Chapter 1

Out of all days to wake up with a headache, Hwayoung woke up up with one in the morning.

Her head was pounding as she pushed herself upwards to the best of her ability, arms shaking and eyes heavy from sleep. The inn room was small, but it was a miracle that she’d managed to get a room in the first place, so she couldn’t quite complain about it. The bed was narrow, the sheets were scratchy, the mirror wasn’t clear — even then, it was nice to sleep in a bed after so many days of sleeping in the woods or in a secluded alley, too scared to sleep properly yet too exhausted not to close her eyes.

The sun was still barely out, though she’d have to move soon. She couldn’t waltz into the palace in bright daylight — her eyes would be too obvious if she did that. She could barely get through the streets with no one seeing the bright blue of her eyes.

Head pounding, she squinted at the mirror. There was a small basin of water in front of the mirror, though when she neared the mirror, it was cloudy and her reflection was distorted. Still tired, she splashed the water onto her face. A pair of bright blue eyes stared back at her when she looked up.

By the time the sun was beginning to peek from the horizon, Hwayoung had dressed herself and paid the inn owner, all the while keeping her head low. It wasn’t too hard with the hood and the inn was still dark, but there was nothing such as being too cautious. She’d been caught before, and it hadn’t been pleasant. Especially with the amount of guards patrolling the streets. And the amount of people that had seen her face. Currently, none of the wanted posters had really drawn her correctly, but the blue eyes weren’t something any person could miss.

She didn’t have much on her: a small bag that had the money she’d stole from the last noble who’d unfortunately tried to hunt her down (who had had his throat slit five days ago), two knives hidden inside her cloak and the poison she’d bought from the underground merchant that she’d found a day ago. Half her vision was covered by her hood, though from what she could see, the alleyways were empty.

It would take around twenty minutes to get into First Sector, where the royalty lived. There was no way she could get inside the palace until it was later at night, but she had to slip into the First Sector in the morning, where there weren’t many guards.

The road was decorated with red lanterns, glow dying, though the sun was replacing the light. It was the lunar festival again, and there would just be more and more decorations put up the closer it got to midnight, which was the exact time Hwayoung had planned the assassination. Because while the crown prince would be well guarded during the festival, he was also going to be the most vulnerable. He rarely came out of the palace, and this was one of the occasions where he’d be the most exposed. It was possible to get to him with her power and with a precise, will timed move.     

She turned into the main road, head down, and then nearly crashed into someone.

Slightly panicked, she pulled her hood lower. The Second Sector wasn’t the most organized, rule-oriented place there was, and many of the people living there worked for money. If someone saw her, she’d most likely be sold out and then the crown prince would know where she was.

And out of all days, that was one thing Hwayoung couldn’t afford at the moment.

Muttering a quick apology to the man, she slipped away into the streets, wondering what he was doing in the Second Sector so early in the morning. It wasn’t the safest place to be at such a time.

She nearly crashed into someone else.

Shocked, Hwayoung peered upwards again. The street was busy at day, but she always moved late at night or early in the morning and that exact street was almost always empty. Some merchants would be setting up stalls in the morning, but the sun had barely risen and those setting up stalls wouldn’t be wandering in the middle of the street.

On top of that, she could hear voices in the main square. Those who weren’t already there were heading towards it, crowding around. Cautiously, she weaved around a couple of people and tried to peer in over the crowd.

She wasn’t very tall, but she could see the distinct armor of the palace guards, the blood red elblem of the royal family painted on their chest. They were talking to the crowd, though their voices were drowned out by the shouting of the common folk and the demands and questions. There was no way Hwayoung could make out any comprehensible.

“Hey,” someone said behind her. “Windwalker.”

Hwayoung jumped, even though the voice was familiar. She glanced around her, though thankfully, no one seemed to have heard the woman call for her name. Still slightly paranoid, she turned around to face the old lady who’d called her name. Having someone call her name in public — even if it was the alias she was known as — was always unnerving.

“Grandma,” she said, bowing slightly at the old woman and keeping a hand on her head to ensure that her hood didn’t fall off. The scent of freshly baked bread wafted into the air, and she cast a hungry look at the loaves of bread that were ready to be sold.

Hwayoung didn’t know of the old woman’s name, but she’d seen her around enough to know. Her grandson had been one of the Marked whom the crown prince had killed. And among all the people that she was in contact with (which was very, very few), she was the only commoner who knew who she was, who’d seen her face to face without being attacked (because in that aspect, Hwayoung tried to be as careful as she could on who she could trust).

“Where are you off to?” she asked.

She hesitated. Off to kill the crown prince didn’t really suffice, and even though she’d spent the past couple of months planning on how exactly she was going to get into the castle (or at least the First Sector), Hwayoung still wasn’t completely sure on how high her success rates were. The best case scenario was that she killed the crown prince and got out safely. The worst case scenario was that she didn’t kill him and got killed herself.

“Confidential,” she finally managed, though it wasn’t much of a surprise. Confidential was probably her answer to most of the questions. “Do you know why there are so many people in the square? What are the guards talking to them about?”

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