After Kangnam's visit to Hangil's, and King Wu's visits to the disctrict supervisors, the two returned home to the palace to be greeted by the many servants preparing dinner for them. Among them, Tiffany ran back and forth between the rooms to keep the other servants functioning efficiently, and Joonmyun gave a warm smile when he passed. King Wu always returned the head butler's smiles with a bright one of his own. Prince Kangnam went to his room to prepare for his pre-dinner bath.

Several maids helped pick out some clothes for the prince as he filled a tub with hot water. All who were showed up greeted Kangnam as they had always done, with practiced formality. Kangnam bowed to them in gratitude before they all filed out to leave him alone. The prince removed his robe, followed by his undergarments, and stepped into the tub to have the hot water soothe his entire body. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander.

Unfortunately, Kangnam's mind wandered to his nightmare. He still couldn't fathom how anyone could be so heartless as to murder a child. As he recalled the awful dream, Kangnam couldn't help but feel as if he recognized both the child and the murderer, despite having watched the scene from afar. There was something about the movements of the man that Kangnam had seen before, though he wasn't quite sure from where exactly. Also, there was something about the child he had unwrapped that seemed familiar too. It was almost as if...

"Prince Kangnam," a butler knocked on the door, interrupting Kangnam's train of thought.

"Yes?" Kangnam opened his eyes and called out.

"Dinner is served."

"Thank you."

With a sigh, Kangnam stood up and stepped out of the tub to dry himself. The towel that was left for him was always scented with sweet oils from around Pakma. The soothing peppermint of that night's towel calmed Kangnam as he wiped himself off. He put on the clothes set out for him and headed to the dining room where a very nice dinner of fresh ham, salad, and cranberry sauce was waiting for him. As usual, his father was already there enjoying the meal.

That night's dinner was very uneventful, save for the recapping of their day out. Kangnam's recent realizations had him wanting to go out and talking to people more, particularly the Shadows and the Water Beings, though he didn't tell that to his father. King Wu finished dinner quite quickly and went to the library. The prince took this as the perfect opportunity to talk with his palace mother. He beckoned a butler and asked him to fetch Tiffany for him. It wasn't very long until she came through the doors to the dining room and smiled at the prince.

"Hello, Tiffany," Kangnam greeted.

"Hello, Kangnam," Tiffany came over to sit by the prince. "What did you need me for?"

"There were some questions I needed to ask you."

"Questions? About what?"

"Remember that conversation we had before one of the maids called you away?"

"Yes," Tiffany nodded. "You mean about the..."

"Why didn't you tell me that you have a son?"

"A...son?"

"I dreamt of a night when you were young, holding a baby boy in your arms."

"Kangnam, I--" Tiffany began.

"I would very much like to meet him if he's in Dankik."

"I don't--"

"Tell me he still lives here."

"Kangnam, please," Tiffany raised her hands. "I don't have a son."

A wave of confusion hit Kangnam at those words. He frowned and thought of that dream about Tiffany holding the boy. The love with which she looked at the boy was unmistakable. It was the love of a mother.

"Then..." Kangnam started.

"I've never had children," Tiffany sighed. "The only children I raised were you and--" she quickly brought her hand to and stopped herself from saying the next word.

"Tiffany?" Kangnam grew curious. "Me and who?"

"No one," Tiffany shook her head in panic. "Slip of the tongue."

This conversation left Kangnam's head drowning in more questions than he had originally had. Tiffany was obviously hiding something, which she usually didn't do. He dismissed his palace mother, saying that she needed to return to work before everything went out of order. Tiffany was glad not to talk about this subject anymore, and bid the prince goodnight.

Tiffany avoided Kangnam for the rest of the night.

Still confused, Prince Kangnam walked to the library after his conversation with his palace mother.

The cloaked murderer kept his hood low to hide his face as he hurried through the streets, looking around frantically to make sure no one saw him. He was obviously extremely nervous. Through the unlit streets he quickly walked, never once stopping, until he reached his supposed destination. Kangnam was once again disgusted that such a man could exist, one who could kill a child. It was only the prince's second dream about this man, so he was still in shock.

This strange man stopped at a butcher's shop and went inside. The owner of the shop seemed to be taken aback at the cloaked man's entrance, but he greeted politely anyway. Kangnam watched as the child murderer took seemed to talk to the owner. Much to the prince's surprise, the owner of the shop dug under his side of the counter and took out a knife, which Kangnam recognized as the one that struck the child. The cloaked man bowed and concealed the weapon under his garment.

Kangnam woke up before he got to see the murderer's face.

As soon as he was finished with his breakfast, Prince Kangnam headed for the library. He explained to the guard of the restricted area what he was wanting to look up, and was let in. The restricted section of the library wasn't very large, but was filled with enough books to occupy a good part of a month. Along the walls, Kangnam read titles such as "The Secrets of Shadows and Light," "Pakma's Full History," and "Pandora's Tower." It wasn't until he saw The Book of Justice that he stopped and picked it up. His father wasn't joking, it was extremely large. Kangnam guessed it was several hundred years old.

The prince set the book on the table and opened it to the murder section. Murder in Pakma was rare, so the glossary for that part was only about one hundred pages long. Still, it was a pain to go through each entry, looking for a specific kind of murder. Kangnam read through the reasons for trials. The criminals had killed many different kinds of people, but by the time Kangnam reached the end, none were tried for killing children. That frustrated the prince, but at the same time gave him drive to keep having these dreams.

Perhaps destiny had something in store for him. Perhaps he was meant to dream about these things to solve a case that had met a dead end.

But somehow, Kangnam felt a certain dread, as if there was something that he was meant to find out, yet meant never to know. Something that would change him for the rest of his life.