Nearly a week after the Festival of Lilies, Sungjong came to find Seulhee. They slipped away to their usual meeting place, the storage room, to talk. She could see by his face that it must be something very important since he was much more bouncy and excited than usual.

“What is it?” she asked, as soon as the door snapped shut and Sungjong activated his spell.

“It’s time for you to take action,” he declared. Somehow he managed to make it sound dramatic rather than melodramatic.

“What action?”

“I’m getting there,” Sungjong laughed. “Everything is in place. The council’s hold on its allies and resources has been greatly weakened. In two days, the conspiracy will enter the palace and capture the council members. They will be brought to justice.”

“How is this happening? Won’t the guards realize what’s going on? And won’t the council hear what’s happening outside?”

“We’ve managed to buy over most of the guards, and those who we haven’t, we will take care of.” Seeing her look, he added, “Without killing them, unless absolutely necessary.”

“Arresting the council is the main goal, if I’m right? So what will I be doing for this?” She had no fighting skills to speak of, so she wouldn’t really be helpful in the invasion.

“You get to poison them.”

Her eyes widened. “Poison?”

“Well, not really. It’s going to be some sort of serum that will cause them to pass out at worst, or simply become paralyzed. The conspiracy still wants them alive and well so we can get their confessions.”

“But if one of them drinks it first and the others notice, won’t that ruin the plan?” Seulhee pointed out, frowning. Once the effects took hold, everyone would be suspicious of their drinks. And suspicious of her, the one serving the drinks. She’d likely be dead before she could make a move to leave the room.

“Well, that was taken into account. Guess what date it is in two days?”

She thought for a moment. “Oh, the Moonlight Festival.” Each year the festival fell on the seventh full moon of the calendar. It was one of the oldest and most widely celebrated holiday in the kingdom. 

“Exactly. They will be toasting one another in celebration. That will be your chance.”

“I should have the kitchen prepare special drinks for the occasion,” Seulhee said, more to herself than Sungjong.

“That’s the idea. They would probably request it anyway.”

“But how to do it without being seen? That’s the problem. It will take a while to put the serum into all of their drinks. The drinks will be prepared separately, after all.” Usually the expensive beverages for the Moonlight Festival celebration were elaborate, with special glasses and decorations in the form of fruits on the rims of the glasses.

“That’s where you will need a bit of help,” Sungjong agreed. “Sungyeol will be giving you something to do your job. I’m not sure what at this point. You will have to go see him tomorrow.”

“I don’t have another holiday, though.”

“Sneak out to meet him at night by the back gate. He says he can take care of the guard.”

“If it’s that easy, why can’t they do that for the guards during the invasion?”

Sungjong shook his head. “You have to be very close to the person to induce the sleep spell. He could use a stunning spell, but those are unreliable. You could just as easily kill or permanently damage the brain of the person as you could knock them out. Poisons would require giving them food or drink, and I don’t think they will trust a stranger’s gift. It’s too suspicious. Nobody is that generous these days, not even on the holidays. Besides, anyone who is anyone in the city will be gathered in the South District for the lantern lighting and moon viewing event.”

“Hmm, I see.” Seulhee had entered into the position knowing that she held an important role, but until now, she hadn’t realized just how important she was. If she slipped up, the conspiracy’s plan could fall apart. She didn’t want to think about the potential consequences of her mistakes.

***

The next night, Seulhee slipped out of the room she shared with the other girls as quietly as possible. Barely any of them stirred. They were all sound asleep. Anyone woke up would think she needed to go relieve herself, so it wasn’t a huge issue even if that did happen.

The entire palace was dead silent. The only guards awake would be the ones outside of the palace, at the walls, so she didn’t need to worry about being spotted and stopped.

When she slipped out into the night, she shivered slightly. The weather had been chillier recently, even though spring was still in full bloom. As she sauntered up to the gate, she spotted Sungyeol waiting for her, pacing impatiently. He saw her and waved.

“Have you been doing well?” he asked.

“It’s only been five days since we last saw each other,” she replied, chuckling. “But yes, I am. And you?”

“Burning with excitement, actually. I think I have been waiting for something to happen for ages, and it’s finally going to take place.”

This sounded like the old Sungyeol she knew, impatient and easily excitable. Of course, this particular event wasn’t a small matter in the least, but it was nice to see that he hadn’t changed utterly, as she had once feared.

“So what is it that you’re giving me?” Seulhee asked, getting back to the main point of their meeting.

“Here.” His right arm extended and reached between the bars, dropping a small box into her outstretched palm.

“Is this…?” She opened the box, and inside, she found what she expected, and more.

“A poison ring,” Sungyeol explained, not bothering to contain his grin. “Like in the stories.”

“But it’s so painfully obvious.” The ring was a bit bulky, and if she suddenly wore a ring when she hadn’t before, that would be quite suspicious.

“It won’t be. Once you put it on, it has a spell that distracts people from what you’re doing with your hands. No one will notice you doing anything to the drinks. In fact, no one will notice the spell itself. It’s very subtly constructed, to the point that even nearly all magic users would still miss it.”

“So it’s like a double distracter,” she remarked, impressed.

“Exactly. Anyway, good luck with everything. I suggest you get out of the room as soon as the Duke and the others come in. You don’t need to stick around any longer than your job is accomplished. You’ll get paid quite well, too, once 
it’s all over. Good night.”

“Good night,” she echoed, watching him leave. He vanished from sight in time, and she turned around to go back inside, thinking all the while that she could not let this go wrong.