Hey guys, this is second-to-last chapter of this book.

(ﾒ￣▽￣)︻┳═一 (Enjoy!)

Sehun is dozing in the infirmary. He tried to stay awake to talk to him, but whatever the nurse gave him knocked him out cold. He only mumbled an incoherent sentence or two before his eyes fluttered shut.

I watch his chest rise and fall and I exhale audibly. If Rose hadn't showed up when she did, I honestly don't know how much I would have lost tonight. Probably both our lives, and maybe appa's as well.

"We should get your cuts cleaned up," the nurse says, and I turn around. She wears her long black hair in a braid that reaches to her waist. A single gray steak near her temple makes her look like a sorceress. And she's petite, but her voice is raspy and demanding.

"I know. And I promise I'll be back. But Headmaster Kang told me to come see her first," I say, and she gives me a stern look.

"Get on with it, then," she says, and I do.

I make my way through the silent hallways, passing thee guards as I go. They all watch me, but no one looks at me like I shouldn't be there, which makes me think they already know what happened with Yoo.

I take the three flights slowly, my body more bruised and achy than it was even half an hour ago. And when I reach Kang's office, two guards stand outsider her arched door. One of them opens it for me, but neither guard follows me in. Kang must want totally privacy, and I don't blame her, considering her role in all of this.

The familiar smell of woodsmoke fills the air. I take a seat in the armchair just like I did my very first day, and I find myself blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. "Did you try to send me messages through some of my instructors?"

Kang raises a brow and considers me. "I may have suggested a few lessons to help you acclimate."

I would laugh at that tempered answer, but I'm too pooped and score to muster a laugh. "And when Jungkook punched -"

Kang cuts me off. "Now, I know you have questions, and truthfully, you are entitled to ask them. However, please do me the favor of listening first." She leans back in her chair.

I thought that tonight would have softened her toward me, but she's just as formal as ever. I quietly nod my agreement.

Kang folds her hand over her lap. "Your father contacted me when your uncle was murdered, looking to secure an immediate safe house for you."

My heart sinks. When Yoo relayed the news that Uncle Jin was dead, a part of me wondered if it had happened just then or if it had occurred earlier. And if he was killed before I was admitted, that explains why Appa gave me no warning, no chance to say goodbye to Jisoo or my other friends. He must have been on high alert the entire time, wondering just how fast he could get us out of there before someone descended on our house. I shudder at the thought of Strategia in Jeongseon, and even though I've considered it before an an awful possibility, the idea has just graduated to an insistent fear.

"As I told you when you first arrived, we do not typically admit students your age. But with you, nothing is typical. We've made expectations in the past for the children of leading families, and even though you have no formal standing as yet among the Strategia, you fit that qualification in two Families, not one."

I swallow. I was so convinced I didn't belong here that I hadn't really considered who I might be in Strategia hierarchy.

"Did my dad know his brother was -"

Kang gives me a look and I close my mouth. "Your father and I made a deal. I told him his brother was working here and my suspicions about his involvement in several student deaths. In exchange for your protection, he agreed that you would assist in flushing Dr. Yoo out - under my guidance of course."

I shake my head, scarcely able to process what she just said. "Whoa, hold on. That is one hundred percent not the reason I thought I got in here. Appa made a deal that I would flush out Yoo? What was the point of sending me here for protection if I was going to be exposed to a different kind of danger?"

"I can't speak for your father," Kang says. "But what I will say is that you were more than up to the task. You not only confirmed my suspicions about Dr. Yoo, you exposed his guilt beyond any reasonable doubt. And of course, you know our policy for grievances committed against another person."

I would respond to that, but I have no words. An eye for an eye. Which means as punishment Yoo is now . . . and I was the one who . . . I can't wrap my mind around it. Yoo was a threat, I know that. But I threw the knife and the rest . . .Well, I suppose only Kang and the guards know the details.

And I don't even know where to begin with the way Kang and appa apparently see me - as one of them, as Strategia.

"Your father was always exceptionally good at reading people, and while you may lack skill in that area, I not only see what he sees in you, I think you had hidden talents that I haven't even surfaced yet."

I tuck my hair behind my ears, flustered. "Then why didn't he take me with him? He could have explained things, helped me learn things."

Kang sighs. "Even though you're well trained for having been raised outside of our society, and you think in your own unique tactical way, you lack a deeper knowledge about the Strategia way of life. This was the best place for you to acclimate. It was how your father - and your mother - learned their way as well."

I want to argue, but I know she's right. Appa had no time to make a decision and he did the one thing he thought would make me safe and prepare me.

I examine Kang. "You knew my dad, didn't you?"

For a moment she hesitates, then sighs. "Before this, I hadn't spoken with him in more than a decade, but yes, I knew both of your parents quite well at one point."

I can tell by her tone that she not only knew them, but that they were close. "Why did Yoo hate my parents so much?"

She nods, like she was expecting this question. "Your mother and father were special. They thought they could bring balance and equality back to Strategia, and they had every intention of devoting their lives to it as leaders of their Families. And even in the short time after they left this school, they made some headway. They got the impossible to happen - their Families came to an agreement. But as you might expect, there were members on both sides who were unhappy with their union and felt that balance would never happen or would ultimately mean relinquishing power. Dr. Yoo and Taecyeon's brother were two of those people."

"This was the uncle my mother killed?" I ask.

"Was accused of killing," Kang corrects me. "No one actually knows what happened. The only thing we do know is that Dr. Yoo was present. There was a great deal of suspicion at the time about how the events unfolded, especially since Dr. Yoo walked away without so much as  a scratch and without confronting your mother. Taecyeon blamed Dr. Yoo for not stopping her - he called him the great shame of the Family. As a result, after your father disappeared, Dr. Yoo wasn't named as the next leader, even though he was next in line. He became reclusive and removed from Strategia society. He changed so much that I barely recognized him when he was assigned to be the assessment officer here."

I sit there for a moment, trying to make sense of my tangled Family history, where people are constantly killing one another. "Thanks for explaining," I say, and shift to what I most want to know. "Do you know where my dad is right now?"

She shakes her head and her eyebrows furrow ever so slightly. "I haven't heard from your father since your admission."

I frown. "Okay, then can we get in touch with him and find out?" My fear of Strategia in Jeongseon comes back full-force.

Kang shakes her head.

My heart begins to pound. "Well, did he leave any information for me? A message? Anything that would tell me how I can find him?" My voice is rushed.

"No, I'm sorry."

I stand up, overwhelmed and unsure how to proceed. "But the Tigers could be hunting him right now," I say emphatically.

"You've completed our agreement," Kang says slowly.

I look at her questioningly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you may stay here and continue you education as your father wished, or you may leave if that's what you feel is necessary."

"I can go? You're letting me go?" I say more to myself than to Kang.

Kang hesitates. "Technically, you can go. However, I must advise you that there is still a great deal for you to learn and your skills are severely lacking in several areas. But more importantly, you know very little about the Strategia world at large."

"Maybe so, but there's no way I can stay here while appa's out there all alone. Especially knowing what I now know," I say. "What happened here with Dr. Yoo seems to be just a microcosm of what's happening out there."

"The school doesn't involve itself in outside politics," she says, even though we both know what the situation between her and Yoo was completely political. "I'll just say again that it would be prudent if you made additional alliances here and learned as much as you can before you leave."

I take a good look at Kang. Her hair is pulled as taut as ever, her look as inscrutable as it was on day one, and I now know that her frilly white shirt, spilling out from under her crisp black blazer, is the perfect metaphor for who she is. She's clearly trying to help me, to tell me what I need to do, but she won't say it outright.

"Okay," I reply, even though I'm not sure what she means.