Jong Suk, Shin Hye, Yonghwa, Hong Ki, and Yu Bi were all gathered around a campfire, quietly discussing the news of the Emperor's death. After hours of searching through the village, no trace of any villager had been found, and the men elected to camp half a mile away from the empty village. No one wanted to be near the carnage and the ruins of the empty village.

"Your informant didn't tell you who's his successor?" Yu Bi inquired. 

Yonghwa stared at the note he had received before tossing the note into the fire and watched it crumble into ashes. "Not at all. I don't know if at the time of his death, she couldn't find out because it wasn't announced or maybe something intercepted a second message and I didn't get it."

"We'll find out soon, I guess. News like this will travel fast." Yu Bi said.

Jong Suk frowned. "I'm not so sure about that. Mi Seung could tamp the news down if he tried hard enough. And four days have passed from the date the letter was posted and today's date. The Emperor's funeral would be around now and the crowning of the new Emperor should be soon before political factions take over. But with the second Eldest Prince ill...."

"Then Mi Seung, if he isn't the successor, can rule in Hyung's place if Mi Seung isn't crowned Emperor. The laws state that very clearly" Hong Ki finished grimly, poking the embers in the fire. It was the first time the others had seen him so serious.

"I thought the Emperor would want to keep Third Prince at the Palace, in case the Second Prince wouldn't survive," Shin Hye murmured, placing her chin into her bent knees.

"Unfortunately, Mi Seung has more of a claim to the throne than the Second Prince. Remember he's had more time to gather support from the rest of the nobles, along with the Second Prince. There was never a need for Third Prince to concentrate on achieving the throne," Yonghwa said bitterly.

"Then, there must be a reason why the Emperor planned for this, right?" Shin Hye wondered. "There's only two outcomes for the throne since the Emperor had Third Prince sent away, and both end up with Mi Seung as reigning Emperor. So the Emperor must have another outcome planned where Mi Seung may have the throne but not necessarily the power. The Imperial Palace is just a palace, you can always just construct one elsewhere. But all of the influencing Royal family members have scattered, the Nullification Spell is in pieces, and the majority of the Imperial army is right here."

Jong Suk nodded as all of them came to the realization. "You're right, Mi Seung has nothing left for true Imperial power and probably has to rely on the Ministers' powers and influence. Still, I'm not sure that that's a good thing either. The Ministers of each District when combined can have more influence than the Emperor since they're a lot closer and have a direct conduit to the people."

"You're saying that they can turn the people's trust against the Royal family." Yonghwa said, paling. "And indirectly, that means turning them against us."

"Um, you don't think that they would blame the demon attacks on the village on us, would they? I mean, after all, we came a bit too late to save this village." Hong Ki asked timidly, his question placing a dark cloud over the heads of everyone.

Shin Hye shivered as the fire seemed to be getting smaller, and Jong Suk placed a reassuring arm over her shoulder.

"But these are all speculations. For now, we'll wait until we can get more informati