“Where are we looking for, exactly?”

I surprised myself by how calm I was opening drawers and rummaging through clothes, stationery, and papers in a room that did not belong to me. A part of me felt like a burglar; sneaking, and grabbing things with my sleazy hands. Yet the other part—the vast majority of my mind—was focused on the task in front of me.

Clues

We needed more information. More secrets, more political drama, more anything.

“Any note, any letter, anything that may be connected to the coup, the Bride, or the wedding,” I replied to Aída, going over a pile of documents.

She gave me a silent nod, her eyes just as focused as she searched from the inner pockets of coats and jackets to the trash bin beside the bureau table.

Minutes passed by, neither of us saying anything. The countdown floating on top of my screen the constant reminder of the little time we had. Then after some time, I heard her voice again. And there was something about her tone, a raw honesty that made her words tremble and resonate…it made my body stop and listen.

“Why do you think we are here?” Before I could infer what she meant, her eyes met mine; hazel and blue piercing the gray. “Not only in this Trial but in this isle. This place. Why do you think we are being forced to do all those things?”

I lowered the papers in my hand, catching a glimpse of the mirror in front of me. Of my reflection.

Of Park Eun-Woo.

Did I care why we were here?

Only enough to understand our situation—my situation. Only enough so I could do what I had to in order to preserve this life. This body.

Yet one thing was clear to me. The more time we passed here, the more Trials we faced, the more rules we had to follow, more certain I became of one fact.

“We are being tested.”

She did not seem surprised by my response.

“But why? By who? What kind of monster would force so many people to participate in these sickening Trials? What do they want us to prove?”

“…does it matter?” My voice sounded hollow, distant. “By the way we have been treated so far, I don’t expect answers to fall into our laps. Whether is that our struggle is far too entertaining, or rules that bind not only us but the system and whoever is using it to control us, nothing changes. We’ll have to keep completing these Trials, so we can live.”

Aída lowered her head, her eyes conflicted. For a moment, I thought she wouldn’t say anything anymore, as the seconds began to stretch. She continued to rummage inside pockets and corners, while I skimmed through documents and scrolls.

But then her words made my fingers freeze, and my head throb.

“What is the last thing you remember? Before coming here.”

My movements ceased. In my mind, I sensed a black hole. An abyss that sucked all the warmth from my body, all the blood from my veins.

I woke up in an enclosed space; a cubicle. A place where the only light came from a screen that kept asking me who would I save in the Trolley Problem. I remembered my name, I remembered my life, I remembered my face before coming to this place.

Yet what about the day before? No, not even the day before.

Hours. Minutes.

How did I end up in that dark space? How did I get a new body and a new name?

“You can’t remember either, can you?”

I turned to her, a bitterness spreading in my mouth as I shook my head.

Aída gave me a broken smile before continuing her search.

“In our Squad, we were constantly given individual points for our performance in pleasing the Bride and Groom. The system never told us why, and the rules never explained what the points would be used for.” She gave a pause, her next words burning and shaking with a quiet rage. “When we finished our tasks, the members who scored less than the average were eliminated. I watched them burn until there was nothing but ashes.”

Apparently, fire was a constant theme for the Court of Wands.

Aída let out a dry laugh.

“I believe in trust, you see. In leading a just life. We were thrown here without any explanation, and not only are we being forced to comply with these rules and Trials, we were also stripped of a very important memory.”

I remained in silence, unsure of what I could say.

“You may be right in that it doesn’t matter what is demanded of us, or how many situations like this we must face since we need to abide by this place’s rules to survive. But they don’t have my trust. Nor do they have my will.”

Somehow, I found myself admiring her spirit. Her conviction.

Kurosawa Touma was dedicated, proficient, competent. He followed the rules, he completed his tasks.

I was a selfish achiever. An exploiter. I saw the rules, then tried to see how I could bend them. I had one set goal, so it didn’t matter what I had to do in order to achieve it.

Yet Aida spoke of justice. Wiliness. Trust. Words that when I tasted them in my mouth, rolled over my tongue, meant little—almost nothing. Because my previous life had taught me a different side of those words, different meanings they could have. How easily these words got corrupted and forgotten.

Yet somehow, when she spoke them…

It made me think she meant every single word. That the world she lived in was different from mine.

And that made me envious.

I opened my mouth, still uncertain of what words I would say. What would be the right thing to say.

“Eun-Woo, I think I found something.” Her tone completely shifted, making my heart race as I closed our distance in a few heartbeats. “Look.”

In a small dresser beside the bed, there were three drawers. Aída opened the first two without any issues, yet the bottom one opened only halfway.

As if it was stuck.

Together, we removed the top drawers, yet even then we still couldn’t see what was stuck. I was ready to break the entire dresser apart when Aída gently pushed me to the side.

Once again, I saw a red glow pulsating around her hands as black and silver stars began to surround her like shooting stars and small galaxies. As her hands ran over the dresser, the stars followed—sticking to the wood as their shine continued to grow.

Soon enough, stars covered the entire dresser apart from the bottom drawer. As Aída’s hands moved in the air, the stars began to vibrate and glow brighter, heat emanating from them. Then, just like that—

The wood turned into the greenest of leaves, the drawer dropping to the floor with a thud.

I blinked a few times, still in awe.

She brushed off the leaves, revealing a big pile of letters tied together in a red ribbon. When Aída turned to me, there was a sparkle in her eyes, one that matched the joy in her smile.

“I hope the prince won’t be too upset about his dresser.”

“I think his missing dresser will be the least of his worries,” I muttered as she gave me the letter, and soon enough we were both opening envelopes.

Yet it took not even a second for us to hit another wall.

“Can you read those…?”

Every single document we had searched so far, both of us could read them. However, these letters had the same structure as the maps I had found underground. The same strange language.

“No…but I know someone who can.” I glanced at the countdown, grabbing all the letters and tying them back together in a rush, getting ready to leave. “Keep searching this room! If you find anything written in this same language, let me know.”

As I rushed toward the door, I looked at Aída one last time.

“We will beat this Trial too. I will make sure of this.”

She touched the pendant on her neck, and somehow that made me blush a little.

“I trust you, Eun-Woo.”

And knowing what I did about her, those words not only gave me a bit more strength.

They made it feel like what I was doing was, perhaps, not so foolish after all.

----------------------------------------

When I reached out to Kaduna, the Bride was on her way to the main hall where the wedding reception would happen. From what Aída explained, the Bride was the one who demanded the wedding reception happen before the ceremony.

Apparently, no one cared enough to refute it.

I met Kaduna on the way, with Hal walking in front of the Bride. Kaduna herself walked a couple of meters behind, her eyes never missing a detail. She knew I was approaching before I could even call out her name.

“The Bride shared nothing else about the 2nd prince.”

“Yeah, I thought so.” I took the letters out from my inventory, passing them to Kaduna. I lowered my voice, my words nothing but mere whispers. “We found those in the prince’s room. Are you able to read them as well?”

She took a few letters, her eyes running through the contents.

“Yes. Give me a minute.”

I was surprised by how fast Kaduna read them, jumping from one letter to another in a matter of a few seconds.

[Yappy Dog is barking at you]

I froze, a chill running through my spine.

[Do you wish to listen?]

“Keep reading,” I muttered under my breath, taking out my sword.

There was no need to warn Hal, the pocket knife already in his hands.

Even with my Sword status as high as it was, I almost missed. The arrow.

It came flying, going straight for the Bride. The moment I broke the arrow with my sword, a group of mercenaries came out from the bushes and surrounded us.

[The Bride is surprised!]

The Bride stopped walking, however there was nothing in her body language that showed fear. Whether, she appeared to be quite calm, contrary to the system message.

Beside me, Kaduna did not even raise her gaze.

“Let me know in case you need my assistance.”

“Don’t worry, keep reading.”

In a blink, Hal was jumping on them at an absurd speed, cutting one’s throne only to be sinking the knife, not even two seconds later, on another’s face.

Every now and then, they would shoot arrows at the Bride. Yet she would not take one step to the side, standing still on her spot as if nothing was going on around us. I would either break the arrows or deflect them, killing some mercenaries whenever they got in range.

It didn’t take much for their bodies to be piling on the ground, on our feet. I waited a few more moments, even when everything quieted down, just to be sure no one else would jump from the shadows.

“Were you hurt, Your Highness?” I approached the Bride, her hands gently clasped together as she gazed toward the main hall.

[The Bride says she is fine.]

[The Bride thanks you for saving her once again.]

Hal was a bit out of breath, some sweat dripping down his chin.

“Are you all—”

“Worry about yourself, old man. I’m fine.”

I suppressed a smile, putting my sword back.

“Park Eun-Woo, a moment.”

As I turned, the smile on Kaduna’s face sent a shiver down my spine.

[The Bride wishes to go ahead, since you are running behind the schedule.]

[She says you are free to join her once you finish your business here.]

Hal looked at us one last time before he continued to walk alongside the Bride.

I hope he still has enough Vis…

The main hall was only a few minutes from this point, so he would probably be fine. Still, I didn’t want to waste too much time.

“What do those say?”

An eerie glow crossed Kaduna’s golden eyes.

“These were mainly exchanges between the 2nd prince and the Bride.”

“About the coup or something else?”

She closed her eyes briefly, her fingers passing through the letters.

“Apparently, the 2nd prince wishes to take his brother place as the rightful heir.”

So it is a coup after all…

However, the way Kaduna kept staring at me said it that wasn’t all.

“And the Bride is not only supporting him morally but also financially.”