Hyora didn’t have any time to fully process and get used to the news her mother had dumped on her before she entered the library. There, she found her father sitting on a couch with a book in one hand, the other occupied with scribbling on a piece of paper.

“Good morning, Hyora.” He looked up from his work to smile at her.

“Good morning, Father,” she replied, attempting to return the smile. Her face wouldn’t cooperate well though.

“You just saw your mother, correct?” he asked, returning his eyes to the task at hand.

“Yes.”

“And she informed you that you’re engaged to that Kim boy.”

Her “yes” this time was a bit more strained.

“I don’t think you should worry too much about that at present. With your luck and skill, you can drive him away in no time.”

“Father…”

He laughed. “What? I thought you didn’t want to marry him.”

“Well, I don’t want to, but…”

“I’m not insulting you. I just know how you are. You can just as easily seduce a man if you want to.”

Oh, so now she was a temptress.

“I’m not so seductive so much as a lot of men are thick-headed and impulsive,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

“That’s exactly how your mother got me to marry her,” her father joked. The comment earned him a glare. “But anyway, enough of that. I wanted to inquire on what information you gathered from your last month in Hwasung.”

She hadn’t gotten the opportunity to send him a letter in the span of time before she left. “Right.” She set the papers down in front of him. “There. All sorted and translated and decoded and annotated, just like you taught me.” Hyora crossed her arms in front of her chest, feeling accomplished.

Her father merely glanced over the messages and information. “Hmm. Not much new except for some troop movements, eh?”

Her face fell. “No. Sorry about that.”

“That’s fine. I have a new task for you, anyway.”

At this, she perked up. Maybe this would distract her from her upcoming marriage.

“What?”

“Recruitment—“

“Oh.” That wasn’t all that exciting.

“—and sniffing out the secrets here at court.”

She frowned. “What is there here that you can’t handle?”

“It seems we have a rat infestation.”

“I’m afraid I still don’t understand.”

“Ever since the queen’s death, the council has essentially seized control. His Majesty either doesn’t care or is under their control.”

“But you’re on the council,” she pointed out.

“Not anymore.”

It seemed she had missed out on a lot while she had been away from home, if things were this bad. “How did that even happen?”

“Oh, I still meet with the council, but there is a large majority of them who have their own separate meetings. They don’t trust me, so of course they don’t include me.”

After the king himself, Hyora’s mother, the Grand Duchess, was next most royal. Of course, since she was a woman, succession skipped over her. Since Hyora’s father wasn’t actually of royal blood, next in line for the throne was Hoya.

“But wouldn’t it be to their advantage to include you? After all, that would give their power some legitimacy. They could claim the king is irreversibly scarred by his grief and then put Hoya on the throne as their puppet king.”

“True, but that would depend heavily on various factors that they aren’t willing to put their faith in and bet their lives on. One of them is the assumption that I haven’t raised Hoya to be a loyal son and citizen of this kingdom and that I wouldn’t step out and do something to pull them down. I may not have royal blood, but I do have considerable influence.”

“I don’t see why you can’t just step out right now and call them out and have them done away with.”

He sighed and shut the book he was holding. “My dear, you’re not stupid, and surely I raised you better than that. Such things don’t just happen in with the wave of a hand in a day. These are some of the most powerful men in the entire kingdom, and together they have a good part of the land and resources under their thumbs. It is no small matter to remove them from their positions. It requires time, patience, and effort.”

“And me, apparently,” Hyora added. “I don’t see how I would help. I’m Hoya’s twin and your daughter. If they don’t trust either you or him, why would they trust me?”

“You said it earlier. They’re thick-headed and impulsive.”

“Then how did they manage to take control of a kingdom, then?”

“Well, they are thick-headed and impulsive when it comes to women, at least. Don’t forget I know these people.” The implications of this statement caused the girl to look at her father questioningly.

“Don’t stare at me like that, my daughter. I’m not telling you to sleep with them. Just dance in circles around them, make them cough up a few tidbits, and then use whatever other techniques you have up your sleeve for procuring information. Also, for those who have them, their sons would be good targets as well.”

“So you’re telling me to wade my way through the snake pit of a court to figure out what all is going on?”

“You’ll do better than that, I’m certain. Now run along.”

It was like she was five years old again. “Bye, Father.”

“Have a nice day, Hyora.”

Well, that was two items of business taken care of. Now she was free to go talk to her brother.