Jongho roused before Mingi. By the time his companion greeted the light of day, Jongho had previously rustled up some breakfast for the two of them. While he nursed a cup of tea and his brooding thoughts, Mingi still slumbered civilly in his bed. The fruity smell of the tea woke him inevitably and tickled his nose until he turned under the covers with a noise of discomfort.

From his place at his working bench, Jongho chuckled at the theatre. All morning long, his eyes had burned with tiredness. After the news about Seonghwa's passing, he had barely found any sleep. His dreams were fleeting and haunted by dark shadows. They scared Jongho, and he dove from his bed sweaty and with clammy skin. From then on, he tinkered inaudibly with the bird that was supposed to be a gift to Yeosang.

Now that the new regulations around the palace greatly inconvenienced Jongho's ability to break in, he couldn't possibly foresee the moment he would be able to deliver the gift in person. The castle needed a few days to calm its racing heartbeat, and until then, Jongho would trust in whatever sources they found in Zey on the matter.

Once Mingi spotted him on his chair, he greeted Jongho with a dopey smile. His hair was wild from sleep, and his eyes had yet to open to the dim light of a naturally dark winter day.

"Help yourself with the food. I count on your help later to get some more intel now that the first shock settled."

"So many words for such an early time." Mingi frowned, as his sleep-befuddled brain tried to catch up with the genius that Jongho was. Both of them had to laugh about each other.

Mingi rolled out of bed after a while and joined Jongho at his working space. While he wolfed down his portion of the food, he commented engrossed in Jongho's current projects with full cheeks. Not minding his slurps in the least, Jongho explained as much as he could.

"I'm burning with curiosity. What if there's a grand scheme behind this all? Asora signed a treaty with the northern countries that fought in the war against us, but what if they are going the secretive route to winning? I need to know."

Mingi's interest for politics contradicted Jongho's mostly uncaring self, but since sweet little Yeosang was involved, he also found himself guarded. While he had no emotional ties to the man compared to Zey and their own lives, Jongho also disapproved of any bad headlines regarding the gentle prince.

"Let's go out and ask around, then. I'm sure the people travelling between the cities on land have information on whatever might lie in wait there." Jongho put his tools down and pushed his goggles off his face. As he stood, his gadgets naturally shifted to accommodate his new position. Mingi observed the process with shining eyes.

"I just have to put on warmer clothes. I'll be done in a second."

Once Jongho was equipped with his warm winter garments and his one scarf, he and Mingi set out on the streets of Asora. The water that steadily dripped from various roofs and windowsills onto the entrance area of the houses had frozen on the stairs. It almost tripped up Jongho, and Mingi slid down two steps at a time.

With some warnings towards each other dropped here and there, they made it down the stairs safely. Immediately, the cold and grizzled walls of Zey wrapped around them like a protective layer. Instead of the shadows, Jongho preferred to march in the middle of the street when he was with someone. If Mingi walked next to him, Jongho could have a better eye on him. Zey's people evaded the tall man with the wild red hair and the imposing long coat.

With stiff shoulders, Jongho passed one of the patrolling automatons as he rounded the corner to the main street and glanced over the plethora of shady stands with even shadier vendors inside that offered their wares.

"Where do you want to start?"

Mingi took advantage of the height he had on Jongho to glance even further over his head.

"Behind the fortune teller. Her services are expensive but some of the best to reflect."

Mingi sounded more reserved in public. His usually playful and charming ego shifted to the same tense cynicism that any inhabitant of Zey had. Like this, he intimidated the folks around him. Jongho couldn't complain, he glared at them just as hard.

They rounded some attentive customers that loitered around the parlours and slipped in the alley next to where the old hag offered palm readings for downright revolting prices. Side by side, they lingered at the freezing wall.

The woman left them there to practice patience for a moment. Once the coast was clear, and no customer approached her, she slunk over. Her bony wrists that peeked out from underneath her holey jacket had Jongho shiver. Once the roar of an airship crossing over Zey had quietened down, she began to hiss her price. Mingi handed the money to her before she finished rattling down her list.

She pocketed the coins with a suspicious glimpse down the street. No one but them was in sight.

Her voice croaked from underneath her hood like an old machine that hadn't been oiled in years. It had an uncomfortable scratch to it, like fingernails on metal.

"What do ye boys need to know?"

Mingi took the lead. His back rested against the stone wall, and he had crossed his arms in an epitome of cool nonchalance.

"The crown prince. What do you know about his assassination? Is one of the guilds behind this?"

The wench swayed her head left and right until her neck cracked. A distinct sickenly sweet smell of incense wafted around her like an aura of odd interests. Jongho inhaled deeply through his mouth. Whatever she mixed it with to make her guests droopy and reach a high, he didn't intend to breathe it in. Mingi subtly copied him.

The woman in front of them laughed huskily. Her mouth - unprotected from any mask - opened in a dark smile that lacked some teeth. Despite her smile, she lacked all emotion. No joy reached her lips, and even her eyes kept its hard and penetrating stare.

"The murder? Ah, it rattled Asora's bones as they deserved. People say that the reason was entirely political. No grudges held." Again, her heartless laugh. Jongho squinted his eyes at her. He left the talking to Mingi still, so that they wouldn't seem too defensive of Seonghwa.

"Was it an attack from an enemy? Are they among us?"

"Oh, we have quite some characters among us. They lurk around the corners and await their chance to attack. But this was not them. Asorazey shed its own blood that night. Will the king blame it on Zey, I wonder? We might all get mass-murdered tomorrow if he so chooses. Ye boys should stay in for a while."

Her manic laughter had some inquisitive passerby glance at them sharply. Uncomfortable, Jongho looked around.

The enemy supervised them? Were they around Zey, too? Or was their plan to wipe out the whole city without regard for which sides the people were on? Whatever their plans, Jongho was now extraordinarily tense after the lesson.

"Better return to your post. I think another person asks for your services."

Jongho regarded Mingi's decisions from his peripherals. As the woman scurried off with another bone-chilling giggle, she left the other two boys feeling colder than they were before. Shuddering, Jongho tried to shake the spell off. As vital as her information had been, Jongho would like never to meet her again.

"She didn't mention the guilds. They might have asked her to keep mute."

Jongho had done a few errands for the guilds before. They were a bunch of personalities who had gathered to concentrate their hate and displeasure against Asora in the form of rebellious acts against the government. They were the patrons of any Zey resident, but their attacks on the automatons or some travelling nobles were cruel. They had support in Zey, but they mostly acted subtly so that it couldn't be pinned on particular people.

If they operated on a grand scale, such as tackling the prince, they compromised everybody's lives. Jongho suspected they might have planned to eradicate the royal family for a while now.

"Yeah. But if they lurk, and also some hostile agents, then..."

Mingi thought the same thing.

"Things get moving. It seems as if the big players assembled here." His voice carried a restless dread that also wrapped its black tendrils around Jongho's heart. He had nothing much to fear for but his own life, and while he had high expectations to see things change, he also apprehended what it might bring. In the worst-case scenario, Zey would end up under even more control from Asora.

Jongho wasn't a fighter. He believed in nothing but himself, and any grand revolution that tried to recruit him failed on his distrust. If a rebellion broke out, he wouldn't be the mighty hero in front that gathered all attention on himself. No saviour complex and no guilt toward his father would push him towards the face of danger.

"Let's ask around more. Even if we don't find more on the responsible one yet, we might discover what the guilds are doing. Or thinking about this."

Once Jongho nodded, Mingi led them out their little corner. The fortune-teller lady at the corner pretended never to have seen them before.

Zey was cold today. The night had considerably cooled the concrete houses, and since it was still early, the city had yet to restore its heat. At least no unfriendly wind bothered them here. The icy temperatures still bit at Jongho skin.

Further down the street, some other vendors provided Mingi and Jongho with even less information than before. Not much data had leaked from the palace yet, and most popular facts were based on rumours and gossip.

The general mood of most people carried schadenfreude and an inappropriate amount of glee about the circumstances. Jongho eyed some women in a corner, wrapped in thin clothes and with cigarettes in their hands to keep their bodies warm instead. They laughed about Seonghwa's demise and jokingly speculated about the possible ways he could have found his end.

If Jongho didn't know so much about the late prince, he would have taken their side. However, Yeosang and his own encounter with the man had proven to Jongho that Seonghwa was indeed one of the few people in the palace who didn't deserve his fate. His death was a loss for Zey, too, even if its people weren't aware of such.

Mingi ignored the chattering church bells in favour of leaning over to a nearby auntie that sold self-made pieces of furniture. As she reacted, Jongho hurried over to Mingi's side.

"The guilds? No, from what I've heard, the prince wasn't one of their targets. They would be foolish to give the king a reason to blame it on Zey." She shook her head about the claim.

Clueless, Mingi and Jongho found themselves back on the middle of the street. It was filled with bitter people that had reason to smile for once in their lives.

Jongho was glad that Yeosang wasn't there. From what he had gathered of the man, he resented these kinds of injustice.

"Where else to search?"

After a few hours of asking around without attracting too much suspicion, Jongho quickly lost his patience with the lack of solid information. The joy of the folk irked him to point out the truth about Seonghwa's character and that he had most likely been caught up in a web of lies that cost his life. His father undoubtedly would have enjoyed the misery of Asora, too.

Jongho parted from Mingi in the afternoon. They stood huddled close together in some corner to save some warmth, and Jongho again noticed how Mingi was so much taller than him.

"I want to see Yeosang. I must confirm his safety. I'm sure that he also has more intel on Seonghwa than anybody else around."

"Let's wait for another few days. And as soon as the coast is clear, we will check on him." Mingi's voice had dropped to a grave drawl. Jongho frowned but agreed nonetheless. He worried about Yeosang. But at least a little while longer, the delicate librarian had to endure the loneliness.