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The days following the archery tournament, Jisung was transferred and trained under the Third Code, specializing in defensive combat to properly and efficiently protect Princess. 

Training under Third Code was hard and draining, although it was mostly hand combat and defensive melee lessons. But Jisung figured some of the others had it worse: Changbin, Minho and Chan had been recently transferred from the Second Code, which was training for physical strength and endurance, their bodies built up through grueling procedures to prepare them for battles that required a strong hand and firm stance. 

Some had it a bit different, though; Hyunjin, Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin were formerly under the First Code as Jisung had been, specializing in weaponry and going through training like swordfights and archery, preparing them for a less physical fight.

A soldier under the Fourth Code was rare.

But the seven had all been promoted to join the Third Code and receive special training to protect Princess for the Astrea Festival with Jisung as the newest addition, and it seemed as if they all thought that it was a sort of middle ground.

"This is much easier than wrestling Chan for training," Changbin breathed, instead wrestling Felix and easily overpowering him in physical strength due to going through Second Code training.

"If it's easy, then why aren't you any good at it?" Felix retorted with a chuckle, his agility and speed giving him an advantage over Changbin's muscles as he dodged another punch.

"Isn't archery easy for you, since you went through First Code?" The larger one taunted, getting into Felix's head as he cornered him in the soldier's barracks, circling him and getting ready to pounce like a sly lion. "You were out before me in the archery tournament last week," Changbin whispered, and Felix furrowed his brows.

"I-I was nervous since everyone was watching me, so I missed the shot!" The blond tried to defend himself, verbally and now physically, since Changbin had taken the chance to lunge at Felix's neck while the younger tried to think of a response. He held the smaller in a chokehold until Felix started excessively tapping his arm, his eyes wide as he tried but failed to draw another breath.

Changbin let him go and stepped back, plopping onto his bottom bunk, satisfied that he had won the playful wrestle.

"I think we were all nervous since Princess was there," Chan said softly. He was sitting above Changbin on his own bed and had been watching the wrestle with amusement. "You did well under the pressure, Felix."

"Hey, what about me?" Changbin suddenly sat up and leaned to the side so he could see the person in the bunk above him. "Did I do well too?"

Folding his blanket to make his bed look neater, Chan chuckled, "Yes, Changbin. You did well, too." Changbin grinned proudly and again laid down with satisfaction.

Hyunjin's hands paused, his needle halfway through the fabric. "Why do you think Princess came?" He leaned over the side rail of his top bunk curiously, his question directed towards those on the floor below him, but more to anyone who would answer.

Chan shrugged. "Maybe she really wanted to see us play." He finished folding his blanket in a perfect square and propped it against his pillows.

A tiny whisper came from Seungmin, but no one heard him. "...You think so?" He was giddy at the thought of Princess coming just to see them, but Hyunjin crushed him by contradicting Chan, "I don't think so. Princess never comes out for those types of things." The ravenette soldier calmly continued with his sewing, unaware that Seungmin was sinking farther into his mattress in disappointment at his words.

"...What do you mean by that?" Every head turned towards Jisung, who had been silently leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, only listening and observing. Now, his brows furrowed with confusion as he glanced at Hyunjin, then Chan.

Neither of them answered though, so Seungmin, of course, took it upon himself, sitting up straight on his bed. "Princess Luna is rarely seen... anywhere, in fact. She doesn't come to training tournaments, to most events and festivals... it seems as if she likes to hide away in the Palace and stay out of the public eye."

Jisung nodded. "Is that why she wears a veil? To hide from the public eye?"

Before anyone could speak, a dark chuckle echoed from under Jisung's bed, and Minho sat up from his position on the bottom bunk. His eyes seemed to shine villainously in the shadows as he crooned, "No. No, they say that she hides for a different reason—"

"Minho, not again with these conspiracy theories," Jeongin grumbled half-asleep, turning over and pulling the covers over his head to hide from Minho's wild and outrageous ideas, which he had heard enough of at this point.

But the brunette imp under Jisung's bed rolled his eyes and ignored the fox-like boy who was trying to sleep. His eyes fastened back on Jisung as he eerily continued. 

"They say that Princess is an illegitimate child—"

"Minho, stop such slander against her highness!" Felix piped up before Seungmin had a chance to, the brunette gripping his pillow in indignation. But Chan hushed the blond with a finger to his lips. "Let him continue," Chan said to Felix. "If not that part, then the rest of it might be plausible."

With no more interruptions, Minho picked up again, "—and after her birth, His Majesty's concubine wanted her daughter to be the only possible heir to the throne, so she poisoned his legitimate son. The King was furious, for he loved his son as well, and in his fury, he stormed into his concubine's chambers and ripped the baby Luna from her arms. Taking out a match, he made Luna's birth mother watch as he burned her daughter's lower face, the cries of horror from his concubine like music to his twisted ears.

"Still outraged by the murder of his son, the King took it even further and set the crying Luna back in her cradle before he killed his concubine himself with a poison-tipped dagger, stabbing her over and over as her screams of pain mixed with baby Luna's. Afterwards, the King's mad fury was satisfied, and he decided to keep Luna, since she was after all his daughter and now truly the only possible heir to the throne. 

"But to this day, His Majesty hates her, and Princess herself is ashamed, not of the burn scars but of what her mother did. She obeys her father willingly, taking her mother's fault upon herself and seeing this as a punishment for their sins. That's why she wears and veil and stays inside the palace," Minho finished after filling the entire story with suspense.

At this point, everyone was leaning over their beds in interest and stepping forward to hear Minho's tale, but after a moment of silence that everyone took to process the horrible story, a clear grumble came from Jeongin, who had been awake and listening the whole time from under the covers.

"What a bowl full of berry-flavored bullshit," The dark-haired boy spat, the blanket hiding his frame as he faced the wall. "I'm going to sleep."

The puppy-like soldier in the corner looked true to his nature as he cuddled a pillow to his stomach, legs crossed as he thought. "...Even if it's true, her face doesn't really matter," Seungmin stated quietly, very skeptical of the whole story, but not easily gullible. Changbin rolled his eyes at Seungmin's unwavering and cheesy affection.

Jisung scoffed, piping up to cooly assure Seungmin without thinking about it. "It's not true." 

The unusual certainty in his voice made everyone turn to look at him, and he immediately realized his mistake, his eyes widening in regret. He attempted to cover himself. "I-I mean, it's too ridiculous to be—"

"You've seen Princess?" Chan interrupted, the firm tone of his accusing voice making it hard to lie, his dark, sincere eyes staring into Jisung's, as if Chan was staring into his soul and prying the answer out.

The dark-haired soldier gulped, trying to make himself smaller against the wall in the corner of the room as all 14 eyes darted towards him. "I—"

"Lights had better be out and your asses in bed!" The Commander's deep voice boomed through the hallway and his heavy footsteps approached their door, which made the young soldiers forget about the question left unanswered as they scrambled to get in their own beds before the Commander threw open the door and hazed them, like little kids with a bedtime.

Pillows were thrown across the barracks back to their owners, wooden ladders creaked as they were scurried up, blankets were a blur as grown men scrambled under them to pretend to be asleep.

Jisung was left standing, shocked, in the sudden chaos, almost struck by a flying pillow until Felix pushed past him, giving him a shove towards his own bed. "Go, now!" Felix urged him, blowing out a lamp and diving into the bed under Jeongin's, becoming as still as if he was dead beneath the covers.

Jisung nodded and rushed to climb to his bed over Minho's, settling in and the chaos ceasing right before the door was thrown open by a furious commander of the Astral Guard.

The Commander peered into the now dark and quiet room, scanning each bed to find them all still, especially Jeongin, since he had actually gone to sleep after dutifully calling Minho out on his lies. He was about to scream at them for being awake, but after glancing around, the Commander closed his mouth and nodded in approval before turning and leaving, shutting the door behind himself. "Good, good."

The room was left in darkness, a heavy silence falling over the barracks as the soldiers began to fall asleep, not speaking a word after the Commander left.

Except one soldier, who was still awake and hadn't forgotten the unanswered question from earlier that was still gnawing on his mind. 

"Han Jisung," a raspy whisper from Seungmin reached Jisung's ears from a bottom bunk across the room. He turned towards the sound, even though he couldn't see in the darkness, and hummed to affirm that he was still awake.

Seungmin paused for a second before breathing, "Is she fair?"

Jisung blinked, which didn't do much in the pitch black room. "Hmm?"

"Princess Luna. She's very fair, right?"

He hesitated, crossing his arms under his head and staring up at the ceiling. "Yes, she's fair," Jisung finally answered, chuckling at Seungmin's curiosity. "Her face is delicately carved like a statue of marble and the stars have kissed her cheeks, her hair is like a waterfall of silk and her lips are more tempting than the fruit of the Garden of Eden."

Seungmin was quiet in thought for a moment, but it was a moment too long, and Jisung realized that the intrigued brunette had fallen asleep. He laughed to himself, content with how much he had romanticized the Princess' description for Seungmin's sake.

But he didn't really lie. Not at all.