The next morning, Sumin felt all sorts of pain through her body.

Not only that, she felt a bit...crankier. She didn't even give any sort of reactions to Luhan's ridicules, but she merely glared at him which made him stop. Because he understood what was coming and he didn't want to put any more damp to her mood.

Sumin had a feeling she was going to have her period tomorrow, and she asked one of the servants for any pads for her to use. The servant, obviously a woman, sent her a knowing look and immediately searched for a pack.

Royal pads be damned. She didn't have any mood to care for any of that.

When Sumin finally received one, she thanked the servant with a forced smile she hoped was good enough, before she put the pack on her bed. She went to take breakfast with the others, and found Kisoom wasn't there. But she didn't really care, though. She only ate her food in silence, her mood going downhill as every seconds passed by.

All she wanted was to sleep all day, but she knew she couldn't do that. After all, she had a new lesson soon. Also, she wanted to do her homework from the Queen at the library, which she actually had been anticipating to go.

"Sumin, Sumin!"

Sumin looked toward Chanyeol who sat beside her, staring at him like he was a bother in her morning. It was kind of true though. But he remained clueless as ever, so he only grinned.

"Have you finished the Pandora story?"

"No," Sumin answered shortly.

Chanyeol frowned slightly. "I thought you will be the fastest to work on that. You know, being the smartest in here. That's just my thought, though."

Sumin's heart was elated in a little happiness at the compliment. She had always liked it when other people approved of her intelligence. She was proud of that, and when people noticed it, she couldn't help a smug feeling creeping inside her.

"Well, I will do it today. Perhaps, after the lesson from the Queen," Sumin said and took a sip of her soup.

Chanyeol's face brightened. "Really? Can I work with you?"

"No."

That answer was definitely not from Sumin. Their gazes went toward Luhan who sat beside her other side. Luhan didn't show any expressions, yet his eyes were set cold on Chanyeol, whom seemed to gulp under Luhan's gaze.

"Sumin will work with me. We don't need another person coming with us," Luhan said coldly.

That was quite harsh, and Sumin admitted it.

"What? But, why?" Chanyeol asked, frowning.

"You seem to be the type of person to bother us," Luhan said, not bothering to make his words easier to hear.

Sumin looked at Chanyeol awkwardly for his reaction. Chanyeol looked very down and continued to eat his soup dejectedly. Now, she felt bad and her irritation on him earlier was gone. He only wanted to study with them, but Luhan blatantly rejected him.

The Queen suddenly hummed, which attracted their attentions. Queen Trithis smiled and clasped both her hands under her chin. "I want all five of you to work on this homework, though. Won't that be easier when you search through the gigantic library?"

"What?" Kai said, not holding back from his surprise.

Chen raised his eyebrows in surprise, but he also seemed interested. Sumin caught his glance and he only sent a small smirk, which Sumin immediately ignored. Her mood wasn't up to any of his weird antics.

"I just want all of you to be closer, is it wrong? We are a team! If we don't have a teamwork, we will definitely lose, right?" Queen Trithis said bluntly.

Luhan and Kai showed obvious distaste to those words, meanwhile Chanyeol smiled in agreement to her words. Sumin didn't really care, she just wanted to explore the library and do her work.

"That is true, my Queen," Chen suddenly said, which earned a surprised look from Kai. This reminded Sumin of two days ago, when Chen was the first to agree with the Queen's task and Kai felt a little betrayed. "I do, have a similar thought. Although, I have to admit I didn't think that thorough at first."

Queen Trithis smiled proudly at his words, and nodded. "Chen is as usual, the most mature. So, I will anticipate the five of you to work together, okay?"

Luhan and Kai didn't say any complaints, but they continued to eat their soup with frowns. Chanyeol only sent a smile at Sumin, which she didn't return, before he ate his soup back with a very happy look.

"Where is your grandmother?"

The five of them walked to the same field, because Kai wanted to teleport there to show off his improvement. Sumin rolled her eyes when he did that, yet she suddenly envied his power. Imagine how much energy she would save by not walking there! But then she remembered about Energy Cores, and she suddenly thought he wasted the same energy as them, but reached there faster.

"Grandma is asleep, so I don't want to wake her," Chanyeol answered her question.

"I see," Sumin said shortly.

They finally arrived at the familiar field, and the Queen stood in front of them to give their next lesson. "Today, we will train your abilities once more. It's the same tactic as last time: exhaust your Energy Core. But today, we will go more extreme.

"Chen, I want you to use your Energy Co