Ha Noon's
CHAPTER 11: Behind The Crown of the Princess

“Aah!”

Fresh blood spurted, some of the unprepared folk with this sadistic look closed their eyes and ran away. Ha Noon's body became weak, with his eyes wide open, he witnessed the injustice of taking the life of such a formidable warrior.

“Hueek...” Knee Ha Noon fell, and started spewing liquid from his mouth.

“Mr Princess!” Mom Suri ran over to Ha Noon worriedly.

“Hueek!”

Ha Gungi glanced at Ha Noon and Mom Suri, “Take her to keputren.” whispered before walking away from the courthouse.

The sky was filled with dark clouds, all the people gave their condolences to the three members of the kingdom who lost their lives to protect this kingdom. The entire palace courtyard was filled with white chrysanthemum flowers. The funeral ceremony was done very carefully using a gold chest symbolizing the royal family. One by one, the chests of the members of the royal family were lowered into the pit, and specks of rain began to fall as if the sky was also saddened by the departure of the members of the royal family.

Mom Suri faithfully stood beside Ha Noon and embraced him. Ha Noon hid his face full of pain behind his black hat. Ha Gilyu's last words still echoed in her mind, making the grief that enveloped her turn into a burning grudge.

No one dared to enter Ha Noon's kamara after the funeral ceremony. Even Mom Suri asked all the remaining servants and soldiers not to bother Ha Noon. Ha Noon sat on his bed hugging his knees, his eyes unblinking looking at the sunlight that gradually began to appear among the dark clouds. One second, one minute, one hour, up to three hours, he spent doing nothing.

A mouthful of saliva flowed into his throat, Ha Noon finally moved his head, he stared at the empty table in the middle of the room. Sadness made him not want to meet anyone, he did not even want to ask a waiter to get a drink. Ha Noon moved by himself in weak steps, going to the palace kitchen which was quite a distance away from the princess, making the cooks and waiters shocked the three Ha Noon suddenly appeared in the kitchen with his depressed face only to ask for a sip of a drink. However, no one dared to say much to him, and only let him walk on his own two feet.

Ha Noon's head was bowed all the way, and his ears faintly heard the sound of another step coming from the opposite direction.

“Why are we still here?”

Ha Noon stopped his steps hearing this familiar voice.

“Sister! This is unfair, why should we still serve the kingdom that-“ Gim Gon stopped his sentence seeing Ha Noon who was standing not far there, staring at them with blackened eye bags.

Gim Jun who was standing in front of his two younger siblings swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He was the wisest among the three, as he was the oldest, and he had to keep his attitude to protect his two younger siblings. Especially after the departure of his father, he should not be rash. Although, in her heart she still felt this injustice, but she knew what it was like to lose someone so precious, and Ha Noon overnight lost them all. He did not know whether the betrayal his father had committed was the truth or not, but if it was true, he owed Ha Noon a lot of things.

Gim Jun slowly lowered his head, “Mr Princess.”

“Hey, Ha Noon,” without warning, Gim Gon stepped forward, but his hand was held back by Gim Jun. However, that did not stop every word of his mind from coming out, “Say something! No way you're a traitor! Why are you quiet!?”

Ha Noon lowered his head, every sentence Gim Gon threw pierced his heart, like a dagger slowly eroding his skin. He could not bear this torment, and a drop of tears began to slide down his cheek.

“That's a lie, ‘right? Dad's not a traitor, ‘kan? Answer me!”

“Hik... no.. Uncle Gym is not... hik!” ha Noon's knees slowly fell, and tears flowed profusely flooding his face, “Sorry.. forgive me... hik..

Hearing the tremors in every sound of Ha Noon, and seeing him kneel with his head drooping, made Gim Gon instantly feel guilty. He did not dare to make more sounds. While Gim Jun frowned, Ha Noon's confession made him almost goosebumps all over his body. Gim Jun released his grasp on Gim Gon, he stepped forward towards Ha Noon.

“Mr Princess, do you know anything? Is father-General Gim, is he really not a traitor?”

Ha Noon shook his head languidly, he slowly raised his head, staring straight at Gim Jun with tears in his eyes, “I know, it's not him.”

“After the death of all members of the royal family, the ministers and the court ruled that Ha Gungi, as the only member of the family who had the potential to lead the Anthropon Kingdom, crowned him as the new King of the Anthropon Kingdom! Although Ha Gungi has officially severed ties with the royal family, but consider that Princess Ha Noon still can not hold the throne at the age of 12 years, then Ha Gungi is willing to carry this responsibility for the rest of his life!”

All the nobles applauded and the people cheered for the coronation day. Ha Gungi loftily knelt down on his head to receive the crown of the king on his head.

Ha Noon did not turn his gaze away from Ha Gungi. His entire body, his blood, his veins, was filled with grudges that would flow as long as the man was alive. On his head, there was no longer a silver crown for a princess, it was a golden crown for a Crown Prince. With this crown, he swore to bring the blood that had flowed, the destiny that he would take back from a traitor.

***

Klang's! Klang's! Klang's!

“Call stronger! Don't let your opponent take over your moves! Grip your sword like it is your own life!”

When the sun was at 225 degrees, all the junior and senior soldiers would be in the training room to train. The senior soldiers were only in charge of overseeing and teaching some things to their juniors. The soldiers were still considered juniors until they reached the age of 25.

The senior soldier who went around to see his juniors doing dueling exercises with each other stopped seeing the performance of one of the extremely admirable juniors. The junior easily removed his opponent's grasp from the sword and made him fall to the ground. The senior smiled proudly and clapped his hands, making the entire junior stop their training.

“Great, Gym Jun! As always expected!”

Gim Jun smiled shyly at the compliment, he lowered his head as a sign of respect, “Thank you, senior.”

The senior nodded happily at Gim Jun's flattery, then patted Gim Jun's shoulder proudly. “Alright, all of you rest first, I'll be back in 15 minutes.”

The senior left the training room. Gim Jun looked at his dueling partner who was still on the ground while shaking his dust-battered hand. Gim Jun stepped forward to thrust out his hand, intending to help his dueling partner to wake up. However, the man did not directly take Gim Jun's hand, he looked at him cynically then brushed off Gim Jun's hand, making the atmosphere in the training room stiffen in an instant.

The man stood up by himself, “Truly sickening, why do they still let the son of a traitor stay in the palace?”

Gim Jun was unhappy with the sentence, he raised his eyelashes and stared intently at the man in front of him.

“What did you say?” The entire training room clearly heard a mutter that intentionally did not sound like the mutter, and Gim Gon who had a thin patience with rage passed Gim Jun to face the man. However, Gim Jun quickly held him back, “Gon, calm down.” Gim Jun forced his friendly smile on the man, “Sorry if I was too rude.”

“Hah?” gim Jun's sentence was like an insult to him, and he started to step forward to face Gim Jun, “You underestimated me?”

Gim Gon pushed the man away, “It was your fault because you were weak.”

“Why? Just because you're an unknown minister's son, you think you're great!?”

“Better than a traitor like you!”

Gim Gon couldn't stand the word traitor, and his anger exploded again, “You want to die!?”

“See who's talking!” The man also had a bad temper and with mudha received the challenge of Gim Gon. However, the entire junior warriors swiftly restrained the two before the bloodshed actually occurred.

Gym Gam quickly pulled Gim Gon with all his energy, “Relax! Don't make a fuss!”

“He started it!”

Gym Jun patted Gim Gon's shoulder, “Gon, remember, we can't get into trouble, or Princess will get into trouble.”

Gim Gom sighed harshly, “I understand.”

“Come we go.” Gim Jun, Gim Gam, and Gim Gon went to a corner of the room to rest their bodies, while some other junior warriors tried to calm the man who could not keep his mouth.

“Hey, can't you be more calm? Why do you always make a fuss during practice?”

“Tell me, aren't you sick of being in the same group as that traitor? Then why should I give up? You know, my father is a minister, and they are just the children of a traitor, I can get rid of them easily!”

“Did you forget? Princess Ha Noon was behind them, and she had considerable power in the palace, your father could not possibly defeat her. It all happened 7 years ago anyway, stop talking about it. If you want to get rid of them, tell your father to go higher up to the point he can fight Princess Ha Noon. Understood it? I don't want to lose my points just because of you.”

“Alright, are you guys done with the break? Let's start training again!”

All the junior soldiers regrouped in the middle of the field seeing their seniors were done with their ‘break’ affair, and the sweat-draining exercise began again.

***

The afternoon butterfly elegantly clings to the white petals of the flower. Fragrant flower powder filled the entire garden. Ha Noon calmly enjoyed a warm tea accompanied by a soothing breeze in the middle of the palace garden. Mom Suri painstakingly poured lavender tea into the empty cup, and Ha Noon slowly sipped it. His eyelashes lifted to look at the sky that had been filled with orange color. Ha Noon slowly put back the nearly empty cup on the table. “The sky is soon dark, I have to get ready.”

Mom Suri nodded in understanding, she glanced at Ha Noon's waiting personal servant, and a few of them immediately came forward to fix the teapot device. Ha Noon secretly wrote something on a tissue and placed it on a tray held by one of his personal servants. The two maids carrying the teapot device took place in the back row.

Ha Noon left the palace garden followed by his personal servant. In the corridor, they met the junior soldiers who had just finished their training and were about to return to the dormitory to clean themselves up. The senior warrior who dreamed of his junior stopped stepping and bowed his head at Ha Noon, followed by the junior warrior line behind him. Ha Noon still stepped forward without turning his attention to them.

Gim Jun who was in the back row with Gim Gam raised a little of his eyelashes when Ha Noon and half of Ha Noon's personal servant had passed him. Gim Jun's hand was raised to pick up the tissue that was on the tray, and the waiter who was carrying the tray just walked up acting that he didn't see anything. After Ha Noon's entire personal servants passed through them, the soldiers continued their steps and Gim Jun kept the tissue in his pocket.

At nightfall, Ha Noon sat quietly while reading a book on the sofa in the middle of his room. The room door opened, and Mom Suri stepped in slowly. “They're ready, Mr. Princess.”

Ha Noon closed the book he was reading, then stood up and took out a wooden box from under his bed. Ha Noon opened his pajamas, and behind his pajamas he wore a black high-necked t-shirt with tights in deep brown. He took a belt from the box and put it on his waist. Then, he took out a sword, and stared at it for a while and directly tied it to the belt on his waist. Mom Suri gave her a black robe, and Ha Noon wore it to cover her entire body. He also put a tarcas on his back, and kept some spare arrows in it.

Ha Noon looked at Mom Suri, “I went.” she said while covering half of her lower face using the t-shirt she was wearing. Ha Noon leaped over the balcony and descended from the second floor using the prepared rope. After Ha Noon managed to tread the ground, Mom Suri quickly pulled the rope and hid it under the bed, then went out and locked the door of Ha Noon's room from outside so that no one would enter. The two warriors on guard did not see Mom Suri's actions and let Mom Suri go.

After Ha Gungi's coronation as King, the princess was no longer in one building. Each member of the royal family had their own mansion, and Ha Noon's palace was in a corner adjacent to the forest that was behind the palace. This made Ha Noon easily slip out through the path in the forest.

Ha Noon continued to run into the dark forest and found the three people who were already waiting for him wearing the same robe as the four horses. Ha Noon directly rode his horse, and the three men also rode their horses respectively. Ha Noon pulled the hood of his robe to cover his entire head, “Let's go.”

Ha Noon's horse started running, and the three people followed Ha Noon behind him. “As I informed you earlier, Juragan Min told his subordinates to carry secretly his wares through the forest so that his customers do not find that he has already got the goods.”

“So he can sell the goods at a high price to his customers under the pretext that the goods are very rare.” explained Gim Jun.

“Where did you get that information? And what does he have to do with our plans?” ask the curious Gim Gon. This cunning trick is common in the business world, and even royal law has difficulty solving this problem. Because of this, Gim Gon finds it strange that this will help their plan to reclaim the Anthropon Kingdom.

“Nona Ri Sa, daughter of Minister Ri said that her family has a good relationship with Juragan Min. However, that closeness did not make them receive any special treatment. For a businessman like Juragan Min, it was very easy to blackmail a noble family like the Ri family. So, if we manage to make the noble family Ri discover that the middle class also has the item, they will feel betrayed and the relationship between them will break.”

Gim Gam smiled cynically, “So you plan to drop the Ri family's pride and destroy Juragan Min's efforts at the same time?”

“True, Juragan Min will do anything for money. At that time, we will come to him. After that, the Ri family will be completely destroyed.” Ha Noon explained proudly and began to accelerate the steps of his horse, down the dark forest.

Gim Gon hides behind a bush, stalking the situation. Faintly, he heard the sound of horse footsteps, and he began to prepare with his horse, his hands raised. On top of the tree, Ha Noon prepared to see the sign and Gim Gon with his arrows. A horse passed by with a middle-aged man controlling it, carrying a wagon behind it, and several other men dressed as bandits surrounded the wagon. They were the subordinates of Juragan Min.

Ha Noon pointed his arrow at the horse's foot, and let go until the horse jumped screaming, making the middle-aged man controlling him fall to the ground. The bandits quickly took out their machetes, starting to stand by. Gim Gon came out while unsheathing his sword, his movements were fast, making the bandits barely see anything in the darkness. From afar, Ha Noon helped him drop the bandits one by one with his arrows.

Gim Jun and Gim Gam rode their horses, taking the opportunity to take all the bags of goods. The coachman who fell on the ground panicked to see some robbers trying to take their goods. The old man forced himself to stand up and with his wrinkled hands, he attempted to stop Gim Jun and Gim Gam.

“Who are you? You can't take this stuff.”

However, his hand was too weak to stop Gim Gam and Gim Jun, and a bandit who realized this spontaneously pushed the coachman away, swinging his sword at Gim Gam fortunately stopped him. Fortunately, Gim Gam easily dodged the sword, and Gim Jun took over with his sword, keeping the bandit away from Gim Gam who was focused on tying the items to his horse. Ha Noon who was watching from afar started to focus his arrows on the bandits, and in an instant made the bandits unable to move.

It was easy to destroy these bandits with their strength. Gim Jun and Gim Gam immediately left the empty wagon and the old man who was resting on the ground. Gim Gon returns to the forest to retrieve his horse. Ha Noon waited for them on the tree while watching if the bandits woke up again. However, it seemed like they had already completely lost their lives. Ha Noon's eyes narrowed at the old man who was resting on the ground with his tears drenching the wrinkles on his face.

The old man was just a breadwinner trying to support his poor family, and had no other choice but to work for a terrible boss for the sake of his family. Even he did not know what kind of item he was carrying, he was only asked to bring it properly and get paid. However, some robbers took the item, making it tremble in fear. Besides not getting any food for his family tonight, he might lose his life and his entire family. He only wanted a basket of rice so that his family would not cry hunger in their sleep.

Ha Noon clasped tightly onto his ground bow and his chest felt tight, the glint in his eyes slowly fading away looking at the old man. His eyelashes dropped, he closed his eyes, inhaled a deep breath, then turned around. Ha Noon came down from the tree, approached his quiet horse eating fresh grass, stroked it for a while, then rode it out of the forest.