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The sound of a sword could be heard slicing through the air during this quiet and chilly dawn. The one swinging the sword only had a thin long sleeved undershirt and pants on. Both most likely soaked through with sweat with the way he had been swinging that sword for hours now.
Cale sighed as he observed his ‘husband’, Choi Han the great hero of the Rowoon Kingdom, continue to swing his sword with terrifying diligence. It had been a month since crown prince Alver essentially dumped this headache onto him. He understands that his hyungnim was simply trying to keep the other nobles from using Choi Han for their own pathetic power struggles, but did he really have to get married to this… magnet for troublesome things.
Cale knows that marriage was the most effective way to get Choi Han away from the clutches of the nobility. He even agreed to it when Alver had proposed the idea - even though he’s sure if he had said no his hyungnim would’ve done everything in his power to find a different solution.
To be honest he had expected this to just be a marriage of convenience. One where he and Choi Han would be on cordial terms and share the same living space; only having to interact with each other during events that they had to attend together. Instead he ended up getting the equivalent of an abused traumatized puppy left to fend for itself.
Choi Han was absolutely terrifying when Cale first met him. His clothes were ripped and soaked with blood and he rarely spoke, merely glaring at everyone who even so much as approached him.
What the hell had his highness been thinking sending Choi Han to Cale looking like he had just finished fighting in a violent battle. Well… considering how Choi Han got the moniker of hero, he supposes he might actually be correct. Either way Cale couldn’t just leave Choi Han like that. He would end up scaring the workers in his estate as well as the people in his territory. If they’re terrified then they would all come to Cale to fix the problem and just dump more work onto his lap.
Cale couldn’t have that; however, he also did not want to get too involved with Choi Han for fear that he would bring more trouble and work. In the end Cale decided the best course of action was to at least show Choi Han around and feed him on the first day to get him acquainted with the place and then dump him on Hans and Ron. That way if Choi Han ever needed anything else he could ask them. Problem solved.
However, it seems he must be really unlucky. Somehow, no matter what Cale did he would end up running into Choi Han. Whether he went to the library, took a rare walk, actually went outside of his room for dinner, even now when he woke up to the sounds of Choi Han training he would see him. Cale supposes it hasn’t been all bad at the very least.
Despite how terrifying Choi Han can be, he's actually a lot more polite than Cale thought. Once he had been bathed and fed he had immediately come to Cale telling him he needed to repay the favor. Although, Cale denied him right away. Who in their right mind would force the hero of the continent to do basic manual labor.
Also they are technically married now. Isn’t it natural to take care of your spouse even if said spouse was forced into this to keep him safe from the political turmoil?
Ever since then it seems Cale couldn’t stop seeing Choi Han around the manor. For example, it is currently the crack of dawn and Cale who usually wouldn’t be caught awake at this hour ended up waking up to the sounds and sight of Choi Han training.
This wasn’t the first time Cale had caught Choi Han training at an ungodly hour. He figured it must be a normal routine for Choi Han so that he could maintain his current strength. However, it didn’t sit right with Cale. Whenever he ran into Choi Han it always seemed like the man was about to train, currently training, or taking a short break before resuming training.
The battles Choi Han had to fight were long over. In Cale’s opinion Choi Han was strong enough. If he got any stronger Cale thinks Choi Han would destroy the world just by sneezing. Which honestly was quite a scary thought.
Personally, Cale thinks Choi Han should take this time to rest. The man hadn’t been able to relax for the past two years with all the battles he took part in. Seeing him work himself to the bone drenched in sweat during a chilly morning just didn’t sit right with Cale.
Sighing, Cale took one last look at Choi Han and got out of bed. He feels like it’s going to be a long morning.
—————————♡—————————
“I’m surprised to see you awake.”
Cale sighed, he wished he were still in bed. Unfortunately, this crazy workaholic hero has been training every single hour of the day nonstop for a month straight and it was quite bothersome.
“This is the seventh day in a row that I’ve seen you training at the crack of dawn”
Choi Han had looked slightly confused as to why Cale would bother to come out this early and tell him that until he remembered that Cale’s bedroom window faced the training area he had been using every morning for the past week. Thinking he had probably been keeping his new husband - who seemed to value sleep more than anything else - awake made him feel a little sheepish.
Cale had been very generous and accommodating towards a commoner like himself. The last thing he wanted to do was to make him upset in any way, “Ah, I’m sorry sir. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
Cale shook his head, “That’s not the problem.”
“It’s not?”
“Why do you keep training so hard when your role is over? There shouldn’t be any more battles you have to take part in for a while. His highness said so himself.”
Choi Han clenched his fists, “I need to be stronger.”
“I think you’re plenty strong already?” A little too strong in Cale’s opinion. Choi Han can already demolish entire armies on his own. If he gets any stronger he’ll be able to just wipe the entire kingdom off the face of the planet with one swing of his blade.
“... I need to be strong enough so that there are less casualties.”
Right. While Cale had only heard about it while he was busy protecting his own territory, he recalls hearing about how despite Choi Han’s overwhelming strength there had been quite a few times where the enemy had managed to gain the upper hand - through surprise attacks - and wipe out a lot of their own troops.
It was quite sad, but it wasn’t entirely Choi Han’s fault. Wars were brutal like that. Each side desperately trying to save themselves by annihilating anyone who stands in their way.
He can understand the guilt Choi Han was feeling, however, Cale still didn’t think it was good that Choi Han was unnecessarily going overboard with this training.
“I understand, but what good will you be to anyone if you work yourself to the point of collapse?”
Choi Han opened his mouth, most likely about to refute his statement by saying something stupid like he won’t collapse, but Cale wasn’t going to listen to such nonsense, “Even if you think you won’t collapse now, that fatigue will build up and you may end up fainting at the worst possible time.”
Cale shook his head; why must this hero be such a headache sometimes, “All I’m saying is that it’s bothersome for me that you are constantly training whenever I see you. It’s almost as if you don’t know anything but training.”
“...Then what do you want me to do?”
“Rest, eat well, play. I want to see you do anything, but train to be honest.”
“Why?”
Because I’m scared that if you train too much you’ll end up accidentally killing me just by sneezing in my general direction.
“Because I think you’ve done enough. You’ve already saved a lot of people. You deserve to take a break and to be happy as well.”
Choi Han smiled gently, “I see. Then are you banning me from the training grounds?”
Cale scoffed and turned his gaze away from Choi Han, “Of course not. You can do what you want even if it is ignoring what I said.”
“Then I suppose I’ll walk around the town. I guess-,” Choi Han chuckled sheepishly, “I’ve been so busy training that I’ve never been outside of the manor.”
Cale nodded, maybe now he could rest easy now that Choi Han seemed to be listening to his advice and taking it a bit easier. Before leaving Choi Han to do his own thing, however, he nonchalantly murmured, “Come home safely.”
Choi Han froze causing Cale to look at him weirdly. Did he say something wrong? All he said was for Choi Han to come home safely. He didn’t want the hero bringing home any unnecessary trouble just because he encouraged him to do something other than training.
Before he could ask, however, Choi Han smiled so brightly it left Cale a little stunned, “I’ll be sure to come home safely Cale-nim!”
Cale just nodded and shooed him off, not bothering to see Choi Han off. He was feeling a little too warm and his heart was pounding a little too fast.
Perhaps Choi Han keeping him up every morning for the past week had caused him to develop a fever?