“You kissed her hand?” Hyora almost rolled off of her bed laughing hysterically while her brother watched, his face looking completely mortified after finishing his tale.

“I haven’t the faintest idea what possessed me to do that,” he muttered. “It just happened. I blame Mother for indoctrinating us with all of those manners and lectures about treating women courteously.”

Hyora smirked. “That’s a convenient excuse, brother dearest. More likely you thought her pretty, so you made your move. How did she react to that, by the way?”

“She was staring at me like I was crazy,” Hoya answered, putting his face in his hands.

“Not surprising, really. Had I been in her place…” Just the thought of it caused Hyora to giggle.

“So what do I do now? She’s going to think I’m sort of horrible womanizer.” Her twin seemed genuinely worried about the matter, and Hyora couldn’t help but wonder if he really felt something for this Jaesun girl. “It will be hard for me to hang around to observe her if she thinks that of me and doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

Hyora waved his concerns away. “Just keep your distance. Don’t invade her space. She will figure out soon enough that you aren’t that sort of man.”

Judging by the look on his face, he wasn’t entirely convinced, but he dropped the matter. “Oh, and I met someone else besides Jaesun. Her cousin Dongwoo.”

Hyora’s paused in her chuckling to stare at Hoya. “Wait. Dongwoo?”

“Yes. He’s a rather friendly fellow. Certainly smiles a lot. What, do you know him?”

This entire time she had neglected to mention Dongwoo to Hoya. She hadn’t seen any particular reason to bring him up. “Well, yes. Sungyeol introduced us a while ago.”

“Ah, I see.” Her brother didn’t appear to suspect anything amiss with her reaction. If he found out that she had been seeing him…Well, she hadn’t done anything more than talk to Dongwoo…but it was best not to let Hoya find out.

***

This turned out to be remarkably easy for Hyora. Dongwoo didn’t seem to spend all that much time with Jaesun, which also meant Hyora didn’t run into her brother. In fact, she and Hoya had made an agreement to keep their relationship to each other a secret since it was possible some people had heard of their existence, given their relationship to the king. They didn’t look much alike, which facilitated the ruse. No one would think to connect them together.

Hyora requested that Sungyeol keep silent on the fact that she was involved in the conspiracy. She didn’t want it taking over her relationship with Dongwoo. The reason she had even gone out into the city was to escape her life back home. She didn’t need any more of that.

Whenever she could, Hyora continued to meet up with Dongwoo, a lot of times without Sungyeol around, something she knew Gayoo would never have approved of. Not that she even cared.

She enjoyed these times she spent with Dongwoo, but it was still a bit frustrating for her. One would think it couldn’t be a bad thing to be too friendly, but for Hyora, it means constantly wondering whether he liked her and thought of her in a special way or he was simply being his amiable self.

In the meantime, Hoya seemed to grow more and more smitten with Jaesun, so she knew she wasn’t alone in her feelings and frustrations.

“She seems to be avoiding me, just like what I was afraid of,” Hoya complained.

“Maybe it’s just your imagination.”

“I doubt it.”

“Fine. What do you like about her?” Hyora asked, curious. The result of various factors was that she had never actually met Dongwoo’s cousin.

Hoya thought for a moment. “Her unbreakable spirit. She seems so passionate and decisive about everything. Based on what I’ve seen of her, she’s quite smart and capable.”

She couldn’t help but over this confession. “I told you that you would fall head over heels in love, and here we are.”

Hoya blushed, something he rarely did. It was an endearing side of him to see. “But what am I supposed to do? She’s a commoner. It won’t work.”

Reaching over, Hyora nudged him playfully. “No one’s telling you to marry the girl. Why can’t you have a bit of romance while you’re still young?”

“She is of marriageable age, you know. I just don’t want to enter into something with someone who might have expectations of me that I can’t satisfy.”

“I suppose. That’s up to you to communicate, then, if you start something with her.” She thought of her own situation with Dongwoo, and then pushed the thoughts away. “Anyway, what exactly is the verdict on whether she’s right for the job?”

“Still inconclusive right now. I think after a few weeks I’ll decide for sure.”

***

It didn’t even take that long. About a week after their discussion, Hoya came into Hyora’s room looking defeated.

“What’s wrong? You look so aggrieved.”

“It’s Jaesun.”

“What, did she reject you?” Hyora joked. The look on her twin’s face really worried her, though.

“She pulled a knife on me,” Hoya answered. He sprawled across the empty space on her bed, shutting his eyes.

Hyora’s gaped at him. “Oh my goodness. What did you do to deserve that?”

“Apparently I was too obvious about watching her, and she realized I was doing it and was angry at me. I didn’t say anything to confirm or deny it, and then…”

“That seems a bit extreme, though.”

“She’s emotionally unstable. Her sister was killed by evil men for no reason besides to cover up a political secret. The law did nothing to bring justice to her. It’s not a huge surprise. Under her tough exterior, she’s been hurting a lot. I wish I could do something for her pain.”

Hyora contorted , pondering this. “So I guess we will have to find someone else for our palace spy. Back to where we started. And if you really want to do something for her, stay close to her and offer her your support. It sounds like she really needs it.”

“I think I love her,” Hoya sighed. His voice was muffled by the blankets that his face was half-embedded in.

She kicked him lightly. “Then tell it to her. Don’t tell it to me.”

“Okay, okay.”

Even while she advised her twin, however, Hyora felt like a hypocrite. She hadn’t said anything to Dongwoo. She had simply been waiting for a sign that he felt the same way that she did. In the end, she didn’t even need to ask.