Jisoo was heading down to breakfast when she ran into Moonbyul standing in a corner of the stairwell, her arms wrapped around herself. She stopped and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey! What's wrong?" Jisoo asked.

Moonbyul looked up and saw who it was. "Oh, hi Jisoo. I'm just missing Seulgi and feeling sorry for myself."

Jisoo held her arms out to offer Moonbyul a hug. Moonbyul shook her head. "Thanks,  but no," she said. "I mean, I understand what you're doing, and you're really the one who comes closest to really understanding me of anyone here. But Seulgi, she just intuitively understood me, you know? I've never had that before."

Jisoo awkwardly patted Moonbyul on the shoulder. "Hopefully we'll get to see them again soon. In the meantime, you can write. Plus we've got our first combat class today." A bell rang. "And we'd better hurry down so we're not late for breakfast."

"You go ahead," Moonbyul said. "I'll be down in just a second."

Jisoo reache out and took Moonbyul's hand. "No, you need to come now. The last thing you need is to start the day by being late for breakfast."

Moonbyul rolled her eyes. "Okay. Let's go."

Jisoo and Moonbyul were the last two down to breakfast, but even so they were there at least 30 seconds before the second bell rang.

"What took you so long?" Jennie asked as Jisoo got into line next to her.

"Oh, I ran into Moonbyul," Jisoo said. "She's feeling down. She really misses Seulgi."

Jennie nodded. "Those two did seem to become fast friends during their visit."

"Yes," Jisoo agreed, "and Moonbyul doesn't feel like there's anyone here who really understands her."

"That's because no one here really does!" Jennie exclaimed.

"Maybe," Jisoo said. "I've got an idea, though-"

Her idea would have to wait, because then Madame Park came in to lead them all to breakfast.

Breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice, and coffee.

"Is everyone excited about your first combat class this morning?" Madame Park asked as she spread marmalade on her toast.

"I think so," Jennie said, between bites of scrambled egg.

"If nothing else, it'll make for an interesting change in routine," Solar chimed in.

"Oh, that reminds me," Madame Park. She paused to daintily wipe her lips with the corner of her napkin. "Starting tomorrow you're going to have a new instructor."

"Oh?" Jisoo asked. "Is she going to be taking over some of the teaching from you? Or are we going to have a new subject starting tomorrow?"

Madame Park smiled at Jisoo. "Excellent guesses. As it turns out, you're going to have a new subject starting tomorrow." After looking to see that she had everyone's attention, Madame Park began speaking again. "You're all coming along well as proper young ladies, but for some missions, that won't be the proper role for you. So starting tomorrow you've have a new teacher, Hong Jin-Young, who will teach you the things you need to know for missions where you're called upon to be a lady's maid or a governess."

At the end of the table, Moonbyul perked up upon hearing this. "Those would be missions where we wouldn't be expected to marry, wouldn't they?"

Madame Park nodded. "They would indeed, but even so, the stories you hear about men and their wife's lady's maid or their children's governess are often true, so you shouldn't neglect your seduction skills just because you're hoping for one of these missions."

Moonbyul nodded. "Yes ma'am," she said quietly.

Combat class was an interesting experience, to say the least. Things got off to an interesting start when Jennie, who was unarmed, was able to defeat Hwasa, who was armed with a sword. Then Jisoo, armed with a pair of knitting needles, was able to defeat Lisa, who was armed with a reticule and a fan. And so forth through any number of unequal pairings.

The most interesting fight of the morning came when Solar, armed with a sword, went up against Moonbyul, who was armed with a parasol. It started out looking very much like a standard duel, as Moonbyul was wielding her parasol like a sword. On about the fourth pass, however, she popped her parasol open at the same time that she used it to block Solar's blade. This knocked Solar's blade way out of line, creating an opening for Moonbyul to step forward, stop on Solar's lead foot, and then elbow Solar to the head, knocking her down.

"Brava," called Madame Park as she applauded Moonbyul's victory. "Moonbyul, you haven't often impressed me," she said, "but that time you did. You've just advanced to sixth place in the rankings."

Moonbyul stared in amazement - the last time she had been sixth in the ranking had been back where there were only seven students at the academy. This was the highest she'd ever ranked since Jisoo came to the academy. "Thank you, ma'am," she was fi