That night, Iseul found it difficult to fall asleep. Her mind kept rotating between the assignment, the secretive conversation between Hojin and Whan-wook – she was now sure they had spoken last night as well – and her brief encounter with Jae-sung. All of those subjects kept her brain riled up and the next morning she felt exhausted.

The most frustrating thing was, there weren't any answers. Or, at least, two out of three were impossible to solve without further investigation. The first issue would be dealt with today. After the run, the results of the assignment would be divulged and she would finally find out if she had a pass or a fail.

During breakfast you could feel the tension in the air. Even Do-Hu was quiet. They all finished quickly and the morning run was a dull affair. Iseul took her time afterwards and made sure her outfit was perfect before she finally walked to the main hall.

Would the king himself be there to grade the papers? She had seen him in parades a few times, but never up close. Chul-yeo's words echoed through her head. How he believed the king wanted to elect a crown princess instead of a prince. If that was true, she had a twenty-five percent chance of winning. That was a lot more than one out of the sixteen participants that were in the selection.

Somehow she couldn't really believe it to be true. And even if it was what the king secretly wished for, if there were no suitable women, he had to choose a man anyway.

Deep in thought she entered the hall and sat down behind a random desk next to a window. Someone sat down on her other side, but she was looking outside. Around her many voices were whispering and when she heard the word king a few times, she finally looked around.

The person sitting next to her was Jae-sung and as soon as he saw she acknowledged his presence, he leaned over and whispered: "We need to talk."

Iseul's eyes flew wide open and she moved back a bit, but Jae-sung already straightened himself. He was looking at the place the headmaster stood waiting until everybody was present and while she took a deep breath, Iseul followed his lead.

Talk. Yes, that was a good idea. He really needed to explain why he had done what he'd done. A cool breeze from outside flew in trough the window and for a moment she closed her eyes. She had to calm down and concentrate on the task ahead. If the answers were read aloud, she had to be able to defend hers. What was her answer again?

She almost panicked when for a moment she couldn't remember a single word she had written, but then her eyes caught sight of Chul-yeo, who smiled at her encouragingly. When his gaze drifted to her right and his expression darkened, Iseul looked to her side and found Jae-sung glaring at the blacksmith's son.

They were all saved from what could have been a nasty brawl, by the headmaster who released a scroll hanging from the ceiling, showing the question of the assignment. All of a sudden Iseul remembered her answer and she released the air she'd been holding.

"'How to prevent a neighboring kingdom from taking advantage.' That was the question you had to answer." The headmaster held his stick in both hands on his back as he turned to the scroll and continued: "I am happy to inform you all ..." He paused, allowing suspense to fill the room. "That at least some of you were able to come up with a satisfying answer."

One of the other teachers entered with a tray filled with papers and all students sat up a little more straight.

"For those of you who figured an easy answer was an easy way out, think again." The headmaster took the pile of papers and began distributing them. The first few who received their answers back and opened the folded papers, lowered their heads almost immediately. Some of them groaned, others merely heaved a sigh. However, the headmaster didn't hand all of the students their papers back. The first one who was purposefully skipped, was Chul-yeo, who sat a little to the front. When that happened, everybody began to pay attention.

Soon Iseul discovered that those who were handed their papers back, had failed the assignment. Did that mean ...?

Chul-yeo turned around and when Iseul caught his eye, he made a face that made her giggle. Just a brief moment, because the headmaster was coming their way. He handed the paper back to Du Ho, who pouted and received a pat on the back from Chul-seok, who was skipped. Next was Jae-sung ... who was skipped.

Iseul held her breath. The headmaster looked at her ... and moved on to the next row.

Her exhale was a little too loud, and she had to blink rapidly to clear the moist from her eyes. Du Ho and the Jee brothers formed fists from their hands and thoroughly excited she copied the gesture. In the corner of her eye, she saw Jae-sung looking at her, but she did her very best to ignore him.

If everyone who received their paper had failed, that meant she had passed, didn't it? With wide open eyes, she started to count how many passes there were. Ae-cha and Ha-neul failed, but Whan-wook sat behind an empty table with a calm expression on her face. Hojin passed also, which put a damper on Iseul's spirits. It would have been nice if he'd failed, but of course, that had been to much to hope for.

When the headmaster was finished handing back the assignments, twenty-one Hwarang and Wonhwa passed. Out of the selection participants, two girls and one boy failed, that meant thirteen of them passed. What would that mean for those of them who failed? The boy was Hwarang, so whether or not he was in the selection, he still had his school here.

Iseul looked at the two girls. Ha-neul's eyes were red. Would they be asked to leave, or did they get a second chance? They wouldn't be so cruel, would they?

"For those of you who passed and are not in the selection, I invite you hereby to rethink your decision." The headmaster said, looking at a few of the boys. Then his eyes became colder. "Those of the participants who failed ... you are hereby dismissed from entry."