit where credit was due.
Now, they were all circled up around Yoon and Shin-ah, the blue dragon getting his bandages changed. The only ones who were missing were Yona and Hak, who left to go check on the triplets in Hua Village.
She had visited them last night on her way to the underground and they were holding up just fine. A little hungry, but otherwise, they were surviving.
Kija let out an outraged cry at Jae-ha's temporary insolence. "No!! This guy is the son of the Fire Tribe Chief!!" He jabbed a finger in Tae-jun's face, who was being engaged in a conversation with a carefree Zeno. "He's our enemy!!"
Calista was sitting off to the side whereas the white and green dragons were hovering over the intimidated noble.
"Maybe don't say that so loud, White Snake." The assassin rolled her eyes, flipping a silver blade between her fingers. "Hey, if we decide he needs to go, can I be the one to do it?"
Tae-jun sweated nervously at the obvious threat but Jae-ha just raised an eyebrow. Kija grumbled at the rude nickname, but didn't strike her like he would Hak. He often proclaimed that he would never raise a hand against a woman or unarmed men.
Hence why he threw Tae-jun out of the village the first time instead of attacking him.
"Interesting. Normally someone like that can't get anywhere near Yona." Jae-ha mused to himself.
She huffed, folding her arms over her chest, still not happy with the situation. She would have been perfectly content to never cross paths with him again, but luck was not on her side. For some reason that she could not fathom, Yona had seen something in him worthwhile.
Jae-ha didn't miss a thing. "What's got you so angry, Calista dear?"
"Nothing." She retorted, stomping off to find Yoon, who had disappeared once he finished treating Shin-ah's wound, to see if he needed any help.
The injured dragon had gone back inside the tent to rest, but not before casting her a curious glance at her retreating form.
Something wasn't right. She hadn't visited him at all since that new man started coming more frequently and he was growing concerned with how agitated she had been lately.
Unfortunately for Calista, once she found Yoon and had only been assisting him for a little while, Tae-jun made another appearance.
Great, I can't get away from him. She threw a fit in her mind, ensuring none of her disobedience surfaced.
"The princess does have the most energy..." Tae-jun commented dreamily, as if he wasn't in the middle of a dirt road with crumbling infrastructure and diseased citizens.
Calista rolled her eyes at Yoon, but he didn't say anything. He simply continued to wash the few vegetables he had managed to pick from his garden.
"Yeah..." Yoon muttered, still unsure of how he felt about him being around them. Kija was right, he was technically their enemy. He certainly didn't trust the man's intentions to be pure.
It didn't take his genius to figure out that he was lovesick for the princess. It was the only reason that made sense for him to keep coming back here.
Other than the threat the raven-haired assassin made yesterday, but he didn't count that one as much as the other.
Tae-jun lifted his chin, scoffing, "How come the villagers here won't work? Isn't it their own fault that they have no money to pay their taxes?!"
Calista's nostrils flared in anger and she took a deep breath to try to keep her temper in check. But his ignorance was really starting to get to her. Yoon shot her a sharp look, and she shook her head.
If she spoke right now, she would say a lot of things that would upset Yona later. And even with how much she disagreed with her decision to allow him to come here freely, upsetting her was the last thing she wanted to do.
"What do you mean by 'work'?" Yoon put down the basket he was carrying, and placed his hands on his hips. He peered at the unbothered noble, who was unaware of the rage and frustation he was evoking from both the fighter and the pretty boy.
"Something like... growing rice and vegetables. Do business." Tae-jun stated plainly, as if it was the easiest thing in the world.
She balled her fists and held back all the choice words on the tip of her tongue.
Yoon was calmer than Calista was, pointing to the barren expanse of land before them while the other stayed silent out of consideration for the princess.
"The fields over there have been dried up for many years. Nothing will grow there. It's pretty much the same everywhere around here..."
She didn't know how he was able to maintain such a clear conscience when dealing with this thick-headed nobleman. Still, she applauded him.
He had more patience than she did.
Yoon rolled up his sleeves, continuing to inform the sheltered noble everything that he never cared to take notice of. "To revive the fields, you need time to get rich water and soil, not to mention a ton of manpower. However, there are only elderly sick people, women and children left in the village."
Tae-jun was stunned at the young boy's knowledge. "Now that you mention it, there are no young men here. What happened?"
Calista swiftly turned on her heel and walked a little ways away to demolish a pile of crumbling stone Hak had left for her to take her anger out on. He had predicted she would snap, and in the deepest parts of her mind, she knew it too. So, she had asked him for something she could destroy that would no longer serve a purpose in the village and he handed her that.
It broke into dust upon impact at her force and Tae-jun paled at her aggression.
Yoon had reached the end of his restraint. Leaping to his feet, he cried out, "They got taken away!! To become soldiers by your father's order, Kan Soo-jin!!!"
Realization flooded the noble's eyes and he rested his chin nonchalantly in the palm of his hand. "Then, there's no helping it. It's expected that the people who live in the Fire Tribe follow my father's orders."
Calista lost it, storming over to him with a murderous look in her eye when she was stopped short. Yoon had latched onto her arm, frantically shaking his head.
As much as he wanted to knock some sense into the guy himself, he knew it wasn't the way to go. He settled for a glare. "... So, whose side are you on?"
He tilted his head and had the audacity to look confused. "What?"
"Yona's currently a bandit that has claimed this land as her own, right?" Yoon clarified, going back to washing the vegetables with a faux air of calm once he thought Calista would hold back.
She had eased her arm out of his grip and opted to stay several lengths away from him as he continued to talk his ear off with trivial opinions. Unfortunately for her, she could still hear everything with perfect clarity. She started to walk away, to distance herself from the impending doom that she knew was coming if she stayed.
Tae-jun was getting fed up, strongly disagreeing with everything he had just said. "I want the princess to stop pretending like she's a bandit!! If she needs to cut ties with you people, I'll get a residence—"
Calista bristled and whipped around. "You people?!"
He squeaked in terror.
Oh, that is it!! She snarled, getting ready to beat some sense into him.
Deep down, she knew violence wasn't the answer. She knew that it wasn't going to get her anywhere. But the more she heard the ignorant things coming out of his mouth, the more she just wanted to hit him over the head.
With a shovel.
Yoon threw the basket on the ground angrily. He couldn't believe the nerve of this guy! "Don't you know that Yona—!"
"Yoon." The princess' light voice floated through the tension, dissipating it within seconds. "If you raise your voice, the people in the village will get scared."
Calista also bowed her head in shame as Hak came into view. Terrorizing them was the last thing she wanted to do.
"Ah..." He ducked his head guiltily. "Sorry..."
She saluted once to the princess and she frowned at the formality but gave her a curt nod of acceptance. For now, things would be fine.
Then, Yoon's normal wit was back. "It's just that this guy doesn't understand anything."
Tae-jun's forehead creased in annoyance. "You really don't know how to speak politely, do you?!"
Calista snarled at him openly, thrusting a protective arm out in front of Yoon as the noble took a step forward, and shoved the wide-eyed boy behind her.
"If you touch him." She growled, ice dripping off every word. "I'm going to stick my knife through your brain."
He gulped, and Hak shot him a deadly glare, making him wither under the the weight of their promising stares.
"Tae-jun, I'm going to go around and check up on the villagers." Yona smiled, as if her two protectors hadn't just threatened him. Again. "... Would you like to come with me?"
He nodded eagerly, scrambling to his feet and Calista heard her brother snort softly at how he was standing too close to her. A tiny smile made its way onto her face.
Crouching down, she helped Yoon pick up the vegetables that had fallen when he dropped the basket. They worked together in silence before the boy broke it.
"Thank you... for, you know..."
She smiled slightly, patting his head fondly. To her surprise, he let her without batting her hand away. After retracting her hand, he glanced up from his work.
"You know, I don't like him either." Yoon commented, rinsing the caked dirt out of the grooves in a carrot. "But Yona sees something in him."
"I know." Calista replied in defeat. "And I know that I'm going to follow her lead. It's just getting so hard... This guy hasn't got a clue."
"Maybe he's about to." He didn't look up as she eyed him curiously. "Yona has a way of reaching people. Maybe, she's doing that right now. How would you know if you don't go see?"