When Eun-bi woke up, the first thing she felt was an itch in her cheek.

Her face pressed into a bedding of hay. She turned and shifted onto her back, hearing the wagon creaking beneath her as she pried her eyes open slowly. The tumultuous night sky greeted her back. The eerie silence ringing in her eyes told her she was alone.

Her wrists were bound using a thick rope. She twisted them, hoping to loosen them and freeing herself, but it didn't work. It only made her skin turn raw and red.

With a groan, she pushed herself into a sitting position, though somewhat stiff. There was a throbbing bruise on her head where Accountant Cha knocked her out. That jerk.

A quick glance at her surroundings confirmed her whereabouts—she was no longer in the palace. They were in the middle of a dark road lined by empty shop-houses. Despite being attached to a horse, the wagon she was on remained stationary. The lonesome beast idled in its spot, waiting calmly for its owner to return.

Footsteps shuffled in. Low voices mumbled incomprehensible words as five people in black cloaks gathered around Accountant Cha. Under the dim moonlight, it was difficult to identify them, not when their hoods pulled over their faces.

But not until one of them lifted their head to meet Eun-bi's gaze—a laundry maid from her quarters.

Her nostrils flared with anger. This explained how the last letter slipped past security and ended up in her room.

When faced with money, it tempted people to give in to their greed and fall to their knees.

Accountant Cha exchanged words with his accomplices. "Your job is done. Now leave," he said. "Go as far away as you can."

They took their share of rewards from him—in pouches of money—before scattering off into the darkness. When Accountant Cha returned to the wagon, he found Eun-bi scowling at him darkly. "You're finally awake."

She gave him her best stink-eye. "Do you mind returning the dagger to me?"

With a snarky laughter, he tossed the weapon onto her lap. He watched on as she struggled with her bounded wrists to grapple for the weapon. "Do you need my help with that?"

She snorted. "Yes. It would be helpful if you could untie me and let me hit you straight in the guts."

A small chuckle filled the air. "I'm afraid not, Your Highness. I like to see you take on a challenge." He pulled himself up onto the horse, unguarded, as he left his back undefended. As if he was daring her to stab him. "And while you're busy working on untying yourself, I shall share with you a story."

He nudged the horse forward, sending her sprawling forward immediately. She swore out colourful strings of words as the dagger slipped away from her hands and clattered to the corner of the wagon.

This jerk was really trying his best to get on his nerves.

And he succeeded.

"Cha Ye-joon," she uttered his full name warningly, almost sounding like a growl. "What is the meaning of this?"

"My apologies, Your Highness," he said, finding amusement in her predicament. "I found something earlier that looks really interesting." He lifted a handkerchief that she had embroidered for Yul. "It's an adorable dog."

"A dog?! I did not embroider a dog!" she snapped back, now offended. "It's a horse! Now give that back to me before I run you over with the real one!"

He glanced over his shoulder, his smile never fading once as he studied her work. "It's charming of you to make one for your lover," he remarked, before his voice grew quieter and envious. "I, too, had someone made one for me in the past."

He flung the handkerchief back at her, and she fought with all her life to catch it with her mouth. This, however, made her fall backward onto the floor of the wagon painfully. Her teeth gritted in annoyance. Fortunately, her wrists were tied in front of her so she could hold on to the now wrinkled handkerchief.

"I didn't think bullying a woman was your favourite pastime," she scoffed. "Did Lady Ji-eun make you a similar handkerchief as well when she was alive?"

His shoulders stiffened immediately.

Seeing him acting this way at the mention of his adoptive sister's name made Eun-bi feel slightly victorious. She was now a step closer to unravelling his entire act and learning his motive.

She pressed even further. "I'm right, aren't I? Everything that you've done is a projection of your hate towards the Crown Prince and me. You believed the title of the Crown Princess should have belonged to your sister, but she ended up dead during the Selection and I became the Crown Princess. Now, you wish to kill me."

There was a momentary silence in the air as her words struck the bull-eyes. "You're almost right," he admitted slowly. "She was a lovely girl and did not deserve such a death. If not for the Selection, she would still be alive and happily married."

Eun-bi remembered the kind and beautiful young lady. She was one of the innocent lives taken by the wicked Han Yoon-hye. "I'm sorry for your loss. Lady Ji-eun was definitely one of the most kind-hearted ladies that I've met during the Selection. She did not deserve to be killed that way."

Eun-bi reached for the dagger quietly, keeping her cautious eyes on Accountant Cha. "But I do not understand how her death is my fault?"

"It's not," he said. "But killing you would put an end to the Selection. People would fear bringing their precious daughters to the next Selection. They would see it as a curse and not an opportunity."

Eun-bi gaped at the absurdity of his words. "Even without the Selection happening, some parents are always vying for a seat in the royal family for their children. You know that."

He knew she was right, but he refused to see to her point. "It doesn't matter. Ji-eun meant so dearly to her family. Even if it isn't me, there are plenty of others out there who are enraged about her death."

"You're talking about the person who has been sending me those letters," she deduced. "I assume it's her father who's behind everything?"

Accountant Cha's silence was the confirmation she needed. Ji-eun's father worked as a teacher for the scholars, which meant that he was the one who was adding fuel to the fire lately.

"I must have angered her father a lot when I wanted to build the female academy," she said calmly. "It went against his beliefs in the education system. He was the one who gathered all the scholars and led the protest in front of the palace."

Accountant Cha hummed in agreement. "Not bad. You're getting there."

Her shoulders sagged. "So, he just found more reasons to be angry at me and now, he wants me dead."

"Yes."

"And that includes you," she said. "But it isn't the Crown Prince's or the King's fault. No one expected Lady Ji-eun's death and wanted her to be harmed, too. Neither did I. If I could turn back in time, I would have saved her. I would have kicked that Han Yoon-hye's butt harder earlier–"

"I know."

"–tossed her into the lake and fed her to the huge-bellied carps... What?"

Her voice cracked with surprise. She wasn't expecting him to sound awfully calm and accepting. "Then why are you still doing this?"

The wagon slowed to a stop. Accountant Cha disembarked from the horse and approached her dangerously. He snatched back the dagger from her hands just as she was trying to cut through her rope while talking to him earlier.

He flipped the dagger expertly between his fingers. "Tell me, Your Highness, if you've lost the Crown Prince, what would you do? Would you give up on life and stop living? Or would you cling to any probable reason as your purpose in life and avenge his death?"

There was no hesitation in her voice. "I will hunt them all down and make them pay."

Accountant Cha nodded. "So do I. It doesn't matter how crazy it sounds to others."

Eun-bi's heart sank at the sight of his miserable smile. She realised his relationship with Cha Ji-eun ran much more complicated than she thought.

He was delirious, and he was out for blood.

Eun-bi could feel her chances slipping away quickly. This could be her last attempt to reason with him. "You're intelligent, Accountant Cha. I understand that you're hurting right now," she said, "but don't lose your rationale and be reckless by throwing away your own life. Please."

A shadow crossed his eyes, like a wall falling in place to shut her out.

He pulled her off the wagon roughly, gripping her shoulder. His voice whispered into her ear. "It's already far too late to dissuade me from what I've committed in the palace, Your Highness. My lord wants you dead and I will bring you to him."

And then he shoved her towards the mansion where the real mastermind awaited.