"The more you learn in deception class, the less you will have to learn in others," Professor Sanrak says from the end of the antique conference table. He's a short elderly man I might take as unassuming if it weren't for the fact he's teaching deception and could come off that way intentionally.

Sanrak, I think. Originally from India and means "protected."

The two torches on the walls makes the small room dance with shadows. It looks more like an office where medieval war strategists would plot an invasion than like any classroom I've ever been in. The walls are covered in dark wood paneling, and ornate wooden arches bracket the ceiling.

I sneak a glance at Taemin, wondering if he was responsible for the blood in my room this morning, and check his hands for any stray cuts. But I can't see anything from here. And of course there's always Jungkook. The message was written in English. Only he's not in this class for me to examine.

I catch Sehun looking at me from across the table and remember everything he read in my body language yesterday. I immediately relax my face and shift my gaze.

"Some of you will mistakenly believe that your fidgeting skills are what will help you most when you're out in the world," Sanrak looks around the table. "But I assure you that your fighting skills will only get you one-hundredth of the information that a mastery of deception will. Also, the more effort you put into concealing your intentions and reading others, the better prepared you'll be when you actually get to the fight. Now, the opposite is also true: deception can get you into situations that you can't back out of."

I swear the teachers, Yoo, and Kang have figured out a way to subtly weave manipulative strategies throughout all the classes. And what's more, I feel like they're secretly directed at me and my shortcomings. But maybe everyone feels that way.

"In 415 B.C.E., the Greek statesman Hercules was convinced that conquering Olympus would win the God War. The prudent general Diomedes considered the idea rash and chose to deal with it by telling him a lie. He greatly overestimated how many men would be required, thinking it would dissuade Hercules. But the lie backfired. The Greeks took Diomedes's word and sent nearly the entire army to Olympus, when a guerrilla tactic would probably haven been far more effective. Nearly everybody died. The only survivors were the deserters, and not surprisingly Hercules was among them. Many blame Hercules for his arrogance, but Diomedes was just as much at fault. He didn't take into account the personality of the man he was lying to, nor did he predict how his lie would be received, both of which were more important factors than the lie itself. Had Diomedes conquered Olympus, his bluff would likely have been forgotten or gone undetected, but his lie was sloppy, and despite his good intentions it makes him responsible for thousands of needless deaths." Sanrak pauses to look at all of our faces before his eyes fall on someone. "Jimin, come up to the front, please."

Jimin stands and makes his way to the end of the table.

"I would like you to tell the class two truths and a lie. Keep them short. I don't want you making it easy on them by giving too many details. And try your best to conceal your lie."

Jimin takes a deep breath. "I've broken seven bones, eight if I count my nose twice. I would prefer to be hot rather than to be cold. And I can hold my breath underwater for nine minutes and fifteen seconds." I study him for any of the lying tells I've been reading about. But he doesn't make any hand movements or weird facial expressions that I can detect, and his voice sounds steady and normal to me.

"Now, which was the lie?" Sanrak asks. "Hyuna?"

Hyuna's eyes are narrowed, like she's concentrating too hard. "The first one?"

"I know you're not confident in your answer by the way your pitch raised at the end of your sentence. You sounded like you were asking a question instead of giving an answer," Sanrak says, and I feel some relief that Jimin's lie wasn't so easy to detect that everyone but me spotted it.

"Does anyone disagree with Hyuna's assessment?" Sanrak continues.

The room falls silent for a moment.

Just when I think no on is going to answer, Sehun says, "The lie was his second statement."

Sanrak smiles. "Explain, please, Sehun."

"His nose had a tiny twitch, as thought it were itchy. And when you lie, blood flows toward your nose, away from your cheeks. People touch their noses more often when they're lying than when they're not," Sehun says. "And his right shoulder ever so slightly lifted. One-sided shrugs are common nervous tells."

It's clear that Sehun is in his element here.

"Correct," Sanrak says. "And additionally, there was a linguistic cue, which we'll be studying more closely over the next couple of months. He said 'I would prefer' as opposed to 'I prefer.' The use of would is considered hypotethical, as opposed to a statement of truth. You may sit down, Jimin. Hyuna, you're up."

She stands and makes her way to the front of the room. "I accidentally burned my finger on a candle two weeks ago and the burn resembled a star. I can't stand the smell of blood. I did not finish my breakfast this morning."

"Which was the lie, Taemin?" Sanrak asks.

"The third one," he says, and Sanrak nods for him to continue. "She overemphasized her last statement, making it louder than the other two, pushing us to believe it."

I actually did notice that. This class is kinda fun.

"Good. Anyone see anything else?" Sanrak asks.

"She also briefly rubbed her fingers together when she finished," Sehun says, "a soothing motion to make herself feel better about the lie. And she spoke faster during her last statement than the others, like she was trying to rush through it."

Holy moly, Sehun is good at this. An image of him flirting with me last night flashes into my thoughts and I groan in my head. This is so like me, to be attracted to the most complicated person in the room - the one I promised myself I wouldn't like and who I"m positive will only make my life more problematic. If Jisoo were here, she'd be rolling her eyes hard right now, telling me to stop being such a wimp and just go for it. And I would probably tell her that everything was fine and that I didn't care that much, but we would both know I didn't mean it.

Sanrak gives Sehun a look of confirmation. "There was also a linguistic cue in Hyuna's lie. Did anyone detect it? In her second truthful statement, she used a contraction, the way most of us do in causal speech. But in her third, untruthful statement, she said 'did not' when she might have said 'didn't,' reinforcing the overemphasized nature of her lie, which Taemin spotted. Okay, Taemin, you're next."

Taemin stands. He doesn't wait for Sanrak to say go, which isn't surprising.

He rolls his shoulders back and takes a breath. "I like Suzy. Since I was a child, maple trees' been my favorite. And I find the long nights in winter peaceful."

Oh, come on. And he doesn't even glance at me. So sneaky.

"Anyone?" Sanrak asks.

"The first one," Jimin says without missing a beat. "He said he 'likes' Suzy but revealed a microexpression of disgust, pulling just one corner of his mouth back, making his words and his emotions incongruent."

Disgust, huh? Taemin shoots me a smile that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"I'm disappointed in you, Taemin. You're usually better than letting a microexpression trip you up," Sanrak says. "This pitiful display makes me nostalgic for the students of twenty-five years ago. Do you know that one girl went an entire year without anyone being able to detect her lies?"

Taemin rolls his eyes, like "Here we go again with the bragging about past students" thing.

However, it's interesting to me that this is the second time someone's specifically pointed out a record set twenty-five years ago. I can't help bu wonder if this was the same girl Kang claimed won all those midnight challenges.

"If confronted with the average person, you all will dance circles around them. But what about when you're in a situation with another Strategia? At the rate you're going, you might as well just tell another truth and save yourselves the trouble." Sanrak sighs. "Sehun, please come up here and make me feel better about my purpose as a teacher."

Sehun makes his way to the front of the class, appearing perfectly confident. His eyes sweep across the room and he smiles. "I like being surprised, even the consequence is me being out maneuvered."

Hmm. I would guess that he does like surprises, but nothing about Sehun makes me think he likes to be outmaneuvered.

"I'm better at cards than Sejeong is."

Something about his voice reminds me of when he's trying to charm me. But I can't imagine that Sejeong would be better at cards, considering his ability to read tells. Although I wouldn't put it past Sehun to lie about the one thing we're all sure is true.

"And I'm not easily eliminated from a fight."

I cough from surprise at hearing the word that was written in blood on my floor this morning. What are you doing, Sehun? He scans the room again, and I can't tell if he's trying to read people or if he's sending a message to whoever did it. Probably both.

Sanrak smiles and his eyes crinkle. "Finally. Now, there is a well-delivered lie. Did anyone see or hear anything in there that would indicate which of Sehun's statements was the lie?"

The room is silent.

"Anyone?" Sanrak says, and look around the table of students. I look at them, too, trying to pick out a sign that might indicate the culprit. But I see only relaxed expressions and neutral postures.

No one answers Sanrak. They must hate to be wrong so much that they won't even guess. "Well, then you stumped them, Sehun. Nicely done. Moving -"

"It was the second one," I say, and everyone turns to me.

Sehun gives me a curious look.

Screw it. Better to jump in where there are no clear indications of a lie than when there are and I can't see them. Plus, I have a fifty percent shot, since Sehun would never have made the last statement or overemphasized the word eliminated if it weren't true.

Sanrak looks at me with newfound interest. "Go on."

"Sehun uses charm as a tool. And although he was smiling through all his statements, the second one felt more like he was luring us in, telling us something so obvious that it had to be true."

The look on Sanrak's giving me tells me he knows something I don't. "Well, now, feeling is more of an emotional instinct than identifying a tell," Sanrak says, and turns to Sehun. "But let's just see here. Is she correct, Sehun?"

Sehun nods, and he looks at me with respect. I guess he really does like surprises.

Sanrak claps his hands together. "Deception is about practice, about making it part of your nature. If you have to use all your energy to focus on it, you'll miss everything else. And as we've just seen, being about to identify deception goes beyond as we've just seen, being able to read signs; it goes to an analysis of the person. A good deceiver will make you see a lie where there isn't one and truth when it doesn't exist, which is what we saw displayed here. Suzy used an analysis of Sehun's personality to determine that the most truthful-sounding statement was the lie." Sanrak nods to himself like he's remembering something. "That is all for today."

Everyone pushes their chairs back, but they don't scrape them against the floor. They calmly put on their cloaks and exit quietly, with no commotion. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to a pack of teens being so graceful.

I fall into step with Sehun and we head down the stairs to the main foyer. "Want to take a walk through the garden on our way to lunch?" I ask. "I've been inside all morning and I'm starting to feel claustrophobic."

"Sure, Suzy, I'd be happy to go on a date with you."

I laugh. I don't know how Sejeong puts up with a brother like him. Although I've often wondered how Jisoo deals with a friend like me. "You think you're ever so clever," I say playfully, "but as it turns out, I don't like you at all, not even a little bit."

He holds the door open for me and we step out onto the grass. "Apparently I'm not clever. The girl with the least deception training is the first one to spot my lie."

I smile. "Is that your way of telling me that you found me impressive?"

"You could say that," he says as we walk through the vine courtyard. "It's just a shame that you don't like me at all. I guess that's something I'll have to deal with." His amusement is infectious, and the way he looks at me makes my heart pound a little harder.

I clear my throat. "Does Sanrak usually reminisce about the old students that wya?"

"You caught that, huh? Yes. He does it all the time. And he's not the only one. About twenty-five years ago there was a group of students who were considered particularly gifted. You'll sometimes hear teacher's refer to him as the best this school ever had. There's a rumor that Kang was part of that group." Sehun takes a quick inventory of the space as we enter the garden lounge.

The afternoon light dapples the grass, and the bright purple berries pop against the canopy of green. The only other people here are two girls, chatting in one of the far corners.

"Kang? I'm not sure if that's good news of bad news," I say.

"She's apparently the youngest headmaster this school has ever had. Some say she took the position because of the escalating tensions between the Tigers and the Eagles, preferring a life of solitude." He keeps his voice low as we walk around the flower beds filled with blue, white, yellow, and purple blossoms. "You do know she's an Eagle, right?"

My eyes widen. "But I thought Eagles were mostly American? She speaks with perfect Korean accent and her last name is originated from China to Korea - I just never . . . Although now that I've said that out loud, I realize how crazy an assumption that is."

Sehun smirks. "The Eagle Family originated among the ancient Chinas. But you know, throw in a few land campaigns, some exploration, and several hundred years, and you'll find that the Eagle Family has far greater reach than just America. And besides, every headmaster here for the past thousand years has been called Kang. It's just a title."

I let this sink in for a minute. "Why exactly do the Eagles and the Tigers hate each other?" I ask.

Sehun starts walking toward the door at the other side of the building. "Come with me. I'll show you something."

I pick up my pace.

As we move through the arched doorway into the foyer with the knight statue and all the shields, my step falters. The guard with the X-shaped scar is on duty. He looks right at me, and I'm reminded of the first day Sejeong brought me through here, when I kept getting the feeling that he was assessing me. I haven't seen him since he caught me out of my room on the night of Taehyung's murdered, and his gaze has changed. He seems to be watching me more directly, and it makes me want to run.

I break eye contact with the guard and follow Sehun down the hall into the library.

The stained-glass windows are mostly covered with heavy curtains, and in the absence of natural light there are torches and large candelabras that illuminate the high-ceilinged room.

Sehun leads me to the far right, to a wall of mounted scrolls, one of which is pinned open. As I study the scroll, I realized that it lists the most of our classes and has a Family name next to each other. The first column reads:

"What is this? Some kind of class ranking?" I ask in a whisper, even though I don't see a single other person in the library.

"You could say that," he says. "Since S.K. Absconditi Academy was started, they've kept track of the best students in each discipline. It's an enormous vicotry when one Family bests a record that's been held by another Family for years. Sometimes generations."

"How can the school possibly keep tracks of students from the past thousand years and actually rank them?" I ask.

"The core challenges have changed. We do things exactly the way our Families have always done them," he says. "And there are records set within each class. The one Professor Sanrak mentioned today about someone eluding lie detection for an entire year was established by an Eagle."

I look back to the wall. "It looks like a lot of titles were won by Eagles."

Sehun, too, is studying the scroll, but shifts his graze to me. "For thousands of years there was a balance of power among the Families - each had its own specialties, skills, and styles. There were alliances and rivalries, but there was also a general respect for Strategia order and the Council of Families. However, in the last couple of hundred years, one Family has gradually risen above the rest - the Tigers."

That makes sense with what Sejeong said about everyone catering to Taemin and the Tigers. "Has that power shift change things within Strategia?"

Sehun nods like he's often considered this same question. "In the beginning it simply meant that the Tigers had deep pockets, vast numbers, and large resrouces. But they often sought the advice of the Council of Families in using those tools. Other Families would call on them for assistance, and there were a great deal of mutually beneficial alliances. So the power imbalance was present, but the abuse of that power was not."

"And that's changed?" I say, and for some reason, even though Sehun hasn't mentioned anything bad yet, this story makes me nervous, like watching someone slowly lose their grip while hanging from the side of a cliff.

"Taecyeon," Sehun says flatly, and I give him a questioning look. "He's the current leader of the Tigers." He smiles and shakes his head. "I know you told me you weren't raised the way I was, but I still find it incredible that you don't know certain things. Certain people."

"How do you think I feel?" I say, and he looks at me like I make a fair point." So Taecyeon . . wha was different about him?"

"Weellll," Sehun says, dragging the word out. "Forty years ago he lost both his parents unexpectedly. He was only nineteen when he ascended to a leadership role, which is unusual in the Strategia world. Typically, a new leader would have been chosen by the Family and ratified by the Council of Families. But Taecyeon's direct line had been ruling for more than a century, and for reasons that are still debated today, and probably partially due to existing power imbalance, the Council of Families voted to let him take the seat, with the understanding that he would be aided by seasoned advisors."

"Like old European courts," I say, having very little reference for these things beyond what I've seen in the movies.

"Much like that," Sehun says. "For some time it was assumed that Taecyeon would honor the guidance from the Council, that Family dynamics might shift back to their previous amiable state. But the opposite happened. Taecyeon rejected the Council, and he and his immediate family changed the Tigers' culture even more dramatically. With each passing decade, the Tigers infringed more aggressively on other Families' territories until the abuse of power was so great that many Families started aligning themselves with the Tigers for protection. The Eagles every step of the way, and the two Families became the worst of enemies."

"Wait, so why didn't the Council of Families or whoever replace Taceyeon once they realized things had taken a turn?" I ask.

"This is where it gets complicated," Sehun says, and I can almost hear the years of debate he's witnessed over this exact question. "As you pointed out, Strategia rule is similar to that of European royal courts - a given lineage stays in power until they can no longer sustain their rule. Sometimes it's because they had no offspring and the line died out, or because they were killed at a young age, or simply because they weren't trained here and failed to fulfill the duties required."

I pull back and study him. "Are you telling me that attending school here is required for leading your family?"

Sehun looks thoughtful. "If you can't excel at the Academy, you're seen as unfit. Even after you're admitted here, you're not done proving yourself. It's just the opposite.If your younger sister bests you in everything while here, the rule will likely go to her. We hay have out differences, but the one thing all future leaders understand is the pressure of responsiblity."

"That puts Taemin, Kai, and Jennie in a new light," I say, half to him and half to myself. "But sorry I interrupted. You were saying . . ."

"Even though Family leaders can be replaced, that does not happen in the middle of someone's rule unless the current leader agrees to step down, which, as you can imagine, Taecyeon did not," Sehun says.

"Okay, but if things are as bad as you say, how come no one has taken the rule away from him by force?" I ask.

Sehun shakes his head. "Under no circumstances do Strategia assassinate the leaders of other Families. With our given skill sets, can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if an all-out way happened between Families?" There is so much weight in Sehun's voice that I can almost feel how personal this all is to him.

Currently, all I know are these young Academy Strategia. I can't even imagine what it might be like with entire Families of well-trained strategists and assassins trying to kill one another.

I exhale. "So what about now? What's being done about the Tigers?"

His expression almost looks sad. "There's little we can do. Over the years, Taecyeon has manipulated his advisors, his children and his grandchildren, so this isn't just about deposing him; it's about figuring out how to break his hold over an entire Family. And the Tigers are vicious; they rule with terror, killing off members of other Families that move against them. Those who are willing to stand up to them are dwindling."

"Is that why there have been so many death at this school?" I pause, trying to take it all in. "Are the Eagles stilling fighting them?"

He nods, and I feel a strange surge of pride. If I'm going to be a Strategia, at least let me be from a Family that stands for something good.

Sehun looks up at the scroll. "Even with the power imbalance, this list has always been populated by names from all the Families . . . except for when that gifted group I told you about swept nearly all the titles twenty-fives ago."

"Let me guess, they were all Tigers."

He shakes his head. "It was one Tiger and one Eagle that bested the whole class. They were both the firstborn of the leaders of their Families, and against all odds, they had formed an alliance. At the time, it was thought they might actually change things between the two warring Families and for Strategia as a whole. But a year after they left school, they were both found dead."

"Found dead or murdered?"

"Same thing," he says.

"Um, not really." I pause. "But if there was one Tiger open to changing things, there has to be others. Right?"

Sehun lightly laughs. "Do you ever stop being so positive?"

"You know, I've never understood why people accuse me of being too positive. I think they're just missing possibilities," I say.

Sehun's eyes smile. "We should be heading to the dining hall." He turns.

"Sehun?" I say, and he stops. "Thanks for explaining."

"Don't thank me yet," he says. "If we figure out your Family secrets, dodge the attacks that will definitely be coming, and manage to stay alive . . . then you can thank me."