Hyeong Daesung reviewed his notes while he waited in a plush antechamber within the royal palace. He didn’t need to review the notes—his memory was perfect—nor did he really need to have taken them in the first place—for the same reason—but the ritual was calming, and he was rather anxious.

Even after having spent the better part of a year living there, he’d never been able to get used to being in the palace. The Seong clan ignored him, for the most part, and the palace staff were very accommodating, but he just couldn’t help but feel out of place.

He would never claim that growing up under one of the most powerful and influential mages in the country was a ‘common’ upbringing, but nevertheless the royal palace felt far beyond anything he should have been able to reach. He could scarcely imagine how Lee Jia must have felt.

His musing was interrupted by the door suddenly slamming open, giving Dae barely enough time to react before a fluffy missile launched itself at him with deadly force.

“Big brother Dae!”

“Oof!”

Dae rose from his seat in time to catch Seong Haeun and spin in place to bleed her momentum before setting the fox-tailed little princess back down on the ground. He silently thanked Master Ienaga for drilling martial arts fundamentals into him, even if he was still a rank novice in that particular discipline.

Unfortunately, the papers he’d been holding had been sacrificed to the maneuver and were now scattered across the floor.

“Greetings, Your Highness. It’s good to see you again, but you know you aren’t supposed to address me like that—what would your sisters say?”

Haeun crossed her arms and pouted.

“I don’t care what they think! They got to go on an adventure with Heian and Narae and left me all alone!”

Dae smiled stiffly. He’d heard about the diplomatic envoy, but he hadn’t realized that the princess had made friends with Lee Jia’s wards. Just as he was starting to wonder who was supposed to be watching the rebellious little girl, his questions were answered by a maid rushing through the door after her.

“Young Mistress, please don’t go running off like that! I’m so sorry sir—ah!”

Hyeong Aecha froze as she met Dae’s gaze and he cringed internally. He’d been hoping to avoid her. He bowed politely.

“Hello, Aecha. Are you well?”

She quickly schooled her shocked expression and returned the bow with perfect posture, speaking in her usual monotone.

“I am, thank you. Though Mistress has left on her mission, I have been able to serve instead as Young Mistress’ caretaker in the interim, and the palace staff treat me well.”

“Good, I’m glad. As always, I’d like to remind you that you are free, and may return home whenever you wish. If you prefer, I could also arrange for your own—”

“No, thank you. Your offer is kind, but I am happy to continue serving here in the palace.”

Dae sighed.

“You don’t have to serve anyone, you know. You’re free.”

Hyeong Aecha didn’t answer, instead kneeling down to begin picking up the scattered papers. It was her way of disagreeing without actually confronting him about it. If he pressed the issue, she’d simply take it as a command and say whatever she thought he wanted to hear. Even a soft protest like refusing to answer was progress compared to how he’d found her, though.

He felt bad about letting people incorrectly assume that she was simply enthralled by Seong Eunae, even if the latter had agreed to the ruse. It wasn't something he was prepared to address just yet.

Haeun looked between Dae and Aecha with a puzzled frown.

“Aecha, did you make big brother Dae mad?”

Dae shook his head to answer for her.

“No, not at all. Sorry, Your Highness, but this is something between me and my sister.”

Haeun looked up at him with big round eyes.

“She’s your sister?! I didn’t know that! Aecha, why didn’t you tell me?!”

Hyeong Aecha hesitated, unsure how to answer, so Dae stepped in to save her once more.

“It’s a long story—we didn’t grow up together and only just recently met, so it doesn’t really feel like we’re family at all.”

“Okay!”

There was more to it than that, of course, but Dae wasn’t comfortable explaining it all to Haeun.

“Why don’t you help her pick up those papers you scattered all over the place? A good princess takes responsibility for her own actions, does she not?”

Haeun’s back straightened, and she nodded stiffly.

“Right! Sorry big brother Dae!”

She waved a hand and Dae had to hold back a gasp of shock as a gust of wind swept up the pages without touching anything else and stacked them neatly in front of Aecha, who wordlessly picked them up and handed them back to Dae.

He bowed in thanks as he accepted them, but his attention was focused on the little princess. Her intuitive talent with magic was nothing short of breathtaking, and he regretted that he hadn’t been able to stay on as her tutor in order to help guide her towards cultivating it into something greater. However, from what he’d just witnessed, it seemed he didn’t have to.

“Was that a talismanless spell, or a spiritual art?”

Haeun shrugged.

“I just told the mana to go ‘woosh’ and pick up all the paper! Like when I’m talking to Heian or Muddy, but most mana isn’t smart like they are so I have to be super specific.”

Dae smiled sardonically. Even after learning proper theory, Haeun was awful at explaining herself. What he would have given to work with the princess to research her fascinating techniques—instead, her tutors wasted her potential by forcing her to conform to traditional standards. Though—who in the names of the ancestors was Muddy?

From the opposite side of the antechamber, the other door opened, and Tae In-Su stepped through and bowed.

“Lady Hayakawa is ready to—ah, Your Highness? We weren’t expecting your visit.”

Dae bowed.

“Princess Haeun was just passing by to offer her greetings, isn’t that right?”

Haeun held the stiff posture she always used when trying to be ‘official’ and nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. I will see you forthwith, Magus Dae—I mean, Hyeong Daesung.”

She bowed and turned to leave, flanked by Hyeong Aecha. Tae scratched his head as the door shut behind her.

“Does she realize that forthwith means the opposite of later?”

Dae chuckled.

“She’s only eight years old, Tae. Give the child a break.”

Tae In-Su snorted.

“Just so. Good to see you again, Dae.”

Dae smiled at his old friend and former brother-in-craft under Do Hye.

“Likewise. What are you doing here in the palace?”

“Still working as Lady Hayakawa’s secretary. Strictly speaking, my orders were to provide my services to Miss An and her associates until such time as they were no longer required. As long as any of them are in Goryeo, I’m theirs.”

“Quite the change from simple administration, I imagine.”

Tae let out a weary sigh.

“In truth, I think Lady Sun just wanted to keep them as far away from her as possible. She was rather traumatized by their previous encounters. It has certainly been interesting. What about you? Did you ever imagine yourself leading some group of clandestine special operatives?”

“Never. Life has taken us both in strange directions.”

“Perhaps. I must say you seem quite suited to it. Not a trace of that insufferable nervous tic of yours to be found.”

Dae scratched the back of his head.

“I’ve been trying to work on it, hehe.”

“...perhaps I spoke too soon. In any case, Lady Hayakawa is ready to see you forthwith.”

Hayakawa Kaede flipped through Hyeong Daesung’s extensive and well organized ‘notes.’ They read like a structured report, but the man had always been an overachiever. They painted an unusual picture.

“Magus Hyeong, how confident are you in these findings?”

She watched him carefully. Kaede hadn’t really gotten to know Hyeong back in the academy, but she held him in high regard. He had deployed countermeasures against her ultimate technique after only briefly witnessing it a handful of times, and he was in part responsible for leading Lee Jia to the success that she had achieved.

His competence was without question, but he lacked confidence. Something she’d been eager to take advantage of when she considered him an enemy, but which she now sought to correct if she’d be working with him as an ally.

He held her gaze without flinching, and her evaluation of Hyeong Daesung went up a notch.

“Extremely. It’s impossible to know for certain, but I was closer to him than anyone else.”

“Which casts everything you say about him into shadow.”

“Perhaps, but that line of thinking gets us nowhere. Do Hye isn’t omniscient, just excessively patient and well prepared. He was the one who always told me that a mage is as powerful as they are prepared, and I believe that he lives that philosophy.”

Kaede frowned and rested her head on one fist, drumming her fingers on the desk with her other hand.

“To an absurd degree, if even half of what you’ve written here is true. He’d have to be as old as the God-Emperor of Qin—older than the very nation he was supposedly born in. Older than the race he clearly belongs to. You’ll forgive me if I find myself doubting.”

“I’ve recorded my reasoning in full detail.”

He had. Kaede scowled down at the papers. She had to admit that as absurd as it was, she didn’t have a rebuttal.

“Who else knows?”

“Magus Hwang knows everything I do about the case, but his focus lies elsewhere. He’ll be delivering his report to the Queen, but I took my theories straight to you.”

“If this is true, then the demons are going to make their move soon, and Yoshika has played right into his hands.”

Hyeong Daesung nodded solemnly.

“Unfortunately there’s little we can do for them from here but pray that they can overcome their trials.”

Kaede scoffed.

“They will be just fine. I’ve learned my lesson about underestimating them often enough. I have a different concern—tell me, have you spoken to Yoshika about their plans for after they recover the Sovereign’s Tear?”

His pained grimace was answer enough, and she nodded in commiseration.

“Exactly. This gives us a critical opportunity. What do you think Hwang, the Queen, my father, and Qin are going to do once the demons act?”

“If—and this is a big if—my estimation of Do Hye’s plans are correct, then there will be a rat race to be the first to enter Chou’s tomb. Only houtian cultivators can enter it, but considerable xiantian forces will be committed to protecting their chosen proxies.”

Kaede allowed a small smile to play across her face. She was taking a risk, trusting Hyeong with her plans, but he’d be an invaluable ally—and she needed all the help she could get.

“A battle the likes of which the continent has never seen, with our mutual friend right in the middle of it—as if Yoshika could ever resist something so dramatic. Just as your master planned. But what of the abandoned academy grounds?”

Hyeong Daesung’s eyes widened.

“You can’t be suggesting—”

“The pieces are already in place. I’ve reviewed the treaties—the special extranational territory of Geumji is still a valid institution just waiting for its empty council to be filled by representatives from each of the signatory states. With the level of autonomy afforded to it, it’s practically a city state unto itself—just one lacking land and citizens.”

“Nobody would recognize it!”

Kaede shrugged.

“Not as it is, no. But it would be a start. You know as well as I do that even if they recover the Sovereign’s Tear, Yoshika will be torn to shreds in the aftermath. She needs more than just a few well placed allies to protect her from that. She needs a stronghold—a seat of power that the entire world is forced to recognize.”

Magus Hyeong wiped the sweat from his brow with a shaking hand.

“You’re talking about founding an entire nation. In the middle of the continent. In a place that no power has ever held unilateral control over. By yourself.”

“Not by myself, no.”

Hayakawa Kaede stood and walked around the desk to stand right next to Hyeong Daesung, bowing her head.

“With Yoshika, and all of their friends and allies. Magus Hyeong Daesung—Dae, I hope that you’ll include yourself among that number and join me.”

Dae swallowed hard and returned her bow.

“We’ll be in each other’s care, then. I hope we can rise to the task.”