The entire nation spent a week of grieving over losing another royal family's allies. The King declared a week of no work in public offices and opened the royal hall for the late friend and adviser's wake.

Master Wu's wish of a simple burial was not heard for the King wanted to show the kingdom how great of a man the seer has been.

Harang, who escorted the King along with the remains of the old man's body, decided to stay in the capital althroughout the week. He would  not say a thing, he would not drop a word, but would take heed at the King's orders at least.

The queen must have noticed it and on the day before the burial,  she decided to approach the man.

"General?" Dara called for him and Harang quickly bowed down.

"Mama,"

"I am quite relieved to hear you speak. I know, this is a very painful situation for all of us, and though I am hurting so bad, I am aware this pain is nothing compared to what you're feeling right now."

Harang forced a smile but soon a tear fell from his eyes. The queen patted the young general's back. He has always been like a little brother to her and she could not believe how quick time has passed. The once a heck of a naughty boy is now a man of bravery and loyalty.

"Il Woo hyung wrote a letter and was asking to see Master Wu for the last time but the King has not given me any signal to have him collected from the prison. He must be feeling awful too, Mama..."

Dara bit her lip and directed her gaze to where the King was. No matter how many years it has been, the fact that it was Il Woo who killed the great predecessor king will forever be etched in Jiyong's mind and heart.

But Master Wu has passed away. Would he still be this firm not to allow the man to see their master for the last time?

"Please do not be bothered, Jung Jeong Mama. I was just hoping all of Master Wu's students would be complete to pay respect to him. You know how Master still cared for Il Woo hyung even if he went astray."

"Don't worry. I will try to convince the King,"

"Mama..."

"Harang-ah, you are right. You have a point. I will talk to the King,"

****************

"It was such a shame you did not have the chance to meet Master Wu earlier." Seunghyun told Hayi, Taehyun, Jinwoo and Hanbin as they went out of the royal hall after paying respect. "He was a great man."

"I've heard so much about him though, through my father," Jinwoo said before turning to Hanbin. "Haven't we, hyung?"

Hanbin nodded. "It was a waste of time staying inside the palace and not getting to meet such an important person. I wish I could ask for more freedom."

Taehyun ticked his tongue and shook his head at Hanbin. "Aisht. You wish for more freedom, jeoha. While I wish for more time for myself. Eomonim is really hard to please sometimes— OUCH! ABEOJI!!!" Taehyun nursed his head when his father suddenly whacked his head.

"You ungrateful son! What? Are you going to marry your books and take them to death with you? Don't take this kind of arrogance home or I will beat you to death!" Seunghyun scowled at his son before bowing at Hanbin and Jinwoo.

"I will take my leave. Please go back to your quarters safely."

"Aisht. He always hurts me everytime he can!" Taehyun was still whining as he rubbed the painful part when they suddenly heard Hayi speak.

"Just drop by the infirmary if it still hurts. We have good medicines for bruises and bumps," the girl said softly before facing them.

"I will go ahead and just come back tomorrow. Till then..." she bowed deeply at the two princes and lastly at Taehyun before finally turning around to walk away, leaving the three men following her with her gaze. Jinwoo smiled giddily and slapped Taehyun's arm.

"Aigoo! Hahaha! You one lucky guy! Hahaha!" He teased Taehyun who just took a deep breath and shook his head.

"She's nice to everyone. Stop that, your highness, besides, don't you think there was some insult in her invitation?"

"What I'm trying to say is that you are lucky to have her as the woman you're about to marry! Aisht, if she's just not intended for you, I would have already asked her hand and make her my future bride! She's very ideal, right hyungnim?" Jinwoo turned to Hanbin only to earn a scowl from his brother.

"Stop meddling with other people's business," Hanbin scolded briefly before turning to his servants and signalling them to follow him. "I'm going back to my quarters. I just need to attend to some important matters, excuse me.." He nodded at Taehyun and Jinwoo before finally leaving.

"Aisht... I know it's a very sad situation in here right now but why is my brother being so moody?" Jinwoo wondered as he faced Taehyun once more.

"He's just tired. Let him be. You know how heavy the burden he must be carrying as the crown prince."

"Yeah. No wonder, he always look so sad and serious. No wonder he sometimes look older than Appa Mama hahaha!"

Taehyun grinned at the playful boy before him. Prince Jinwoo is still too young and mischievous for always finding his hyung a laughing stock. These days, he has been finding himself getting closer to his younger cousin and though the crown prince used to be close to him too, he could not feel but worry a little each time Hanbin would give him a cold shoulder.

Deep inside, he was worried for the crown prince too.

Hanbin has been acting ridiculously strange for quite a while now. Was it too much for him being the heir to the throne? It must be it, Taehyun thought. There could be no other possible reason.

The King and Queen along with his father and mother and all that belongs to the alliance that was built in pursuit of truth and protection for the Seondaewang's Code, they have been through a lot. It must be hard for Hanbin to match his father's greatness, if not surpass. It must be hard to have the whole nation's eyes on you.

But why does it seem to him that Hanbin is building a wall between them?

"What are you thinking?"

"Nothing, your highness," Taehyun shook his head and smiled. "Come. I'll accompany you to your chamber,"

"Really? You're not going home yet?"

"Why? Don't you want your cousin to stay?"

"No! Please stay a little while! There's no one to talk to here,"Jinwoo pleaded.

Taehyun smiled at Jinwoo. "I thought you're also going to shut me out," he mumbled.

"Excuse me? You said something?" Jinwoo asked but Taehyun just backed away.

"Nothing. Come on,"

****************

Feeling the subtle breeze against his skin, though his eyes are closed, Seunghoon's senses are all ready and open.

He lifted his sword, and the moment he sprinted forward, he was very aware of his targets and soon after he swayed and turned with the blade in his hands, a pile of sticks and woods came falling down the ground in a pile.

He smirked as he effortlessly brought the sharp blade back into its scabbard and soon, a round of applause greeted his ears and it made him grin idiotically.

"Harabeoji! You saw it, didn't you? Ahahaha! Aisht! Abeoji really got this sword well crafted."

The old man clapped his hands and nodded eagerly, and though he couldn't speak, pride was all over his face. It made Seunghoon smile and rub his nose. 

"After the national mourning day, the civil service exam will finally pursue,  harabeoji," Seunghoon sat beside his grandfather and lowered his blade. "And you know what? I'm aiming for the top spot in the military service exam.  The people behind that attempt to hurt the crown prince would have not been found yet by that time but I will help them in finding out who the culprit was. They should rot in prison, right, harabeoji? Aisht, how could they hurt any member of the royal family? We owe them where we are now,"

The old man patted Seunghoon on his head and held up his thumb in approval, but not too long, the smile on their faces were wiped out by the sound of someone else's enraged voice.

"Yah! Lee Seunghoon! Did you just use my sword again???"

Seunghoon's eyes went wide when he heard his father's voice behind him. He immediately stood up and was preparing to run away when he heard his father spoke again.

"Yah Seunghoon! Come here! You have to prepare. Come with me," his father appeared from the backdoor and signaled Seunghoon to come over.

"Aisht! I still have to study abeoji! Where are we going now?"

"Stop whining, yah! Come. We will have to meet someone in Hanyang,"

***************

"It seems that the Norons have done this malicious threat to the crown prince. We could not pin point who exactly that person is because the investigation is still ongoing  but it is very bothersome. It is not safe for the crown prince to walk around just about anywhere." The Chief State Councilor Choi Seunghyun said as he handed out the scrolls which contains the possible suspects to the King.

"You can't possibly be suggesting we should forever lock him up in here," Jiyong scowled at the five faces sketched on the scroll. He ran down on their details and sighed in disappointment when he read the ages of the suspects. "All are members of the Noron faction. How could these young men think of doing such hideous threat? It could be, they were influenced by their families."

"Yes. We are aware that the moment you declared equality, the yangbans are against it. They almost have wanted the Seondaewang's Code burned, remember? But they failed on the first attempt. But another civil service exam is here and most of their sons are now going to take the route to a government post alongside their servants. Most take it as an insult, jeonha,"

Jiyong nodded and squinted his eyes close feeling his head throb in pain. "This is making me go crazy. Why couldn't the yangbans understand what we are trying to fight for? They have lived in comfort for years and now that we are giving a little bit more to the lower ranks—"

"You cannot please everybody, jeonha,"

"I know. I could only do as much as I can. Then hope one day they'll understand." The king clasped his hands together as he pondered on some thoughts. He was about to move on to another case when a court lady suddenly announced the queen's presence.

"Jeonha, Jungjeong Ma-ma is here,"

Seunghyun immediately gathered his items upon the mention of the visitor. "I will just come back tomorrow morning after discussing with the others."

"Thank you for your hard work," the king answered back. "Please send my noona my regards," 

Seunghyun just retorted with a nod and smile before finally heading out. The king stood up too and was about to greet the queen whom he knows might come in anytime soon but he was quite taken aback when he saw Chief Palace Lady Gong leading a group of three more servants who were holding trays of foods for him. He furrowed his brows and was about to ask what was going on but soon, he was hearing his queen's lov