The Goryeo Palace

Perhaps the reason that the palace was filled with such tension was because of the growing tension due to the citizens demanding for an end to the drought. The royals were to restrict themselves as much as possible and no one was to drink tea. The King had started to offer daily prayers in the royal temple asking for rain. The Crown Prince had returned after suppressing another army but not for long as he left once again to suppress the various bandits running through the nation due to the drought.

The fact that a relief mission for the citizens of Silla and Hubaekje headed by the 4th prince Wang So was happening did make him a more welcome presence to the lower class such as the slaves but it did not matter because the influential citizens and nobles did not change their views of the 4th prince at all, to them he was still just a prince that wore a mask and was a bad luck.

Not to mention there were tensions among the Queen Yoo and the King as to why he could send 14th Prince Wang Jung together with that child, as Queen Yoo called the 4th Prince. In the end it was better that many of the princes were out of the palace at the moment, as it will be seen by the people that even the princes were not living in luxury rather the 4th prince and the young princes were trying to help.

It was no question at all that soon there will be a rain ritual happening, it was just a matter of time before the ritual will be needed to appease the citizens. But the King's strength was weakening, so to those who were more politically inclined, they saw the chance for a prince they support to gain the heavens as well as the citizen's favor. Many court officials were hoping that they could somehow nominate the 3rd prince Wang Yo to take over the rain ritual instead of the Crown Prince. Some officials had even sent a couple of their private soldiers disguised as bandits to delay the return of the Crown Prince to the Capital as much as possible.

Ji Mong

As usual, he was observing the stars to see if there is anything that he could use to help the nation. When he was checking over the stars of all the royal family members, he notice something unique. No it was serious thing that was confusing at best. All he knew was that the King needed to know about this as soon as possible. He runs out of the Astronomy Tower towards Cheondokjeon to the King's private chamber. This was something that the King will forgive him for interrupting his rest.

"Pyeha, it is Ji Mong. Please you have to come out right now." Ji Mong speaks through the door of the King's private chamber hoping and hoping that the King will come out. He did not have to wait long for the King to come out. Looking at his outfit, it seemed like he had yet to sleep for the night, so at least that was a relief. "Pyeha, the stars. The stars of the Crown Prince and the 4th prince are behaving strangely. It will be best if you could see for yourself Pyeha, if you allow me to you to a balcony nearby."

His urgent voice must have been enough as the king simply exits his room and allow him to lead him to the balcony. Opening the doors of the balcony, he quickly leads the King out so that he could look up at the sky, particularly the stars. The silent look of confusion that he sees on the King's face is enough for him to know that the King had witnessed the strange sights.

"Ji Mong what is the stars telling us?" He had been by the King's side enough to know that while his voice seem to be calm, his mind was working furiously to make plans.

"The Crown Prince and the 4th prince's stars are becoming more aligned with each other, which means that their connection and loyalty to each other is growing stronger. It means a stronger Goryeo in the future. But the 4th prince's star as well as its twin star that appeared, most likely Soo-buin's star are shining brightly and with blue colour. Blue is the colour of water so what I can say is that both of their destinies are becoming more and more intertwined like water which has no beginning or ending. We may even look at this as a sign that the drought's end is near. There is another thing though it is hard to see without the use of my telescope. There are faint stars that are beginning to appear in the sky, and there are also shining with blue light tonight. Though I do not know whose stars yet, there are eight stars in total all of them are spread out. I will keep you informed on what I find."

"Ji Mong, when are all the princes coming back to Songak?"

"The Crown Prince will sadly will not be back for at least another week. The bandit's activities does not seem to end, instead they seem to be increasing in number. The other princes are due back in two days, Your Majesty. They should be just about departing from Hubaekje either tonight or tomorrow morning."

"Ji Mong, inform the doctors that the herbs are arriving that I want the tonic to be used for Lady Soo as soon as possible. Also spread the word in the morning that we will hold a rain ritual in a week and start on the preparations. I will let the heavens decide on the prince that will lead the rain ritual."

Bowing his head, all he could think was that the hidden game of throne will now truly start. He just hope that the princes who were like his little brothers or children will find a way to come out of it alive. He knew that some princes were hiding their greed or were going to take down their brothers but he wish that it will not come to that.

Meanwhile with the relief mission for the past two weeks,

The first day of travel set the routine for the rest of the journey as well as the individual tasks for each person. The guards and the 4th prince took turn keeping watch over the ration carts. The ladies took care of food as well as clothing, as well as distributing the rations. The princes fed the horses, got the firewood, and help to distribute rations, mostly by helping the citizens form the lines properly.

The 4th prince was the one to go around the citizens asking if they were something that they needed help with. Perhaps the fact that this prince obviously showed signs of having struggles made it easier for the citizens to let the prince know about their troubles. The fact that his wife encourage the citizens and treated them like people, playing with the children, talking cosmetics with the ladies, let them see that these royals were more relatable than others. Thus while the rest of his family dealt with distributing rations, the 4th prince took San and Jin with him to help around the town they were in. Anything from checking on the roof tiles, to beating the local bandits, sometimes helping to clear rocks away from paths.

The other three guards had their own task during the ration distribution. Yong was in charge of running through the town looking for people and encouraging them to come to where the ration carts were, or to warn the others about possible troubles. Heok was in charge of making sure that the supplies of the rations were evenly distributed to make sure that everyone received something but not too much that they were nothing left over for the other towns. Tae was in charge of guarding the payments that those who could afford it gave to the group. Though it could not be called payment as it was something that even a slave could get. The 4th prince requested a patch of water grass from Silla and a specific flower bud from Hubaekje. Both items were present in great abundance in that land. Tae's job was to receive those plants and store it safely into boxes, and not let anyone handle those boxes but the 4th prince and Tae himself.

After distributing the rations, the entire group packed up and leaving one person on guard duty on alternate days, they explore the area. The entire group come back together to share a meal before storytime and a group prayer. Woo Hee told one story a night, then everyone prayed together before retiring for the night. Either to their rooms in an inn, or to sleep on the ground.

Perhaps it was unexpected and strange but slowly these four princes, three ladies and five guards learnt things about themselves as well as others. The bond between this strange group of twelve that develop in this trip will come to play a large role in their future, they just did not know yet.