Episode 5

"**The Night Before the Storm (1)**" is the fifth released episode of *Your Throne* by SAM. As Psyche attempts to adequately impersonate Medea, Helio becomes alarmed at "Lady Medea's" strange behavior. At the count's manor, Medea continues her preparations to take her seat as the crown princess.

## Synopsis

The sun shines down on the sparring grounds as Psyche holds her sword threateningly close to Helio's neck. In a cold voice, she expresses displeasure for his impudent behavior. As Helio stares into Psyche's eyes, a sense of horror washes over him as he realizes without a doubt that the woman before him is not Lady Medea. Unable to figure out a reasonable explanation for this conclusion, Helio takes the blade in his hands and presses it firmly against his neck. Blood begins to gush out of the fresh wound, staining his white clothes, as he apologizes for offending Psyche. Panicked, Psyche wrenches the sword out of his grasp and throws it to the ground.

Servants murmur in shock over has just transpired; though Lady Medea and Marquess Helio frequently spar with real swords, they have never drawn blood. Too far to hear the conversation exchanged between the two nobles, the servants surmise that they will never learn what truly happened. After his wound is properly treated and patched up, Helio apologizes to Psyche for causing a scene. Still maintaining her "Lady Medea" facade, Psyche haughtily dismisses his apology and tells him to leave. With a face full of seemingly sincere regret, Helio requests to escort her to the upcoming imperial banquet. Psyche observes his expression and deduces from his reddened eyes that he must be holding back tears. With a radiant smile, she assures Helio that she does not wish to have another escort aside from him.

As Helio departs in his carriage, Psyche stares at her trembling hand, astonished that she barely managed to survive the encounter with the young marquess. With a sinking feeling, she reminds herself that such a feat is only possible because she is impersonating Lady Medea.

Rain begins to fall as the carriage pulls up in front of the marquess' manor. The butler holds an umbrella above Helio's head to shield him from the rain as the young marquess steps out of the carriage. Cheerfully, the butler greets his master and inquires how Helio's visit was to the House of Solon. In a disbelieving voice, Helio states "Lady Medea" addressed him as "Helio." Since his coming-of-age ceremony, Medea has always called him "Heli," an affectionate moniker she chose for him. Clenching his fists, Helio wonders what possible explanation there is for this incomprehensible situation.

That night, Medea sits in front of Psyche's mirror at the count's manor as she gets ready for bed. A maid of the House of Callista brushes Psyche's fine, golden locks, chatting happily about the upcoming banquet. The highly-anticipated event is only a week away. Influential families from both within the empire and outside its borders are arriving to celebrate the crown prince's birthday with extravagant music and fine dining. The maid gushes with delight as she pictures "Lady Psyche" with the crown prince in the center of the festivities. Smiling, Medea explains that it will be her first public appearance with Eros since their engagement. As soon as she finishes, the maid sets down the brush and bids Medea good night.

As soon as the maid has exited the room, Medea drops her cheerful expression. She wonders if she should retire the "Psyche" pretense, exhausted from another full day of humoring the House of Callista. Sighing, she reminds herself that there will be no need to pretend once she officially weds Eros and becomes the crown princess. Settling herself into a chair, Medea pulls out a sliced lemon, a black-feather quill, and several sheets of parchment. Sitting on the desk before her is the black crow she procured at the market earlier in the day. She dips the tip of the quill into lemon juice and begins to scrawl an invisible message on the parchment. Though the writing will be instantly revealed under the heat of a flame, Medea is certain ordinary intercepters will think to use such a method to decipher her message. It is of utmost importance that she informs Helio of her situation. He will have noticed Psyche's strange behavior as "Lady Medea," but it is unlikely that he will draw the conclusion that she and Medea have switched bodies. Medea takes the crow out of the cage and ties the letter carefully to the its leg. The crow takes flight, departing out the window.

The moon shines brightly against the dark night sky as the crow flies away from the count's manor. In the dead silence, there is a soft, swishing sound and the crow falls to the ground, its blood splattering.

At the imperial palace, a servant delivers the dead crow and its letter to Eros. Under the candlelight, Eros watches as words begin to appear on the parchment. As he reads, Eros notices that the hidden message contains Medea's name and the mention of Count Callista's home. The servant informs the crown prince that the letter was sent from Lady Psyche's bedroom window and its intended recipient is Marquess Helio of the House of Niccolo. Smiling sinisterly, Eros declares that he will head to the count's manor first thing in the morning. He holds the parchment closer to the candle, watching as the flames burn up the remnants of Medea's letter.

## Characters

*Characters are listed in order of appearance. Character first appearances are **bolded**.*

* Psyche Callista
* Helio Niccolo
* Medea Solon
* Eros Orna Vasilios

## Trivia

* In medieval Europe, people often used lemon juice to scribe invisible messages. The organic ink only reveals itself when heated by flame, typically with a candle.
* In the official LINE Webtoon translation, Eros states that he plans to visit the marquess manor the next morning. However, in the original Korean version on Naver, Eros clearly says "백작 (baegjag)," which translates to "count." In the following episode, Eros arrives at the count's manor.

## Gallery

Helio cuts himself with Medea's sword as punishment.With red eyes, Helio asks to escort Psyche to the imperial banquet.Psyche agrees to Helio’s request to escort her.Psyche survives her first interaction with Helio as Medea.Psyche gains courage in being Medea.Helio fathoms over the unbelievable deduction that the woman he met with is not Lady Medea.Psyche's maid envisions "Lady Psyche" and Eros at the imperial banquet.Medea finds it exhausting emulating Psyche’s cheerful personality.Medea prepares materials to write her invisible message.Eros surveys Medea's letter in the candlelight.Eros smiles sinisterly while burning Medea’s letter to Helio.
## References

1. ↑ Under cover of ink - Science History Institute
2. ↑ Your Throne Episode 5 - Naver