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Da-hye and the Prince rushed out of the library. A prophecy was rare. Da-hye had never witnessed one herself, the last one coming just before the younger Prince's birth. Da-hye herself only having just come into the world. Stumbling as her feet came out of her ill fitting shoes and parchment unraveled in her arms, Da-hye felt the excitement boil up in her about what she was about to witness.

Dogwood Hall sat on the edge of the royal grounds. By the time they reached it, Da-hye's scholar robes carried a light dusting of dirt along the lower hem, making her look more like a forest being than a celebrated Spade scholar.

Entering into the hall, Cassandra sat in the center of the room. Her hair tangled like the reeds of the mat she sat on. Sweat ran down her brow and her back arched like a whalebone. It looked painful, yet, Cassandra showed no pain. Her bloodshot eyes were wide.

Prophecies required an audience. As Da-hye righted the quill in her hand and dipped it in ink, her skin tingling with the history her handwriting would preserve. No wonder first-hand accounts were always sloppy.

Kings are not born

They are made

7 Princes but only one King among them

Four Aces will never conjoin again

Unless the true King ascends

Bow before the king before sandpaper removes his gloss

Four sacrifices made for each Ace

The first of love, the second of pride, the third of life, and finally one of the throne

All must come from royal blood

They may come from one or they may come from all

Only the Sages decide

Da-hye scribbled furiously as she tried to record every last word. Cassandra's lips hung off the last syllable, her body extended and suspended as if pulled taut on a string.

She felt Jungkook's body stiffen beside her. This prophecy was related to him as one of royal blood just as the one before his birth. Unlike Da-hye who could work to change her future, like she already had, much of Jungkook's destiny was predetermined. Alteration only available when making a few key decisions.

Da-hye felt a little bad for the Prince. His life—no matter it's course—would be molded to fit the Prophecy. It would be difficult knowing that despite what you do with your life, it would all be watered down to a few words by the royal soothsayer.

What role did she play in that? After all, scholars were the ones recording, making assumptions, advising. Was the date of the second prince in her hands? Or, rather, of the scholar consort? Although, it was widely believed Da-hye would take on that role one day. The scholar who spoke for all the others and served as an important piece of the king's advisors.

Cassandra's body began to relax slowly. Each vertebrae releasing its pressure. Eventually, Cassandra was crumpled on the reed mat, her face against the ground and her golden hair splayed out like the metasequoia trees whose branches reached each other from across the road.

"Scholar? Did you record all of it?" one of the royal advisors asked, his eyes wide from witnessing such a spectacle.

Da-hye nodded. "Yes, I got all of it." She watched as attendants came to carry Cassandra away into the depths of Dogwood Hall.

"Are you okay, Your Highness?" The question seemed necessary, though Da-hye wasn't sure why she should be the one to ask it.

"Yes, of course," he said, his voice deeper than usual and filled with something Da-hye could not place.

"I don't believe we need to continue our lessons for today, Your Highness. I think our minds may be too busy to make any progress in your studies."

"Whatever excuse suits you, Scholar." His mind, as Da-Hye suspected—appeared to swirl with the words of the prophecy. Although, she would be lying if she too were not agonizing over the syllables, wondering if there was an easy answer to end the strife between the four kingdoms.

Da-hye walked to Scholar's Hall, anxious to add her transcription to the official record. It seemed or arrival was anticipated with the Scholar Consort and other head scholars waiting for her. Taking a deep breath, she entered Scholar's Hall, clutching her transcription to her chest. She didn't notice the ink smearing on her robes.

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Hyun-kyung came from the East Wing archives, surprised to see her friend still hunched over two large tomes and a mess of papers spread across the table. 

"Da-hye? You finished your transcription of the prophecy right?"

"Hours ago." Da-hye chewed on her fingernails as she read, occasionally pausing to write down something in her ream of parchment. Her collection was beginning to become unorganized and Hyun-kyung felt like reaching across the table and tidying it. 

"Why don't you head back to your quarters? It's late and I'm just closing up the hall. I'm sure whatever it is can wait until morning."

"It can't."

Hyun-kyung sighed, taking a seat across from her fellow scholar. "What is it?"

"The work Namjoon and I were doing before he disappeared."

"Before he ran off in search of a foolish legend?"

Da-hye slammed her hand on the table, startling Hyun-kyung and causing a few scraps of paper to fall under the table. Da-hye reaches down from them, letting out a deep breath. 

"Sorry, but you know Namjoon almost as well I do, Hyun. You know he wouldn't just run off in search of some legend. It was either a lie to cover for his true quest or he had some sort of proof that the Lost Princess of Hearts exists and is alive." She ran her hands through her hair which had fallen out of its ornate updo. "He must've seen something I didn't. Been ahead in some way."

"If that's the case, Namjoon will have left you a clue of some kind." 

Da-hye nodded, turning the page in Namjoon's notes. Some pages were neat, while others were full of last minute scrawls. Ideas and revelations that came to him in the middle of the night, during midday rides, and in the middle of advisor meetings.

This was one of the messy pages. His characters were too large and the line slanted down the page. He continued back up vertically. If Da-hye hadn't spent her education deciphering the Crown Prince's own handwriting, it would've been unreadable. 

"'Gentle winds produce a small response; violent winds a great one. When the fierce gusts have passed away, all the apertures are empty (and still) - have you not seen this in the bending and quivering of the branches and leaves?'" Da-hye read aloud from Namjoon's notes. 

"Zhuangzi?" Hyun-kyung asked. "Doesn't the Prince have that basically memorized?"

"Yes," Da-hye said, a line beginning to form from scowling so much. 

"So, why note that line?"

"The branches and leaves are still quivering," Da-hye said. "The war leaves behind remnants. This line implies it may not be fully over, or at the very least leaves permanent scars."

Hyun-kyung found herself looking down at the notes. While Namjoon's characters looked sloppy, there was something else off. She turned the parchment towards her and her finger pointed towards a single character. While it looked normal, an inkblot nearly distorted the bottom half of the character.

"An inkblot?

"Look at its shape. I don't think it as an accident, Hye."

The inkblot--while normally the scholar would write it off based on the sloppy and rushed manner of the writing--was in the perfect shape of a diamond. 

"Response and a diamond?" Da-hye's face lit up. Then, immediately fell again. "That could mean anything, Hyun. We could get some news about Diamonds, or maybe that's where he went, or--"

Da-hye was cut off when her friend picked up the parchment and brought it closer. "Wait, there's another." Laying the notes back down on the table and turning them towards Da-hye, Hyun-kyung points out another identical inkblot lower on the page. This time it was connected to the lower edge of the character for "merchant". 

"The Diamond merchant! We can seek a response with him!" Da-hye leaped from her seat and nearly threw her arms around her friend and fellow scholar. 

Everyone was familiar with the merchant from Diamonds who visit the royal village and occasionally the palace once a week. While most of the nobles turned their noses up at him when he passed through palace grounds, he would not continue if he did not find customers within the palace walls.

"All right, Da-hye. You've had a revelation. Let's walk back together. The guard has already left for the night." 

"I can't leave now! I have so much to do! The Diamonds merchant is due in three days and I need to comb through Namjoon's notes for anything else that might help me. Maybe there is a code. I doubt he will just provide me the information."

Hyun-kyung sighed at her friend's fervor. Da-hye would undoubtedly become the Scholar Consort for a reason. She never stopped, not even for sleep. She knew this meant that Da-hye would likely fall asleep among the parchment, a habit which was becoming even more common since she and Namjoon began work on their project together.

Hyun-kyung didn't know the full extent of the project, only that its goal was to recover the lost Ace of Spades. She sighed, relenting that she would once again have to walk across the palace grounds alone.

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Prince Jungkook sighed as performed his nightly stretching routine. His everyday clothes already shed off in place of his less formal baji and simple jeogori. If it weren't for his striking features that resembled the Queen, he may not appear like a Prince in such clothing.

His arms extended, he found himself about to bend down into a stretch when he heard a small rap on his door. Sighing, he relaxed his pose and peered towards his door to see his servant. The man bowed. 

"A Scholar Lee to see you briefly, Your Highness."

"Scholar Lee?" The scholar who was with Da-hye when he came for lessons earlier that day. Not worried about his current state of appearance, he walked to the door and peered out. She still wore her green scholar robes, which surprised him because most scholars leave soon after the sun goes down.

"Yes, Scholar Lee?"

The woman bowed to him. "I apologize for coming directly at such an hour, Your Highness. But I came with concerns about Da-hye."

"Yes?"

"She is still working, you see. It is not out of the ordinary for her to stay all night at Scholar's Hall. But, I imagine she will fall asleep within the hour."

"Scholar Lee, I'm sorry, but I do not understand how this concerns me."

"There is no guard at the Hall, Your Highness. They usually leave an hour or two after sundown. I am the scholar responsible for staying past each night and ensuring the safety of our records. I usually find myself walking alone unless Da-hye decides to leave with me."

The Prince falters. A guard was supposed to guard Scholar's Hall all night since it held important archives and information vital to the kingdom. Once upon a time, the Hall also had held the Ace. How had this never come to light before?

"I see. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Have a good night Scholar Lee."

'Wait, Your Highness. That is not the main reason I came. It was only the context. Could you make sure that Scholar Song makes it back safely? I worry since she had such close ties with the Crown Prince that she may become a target."

The Prince didn't want to go back out having already changed and settled for the night. Normally, he would've simply assigned one of the lower guards to carry out the task, but Namjoon's words from his letter ran through his mind, "There is a scholar--Da-hye--watch after her for me." 

"Yes, I will make sure she returns to her quarters safely. Thank you, Scholar Lee." 

The scholar bowed and turned to walk towards the main entrance. He realized she had no escort either, yet, did not ask him for one. Only for Da-hye.

"Min-sung," Jungkook said to one of the guards posted outside his quarters. "Please see that Scholar Lee reaches her destination safely."

The guard nodded and followed after the scholar.

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When the second Prince reaches Scholar's Hall, he finds Da-ye--just as Hyun-kyung predicted--asleep among her own notes and the parchment she studied. He recognized Namjoon's handwriting on some of the parchment, inter-spliced among Da-hye's own neat script. 

For as long as Jungkook could remember, Da-hye and Namjoon read, studied, and worked together. Only at night would Jungkook find Namjoon alone in his library or study. Otherwise, the scholar was always there. 

Jungkook picked up on the way she felt about Namjoon when Da-hye was thirteen and Namjoon was sixteen. He watched as the scholar spilled ink on his fingers only so she could gingerly clean it off with her own handkerchief. Jungkook noticed the look of admiration that cross her eyes as she watched him read aloud from some massive tome. He wondered if Namjoon's sudden departure hurt her as much as it did him.

"Scholar Song," Jungkook said, afraid to touch her. The scholar stirred but remained blissfully asleep. Jungkook was unsure how that was possible considering the awkward angle of her neck.

"Scholar Song, wake up." He said it louder this time. The scholar remained asleep.

Becoming frustrated, he says her name again, this time delivering a swift hit to the table. This startled Da-hye from her slumber, her eyes wide from the violent sound and her back arching straight.

"Prince Jungkook? What are you doing here?"

"Your fellow scholar expressed concern about your safety and requested that I ensure you return to your quarters."

Da-hye scowled and mumbled under her breath. Jungkook noticed the darkness under her eyes and how her eyes never seemed to focus on anything for too long. 

"Fine," Da-hye said, not putting up the fight that Jungkook expected. He watched as she carefully shuffled her papers into a neat pile and placed them in her bag. It was common practice for high up scholars to carry the documents with them to ensure their safety and it seemed that Da-hye already adopted the practice.

"Why do you stay here every night? Why not continue your studies in your room if you must do so?"

"It seems fruitless to leave the Hall if I need to refer to something contained here. While I may be an accomplished scholar, I do not have every document memorized."

The Prince nodded in understanding as he walked out of the Hall with Da-hye. The cool night air sent a shiver down the smooth silk of his clothing.

"Still, why not leave when the guards do?"

"The guards are not supposed to leave, Your Highness. Therefore, neither should I. I find that I have been more dedicated in that regard." Da-hye stifled a small smirk.

"That may be true, Scholar Song. But, I do know the Crown Prince would not like his scholar lacking sleep."

His scholar. Jungkook could tell the words affected her because she momentarily looked more awake.

"Lack of sleep is what got me here, Your Highness. I do not have the privilege of benefit without a doubt. My parents were not highborn as I'm sure you're aware."

The second Prince nodded. At first, it had almost caused a scandal when the Crown Prince became so close with Da-hye. No matter her scores on the Scholar Exam, nor her aptitude for analysis, she was still part of the lower numbered class.

The royals themselves comprised the higher classes of King, Queen, and Jack. A few select nobles also fitting into the classes. Beyond that, the eights, nines, and tens filled the direct nobility and most advisors. Next, came the merchants and a few lucky tradesmen in the fives, sixes, and sevens. Finally, the commoners comprised the twos, threes, and fours. 

Da-hye came from a family of fours.

The two approached the Scholar's quarters. Only the ancient architects could answer why it was not attached to Scholar's Hall like many of the other royals halls. 

"It seems you have made it safely, Scholar Song. I shall see you soon for my next lesson, perhaps?"

"Tomorrow afternoon, Your Highness."

"Tomorrow afternoon it is then."