Refreshed and cheerful after a good night of sleep and breakfast with his husbands, Seonghwa announced the upcoming ball to them. It was a general festivity to cheer on the peace treaties for many years to come. All of them were invited and strongly encouraged to go, and individuals from all kingdoms would be present. As far as political celebrations went, this was one of the grandest next to a coronation.

Hongjoong and Yunho looked excited to be at Seonghwa's side during such relevant matters. The scribes would cite them as his husbands and their pride to be approved made them preen. Yeosang sighed with a boredom that was most familiar to Seonghwa. Next to him, Mingi self-consciously ran his fingers through his hair.

When Seungyoun scurried over with a letter signed by the royal family, Seonghwa took it from him with a chuckle. Before he had opened it, he could explain its contents.

"On this occasion, some guests will stay over for several days to spend time at the Moon Castle. My parents and brother will be here, including his wife. I hope you will be on your best behaviour." Seonghwa broke the seal on the envelope and retrieved the dutifully folded paper. Since his parents were busy, Yongguk had written it.

"Dear Seonghwa," he read out loud.

"I hope you and your entourage are doing well. Your success in the favourable relationships with the other kingdoms has reached us and we wish to commemorate the occasion with the typical festivities. Your mother, father and I will come to visit you for the ball. If possible, I would like to join you ahead of time and support you with the preparations. I can imagine tending to so many people at once and getting the organisation done is taxing on you.

We hope to find you in the best of health. Inform me as soon as you read this, so I may see you once you allow me. I look forward to hearing everything about your travels.

See you soon,

Yongguk."

Yeosang cooed when Seonghwa folded the letter with a fond smile to hand it back to Seungyoun.

"He must have missed you. Let's invite him over. You can spend time with him and catch up while we divide the workload," the dryad suggested. Seonghwa nodded wisely before he addressed his head servant.

"Send a reply to the Sun Castle that I welcome Yongguk's visit anytime. Then prepare for a large-scale palace cleaning. I shall commit to the audiences that piled up tomorrow and visit the astronomer's tower today."

Seungyoun zipped away with his orders. While some of Seonghwa's husbands groaned at the thought of scrubbing the floors and furniture, San stood to push his chair to the table.

"I will join you for cleaning after today's training." He took off, posture ever so regal and polished. The secret of their steamy time in the bath was safe between their pleasantly unravelled cores.

Hongjoong and Wooyoung also found excuses. Hongjoong said he needed to prepare his appearance for the royal ball. Wooyoung had 'important gryphon things' to do. Most likely, he would hide away in Mulberry's cave until all duties resolved themselves. The one pet peeve he had with Seonghwa's castle was how the elf insisted on partaking in the scrupulous cleanliness of his home. Occasionally, when he entered their rooms that had become pinnacles of their personal habitats, Seonghwa scolded Wooyoung for leaving his shed feathers lying around. Not that Seonghwa forced anyone to lay hand on a broom themselves. But those who did got favoured, so their competitiveness forced them instead.

Seonghwa chuckled at the remaining four.

"Would you like to accompany me to the tower? We will read our future in the stars."

Ever so interested, Yeosang nodded. He had always liked reading the stars with Seonghwa. If it had been anyone else, he would have brushed it off as conservative superstition, but not with the one born from stardust.

"You can read them?" Jongho asked, puzzled at seeing them as anything but the sparkling roof he liked to sleep under.

Upon Seonghwa's nod, Yunho grasped Mingi's hand.

"I'll describe it for you! We can explain your stars, too."

Delighted, Mingi's eyes swished around, not finding Seonghwa as he muttered his agreement.

With the four trailing behind him (not to forget Buddy's merry skips), Seonghwa climbed the annexing tower he had yet to show them. He rarely bothered their astronomer, since he was busy all the time to record the changes in Seonghwa's perpetual night that shaped around the condition of his mind. When he knocked on the door while the others panted up the stairs, steps scurried inside.

The elderly man who opened the chamber to them grinned at Seonghwa's sight.

"Your Highness! Come inside, come inside. I see you brought guests."

"These are Yunho, Jongho and Mingi. Meet my astronomer, everyone. He studies and measures the skies."

The chamber was full of such equipment. Telescopes, celestial spheres, books depicting the signs. Though a cluttered mess, the astronomer moved with practised ease as he showed them the path outside to the balcony. His most used star-gazing tools waited there for use.

"Tell me what you wish to know and I shall provide for you."

Seonghwa sunk against the railing. His fingers tucked his robe tighter around him when his breath was white in the snowy night air. Intrigued, the others listened as he poised his questions first.

"Tell me about the stars of the kingdom. How is the Crystal Sphere faring?"

The astronomer adjusted some lenses and fine-tuned tiny wheels as he peered through his telescope. Quietly, they let him do his work as he studied the open sky above. Between the two towers, Hongjoong's fountain gleefully splashed away.

"The Crystal Star our country is named after shines splendidly. Since the treaties have been signed and the future of our reign is solidified with your rise to the throne, I notice a purple hue that reflects your eyes, Your Highness."

Strengthened by those words, Seonghwa nodded. He leaned over the balustrade, searching their brightest star with his eyes to point it out to Jongho and Yunho.

"What about my father? I don't plan to receive his throne soon. Can the stars promise me he will reign for another century at least?"

With a rich chuckle, the astronomer adjusted his lens.

"Yes, your father's star strives with vigour. As for you, my prince..." More wheels twisting, more squinting. Then the astronomer murmured.

"Is it not good?" Yeosang asked, alerted since Seonghwa had been doing so well these days, and his fortitude increased every day.

"Its gleam seems dulled. Though I can't tell if that is your current fatigue or a warning for the future. Are you exhausted, Your Highness?"

Ducking his head since the signs were so clear and he had to confess now so he wouldn't worry them all, Seonghwa hummed.

"My travels demanded a lot of energy from me. I have yet to recover, but my heart is filled with pride at succeeding."

"Tell us next time!" Yunho gasped indignantly. "Had we known you were fatigued, we wouldn't swarm you." By his side, ever so modest Mingi, who never swarmed anyone, nodded.

"I missed you as much as you missed me, so it would have been cruel to avert our eyes from each other. Once I have rested, my star will illuminate," Seonghwa assured them.

Jongho grumbled into his chest.

"But now you have the ball to prepare. You never rest, do you?"

"That's why I am thankful for Yongguk's help," Seonghwa beamed. "What can you tell me about my husbands?" He directed his word back at the astronomer.

"Yeosang's star shines ever so steadily. It seems others have grouped around him to seek his proximity, and his light brightens them. Have you made many new friends?" Fond of Yeosang's sheepish smile and the moonflowers he sprouted for Seonghwa, the astronomer let the dryad take a peek through his device.

"I have lots of fun with the others. Mingi is a sweetheart."

"Mingi also can't see the stars," Mingi grumbled. Yeosang snickered as he described the cluster of stars around his own.

"When have you been born, prince consort?" The astronomer asked Yunho. He counted on his hands.

"I was born twenty-three winters ago in spring."

Seonghwa held back his coo. Some of them were so much younger than him.

"Spring in the human realm... There we go. Born under the zodiac of man, you are an Aries. You relish the time you spend with others and you have plenty of stars assembled around you that share your kindness. I assume one of them is your pet." The astronomer chuckled when Buddy sat by his legs and whined up their length.

Gleeful with his results, Yunho slapped a hand on the solid rock of Jongho's shoulder.

"What about our chunk of a friend here? When were you born, Jongho?

Jongho stared into the sky as his profound mind remembered the years.

"The seasons changed fifty-two times since I came to be. I first laid sight on the celestial bodies of autumn. I remember a red demon moon."

Yunho gasped, flabbergasted at the way they aged so differently. When he whispered to Buddy that Jongho aged in reverse dog years, his companion looked up at him with those round marble eyes.

"The stars of the golems are the most steadfast I have seen. As ever, your shimmer is constant and bright, never outshining others, but never fading. What about you, demonic friend? Do your people measure the stars?"

Mingi shook his head.

"If they do, then not about something as irrelevant as a birth." Since he sounded so downtrodden not to get a personalised star fact, Seonghwa pointed his hand at the Horned Star.

"What does the star of their race tell us? Perhaps Mingi can't have his own, but we could tell him the fate of his people."

The astronomer complied and adjusted once more. His silence was tenser than before.

"The Horned Star is red, the colour nefarious for anger and blood thirst among your people. It often gets this colour and rarely reverses to normal, but it doesn't refer to every individual. Perhaps whatever fuels the demons' hatred brushes past you."

Mingi nodded, as fascinated with the possibilities of the sky as the others. When Seonghwa bowed, his husbands nodded polite heads as well.

"Thank you for your service. I will make sure to rest up so the kingdom will continue to shine brilliantly for its residents. Inform me if any changes should have me reconsider whom to invite to the ball."

The astronomer bowed deeply before they left. On their way down the stairs, Yeosang thrust a triumphant fist into the air.

"I'm the best at making friends in this castle. Good to know you all like me as much as I do," he boasted. Yunho snickered at him.

"Who can't adore a tree? It's in our nature. We all spend quality time in your shade."

"I like that you can laugh about my jokes," Mingi whispered where he felt his way down the stairs using the walls and Yunho's guiding hand.

Bashful with all the sudden praise that agreed with him, Yeosang grew twines all over his face. Seonghwa ran fond fingers through the half of his head that was brown hair today.

"Of course, we all cherish you, Yeosangie. You are our most beloved blossom."

Yeosang brushed it off, cringing as if tickled on the inside by the sweet words. He giggled shyly but ripped himself from his spell when he found a fault in that logic.

"Oh, not all of you! I haven't forgiven Buddy for what he did and Wooyoung once sat under the wrong tree and talked to it for two hours. Since he babbles so much, he didn't even notice he got no answer. I could only watch, speechless."

"So he got no answer either way. Then it makes no difference which tree he sits under," Yunho deadpanned. They reached the bottom of the stairs and Seonghwa's gown flowed with him from the steps when his bare feet touched upon the corridor.

Insulted, Yeosang crossed his arms.

"I am not the same as some random tree, neither is Jongho a random rock. Let's go rest until Hwa starts his cleaning. They don't deserve us."

"Yes, I have to feed my pet," Jongho agreed with a serious face before the two took off with their noses in the air. Seonghwa chuckled at their attitude, but Yunho looked worried.

"They have a pet?"

"Probably some caterpillar. Come, let's get Mingi settled and then we'll start cleaning."

Ever so eager to get a kiss as a reward for his help, Yunho scurried along.