Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth

Chapter 15

Crown Prince Chang commands the four Hwarang to reveal which of them is the king. When they don't respond quickly enough, he has four captive Silla peasants killed, then orders his soldiers to bring more.

Ah Ro is one of the people chosen, and Sun-woo looks down at her in panic while Ji-dwi seems frozen with indecision. Finally, Ji-dwi starts to step forward, but Sun-woo beats him to it, stepping forward to say, loud and strong: "I am the king of Silla!"

The crown prince asks how he can trust that Sun-woo is telling the truth. Sun-woo says that if he wasn't going to believe him, he shouldn't have called him out.

The other three Hwarang are taken back to their jail cell, where Ji-dwi stares at the blood on his hand. Su-ho paces, worried that Sun-woo isn't safe by himself with the crown prince. Ban-ryu asks if Su-ho believes Sun-woo really is the king, and Su-ho says that he does. Ban-ryu retorts that even if he is, they can't do anything to help him.

Sun-woo is taken to the crown prince's rooms, where Chang tells him that in his opinion, winning or losing a war comes down to luck. He says that his good luck brought him a chest full of gold from a Silla citizen, and a tip that the king was among the Hwarang.

He asks if Sun-woo came forward because of "that girl," and Sun-woo acts as if he doesn't know who he means. The crown prince smiles, and says that he doesn't care if Sun-woo is the king or not — he's going to make him into one, then make Sun-woo beg for his life.

Sun-woo scoffs and notes that Chang doesn't behave much like a crown prince, what with all the threats to a peace delegation. He wonders out loud if the crown prince's father would be proud of him, and offers him a chance to save face.

He reminds Chang that nobody in Silla knows what the king looks like, and the queen regent could always say Sun-woo isn't the king. If that happens, it makes Crown Prince Chang a lowlife who killed a peace delegation. He offers that they fight one-on-one, to determine which is better in battle.

Princess Sookmyung can't reconcile herself with the idea that Sun-woo is her brother, though her bodyguard doesn't understand why anyone would put themselves in danger if he weren't the king. Sookmyung insists that he can't be, based on her gut feeling about him.

Back in her jail cell, Ah Ro thinks about how Sun-woo completely ignored her after making his claim to be king. She realizes how afraid the other peasants are and asks one woman why they came to Silla. The woman says that to people like them, survival is more important than worrying about what country you're in.

Ah Ro urges the others to stay positive, assuring them that they'll be rescued. A couple of the men argue that they're all about to be killed, including the king, asking what a king without troops or weapons can do. Ah Ro swears that Sun-woo would never let them die.

Intrigued by Sun-woo's proposal, Crown Prince Chang asks how a fight between them would help him save face. Sun-woo says that people will say that he let Silla's king off easy, making it sound as if he plans to let the crown prince win.

Chang asks what a king who's never been a king thinks of himself, and Sun-woo grows serious. He asks, if a beast lives alone in a forest, will he forget that he's a beast? Chang accepts his offer, and says that if he wins, he won't allow Princess Sookmyung to go home, but that he'll send the Hwarang and the peasants back to Silla – well, their heads, anyway.

Sun-woo agrees, and before he leaves, Crown Prince Chang tosses his dice to test Sun-woo's luck. The crown prince throws an eleven, then hands the dice to Sun-woo. Sun-woo simply drops them on the table, and we don't see his results.

On his way back to his cell, Sun-woo notes the building where the peasants are being held. The crown prince's general offers to take him to more comfortable lodgings, but Sun-woo requests to be taken back to where the others are held.