"Your Majesty!" A messenger ran to the royal courtroom once more. "The Goryeo army has stopped at the city gates and are demanding to negotiate with Your Majesty there." 

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing." A servant whispered. "The armies coming to help us — well, the roads have been blocked and they cannot reach us. We're on our own now, and we should see what they want."

"Very well. I shall go to the city gates in an hour or so." Sejong replied.

Nancy and Jane were running to the palace walls.

They scaled up the rock walls using a thin bamboo ladder, which wobbled dangerously and scared the hell out of the two of them.

The guard on duty recognised Nancy from her stay before the Exams, and so he let them up without any questions. It was nearly a crisis, and he couldn't be bothered with reports. They scrambled up, thanked the guard and ran in the direction of the palace.

"Where do you think they will be?" Jane puffed out while running. "They didn't even say what they would be doing."

"If I know my smart unnie well, she'd be searching for information at the library." Nancy said. "By the way, what's bothering you? You look like something's on your mind."

Jane stopped. "It... It's the Goryeo descendant, the one leading the rebellion. He's the person who came to your banquet, the teenager."

"What?" Nancy asked. "He's the one leading the rebellion?"

"Yes." Jane said. "And that's why I've been thinking of him since we started to go to the palace. He's too creepy."

"We must get to Yeonwoo unnie at once!" Nancy exclaimed. "Come on, keep running."

"We're here." Nancy said. "But why are there so many guards patrolling the library?"

There were twelve guards in total, surveying the main entrance of the library. Amongst them was a leader-sort of person, who was busy giving orders.

"How do we get in?" Jane asked. "And even if we did manage to get in, we can't be sure that Yeonwoo unnie is inside!"

A loud yell resonated from inside the library.

"Yah! Jeon Jungkook! Let us out immediately, do you hear me?" Yeonwoo shouted.

"I'm not going to do that, unless Master Jin tells me to." Jungkook replied. "Privately, though, I might just be tempted to imprison the two of you till your deaths."

"That'll be unnecessary." Daisy said. "I won't die for another sixty years."

"Yes, but I shall blow the library to smithereens. I have exactly twenty-four buckets of highly concentrated sulphur powder, each positioned in a place such that if one goes off, it'll set a chain reaction. I will blow this place to kingdom come." Jungkook told them.

"You..." Even Yeonwoo was at a loss for words.

One of the guards suddenly yelled. Horror, fear, it was all mixed into this yell as he crashed to the ground. 

"Let them go." Ahin said, brandishing a cooking fork. The prongs of the cooking fork were red hot and smoking.

"Ahin na, listen to me." Yeonwoo yelled. "Don't come near the buckets of sulphur, otherwise the whole library shall catch fire."

“Don’t worry, I’m not that stupid.” Ahin muttered.

Some of the soldiers took one look at the fork, screamed and hid behind the bushes. Which was actually a mistake, since there were two people hiding there, and said two people, Nancy and Jane, walloped the soldiers with big sticks. “Open the library doors.” Nancy said coldly, eyeing the remaining two soldiers beside Jungkook.

“Not if you kill me first.” Jungkook unsheathed a sword, and he launched himself at them. Of course, when blade meets wood, the blade always wins, and therefore the sticks Jane and Nancy held were destroyed. 

Ahin barely managed to block Jungkook’s blow, but she gritted her teeth and persevered. Jungkook’s blade wasn’t so lucky though, since Ahin’s fork was searing hot and it left a giant burn mark on the silver blade.

“This blade was expensively purchased from the Japanese, and you’ve ruined it.” Jungkook snarled. 

“Pooh to that. Should I apologise, big baby?” Ahin taunted. “Oh, but the next thing that would be ruined shall be your face!”

“Concentrate, Ahin ah.” Yeonwoo called. “Your martial arts are improving, but you lack concentration.”

Behind all this, Daisy was furiously battling the two guards to get out. The two guards were demoralised, and she saw the opportunity to strike and attack. She swiped and ducked, and finished one guard when he strayed too close. The another gave a yell and dashed out, only for Daisy to pin him on the back with a certain silver jade-topped pin. Though not fatal, he would be paralysed from the waist.

“Let’s go, unnie.” She grabbed Yeonwoo’s hand and they ran out of the library.

“Not so fast.” Jungkook said. He edged near a bucket. “In a minute we shall be flying ash, so believe me if I say your lives are in my grasp.”

“No!” The last remaining guard shouted. “God help me! This has nothing to do with me! Don’t, Master Jungkook, don’t!”

“Pathetic.” Jungkook sliced his blade into the guard’s body, driving his last breath out.

“Animal! A life is a life!” Ahin shouted furiously.

“Perhaps, but theirs belong to me. I have every right to take their lives.” Jungkook shrugged.

“Listen to this madman.” Daisy shook her head. 

Just then, a blurred figure crashed into the group, toppling Jungkook, rendering him unconscious, and pushing away the bucket. “Jooe!” Yeonwoo shouted incredulously. “What’re you doing here?”

“Unnie...” Jooe sobbed. “Did you know? Did you know that we weren’t siblings? Did you know?”

“Wha-“ Yeonwoo stuttered. “Hyebinnie told you?” 

“You knew?” Jooe shrieked. “Why didn’t you tell me? I trusted you! I trusted Hyebin unnie! I- I trusted Dad!” 

“Jooe, listen, calm down for a second, there are people here, just calm down...” Yeonwoo desperately looked at Ahin, who was looking perplexed, at Daisy, who was looking bored, at Jane, who was looking terrified, and at Nancy, who was looking none the less worried. 

Even in times of supposed crisis, she still worries over me, Yeonwoo thought. How cute.

“People? Why, do they not know? Did you not tell them? Oh, I hate you.” Jooe yelled, and Yeonwoo saw the streams of water leaking from her eyes. Jooe was crying, for goodness’ sake. Jooe, the ever-optimistic girl, was actually crying.

“Oh my god, Jooe, just calm down for a bit-“

“Calm down? My life is a joke! I’m a nobody, and you knew all along. Hyebin unnie knew all along. Even Father,” she spat, “knew! What was he thinking, adopting a countryside girl like me?”

“Wait...” Nancy narrowed her eyes, “you two are sisters? And you’re Lee Joo Won?” 

“Not anymore!” Jooe screamed. “All this time I had been shammed, conned into living this false life, and who knew? Father knew. You knew. Hyebin unnie knew! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Now, Jooe...” Yeonwoo desperately looked at Nancy, but Nancy was studying her like she was a different person. Does she know? Yeonwoo sighed.

“What! I’m not going to listen to you, Lee Dabin,” she said the name like it was poison, “princess of Joseon, because I’m a lowlife compared to you.” And with that parting comment, she ran away.

“Princess?” Jane asked, eyes shining with awe, but all Yeonwoo could do was to look apologetic and stare at Nancy, who was still remotely cold, which Yeonwoo found scary.

“So, princess,” Nancy said even more coldly, “what do we do next? And you.” She pointed at Ahin. “Did you know Yeonwoo unnie was a princess all along?”

“Umm, well...” Ahin’s silence was equal to absolute agreement. “Sort of.”

“I knew it!” Nancy was red with fury. “Who doesn’t know?”

Jane timidly raised her hand.

“Why, unnie? Didn’t you trust me? Why?” Nancy shouted

“I... “ Even the once-proud Yeonwoo was at a loss of words. She couldn’t find a reason, other than she wanted to hide away the ugly side of the beautiful palace. And that wasn’t a reason at all, and she knew it.

“I... Am I not good enough for you?” Another stream of tears leaked from Nancy’s eyes. “I always suspected that some