Time passed by excruciatingly slowly while Jin left the castle to spend his time off at home and your brothers were in deep discussions with the party from Delphina. You frequently wished that you could join in and witness the talks, to see the decisions being made first hand. As it was, you couldn’t even count on Namjoon to relay the information to you, that was how busy he was.

The meetings continued for a little over a day after Crown Prince Taehyung’s party left. Namjoon must have known how frustrated you were, being kept in the dark for so long, as he sought out your company the day after the discussions were over. It turned out that things were moving at a faster pace than you thought. Jimin’s regret over not being able to join for tea with you and Namjoon was expressed by your older brother, who also explained that the reason Jimin couldn’t be there with the two of you.

“Prince Taehyung has kindly sent some of his men to patrol our border not long after he arrived here while we had our talks. So I was able to spare a small group of men to investigate the situation at the docks after you told me about what happened at the City Hall,” Namjoon started explaining as he began munching on one of the biscuits served with the tea. His small nod unconsciously conveyed his approval for the taste, but his expression remained serious. “They found that there has been an alarming increase in ships that reportedly belong to pirates making a stop here. Jimin has gone to verify the fact himself.”

His gaze on you was loaded, full of meaning as you absorbed the information. There was still no proof that the two men you saw that day were pirates, but given this new information, it seemed even more likely that this was the case. “If this is true, why hasn’t it caused a panic among the people? Don’t these pirates typically cause problems for the civilians?”

“That’s the thing,” Namjoon answered. “They haven’t been causing any trouble, so most people think that it’s just a rumour. Even if they do report the pirates, without any evidence of wrongdoing there isn’t much we can do against them. Plus, if they remain low and are careful going about their business, there's a good chance that most people won't even notice their presence. So if they really are making an effort to be as unnoticeable as possible, they must have an agenda of a higher importance than terrorising the locals.”

You frowned at that. Until you unearthed something, until you found the motive behind them gathering here at the capital itself, there was nothing you could do. The possibility that it really was just a rumour couldn’t be entertained. Even Namjoon was taking this seriously. You couldn’t leave it to chance, as the risk of having something underfoot was too dangerous to ignore. “It’s pretty bold of them to try to pull something right here in the capital.”

The Crown Prince readily agreed with your statement. “If the men you saw with that gang leader near the City Hall really were pirates, it’s safe to say that they’re in cahoots with the local thugs. It could explain why they’re able to operate without drawing much attention to themselves.”

Using the local outlaws as a cover. It was a smart strategy, and you wondered how long they could have gotten away with it had you not sneaked out of the castle that day before you became known to the people as the princess. “If they are, the thugs must be getting something in return. What do you think they’re working together for?”

A sigh escaped Namjoon when he heard the question. He had clearly given it some thought even before you asked, and hadn’t come up with an explanation that he was satisfied with. “It has to be something illegal and involves money. The pirates, who have a larger network and a farther reach are probably providing the locals with something that they can’t get on their own. The only thing I can think about is drugs, but if something that bad has been circulating among the people, I’m sure we’d have seen signs by now. There haven’t been signs of an addictive substance being spread among the populace, like an increase in crime rate committed by normal citizens to afford the drugs, or a noticeable drop in productivity of daily activities.”

As frustrating as it was, you couldn’t think about any other possibilities either, and the afternoon ended after listening to Namjoon talk about the situation at the border, and Crown Prince Taehyung’s visit. You’d heard of the young prince taking over King of Delphina’s duties after his father fell sick, but it was even more impressive now that you’d met the Prince in person. In your eyes, both your brothers, especially Namjoon, were both highly capable of running the country, and showed great promise of becoming beloved leaders, just as your father was. However, they had each other, and the King was also still well enough to rule the country, even if he was gradually entrusting more and more responsibilities to his sons. The Crown Prince of Delphina was about Jimin’s age, and he had taken over governing his own country a few years ago with no one to guide and support him but his father’s advisors. It must have been tough, but he must have done an impressive job, as you’d heard praises that Delphina had flourished even more in the past few years.

After noting that he didn’t care for frivolities, from his declination of a ball to honour his arrival in f