The silence was so deafening that one could hear the sound of a pin drop.

All eyes turned towards the man who now emerged from the left flank, previously having been hidden behind the row of guards standing near the back of the grandstand. Dressed in his flowing white robes, his signature white mask obscuring half his face, he walked calmly to the front and stopped next to Baixun.

"Well now, this is rather unexpected," the king remarked. "How is it that you have managed to engage the White Scorpion as your representative?" he asked the prince of Feng.

The men who participated in the tournament were typically generals, nobles or members of the royal guards; there had never been exponents with the same standing as the White Scorpion participate before. People like them never bothered with petty political tournaments like these.

"Looks like you might need to marry the crown prince of Feng after all," Yuehwa murmured to the princess.

So much for not knowing the prince of Feng. I'm going to wring his neck after this.

"Who is the White Scorpion? Is he that good?"

Shaking her head, Yuehwa frowned. "I doubt anyone here will be his match, even if they tried fighting him ten against one." There were now a million and one questions floating in her mind, and it was taking her a great deal of self-control not to burst out onto the scene and demand some answers from Shoya.

What exactly are you trying to do? What is your true purpose for being here?

At that moment, Shoya turned towards the grandstand and their eyes met, even though there was a veil standing in between them. The rest of the world might be oblivious to the identity of the girl who was standing beside the princess's seat, but she had no doubts that Shoya knew it was her. In fact, she even caught the subtle twitch of the corners of his lips as though to hint that he knew what game she was playing.

The prince of Feng simply smiled in response to the king's question, saying, "If one hopes to win the hand of the princess, one has to send the best."

The White Scorpion would likely ace the competition, but the arrogant and complacent tone in the prince's voice made Yuehwa want to throw a punch into his smug face. For once she genuinely wished that Princess Naying wouldn't need to marry someone like that. In order to achieve that, she would need to ensure that Shoya lost.

The first day of the tournament was nothing to shout about.

By the end of the day, it had already become clear who the top contenders were, with the rest of the hopefuls dropping out like flies. Needless to say, the White Scorpion dispatched all his opponents with ease, using nothing but a bamboo flute to add insult to the injury. The dark horse of the competition came from the prince of Gi's representative, Baixun. Much to everyone's surprise, his prowess was beyond anybody's expectations, moving swiftly across the courtyard as he confronted his opponents with deadly precision.

"Did you see how fast he moved? And when he struck that last opponent with the hilt of his sword—that was incredible!" The princess kept chattering non-stop as they made their way back to the princess's quarters at the end of the day, and it was all about Baixun.

There were no prizes for guessing who the princess was rooting for, except Yuehwa wasn't interested in listening. She waited for a short while to allow everyone who had been at the courtyard to dissipate and return to wherever they came from, before she abandoned the princess and went charging towards the opposite end of the palace where the king's guests were housed.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were participating in the tournament? And that you were going to represent the prince of Feng!" she demanded as she burst in through the door.

"I'm sure it's not acceptable decorum for a girl to be bursting into a man's room like this," Shoya replied drily, though he hardly seemed surprised that she had found him.

Shoya's presence in the Dahai palace was easily explained now that she knew he was the prince's representative. After all, the king had given special permission for the royal guests to be housed within the palace itself. Once she knew that, locating his whereabouts was easy enough.

What she didn't expect was to find him in a state of half-undress.

"Put on some clothes!" she yelled, immediately covering her eyes and spinning around in horror.

"This is why I said you shouldn't be bursting into a man's room unannounced—"

"Wait a minute," Yuehwa suddenly turned around again, before Shoya even had time to pick up his clothes. Pointing at the huge bandage at his left shoulder and the patchwork of dark bruises smeared across his chest, she said, "What happened to you? This isn't just a 'couple of cuts and bruises'." He looked like he'd been run over by a horse carriage.

Ignoring the fact that she was behaving entirely contrary to how a well brought up young lady should, Yuehwa marched over and circled around him, frowning as she assessed the true extent of his injuries. Grabbing hold of his wrist, she carefully checked his pulse. When she was satisfied, she stared up at Shoya and demanded, "How is it that you still decided to participate in the tournament despite being in this condition? Do you know what could have happened if any of your opponents had been that much stronger?"

Shoya's injuries were not trivial. Just as she had suspected, the cuts and bruises were merely the tip of the iceberg.

Shrugging, he reached for his top and covered himself up quickly. "I won't die from it, at least not yet," he said. Walking over to the table, he calmly poured them each a cup of tea, setting it down in front of an empty seat for her. "Are you going to keep standing there?"

"So?" she asked, sticking her hands on her hips as she waited for him to answer her questions.

"I have my reasons for doing what I'm doing and it would be a great favour to me if you didn't intervene," he said, looking across the table at her.

"The prince of Feng—" she began.

"The prince of Feng is inconsequential. He needed someone to compete on his behalf, I needed a way to freely access the palace grounds," Shoya replied coolly. "Technically it wasn't a lie when I said I didn't know him."

Sighing, Yuehwa sat down and downed the entire cup of tea. "You do realise that if you participate in the tournament, there is no way anyone else is going to win. The prince of Feng seems like a complete arsehole. The princess shouldn't be marrying someone like him."

"Isn't that what you're here for? To help her solve problems like these?" Shoya arched one his eyebrows.

Yuehwa scowled when she heard his reply. Once again, he had left her with no room to retort. In other words, Shoya was telling her that him helping the prince was one matter, her helping the princess was another. In his opinion, these two were not in conflict in any way. It was of no consequence to him who the princess married, therefore if she deemed the prince of Feng as an unworthy candidate, it was her responsibility to do something about it, not his. Naturally, he was right.

"Withdraw from the competition," she declared, slamming her palm down onto the table.

"No."

"You're in no state to compete! Even if you don't care a thing about the tournament and who the princess marries, surely you care about your own well-being? If whatever it is you're doing or whatever it is you're looking for is so important, then you need to be in tip-top shape in order to get what you want, right?" Yuehwa burst out. When she caught him staring at her strangely, she added, "Also, if you insist on competing, you're making life difficult for me because as you said, I'll need to find a way to get the princess out of this rut and stop her from having to marry the prince of Feng."

Softening his tone a little, Shoya said, "Don't worry. The only reason why I agreed to help the prince was so that I could gain access to the palace for the duration of the tournament. I don't care for winning this thing. If you want me to, I'll lose the final match. That should solve your problem."

It's not about that my friend. I thought you were smarter than that... Ember shook his head as he openly eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Are you still not going to tell me what it is you're looking for?" Yuehwa folded her arms across her chest, looking rather dour.

"You should go back to the princess's quarters," Shoya said. "If someone sees you here they might get suspicious, then neither of us will get what we want."

It was like talking to a wall.

Yuehwa got out of her seat, but she didn't leave. Instead, she walked over to the bedside and picked up the bottles of ointment that were lying in one corner. She had caught sight of them when she first entered the room, and now she knew why Shoya needed so much medication. Pulling a chair to his side, she sat back down and said, "Turn around."

"Why?"

"If you're going to continue participating in the tournament, then you need to get those injuries to heal as fast as possible. Even though most of the competitors are way beneath your standard, there are still a handful who could be difficult to deal with if you're not in perfect condition. Especially that fellow from Gi. He's actually fairly good." Tapping on his shoulder, she said, "Take it off."

Shoya turned to stare at her, not hiding the surprise in his eyes. "I know you're not exactly normal, but isn't this a bit much?" he asked, edging his chair a couple of inches back.

Ignoring his remark, Yuehwa grabbed his ear and twisted it hard. "Just do as you're told, unless you want me to kick your behind. On a normal day I might not be able to defeat you, but today, I'm fairly certain that I'll win."

It wasn't proper for a girl to have barged into a man's room unannounced, neither was it proper for a girl to have seen a man topless, so naturally it was also taboo for a girl to be applying ointment for a man against his bare skin. These were conservative times, yet Yuehwa simply did not care for all these unspoken rules. Shoya couldn't let anyone know the extent of his injuries, nor would he be able to apply medication to his own back no matter how capable he was. As the only person who knew just how bruised he really was, it fell upon her sense of righteousness to offer her assistance.

"The cuts and bruises on the surface aren't serious, they should heal after a couple of days," she said as she gingerly applied the ointment on his skin. "It's the internal injuries that you need to keep an eye out for. They'll take a longer time."

Shoya nodded in reply, sitting there quietly.

She was almost done when she noticed just how broad his shoulders were, with a certain strength and determination etched across his shoulder blades, yet she could also sense that those same shoulders carried a heavy burden that she didn't understand. There was that air of stoicism and loneliness about him, hidden carefully beneath the surface, perhaps a little too well hidden that it might have gone unnoticed if one wasn't paying close attention.

Yuehwa quickly withdrew her hand, turning her head to the side so that she was no longer staring at his back. She grabbed the teapot and poured herself a cup of tea, almost choking on it because she drank it a little too quickly. Straightening herself up, she headed for the door.

"I'm heading off," she said abruptly. "Don't get yourself killed."

#

"I won't die from it, at least not yet," Yuehwa mimicked Shoya's voice, scrounging up her face in annoyance. "What does he think he is? Does he honestly think he's immortal?"

She walked quickly down the pavement, winding her way back towards the princess's quarters.

By now, the sun had already gone to bed and the darkness had set in. It was especially dark this particular night, the thick cloud cover obscuring the moon and the stars in their entirety. Save for the sparse lanterns that hung from their hooks on two sides of the pavement, there was little light to lead the way.

"Wait a minute, didn't I pass by this place before?" she mumbled to herself, scratching her head as she studied her surroundings. Apparently, being a famous assassin didn't make one's sense of direction improve. She walked slowly towards the next junction, looking left, right, ahead and behind. "Great, did I take a left before? Or a right?" Or maybe she had gone straight ahead.

"Lost your way?" a voice called out to her from behind.

Yuehwa groaned, recognising the voice immediately. "No," she replied, continuing on her way. The last thing she needed now was to be annoyed even further by another imbecile.

Baixun quickly caught up with her, walking along by her side. "If you're heading towards the princess's quarters, I believe you should have taken the right turn."

"As if you'd know better," Yuehwa muttered. However, she stopped in her tracks and did an about turn, switching to the right turn at the junction instead. "I know my way back, it's just that it's dark and... I have night blindness," she said loudly.

"Is it a habit for you to be running around the palace on your own?" Baixun asked, still following along behind her. "I've noticed that most of the palace maids go about in twos or threes. You're the only one I've seen who's always alone. Why is that?"

"None of your business," she huffed in reply.

"What did you think of today's tournament?" Baixun changed the subject, seeing that she wasn't going to answer his question satisfactorily.

"What makes you even think I was there?"

Baixun shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought that since you serve by the princess's side and this tournament is meant to help select her future husband, that you might have been there with her. Were you not?"

"None of your business."

If he was fishing for compliments for his performance in the tournament, then he was sorely mistaken because there would be none coming from her. Although she admitted that Baixun was one of the best in the tournament, it didn't change the fact that she thought he was overly slick and slimy. The princess might think that he was charming, but she definitely thought otherwise. Also, he had a penchant for showing up at random places when she was at her worst, which added to her irritation.

Looking around, she realised that she was now back in familiar territory. If she continued walking for a couple more minutes, she would arrive back at the princess's quarters.

Just then, she remembered something.

She stopped abruptly and turned to Baixun, asking, "You're representing the crown prince of Gi in the tournament, aren't you? He was that fellow who was wearing black and gold earlier?"

"Ah, so you were there!" Baixun declared victoriously. Studying her expression curiously, he said, "Yes, that would be the crown prince. Is there a problem?"

Yuehwa turned away and continued walking. The way he was staring at her made her uncomfortable, as though he was trying to read her mind and all the secrets she kept hidden inside. Her father used to tell her that she was like an open book, that it was far too easy for someone to read what she was thinking and that was a flaw that could be detrimental to her in time. She thought she had improved since then, but still, she had always been one to wear her heart on her sleeve.

"And does the prince have an adviser of sorts?" she asked again.

Baixun stopped. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Have you by any chance seen the crown prince of Gi before?"

"No," Yuehwa replied honestly. But I did save Park Maroo's life, so if that bastard was lying to me then he'll have hell to pay. Does everyone think it's so easy to lie to me!

Before Baixun could open his mouth to say anything, their way forward was suddenly cut off by the appearance of three masked men dressed in black, leaping down from the roof. Yuehwa instinctively took a step backwards, staring warily at the newcomers. The swords of the three men were pointed straight at the duo, and the glint in their eyes told her that they were definitely not here to make small talk.

"Get behind me," Baixun said, grabbing her arm and pushing her towards the back. Removing his sword from its sheath, he stared down the three men head on saying, "Who sent you here?"

The three men didn't reply. Instead, they wasted no time in charging straight towards Baixun. As she stood there watching, she observed how every move that those men made were going straight for the kill. These men were here for Baixun's life, and they were not intending to leave this place without it.

If Baixun wasn't around, Yuehwa would have immediately sprung into action, but because he was, she had no choice but to remain still. She was roaming the palace under the guise of a palace maid, and she could not at all costs let her cover be blown at this point in time, at least not until the tournament was over. If she was found out and thrown out, then she couldn't help Princess Naying with anything, neither could she remain behind to keep an eye on Shoya and whatever he was trying to do.

And so, even though she was itching to make her move, she didn't.