The sight of the scene in front of you would have been amusing if it hadn't been due to the situation. Sanghyuk was struggling to stand from the bed while one of the senior surgeon apprentices was trying to push him back into the bed, obviously trying to keep from hurting him. It was made all the more amusing by the size difference between the two, as Jinyoung was at least a head shorter than your knight. They were both arguing and talking over each other and it looked like Jinyoung was contemplating hitting Sanghyuk over the head.

Sanghyuk was the first to notice you and he tried again to stand, only to pushed back into the bed by both Jinyoung and Youngjae. “Princess! Let me-”

You shook your head and walked over towards the bed, giving the knight a frown. “Lie down, Sanghyuk. You need to rest. I thought-” You shook your head, not continuing the train of thought. “Now stop and listen to the surgeons. They know what they are doing and I refuse to allow you to die.”

“Princess, the assassin-” You couldn't stop the slight flinch at the mention of the assassin who had turned out to be your cousin. “The serving girl who brought the pie. I knew something was wrong. I've never seen her before. I know everyone in the kitchens. There must be a group of them in the castle. You have to let me-”

You shook your head with a frown, pointing at Sanghyuk. “The only thing that I am going to let you do is to stay in bed and heal from the poison. Sir Taekwoon has taken over the interrogation of the assassin that Sir Wonshik captured. So we will soon know who is behind this and then I will destroy them. This will all be put behind us.”

Sanghyuk shifted on the bed and moved to sit up, despite the glare from Jinyoung. “Princess, you are without protection. I must-”

“Sir Minhyuk has escorted me for now. I am fine. Do not worry and stay in bed. That is a command. Was there anything more information?” You didn't want to force the royal commands on him, but at the same time, you knew he was likely not to follow instructions so easily. “Please. I will not have you further injured on my account. Simply stay put and focus on your recovery.”

Sanghyuk looked as if he wanted to protest, but something on your face must have managed to get through to him that it was pointless to argue. “Princess. I would give my life to keep you safe. I swore to protect you. That is not going to ever change.” The seriousness in his voice and on his face was more than you had seen since he had taken his oath.

“I know.” You sighed softly, not wanting to have any more death and blood on your hands. “For now just stay put and listen to the surgeons. I won’t forgive you if you end up hurting yourself even more because you were being stubborn.”

Sanghyuk simply laughed before giving you a shrug. “I’m stronger than what they think. If I let them control it, I’ll be bedridden for weeks.” He scoffed slightly. “I’ll be back by your side within the week, Princess, don’t worry.” He ignored your frown, smiling slightly with a shrug before his face seemed to drop into the strangely serious expression. “Princess. About the assassin. He-” the words caught in his throat for a moment. “He is your cousin. He’s not the only one. I saw one of the lords slip into the feast late as well.”

The news caught you off-guard and you glanced over to where Jinyoung seemed to be sorting through a few bottles of herbs and such. With everything that had been going on, you weren’t sure who exactly you could trust, and you didn’t want to possibly alert any of the others in the plot against you. All you wanted was for this entire situation to be over with so you could try and get back to some semblance of normality in your life. Even if there were things that couldn’t be changed.

You turned back to Sanghyuk and put a finger to your lips, hoping that Jinyoung wouldn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. You gave a subtle shake of your head and luckily Sanghyuk seemed to understand. “I couldn’t tell who it was though. I’m sorry.” He gave a small nod and you made a mental note to check back in with him when there weren’t other ears around to possibly overhear. All of the constant suspicion was draining your energy and you were sure it would make you sick if things weren’t settled soon. But for now you had to be careful.

“Rest for now. Listen to the surgeons and get well so that you can return to your duties. I hope to see you back within the week. But for now, rest and let your body heal. I’ll be back again to check with you later.” You gave him a nod before turning back to the door.

Once out in the corridor again, you turned to Sir Minhyuk. “I’m going back to my chambers. Not the new ones. I don’t want to see Jaehwan for a while.” Sir Minhyuk simply nodded and you headed back to your chambers. You felt worn to the core and needed to be alone to try and sort things out.

Rather than letting yourself think too much on the matters, you laid down for a moment and let yourself try to relax. You pushed aside all thoughts of the rebellion and assassins and hidden brother, and let yourself calm back down. Without realizing it, you dozed off.

A few hours later, you woke up feeling a little more rested, but as soon as you moved to try and stand from the bed, you fell back down onto the mattress. All of the strength had been drained from you and just the thought of everything that you would have to deal with still made you want to lay back down and fall into unconsciousness again.

Of course you knew there was no way you could fully escape everything, as your life would never truly get back to normal. Too much had already happened to change things. So instead, you tried to stand again and straightened your shoulders in the same way you had seen your mother do a thousand times. You could get through this. Or rather, you would have to get through this.

Opening the door you were somewhat surprised to see Sir Taekwoon standing outside of the door rather than Sir Minhyuk. He bowed quickly before glancing up and down the corridor before motioning behind you to your chambers and you stepped back inside, letting him in before closing the door again.

“I finished interrogating the assassin. There wasn’t much that he would reveal, so I’ve kept him alive to try again later. But I have to warn you, princess-”

“It’s my cousin. I know.” He gave you a slightly confused look before you sighed, moving to sit on one of the couches. “I went to see who the assassin was that had decided to tear my family and kingdom apart.” You took a breath to try and calm down, as the memory of your cousin locked in the dungeons and all that he had said came crashing back down on you. “I also know that Hakyeon is my brother. Sunwoo was sure to tell me that as well. Even if Jaehwan and Hakyeon both knew already.”

“Princess, that’s not all. I couldn’t get it out of him yet, but there’s another. One of the lords I think? The way he spoke I think it is someone at least of some rank. He didn’t say much more. I stopped not long afterwards. He didn’t seem to be ready to cooperate, and I didn’t want to kill him just yet.”

You shook your head with a frown. “No, don’t kill him. I want to watch him walk in front of everyone as the traitor he is before he is hanged like a common criminal.” You couldn’t tell what exactly Sir Taekwoon’s opinion of your words were, but you knew there wouldn’t be any hope for calm until you had settled the assassination plots and the rebellion and everything that had happened the last few weeks.

He nodded with a slight bow. “But of course, Princess.” He glanced back to the door. “I heard that Sanghyuk saw someone at the feast. If you wanted me to you?”

You knew that Sir Taekwoon would be asking about the lord he had seen entering the feast late. While a part of you didn’t want to think about all the trouble and the possibility that this would simply end up as yet another close betrayal, you also knew that you had to know who was behind all of this. You wouldn’t be able to truly relax and try to put a little closure to this whole situation until you had a face and identity to aim all the anger to.

You nodded and he opened the door, letting you lead the way back to Sanghyuk’s chambers. When you reached the door you knocked quickly before stepping inside after Sir Taekwoon opened the door for you. Glancing around you gave a small sigh of relief at the sight of the otherwise empty room. You had been hoping to be able to speak with Sanghyuk without the surgeons hovering around. While you were glad they were keeping such a close eye on your knight, you wouldn’t be able to speak with him about the information that he had. Sir Taekwoon stood by the door, close enough to be able to hear what Sanghyuk was saying and yet still able to stop anyone who might try to come in. At the sight of you walking in the door, Sanghyuk had tried to stand, but one glare from you and he compromised by simply sitting up in the bed.

“I assume you want to know who I saw? Unless you’ve come to admire my handsome face.” Sanghyuk smirked, and you were glad that he seemed to be getting back to his normal, disrespectful self. While you trusted Sir Minhyuk and Sir Taekwoon to keep you safe, they were both quiet and overly respectful. You had quickly grown accustomed to Sanghyuk’s mannerisms and surprisingly missed them.

“As handsome as you may be, there are more pressing matters than that. When all of this is settled, I’ll have plenty of time to stare at your face.”

“I will hold you to that promise.” You laughed at the exaggerated wink he gave you, hearing Sir Taekwoon scoff from behind you. Sanghyuk’s face dropped back to a more serious expression and you held your breath for a moment. “It was your uncle.”

You had hoped that your cousin had been acting alone, but that was proving to be untrue. “So they are both behind this then. How long have they been plotting this?” You were growing more and more tired and suspicious of everything. By this point, who wasn’t after your kingdom? And it seemed to be seated the closest within your own family. That alone was enough to make you wish for time to rewind back to when you didn’t have to worry with any of these things. You took a deep breath before nodding. “I had hoped Sunwoo was alone, but now I know it’s at least the pair of them. It is going to be a fight, but I’m sure we can get them taken care of and I can get back to taking care of my kingdom the way that my father did. These assassins will not win.” You turned back to Sir Taekwoon and saw that his face had hardened just slightly. “You can capture my uncle and take him to the dungeons as well, can’t you? Take the knights that you will need. I want him captured and tortured as soon as possible.”

Sir Taekwoon nodded and you felt a small wave of gratefulness to the knight. He wasn’t even a knight of your kingdom and yet he had been working to fight back against the rebellion and assassins as diligently as any of your own knights. “I’ll stop and trade watch with Minhyuk so you can return to your chambers to prepare while I go and catch him.”

You weren’t exactly sure what he meant by the comment about preparing, but then Sanghyuk spoke up from the bed. “You forgot your own birthday didn’t you?” He chuckled softly before shaking his head. “And to think my mother has been working on your special meat pies all day for nothing.” You simply shook your head at his overdramatics. “The feast was moved to tonight. Your birthday might not be for a few days still but Cook insisted that the food would be better tonight. And we both know what happens when someone tries to cross her.”

You nodded with a small smile before turning back to Sir Taekwoon. “Let’s go. There’s no good to come from upsetting Cook. Just trust me on this. Being late to the feast would be a serious mistake, and I can’t let any of the nobles see a weakness. I’ll get one of the maids to help ensure that I will be able to destroy any whispers.”

“You are always beautiful, Princess. No need to fuss over things too much.” You turned back to Sanghyuk, expecting to see his standard cheeky smirk, but instead finding a genuine smile. “It’s the truth. Of course, I didn’t swear myself to you simply because of your pretty face either though. You are a wonderful ruler and truly care about your kingdom and its people. My mother said the same about your father and she agrees you share the same trait.”

You felt your cheeks heating slightly and you ducked your head with a small smile. “Thank you.” You turned back to Taekwoon with a nod. “Okay, let’s go. I’m not sure how long it will take the maid to fix everything however is best. And it’s always better to be prepared early rather than late when it comes to one of Cook’s meals.” You turned back to Sanghyuk with a small smile. “I’ll ask one of the servants to ask your mother to stop by, so that you can spend a little time with her again. But if you try and get out of bed before the surgeons say you are healed, I will personally knock you back into bed.” You smiled when he didn’t laugh at you and he seemed to take your threat seriously. “Let’s go.”