A little under 24 hours since our interaction with her, I was still basking in the high I'd felt when my friend and I had put the witch in her place. Seeing her tormented face as she ran away crying was nothing short of perfection. While she had run out the back door, my co-conspirator and I had gone through the kitchen, the sunroom and then the dining room to make it look like we had been out in the garden. My friend's touch of grabbing a flower from the sunroom made our story even more plausible.

'Perhaps if we had collaborated from the start, our combined perspectives could have yielded even more fruitful outcomes.'

This morning at breakfast, my Seed Bearer informed me that he had received a telegram from Seokjin. It stated that he and Soon-Bok would be visiting us later in the morning. At first, I didn't know their visit's purpose. But then I remembered that the couple had been absent from the lounge when my friend and I returned yesterday—and they'd not come back. Jimin was also missing. I thought he was searching for the witch. Her spell seems to act as a tether, binding him to her with a strength we underestimated. Or perhaps he loves her—that was a possibility I was reluctant to entertain.

From what I could see, there were three possible reasons why the eldest Seed Bearer could be coming to see us. 1. He and Soon-Bok were trying to find out what had happened after lunch yesterday; 2. They were coming on Jimin's behalf to announce that she had run away—I hoped this was the cause for the visit; or 3. They had discovered that my friend and I had confronted the witch, and we were now facing punishment for our actions. I doubted it was the third option since there was no indication of the Oracle being summoned. He was the only one with the authority to punish an assigned female.

I spent my morning journalling and plotting out the next move in my plan. To others, it would seem like I was sitting in the library reading books and taking notes. In actuality, I was mentally strategizing, moving all the human chess pieces in my life. My queen was finally about to conquer the witch, which would make this my most glorious win.

Chess wasn't a game traditionally played in the Greater Kingdom of Korea. I loved it because it has taught me many life lessons. My beloved chessboard—which I kept at home safely packaged up—was the only thing I kept hold of that was connected with my mother. The man with colourful hair who had brainwashed her into leaving with him had given it to me at our first meeting. At first, I only kept it because it reminded me of my mother. Over the years, though, it taught me that everyone could be manipulated, doing whatever the queen—in this case, me—wanted.

A knock at the door yanked me back to reality. Glancing up, I found my Seed Bearer standing there, his expression as stony as ever. "The visitors have arrived, Bong-Cha-ssi," he stated. His face never bore a smile when addressing me, something I had come to accept.

"Okay, thanks. I will be right down," I replied, closing my journal. I made sure he was gone before I tucked the book into the hollowed-out encyclopedia, then placed them back in their spot on the bookshelf. After smoothing my dress and checking my hair, I walked down the corridor into the living room, where I found two individuals standing with my Seed Bearer.

I hadn't realised that my friend and her Seed Bearer were also coming today. I grinned happily as I gave her a quick hug.

My friend looped arms with mine as she said to the Seed Bearers, "We're going to have morning tea together in the lounge. You boys have fun." My confusion must have been obvious and as we reached the cosy couch, she whispered, "Don't worry. They don't know anything about yesterday. We came because he needed to talk to your Seed Bearer. Something to do with their families' businesses... you know I never listen when it comes to boring business talk."

Relaxing and chatting with my friend was a nice change to our usual planning. Even though she could be a little dense, she was a lot of fun. We were mid-topic about our Seed Bearers when I noticed the butler escort Seokjin, Soon-Bok and Binna into the room. I was about to ask the butler to tell the other two Seed Bearers that our guests had arrived. Right as I opened my mouth to speak, the two men walked into the room.

"Hoseok, thanks for letting us come over on short notice." Seokjin bowed in gratitude to my Seed Bearer. "I apologise for not being able to give you your birthday present yesterday. I don't know if you heard... Nell took a stumble yesterday as she walked through the gardens. Jimin was beside himself, so Soon-Bok and I decided to go with them to the hospital. While she helped Nell, I was able to stay with Jimin outside."

"Oh no," I gasped aloud, pretending that I was worried for the pregnant witch. I felt a firm squeeze of my friend's hand as we stood together, pretending to be visibly shaken by yesterday's news. Her relief mirrored mine—the witch had fallen after our little talk with her. I hoped that this was another sign for her to see that she did not belong here.

"Is everything okay?" my friend inquired, her voice laden with feigned concern. "I hope there's nothing wrong with the baby."

"Nell and the baby are both okay," Soon-Bok confirmed. I watched as she caressed her extended belly. The act had my blood boiling. It was yet another reminder that my womb remained as populated as a ghost town. "She has to rest for a while, but she is doing well. Jimin is looking forward to playing Nurse."

I had to stifle the urge to vomit that threatened to overtake my body with the thought of Jimin doting on her.

'The only person he should be doting on in bed is me. Hasn't the witch learned yet that she's not welcome here?'

꧁♥💜♥꧂

I turned to Soon-Bok's sister and asked, "Can I say something? I hope you don't take offence to it." My friend, Binna and I were in the back courtyard, sitting on the lounge as the three Seed Bearers and Soon-Bok swam in the pool.

"Sure," Binna nodded, and she turned her head to look at me.

"It seems like you don't really like Nell anymore," I remarked. I'd gone for a tone like a casual conversation between friends. In actuality, I was interrogating her to unearth something useful. "I saw how your face changed when your sister told us all about how Nell had fallen yesterday. And I noticed how you guys didn't talk yesterday at all. You two used to be good friends. Did something happen between you guys?"

Binna took a deep breath and hesitated to answer my question. As she watched her dibling floating in the pool to cool off, I turned my gaze to my friend who was seated in a chair on the opposite side of the girl. We shared celebratory smiles for a moment before we schooled our features.

"You could say that." I could tell by her cryptic answer and the way she bit her lip that there was more to the story. She held back, but when my friend coaxed her into telling us, I was floored by what she said. "She isn't who I thought she was. When I met her, I thought Nell was sweet, kind and honest. I've come to realise that she is dishonest and solely self-interested."

'Keep her talking and maybe she'll give us something we can use to conquer the witch once and for all.'

"She lied to Bong-Cha and me, too," my friend said, motioning towards me. It was evident she aimed to make Binna believe that we understood—that we were all innocents ensnared in the witch's web of deceit. "It feels like everything that comes out of her mouth is either a complete lie or a half-truth. I have a trusted source who thinks that she never did go to Busan like she told us she did."

"I hope she didn't promise you the world, only to pull it out from under you like she did to me," Binna mused, mostly to herself. "Serves me right for not having it in writing."

I was getting sick of Binna's cryptic answers, and it seemed like my friend was, too. Where I might have been blunt and told Soon-Bok's sibling to spit it out, my friend expressed it much kinder than I would have.

"What do you mean? You can talk to us."

Binna began to speak after a deep sigh. I was astonished at the substantial sum of money she had been offered by the blonde Seed Bearer and the witch to carry their child. My pride in Binna grew when she recounted her attempt to negotiate additional compensation after the couple reneged on their deal. However, it was no shock to learn that the witch had promptly put an end to those negotiations, leaving Binna empty-handed. As the girl had said earlier, the witch was only interested in herself.

As I thought about it, I grew confused. Why were they approaching someone who was not an assigned female to have Jimin's baby? It was highly illegal and I didn't think the blonde Seed Bearer had it in him to be that deceitful. My mind tried to make sense of what I'd heard. I knew that the problem wasn't with him—his last three pairings with females had resulted in successful pregnancies. Did that mean they were worried that she wouldn't fall pregnant in time? Or was the witch cursed to not be able to conceive a baby of her own?

'That's the 1 trillion won question...'

I hope you plan on telling someone about this," I remarked, already devising a strategy. My friend and I would need to bring Binna into our circle, but I didn't think that would be difficult. The palpable fury and hatred emanating from her was almost at the same level as my friend's and mine. Glancing at my friend, we exchanged silent dialogue about our recent discovery. Her nod confirmed she agreed that Binna's inclusion was essential for our plans' success.

The girl beside me shook her head. "No one would believe me if I said anything. It is a Seed Bearer and his assigned female's word against mine," she sighed dejectedly. With the right incentive, Binna would be putty in my hands in no time—a perfect chess piece. "It seems like I'm meant to suffer here pretending to be someone I'm not. I wanted that money to live the life I want with the person I love but we aren't allowed."

'Jennie used to talk like that, too. Does that mean Binna loves a woman?'

I wasn't sure if I was correct in my reading of the veiled meaning of the words the girl muttered under her breath. Her loving a woman was of no consequence to me. The more I thought of it, the more relief I felt because it meant she wasn't interested in Jimin.

I reached across and clasped Binna's hands in mine and proclaimed, "We believe you." The girl glanced back and forth between my friend and me, both of us nodding to affirm that what I had said was indeed true. "If you let us, we will help you tell the truth about what happened to you. And we will make sure that the others believe you, too."

For the first time since I had brought up the change to her friendship with the witch, I saw hope blossom in the younger woman's eyes. I knew I had her right where I wanted when she nodded in agreement. I was being honest. I would help her tell the truth about her interaction with Jimin and the witch, and I'd get the others to believe her.

Since it seemed that the witch wasn't running like I thought she would after yesterday, I had come up with a new goal. Binna would be the key to engineering the outcome of sending the witch to her death. We needed to discredit her validity of being an assigned female.

"There's just one thing," my friend said, her voice lowering as the three Seed Bearers and Soon-Bok started heading towards us. "This is a top-secret mission, so we need to all hold our cards to our chest for now." Binna and I nodded, the both of us understanding completely. "Binna, wait to hear from Bong-Cha or me about what we should do next. We need to be careful with how we do this. We don't want our plan to backfire on us and send us to our deaths, do we?"

'The only one who will be losing their life after the Dissolution Ceremony will be the witch.'

* One villain has been revealed! Who's the other one?