"Take this to my cousin, Lady Youngmi. Tell her that it's a peace offering from me." Lee Minseo said and handed a wrapped package to her maid.
"Make sure to convince her to accept it, but don't let anyone see you giving them to her. Have you heard?" She added.
"Yes, my lady." Okeon replied and left the house for the errand.
Minseo watched her servant's retreating back. The corners of her lips slowly curled up into a smiled as she thought to herself. "Now, Youngmi a. Let's see who will win this war."
***
A beautiful young boy of about 16 years sits on his bed in his room, all alone.
Minsu would love to step out of his room, or at least open the windows and view the outside world from there.
Tonight's the lantern festival; it would've been nice if only he could see those floating lights up in the sky, like Okeon (a servant of theirs), has been telling him about, from his windows at least.
But his father forbids even that.
Minsoo's family is doing everything possible to keep his existence a secret from the rest of the world.
Not that it was an official crime to be born different, but then, that would cast a dark shadow on their darling daughter Minseo's future prospects.
*
"Young master." A hushed voice called from behind his door.
"Young master, Lee Minsu." The voice repeated.
Minsoo woke up to the familiar hushed calls of his servant-friend, Okeon. Well, not his personal servant. He doesn't have any.
Only random servants are made to attend to him because his family does not want them to get attached to him and help him escape from his room.
Also, all the few servants that have met him before assumed that he was a girl because that is what his family has made every one of them believe.
But Okeon is the only odd one out. She is his twin sister's servant, who was made to serve him once.
And from then on, she started to come and see him whenever she was free to tell him stories about the interesting world outside.
Minsu therefore decided to trust her with his secret. That he was a male and not a girl.
Having seen him, Okeon gets why it was too easy to trick everyone about his sex. Her young master looks more like a girl than a boy.
Well, except for his flat and hard chest, but he is still young and so that didn't count.
"Okeon? Is that you, Okeon a?" Lee Minsoo asked in a similarly low tone of voice. He was happy to hear his friend's voice.
They both don't want to be caught talking to each other, which is why they're speaking in low voices.
"Yes, it's me. Can I come in, young master?" Okeon asked. She's the only one to call him young master, all the other servants address him as 'miss or my lady'.
"Hm."
Okeon quietly entered his room, after making sure that no one had seen her.
"Young master, why are your eyes so red and puffy?"
Just as expected, she could tell that he cried himself to sleep again.
Having to stay locked inside and alone was hellish on its own, but not being allowed to even see the sky for days must be very tumultuous for the young boy.
Before she had met him, the poor boy used to think that this was how every other kid, including his twin sister, was raised, but Okeon told him otherwise.
So nowadays, Minsu feels more miserable for himself and a lot lonelier when he compares the stories that she tells him about other kids his age to his own sad and monotonous life.
"I brought these cookies for you, young master. Here, taste them and see."
Right then, they heard her name being called. It was Minseo, Minsu's twin.
"Okeon, a! Okeon, a!!"
"I have to go now, but I'll come and see you when I get the chance again, okay?" Okeon said and placed the three wrapped cookies into Min-Su's hand and waved at him as she leaves.
"Okay." Minsoo responded. Her presence made him a bit better emotionally, as compared to yesterday.
He couldn't tell the time, but he was sure that it's already a new day.
*
"My Lady. You called for me?"
"Yes. Where were you that I had to scream on top of my lungs for you? Hurry up and follow me." Minseo said and started walking towards the main gate.
Okeon rushed to catch up.
"My... lady, where are we going this early morning? You haven't even had your bath yet.
Minseo didn't bother to slow down or turn to her servant as she spoke. "It's morning already, and no one has been sent from second uncle's house to deliver the news. I have to go and see for myself if my plan was successful."
Okeon wasn't able to understand what she was saying, so she asked. "What plan are you talking about, Lady Minseo? And what news are you expecting from your second uncle's house?"
"It's none of your business. Just shut up and follow me."
*******************************************
It is very chaotic in the royal infirmary this early morning as the physicians and the nurses were running helter-skelter.
One court official in his red robe stopped a nurse to ask about what was going on. "What is all this about? Why are you all running around as if you have some serious medical emergency?"
The nurse was in a hurry, but this is a court official and a noble at that, so she still has to answer him by virtue of his status.
She first gave a small bow to the man before she spoke. "My lord, what you said is correct. We really do have a medical emergency right now."
The man furrowed his brows. "What is the emergency about? Is the Queen Dowager okay?" He asked this because they all know that the old lady has not been feeling quite well lately.
"It is not about the Queen Dowager. It's about the Crown Prince and the second Prince. They have both been poisoned.
The head physician, together with some of the other royal physicians, is already in the Eastern Palace attending to the princes.
Their condition is very dire, so we're all here to help with whatever is needed, please."
The court official allowed her to leave after the explanation, as he too rushed to the royal court for the morning assembly.
That morning, the king had to cancel the assembly and go to the crown prince's Palace in a hurry.
He called the head of investigations at the tribunal courts as well as the chief superintendent of the police force and ordered them to investigate everyone and everything in all two quarters of the princes and report their findings to him.