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Grand Princess Noguk's Resolve — The Final Order to Stop the Battlefield
The fire had not yet died.
The plains of Ssangseong lay soaked in dark red.
Wind carried dust mixed with ash.
Blood seeped between shattered pieces of armor and soaked into the earth.
The sun hung low, as if burning down.
At the center stood a single violet banner.
Beneath it, Grand Princess Noguk reined in her horse.
Blood had splashed across her face, yet her expression did not waver.
At her side, Park Seong-jin and Lee In-jung stood as calmly as if they were still.
From the tips of their blades, blood dripped in slow beads.
The princess said,
"I did not think we would win."
Park Seong-jin lowered his head.
"Neither did I. This was less a battle than slaughter. We prepared well, and luck followed us. I did not expect them to come at us like this."
Lee In-jung spoke in a low voice.
"My misjudgment is large as well. I made him rush. I should have drawn him in with words and coaxed him. It became a battle."
The princess lifted her gaze to the sky.
Behind the red smoke, the sun was fading.
"I opened a banquet to see people's hearts," she said.
Then she added, after one steady breath,
"And I gained those hearts only by spilling blood."
She tightened the reins.
"Now we stop."
Park Seong-jin looked up, startled.
"Gecheol's main force still remains."
"I know."
Her eyes did not shake.
"He must live. We must not kill him. If he dies, Empress Gi will change her stance."
Lee In-jung muttered low,
"Princess. The enemy has not surrendered yet. We will halt the fighting first."
"Yes. Do so."
The princess spurred her horse forward.
Hooves stepped into blood.
Soldiers, stunned, parted to make a path.
She rode through the bodies.
The hem of her violet garments flew in the wind and darkened with red.
Beyond the burning plain, Gecheol's remaining troops were pulling back.
From horseback she raised her voice.
"You there! I am Grand Princess Noguk. I am a Grand Princess of imperial blood, kin to the Great Khan."
Her voice cut straight across the battlefield.
"In my name, I command you: stop this fight.
This blood is the blood of the Empire and of Goryeo.
If it flows further, all of us will vanish."
In that instant, the shouting broke off.
Between stench of blood and flame, silence fell—
a silence heavier than death.
Gecheol's remaining host halted.
Before that name, no one could continue speaking.
After a long stretch, one of Gecheol's cavalrymen threw away his spear and dropped to his knees.
Then two, then three.
Hundreds of spears were planted into the ground one after another.
No one could raise a blade against an imperial Grand Princess.
The wind blew.
The fire weakened.
Smoke scattered.
Under the red sky, the battlefield held its breath.
Park Seong-jin stared at the scene, blankly.
Behind the princess, the sinking light stood like a second sun.
Gecheol's Surrender — Grand Princess Noguk's Negotiation
The plain of Ssangseong settled.
The stink of blood remained, yet the wind had turned clean.
The smell that had burned through the night dispersed.
Silver dew gathered on scorched horse armor and broken spearheads.
When war stopped, the earth seemed to breathe again.
Grand Princess Noguk took her place at the center of the field.
Instead of a violet tent, she hung a canopy of blue silk.
The blood-stained pavilion was taken down.
A single small table was set.
On it lay a wine cup and a red seal.
She wore no ornament.
Only one golden phoenix hairpin remained in her hair.
Park Seong-jin and Lee In-jung ringed the space.
Soldiers lowered their weapons.
Spears were turned back and planted in the ground.
All heads bowed.
Silence stood in ranks, as orderly as a ritual.
Hoofbeats approached.
Raising dust, Gecheol came forward.
He was drenched in blood.
His armor was broken in half.
In his eyes, rage and resignation mixed together.
He dismounted.
Took one step forward.
And in a cracked voice said,
"Your Highness."
The princess looked at him.
"If Empress Gi saw you like this, what do you think she would say?"
Gecheol twisted a smile.
"The words of a victor."
The princess answered,
"Even a defeated man would know they are true."
Her tone was gentle.
Inside it, something unyielding held.
Gecheol stepped closer.
"I am Empress Gi's elder brother. I can move imperial troops.
Must I bow my head before a woman of Goryeo?"
The princess set down the cup and rose slowly.
"I am of the Golden Lineage joined by blood, a Grand Princess granted Noguk as my domain.
Now I am the Queen of the King of Goryeo.
Two worlds are in my blood.
Whichever I choose, I lose the other."
She looked straight at Gecheol.
"So this fight is not for me.
It is your last chance."
Gecheol's gaze trembled.
After a long silence, he asked,
"What do you want?"
Her voice was low, and unmistakable.
"Kneel.
Swear surrender to the Great Khan and to the King of Goryeo.
I will stand as witness to that oath."
Gecheol lifted his face to the sky.
Wind scattered his hair.
A broken spear rattled.
He laughed.
"Did you think I would kneel so easily?"
The princess glanced at the table.
She lifted the seal and laid it on her palm.
"It is the seal of the Empire.
The authority to command you is here."
She took one breath, then continued.
"But I will not command.
I wish, even a little, to repay the grace Empress Gi once showed me."
Gecheol stopped.
His eyes moved from the seal to the princess's gaze.
After the long stillness, he dropped to his knees.
Dust rose.
A trembling hand braced against the ground.
"…I am Gecheol.
I will no longer fight against that blood."
The princess nodded.
Then she set the seal down before him.
The mark of power remained—
heavy as a stone, and no less symbolic.
That afternoon, the banner of Ssangseong Command was lowered.
The dark-red emblem was torn away.
In its place, violet and blue flags were raised.
Soldiers laid down their weapons and bowed.
From afar, Park Seong-jin watched it all.
The princess's profile stood in the wind.
Lee In-jung nodded.
"It is fortunate the bastard surrendered."
That night, the princess sat alone in her tent.
Still wearing the blood-stained clothes, she looked up at the sky
and murmured,
"O Great Khan.
Let this blood not flow again."
Wind brushed the canvas.
Outside, the Sungui troops extinguished the remaining embers.
The night of Ssangseong grew quiet.