AUDIENCE: SOO-WON

[retellers]

Comments

[recrowns]

How old did you think I was?

[make it into a GAME]

How old are you? And are you human?

[retellers]

I'm not great at age guessing.

[ it comes out a little defensive. but they ... answer the rest easily? ]

21. And yeah.

[recrowns]

21 and you're the third oldest? Huh...

[but he looks like his curiosity is satisfied - ]

Ah, the other royalty in the surrounding kingdoms are a bit older than me, mostly. Even Princess Tao in the country of Xing is 19, but other rulers are typically somewhere in their 30s or so.

Most of my generals are a few decades my senior.

[it's part of why he can talk to just about anyone so easily - he's not used to paying attention to age except for when he's being underestimated]

[retellers]

[ wolf shrugs because sometimes you are considered old at 21. it's called most fiction. ]

Then yeah, you are young. Makes sense. Most people like it better when the person who's leading them has some life experience.

[recrowns]

[zia you just have so many canons with kids]

Ah, to be called young... How nice...

[shut up]

But that's true. I've at least tried to handle many things as directly as I can in the past year. Even if just for now, I think I've been able to get the country stabilized from where it used to be.

[retellers]

[ the oldest character you've played that isn't a sword is jae-ha who will die before forty, fiction hates old people ]

So long as you're doing the job right, that's all that should matter. [ it's said in a tone that at least implies they know about `politics` ]

[recrowns]

[STOP but true if jae-ha lives to the end of akayona i'm assuming i'm getting punked

also good night]

I intend to.

My country has no need for a weak-willed or complacent king, so I aim to be otherwise.

[retellers]

Not a fan of the previous one?

[recrowns]

[he is literally going to forget this tomorrow but because of timelines wolf is the only person he's ever talked about Il to, i hate this]

No, I loved him. [and this he seems to mean it sincerely] He was very nice. A bit clumsy and some would call him cowardly, but he loved Yona more than anything. He championed kindness, and I think that the world he dreamed of must have been very peaceful. I would've liked to see it come true.

[ . . . ]

It's just that championing kindness, and placing one person above all else..... It concentrates happiness and prosperity in one spot. It neglects to realize the hardships of everyone else who is not being prioritized, and things will fall to ruin. During his reign, everything outside the castle walls...

It fell apart, and he had no intention of saving it.

[retellers]

[ this is beautiful and hilarious, thank you memloss. though. one thing sticks out to wolf: ]

Why Yona?

[recrowns]

She's his beloved daughter.

[ . . . but that's not the whole story, is it? he pauses, but he supposes - that technically this is less yona's story and more il's. and the context is important for truly showing the divide between il's reign and soo-won's.]

The reincarnation of King Hiryuu, the very first king in our country. A dragon god who descended and lived among the people because he loved humanity. King Il had thought that she was Hiryuu's avatar.

And so... he thought that as long as he could protect her, then the gods of legend would intervene and come save the kingdom.

[surprise il was kind of a dickwad]

[retellers]

[ this is 0% a surprise to anyone but yona ]

Can't count on gods to solve your problems. [ hmm. wolf tilts their head ] So how'd you take over the throne if Yona's his daughter?

[ they sound like they. might have. an idea ]

[recrowns]

[haha

yea]

... I was wondering that myself until just today, when the memory came back to me.

But I think you can guess.

[even if he doesn't sound pleased about it]

[retellers]

So you do get memories back when you kill.

[ that's a nice confirmation. "is it" it's nice ]

Don't know royalty much, but there's not a lot of ways kings are deposited.

[recrowns]

Didn't believe Virid when he said it but you'll believe me?

[sure it's nice]

... I would have liked it if he could have stepped down but -

It seems he didn't trust me much. Not even when I was a child.

[retellers]

Can't trust that it's a pattern if it's just the one kid saying so.

[ so, yes and no? though wolf pauses at that ]

You did end up killing him.

[recrowns]

[soo-won nods]

Then consider that confirmation if you didn't have it before. Naturally it's not something I'm interested in spreading around wildly.

[as for the matter of Il - ]

I did. [a beat, and then a humorless breath of a laugh]

Maybe he was right to get a bad feeling from me.

[retellers]

Or maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[recrowns]

[ . . . . ]

Fufu, whether you intended it or not, that was rather nice of you.

[retellers]

It wasn't...

[ well, they weren't trying to be nice or mean, so they can't object that much, but still. don't @ them like this?? ]

If someone doesn't trust you, you can't trust them back. That's all.

[recrowns]

[he's gotta @ them

but he at least won't linger on it]

It does invite quite the disadvantage if you do, doesn't it?

Do you find it hard to trust?

[retellers]

Finding it hard would mean I want to trust people.

[recrowns]

Oh? You don't want to get closer to anyone at all?

[retellers]

If it happens, it happens, but I'm not seeking it out.

[recrowns]

[hm!

soo-won seems to pause, consider that, and doesn't refute it. rather he just nods]

You have an interesting way of viewing the world.